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No painting on this one, which is one of the reasons I switched to this car from the original red one. While it's not perfect on the outside, it's good enough for me. :) It actually is in pretty good shape, and it's a nice "10-footer".
We will be painting the firewall and inner fenders black rather than the current blue. But that's the extent my the plans for paint. |
Weekend update...
I spent yesterday working inside the car scraping the original asphalt goop off the rear floor and trunk firewall areas. That stuff is a freaking mess! Took me a couple of hours to get it pretty clean. This week Eric is going to prime the front half of the floor area where various metalwork has been done, and hopefully next weekend I'll get to start the Dynamat process. My front tires showed up on Friday, so we spent a little time trial fitting them in the wheel well. The pictures below are the 275/35, which is just about 1/2" shorter than the 315/30 will be, so it gives me a good idea of the fitment in terms of diameter: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps383d6420.jpg Here's what I'm looking at for the outer edge: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps83772e31.jpg Unfortunately on the JRS setup, as with most setups which use the front spring pocket for a trailing link, the link itself is the limiting factor on the inside: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psdd92d9bb.jpg I couldn't get a good picture, but that shot shows a little over 2" from the tire to the link. Starting with a 275, that would let me get to a 325 with almost no clearance. And I'm not completely sold on my outside position, so that's pushing it. You might also notice that we replaced the rear bushing with a heim join to see if we could gain a little room. We get about 1/2" on the rear, so maybe 1/4" where I took the measurement. Without cutting the frame rail, there just isn't much else you can do there... When I get the 315 on Tuesday, I'll do some more detailed measuring. I have a wheel fitment tool that I'll be using to be more confident also. Eric is also making mounts for the Sparco seats. I knew these were going to be a tough fit (just about any aftermarket seat is) due to the height, and the fact that I'm 6'2. He's got it almost as low as it can sit without cutting the floor, and we have resolved that the floor is going to have to be cut at least some. I like his seat protection method here (garbage bags :) ) http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps82ce856f.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps2f51dbe0.jpg I'm going to need a much shorter shifter rod than the one I have, it's way to long/tall. Add that to my shopping list. :willy: We did a few other small things yesterday. Hopefully we've decided on a mounting spot for the II Much fuel and axle vents. We removed the factory canister that was behind the seat, and there's a flat spot there which we are going to try and use. Eric will make a platform that we can remove, but the opening is in just the right spot to snake the lines around the axle, exhaust, and Watt's link there. We also looking into all of the plumbing we need to do. The rear brake lines are going to be tricky, again due mostly to the exhaust. I have 4 pages of notes of the AN and brake fittings we are going to need to plumb the fuel lines, oil lines, PS lines, vent lines, and LS steam vents. Can't wait to place that order... ;) And finally we stared at the shaker setup for a while. If the measurements are correct, the top of my 4b throttle body is about 1 3/8" higher than the Quadrajet which came off the car. I have a 1" spacer on there which we can remove, but that still leaves me 3/8" or so too high, as it was also sitting a tough higher than I wanted. So I will probably purchase one of the aftermarket filter bases which are made for shakers, but then we'll probably have to cut it up to make it fit. We can't lower it much though due to the fuel rails. Tight fit in this area, so we have some work to do here... |
Update time. It's been a couple of weeks... :)
I've worked the last couple of Saturdays at the shop, and Eric's been hard at it. The progress has been slow because of the PITA nature of what we're doing. First, he's cut out a space to mount the II-Much vents where the original canister was behind the rear seat. He also made a shelf to mount them which we can unbolt to remove. It's going to work perfectly in that space! Then he's had to cut out some space for the JRS torque arm uprights to clear the floor. Space is tight back there, and as we approached compression on the rear end, the uprights were hitting the floor. So Eric cut out some of the rear seat belt mount plates, and took a BFH to the corner of the floor. He tried not to cave it in too much, and then some cleanup effort. Also, the rear firewall was loose in several areas. So he made some new upper corners where it will attach to the DSE tubs, and