Beck Kustoms | Aaron Beck

Steering Quickener

2011-12-11T00:06:00.000-08:00

Working out how to mount the 1.5:1 steering quickener.

Once I'd worked out the design I plasma cut it out of 3mm steel.

Here's the finished result. Fits perfectly and is very rigid.

Bolted in place with the steering quickener.

Should work great. Next up are the seat brackets.

2011-12-08T23:50:00.000-08:00

Seems like not much has happened on the cuda lately, not much blog worthy stuff anyway. But here's a few random pics from the last couple of weeks:

Mocking up the steering column, steering wheel, pedals, seats etc to work out the seat brackets and steering quickener.

Fabricated an alloy shroud for the fans, and just starting the wiring of the run stand.

Finished lower control arms. Reinforced, sway bar brackets added, powdercoated, with Firm Feel heavy duty greasable pins and nylon bushings.

Lots of fun to spin the shell around.

2011-11-22T21:52:00.000-08:00

Made an exhaust/muffler system for the engine/cam break-in on the stand. You void the warranty on TTI headers if you run them on break-in (as the ceramic coating needs to heat cycle before being fully set, and the exhaust gets too hot during the break-in), so I blasted a pair of old log manifolds and used the old mufflers off my car.

Garage

2011-11-11T21:33:00.000-08:00

I've tidied up my garage so I can finish the car there, Weta Workshop is currently too packed with orcs and robots to fit an old muscle car back in.

Here's a before photo of the garage during the tear down of the car.

2011-11-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

Coming together... Parts back from powdercoaters, suspension mockup, valve cover modification, custom fitted plug leads.

Hotchkis upper control arms, strut rods, tie rod, sway bar. Firm feel heavy duty lower control arm pin and nylon bushing. Magnum Force 2" drop spindle. Reinforced lower control arm and K member. Should be fun to thrash!

I had to modify one of the valve covers to make room for the headers. My first alloy TIG project, and it didn't turn out too bad. Alloy sure is trickier than steel.

Something Fishy

2011-10-28T00:37:00.000-07:00

Here's what I'm thinking for a future colour scheme for the car. The body is all flat black apart from the rear quarter, door, and c pillar on one side, which will be painted to look like a rough old race car (inspired by the 15oz coupe). I love the idea of having a two sided car. Here's a link to some side views.

Little details

2011-10-21T06:29:00.000-07:00

Made a little bracket for the dipstick, this sort of thing is fun to do. I'm also happy with the plug lead routing, I made brackets that hold the two rear most leads on either side right up tight to the block. The leads clear the overkill headers nicely, and I'll be running heat shields where the leads are between block and header tube.

2011-10-18T19:48:00.001-07:00

Rollbar

2011-10-17T00:39:00.000-07:00

Welded up the rollbar, a most enjoyable day at work!

Such pretty colours!

Not bad for my first TIG welding project.

It even fits, bonus!

2011-10-16T01:34:00.000-07:00

Modifying the intake. Here's the stock Edelbrock Performer RPM dual-plane intake.

The heads in my 440 have been quite heavily ported. The gasket here has been trimmed to the head port size, quite a bit larger than the stock ports on the intake!

After opening up the runners I lightly sandblasted the ports to give them a slightly rough texture, as this helps fuel mixing, intake runners shouldn't be polished apparently.

I also did a bit of work to the carb pad, as it had some ledges and a blunt divider that were an issue with the Wilson 1" 4 hole blended spacer between the intake and carb.

I cut the coil mounting castings off the front of the intake, as I'm not running the coil there. Then gave it a coat of black enamel to match the motor.

Done. I've also been working out the mounting bracket for the fuel pressure regulator, as well as the plug lead routing and the fuel line plumbing.

I got my TIG welding to the point where I'm confident welding up the half cage/roll bar. TIG welding is such a great process, I love it.

Here's one of the backstay mounting plates.

2011-10-07T00:52:00.000-07:00

Concept image of the Kuda. Here's the original photo.

Engine run stand

2011-10-06T01:19:00.000-07:00

Finished fabricating the drivetrain dolley / engine run stand. Now to finish the motor, wire it up, and run it in! Big thanks to Weta for putting up with this in the hallway!

2011-10-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

Working on the drivetrain dolly. The K member bolts on via the sway bar mounts, and the engine, bellhousing, and gearbox fit up so you can wheel the whole assembly around easily. The nose of the car can be dropped over this unit to install the whole drivetrain as one, as the factory did. I have also built a separate frame that bolts to the front that mounts the radiator, along with the battery, fuel can, and gauges etc so the engine can be broken in on the dolly. Great to see the whole drivetrain together too, it looks fantastic!

