updates...finally
 

I made some progress on the front clip the past two weekends. I have about 20 hours into this part of the car now, still need to complete suspension mounts and complete the attachment points.
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/brakes%20wheels.jpg
Nice big 6 pots up front.
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/offs...mg%20brake.jpg
The rack just fits, I may have to alter the mounts a bit to make sure the dust covers don't wear against the frame and there's enough clearance for the engine.
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/steering%20P1800.jpg
I was disappointed that the rack didn't come with the bushings for installation...:question:
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/rack.jpg

And an overall look, the rear crossmember is underway as well - you can see it just behind the front clip here:
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/front%20clip.jpg

Anyone know where I can get the C4 upper bolt spacers?

close in
 

A few small updates, I will work on getting some photo's a little further away from the car soon to give an overall look at how its coming along.

The brakes are all lockwired, it seems a shame to hide details like this:
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/rotor%20lock.jpg

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/lock%20wire%20close.jpg

The frame welds are looking pretty good, again don't really want to cover these up after appreciating the effort that went into it :)
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/weld%20quality.jpg

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/weld%202.jpg

I was not looking forward to opening up the panels, after the frustration of seeing all the patch work under bondo I wasn't sure what I would find here. It turned out really well though, not the disaster I was expecting at all.
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/quarter%20cav.jpg

I am finishing up the frame and moving into the rear body work now, I did a quick outline of the rear fender flares and will start work on a template so I can get both sides the same. The rear wheel is still sitting below ride height in this image, I didn't want to remove too much metal before deciding how to handle the new arches.
The wheel looks funny sticking out here now but once the green tape and tire totes are removed it won't appear to stick out so much.
Comments appreciated!
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/rear...test%20fit.jpg

flare
 

I'm not liking the flares. They seem to throw the body lines of the car off too much. I did a quick CAD drawing of the current layout, purple shows the factory wheel config, the yellow is the new layout. The drawing shows how the car tapers in a lot toward the rear of the car, this makes it hard to form a flare that doesn't look strange.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/cad%...%20p1800gt.jpg

Time for PLAN B.

Front test fit rear x member
 

I slipped the front clip in today, getting set up to install the new side rails and cross supports. Here is the front; yes, that axle centreline is ahead of the wheel well centreline, guess what comes next...

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/fron...P1800%20GT.jpg

Close up, the bottom a-arm looks like it is not level now because the car is sitting level, when it sits on the ground there is a slight rake that brings that lower a-arm back in where it belongs.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/fron...P1800%20GT.jpg

Here is the interior, front rails with temporary supports in, once I measure and true everything the side rails and cross supports will go in. Then the new floor.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/fron...P1800%20GT.jpg

I have also done a bit of work on the rear cross member, you can see how much higher the drive shaft and transmission tunnel comes in with the new drive line.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/rear...P1800%20GT.jpg

Its hard to get a full image of the car becuase my garage is too small. Once I get it on the wheels I will roll it out to clean up the garage and get a few images of the entire car.

?
 

I came in from the garage today and I think my wife left me. The downside of project cars?

??????????????????


--Eric

what's up??
 

What's up Daemon, things OK on the home front??

Holy crap dude! Are you being serious? I hope everything is alright.

It's all good, I missed a date I shouldn't have. I'll get some updates as soon as I can!

Well, that's a relief. Be sure to take care of the marriage first. We'll patiently wait on updates of the car. :D

Looks great:thumbsup:

Keep the updates coming

I don't know how I missed this tread. AWESOME build! :hail:

It all looks great nice work.

slow progress
 

I continue work on the frame, I have the crossmembers set up and will move into the new side rails now. The rails will be inset into the rockers, you can see in this image the rusted panels had been replaced by the previous owner, the rust inside wasn't addressed though.
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/DCA%...20crossmbr.jpg

I was completing another test fit before I wrap up the frame, this is ride height. The top of the tire will be just tucked into the body line with larger wheel openings when I get into the bodywork.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/DCA%...pre%20susp.jpg

New latches, lining everything up for now.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/DCA%...ear%20Claw.jpg

I started to clean up the old tank so I can start the in tank EFI mod. It had a lot of rubberized undercoating and years of crap on it.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/DCA%...nk%20strip.jpg