some welding and cleanup from where the previous owner had cut it for a cage. It was also rattling from some loose spot welds, so those are fixed too. I worked to assemble the rear axle and 3rd member, install the axles, and the Baer backplates. That turned into a bit of a challenge, as the tapered bearings have an outer seal which reduces the clearance for the backplate to slide over the axle. A little massaging with a grinder opened up opened up the edge just enough to clear, so the backplates are no. Eric talked me into using bumpstops on the Bilsteins, so I ordered up a set from Speedway. Unfortunately that means disassembling the end of the coilover to insert them on the shaft. Thankfully he's done this before on others, so he knew what we were getting into. I have a few pictures of that process below. Eric also has been making brackets to attach the front coolers. Radiator, condensor, oil cooler, and PS cooler. We've spent a lot of time considering options here and line routing. We've settled on the layout you see below, and we decided to make hardlines from the coolers to bulkheads on the core support. Then I'll run AN lines from the other side of the bulkheads to their respective spots on the engine. I have a wheel fitment tool on loan at the moment to determine the size and backspacing I want to use on the wheels. So this past Saturday we stuck the rear axle back in place to get some measurements. This caused more frustration for me. After the last round of trimming and beating on the floor, the uprights mostly clear now. However, when we stuck the wheel/tire on and compressed the rear end, the car is still sitting way higher than I want. We have one more step down on the axle housing mounts, so I can get about 1 more inch there. But, in this position it currently is in, we are bottoming out on the floor at the axle housing upright mounts on the top. So we're going to have to do more cutting of the floor to open up space to allow those to move up higher. In the tire picture below, that is full compressed right now. I want that to be RIDE HEIGHT! That's never going to happen though and have any compression left in the coilovers. It will be interesting to see where we end up... Anyway, I measured the wheel BS for the rears. It looks like I'll be around 7.75" with an 11.5" wheel. I'm running a 315 tire. We are going to roll the lip more than it current is, and that leaves me about 1/4" or so to the lower trailing links. You can see in the picture below that Eric made a spacer for the bushings to push the link in as far as we can. I've spent a LOT of time lately trying to pull together an order for the AN fittings and line which we are going to need. Damn that is going to be an expensive order! :( We're running PTFE line and fittings for the fuel and vent lines. Eric will bend a hardline from the rear to the front, and soft line to finish the attachments. I'll be running oil cooler lines (-10) and PS lines (-6), and then I'm going to make a set of steam return lines from -4. That may be overkill, but it seems like the cleanest way to do it. See the following: http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/...h/dc606086.jpg I also need to get my gauge order in. Those will take a couple of weeks to make, so that's on my list for this week also. My list seems to get longer instead of shorter. Ok, that's about it for now. Pictures below. First, Eric's rescue German Shepherd Sophie: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps5ce84f12.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps2d5e1034.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psce23ffbe.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psa695b6e5.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...pscf2bca21.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps9185da54.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps84b90b06.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps86e05f5f.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps1b032800.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psda20e27e.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps3cea9af5.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps6ea77de0.jpg |
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Looking good. Stay with it and you'll get it all figured out. You're definitely doing it right by finding these problems before you say it's done and drive the car.
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http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/...h/dc606086.jpg
Please paint the valve covers Pontiac baby blue! Please? :rolleyes: |
Hee hee... That's not actually my engine, just a picture which I snagged from another site. My covers will stay bare aluminum, assuming that's the material which they are made of anyway. ;)
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I stopped by the shop tonight for a mid-week update and to measure for the wheels. I snapped a few more pictures also.
