Solid axle C4 “done”
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Feb 2024
Posts: 31
Likes: 21
From: south MS
That is some drag-racer-chassis-builder-level skill man. I am very impressed on multiple levels.
When I was a kid, my uncle who lived two doors down from us did this type of fabrication for his Pro Gas category NHRA car. He fabricated the full frame and did his own engine work. It was like watching a metal artist at work, and watching your ideas and fabrication skills here is a very fond memory of what it takes to engineer a car this way.
Since you mention you'll be driving this on the street as well, the only part of the build that leaves me slightly worried is that plate mount for the Panhard Bar on top of the diff housing. Under cornering load, do you think some triangle plates welded to the mounts would make it stronger so that it won't deflect sideways under ~1G side load at the rear? No issue though for drag racing I think.
Fantastic work!
When I was a kid, my uncle who lived two doors down from us did this type of fabrication for his Pro Gas category NHRA car. He fabricated the full frame and did his own engine work. It was like watching a metal artist at work, and watching your ideas and fabrication skills here is a very fond memory of what it takes to engineer a car this way.
Since you mention you'll be driving this on the street as well, the only part of the build that leaves me slightly worried is that plate mount for the Panhard Bar on top of the diff housing. Under cornering load, do you think some triangle plates welded to the mounts would make it stronger so that it won't deflect sideways under ~1G side load at the rear? No issue though for drag racing I think.
Fantastic work!
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Feb 2024
Posts: 31
Likes: 21
From: south MS
Good job ! ... Cool to see an imaginative approach ... When I did my 9" , I wore out a tape measure and much of my brain . LOL ... Not a job for the faint of heart ... BTW , If you don't already have one , I have a short axle for an 8.8 ... If I recall , its around 28" . And , FYI , when I bought my housing and axles from Moser , I also bought their "economy" brake setup which just happened to be '96 Exploder discs and shoes in rotor hat parking brake like the early C4's . It needed the big Ford axle ends .
Now , the fun part ... dialing in the 4-link and shocks at the track .
Now , the fun part ... dialing in the 4-link and shocks at the track .
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 1,361
Likes: 400
From: DFW TX
That looks great!
I have been contemplating this as well. There were some excellent write-ups about modifying the Exploder 8.8s decade(s) ago on the S10 forums. It was the go to budget rear end swap for the drag racers. I don't know what a junkyard 8.8 goes for now, but the S10 guys always picked up two of them so that they ended up with two short side axles to make their one rear end. They used to be really cheap, like $50-$100 each as there were tons of them in the yards back then. Of course, most if not all the S10 8.8 swaps still used leaf springs, so it wasn't nearly as involved as this either.
Good job!
I have been contemplating this as well. There were some excellent write-ups about modifying the Exploder 8.8s decade(s) ago on the S10 forums. It was the go to budget rear end swap for the drag racers. I don't know what a junkyard 8.8 goes for now, but the S10 guys always picked up two of them so that they ended up with two short side axles to make their one rear end. They used to be really cheap, like $50-$100 each as there were tons of them in the yards back then. Of course, most if not all the S10 8.8 swaps still used leaf springs, so it wasn't nearly as involved as this either.
Good job!
