Spear moldng
 

Hey Curtis.. Wondering.. do those spear moldings help with protecting the paint from the tires kicking up rocks?

Not in the slightest!! :lol:

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Looking good my dude!

**cough...supercharge it....***

I’m with John!

You two send the funds and I’ll make it happen. :lol: Hard enough to get traction as it is. Roll on the throttle to aggressively in 3rd gear and it spins the tires as is.

I fail to see the point you’re trying to make Curtis

Always looks so clean, I love the rocker panel trim.

Did that yesterday in 2nd with the TA and thought to myself "Self, 500hp was more than enough".

Did you intentionally frame the marque in the back ground of the first picture to show Old School is Back?

Great pictures, Curtis

Has the strip returned to normal at all?

Love that first pic!!

Thanks. It's just enough to balance the shiny stuff on the car IMO.

There are times I would like more, but I don't really need it... but I want it.

Not to pre COVID levels. Not everything is open and what is, isn't 100% open. There's rumor that some of the casinos may shut down mid week during the holiday season. Crime is up though! Cheap flights and hotel rooms have attracted the types we all would rather not have around.

Didn't even notice the marque till I looked at the pic later. Security wasn't to hip on my parking there.

Thanks. Lucky to have made it in there. That lighting really makes the car pop.

Few months back I helped organize a charity event called Gears on the Green. This was snapped there. Decent event considering all 2020 has thrown at us.

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Local car meet a few weeks back.

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Sweet pics...

For those of you that aren't on IG.

Warming up


Hunting Beach Quarantine Cruise.


Random capture from a friend of a friend.


Little Highway pull against my friend Deneen in BB 73 Challenger


Kingman AZ to Las Vegas run. Love the open road in this car.


Thanks for looking! :captain:

Way too cool videos for sure. Thanks for sharing. Exhaust sounds killer!

It's been a lot of fun and I probably drive it way to much. Just passed 9000 miles on the odometer this past weekend.

:flag2:

Shut your filthy mouth!:lol:

Scottsdale GG's
 

Cruised down to Scottsdale for the GoodGuys show with LuLu, Basher and Jack a few weekends ago. The event was limited to 2000 cars and 6000 people and of course masks where required even when outdoors this year. Vendor turn out was low, but the autocross was full tilt and the event was busy none the less.

Meet the gang at the Cosmo. Jack (Bashers kid) jumped in with me we headed out. Tried to cross into AZ via the Hoover Dam, but apparently that's a no go these days. We had to double back, but it was all good.

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After a quick lunch stop at In & Out in Kingman, Jack and I decided to drop the hammer (with Dads approveal) so we could make an on time arrival at the Weld Res and meetup with the car wash guys. Jack waved "BYE" and we where Mad Maxing it across the desert. We averaged between 95 and 110 the entire way. Top speed was 125mph more than a few times. Drive time was about 3hrs 15min with a quick gas stop. Jack was the perfect co-pilot, made sure we stayed on course and gave call outs for upcoming route changes.

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You gotta love an open highway.

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Of course we "sucked in " a lot of the slower traffic and would have to pass. Down shifting to 4th was like lighting the afterburner and we would rocket past everyone. It was very satisfying to say the least. Jack, who normally has the straight face of a professional poker player, even cracked a grin a few times. :lol:

We rolled into Gwen's place and they finished cleaning the car right as the light started to fade. Sunsets from the patio are incredible making it the perfect place to decompress.

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Adrianne insisted we arrive early to get premium parking. Pretty sure we where in the top 20 arrivals. Of course she had to race someone off the stop light on the way over. Basher and I had a front row seat for this and got a good laugh out of it. She won. Sunrise was amazing and almost makes me want to me a morning person. Almost.

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It was a great event and I was able to visit with a lot of great people I don't get to see very often. Jack67RS was there which was a plus as well as Blake and the Speedtech crew. I also met a few people from Instagram which totally cracks me up.

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I love the car. Jack said I can't have it. Rude! :lol:

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Of course GW was there with us.

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Hot Rods by Dean chose the car for the Builders Choice Top Ten Award. (Jim's paint and body work really shows well) It was a very nice complement!!

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The drive home was very relaxing (I still did 110 as much as possible) and it was great to reflect on how blessed I am to have so many amazing friends. Gwen was an awesome host and she's just fun to be around. Adrianne, Basher/Jack, Jack, Blake, Noel and all the rest are perfect to kick around an event with. I am very much so looking forward to the next one.

