In our previous article we had made the decision to go with an Art Morrison Pro Truck kit. Our S-10 would have a mild steel full tube frame with a four-link rear suspension and strut front suspension, covered by a GTS Fiberglass extended cab body. In hindsight I should have gone with a Chrome Moly kit but did not have a TIG welder when I made my decision. Traditionally Chrome Moly chassis have a better resale value as well as the ability to certify for quicker than 7.5 second E.T.s.

The next step is to fabricate a jig on which to build the racecar. Morrison states you can build your kit on a flat garage floor with three sheets of plywood. I always thought my garage was reasonably flat until I went to set up my jig. I then came up with the idea of raising the plywood off the floor and then leveling it. To ensure the surface was flat, the straightest 2 x 4s I could find were nailed to the underside of the plywood.
4 x 4 angle iron strips were then cut and fixed to the framework. A transit level was then used to level the three sheets using rawlbolts running through the angle iron (see photo). Once we were satisfied the surface was sufficiently flat to start assembly we moved onto the next step.

The kit comes with all the required bends in the tubing with plenty extra length for cutting to size. A cut-off saw is required to cut the tube to a length where you can use a tubing notcher is used to cut to finished size. The important thing to remember is measure twice cut once. I would suggest purchasing a notcher with bearings rather than bushings if you can afford it. My notcher has served me well but the bushings are pretty shot after notching a whole racecar. I used a good quality cutting fluid to give some extra life to the holesaws that are used by the notcher. It is also worthwhile buying quality holesaws as the ones available at your friendly Canadian Tire store are not up to the task of repeatedly cutting thick wall or Chrome Moly tube. If you use cutting fluid make sure you clean the tube’s exterior and interior so the oil cannot contaminate the weld.

Another tool that will prove invaluable is a digital protractor. There are many available but they look to be made by the same manufacturer to me. My wife bought mine, a Pro 360 straight out of the Art Morrison catalogue and it has proved to be worth its weight in gold. Once the racecar has been assembled it will continue to be useful for such things as setting your pinion angle, ask Joe Boniferro.

So the jig is ready, you have all the tools, what do you do next? I suggest taking the time to identify all the tubing in the kit. As I said in the last issue, Morrison provides plenty of documentation to help you build your racecar. That includes three large blueprints and a personalized instruction manual filled with instructions and diagrams that lay out the build schedule for the racecar. Included in this manual is a list of all the tubing in the kit. It is separated into tube size and lists the quantity and length along with where the tube is used. In the manual diagrams, a number identifies the tubes but the tube list does not list that number. It makes your life a lot easier if you identify all the tubing and make sure all are present and accounted for. This will help ensure you do not use a longer tube where a shorter one is specified and then require that longer tube in another location.

Now following the instructions you can get started. The first job at hand is the assembly of the rollbar; this includes the rear of the funny car cage and the integral rear driveshaft loop. The tubing is tacked together until all assembled. On the shorter tubes make sure you drill a small hole to allow expanding gasses to escape the inside of the tube, otherwise you may have trouble with weld quality. Once you are fully satisfied that the rollbar assembly is true and plumb, you can finish the welding. It is easier to rotate the assembly and finish the welding than struggle to weld uphill once the assembly is in situ. The frame rails are then placed in position on the jig. They are held there by wooden blocks 1.5” square by 6” long. The frame rails are notched at both ends and attached to the crossmember at the front and the lower tube of the rollbar assembly at the rear. The front crossmember has to be rotated to the proper location as it is also used to attach the front suspension A-arm. The rollbar is tacked to the frame rails and a couple of angle iron struts hold the assembly plumb until the rest of the rollcage is assembled.

The next article will see the chassis take shape and start to look like a racecar.