Project Street Fighter Body Panels & Exhaust

Today on muscle car after getting shaken, patched and spoiled Project Street Fighters exhausted. Plus we'll show you how to make custom stainless exhaust tips.

How you like it, Richard. Heck,

yeah, I always look better in the store, bought ones if I say so myself.

Hey, guys, welcome to muscle car. We're back working on our 71 Ka

Project Street Fighter. She's finally down on all fours and we're ready to start hanging some body panels. Once we get the doors, fenders and deck lid on, we can take a look at that shaker hood and make sure it's gonna clear the carbs in our 440.

We started with a rust free 71 Barracuda. So we don't have to worry about getting the body blasted or doing a lot of sheet metal work. We got the Subra connectors, suspension and rear ending,

locked up the motor and trans modified the headers and got the steering in

when you've done as many chassis mods to a vehicle as we've done to our

KA.

It's a good idea to hang all the sheet metal back on to make sure there's no surprises

since the K

is a unibody car, every part is tied to all the other parts. So if you make a change, it can affect panel alignment.

This MS D distributor is nice but it's just too tall to fit with the shaker scoop. We'll try a shorter cap first. But if it's still too tall we'll find one that works a moment of truth.

Oh, a

little bit low on the corners. But that'll come up with the bumpers. That looks really good, dude.

Surprise me. Yeah,

that does. That looks great. The shaker scoop actually sits right on the engine and dances around when you push the loud pedal. Hence the name Shaker.

It wasn't just designed to look cool. Its main purpose is to suck in cold air.

00,

man,

it ain't good. Is it?

Things were going way too smooth.

We're overlapping a scoop by a good quarter of an inch over here, dude.

And we're already hitting on this side. You get a little fudge away right here. If we can trim that,

slide it over, it'll probably gain this a little right here.

Well, we're already maxed out on the adjustment right here and that scoop is as far this way as it's gonna go.

Well, that's all maxed out.

Do you have any fudge room on the motor mounts?

No, I think they're pretty much where they're gonna be. It's like we're going to make this work somehow. How high is this thing set?

No, we're too high. Anyway, we're still up on the front. That whole thing's gotta get dropped. Let's try dropping that and then we'll trim it, drop the base. Yeah,

we'll run that aftermarket intake too.

Different intake and different carburetors.

So a little bit here, a little bit there and it's probably knocking this thing up too tall

here. It looks like we can,

we can probably lose a good quarter of an inch or so off of there.

Now, this is another case where the combination of aftermarket parts doesn't come together as easily as we had hoped. The height of the scoop is determined by things not easily change the position of the motor and the height of the heads intake and carburetors

that leaves the scoop itself by taking a quarter inch here and an eighth inch there. We might be able to squeeze it in under the wire

dropping. The base means the carburetor linkage will need more room. So I've got more trimming

to do

that is very thick.

Well, then

let's do this.

Whoever built this thing was serious about building up the fiberglass, but a Matco

diet grinder should knock it out

with the base, modified the hood drops enough to see where the edges need to be trimmed. We're a heck of a lot closer. We got to lose a little sheet metal here though

and not a lot is coming off. But if it's in the wave, it's gotta go

with a cut off wheel slinging metal everywhere. A welding blanket will keep that pretty 440 from getting scarred up.

They're looking a whole lot better here. At least it isn't sitting on top of the scoop anymore

close, but no banana.

We're running out of options here. Time to start cutting up that scoop. And I can tell you one thing, this scoop will go on this car. I'll keep cutting until it fits. But this really is the only other thing that can get shot. If this doesn't do it. We'll be taking another look at the motor mounts that can be modifying the suspension and we really don't want to have to get into that.

I'm taking out a quarter inch and crossing my fingers.

Oh,

I think we got it.

It does look good. You pull up on the corner real quick.

Oh, yeah, we got it once we get the corner

corner stops and we'll be cool. Yeah, let's move on to the back. Works for me.

