Sorry, busy. Lol

I think Sunday/Monday is dealing with the rig and set up, you’d have to check with the boss though. I’m down for whenever.

Fair enough. Let’s play it by ear. Looking forward to seeing you and Lulu.

Soooo.... while I've been stuck in here
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The car has been at MuscleRodz with Mike. The goal was to have Mike knock out the bigger and more time consuming items and have it returned running and capable of being on the road. We all know that's not a simple task and that it's never a good idea to send a builder a car in boxes. Mike took it on and has done his best to complete the car the way I want it done and on the level he knows I am aiming for. Not easy, but it appears he's done a good job. Here's a little update and of course there will be more to come when the car arrives... tomorrow. :headspin:
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Gotta love those intake tubes made by Frank! I'll have more engine bay pics to post soon!!
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This was a complex puzzle, but Mike got it done.
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The spoiler looked better than expected! Of course, getting the door lights to line up with the grill takes longer than expected... which is expected. :poke:
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Always a good sign.
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And...... VOLUME UP! :thumbsup::thumbsup:





Mike loading the car and headed for Las Vegas and SEMA


I should note that Mike's shop is located on an airport. Totally seems approp!

:captain: Thanks for looking

So excited for you Curtis!!! Beautiful build and much respect for you taking it to the level you did.

Congratulations man! I bet you aren't getting much sleep.

I predict tailpipes in no time. :confused59:

That sounds awesome:thumbsup:

Thank You. It’s not exactly where I want it to be, but that’s ok. Gives me time to refine my ideas. I am going to run a stock-ish interior for now with plans to have it redone later down the road. Hey... they’re never done.

Thanks Brother. Maybe at some point.

Sounds nasty doesn’t it. Neighbors will love me and those early AM departures for cars and coffee. LoL

Looks and sounds great. What mufflers did you use?

Thanks Dave. Those are Borla S-Type. I was looking at their ATAK series but read some reviews stated there are issues with them coming apart.

As Todd quickly deduced, they are dumped and lack the tail pipes at the moment.

Can't wait to see it at SEMA! Looks and sounds fantastic!

Looks and sounds great.I am very happy for you,I know it's been a long time waiting for this:king:

Car sounds great!! What exhaust diameter did you end up going with?

Congrats Curtis! Love the color and the sound.

Daniel

John I’m sorry to say it probably won’t go to far from the house. I would love to do a big ol smoky burn out in front of Margaritaville Wednesday eve, but the car is still needs a little work. Besides, where would I park it?

Thanks Brother! Few small things and then interior and it’ll be where I want it.

2.5”. The mufflers are just dumped. It’s loud!

Thanks Daniel. The color was probably the hardest part of the build for me.

Smoke 'em if you Got 'em!
 

Hell Yeah Brother! Glad to see it rolling! I cant wait to see it in person.

Thanks Brother!! Get out here!!

WOW! Great build....

Congrats, Curtis! Glad to know the car is almost complete.

Fantastic work, Mike!

Thanks Trey. There's a bit yet to go, but the end is in sight.... if there is such a thing. What little I've been able to drive the car has been a lot of fun. It's loud, it smells, the steering wheel needs to be re-indexed and I don't have the seat belts in it, but it's fun! :D

It's definitely loud!
 

While the wife and I were sitting in our back yard this morning drinking coffee, we heard a raspy rumble roaring from up the street. I walked around to the side yard and saw "The Victim" rolling by. That is a sweet looking ride. Went back and told my wife that I need to get out in the garage and back to work. Haha.

Great to see that beast on the road. Congrats on such a badarse car!

Come on... he ain't that old and grumpy yet.

Well let me fire it back up for you! :RunninDog:

I’ve seen you out there plugging away a lot the last few weeks. Keep at it. I need someone to cruise with. :bigun2:

I am HA

Curtis I don’t know how I missed so many days without checking in . That looks and sounds sweet. I’m so happy for you.

Are we gonna get progress pictures or what?

I’m totally grumpy. :lol:

I dropped a lot all at once knowing it was going to be a busy week.

Soon! Hope to get a few this weekend. Who knows... maybe I’ll even get the seat belts installed. :BlahBlah:

glad to see it running and moving!

The week of SEMA is always a busy one for me. Work prevented me from attending the show, but I still made time to meetup with friends. I had planned to tag along with Adrianne and drive GW's truck back to Scottsdale Saturday after SEMA. The truck made it as far as breakfast. :lol: The hose from from power steering pump blew right out of the fitting and all the fluid was gone.

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Adrianne decided to call Pilot Transport and have the car hauled to a trusted shop in the PHX area rather than hunt around all day and deal with an unknown. I'm not sure who she called at Pilot, but one of their rigs arrived within an hour and snatched up the truck. You can't even get a Tow truck out here that fast. :lol:

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She grabbed her bags and we called UBER.

