Project Mudslinger: Mr. Universe, Eat Your Heart Out!

Hey, the old Mustang is finally...        read full caption Hey, the old Mustang is finally beginning to look like a car again! Notice the trick work done to mimic the side moldings and the straight lines from the front fenders all the way to the C-post. Now if only we can get a coat of paint on here to keep the car from looking like it’s been hit by a Crayola® grenade.

Neil Wilson bolts up our homemade...        read full caption Neil Wilson bolts up our homemade front bumper. It is bent to exactly fit the shape of our bumper cover and rides bolted into sleeves so it will be easily removable if it gets mangled. We’ve hung a pair of stock front fenders on the car just to get a feel for the proportions we want to match.

We split the fenders into...        read full caption We split the fenders into two pieces—one horizontal and one vertical—to cut down on the compound curves necessary. It’s a lot easier to get the top strips cut and bent to shape and then hang the rest like skirts.

Scott Helms (foreground) and...        read full caption Scott Helms (foreground) and Chris Hargett bend up a door panel on Chris’ sheetmetal brake. All the edges are lipped for strength.

The panels begin going into...        read full caption The panels begin going into place. Care is the name of the game here. We did well—only one piece was a throwaway. But we also hadn’t ordered enough aluminum from Stock Car Steel, and Chris has to use some of his own supply for his Dirt Late Model. His colors are orange and blue; ours are red and white. Now you understand why the car looks like a technicolor experiment gone horribly wrong. Oh well, paint fixes everything.

The windowsill of a stock...        read full caption The windowsill of a stock Mustang curves down, then levels out just behind the A-post. Ours runs level, from the top of the front fender all the way to the C-post. It provides a little more protection for the driver and, we think, looks a lot better on a race car. We filled in the gap on the rear fender with a piece of steel tack welded into place. Chris’ dad, Eddie, is going to paint the car for us and swears that with a little seam sealer he can make this little piece of patch work look like it just rolled off the assembly line.

Here’s the completed...        read full caption Here’s the completed side Pop riveted into place. The car is on jackstands so it’s hard to tell, but the front wheel openings are the absolute minimum right now. We’ll open them up to where they need to be once we complete the car and establish exactly where the ride height is going to be.

The doors are braced with...        read full caption The doors are braced with a combination of steel tubing and aluminum. Aluminum angle and flat strap from Bradley’s Auto Parts is lightweight but gives the thin aluminum sheets some form and rigidity. We simply welded tabs to the rollcage and then bolted the aluminum to that.

The door sill wraps around...        read full caption The door sill wraps around a piece of one-inch steel tubing braced off the rollcage. That should hold things steady for all those victory-lane dives into the crowd we are planning on.

Taking a page from the Late...        read full caption Taking a page from the Late Model book, we put sheetmetal behind the nose to help keep hood size to a minimum.

We got ring-and-pinion kits...        read full caption We got ring-and-pinion kits from Reider Racing and National Drivetrain. National Drivetrain also sells this shim kit from Motive Gear that has everything you need (including excellent instructions) to do a proper third member install.

The front end had to be reworked...        read full caption The front end had to be reworked extensively to get everything to fit properly. The rail that our radiator will sit on has been moved back closer to the engine to allow the sheetmetal to slope down to our Late Model nose.

Chris test fits our aluminum...        read full caption Chris test fits our aluminum Fluidyne radiator. We will run semi-flexible aluminum strapping from the upper tubing which should hold the radiator in place but still allow it to give in case of an impact.

Pinion install is tricky....        read full caption Pinion install is tricky. You need a lot of torque on the pinion nut to set the pinion crush sleeve properly. Too much torque, it turned out, to do by this method. Our cordless driver didn’t have enough twist to get the job done.

Once we got close we had to...        read full caption Once we got close we had to switch to a less elegant method—good old brute force. We drilled a steel bar and bolted it to the hub to lock things down then asked William “Cookie” Helms to provide the horsepower. If you go this route, be very careful to check the crush sleeve often. If you go too far it’s ruined.

Greg Haig installs the ring...        read full caption Greg Haig installs the ring assembly after checking to see how the gears mesh. Shims allow the installer to set the proper gear lash.

