Ardun Motor Install - Meticulous Merc

Once the front clip was powdercoated it was welded to the chassis, the joints ground smooth and primed before blending with paint. The areas where the original trans crossmember was removed were also painted.

With the chassis work completed, powdercoated, and painted, final assembly could begin. Here, the electric ABS master cylinder and accumulator are installed and plumbed with stainless lines.

Through-frame fittings were used on each side of the chassis to route the brake lines to the front calipers.

Assembly of the Fatman front suspension could now begin.

With all parts either powdercoated or stainless steel, care was taken during assembly. Note the use of rags to prevent scratches during the process. Here Andy Humenik is removing part of a spring compressor required when installing the coils.

One of two causes for the slight delay in progress (the other being waiting for the 700-R4 trans to be powdercoated and rebuilt) were the front hubs. While the Wilwood aluminum hubs are faultless, the owner wanted to retain his 5-on-5 1/2-inch early bolt pattern wheels, and the Wilwood hub was of insufficient diameter to allow re-drilling to suit. New hubs will be machined for the car, but were not finished prior to our deadline, hence the bare steel "roller" wheels used on the front for the remainder of this story.

With a jig fabricated to where the oil pan was bolted to ensure the mounting surface remained flat, reconstruction began. The first attempt was to retain the fins on the whole bottom surface, but the finned sections weren't long enough (arrow) and would require labor-intensive fabrication.

We showed you the beautiful cast finned aluminum oil pan from Ardun Enterprises last month, and how it was going to require modification to fit this application. After measurements were taken to ensure it would clear the crank and rods, a Sawzall was used to remove sections that could be reused. The front part of the lower sump for instance was relocated farther back.

The final result features a V'd lower section to clear the crank, lending some character to the finished article, while saving on labor time and still looking like a cast piece. Once it was welded and ground smooth, it was blasted with coarse media to give a cast appearance. Mission accomplished!