2011-09-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

Concept image of the Kuda with the fiberglass hood off. The hood will be secured via four Aerocatch fasteners, and I'll be putting two extra pins on the rear edge of the roof, in order to latch the hood as shown when it's removed from the front.

Aerocatch fasteners. Pretty cool little things, very well engineered.

Lower Control Arms

2011-09-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

Reinforcing the lower control arms. First up they got stripped of bushings and bump stops, then sand blasted clean.

Reinforcing plates from Firm Feel were welded on the underside.

As my car never came with a front sway bar, I had to weld on the required brackets.

Done. Ready to be cleaned and powder coated.

2011-09-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

Test fitting the K member on the motor.

2011-09-24T00:08:00.000-07:00

Test fitting the new fiberglass fenders and hood along with the new wheels and tires. The fenders fit better than I was expecting from race-weight fiberglass parts. Nice to see the cuda looking more like a car too.

Kuda components

2011-09-22T02:38:00.000-07:00

2011-09-17T03:38:00.000-07:00

Installing the new Milodon road race oil pan, a very nice part.

Windage tray and pickup.

Reinforcing the factory K member. The skid plate will be welded in after I test fit the big tubular sway bar that has to fit under.

I welded all the seams (twice) and rewelded the factory welds (some of which were incredibly shabby, but that goes for the rest of the car too). I also added a Firm Feel gusseting kit.

It's always nice to weld new steel to clean metal. Welding the seam wasn't as nice due to all the oily crap between the metal which makes for shitty looking welds (the oily crap you can see here is just anti weld-spatter spray though, I sandblasted and ground the K member as clean as I could before I started welding).

Rollbar work

2011-09-10T01:01:00.000-07:00

I made a jig so I could work on the rollbar while the car is away from the workshop. Makes a tricky job a little easier, notching tubes can be tough on the brain! Especially if the joins are to be TIG welded, as then it's even more critical that the tubes fit tightly.

Once I had one of the backstays fitting right, I traced the scallops with paper and transferred the cut line onto the other backstay tube. Worked great, saved a lot of fiddly work. I've never done this stuff before so am pretty slow.

Once I had the backstays finished I mocked up the diagonal member in alloy. I made a rail on the jig that the tube could sit on so I could figure out the scalloping easier.

More parts

2011-09-10T00:44:00.000-07:00

The makings of a machine...

2011-09-05T01:50:00.000-07:00

The car is a trailer again as space was needed in the Weta studio.

Some of the work done lately includes reinforcing the rear chassis rails as the inner face was pretty thin with age. I sandblasted then primed them.

I cut plates out of 1.6mm steel and had a big swage put through the middle for rigidity.

Welded up, with the bottom edge ground smooth for a tidy look.

I also reworked the outer rear wheelhouses. My old tires used to rub in this area as the factory wheel houses curved excessively inwards.

2011-08-20T01:38:00.000-07:00

Some of the latest work on the underside. I've added torque boxes front and rear, added braces from the torsion-bar crossmember to the front chassis rails, and stitch welded the subframes and other key points.

Here's one of the rear torque boxes. I've also added a plate to the leaf spring hanger mount inside the box section formed by the torque box plate, same as the factory hemi cars got.

I fabricated the front torque boxes as they were much simpler than the rears.

Welded in place.

Also picked up the CNC bent rollbar hoop.

Rollbar plan

2011-08-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

Here's the plan for the rollbar. No more side intrusion bars due to them putting the rollbar in a more restrictive category with respect to MSNZ regulations.

Finished Rotisserie

2011-08-08T17:49:00.000-07:00

I've finished the rotisserie frame for the car, with extra bracing, castors, and RHS tie bar.

Subframe Connectors

2011-08-08T17:46:00.000-07:00

With the car on the rotisserie I could finish welding the underside of the floor to the subframe connectors.

The torsion bar crossmember plate, note the gusseted torsion bar anchor, similar to what the 1970 Trans Am race cars had.

The other end of the bar, where it is slid into the rear chassis rail.

BBQ fish

2011-07-31T01:06:00.000-07:00

Made a rotisserie for working on the underside. It's not quite finished, this is a trial fit. Good fun spinning the car around, and it sure makes getting through the layers of shitty underseal on the bottom easier.

Mopar Missile

2011-07-23T06:01:00.001-07:00

Here's a quick concept image showing the front of the Kuda. Bring on summer!

2011-07-23T01:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a little bit of the recent work. Around the door and window apertures I've added one or two plug welds between every factory spot weld.

