More Progress - Front Cross-member

If you looked at the PO page, you would have seen that the mechanic hired by the PO took a cutting torch to it and removed the top for balancer / pulley clearance with the motor in the forward position he had it in.

I asked my crew chief Zachary what his opinion was and here are his before and after reactions...

I discover that with the motor 4" further back, and by using the older, short Chevy water pump and a single groove pulley ( no power steering for this puppy!), that the face of the pulley would be OVER 6" further back. With the aid of fellow OROC members Jim Sloan, Sloan Racing, and Paul Kort, I was able to come with a section of original cross-member from a cancer victim donor frame.  After much discussion and head scratching, I fabricated a new center web and  pulley cutout, and massaged the replacement piece to fit.

Luckily, the torch wielding "mechanic" left enough of the flange of the original internal web to graft onto, and the new 3/16" thick web I created had sufficient length to fit inside the existing, remaining cross-member so as to structurally reconstruct it.

I wanted to be sure to have enough room prevent the pulley from contacting with motor torque, and to be able to change a drive belt without jacking up the motor, so the pieces were fabbed to create a pocket.

The whole shooting match was then MIG'ed together and cleaned up a bit to look "purdy"!