Eric is working on mounting the engine compartment downbars to the front subframe. He's making plates to mount to the firewall along with the collars. I didn't get pictures of those yet since they aren't mounted, but will this weekend. I also snapped a couple of pictures of the mounting plate he's made for the II-Much vent cans which will go behind the rear seat. As to the wheels, after a lot of futzing with the MountMate fitment tool and measuring to ensure we had everything right, we settled in on the fronts at 18x10 with 6.5" of bs, and the rear at 18x11.5 with 7.5" of BS. Now I just have to decide on a wheel style and colors! :headscratch: Not much else to say, so here are the pictures: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...pscbbc122c.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps02007fcf.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps9b9a9daa.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...pse8073cd4.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps4520fa24.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps52084f97.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...pse0670747.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps3b866f22.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psdb2d09a0.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...pscc4c0643.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps40b9ade6.jpg |
Dynamat day. I hate laying Dynamat. Enough said... :bang:
Eric primed the floor this week before I put the Dynamat down. I forgot to take a picture before starting, but the solid black floor looks good. If anyone ever pulls all that Dynamat out, the floor should be in good shape. http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psc8108000.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psfe82fea7.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psa7d6ce98.jpg Did I mention that I hate laying Dynamat? My back and finger tips are hating me today! And I'm about 1/4 of the way finished, although those should have been the worst areas. I don't expected the firewall to be as bad... |
Meanwhile, Eric has been fabricating away. The firewall downbars have taken more time than we planned, but they appear to be about done. Everything is tacked up now and ready for welding tomorrow... We used the B&B Classics firewall and subframe flanges, and they worked out very nicely. In order to maximize the MC booster clearance, Eric trimmed the drivers side cup a little, and then did the same on the passenger side to match the positioning. I wanted a crossbar for strength, but also wanted it removable, so we got a set of the Ballistic Fabrication tube clamps. Unfortunately those are only available in 1.5" or 1.75", while the flanges were 1.625". So we stepped up to 1.75" tubing, and Eric opened up the flanges a little to accept the oversized tube. Now he just has to be very precise when welding it all together. ;)
Pictures: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps75bb4c6c.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psb08107f0.jpg Note the welds... http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps9091a9a6.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psfc3b02f8.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps762607f8.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps31b39378.jpg |
On other fronts... I placed a few orders this week. First, I ordered my gauges for the car. I decided on the Speedhut Revolution gauges. I'm using the 4.5" speedo and tach, and the 2 1/16" gauges for the rest.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psc674e07d.gif I may reverse the 2 and 3 rows such that the 3 gauges are on top. I was trying to squeeze in another AC vent, but that's not going to fit. I've also decided on my wheels... I'm surprised how hard this was, given how long I've been thinking about it. I went back and forth between the Forgeline RB3C, the GA3, the GZ3, and the GA1R. In the end, I decided on the GA3 as shown below. Satin Gunmetal center, exposed hardware, polished outers. The exposed hardware option finally put me over the top with this choice: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psbc7d0c69.jpg (that's a Forgeline picture for a set they just did for another car. the only difference on mine is I'm going for a black inner...) I'm waiting on the finalized invoice to get the order moving forward, but that should happen Monday. On the car itself, we are still having clearance issues around the rear suspension. The driver's side coilover and Watt's Link mount have been all sorts of problematic for us. If it had been located just 1/2" further inboard, all would be fine. But the spring collar hits at one point, then when we get past that, the shock body itself helps. Right now, that is our limiting point of rear suspension compression. We're going to see what happens when I get my wheels/tires, but I may have to purchase a different set of coilovers which use a narrower shock body and spring to clear. This week the front end will come back apart for the last time. The inner fenders and radiator support are going off for powder coating, and the firewall will be painted. Then the real assembly will begin. I can't wait! |
I really like how it's coming together. Wheel choice is great. Just be forewarned, cleaning around the hardware and the pocket the bolts are in is going to be a pain. I like them though. :thumbsup:
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Yes, I realize cleaning is going to be painful. I just always felt that the GA3 was missing something. While not a show car, this was one place I just wanted a little nicer look. I'll probably curse myself after about 2 car washes though! :bang:
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possibly. Keep your eyes out for various brushes in paint sections of stores or even camera places. You're bound to find something that will get in there and make life a little easier. My first stop would be the paint store for a soft bristle paint brush. Find the cheapest one you can.
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More Dynamat hell... I have about 2.5 days into it so far, and I've got one more small section on the rear tunnel, then the doors. Note the plastic buckets that I siliconed into the kick panels. Those will protect the speakers that are going down there. 3 days later, and the backs of my hands are still covered in the stuff. I think it's as bad as POR-15 if you get it on your skin!