Cut some templates to the inner roof skin shape and had some RHS bent up by Dydo manufacturing. These were for bracing the roof, and I had figured I'd tie the roll cage into these braces where they joined the sail panel structure. However I now plan to tie the main hoop to the sail panels via the upper seat belt mounts. That would make the horizontal brace unnecessary weight. And the roof is one of the worst places to add weight. So now I'm not sure I'll use these at all.

I milled them full of holes on one side to lighten them. I drilled the bottom of the horizontal piece thinking that I wanted the maximum surface area to glue to the roof skin with panel-bond epoxy. However after thinking about it I decided the upper surface was a better choice as there is still plenty of area for the roof skin to bond to it, and the weakening from the lightening holes would be offset by the roof skin. So I milled the holes into the top of the diagonal piece.

Here they are sitting in place, they fit up against the roof skin perfectly. If I did decide to use them I'd get another horizontal piece made up and drill the upper surface.

They were a good exercise, but they seem unnecessary now and I won't be adding them.

I've added a handbrake to get rid of the shit, factory, foot operated parking brake. Plus the subframe connectors get in the way of the factory underslung cables. Don't know if the parking brake mechanisms in the drums are up to handbrake slides, but it would be fun if they are.

2011-07-07T03:50:00.000-07:00

Doubling up the factory spot welds, tripling in many places.

One of the base plates for the main rollbar to bolt to. 3mm steel with 10mm nuts welded on.

Welded in place.

Mockup of the foot plate and roll bar.

Interior

2011-07-02T00:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick concept of the Kuda interior. The side intrusion bars are removable for the ladies.

2011-07-01T23:10:00.000-07:00

That's better... Overkill unless I roll the car.

Rear Brace

2011-07-01T01:28:00.000-07:00

Making the rear brace for the half-cage backstays to mount to. First off a 3mm plate on the chassis rails. I drilled the chassis rails so I could plug weld to the plate when I weld up the underside.

50x50 3mm RHS.

3mm top plate. This is what the backstays will bolt to.

The RHS braces extending rearwards to 3mm plates on the chassis rails, plug welded through the floor. Some really awkward places to weld...

Lateral bracing. Upon reflection while they would be suitable for stiffening the body for better performance, they aren't strong enough to count as a roll structure. So I'll cut them out tomorrow and put something beefier in...

A little bit of the latest work...

2011-06-25T22:46:00.000-07:00

Rust repairs are finished, and strengthening work is going well. Here I've mocked up the rollbar and engine-bay inner-fender braces.

Filling unneeded holes in the firewall.

Bracing mockup.

Rollbar mockup. This will be removable (the orange bar will also be removable from the main hoop, I can only run it when the back seats are out).

I love welding

2011-06-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

Strength!

2011-06-11T22:56:00.000-07:00

90% finished welding up the front. All seams have been stitch welded and the shock towers are fully welded and gusseted.

Also added a cross brace for the radiator frame. This added a lot of rigidity, you could really feel the difference by yanking on things before and after.

Inner Fender Bracing

2011-06-11T02:54:00.000-07:00

Here's the factory inner fender brace, a pretty weak piece... A few vendors, such as XV, sell additional bracing pieces to reinforce this area, but they are designed to be installed under the factory brace. I want to run my car as low as possible and lower braces would present clearance issues with the front tires. So I decided to make my own replacements for the factory piece.

Cut it off. Note the bracing to make sure everything stays in place during cutting/welding.

Plasma cutting the reinforcement plates for the cowl/firewall. I love this machine!

Both sides of the fender/shock tower brace get boxed.

Using the mill to lighten the new 25x50mm RHS braces.

All welded up. This should make this area nice and strong, while leaving adequate clearance for the front tires. On to the other side!

Workshop buddies

2011-06-09T04:27:00.000-07:00

the Kuda Trailer...

2011-05-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

Here's how I get the kuda project from place to place. Works great, even hooked up the rear lights.

Radiator frame / front rail support

2011-05-28T00:35:00.000-07:00

Fabricating a 50x50mm 3mm wall RHS support for the front chassis rails / radiator support.

Rolled sections of 3mm steel.

Subframe Connectors

2011-05-28T00:29:00.000-07:00

I decided to go with 50x75mm RHS bar through the floor for the subframe connectors. This shot shows where the floor is cut to allow the bar to slide into the rear chassis rails.

The rear frame rail opened up, cleaned out, holes drilled for plug welds, and rust proofed.

Plasma cut 3mm plate for the torsion bar crossmember mount. This design reinforces the torsion bar anchor as well.

The bar needs to be narrowed to fit into the rear chassis rails...

...as well as have an angle added as E Body rear rails aren't parallel with the chassis.

