Moparts

US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside

Posted By: GoodysGotaCuda

US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 05/30/16 07:50 PM

Sharing the picture for other's reference of what torsion bar crossmember modifications are needed for a T56 Magnum as well as adding a USCarTool Chassis Kit.

I also added the forward 3x3" square from the torsion bar crossmember to the forward frame rail to help make up for the loss in material over the trans crossmember.

Attached picture 2016-05-30__IMG_5939.jpg
Posted By: 72Swinger

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 05/30/16 08:37 PM

Nice! Whats going on in the radiator support?
Posted By: 67autocross

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 05/30/16 08:56 PM

Do they make a kit to put a T 56 into s A body?
Posted By: GoodysGotaCuda

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 05/30/16 08:56 PM

Originally Posted By 72Swinger
Nice! Whats going on in the radiator support?


Thats a US Car Tool part. Not the biggest fan of that one, but it's on there.
Posted By: GoodysGotaCuda

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 05/30/16 08:58 PM

Originally Posted By 67autocross
Do they make a kit to put a T 56 into s A body?



Due to the amount of cutting that's needed, there isn't really a "kit" to use while maintaining torsion bars for any of the Mopar flavors.

I bought from SST, they have an Ebody and Bbody kit that comes with a lower mount, so the upper crossmember is up to you. If you remove the torsion bars in favor of coilovers, there is a substantial reduction in load going through that area.

...as far as Abodies go, you'd have to get with SST or American Powertrain.
Posted By: ntstlgl1970

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 06/03/16 04:06 PM

Are you running the shifter in the as delivered location or rotating the plate so it sits forward? Might help clear the torsion bar crossmember...

Attached picture image.jpeg
Posted By: jcc

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 06/03/16 05:47 PM

And the rotisserie? work
Posted By: 72Swinger

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 06/03/16 09:59 PM

Originally Posted By 67autocross
Do they make a kit to put a T 56 into s A body?

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRonRestorations/photos/?tab=album&album_id=347827735323636
ToddRon Restorations sells a kit.
Posted By: GoodysGotaCuda

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 06/04/16 12:21 AM

Originally Posted By ntstlgl1970
Are you running the shifter in the as delivered location or rotating the plate so it sits forward? Might help clear the torsion bar crossmember...


As installed. I don't think moving the shifter forward will help much, there is heavy interference with the transmission and crossmember. If you have to cut the majority of the crossmember out, you might as well stick the shifter where you want it.

That upper crossmember was lowered for final install, this photo was right after welding it together.

Attached picture Screen Shot 2016-06-03 at 5.23.16 PM.png
Attached picture Screen Shot 2016-06-03 at 5.25.54 PM.png
Posted By: GoodysGotaCuda

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 06/04/16 12:22 AM

Originally Posted By jcc
And the rotisserie? work


It's not termite-proof, but it is cheap!
Posted By: 72Swinger

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 06/04/16 12:53 AM

Does that shifter location land in the factory console hole?
Posted By: GoodysGotaCuda

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 06/04/16 12:55 AM

Originally Posted By 72Swinger
Does that shifter location land in the factory console hole?


Doubtful, its centered on the hump and i think the factory 4spd is offset to the drivers side.
Posted By: ntstlgl1970

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 06/04/16 01:18 AM

I already did major surgery on my upper crossmember for the 518, hoping not much more is needed for the t56, thanks for the photos
Posted By: 68cuda440

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 06/04/16 04:36 AM

Originally Posted By GoodysGotaCuda
Originally Posted By 72Swinger
Does that shifter location land in the factory console hole?


Doubtful, its centered on the hump and i think the factory 4spd is offset to the drivers side.


I was able to get mine through the console, had to move it an inch or so.

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/dsc03071s-jpg.1714709321/

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/p82a04281s-jpg.1714712338/
Posted By: 68cuda440

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 06/04/16 04:45 AM

Originally Posted By 72Swinger
Originally Posted By 67autocross
Do they make a kit to put a T 56 into s A body?

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRonRestorations/photos/?tab=album&album_id=347827735323636
ToddRon Restorations sells a kit.


ToddRon's kit is for use with the "Ford" version of the T56 Magnum and the matching Quicktime bellhousing for a small block. I started with his kit and modified it heavily to get it to work with a "GM" version of the T56 Magnum and the matching bellhousing for a big block. APT recommended to me to go the with the combo I did for some reason due to the clutch, I don't remember the details. The ToddRon kit is quite stout and does require considerable fabrication even as is for a small block.

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/p82a0231-jpg.1714678367/

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/attachments/p82a0246-jpg.1714680787/
Posted By: 68cuda440

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 06/04/16 04:51 AM

Hurst kit:
http://www.pro-touring.com/threads/12083...76-Mopar-A-Body
Posted By: 71sat440

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 07/06/16 04:20 AM

Holly crap is that a wooden whirly jig? How the heck does it work, and is there a build thread?
Posted By: GoodysGotaCuda

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 07/06/16 04:23 AM

Originally Posted By 71sat440
Holly crap is that a wooden whirly jig? How the heck does it work, and is there a build thread?