And a lot more ordering has been ongoing also! I decided to replace the side glass on the car, and both sides have scratches (the driver's much worse though). I did a lot of searching, and I couldn't find a definitive answer as to whether the Pilkington glass was really better, and who made it. So I went with Auto City Glass. Hopefully it will arrive this week, and I can install the glass this weekend. Then I can Dynamat the doors... I'm excited that UPS is showing my Forgelines are supposed to arrive tomorrow! Now I just have to find a place to have them mounted that I can trust not to screw them up... :( Maybe SW will have a recommendation, he's had a set or two mounted in town. :) Eric wrapped up the firewall and painted it last week. We also sent a big pile of parts to the powder coater, hopefully they are coming back this week also. Here are a few pictures for the week: The rearend is out as Eric touched up some spots on the bottom of the car. It's a good shot of the JRS setup I have for adjusting the pinion angle: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps574ea3b1.jpg Some Dynamat shots: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps8b21282a.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps217e6015.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps298ecc21.jpg And the firewall: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps5ad213a5.jpg |
And another surprise arrived today. My Speedhut Revolution gauges came in! We haven't had time to make the gauge panel which will house them yet, but hopefully we can work on that early next week. In the meantime, here are some pictures:
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psfd7496b6.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps59160778.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...pse0395b2e.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps24cfb6e6.jpg |
Nice Bryan! I know you've run into a couple hurdles (don't we all), but you're powering right through it. You will have a killer car when you're done :thumbsup:
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Admittedly, it's not always easy! I'm amazed how much time I spend chasing parts and answers trying to stay ahead of Eric... You'd think that by having someone else do most of the work, my job would be pretty easy. But no........ :headscratch:
I forgot a couple of interesting pictures earlier... Eric cut out the rot on the lower cowls, a common rust problem on these cars. You can see the rot and the openings he made and is filling in below: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps9b7a4c45.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps58fd9267.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psacd51ce4.jpg |
Love those gauges! Heck, love the project!
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WOO HOO! Look what showed up today. Can't wait until tonight to see them in person! :)
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps8496fde2.jpg :G-Dub: |
Bryan, those wheels are killer. Nice choice. :thumbsup:
I like the gauges too. Not the usual Autometer stuff. |
So there are not enough of these to describe how I felt when seeing the wheels tonight! :hapdance: :woot: :drool: :cheering: :dance: :hail:
We will get them mounted next week after we have some time to check the fitment (sheetmetal and rear axle need to be reattached first). Kudos to Forgeline! I was promised that I would have them before the FW GG show, but to get them in 15 days from the day we finalized the order was impressive! |
I love it when that happens!
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That's going to be a beautiful ride when your done. You got to love that body style.
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Another long weekend, and while it doesn't look like I accomplished a lot, I definitely did!
First, another solid day of Dynamat. I went up Wednesday night and did a few hours worth, where I finished with the Dynamat Extreme on all of the floor areas. I still have the doors to do, but I cannot do that until I get the glass in. I had planned to do that this weekend, but........ Do with the Extreme done, I started on the Dynaliner. I used 1/4" Dynaliner to cover pretty much everything so far. I attached it to the bottom of the package tray to make the installation of the tray easier. Then the back seat areas, the mini tubs, and up the floor to the firewall. I realize as I type this that I didn't get any good pictures of this, but I will this week. Today I started in on the wiring. I ran RCA wires for a stereo, along with a trigger for an amp which I will mount in the trunk. Then I pulled out the AAW kit which I purchased oh so long ago. When I started looking at it, I realized that there's a lot there which I don't need. Honestly, I may have been better off to purchase on of the Highway series kits instead of the Camaro/Firebird kit which I purchased. But I digress... I started removing wires from the harness, and I pulled out a bunch: wiper switch (I'm using the DSE kit), the AC/Heater wires (Vintage Air wires), all of the gauge cluster wires (tach, oil, temp, generator light), then the starter and battery wires also. Eric and I are going to run new wires for those along with the EFI harness wires and gauge wires through the trans tunnel to prevent them from running across the firewall. Cleaner that way... So after removing at least 1/3 of the wires, I stabbed the harness into place. I connected up a couple of items, but that's about all I had time for... In the meantime, Eric is starting assembly of all of our parts. The DSE booster and MC are on, as are the clutch MC and DSE wiper. Today he was making the brake lines. I bought a new replacement front-rear line, but custom extensions are needed from where the hard line ends to the frame rails where the flex lines will attach. He also made new front lines which are really clean. This week there should be some assembly progress. I'll get more wiring done, and Eric will probably stab the engine/transmission back in along with the torque arm and rear axle. The gas tank also needs to go in, then the real fun can begin: assembling the exhaust! I'm adamant that I want it to run all the way to the rear, and weaving some 3" pipes through the Watts Link is going to test Eric's fab skills I believe... ;) I have a few pictures, and I'll post the current money-shot first! I LOVE these wheels! ! ! http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psebd0d2c5.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps0cb06f71.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps19b26977.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps7e998427.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psee31f25f.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psf4abaa3d.jpg |
Oh, I forgot to mention that SW stopped by in what will be his next project for Eric to work on... It's a 'small' project for him, but a car which I love (and feels very familiar!). I look forward to seeing the new touches which it will receive...