I still need to glue those scoop pieces back together. But hey, I've had enough for now time to get on that spoiler.

Included with the spoiler are the measurements to mark the location of the holes.

Some free assembly of the wing is required. The angle is adjustable just like the original. So the bases have pivots. Why change the angle of the spoiler to increase the down force for high speeds or decrease the drag for normal driving?

Another piece that transforms the barracuda into a coa

is the lower balance with the unique exhaust cutouts.

Now, coa

is looking pretty good even if the color does make it look like we just pulled the poor thing out of a swamp, but we'll be taking care of that soon enough, but something's missing. Kotas are supposed to have gills after the break. We'll make this fish breathe a little easier

up next. We'll show you the right way to burn it in a patch panel,

but this car is pretty rust free. We haven't had to do much cutting on the sheet metal. We're about to chop up two perfectly good fenders. Why louvers are they functional? No, but do they look? Cool. Hell, yeah. Now Barracuda was a base model with limited options, so they didn't have them but Kutas were performance models and in 71 they did.

Your one has full fenders with the L

available. We're gonna use our insert panels

right now. Double check the measurements in the book

and this one right here is perfect,

but I don't think we need to use all this extra sheet metal around here. No, we probably ought to just mark it right here. Mark the Louvers.

We can trim off the excess,

trim it off, back

over, then mark the outside and then cut it off.

Yeah, that'll work. Well, you mark that man. I'm gonna get the welder. Ok.

I'm setting the panel in place to mark where the louvers will be. So I'll have a reference point once the edges of the new panel are trimmed off

after double checking that everything is straight and level.

Perfect. I can measure where the new panel would be trimmed. I'm leaving an inch all the way around. This gives enough room to weld it in without getting into the body.

Yeah,

here's where the marks I made earlier come in handy. I know exactly where the panel needs to go.

A trick that I like to use is rounding the corners of the patch panel. It makes it easier to weld in because there's no 90 degree corners to melt out and take your time trimming and do lots of test fitting and you'll end up filling the gaps in with welds.

All right, man, this looks about ready to be welded in there. Yeah, it is. You might want to knock the galve off that thing first though. All right. Well, throw it in the blaster, man, if you will start on the other side, works for me.

These patch panels are galvanized to protect them from rust. Now, welding galvanized metal releases toxic fumes. So the coatings got to go.

You could grind it off if you don't have access to a blaster, just be sure to wear a mask

with the coating gone. Brent can prep the area and weld the new piece in

as he welds. He's checking to make sure the sheet metal is not heating up, too much

overheating will cause warping. So he's making sure to let each area cool.

It also helps to avoid welding continuously in one place. So skipping around will reduce warping also.

Now, this is important, make sure there's no gaps between your welds. It needs to be completely solid or the body work you lay over, it will crack out later.

Right on, man. That's looking awesome. My side still needs a little grinding but you know that's getting there once you get that done, dude, what do you say? We get that exhaust flow. It works for me. Hey, you guys hang tight because coming up later in the show, we're gonna show you how Magna flow is gonna make this piece roar

after the break. The guys get some hang time.

We got Street Fighter up on the lift and we're ready to install a brand new Magne Flow exhaust. Now, this kit is designed specifically for Chrysler E bodies, but they also make kits to fit just about any common application

they come with pretty much everything you're gonna need for a standard install. But the

C is well, they use some special tips to fill in these holes in the rear balance. We're gonna make our own.

Now, if you're dealing with a non stock installation, you might want to grab one of the Magna Flow's Universal Hot Rod kits. It includes a bunch of bits and pieces that can really come in handy. We'll start by getting the X pipe in place. Now, make sure to have plenty of exhaust jacks on hand for this process. They're not absolutely necessary, but they really make it easier. Another trick is the world supports in place temporarily.

The down pipes go in next.

That looks pretty good to me.

