PAT: I want to build a car that I want to build, not worrying about
what anyone thought of it because I loved it.
My name is Patrick Banks, I’m a Welder Fabricator and I live in Norwich.
Today, I’m reinforcing a lower control arm,
sometimes known as a wishbone, for a 1963 Chevy Impala.
The wishbone is an integral part of the suspension system.
It needs to be extremely strong.
The first step is to strip the bracketry off the arm, that isn’t going to be used any more.
A plasma cutter uses an electric arc
to heat the metal, and then I’ll use a jet of air to blast the molten metal away.
This step is to cut out the original spring pocket to allow for larger springs.
The springs that are going in the arm are 3.5 ton low-rider springs.
I’m cutting out 10mm discs for the new spring pockets.
I’m welding the discs onto the end of a 6 inch pipe for the new spring pockets.
I’m cutting the pipe to match the original spring pocket angle.
I’m making templates out of cardboard to be then transferred onto 6mm steel.
The patterns are for the reinforcement of the wishbone.
The reason low-riders reinforce the chassis, the wishbones, is so they can hop and not bend.
I am tacking the reinforcement plates onto the back and the sides of the wishbone.
This is where it all starts to really come together as a solid piece.
Quite often, people will leave the welds on, I decided to make it look more smooth.
Functionally it won’t make any difference but it definitely looks cooler.
I’m using an 80-grit belt on the belt grinder just to finish it off.
The next step would be to extend and reinforce the upper wishbones.
It’ll be using the same process.