Turned the OD over the 10k mark as I pulled into Vegas. If you remember the car left here last year with 200 miles on it after MuscleRodz got it road worthy. Not a bad year!

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Time to update and address a few things.

Thanks for looking. :captain:

Glad y'all had a great time, Curtis. Congrats on the award and all the fun miles. Sunrises really do make it worth getting up early.

Sounds like a great time. Good to see you racking up the miles. :yes:

Daniel

At the end of my last post I stated it was time to address a few things. Honestly there are things that are over due. The car is so much fun to drive, even with the issues and it was hard for me to take it off the road. I am very thankful to have been able to drive it this past summer with all the restrictions and COVID B.S.

A couple of months ago I called Chris Holstrom and asked if he would be willing to take the car in and address a few pesky issues, rework a couple of things I decided I wanted changed and button up a few small items. Chris was very receptive and setup a conference call with him and his shop manager. During the call we talked through every little item on my list, my expectations, time frame, etc. It wasn't a "yeah, yeah, yeah" kind of call either. They actually talked options and approach on every items with me. They took the time to explain how they approach any build, the documentation process, billing, etc. It was much more professional than I have experienced anywhere and extremely impressive! With a tentative delivery date of just before Christmas and an expectation that the car wouldn't be started on until after the new year, I arranged for Transport.

During my visit to Scottsdale I learned that Gwen Weld had sold her home there and was returning to the Seattle area and just happened to be moving about the same time as my car was headed that way. Oddly, the transporter lives in Scottsdale and was able to not only move Gregs truck and Gwens car, but also all of her house hold goods. JRods is storing Gregs truck and the car for Gwen till she is unpacked and ready for them. That was perfect as the driver needed to pick up a Mustang at JRods and haul it back to AZ. Kinda weird... even stranger was getting a text from Craig Morrison (who recommended the driver) saying he had just spent a long weekend at the cabin and upon reaching the first stop light on his way home... looked over and was next to the truck hauling all the cars and Gwens stuff. Crazy. :lostmarbles: I'm taking it all as good sign that the lotto tickets I bought on the way back from Scottsdale are going to be a big winner. LMAO

All clean and ready to go:
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In good company:
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All locked down and ready to go:
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JRods gave me VIP parking during the stop over: :D
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When she finally arrived at Chris Holstroms Concepts (CHC) they didn't waste anytime getting her in documenting and inventorying everything. I had over 100 photos within a few hours.

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I actually really dig some of the pictures they took. Jim really killed it on the paint and body work. It's art. :lol:

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One thing that wasn't on my list was a new Transmission. A few weeks ago while "driving" on the freeway next to a Mercedes AMX GT-R at 130 mph, "in Mexico" (I won) the rear seal decided to give up the ghost. It wasn't gushing gushing thankfully and I hadn't noticed anything wrong until I exited the freeway and spotted a bit of smoke coming out from under the hood. Figured she may have puked a little oil out of the breather tank and pulled over to check. I was and wasn't surprised to find that one of the fitting on lines to the AC compressor had broken and the hose was against the header. No big, those where on the list of things for CHC to address anyways. I secured the hose, mopped up the AC oil best I could and pressed on to meet friends for lunch. Still had a little smoke coming out the back of the car, but figured it was residue burning off. Hitting the freeway on the return trip and shifting into 5th resulted in a crazy vibration. I slowed and pulled off at the next exit expecting to find something stuck in a rear tire. Instead I found the rear of the car covered in transmission fluid. I limped a few blocks home at a 20 mph, cleaned her up and got her up on jack stands.

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Thankfully the bottom of the car is coated with UPOL Raptor and all the rear end/suspension parts are powder coated. This made clean up easy. A bit of simple green and a mountain of rags did the job. The Ricks Stainless tank took a bit more work, but it wasn't bad.

With the car set to leave for CHC i was pressed to get it fixed and started looking at how to address the issue. Jody pointed out that the rear seal is a known defect and that basically the fluid get trapped in the tail housing and builds pressure till the seal pops. There is a fix and it's possible the tail housing would be covered under a recall, but that would take time. After adding up all the possible costs, time, etc. the smart money seemed to be upgrading to the new T56 Magnum-F. It's a direct replacement for my old school T56, so no shifter relocation or cutting required. Plus it will hold a lot more TQ and it should shift a lot nicer from what I've heard. I called the guys over at American Powertrain and had them ship one to CHC. Great guys. Helpful and easy to deal with. The new trans arrived yesterday, which is the day after the car arrived.

