8.50 index build

Todd Geisler · 10-16-2021, 09:09 AM

Hello all, long time member, just never had a class car.

One year ago I had a bad top end wreck with my 8.50 index Malibu that I built, owned and raced for 27+ years. Car made a hard left past the finish line, put me into the wall which then caused the car to barrel roll as many as 7 times I'm told. I don't remember any of the accident, so no apparent cause was found.

A couple weeks after the crash I was able to source a body to begin building again. My dream car was gone so the new car would simply be a purpose built race car, chosen for ease of parts availability, low purchase cost and light weight.

I have many, many pics of the build in detail, not sure how much interest there would be to see this project.

Keith 944 · 10-16-2021, 09:40 AM

The first car looked very nice, i'm sure this one will be too. I am always interested in any build!
Keep up the good work and keep posting please!

Todd Geisler · 10-16-2021, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith 944

The first car looked very nice, i'm sure this one will be too. I am always interested in any build!
Keep up the good work and keep posting please!

Will do, gonna be alot of pictures to post. lol

Todd Geisler · 10-16-2021, 11:30 AM

Found alot more rust than I was hoping for. One area I really didn't want to get into was the front frame rails which have a reputation for rusting out under the master cylinder and combination valve.

I tried ordering a replacement frame rail kit but didn't like how it was going to install, plus I found an issue with the factory placement of the passenger rail, so I decided to make my own. Drew them up on CAD at work and cut them out on the cnc plasma.

Todd Geisler · 10-16-2021, 11:37 AM

So many holes to weld up in the shock towers...

Body back from media blasting...

In the mean time parts were ordered and slowly starting to come in.

Todd Geisler · 10-16-2021, 12:01 PM

At this point the front end was rebuilt as far as I could go for the time being. I was ready to start the tube work but was waiting for a bay to open up at work to get started.

So in the mean time I worked on building the rear housing. First was a mockup and measurements of the rear wheel/tire combination.

Then the rear could begin with welding on the 4 link doubler plates.

Housing and 4 link brackets being fixtured up.

Once all the welding was done the housing ends could be fit which is a very time consuming/tedious process to get them perfectly square to the axle centerline.

A fixture was then made to hold the housing to the chassis table.

About the time I was completing the work on the rear, a bay opened up at work so I transferred the car to its new home.

...and now tube work could begin.

Todd Geisler · 04-13-2022, 02:07 PM

Small update on the most recent progress. First off was to prepare to bond the roof supports to the cage. This required stripping the powder coat off to bare metal, yet not damage the powder coat outside of the bond area. Alot harder than it should have been because like a dummy I put the tubs in the car and my access to reach the area was gone now. Had to reach from outside the car making it quite challenging.

Todd Geisler · 04-13-2022, 02:16 PM

Next up was to finish up the parachute. The old chute bag was badly sun faded so I got a new replacement. The aluminum spring can was pretty beat up from the crash so I straightened it as best as I could then had it powder coated in an effort to save it. Lastly, a new chute cable installed.

The last few things were to install new door lock cylinders then sandblasting the trunk latch & hardware then installing as well as the trunk lock cylinder.

jims5600 · 04-13-2022, 02:29 PM

Todd I love following this build. Your craftsman ship is awesome!
I had a roadster and three dragsters. There primitive compared to
what your doing to that chassis. I never knew there was that much
involved with a fast door car chassis.
Keep up the great work and best of luck.
Jimmy

Todd Geisler · 04-13-2022, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jims5600

Todd I love following this build. Your craftsman ship is awesome!
I had a roadster and three dragsters. There primitive compared to
what your doing to that chassis. I never knew there was that much
involved with a fast door car chassis.
Keep up the great work and best of luck.
Jimmy

Thanks Jimmy for the kind words. I was sharing the build as often times people don’t realize how much work is entailed in a full build start to finish.