Once I had it stripped the top seemed porous so I decided it needed leak testing. Found one.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/DCA%...ank%20leak.jpg

Rest of the tank is good.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/DCA%...ank%20seal.jpg

stuck
 

So I was seriously stuck for a little while on the frame and fitment around the original floor. I was trying to keep as much of the original as possible but it just wasn't meshing with the new frame.
So I cut, a lot. Some of the metal here is temporary bracing but things are coming together now.
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/driveline%20p1800gt.jpg

I also removed the old inner sills that were pieced together from many repairs, there was up to 4 layers of metal in some places but most had turned into rust flakes. The new frame tucks nicely inside the sills on the sides now and the welds came out pretty good.
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...ail%20weld.jpg

The frame is a floater right now :) - I have to get into some sheet metal work now to connect the sills and tie into the uni body. Some of the original areas will need strengthening, stretching, replacement...
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...der%20hood.jpg

I will start to fab a new core support and extend the bodywork.
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...rough%20in.jpg

My in tank pump showed up so after I get the tank boiled out I can do some work on a baffled sump and installation.

Does anyone know where I can get a retaining ring that the CTS-V fuel pump locking ring attaches - the part that is welded to the tank? I may have to build my own pump retention rings.

Check Hector at Vaporworxs.

http://vaporworx.com/

Check the retroworks kit tab on left menu. Here's the install instructions for his kit.

http://vaporworx.com/Vaporworx%20Fue...structions.pdf


Discussion from that other site.

http://www.pro-touring.com/showthrea...rWorx-products


Jim

Excellent - thanks!

The frame is coming together nicely now, I will start to fab the new sheetmetal for the rockers - I have laid out the floor panels and starting layout for the tranny/driveline tunnel.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/p180...ame%20tuck.jpg
The frame sits at the bottom of the sill and ties into the body at the A and C pillars.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/p180...%20fit%202.jpg
Test fit of the floor. I am also measuring out the location of the handbrake - on the P1800 its located the the left of the driver between the door and seat.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/p180...test%20fit.jpg
Another view.

I will also replace the original brake booster and brackets - the original was huge. Some pedal and linkeage mods required.
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/p180...ster%20mod.jpg

Now that the frame is in and the body is stable again I will open up the rear sheet metal to tuck my huge rear end away :)
I'm looking forward to this part.
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/p180...mods%20dca.jpg

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/p180...ear%20tuck.jpg
Also get rid of this seam.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/p180...pot%20weld.jpg
About 1000 spot welds to go...
The tensile strength of these must be pretty high - they seem to eat drill bits.

Cheers!

LS3 req's
 

3/4" ground strap engine to chasis
40gph/60psi fuel pump
min 8 guage wire for fuse block power feed
speed sensor input - 17T calibration for manual
3.08 to 4.11 rear end
26 to 30 inch rear tire diameter


Did I miss anything?

tie in
 

I had to fabricate some inner sill plates, the new frame extends into the interior 3/16" on either side.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...0gt%20prim.jpg
I made these panels with a 3/16 jog and put a good coating of zinc rich primer on before welding.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...pot%20weld.jpg
This is a section of the panel going in, spot welding with MIG - I am also getting rid of the seam under the rocker panel but upside down welding sucks!

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...tall%20top.jpg
looking down

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/p180...20in%20fin.jpg
And close to finished on drivers side.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...0ring%20lg.jpg
And, still working on the fuel tank modification for the in tank pump module. This is the new pump module mounting ring.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...ule%20ring.jpg
And close up.

unexpected
 

I didn't think I would get anything done on the car this weekend but today was a productive day.

I had to build custom tapered rod bolts so I could have adjustable bump steer rod ends. Can't see the tapered rod bolts under the spacers and heim joints but it came together nicely.
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/cust...%20p1800gt.jpg

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/bump...%20p1800gt.jpg

Also starting to tie in the rear frame section and measure out suspension - also managed to sneak an order in today :)
Drivers side

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/rear...800gt%20ds.jpg

and passengers side:
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/rear...800gt%20ps.jpg

Built not Bought
 

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...end%20side.jpg

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...20w%20diag.jpg

Very nice!

getting fun
 

Its coming along slowly but it's nice to see progress. My suspension parts are beginning to arrive. I am still working out spring rates because the car isn't far enough along to know the corner weights yet.

