Moving along with the pan assembly, I got my batch of parts back from powder coat including the original front beam. I stripped it down and had it powder coated to match the pan. I installed new bearings and got it on the pan.

I also rebuilt the steering box and gave it a coating of single stage semi gloss to match the car. I can't stand leaving these in bare metal as they start to rust quickly and spray paint always looks cheap and dull. To finish it off I added the billet top and chrome swing arm. I use these on just about every box I do, even the rebuilt original ones and they fit and look excellent!

The pan is starting to look like a car but there is still quite a ways to go.

A quick mention about the front brakes. My car being a 72 came factory with drums up front. I have always planned to convert it to disc for many reasons but mostly because with the added ride height, heavier tires and wheels and the type of use this car will see, there was no reason not to. One issue I see often is the caliper you get with most aftermarket disc brake kits is very large. It protrudes past the lug mounting face which can cause issues with interference on some aftermarket wheels.

That and its a very heavy, bulky cast caliper. The wheels I am running, Mobelwagen Interceptor wheels, can just touch the face of these calipers in some applications. The only cure if this is the problem you are having is to run a spacer. For me that was out of the question. With the big wheels and tires on this car that would put the tread on the fender lip and we all know how that would end. To eliminate those issues and to upgrade to a modern billet caliper alternative I grabbed one of our Wilwood caliper upgrades and tested that out. The new caliper sits well behind the lug mounting face of the rotor and also tucks in nice inside my wheels. It weighs less, uses Wilwood pads which are awesome and mounts right up to the spindle.

These calipers are an upgrade for brake kits that use 4x130/5x130 or blank rotor discs. My application is going to be a little different than a stock or dropped spindle but the good news is that they bolted right on and did the trick. I have used them on my lowered street cars and really felt the difference in braking ability so they were the obvious choice for this build too.