Ahyup, whirly wooden jig. Only a half whirly wooden jig though.

No build thread, just an afternoon with some screws, some wood, and a skill saw.

Posted By: 71sat440

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 07/07/16 12:37 AM

Bottom pic looks like it has more additional bracing against the rear rails.

Where you able to tilt that yourself?

My car is a bare sandblasted shell.

I've been dreading the day I go to weld in the uscartool frame connecters I got last year at Carlisle.

I can't afford a 1k+ for a rotisserie and have come to accept I will be welding these things on my back in complete misery.

This is one of the coolest home depot solutions I've seen. Just wondering how you achieve a controlled flip.
Posted By: boydsdodge

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 07/07/16 01:04 AM

Great Tilt stand.
Great work.
Thanks
Posted By: GoodysGotaCuda

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 07/07/16 01:26 AM

Originally Posted By 71sat440
Bottom pic looks like it has more additional bracing against the rear rails.

Where you able to tilt that yourself?

My car is a bare sandblasted shell.

I've been dreading the day I go to weld in the uscartool frame connecters I got last year at Carlisle.

I can't afford a 1k+ for a rotisserie and have come to accept I will be welding these things on my back in complete misery.

This is one of the coolest home depot solutions I've seen. Just wondering how you achieve a controlled flip.


The first time I flipped it, I employed the help of two others...just in case it got too much to handle. Turned out I was able to do it by myself and they turned into just spotters, which was at least on the safe side. I should add that I am 5'11" and all of 145# soaking wet, not particularly a burly fella.

I can truly say that without any additional help, the flip is very controlled. Initially I was very worried about it hitting the tipping point and "going over". That was not the case, as long as your radii are somewhat concentric, it should be pretty darn smooth, it was for me..and I just eyeballed the alignment front-to-rear. If you go this route, try not to overthink the roll, it was far less stressful than I had imagined in my head.

I wish I had taken more pictures as I have gotten a bunch of inquiries on it, I thought it was just a cheesy way to do a generally expensive task. I left the car on it's side for about 3 weeks with no ill side effects. The wood now makes up a ramp to my shed. laugh2

Off the top of my head, I left around 3" of space from the door to the ground as a buffer. The radii were around 22", I used a dog-leash, a sharpie and a sawzall to get the rough round cut...again, no rocket-science going on here, very simple processes. The bigger the radius, the smoother the roll. The plywood was 23/32" or whatever it is, nothing exotic, I doubled it up on the radus. I primarily used simple wood screws, and the occasional 5/16" lag bolt if I didn't have much real estate to spread the load. As you can see from the pictures, my primary ties were at the bumper mounts.

This is a pretty sorry timelapse that I attempted to do. My neighbor wanted to check out progress and took up some time, but it does show the general process. Screw a stud to the rear board as a lever to get the car to roll, then use the floor jack and stands to get it back flat on the ground. one-man operation.

LINK BELOW

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByV2qH2xg3ObMDNIMGl5R2tick0

LINK ABOVE


The rear bracing was probably also unnecessary but I wanted to mitigate any racking of the plywood. The plywood has all of it's strength in shear, not in bending, so I wanted to make sure the load stayed in shear. I removed the bracing once it was on it's side to work, it was still very stable, but reinstalled it to roll it back down as a safety factor.



Tie between the front/rear was later removed, wasn't necessary.

Posted By: 71sat440

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 07/07/16 02:08 AM

Awesome and much thanks.

I'm definitely going to try this.
Posted By: OzHemi

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 07/07/16 02:10 AM

Quote:
The radii were around 22", I used a dog-leash


Was the dog using it at the time? laugh2
Posted By: GoodysGotaCuda

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 07/07/16 04:22 AM

Originally Posted By OzHemi
Quote:
The radii were around 22", I used a dog-leash


Was the dog using it at the time? laugh2



The leash was unemployed at the time.
Posted By: 71sat440

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 07/11/16 04:21 AM

What did you use your jig for? Was it purely for painting or did it help with putting the car tool bracing in?

I was wondering if it would be okay to tack weld the connectors in while level, the rotate on to its side to do the finishing welds.
Posted By: GoodysGotaCuda

Re: US Car Tool Chassis Kit + T56 Magnum Cuda Underside - 07/11/16 04:33 AM

Originally Posted By 71sat440
What did you use your jig for? Was it purely for painting or did it help with putting the car tool bracing in?

I was wondering if it would be okay to tack weld the connectors in while level, the rotate on to its side to do the finishing welds.


Primarily getting the underside clean[er] and undercoating the car. I welded in the connectors before rolling the car, but this is before I considered the wood tip-over rig. I knew I wasn't buying a rotisserie and made do with what I had.


I'd tack while the car is loaded relatively where the suspension would place loads.
© 2024 Moparts Forums