Thread: indeFAB's El Camino

Goddamn Inde this car is looking sweet.

Thanks man!

Since the bedcage is all welded up and 90% of the chassis is burned in I can finally move to the next chapter.
I gave her the sawzall and cutoff wheel diet yesterday and finally got all the rest of the factory frame and underbody removed.

Almost have the final RH established. (I know I did that already) but not inside on a level surface (that isn't level) which I found out yesterday too...

For DD/shortcourse I'm lookin at 14" min. clearance on the front subframe crossbar, 15" at the chassis center joint, and about 19" clearance on the fuel cell.
With that stance I'm thinking the goal will be 8up 10dn 3"bump in front, 7up 13dn 3" bump in rear. That meets the pro2 specs and gives me perameters to work within for dialing the setup.

For the dezert I will raise the entire chassis 3-4" (depending on course) It's still good numbers for the dez. I will run longer limits to get more droop and prob. switch to 4" bumps
On the other hand I can drop it 4" still make minimum pro2 RH req. and run it on road courses and in drift comps.

all this talk about pro2 this and that is pretty irrelevant b/c I will be running unlimited v8, and 1450/1400, it's just part of my development of a future pro2 and pro4 chassis design I'm working toward.

more pics soon, all the steering and suspension pivots are in the mail.

Few more pictures from today.

Pro2 spec Links
48" long lower, shocks mount 1.75 below pivot level line
36" long upper (at centerline) 29.5" pivot spread


Handmade with cardboard templates and a 4" grinder, who needs CAD.
my plas crapped out right before I started this project, of course.
Cant wait to see how it cycles.

some progress...
rehearsed removal/install of trans with motor in place
pulled the motor which came right out without clearance issues
got seat tabs in place sat in it, and began the console and firewall design process
keeping the firewall and floorboards steel to save money and add shear strength.

good ol blue tape.
once I could sit in place I was able to layout the console (so I could make sure to be able to reach with harness)

then we got down with about 40 templates and cut all the panels for the firewall, floor, and console.
Had tigger throw down consistent bead layouts for shear without putting too much heat into the tubes
this method allows the panels to be removed by cutting the beads if needed down the line.
Now we are down to the aluminum panels for the back wall lower half and rear floor kick area.

a few more worth showing- the firewall before paint, and the back wall panels where the tubes pass thru.

I knocked the back window out today and started sealing the chassis with primer to keep things from rusting and save time in the future scrubbing. I figure you gotta clean the mill scale every time you add something so why not just primer it now and save headaches. Its gotta go outside for a bit to make room for the t100 build so I really dont want it to rust.

Its basically ready for parts, wiring and plumbing which is a good feeling.

There's a little tiny light at the end of a really long tunnel but I can see it...

Originally Posted by Inde-Fab

Pro2 spec Links
48" long lower, shocks mount 1.75 below pivot level line
36" long upper (at centerline) 29.5" pivot spread


Handmade with cardboard templates and a 4" grinder, who needs CAD.
my plas crapped out right before I started this project, of course.
Cant wait to see how it cycles.

Diggin these links man!! I might want a set..

Thanks man, that kit would be great for your prerunner.
Throw our canti on the axle and keep the bed intact would be my vote.

The mill is coming tomorrow and the lathe will be here for sure by next friday =)

You're back I thought you gave up! Looking good!

Originally Posted by Inde-Fab

Thanks man, that kit would be great for your prerunner.
Throw our canti on the axle and keep the bed intact would be my vote.

The mill is coming tomorrow and the lathe will be here for sure by next friday =)

Sick dude can't wait!! I was thinking about doin that canti setup on the ford and the links would be perfect for my yota prerunner!

Hammering on the camino again...
Vortec 350 in place, doing motor mounts now

Racing in Prarie City this weekend, unfortunately not in this, viva 1107!

i thought you died..i was gonna invite ya to my bbq..but i heard some peeps will be out at prairie city..

Sounds like your bbq went better then the VORRA race, what a muddy, gnarly weekend it was. We sheared off a stub axle and threw the whole hub and tire on the beetle in the heat right before lunch, 3 of us ran out w/ parts and tools on foot, fixed it where it was, and had it at the start line 35 mins later for the next heat. That was one of like 8 issues we had, and fixed.

Somehow we still managed to make laps in each heat to grab as many points as possible while it was running. Thats what it took to pull a 3rd place for class 11, and yes there was more then 3 11s there =) there was 5 lol. but it was a cool weekend and lots of great ppl regardless of the track issues.

