The Chassis: Part 3

As you can see, the front clip is taking on a bit more "familiar" shape.

Those big sweeping loops are for the clearance for the wide tires.  Should have room to spare...
As the chassis builds, it is a long, long process.  Tack welds only to hold...check the fit of components.  Mock buildups...check fit again & again...then take it down to weld.
The next series of pix illustrates just that.

Setting the Stance

Nathan had asked me to bring in my front wheels for setting up a height reference.

It is quite obvious the car will have a lower stance than factory, but the factory never dreamed of putting a 10" wide tire on the car, either.

 The car will be fitted with 15" rally wheels.  These wheels are correct for that era.  The front will tote an 8" wide wheel(s) with a 4" back offset.  The rear will be showing off  12" rubber mounted to a 10" wide wheel(s) with a 6" back offset.  This allows the wheels to line up evenly as you are looking down the length of the car.

The Chassis: Part 2

You saw the front end piece on the jig table.  There are lines that represent the Nova's center width, wheelbase center & the front & rear axle centers. 

This is for a starting reference for the build.

Other front suspension mounting brackets were produced to incorporate the C4 control arms & the front spindles.  Pretty cool, huh?

The Chassis: Part 1

This is is the 1st component built for the chassis.  This piece will support all of the front suspension, engine mounts & the power rack & pinion unit.

As you can see, Nathan is really a stupendous welder / builder!  His attention to detail & quality is noting short of phenomenal.  With that being said, part 1 is complete.  The build begins: