Page 52 - Issue 42
P. 52
The steering column used was the shortest I could fi nd:
out of an 80’s Mopar minivan. Steering wheel was made from
an old Alpine subwoofer basket that I had sitting around:
custom adapters were made on the drill press. CNC cut
grip inserts (cut and then upholstered by “Altered Image”)
fi nished off the wheel and made it very comfortable.
TIP:
TIP: “Death Wobble” can plague front axle vehicles. Wild-
Torquey was no exception to this; Luckily Bilstein makes Torquey was no exception to this; Luckily Bilstein makes
a nice steering damper that I was able to use (along with a a nice steering damper that I was able to use (along with a
few other changes to suspension/steering) which eliminated the
scary death wobble. Steering components cannot have ANY “play”
(movement). Play results in instability and can lead to more issues.
Other Misc. Parts/Components:
Handbuilt & por-15 coated fl oor pans (200+ hours &
my favorite part of build)
Wilwood dual master cylinder/pedal assembly
Aluminum 3 core “Hotrod” eBay radiator
Lexan windows & custom track systems
Speedway 20 circuit wiring harness
JAZ products aluminum racing buckets, harnesses &
axle limiter straps
AutoMeter Instrumentation throughout
Custom CNC cut Gauge panels & pods
10 Point Roll cage
Custom 17 gallon fuel cell
OPTIMA RedTop Battery
Train horns w/custom pullstyle switch
150gph @47psi electric fuel pump
Ragtop handmade by Altered Image
Rostra Universal Cruise control kit
Hazardous waste handle for tank fi ller
Kustom core support made with welded old shocks
& a tire iron
Hand formed grill, inserts & air dam
Engine
The engine mounting and building process was
defi nitely interesting. The most unusual aspect of this
Steering: engine is its extreme weight (1350lbs dry, plus another 15
I chose a readily available Astro van Power steering quarts of oil with the 2 micron oil bypass systems that are
box modifi ed to mount upside down for proper fi tment installed and 5 gallons of coolant, etc.). The engine build
& geometry (similar to a vega steering setup, but at a got progressively more and more extreme as I added parts.
$30 junkyard price tag). Numerous different attempts Engine started as a 1989 Cummins 12v Turbo Diesel.
at unique steering arms, & drag links ended with a These engines are excessively strong from the factory, so
homemade “sword” draglink and a homemade arced not much was needed on the inside to hit 750hp safely. Has
crossbar (to avoid the oversize Fluidampr harmonic been converted to a (more powerful) 1994-1998 “p-pumped”
dampener on the engine). engine with quality components where needed:
52 RAT ROD MAGAZINE ISSUE FORTY-TWO
48x53 tinman.indd 52 2/2/17 1:58 PM