Greg uses a dial indicator...        read full caption Greg uses a dial indicator to check lash. Manufacturer’s recommendations say lash should be between 0.008 and 0.010. On our second try we got 0.0095. Bolt it up!

Originally, when we sketched out the plan for Project Mudslinger, we spent no more time considering our car’s bodywork than a 2 year old would his Brussels sprouts. Everyone in our group has his own strengths, but skinning a car is one that none of us claim. Simply slap on a little sheetmetal, and a lot of duct tape, and as long as nothing fell off we figured we’d be set. Painting would be handled by whatever brand of spray paint we could get by the case at the hardware store.

Of course, if you have been following the progress of Project Mudslinger in Circle Track you already know that plan has been canned. In racing, it turns out, you should treat plans like you do your socks: Update them often with fresh ones or you’re going to stink up the works.

Quality Skinning

When Chris Hargett and Neil Wilson offered their time and expertise to help hang a new body on our Mustang we jumped at the chance. Chris and Neil, of H&W Race Car Fabrication, first got down to work on the previous installment of the Project Mudslinger buildup, and since then we’ve really been enlightened on just how much quality sheetmetal work can mean to a race car.

Dirt cars in this class do not depend as much on aero as their asphalt brethren, but it’s still important that the body is an advantage and not a hindrance to the way the car handles on the track. Also, several manufacturers have helped us out along the way, and there is no way they want a project they are involved with to look like a rolling pile of you-know-what. We want to represent them well—I’m sure you have the same concerns for your sponsors.

The primary steps covered in the previous installment were to find the car’s approximate ride height (by installing the engine, a dummy transmission and finishing up the suspension) and to build a level framework inside the car to hang the interior sheetmetal. The roof and rear quarters have to remain stock and in the stock location, so other than a little trim work, that part was easy. Because there was no wiggle room there, we began by placing the nose. We are using a flexible plastic Dirt Late Model nose we got from JR Motorsports. It comes in two halves, so it was easy to cut 2-½ inches from the inside of each half to get the proper width. We used an aluminum backing sheet to span the joint and Pop riveted everything together.

Finding the proper location was a little more difficult. We spent a lot of time moving the nose around, setting it on blocks to simulate ride height, and stepping back to make sure it fit the overall proportions of the car. The problem was its low profile didn’t fit with the radiator framework already welded in place. Actually, the radiator mount needed to be moved closer to the motor anyway, so it was easy to see what needed to be done. Out came the saws and welder for a little “fine tuning.”

Once that was complete, Neil and Chris were able to build the bumper, affix the nose and begin building fenders. This is when Chris’ skills as a body man really began to shine. With nothing more than a tape measure, a Sharpie®, and a sheetmetal brake, he recreated the original door moldings in the new aluminum skin, and it really sets the car off. Both Chris and Neil live and breath dirt-track racing, and it shows in their attention to detail. We’ve learned a lot from them about the proper way to approach building a car. Once Project Mudslinger finally hits the track, we might get thumped like an old piece of fruit, but you can bet it will be from lack of driving ability and not poor mechanical preparation.

Rear Gear

While the sheetmetal was going up, we also began work on the rear gearing so that it will be ready once the engine and transmission are put in for good. Our plan is to start out racing at Lancaster (S.C.) Motor Speedway, which is a half-mile dirt oval. Imagine Martinsville’s paper-clip shape with a little more banking. To go with our 1.96 transmission, we chose a 3.08 ring and pinion from National Drivetrain.

That combination gives us a 6.04 final drive (1.96 x 3.08 = 6.036) which should be just about right. In case we need to go a little lower we also have a 3.27 manufactured by Precision Gear, which will provide a 6.41 final drive. We still have a ways to go on the sheetmetal, not the least of which is the hood, rear spoiler and driver’s tub, but we’re making headway. We’ll soon have the car back in our home shop where we’ll begin the final driveline installation and wiring the car.

Part I: In the Beginning There Was...Junk

Part II: All Caged In

Part III: Shoehorn, Please!

Part IV: Toil And Trouble

Part V: What Do You Mean, Start Over?