Glen Strightiff/Chris Wilson C3 build

[baja-chris]

Now back from the trip to see Savage, we started the process of fitting the body with a cage. We started with a floor cage, fitting and welding the body with lots of measurements as we go. We ended up cutting out most of the floor in an effort to lower the seats a bit. When we raced Todd Z's Stroppe, we wished for a little more headroom. So we ended up with the seats on this build 1.5" lower than they were in the Stroppe, relative to the door sill.

The floor ended up kind of funky because we wanted the seats slammed as low as we could but the rear suspension 3-link cycles up to the bottom of the skins at the back of the cab, above the level of the seats, had we run that level back. So there are some odd steps in the floor to clear both the seats and the suspension.

[baja-chris]

Here is a picture of Todd Z's original Stroppe that started this madness. Followed by a couple pics of the old bronco racer we found in a field the ended up being the body donor.

[baja-chris]

Check the hood decal, these bones have some real history, so we brought it home and originally wanted to build an EB racer, but the solid axle and super short wheelbase suck so then we thought we would just build a modern replica of one of the 2wd I-beam broncos that Stroppe built. But they are still super short so then we decided to put this body on a TTB bronco so it could at least run at competitive class 3 speeds.

The idea here is to created a modern tribute to, or a modern interpretation of, a Stroppe Racer. What would Bill Stroppe build if he was still with us and building broncos? Well of course he would build what Ford wanted. But this is fantasy land, so what if Ford decided to build a retro Bronco like they have done with the Thunderbird and Mustang? Well, we think Ford and Stroppe would build something like this project. I'd like to think Bill would approve.

[baja-chris]

More floor cage work.

[baja-chris]

Now on to the front of the tub.

[baja-chris]

We decided we should move the A-pillar back to where it should be for a TTB chassis and it helped the looks too by spreading out the body stretch with a little bit in many places. We added a 2" stretch in the front wheelwell, the fender flares we have will still fit with this gap. And we narrowed the gap in the door opening by 2" so it looks better proportioned.

[baja-chris]

Since this is an open top Bronco, we needed a reference for the upper cage. We have the dimensions for the windshield, rake and height, and we have the cage dimensions from an authentic Stroppe racer. So we decided the next thing to do was to mount the seats and belts, make sure the seating positon was right then make sure the cage would be a safe distance from our helmets.

The seat and belt mounts are shown here, tied into the floor cage and frame. the cage work has to rake up at the rear to clear the rear 3-link at full bump.

[baja-chris]

Some details of the seat and belt mounts. I built a frame for the 80 gallon fuel cell so it could be located.

[baja-chris]

Look what UPS brought us! A 427 small block from Ford built on a Boss 351 block. 4.125" bore on a 4" stroke. 535hp/545tq. C&J is handling the carb mods based on a holley 750 double pumper and modifying the advance curve on our MSD distributor. Edelbrock made the Super Vic air gap intake and we are making headers in house.

[baja-chris]

Making headers. We bought the header flange, making everything else. The Stainless tubing is shaped with a steel plug and a hammer to fit the rectangle ports and round out the collectors.

[baja-chris]

More headers photos. Check out the trick home made mufflers. Concentric SS tubes with holes drilled in the inner tube, no packing material.

[baja-chris]

Cage work.

[baja-chris]

Tin work.

[baja-chris]

Suspension pivot supports.

[baja-chris]

Front shocks.

[SteveG]

Damn, Chris. This thing does not disappoint! I don't know where to start complimenting!

[cs_drums]

The stock uprights were modified. The tapered hole for the tie rod was drilled out oversized and sleeved with a piece of 4130 and plate was added to put the new tie rod heim joint in double shear. A reinforcing plate/ring was added to the inside of the upright to add strength to the spindle bolts. The caliper mounting ears were cut off and a new caliper mounting plate was welded on, locating the large racing calipers to fit massive 14" rotors for the 17" wheels. After welding, the upright is covered with a metal bowl to keep it from cooling too fast and cracking.

What did you drill the taper out to and what size was the sleeve?

[baja-chris]

The bolt is 5/8", can't remember how big we bored the taper out, maybe 1.25". We bored it big enough so the heim misalignment fully seats on the steel insert instead of on the casting.

[ChaseTruck754]

Man this thing continues to amaze!

On a side note - how about some pics of that K5 in the background? That thing looks cool too!

[Deleted Account]

Man this thing continues to amaze!

On a side note - how about some pics of that K5 in the background? That thing looks cool too!

Its ramseys i think.. there is a build thread on race dezert..