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She asked if I wanted to head out to OPTIMA and hang with Blake, Jay and the crew from Speedtech. Yeah... always! She insisted we take the Camaro and I was more than happy to do so. We bolted the passenger seat in and headed out. Reaching the track we rolled in like we owned the place and no one questioned it. It was a great afternoon and proof that "there are not bad days, only lesser gooder days". We had a lot of fun to say the least.

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Adrianne caught this as we got ready to head out.

Once Adrianne was on a plane and head home it was time to go full throttle on the car. Sadly Mike didn't have enough time to complete everything on my list or do any real shake down. Not what he prefers, but it was what it was. I really wanted to take the car to Scottsdale for Gregs memorial and attend the GoodGuys show with Adrianne. It was a lot of work and I didn't get everything I wanted accomplished, but it was road worthy.

First up was having the Tune redone. Mike is looking into what happened with the Tuner he used and I know he will get to the bottom of things. Revolution Race Works here in Las Vegas scrapped the tune in the car and started with a fresh LS7 file. Seven hours later, it ran the way it should. Night and day difference. Sorry... no Dyno video this time.

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After a nose to tail check of things with the car on the lift I set to cleaning up the wiring that still needs to be completed. Stereo, Truck Release, etc. It looks worse than it is. The VA is in, but the AC needs to be charged. Also I still need to install the Stereo so Mike left the vent hoses disconnected at my request. Just easier to get under there and get at stuff.

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Once that was accomplished I set to laying down Dynamat and Dynaliner. I wanted to carpet the entire car and get the back seat in. Ran into a couple of snags though. First was the discovering that the new back seat I had bought four years ago and just left in the box was... for a Vert. :buttkick: Second was time! So front seats, front carpet and a panel to close up the backseat to trunk area would have to do.

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Thankfully I had help... well kinda.

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Door panels, Door seal plates and the Glove Box Door and that was it for interior. I actually had to barrow a shifter handle from Jeff. :lmao:

Jeff and I changed the oil and check all the fluids and I called it a night. It all looked good to go and I was headed out the next morning. The car had almost 200 miles on it. With no wipers, no spare, no heat or AC... what could go wrong!? Besides... I've got AAA. :peepwall:

I was up early the following morning. While Laurie dropped Kevin (the dog) off at the sitters, I packed the car. Just a few tools, two chairs, some detail supplies and our bags and the car was full.

Letting her warm up a little before we left.



All strapped in and ready to go. I have to give Laurie mad props here. She worked a 10 hour shift the night before and drove for four hours to Scottsdale in a less than quiet car. She's trooper.

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Once we arrived Laurie called it and went to bed as soon as we checked into the hotel. I headed over to Welds place and after dinner left the car there. Adrianne had a crew come by super early to clean and detail the car. It was nice to have coffee with Gwen before heading over to GoodGuys.

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With the car all cleaned up we headed over to the show to meet Adrianne. She had us park in the "Builders Choice" area. Having never taken a car to a show before I just did what I was told. I had to fill out an entry form to park there, but whatever. I was in good company and hanging with Adrianne and Basher.

If there was ever any doubt...

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Upon return from watching Autocross and looking at cars we found this in the passenger seat. At first I thought someone had thrown a flyer in the car and was annoyed. Then I thought Adrianne and Basher where playing a joke on me. There's no way a car that's obviously missing interior parts and the trim around the headlight doors would be selected. Adrianne was nice enough to point out that I was probably the only car rolling on Forglines. :poke: That girl cracks me up!!

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This meant we had to attend Sunday vs driving home first thing in the AM. It was a good time and I'm glad we stayed.

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I love the intake tube Frank made me. It really adds to a clean and smooth vibe IMO.

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Rolling up for the award like the Nerd I am! They got all the info correct except for the exhaust. Oh well.



All in all it was a wonderful trip. I got to meet a few Lat-G peps including JACKS67RS, spend time with great friends and celebrate my friend Greg Weld. More than a few thought we where nuts to drive car all way down and back... they're probably right. But it worked out and all is good.

Probably the best picture I've even taken. Pure luck.

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Miss ya Buddy.

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Cool story... car looks awesome and sounds even more awesome. Nice job!

JD

Congrats! I'm glad they found a car on Forgelines ;)

It was great finally meeting you in person and seeing the progress, hope you can make it back to Scottsdale in the Spring. I want to see the car completed, it's really turning out nice!

Jack

Looking good brother! I wish I could have swung Scottsdale this weekend!

I love the way the car came out. Glad to hear about the award. :D Don’t worry Greg was there too.

Looks great and sounds awesome,happy that you are finally on the road and had a good time.

Congrats on the Award Curtis,very well deserved.Great story and glad you are getting to enjoy your car:king:

Great write up Curtis. Thanks for sharing.

Daniel