There pretty straight but not perfect. I think the hardest part will be patching the sun roof hole and getting it to look good. But It don't have to look good to make a pass. LoL

I didn't make the front fenders or the front and rear bumpers yet. There going to next winter projects.

Each 1/4 panel piece is only 20 pounds, I should be close to 2700 pounds now.

Oh trust me... i know where the weight is on the front end, and i know my own car. I'm talking beyond all the typical stuff, the not so typical stuff, the outright hidden stuff and then even the stuff even 'experts' wont even find... its still a front heavy beast. I'll settle for close, but it'll still be a challenge without just adding weight to the rear (what most guys end up doing). Kinda like trying to 50/50 a 1930 Burney Streamliner...

If it wasn't so much work and if i wasn't so desperate to drive it before i die, i'd move the engine back a bunch. But... i did the number one first best thing one can do to have a light car... I started with the best possible model (as far as E-bodies go anyways). This sucker is LIGHT... and i dont plan on adding much, if anything weight-wise by the time i'm done.

50/50 isn`t always the best answer and some cars I know actually end up putting weight back up front to make em leave better..............

I'm building a road race car. And yes, 50/50 is not necessarily the ideal, but certainly 60/40 is not good. E-bodies were the original 5.0L Fox bodies... hard to find one that never got turned around and hit something.

I've got some weight yet to put back there... the original 7 1/4" rear is getting swapped for an 8 3/4", i'm hoping for some rear discs, its getting a rear sway bar, and heavier leafs, there's a rear spoiler to go on there and the battery is going back there, but thats about it. I have a LOT ov weight yet to go up front, and its gonna take every trick in my bag to keep it from going past the current 61/39 frt/rr the scales read. If i could afford the fiberglass hood and aluminum heads right off the bat it'd be a great start... but i cant. I'm hoping to make its maiden voyage down the street this summer (with the 383 i already have for it while i find me a smallblock) at 3200lbs. That shouldn't be hard... but while thats light for a big block E-body, its still not light. Under 3000lbs and still all steel (save hood) with BIG meats all around is the goal...

Gotcha musta missed that part and agree............

Only got to install one side shock plate and rear shackle so far with all that is going on, but never the less just under two Lbs lost in most probably the wrong place but still a beautiful metal to look at.
I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy to cut, bend and drill this metal, I just had a few surplus pieces to play with and this is what came to be.

Ti rear shackles and spring eye bolts in their place.
Those are Launcher springs and they carry their own weight for sure. I will create Titanium spring clamps for them when the time allows. Every ounce will count to make up for the spring mass. They do work for sure.

Lookin good like everything else you do............

Reducing unsprung weight is important as well.

True that guys. Thanks, but I've always been a up-front guy. LOL.

very nice fab job, and i like the radius on the shackle ends. BUT , you left WAY too much excess threads on the bolt lengths ! that's way too much weight to ignore ! [ ] just funnin' ya !

Like they say, don't get caught cut short. LOL. Thank you.
Yeah, I took into account that I could manipulate the shock angle and get a more smooth and valving advantage. I made my own upper shock mounts that sit just to the East and West of the originals.

The shackles on the other hand were a fab adventure on their own even though they look so simple. They are a carbon copy of Dr. Diff's offset shackle kit that I got from him a few years back.
For Art sake, I had to make 'em, but for practicality??? well...........

My car came alive Lee when I moved the shocks more vertical position.........

I`ve always thought that but must say that adding about 10+ more lbs to the rear of my car from the heavier nodular 3rd member, axles and brakes definitely made it respond/hook better when I mash the loud peddle...........

You're right Thumper.
Last time out, my car was leaving mean and clean even though I was pedaling it and I guess it was a combo of two strengths.
One was the new adjustable shocks and their angles and the other was a clean mouth piece, aka Carburetor.

Off subject but much need in know.
In what I thought was the pinnacle pick of carburetors, my Pro-systems 4150 based 1000HP turned out to be an athlete with a small case of athletes foot. Now don't get me wrong, this is a great carb to start with by the way, but it was in need of a little TLC within its circuits and metering blocks with the latest in carburetor black magic.

That TLC came from none other than a cat called Dominic Thumper.

This passionate racer seems to want to make everyones carb woes go away and really dives into the right stuff to make sure your carburetor/s run clean, responds razor sharp, idle with manners whether it's on the street or the staging lanes while being a villain at the stripe where it all counts.
Dominic was nothing short of professional and reasonably priced in his retooling of our over anxious carb. Aside from performing a real world wet test and tune after retooling, he also was thorough in his explanation of why carbs stay rich thus getting lazy across the power band, but was patient in explaining post repair fine tuning if needed, which in our case it did not.
This pup was ready to rumble once we nestled it on its manifold perch overlooking the landscape of this relatively stock looking Mopar engine. It fired right up on command and stood at attention and the results both on the street and strip thereafter have been fantastic.
In short, short times dropped, MPH is up slightly and plugs are clean in between after a day of loitering around. He is reasonably priced, performs a real world wet test and tune, thus bringing forth a nasty carburetor ready to serve.

A carburetor clinic is in full swing, and it's at the hands of a committed ace, Dominic Thumper.

You are too kind Lee but as I`ve said all along, I`ve learned from the best and applied those lessons w/LOTS of real world testing on my car and several others so although highly appreciated, I can`t take all of the credit............

When I get a chance to retrieve and post a series of progress pictures, I'll show how the steering WHEEL was really reinvented.

GEEZ Lee-weez,you gunna be a whole 1000lbs lighter than me. We need to grab the lanes and make some vids!!!!

For sure. When ever it will be clever for the stars. Photo -up would be stellar.

Friends don't let friends lighten up. LOL.
A friend of mine has the bug and is trying to get a set of the front stock looking non adjustable aluminum strut bars for a 68' B-body. Where can he fetch these?
IIRC, Mancini, Magnum force and just suspension used to carry them.