Racing always motivates me to get this done asap, more updates soon.
Started machining the snout blocks for the 2wd Race spindles I will use on the camino today...

got the dash done, cab area almost there. ordering some parts finally too.
dash will be painted so its not reflective.

anyone got any advice on what water pump to run on a chevy 350 and or LS motor (gonna run both) if the radiator is out back? just wondering if the stock ones are up to the task. seems like alot more vertical movement then normal which I think is the biggest concern.

Dash looks great!
Race is coming up quick!

Originally Posted by 1969f100

Dash looks great!
Race is coming up quick!

yah I know. faster then my money is trickling in.
Maybe if someone lends us shocks all around and I miraculously get a few gs for motor/drivetrain parts we'll be there.
oh and if elves come in at night and make some custom headers... it could happen.

still gonna try to get there, even if we dont it will be nearly done and give us time to test/prerun before the 500

Decided more rivets would be necessary to add the shear needed for the windshield frame.
Its tough to see but I got the silverado gauge cluster mounted
good money and time saver using the factory cluster from the engine donor vehicle.
Cant beat free plug n play, especially since this motor will only be run for a few outings, and smog =)

sorry crap pics, mo beta ones soon.

I think the only thing between us and the next VORRA race is a set of shocks, too broke at the moment.
If anyone out there has coilovers/bypass' they're not using I will comp you fab work to borrow them for a week.
could def. rebuild them for you on my dime too.

PM me. I will seriously make it more then worth your while.

getting a little closer every day.
Made an aluminum hub to use the steering column out of the same truck as the motor came from to keep the wiring all plug n play. Since its a tilt column I dont need the wheel to be quick release which is a theft issue on the street.

Radiator mount pretty much all figured out.
motor/trans back in for rigging, shifter setup, d-shaft numbers, and all system plumbing/wiring.
Today I got started on mounting the fuel cell, hopefully I will be able to wrap that up tomorrow.

You were telling me about this build at prairie city a few months back i was the guy racing the grey toyota. finally had a chance to take a look at the thread looks good, some fine work. I def like the out of the box thinking. I moved over to Aus right after that race and am working on an oil rig right now making cash so then hopefully i can come back and race my truck some more. might be back for the October short course since the truck is only 20 min from prairie city right now. and i am on 3 week on and off swings. anyway good looking rig ill keep checking back for more updates.

Keep on kicking ass Inde!

Thanks dudes, This thing has been in slo-mo lately, turns out legit parts really are expensive... who knew?
I have been racing with the 1107 guys for experience in the meantime, put in a couple hunderd miles behind the wheel in the USA 500 which was pretty much epic.

Got the fuel cell all mounted, working on swaybar design and sourcing parts/material for that.
Got the switches all layed out, and made most of the shifter/brake setup, otherwise just been working on some other projects.
more pics soon, nothin' much to show at the moment.

did some stuff in between the other various projects we have going.

used skateboard bearings for the side-side pivot for the shifter on the left
both handles made from wrenches I never use
brake pedal and gas pedal also use skate bearings for a complete set of 8

I took apart the skateboard I use daily, multiple times during the process.

following thru with the complete plan, even if it was a plan I started 5 years ago...
shown is the final production proof of our toyota based 4wd/shortcourse race spindle.

I added another inch to the tower and fixed the SAI so it will work right on 35s
also planning to shorten the upper about a half inch so it will have the exact camber curve I want.

it sits at 80" wide and cycles 21" with the steering links in, not bad for being that narrow.
for shortcourse Im going to strap it at 18", in the dez it will pull around 22 with the new arms at a 2-3" higher RH
After I do all the arms and steering links again, I will finally be able to do the new centerlink and idler assembly.

The plan is to go about an inch wider/side on the final set of arms so I can keep the OG kit for the 4wd prerunner.
That should leave us around 82-83" in the end which is ideal for this setup... yes I know that seems too narrow =)

We also have a very innovative toyota based 2wd dez race spindle in the works.
looking forward to getting them together and doing the new arms soon, then I can finally see how it will sit in dez. mode

Once thats done I can set it at bump and do all the fenders.
As that happens I will be plugging away on all the little stuff when Im over sanding.
Hoping to make the halloween race at Prarie City... Too much into this to rush it at this point.