10-16-2021, 09:09 AM	#1
Todd Geisler Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 328 Likes: 64 Liked 345 Times in 149 Posts	8.50 index build Hello all, long time member, just never had a class car. One year ago I had a bad top end wreck with my 8.50 index Malibu that I built, owned and raced for 27+ years. Car made a hard left past the finish line, put me into the wall which then caused the car to barrel roll as many as 7 times I'm told. I don't remember any of the accident, so no apparent cause was found. A couple weeks after the crash I was able to source a body to begin building again. My dream car was gone so the new car would simply be a purpose built race car, chosen for ease of parts availability, low purchase cost and light weight. I have many, many pics of the build in detail, not sure how much interest there would be to see this project.

10-16-2021, 09:40 AM	#2
Keith 944 VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Dela-where? Posts: 2,115 Likes: 1,003 Liked 1,641 Times in 520 Posts	Re: 8.50 index build The first car looked very nice, i'm sure this one will be too. I am always interested in any build! Keep up the good work and keep posting please! __________________ KEITH MAYERS 2 X somebody many X nobody

10-16-2021, 11:30 AM	#4
Todd Geisler Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 328 Likes: 64 Liked 345 Times in 149 Posts	Re: 8.50 index build Found alot more rust than I was hoping for. One area I really didn't want to get into was the front frame rails which have a reputation for rusting out under the master cylinder and combination valve. I tried ordering a replacement frame rail kit but didn't like how it was going to install, plus I found an issue with the factory placement of the passenger rail, so I decided to make my own. Drew them up on CAD at work and cut them out on the cnc plasma.

10-16-2021, 11:37 AM	#5
Todd Geisler Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 328 Likes: 64 Liked 345 Times in 149 Posts	Re: 8.50 index build So many holes to weld up in the shock towers... Body back from media blasting... In the mean time parts were ordered and slowly starting to come in.

10-16-2021, 12:01 PM	#6
Todd Geisler Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 328 Likes: 64 Liked 345 Times in 149 Posts	Re: 8.50 index build At this point the front end was rebuilt as far as I could go for the time being. I was ready to start the tube work but was waiting for a bay to open up at work to get started. So in the mean time I worked on building the rear housing. First was a mockup and measurements of the rear wheel/tire combination. Then the rear could begin with welding on the 4 link doubler plates. Housing and 4 link brackets being fixtured up. Once all the welding was done the housing ends could be fit which is a very time consuming/tedious process to get them perfectly square to the axle centerline. A fixture was then made to hold the housing to the chassis table. About the time I was completing the work on the rear, a bay opened up at work so I transferred the car to its new home. ...and now tube work could begin. Last edited by Todd Geisler; 10-16-2021 at 12:05 PM.

04-13-2022, 02:07 PM	#7
Todd Geisler Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 328 Likes: 64 Liked 345 Times in 149 Posts	Re: 8.50 index build Small update on the most recent progress. First off was to prepare to bond the roof supports to the cage. This required stripping the powder coat off to bare metal, yet not damage the powder coat outside of the bond area. Alot harder than it should have been because like a dummy I put the tubs in the car and my access to reach the area was gone now. Had to reach from outside the car making it quite challenging.

04-13-2022, 02:16 PM	#8
Todd Geisler Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 328 Likes: 64 Liked 345 Times in 149 Posts	Re: 8.50 index build Next up was to finish up the parachute. The old chute bag was badly sun faded so I got a new replacement. The aluminum spring can was pretty beat up from the crash so I straightened it as best as I could then had it powder coated in an effort to save it. Lastly, a new chute cable installed. The last few things were to install new door lock cylinders then sandblasting the trunk latch & hardware then installing as well as the trunk lock cylinder.

04-13-2022, 02:29 PM	#9
jims5600 Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 125 Likes: 47 Liked 21 Times in 9 Posts	Re: 8.50 index build Todd I love following this build. Your craftsman ship is awesome! I had a roadster and three dragsters. There primitive compared to what your doing to that chassis. I never knew there was that much involved with a fast door car chassis. Keep up the great work and best of luck. Jimmy

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