Nice
 

Nice work there Brendon, Is that the original center console you are using ?
Thanks
Kith

I know the feeling- I grew up a little over an hour from Niagara Falls/ Canada and until my job started sending me places that was it for my international travel...

Thank you! I hope I don't disappoint :)


Thank you! Yes, that is the original console. I just wrapped it with carbon fiber wrap (3m "shelf paper" ha ha). The nice thing about the wrap is that it doesn't permanently damage the console should I want to remove it.

Dr side header
 

OK, I made a mess in my garage this weekend, I mean I did a lot of cutting, sanding/ grinding/ trimming to rebuild the driver side header to fit my car. Man, these things are a lot of work. Of course, I'm sure there are some tricks to doing this that I wish I knew about. I just need to put the collector back on, do some clean up work and send these out for coating.

I have read all the way through page 12. Looks like some pics are missing, but I am very impressed with all of the modifications that you are making. The small things like the drain plugs in the rear window channel are great. Can't wait to finish reading the build.

yeah, a while back I had run out of room for attaching pics so I had to delete the older ones for adding new ones. Later on I think more space became available. I guess I could go back and re add them...

Good job! That's some crazy angles to work out! How did you do the layout? Was it by eye cutting and tacking pieces as you go or did you use some kind of mockup wire or PVC?

Thanks, Ryan! I worked from the top down, and did one at a time. I did buy some pvc tubing I thought I could use for mocking up, but ended up not using much more than one curved part for basic placement. The diameter was wrong and didn't match the curves of my metal tubing.

Once I had the top areas figured out/ past the tight spot I just joined them back to my original collector. Then, when it was mocked up, I had to take the two tubes back off completely, and weld them up, then reattach them and weld them up completely.

Having a sanding disc was key for me for making the tubing flat for good joints.

Pics are restored if you wish to re-review...

Nice job they look like they fit nice now.

Thx, Wayne!

This weekend was a bunch of little projects. I got the collector back on, as well as O2 bungs, and added fasteners to my trans tunnel for the center console and rubber shifter boot. I also attached a few more clamps for my fuel/ brake lines.

My wiring showed up so I can start to work on that, too. I need to get my headers coated now so I can get them installed and then start reinstalling the front end sheet metal.

Thanks, up to page 20 now. I sure wish I had some motor heads in my neighborhood.:slingshot: Its nice bouncing ideas off of other people.

Just finished the whole build thread. Wow what a creative build. You have some great FAB skills.

When is the fire up date?

Better be a video of it firing up and driving past the curb.

Cool, glad you enjoyed. Thank you for the kind words. I'm still new at this. I only learned how to weld by doing this project. I still have a long way to go...

It's difficult to say when the fire up date will be because I'm on the "I buy parts as I can afford them" plan. I have a goal of having the car driving by summertime, but time will only tell. I still have a lot of parts to buy.

Yes, I will most definitely take videos of when I go to start it up, and take the first drive.

Grounded
 

This was one of those weekends where I did many little projects. I dropped my headers off for ceramic coating, installed two grounds to the engine block (with the frame ties welded into the car body, there is little point to grounding the body to sub frame), cleaned up and painted the galvanized metal panels that run alongside the rocker panels (then remembered that, oh yeah, I should have test fit these. oops...) mounted the fuse box on my trans tunnel (absolutely no room on the firewall). I did insulate the back side w/ header wrap so the fuse panel doesn't soak up the heat from the engine/ trans. I'll need to build a box now to help hide this. I also laid out my battery cables and started to mount those in place. The ground wire is just long enough. I don't think I'll be trimming that one at all. I drilled some holes and installed grommets anywhere they passed through metal, and I insulated the positive side with that plastic loom for extra protection. I'll get some heat insulation for the engine compartment to help fight against voltage drop.

I spent most of this weekend working on a friend's '66 El Camino, and in between I was able to put a little time in on my spoiler. I wasn't happy with how it was sitting- there was a lot of gap between it and the car. To fix it I could either lower it, or add to it. First I looked at reducing material on the vertical supports, but I didn't want to compromise the strength of them, as the amount needed to be removed would go past the top section and reduce the surface area of where the wing would rest upon it. So I added some material to the bottom of the wing. I used .120" styrene and heated it up to the contour of the wing. Then I both epoxied it and added some screws to it for a permanent connection. There is still a little gap which I want- and will add some foam to the bottom to reduce any issues of the wind vibrating the wing and it smacking the car (or when I close the trunk)

Spoiler looks really good!

https://lateral-g.net/forums/atta...1&d=1376968364

I'm going to repaint my LS from chevy orange (was for my '67 Camaro) to the Pontiac light blue metalic for the firebird. I wasn't going to paint my accessory brackets and water pump.... but I think you just convinced me otherwise. I'm thinking I'll even go a step further and hit the heads as well.

I like what you're doing. Keep it up.

Thanks, guys!

This weekend I'll sum up as a lot of lessons learned.