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I stopped by again today to drop a few things off and snapped a couple of shots of the Dynaliner, wiring, and Eric's brake-line work...
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps591c9327.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psa545b9f4.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psa057fe9b.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps5cfe63e5.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps83078b85.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps0a1e0715.jpg |
Hey Bryan, car is looking fantastic. Really like how it is coming together.
A concern I saw was the support for the Lower control arm. Or maybe the lack there of......with all you will be putting this car thru do you think the UCA and LCAs need more support? Rear and Front mount Chris http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps5ee8978a.jpg Also maybe the upper control arm and spring mount. Maybe add some vertical Chro Moly plates or struts to support the tube. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...psa1e1300d.jpg |
Quote:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_.../IMG_01648.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Q...IMG_9248-1.JPG I am sure plenty of things in a certain package can be made differently, or improved, but thus far there is no needing to change anything. Our Jrs 2nd gen runs as fast as Ta2 cars wherever we go. |
Jake is certainly the more authoritative source on the design of this setup... But I did dig up some pictures from when I first received the front clip that may help clear up any questions on the support of that lower mount. :)
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...pse6dca3ac.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps0a392647.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psaf8a3671.jpg Hope those help. :) |
I stand corrected.........:thumbsup:
Chris |
It did look like from that angle it had one tube holding on the lower arm. Wider picture, its stout.
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It's been a couple of weeks since I've gotten pictures and an update, but progress continues. I've been out of commission due to other life events, but Eric is plugging along.
Eric picked up a load of parts from the powder coater, so final assembly is on-going. And just when you think it's all going to come together, you run into more issues... But before that, some good stuff. The engine is in for the last time, and the cooling setup is in place too. Radiator, oil cooler, and PS cooler. The hard and flex-lines are mostly made now for those as well. We have also put the Holley EFI wiring harness in place and worked out a few little kinks with that. Eric has run the power cables through the car, using bulkheads are the firewall and rear passenger quarter panel, so the install will be pretty clean. He also started building the exhaust this week, and if not for needing a couple more bends, it would be done. That should happen Tuesday or so when parts arrive. For my part, I've been working on some wiring as time allows. I stripped out several pieces of the AAW harness which I didn't need, and we've been working on how to integrate the EFI harness, Fan Controller, AC, Fuel Pump shutoff, and AAW all together. I think we have all of our answers now, so it's up to me to cut/splice/shrinkwrap a bunch of connection now. We also found a nice mounting spot for the EFI controller up on the metal cowl area behind the dash. I also finished the Dynamat on the doors, and installed the package tray with the 6x9 speakers back there. That turned into a half day project, something I expected to be simple. I should know better... I made some wood mounts to lower the speaker since it would have hit the metal of the rear shelf if installed flush (I didn't cut out the factory openings). No pictures, but trust me, they are there... :) Now for the biggest recent problem... The JRS Tri-Y headers tucked too closely to the block down at the oil filter area, preventing us from using the Mocal thermostat. That's not really Jake's fault, he built them for max clearance to the frame/steering areas I'm sure. But it would have been easy to shape them slightly differently to deal with it. After much deliberation and consideration of our options, Eric and I decided to cut the headers and rebuild the pipe that was hitting. I didn't like the other thermostat options, so this was the best path. Eric finished that up last night, but I haven't seen the final product yet. We will have to recoat the headers, but since we're coating the exhaust anyway, we'll do it all to match. A few other odds and ends... The brakelines are made, we installed the PCV catch can, we're trying to determine how to connect the gas pedal to the TB linkage (the air cleaner base is going to interfere with out planned method, so that's still an issue), and I still love my wheel selection! :) Here are some pictures... Powder coated core support and parts mounted: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psf3f0c2a1.jpg Closeup: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps581de71d.jpg Front clearance, overflow can, and PS/Oil lines: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psdf36920a.jpg Things will be busy at the rear of the intake: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps04abf3d4.jpg Dynamat on the doors: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psc09146a1.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps3b083463.jpg Power Cables: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps65ba0a57.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps8ae86c26.jpg Driver's side exhaust run: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps42267288.jpg I didn't believe Eric when he first told me he could route 3" pipes through the JRS Watt's link maze in the back, but sure enough he did: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psfb92b112.jpg And this is where he ran out of pipe. No, I'm not leaving a dump there! :) http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psd379bfb7.jpg Norris catch can mounted: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps3d484f17.jpg |
