The instructions make it sound so easy...right! The article from a hot rod magazine which described the process was much better than the instructions. 1. Jack up the car on four jack stands. And I mean as high as you can go, if you have a fear of tight spaces maybe use a hoist? 2. I used a motorcycle jack and a small 2X4 block of wood to steady the pan into position. They suggested a "really nice person" hold the pan while you drill. I guarantee they won't be really nice after a half hour of holding that pan in place - use the motorcycle jack!
Next you start to drill holes. Use two drills, one with a 5/32 bit and the other with a Phillips attachment. There's a tab on the back of the pan that grounds to the existing pan frame. Make sure this is lined up. My first screw was next to that area. You'll notice the pans are an almost exact mold of the original. You need to drill where the pan overlaps the edge of the tunnel. Place screws every 2 inches. I tried drilling from the top and that nasty tar paper kept rubbing into my drill - yuck.
I wanted to use the existing railing from the old pans to help reinforce the edge of the new fiberglass pans. To do this they had to be cut off and shortened by about an inch on each end. What happened was this plan worked on the passenger side but not the driver's side. And I don't know why...
Ok, the pict is upside down but you can see how the railing on the passenger side did work. To compensate, for no railing on the driver's side, I screwed some more screws from underneath, through the fiberglass, gasket and into the bottom of the lift kit.
WARNING: move the brake line on the driver's side before you start drilling holes into the tunnel area. The line is held in place with some tabs that are easily pryed with a flat head screwdriver. I didn't do this and hit the brake line - oops!
The screw went up and drove right into the brake line sending brake fluid everywhere. Oh well, just another thing to fix in this continuing saga.
I had to take a long drill bit and go from the body, through the lift, to drill a hole for the bolt to go through underneath. I know I mentioned this before, but I had to switch to 5/16 X 4 1/2 inch bolts. I used stop nuts and the original body washers and tightened them up.
The lift kit didn't quite make the exact fit I was hoping for. You can see the gap, next to the Made in Taiwan sticker.
Here's the final product - pans that won't rust and after sitting on them, I'm confident they'll hold.
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