I've decided to go with the Ridetech Select series coilovers. I have envisioned a dash mounted sport button that will stiffen the shocks, increase boost through an electronic boost controller and handle a few other items for the fun drives :)

I am impressed by the quality of these and excited to get them on.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/p180...20coilover.jpg

Close up:

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/p180...ect%20base.jpg

I was holding out for a Volvo B8444S V8, but they are running over 5k for a well used engine. I can run an LSX376 for close to that price and not have the headaches of creating my own bellhousing, etc.

Time will tell...

I've wondered what it would take to get a Volvo V8-32 valve engine into a project, and there just isn't the support for modified engines like the LS series of engines. Complexity, cost and availability just make it too hard for anybody who has a budget. The 60 degree V8 from the Volvo block might have been a benefit for fitment between the fenders, and it would allow you to race in certain sanctioning body classes with an "all factory" car, but that really isn't my objective. It really would be "nice to have" but not for my budget. and abilities...........

Good progress, keep the photos coming!!

I was very excited about the suspension so I tried to push forward with a few things I have been thinking over.

Like everything with this project so far I have to do a little more work that I had planned at the beginning. I have started a lot of fab on the front end, cutting out rust and making filler panels. I have started to plan the core support as well, I will need a much larger radiator for the V8.

This is just a few quick pics of the front with wheels, I will also start the metal around the new wheel arches to tuck these babies away without rubbing. These are .25 inch above ride height:

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...ont%20view.jpg

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/p180...nt%20metal.jpg

The core support will be a lot of work but the new rad opening will likely be twice the size of the old one.

Looking good!

Awesome project! I love cars that are out side of the box.

I got a suggestion for you that make things alittle easyier when doing sheetmetal work. I noticed the panle clamps you are using, iv been doing sheetmetal work for 10 years, iv tried using those and I wasn't happy with them. They left a gap that was a little to wide for me, they were kinda bulky, and messing the square peg was a pain. So I just made my own out of some scap I had laying around. They were very simple to make
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...n/4d8059f7.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...n/35f64fe1.jpg

Mine used just a thin strip of sheet metal to make the gap tighter, and also they just use a piece of tig wire instead of the big square beg. This way if you can't get behind it then you can just let the wire fall out. Make fitting panels easyier because you and slide the clamp on one side of the panel and slide the panle into the other side. Anyways thought it might be a helpful tip. If you have any questions just ask! Keep up the good work

Ryan

Thanks for this! - I was finding the square peg on the back of mine hard to work with.

It's no problem, I might do a thread in the body and paint forum to show how I made them. They are pretty simple I'm sure you won't have a problem figuring them out. But I made my before I bought any, I bought a few and ended up getting frustrated and threw them in the scrap pile.

Ryan

floored
 

Still plugging away.

I like the way the front wheels are looking but they have to come back off so I can weld in the upper coilover mounts and work on the core support.

Just a few more pics with them on:
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...%20forward.jpg

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...lside%20on.jpg

:)

This weekend was eaten up by a bit of spring cleaning. I did get the drivers side floor panel in. But that's all for this weekend...

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...0floor%202.jpg

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...ds%20floor.jpg

rear end
 

I'm working in the back of the car now, the frame is complete front to rear and I have to add some cross braces in a few places.
I have been looking for a good place for the Optima battery and tray. The fuel tank is not centred so I think passenger side rear will be good for balance.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...est%20fit2.jpg

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/p180...test%20fit.jpg

I have started fabricating the new wheel tubs, all the old material I don't need is gone now.
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...e%20fender.jpg

Still lots of work on the passenger wheel well
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...20tie%20in.jpg

and bringing the body back together with the frame.
http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...ar%20spots.jpg

tubbed
 

I had a few good hours on the car today, I have been putting together my own rear tubs to fit the extra rubber in on the back. Started by removing the rear quarter to open everything up:

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...20q%20open.jpg

And have a good start on the new tubs, I had a little trouble getting the radius of the two halves to line up but with some patience they are starting to come together nicely.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...mini%20tub.jpg

Here's a cool 'cutaway' view of the rear of a P1800 - with some new components. Rear brakes are 13" Wilwood, calipers aren't in yet.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...20q%20open.jpg

I set the suspension up and put it through its travel to get an idea of required clearance. This is about 1 inch above ride height.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...e%20height.jpg

New brackets for the tub and deck support.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...aket%20fab.jpg

And the clean radius for the new wheels

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...20rear%20q.jpg

I have some work left to do on the tubs and opening the wheel arch around the front of the rear wheel.

