It is a wonderful car. I just loved the beauty of the design. You are making it awesome every time you work on it. I can't wait to drive her. Is there any way in which we can drive her once its ready?
It is a wonderful car. I just loved the beauty of the design. You are making it awesome every time you work on it. I can't wait to drive her. Is there any way in which we can drive her once its ready?
Thank you Suzann for your kind words. Once completed any one that wants to check the car out is welcome to. I'm in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Test rides and drives will be cheerfully given. :)
I didn't work too much on the car this week. It took me 4 hours to fabricate the 4 brackets to mount the side pipes. Very frustrating!
I weighed the car this morning. I have racing scales. As is, it weighs 1624lbs. This includes: frame, body, SBC engine with iron Vortec heads, carb, starter, water pump, alternator, intake, distributor, wires, standard flywheel, bell housing, clutch, drive shaft, shifter, ebrake, radiator, cooking fan, hoses, pedals, shocks, springs, diff, suspension, rotors, calipers, pads, fuel pump, fuel tank, seats, seat belts, steering, wheels, tires, headers, side pipes, windshield.
What it needs: aluminum skins, gauges, wiring, switches, upholstery, mirrors, windshied wipers, sun visors, heater, defroster, paint, fluids, brake lines and fittings, fuel lines and fittings.
jmc14 said:Thank you Suzann for your kind words. Once completed any one that wants to check the car out is welcome to. I'm in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Test rides and drives will be cheerfully given. :)
I didn't work too much on the car this week. It took me 4 hours to fabricate the 4 brackets to mount the side pipes. Very frustrating!
I weighed the car this morning. I have racing scales. As is, it weighs 1624lbs. This includes: frame, body, SBC engine with iron Vortec heads, carb, starter, water pump, alternator, intake, distributor, wires, standard flywheel, bell housing, clutch, drive shaft, shifter, ebrake, radiator, cooking fan, hoses, pedals, shocks, springs, diff, suspension, rotors, calipers, pads, fuel pump, fuel tank, seats, seat belts, steering, wheels, tires, headers, side pipes, windshield.
What it needs: aluminum skins, gauges, wiring, switches, upholstery, mirrors, windshied wipers, sun visors, heater, defroster, paint, fluids, brake lines and fittings, fuel lines and fittings.
I may just have to cross the lake and take you up on that offer. How far from the Champlain Bridge are you?
I'm in Elizabethtown. About 35 minutes from the bridge.
I'm in Starksboro. About 30 minutes as well. You do any events with AMEC?
vwcorvette said:I'm in Starksboro. About 30 minutes as well. You do any events with AMEC?
I'm sorry that I missed seeing this. I haven't done any events. I need to look up what AMEC is. :)
It's been a long, hard winter. My wife and I have been taking care of our respective mothers. And, I'm continuing to have health issues. I don't have much energy. This week is the first week that I've worked on the car in awhile.
I did manage to finish welding my second frame, paint it, and cut and test fit the aluminum panels to skin it with. I'm planning to start final assembly this week. I plan on driving the car this summer with the body in it's white gel coat. Next winter I'll paint it and have the cockpit upholstered.
My Trademark attorney had assured me that "Chesnut Wildcat" would be approved by the trademark office. It wasn't. Now he wants more money to argue for it. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that.
I had been thinking about offering the car as a kit. I'm rethinking that. The bodies are easy as a professional fibergass company has my molds. I can just order them. But, I'm not sure that I'm up to building more frames.
jmc14 said:I wish that I had a bigger budget. I would like a killer motor with cross flow ITB fuel injection, wider rear wheels and tires, custom headers and side pipes, and a killer interior and paint. My goal for now is to get the car on the road then upgrade as I'm able.
Well, if you don't mind turning to the land of the rising sun for your engine and trans there are kits to adapt the stock Blacktop 4A-GE's ITBs to a lexus 1UZ-FE V8. It would be good for about ~300HP depending on which engine you snagged and your aftermarket ECU.
Except for a couple of details I have finished the aluminum work. In the next few days I'll be cleaning and painting parts. Then assembly!
As a child I thought a Cheetah was a feline or Hotwheels car. My first trip to Road America for the Vintage races stopped me in my tracks at a real Cheetah.
How much for a body and how long do you think I have to get one before that ship sails. What about plans for the frame or at least major attachment points and dimesions? Someday my Mustang will likely end up a nice donor.
This project is TOTALLY AWESOME.
Man this is looking awesome! Funny you're in Elizabethtown, our camp is right on the border of E-Town and Westport. We'll have to keep an eye out for this at the local Stewarts!
ruhltodd said:Man this is looking awesome! Funny you're in Elizabethtown, our camp is right on the border of E-Town and Westport. We'll have to keep an eye out for this at the local Stewarts!