Lesson#1- metal still moves even after significant tack welding. Got my headers back from them being coated. and the driver side no longer fit. It fit beforehand. I thought I checked, thought I had pics, etc. I guess not. There are no other variables. It's either that, or the laws of physics are different in my garage. so I had to mod the header more and now I need to get it re coated. Money and time wasted :(


Lesson #2- Install the sway bar(s) before painting. I thought this would be a simple job I could quickly do later on. I was wrong. As seen in the pics this has turned into a bigger job. I also turned to help from Brett and Jeffrey over at Fab53 to help me with bending my sway bar arms. I don't have the equipment for heating up these big blocks of metal. I built a template and we used this to follow for bending the first arm, then bent the second arm to match the first. The results are really good, too. Thanks, guys! Now I just need to clean them up, make my end links, paint and I'm g2g. I spent the rest of this weekend building the perches for the sway bar pillow blocks. Next will be making the end links.

a couple more pics...

Your sway bar end plate pics are exactly what I've been looking for now that I'm contemplating making my own setup.. keep up the great work!

Looking good Brendon! That's a lot going on there to factor in for your mounts and arms. Great job!

Thanks, Joe! I've got more pics if you need.

Thanks, Ryan! Yeah, I wanted to make sure I could get this to work without compromising the notches in my frame I made previously. I hadn't set up my own sway bar before so I did a little consulting with Brett on this one. Of course, this will require me to cut away my inner fenders some.

I agree with Ryan nice work.

Thanks, Wayne!

I welded up my frame areas this weekend making sure I still have clearance for the bar and bolt head. I also ordered some heim joints and other little parts to help finish this one.

Nice job it looks good.

Thanks again, Wayne!

This weekend I painted my frame again. I'm a bit bummed because I wanted satin black, the can of KBS paint I bought said satin black, but it came out glossy. Grrr. Oh well, I want to drive this thing so the shiny paint can stay for now. I'm not trying to build a show car.. I spent the rest of the weekend putting parts back on.

Looks good Brendon, and you are almost done. Nice talking with you this weekend.

Wow, a month goes by fast. Been busy traveling, hosting family in town, etc. But I have been getting a little time in on my car this past week and today.

To back things up a bit I had to take my trans back out because stupid me forgot to install the pilot bushing inside. On the positive side I'm glad I remembered it now as opposed to later, or worse, on the road somewhere. So everything came apart and I got that in, then decided to install the scatter shield that I should have done the first time. Ordered that and got that in only to have a difficult time reinstalling everything. Maybe I should get a transmission jack (or at least fab up some sort of support to use on my transmission). After a long day today it's back in, and now I can reinstall the console, make sure it's aligned and then get back to installing the front sway bar end links.

Looking good!

Thanks, Wayne!

Back from my bi-annual 2 week work trip overseas this weekend, and got a day in on the bird. I made lower end link mounts for my front sway bar. I also mocked up where the end links might go and ran the suspension through its full travel lock to lock to make sure I wouldn't have any binding, and gave myself some clearance for when the alignment shims come along and move the upper ball joint closer inwards.

wow, this thing is no joke. talk about some fab work. should be one hell of a handler.

Thanks!

This weekend I finished up the front sway bar, trimmed the inner fenders (to make room for said sway bar) and bolted up the fenders. I also built the remaining brake line tube and started to connect the Hydraboost only to realize it'd be much easier to do that with the fender off. So back off it went. Then I realized I didn't have all the parts to complete the job. Now I'm ordering the adapters to fit the DSE 600 (metric o-ring seal) to convert it to AN to work with the Hydraboost parts.

Looks good!:thumbsup:

Just think how nice it's going to be driving that thing and thinking about all the cool tricks and great fab work you did on it, great job.

You're getting close!!! Coming together nicely. I'm still a long ways out.. just starting my motor.

Thanks, guys! Yes, I am very much wanting to drive this, but I too am a ways out. I still have many expensive parts to buy and resources are tight at the moment. What's new, right...

I was able to get my rear anti sway bar mounted (didn't torque it down, as the rear axle will be coming back out at some point), as well as I rebuilt my hvac panel to omit the radio and ashtray, and install some toggle switches. I may install a radio one day, but for the moment the engine will provide all the music I need. I also built a wiper motor delete panel.

OK, after being distracted with my new (to me) milling machine and getting the electrical hooked up this weekend and bolted down (also added a 3/16" plate of metal for more structure) I finally got a little work done on my car again. I finished the Hydroboost plumbing, reinstalled the fender (kinda looks just like it did a few weeks back) and finished the battery cables. I made a point to use said new-to-me milling machine to modify two aluminum brackets on my battery cables to allow the mounting nuts to sit inside them. I also threw on my old side mirrors, just because I could. I'll probably run with these for a bit to save $$ for other parts I actually need.

Nice, getting some work done I see. No one really needs a radio anyway with a v8...

Looking good! That center panel looks awesome nice job.

I agree! I plan on having some cut outs- which one of those switches should be dedicated to. That's my radio volume, ha ha

Thanks, Wayne! I still want to add a couple of small low powered lights to indicate "power on" for a couple of switches. I have plans for each one (not just for looks)

Got a little bit done this weekend- I ordered (and received within 2 days!) a radiator, so I started to figure out how I would mount this. Turns out I needed to flatten my core support more, and fill in more holes, as they didn't line up. From that I made some brackets to hold the electric fans & shroud. I suppose if I had machine shop equipment (handbrake, shear, press, dimple dies, etc) these could have been done in minutes, but I got my Amish on again and got the hand tools out and made my best at it. It's generally there, but I have some grind marks and general imperfections, so I'm gonna go back and primer/ sand and repaint these before I install them. Also been pecking away at the wiring...