Here are some pictures from Eric of the header rework. I haven't seen it in person, but he says there is plenty of room to that steering shaft... :)
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps23faa71a.jpg And from the bottom. You can see the Mocal and the clearance we have now: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps5c8f470f.jpg The 'new' pipe which is further forward originally tucked right up to the block, which was a nice and tight fit, but interfered with the Mocal. If you were running a remote filter/thermostat, it wouldn't have been a problem. I like the simple installation of the Mocal and wanted to keep it though. You can see all of the splices he had to do in order to keep a nice radius on the tubes... |
Here are some more pictures of the exhaust. You can see all of the extra 'kinks' which Eric did in the exhaust to get the bends/angles just right. And he got a lot of Tig practice this week. :)
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psaf929844.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...pse381460b.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psb7df471c.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psd73e08dc.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps96a47b3d.jpg I also like how he set up the band flanges to create a 'positive' locating flange at each joint. But having the 1 pipe stick out about 1/8" and the other pipe recessed about 1/8", when you install the band clamps, everything will stay nicely aligned. http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psdce9faa3.jpg In the meantime, I wired up the trunk of the car the other night. Took me about 4 hours to get everything right, but I made all of the connections to the AAW wiring kit, and I also installed a fuel pump cutoff switch to stop the pump in case of an impact. I got my butt-splicing and shrink-wrapping practice in. :) Tomorrow I'll get back to the interior wiring... |
Exhaust looks great! Nice job.
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It's been a little while since I've updated, but I have new pictures. :)
I picked up the exhaust from the ceramic coater's yesterday. It came out great! Because we had to cut/weld on the header, I had them both recoated as well. The header tubes and tail pipes were coated inside and out. I had the flanges and header bolts done as well. Took about 10 days, and I'm happy with the results! The pieces will go on this week... In the meantime, I've been working on the interior. It took me a ridiculous amount of time to get the door panels installed on the car. I purchased a set of reproduction panels, and as with many reproduction parts, they don't just pop into place as easily as we would like. But after some fitting, they turned out well. I applied the 1/8" Dynaliner to the back, and between that and the Extreme on the door itself, these doors close with a thud now. Should make for a much more pleasant driving experience! I've also been working on wiring. Again, I've spent way too much time on this, but I wanted it as clean as I could get it. I've wired in the Holley HP EFI, the PRC fan relays, and the Vintage Air control relays. I had to do some research to get the Holley wiring the way I wanted, allowing it to control the fans (specifically when the AC compressor is running). I'm also sending a warning light to the dash from the ECU, which again took some research. The passengers side of the cabin is wired now, and we are working on the dash side. Eric cut out the new dash panel yesterday and is working on the holes for the gauges. If not for missing 1 hole saw, it would be mostly done. That will wrap up in the next few days... The plumbing is mostly done now except for 1 oil cooler line. It's proven to be a tight fit up front, and we ran out of line to finish it, so more is on the way. The engine wiring is in place and mostly hidden, so we're pretty happy with that. The brake lines and clutch line have fluid in them with no leaks. I powered up the ECU yesterday and ensure that I could communicate to it from my laptop, and that looks like it's working. I'm not sure the maps in it are very well done though, I have a feeling they were only set for full throttle (ie: dyno) runs. I need to tweak on those and update the firmware in the box to the latest 2.0 version from Holley. So we're making progress, and getting closer. I suspect we will be close to trying to fire the engine for the first time within 2 weeks. Then we can through the front end together and give it a test drive. :) Pictures... The exhaust after the ceramic coating. The coating has flakes of stainless steel in it, adding hardness (as I'm told) and the ability to polish it: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psf06db1d2.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psefa16e04.jpg Door panels: http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psa9eae702.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps442f61dc.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps248c63a9.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps9a23e61d.jpg http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...pse6b821e3.jpg |
Looks GREAT! Keep it up!!!
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This is really coming out nicely!
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Looks good, can't wait to hear that beast roar. Have you figured anything out with the throttle interference issue with the air cleaner?
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