I didn't expect any work to start until after the new year, but CHC jump right on it today and made quick work of swapping out the transmission. Chris was nice enough to send photos.

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It's a bummer having to swap the trans, but I have to say that working with American Powertrain and Chris Holstroms has made what could have been a major thorn, painless.

There will be more to come.

Thanks for looking and Merry Christmas!! :captain:

Your seal didn't let loose. Your tail shaft bearing moved. That's the dull gray part sitting between your slip yoke and the seal.

Regardless, the car's in good hands. Hope it returns to you very soon.

Thanks for the correction Trey. Shouldn’t be an issue with the new Magnum.

I believe this is the walk condition that the no walk bearings are supposed to prevent. I really don't know much about it though as it's never been a problem I've encountered.

What are you going to do with this T56?

I’ll have to read up on that as I’ve never heard of it. Learning a lot about transmissions these days.

I’ll sell it as is. It’s not a total lose.

Sorry to hear about the problems, but glad to see them getting fixed so soon.

In the big picture of life.... it's not a bad thing to have happen. Gotta keep it all in perspective. All part of the adventure.

Trey set me on an interesting path and I've learned something new... so it has it's sliver lining.

:captain:

Car is looking great. It is certainly in good hands to get the issues sorted. What trans ratio did you go with?

It’s a 2.66... same as the old one. It’s worked well and I didn’t feel any need to change it. What are you running?

2.29 but had 6th gear swapped for a .58 among some other internal upgrades so it can still run in the low 2k rpm's 70-80 mph with 3.73 gears. Gearing is setup exactly like the 6th gen ZL1 basically. if the motor isn't happy with 3.73's I may go 3.90.

Smart combo and approach. 3.73's should work, let me know what you think once you've run it for awhile. Making a lot of notes for my next build.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Curtis,

do you have a picture of the engine vs firewall clearance?? I looked at page 107, hard to see, you have any pics showing clearance or from memory, thanks

Steve.. Just looked through 1224 photos of the car on my IPad and the ones on page 107 are probably the best of the lot. Everything being black make it all kinda blend. I’ll look on my LapTop this weekend and see if there’s something better. I’d guess it’s roughly 1.5”-ish. Sorry I can’t take a better pic for you at the moment.

No problem,

Mines closer than that, I need to move the mounting tubes forward, lucky I know a great welder!

Dropped an Airplane off at WA Pane field for some heavy maintenance on Monday. Rather than jumping on the first commercial flight home, I grabbed a rental and headed down to Christ Holstrom Concepts. Got a tour of the shop, meet more of the crew and a detailed briefing on all that's been addressed on my car. Adrianne Weld showed up in the 40 along with Basher as did my buddy Tom who lives in the local area. The weather was awesome so we headed out for a bit of fun. Fist stop was Griots Garage and then over to AME for few. It was a fantastic day for a shake down run! There's not a lot of smooth, flat road there, but we managed to find a section that allowed me to hit 115 mph and check the vibration issue (which is gone).

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The new T56 Magnum-F shifts super smooth and I was surprised at the reduced throw. Getting into reverse takes a bit more muscle, but it's not as long of a stretch. Very pleased.

The new accessory drive from Holley made a huge improvement on the over all look under the hood, but it also made other not so great looking items stand out. I decided to make a few more changes to address that and over all it's an improvement. Perfect... no, but it doesn't suck by any means. Yeah.... I'm OCD. :lol:

Here's a BEFORE pic. It's a decent setup, but the more I looked at it, the more it reminded me of Tow Mirrors on an F-350.

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The new Mid Mount Setup and routing of the AC hoses was an improvement, but things seemed cluttered to me.

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I pushed the EASY button and bought valve covers and billet fuel rails from Holley and swapped the brake master for a black one. CHC added the stainless hardware, made up the cross over and cleaned up the wiring a little. Should have gone this route in the first place. That white plug is being swapped out FYI.

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I have been very impressed with the level of customer service from CHC and plan to build another car with them. The quality of work is 100% and everything has been completed ahead of schedule.

The car is being picked up on 4/15 which means it will arrive just in time for LS Fest. After that it'll be photos and :animated_bye_bye_em

Nice improvement. Much cleaner.

I get a lot of flack when I mention my dislike for most of the more 'budget friendly' accessory set-ups out & available. That "Tow mirrors on an F-350" is an accurate description IMHO....

The Holley stuff looks clean. Nice updates!

I'm loving the new look. It was nice before, but this is so much more becoming of the engine bay.

Very nice improvements Curtis. :thumbsup: