Thanx guys! Glad you enjoyed checking out the project, and Austin, this weekend! It was funny, when we got to the shop, within 5 minutes Rob, Dave and Weld were crawling around on the floor of the shop checking out the bottom of TOW. They must have spent 45 minutes under there! And what feedback did I get? My tires are too small, we did my shaker all wrong, and my parking brake setup sucks... :catfight:

Gotta love Lat-G! :lateral:

It's always fun getting to talk cars / shop all weekend. Hope you guys aren't suffering too much from the sunburn like I am today. Oh, we had a much better weather day, right after you left. :peepwall:

We're back at it, or I should probably say, Eric is... I went by tonight, but I didn't get to do any actual work. Eric is knocking out the punch list pretty quickly though. Headlights are fixed, interior dash parts are painted, new shifter handle is made, gas pedal is spaced up from the floor, and he's working on some new interior quarter panels to replace the original plastic ones since the DSE mini tubs make things difficult to fit back there...

And the west coast crowd will be glad to know that a Lokar parking brake cable kit is on the way to replace the factory one. :smiley_smack:

I told Eric tonight we're going for a drive this weekend. I have some work to do on the tuning to make that happen, but we're sure gonna try and make it happen!!! Shaker, parking brake, and wiper motor be damned! :confused18:

About time. Get that car out on the road and show it off.:cheers:


One out of three is better than none. :stirthepot: I have a nice bronze glow just like after a surf trip. :D

Did Rob take pictures of your dash?

Gitter dun! Very exciting so close to the end...

That sun whooped me pretty good. Back to the perfect weather of California. I knew there was a reason it was so expensive to live here. :)

Get that video ready for this weekend....

Ha! Rob didn't, but I happened to snap one last night:

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps773e565d.jpg

I should remove the steering wheel and get a better one. And no making fun of the horn button, we're still working on the horns. :knokwood:

Yeah, yeah... Eric and I were checking tire clearances last night again. And I have been on the hunt for air cleaner foam! :idea:

Kinsler Fuel Injection


http://www.kinsler.com/handbook190.html

http://www.kinsler.com/handbook191.html

:D Good looking dash!

Horn......thought it might be a bobble-eye thingy. :poke:

What are you doing for horns? I have a new set of Hella trumpet horns but need to further research proper relay/wiring procedure before installing.

Your horn "shorts" to ground.... so using a relay.... your lead from the horn button goes to # 85 thus becoming the "switch". Get my relays from SPAL (you'll have to shop for supplier) because they are GM Weatherproof sealed versions suitable for exterior use... and have long leads already. Hook 'em up and go! Two horns -- just run the power in series using a jumper from one horn to the other.







http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...elaywiring.jpg

What he said, except my AAW kit has the relay built in. I ordered a single Dorman from Summit, since I don't know that I 'need' two horns. If it sounds like crap, I'll get the second one. :)

http://www.amazon.com/Uni-Filter-65-...words=uni+bf-1

Just ordered 2 sheets, and we have some leftover stainless mesh, so I'll do some experimenting this weekend... :)

Dual horns ALWAYS sound better than one.... But it only counts when you use if and really -- how often is that. Personally -- I can't do a car with one horn. They just sound lame.

We'll find out Thursday when the new one gets here. I'm REALLY glad that none of you hit the horn button the other night. Another thing that I would have never heard the end of... Talk about lame! :disgusted:

http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/file-151.jpg






http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/file-149.jpg






http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/file-153.jpg






http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/file-150.jpg







http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/file-152.jpg

See... aren't you glad we came down to further delay your project?

Sigh. I had secretly hoped you were yanking my chain with the whole thing. I'm going to have to tell all of my Austin BBQ friends that they have to go re-evaluate their Salt Lick opinions now!

Bryan was right that place looks like it really sucks.

:disgusted: :disgusted: :disgusted: :disgusted: :disgusted:

my mouth started watering!!

Why the hell would anyone wanna go to Salt Lick when we could go to Rudy's, the McDonald's of Texas BBQ?

