Talladega Chassis Parts - Gather, Clean, and Mod  

1.  Start by cutting the following parts from the kit trees and clean up all parting lines.  The following photo shows all of the parts related to the chassis and cage that I clean up at the same time.

2.  Now you can set all of the parts aside except for the ones shown below.  The ones shown below need to be modified prior to assembly.  Missing from the photo is the right cage which also needs modification.

3.  The back kicker bars need to have their mounting pins removed - in black by the tip of the knife.
 

4. Top one has the mounting pin removed compared to the un-modified bar on the bottom..

5.  Open up the holes in the lower front suspension piece so the king pins fit.  I simply use a sharp knife and rotate it in the hole to open them up..

6.  This photo shows the difference between the modified hole on the left side compared to the original one on the right.

7.  Set your king pin in the opened up hole to make sure they fit nicely..

8.  Open up the king pin holes in the upper A-arms as well.

9.  Another comparison shot - modified on the left, original on the right.

10. When assembling the front suspension make sure you mount the king pins so the pin for the wheel is closer to the upper A-arm.  To make a cleaner install I shave some material from the king pin so it sits "deeper" in to the upper A-arm.  The black on the king pins show the material I will be removing.

11.  Here's a shot of how the assembly would look if we didn't shave any material from the king pins.  Notice the gap between the upper A-arm and the wheel pin..

12.  Modified king pin on the bottom - original on top.

13.  Assembled with the modified king pin.  The gap between the upper A-arm and the wheel pin is much less compared to the un-modified mockup in the background..

14.  Snip the tabs off of the front shock/sway bar piece.  The tabs that will be removed are in black.

15.  Use a knife and remove the tab using the sway bar as a guide.

16.  Modified on the right - original on the left.

17.  The V bar has a tab on the upper bar that needs to be removed - marked in black.

18.  Again, a sharp knife will do the trick.

19.  This photo shows a comparison of the modified upper bar from the V bar compared to an original from another kit.

20.  The seat bar also has some tabs that need to be snipped off - again shown in black.

21.  The seat hoop on the bottom in the photo still has the tabs in place.  The upper unit has them removed.

22.  Shave the shackle pins off of the rear leaf springs.

23.  The rear chassis panel needs to have the openings enlarged so the kicker bars fit better.  In this photo the opening on the left is marked showing the material I will be removing.

24.  The modified unit - the opening on the right still needs to be done.

25.  Take the transmission mount and give it a slight bend.  The one on the top is finished with an original shown below it.

26.  IF the car you are building will have the 429 then you will want to make the following mod to the front hoop.  Shave some plastic from the shock hoops.  I usually remove about 1/2 of the material which is shown in black in the photo.  If the car you are building will have the 427 then you can skip this step....

27.  This photo shows the back shock hoop bar after it has been modified compared to the front bar still with black showing the material to be removed.

28.  The panel in front of the cage on the drivers side needs a slight trim so it sits in the chassis better.  The material that will be removed is shown in black on the lower left of the panel.

29.  This photo shows how the driver's side cage sits in the chassis prior to modification - notice the large gap between the chassis and the panel up front.

30.  Here it is after the modification.

31.  The front roll cage bar is a touch too long so I usually remove some material from the upper bars on the side cages to make it a better fit.  It doesn't take much and is shown in black on this photo.

32.  Here are the 2 side cages set on their back bars.  The one on the right has some material removed from the upper bar while the one on the left is un-touched.

33.  The mounting pins on the steering linkage needs to be removed - shown in black below.

34.  Pin on the left has been removed while the one on the right still needs to be done..

That does it for clean up and modifications to the chassis parts.  Now we can start the process of building up the cage components and getting them ready for some paint.
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