Yeah, like that, that's going almost straight into the collector. Our other header may not be finished, but we know where the collector will be

as far as just hanging down

because we've got a good inch

hanging down underneath here. See, that's a straight speed bump catch right there looking in from the back, but we're gonna be getting into our drive shaft. Well, the back is still gonna come down.

So

I think it'd be all right because we travel until we way up here. Yeah,

this thing sets so low. We might be all right

this up here though.

I would put some heat stuff on there because that's coming right off. That collector. We can build a heat. She,

yeah, our

deer is pretty good.

We just tell Dana to watch the speed bumps.

Yeah,

I like that.

I think it'll work.

The position and ground clearance are ok. So we can tack together what we've got

now, magni flow includes a couple of hangers in the kits that work great if you're running a stock type suspension. But as you can see, there's no leaf springs within a quarter mile of this thing.

So we're gonna use a couple of plates and build our own style mounts.

And that means even more this nice thick undercoating will end up all over my face. And the floor,

the signature series mufflers that came with Magna Flow's kit are free flowing and like the rest of the system are stainless steel. So you don't have to worry about rust.

The tail pipes need to line up with the holes in the balance. So we'll see how they look.

Actually, we're not off as far as I would have guessed.

We took a little section out of that.

It'll raise that pipe up

and probably bring it,

tucked it more in. Yeah,

actually that'll help the heck out of this side too if you do that little cut and little w it fits in there better than I thought it was going to. Yeah, it looks like it's really gonna be tricky

considering all the suspension mods. These pipes really do fit great.

They're designed to work with stock tips, but we have something different in mind.

A couple of strategically placed cuts will not only shorten them but will also bring the tips closer to the center of the opening

tail pipes lined up pretty good.

I mean, it's time to make those custom tips we talked about after the break. We'll show you how it's done

coming up. Pick up some tips on welding stainless steel.

Hey, guys. Welcome back. We got our exhaust all mocked up with one exception tips. Now, Barracuda used a single exhaust, nothing special at all.

Kass on the other hand, had twin monster square tips shoved right through the rear balance. We could spend 100 and 50 to $200 on a set. But hey, they're just stainless steel boxes and I'm all about cutting welding some metal. So what does fab

room

build on a budget muscle car projects that save you time and money

materials for this are simple. Just a small sheet of stainless that you can pick up for less than 50 bucks

could use mild steel and save a few dollars, but you'd have to have it coated to prevent rust.

Don't forget your cardboard for the templates.

First, I need to know the general size of the box by marking the outer edges of the opening. I can get an idea of where I need to make my bends,

some creasing, cutting and taping and the overall shape of the tip emerges.

I want these angle to match the openings they'll peek out of. So after setting them straight level, I'll mark the edges all the way around.

Next. The back end needs to be pinched in to grab onto the exhaust pipe.

I'll measure the 2.5 inch width of the pipe, then design pie cuts to bring in the sides.

It's good

one last test fit and I'm ready to transfer the shape to the stainless.

The sheer takes care of all the straight cuts and gets rid of the excess.

The band song makes all the curve cuts and leaves us with just the pieces. We need

a quick trip to the break. Turns my two dimensional pattern into a three dimensional piece, a little bending and tweaking and it's ready for welding.

All right, man.

Get it together, don't you? Heck yeah. Time for you to get your tig on.

You can do it too. How about it?

Yeah.

Instead of using a rod to tig, we left some extra material on the edges. It can be melted in with the rod only being used to fill in any gaps.

Here we go.

Ok.

Brent's using a 24 great dis to clean up the edges.

A few light passes with a scotch, bright disc will give the tips a one off. Look.

Bam.

I like it. Richard. Heck, yeah. Ours look better than the store bought ones if I say so myself. Well, let's get them welded on. Add a couple of hangers. Finish up to hitter. Yeah, we can knock all that stuff out and I sweat. But you know what, for today, we're out of time. So until next time we're out of here.