Hey Inde, with this lower arm setup, how much does it limit your wheel options? It maybe looks like it may require a pretty large sized wheel or one with very little back-spacing... Or is my thinking way off? lol

There's a lot more space than it seems.

for reference the inner bearing race lines up with the inner lip of the wheel

there are no clearance issues with a zero offset 15x8" wheel

CAD is great but nothin' beats real-world fab

got the adjustable SAI 2wd prototype spindles together for the dezert setup.
This set is for testing. If they hold up to the abuse of racing I will offer them on the market to the public.

The knuckles will look like the 4wd ones from the front, the uniball cups will be wrapped, and there are a cpl other little details.

The design allows us to adjust SAI for different tire/wheel combos and change camber once we get to the dirt really easily.

Got the rear spare tire mount going, Im integrating the hub, snout, bearings and fullfloat conversion plate into the mount. This way I can quickly replace any or all parts on any corner with issues. additional extra snout and bearings will be in with the tools/spares till we get our own housing/snout/hub designs finished.

the indefab logo-flange is recycled from a trans crossmember I made for the OG T100 back in tha day.

We are running a fundraising campaign to get the camino to Baja this year and document it.
If the world is gonna end Im fuckin' racing in the B1K before it happens!

Check it out - http://www.indiegogo.com/chasing-a-dream?a=1561923
please send the link to a friend or two.


We got the swaybar setup all sorted out, and she is sitting on her own weight finally, trying out some pretty sweet shocks made locally (not FOX)
Unfortunately most of the recent pics are too big to use here, check out the link above for more updates on the progress.

Cool...

PLanning to run the HAlloween race in Prarie CIty, we have friends with an RC helicopter w/ gopros gonna be there.

gonna be the interesting to say the least...

Do it!! I'm considering running it if things happened to go real well.
I cant wait to see this thing

Rad man, see you there.
If you dont run we need pit support, planning to head up a couple days before to test also.

More updates on the pitch page, check it out -Chasing a dream | Indiegogo
theres alot of pics Im posting in there that are too big to post here, nice of them to auto resize for you like that....hint..hint.

Got the last parts needed to put the driveshaft together and fire up the motor. finally.


Seriously though, if you guys could share the link with some friends that would be rad!

Originally Posted by Inde-Fab

More updates on the pitch page, check it out -Chasing a dream | Indiegogo
theres alot of pics Im posting in there that are too big to post here, nice of them to auto resize for you like that....hint..hint.

Got the last parts needed to put the driveshaft together and fire up the motor. finally.


Seriously though, if you guys could share the link with some friends that would be rad!

Inde, not to sound like a dick, but you really don't know your way around a computer.

Check this out...





















This is linked from that website you are uploading your pics from. This way you don't have to upload your pics more then once.

If you want to know how I did it PM me.

Mike

I am curious why the front spindles have so much drop in the snout,even if its for short course.It looks like its gonna have very little ground clearance.Camburg built our race spindlesl like that and they drag the beams everywhere"i know its a arms and is differant"Also take it from a guy who has missed a brake pedal in a crunch it looks small?Work looks good though

Mike, thanks for the tip. You know your a dick, and so am I so no hard feelings man. Admittedly Im not a pro with computers, or forum tools, just know enough to get by.
I wish I could afford to hire someone to do all my CAD and internet stuff so I could spend full days actually working (with my hands) on projects.


good points miller.
The brake pedal is actually quite large since theres no booster so I think that might be throwing off the proportions. brake pedal pad itself plenty large when its in place, also allows for heel/toe and left foot braking driving styles, you really hafta see it in the car next to your feet to get a good idea on that. If Im wrong I will find out at prarie city and adding a bigger foot pad later is no problem.

as for the spindles they are 4wd so theres not too many options on making it lift any more. (look at pro4 spindle pics) I can always preload more at the cost of droop travel. theres over 14" clearance on the front subframe at RH and with 11" of bump we still got 3" clearance with tires aired down so for shortcourse this will be fine, going for as low a COG as possible on the track. The 2wd spindles for the dez. raise it about 3", then we add another inch or two at the coil-over and have plenty of clearance in the deep two track ruts.

Being a dual purpose setup adds alot of variables so things are a bit different then your typical dez bomber.
IMO most dez trucks sit too high and cant corner fast enough safely.
The truck is designed to be very competitive in V8 open at LOORRS shortcourse events, as well as in 1400 class out in the dez.