Hopefully you will see it around this summer. We also have a camp on Lake Champlain. It's between Westport and Port Henry, off the Presbury Point road. I drive to it most every summer day.
I've finished cleaning parts. I've installed the engine and trans. Its a tight fit but I built the frame around them and made sure that I had good access to everything for repairs and maintenance. I also purchased tall aluminum valve covers to dress the engine up a bit.
I've installed the suspension and steering. I designed the chassis to end up with a 5 inch ride height and 60% of shock travel available for compression at that height. I'm happy to say that I've accomplished that.
The car is sitting a little high in the pictures. I'll make final adjustments when it's completed and I'm in the car.
I put the tub on to double check tire clearances. All good there.
I'm playing with tail lights. I have a full set of Lucas Winged surface mounted lights. These would meet NY's requirement for marker lights.
I have wiring, plumbing, and some engine assembly to do. I'm hoping to have a drive able car by the end of next week. Summer is coming!!
Awesome!
RossD said:Awesome!
Thank you very much.
I'm working on assembly.
I purchased the engine used on the cheap. I changed the intake and valve covers. I was happy to see how clean the engine is. Nothing fancy. Your basic SBC.
I'm using an inexpensive Chevy radiator. To get every thing to fit I'm running it with the inlet/outlet facing forward.
Most electric cooling fans are mounted to the radiator with ties that pass through the fins. I don't like to do that. I welded in some brackets that the fan bolts to. The self tapping screws in the upper radiator mount brackets will be switched to bolts.
There is an aluminum pan that seals the frame under the steering and radiator. The hood has 2 bulkheads that the hood hinge mounts to. These bulkheads seal the sides of the radiator when closed.
Tomorrow is brake plumbing. Then wiring. Getting close.
I now have a functioning E brake. You can see the cables running under the diagonal bars at the rear. I'll zip tie the cables to those bars.
The fuel tank is mounted. It's a standard Hot Rod part. I think that I purchased it from Speedway. I made sure that I can mount the body with the fuel tank installed. And, that I can remove it without removing the body. As of tonight I have the fuel line run.
I'm using inexpensive Patriot Vortec truck headers, and a 90 to hook up to the Patriot side pipes.
Next update :)
I have the pedals all set, throttle cable hooked up, engine ready to fire, brakes plumbed and working. It needs wiring, lights, and wipers to be drivable. I hope to have those items completed this week.
I put the body on and rolled it outside today. It's sitting a little low in the back and a little high in the front. I'll set the final ride heights on scales at the end.
I'm very happy with how this is coming out. The seating position is awesome. I'm very comfortable in the car. The shifter is at a perfect position for me. Though I'll be shortening the shifter. I love the looks and size.
Fantastic! Keep up the great work; the car looks awesome!
If I could do that I’d just build a full on Cheeta replica. You could sell it for big money on BAT. Some cars are so unobtainable that even their replicas are unobtainable.
not knocking what you’ve done. What I see is nothing but a full-on lust object.
I like it, awesome car.
Fantastic job. One of my all-time favorite GRM builds.
A 401 CJ said:If I could do that I’d just build a full on Cheeta replica. You could sell it for big money on BAT. Some cars are so unobtainable that even their replicas are unobtainable.
As JMC14 said in his original post, "My car is not a replica and I don't want to infringe on the Bill Thomas Cheetah history or intellectual property."
I've always liked the Cheetah, but I think this car is nicer looking and will most likely perform better as well.
Thank you for the positive comments.
I worked on the dash layout today. I need to fine tune it to get everything lined up perfectly.
There isn't enought clearance for normal car headlights. I'm using Harley Davidson Vrod headlights. Today I worked on brackets that will allow both horizontal and vertical adjustments. Spent a couple of hours on one and then realized there was a better way to make it. That's the story on this car. I've done every step multiple times.
The car is complete. It only needs fuel, coolant, and the 2 side mirrors. At the end of the day I set it on my racing scales. It weighs 1755lbs with 50.5% rear weight. Once fuel and I'm in the car the rear weight will go up slightly. I also need to adjust the springs for final ride height and cross weight. I'm pretty happy with the weight.
I decided to cut a dash out of the body tub. This will make wiring and installing the wiper system a lot easier. I then bonded a flange around the back of the opening that I cut out. The dash mounts to the trans tunnel and will mount to the flange. The body can be installed and removed with out removing the dash.
I'm going to shorten the shifter.
I have a driveshaft safety hoop that will be bolted in.
I'm leaving Saturday for a trip to FL to visit family. I was hoping to have the car running before I left. That's not going to happen.
The next update will be in 10-14 days.
At 1755 lbs, you have a pretty favorable hp to weight ratio. 
There is still lots to do but last night I took the first drive. It was just down my driveway and back. :)
Getting close!
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