Today was a good day.

i am really wanting one of these cars now! what vette irs is it? dana 36 from auto or a 44 from the standard trans?

I have a C4 dana 36 and 44, I think I will be using the 44 with 3.55 gears and 6 speed manual. That picture shows the 36.

rolled
 

i have a new bead roller and ran my first bead today, nice tool!

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...roll%20one.jpg

This is wheel tubs continued...

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...%20backing.jpg

So far they are looking pretty good, I have it just resting on a block in this image so I can cut out the template for the rear plate.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...0b%20plate.jpg

Its looking pretty mean in this shot...I want to drive this thing already!

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...20rearward.jpg

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...%20stretch.jpg

Final fit of the wheel wells before putting the sheet metal on the inside of the well and reshaping the rear quarters.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...0gt%20rear.jpg

From the nose of the car looking reward showing the p1800 body lines and the width of the new rear end tubs - from one of the cad drawings I posted previously it shows the increased wheel width from above, looks like we were pretty close:

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/cad%...%20p1800gt.jpg

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...0reenforce.jpg

The last of the frame bracing is now complete, now I can complete the floor and start planning for epoxy primer.

http://www.daemoncustomauto.com/dca%...nose%20job.jpg

I have moved the front sheet metal out and have started reworking the core support for the new radiator and frame. I did a little work on the sheet metal extensions. The damaged bondo encrusted section will be redone as well, its wrinkled up pretty good in there on the front.

Great Progress
 

Nice shots extending the nose of the P1800. :yes: Are you planning to rework the lights too? Have you decided what they will look like?

Also, like the CAD drawings of the car showing the new/old track width. I saw a 1964 AC Cobra a few weeks ago, which was a really an AC Ace with a 289 and a 4 speed mod, with a very few changes and the style of these early 1960's European sports cars really was a wider front and narrower rear, with a wider front track width than the rear.

What is your front and rear tire track widths? And Hub to hub widths?

If you look just past the nose on that last image you may notice some work starting on the lights, there was a lot of rust and patch work behind bondo in there so I will be redoing them.
I have some parts for the lights just haven't started with them yet, I have to find someone who can do custom lenses for me. I will post images when I get to that work.
Stock P1800: front and rear track width 51.8", P1800 body with is 66.93" at the widest point on the body. The widest point is the middle across the doors and it tapers in front and rear.
New:
Rear track: 60.5"
Front track: 54.5"

Rear hub to hub: 62.5
Front hub to hub: 58.5

Total width rear: 68.0"
Total width front: 64.2"

http://www.sickhids.com/
 

Did you check out http://www.sickhids.com/ for custom lights?

Also, I've seen some other custom cars that used other cars light assemblies, I'm thinking that I might use Mini Cooper lights.
http://www.carid.com/2002-mini-cooper-headlights/

Unfortunately there aren't many modern cars that look like they will work with minimum modifications for a custom P1800. I've ben looking, the late model/retro Thunderbird lights might work too, but they would be way more work that the Mini lights. The Mini light assemblies just look like the might be a bit big.

I'm still working my tail lights for my 1969 Camaro. I have billet lenses, and I just can't spend >$200 for progressive tail lights. I found a company that sells tons of LED's to the trucking industry, and I purchased a set of progressive controllers and a few other pieces for the custom light's that I'm going to use from them. Should be able to make my own tail lights for just over $100.:unibrow:
http://www.rodworx.com/
http://www.uatparts.com/

These tend to focus on LEDs, running lights and tail lights, not HID's for head lights. I have not looked around too much for custom HID's yet, as I'm using the standard round headlights for the Camaro, so I don't have to look around too hard yet. I've looked around at the Good Guys shows and a few other shows and not much is available in those venues for custom applications.