The joins were beveled, welded right through, then ground smooth.

The finished connector, rustproofed and ready to go in.

All welded up.

2011-05-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

Quick concept image of the Beck Kustoms Kuda.

2011-05-14T23:28:00.000-07:00

Some more of the rust repairs.

Not bad... Nothing a light skim of filler can't make perfect.

2011-05-14T23:02:00.000-07:00

Cut the old rusty trunk floor out...

One of the patches.

All welded up!

Just starting the stitch welding of the seams. Lots of work getting rid of all the old sealer and crap, in order to get a good weld. I plan to stitch the whole body together, as part of the reinforcing work I'm doing to the car. Nearly everything short of a roll cage!

colours of the cuda...

2011-05-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a close up shot where I've sanded the body back to show the various paint jobs the car has had over its life. On the left is bare steel, and to the right you can see the different layers of paint. First is red primer, then its factory shade of FY1 Lemon Twist yellow. Then over the years it got painted (with grey primer in between each) black, then white, then purple, and then the black that I added soon after I bought the car... A rainbow of history!

Workspace

2011-05-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

360º view of the big studio at Weta Workshop where I am fortunate enough to have a little space for working on the kuda. I've blurred out any Top Secret stuff, so you can stop searching for hobbits! There's probably a bunch of ninjas in the shot though...

2011-04-30T22:31:00.000-07:00

A selection of holes.

Patched! Including new 4 speed transmission tunnel.

Everything gets fully welded. The old trans tunnel was pretty beat up!

some work so far

2011-04-27T04:03:00.000-07:00

Sandblasting in the garage. Did a few full loads of sand through the blaster, it took ages to collect and sift the sand, worked out it would take too long to do the whole front clip. Got a great price from a local blasters, so got them to do it.

The kuda trailer, ready to go to the bodyshop to get the front straightened out and some new steel put in.

On the autorobot. New inner fenders and left hand chassis rail. The whole front was shunted over, and twisted. They de-stitched the cowl and patched the rust in that area too. Now I've something to aim for with my repairs.

At Weta Workshop in our studio. This is where a bunch of miniatures for Lord of the Rings were built, as well as a great deal of other exciting projects.

Starting the rust repairs. Spoiled with machines nearby, plasma-cam, roller, folder, drill press, etc... Cheers Weta!

Passenger footwell. I made patch templates in cardboard, then scanned and redrew them on the computer as vector files.

Which I then cut on the Plasma cutter.

I decided to try pressing the swages in. So I cut a couple of templates and a die. It worked pretty well, but as I was only clamping a relatively small area around the swage, the metal warped and buckled quite a bit and needed a decent massage before being ready to weld in.

2011-04-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

the latest concept image for the kuda. with widened police wheels, and california plate.

440

2011-03-08T20:16:00.000-08:00

440ci big block mopar

parts

2011-02-09T02:38:00.001-08:00

the 440

2011-01-19T19:48:00.000-08:00

2010-11-10T17:27:00.000-08:00

this rad illustration of the kuda is by none other than the brutally talented christian pearce, a good friend, coworker, and fellow car nerd. although even he is sick of hearing about the kuda...

this image was originally created as part of pearce's awesome 99 deadly sleds project, check it out here

2010-11-10T13:45:00.001-08:00

alternate scheme for the engine bay of the kuda. this is a more race-oriented direction, with natural-finish fabricated alloy parts, and black engine block.

KUDA photography

2010-11-08T15:26:00.000-08:00

a few examples of vehicular photography by aaron beck / beck kustoms. these images are of the beck kustom's kuda as it looked prior to the current rebuild. the locations are all in the wellington, new zealand, region, primarily the south coast.

440 KUDA engine bay

2010-10-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

quick concept for the potential look of the kuda's engine bay. this scheme pays homage to the way the factory painted the whole 440 six-pack motor orange, and it looked amazing in a black or contrasting engine bay.

440 KUDA logo

2010-10-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

here's a concept for the new hand painted WWII bomber style painting that will live on the driver side of the kuda. for the past few years the actual cuda fish logo that plymouth used to promote the late 60's barracuda's has been painted on the side. this new version is meant to be a fun reflection of the new, mean, nature of the kuda.

440 KUDA

2010-10-04T22:02:00.000-07:00

welcome to beck kustoms.
this is a blog for the car related work of aaron beck.

and this particular car is a concept piece for the in-progress beck kustom's kuda. the paint is a homage to the factory mopar drag cars of the late 60s, and the kuda will be running a hot 440 big block, 4 speed, fiberglass front end, and hotchkis suspension.

stay tuned for updates, build images, artwork, and ideas!