:smiley_smack:

:lostmarbles:

:snapout:

:wacko:

:bitchslap:

:bang:

:warning:

:sieg:

Personally I'm so glad to see another Lat G thread go to hell.....



Is there a car being built ANYWHERE on this board??



:drowninga:

You've done it now!!! I'm going out to eat barbeque tonight. Maybe I'll just walk over to Ironworks. Or tomorrow for lunch, Franklin's. Or Mueller's. Or County Line. Or Green Mesquite. Ack, the options! :sarcasm_smiley:

Great thing about Austin, we have plenty of BBQ choices. :) It's just the out-of-towners that think they know good BBQ. :action-smiley-027:

I think Weld is here just to distract us all so that NOBODY gets a car built. What is he, maybe, from the Ford Pro-Touring camp, trying to keep all the GM projects stalled so that a Ford has a chance at one of the competitions? He was bragging about all the Fords in his personal stable this weekend! :wacko:

Hmm, the more I think about it, I think he and Rob are in cahoots! They were awful chummy this weekend!

:bigun2:

Looking great, Bryan. I guess I've either missed it or can't find it, but could you tell me where you got your dash insert from or is it custom made? I'd really like to get a more professional looking panel for my car. Mine is home made and it shows. Thanks

:huh: Seriously GW :huh: how can you compare that circus to the fine establishment Brian found for us. :smiley_smack: You know the one that wasn't out of food. :confused18: :stirthepot:

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps4db9dd36.jpg

this?



or this? :rolleyes:



http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...psa0701539.jpg

It looked better from the outside :shakehead:

We made it... I laid it out in a technical drawing program to make sure everything fit, then I actually printed the gauges to scale, cut them out, and laid them onto the dash bezel to make sure. :) Eric used the bezel to cut the outside shape, and we spent a lot of time deciding which lines to use as our centering lines for the actual gauges. That original Firebird bezel is not centered horizontally as you would expect it to be, so it's trick to get it right.

Eric cut the outside with a jigsaw, then used a grinder to finish it. Then he used hole saws to cut for the gauges and vents. It's a delicate process to not bend the aluminum while drilling the big holes. Once it was done, it was glued back into the bezel and the top-lip was riveted back into place. I had both parts powder coated before reassembly with a satin black finish, so no reflections from that finish.

Overall, I'm really happy with how it turned out! It was one of the things I had envisioned for a long time while planning this project... :)

:underchair:

I'll never be accepted as a real Texan now, apparently due to my lack of appropriate restaurant-selection skills.

open 8 days a week huh?

Luckily you have a nice car. Make that 2 nice cars. :thumbsup:

:D

Thanks, Bryan. That's actually how I did mine as well. I guess I should redo it using thinner aluminum and being more patient because mine didn't turn out as well as your piece that's for sure. The biggest problem for me with the stock dash is I couldn't see the tops of the speedo and tac while driving. The way I've rearranged the gauges on my car makes it so I can see all the gauges easily. I just want it to look better.

Well hell - looks like I went to wrong BBQ place near Austin.

I flew into Austin last weekend for the V8 Supercar race - nice city but good lord it was hot as hell last weekend - well compared to NC for May!

I hear ya. I tried to make sure that the steering wheel wouldn't block any important gauges, and it looks like that is going to work out ok for me. We'll see how often I'm able to check the gauges while I'm driving anyway... :)

Getting the right size for the gauges was tricky also. I like Autometers, but the 3 3/8" gauges are too small for me, and the 5" are a touch too big. I really like the relative size of the Speedhuts 4.5" with the 2 1/16".

Good luck!

That humidity was HIGHLY unusual for Austin, and if it makes you feel any better, we broke a record for high temps on Friday. :huh:

So which BBQ joint did you try? :)

Greg and Rob,

You will both be happy to know that Eric has solved the shaker dilemma! I present to you....

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps502696ef.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps040b6eaf.jpg

It fits perfectly!!! :confused59:

Nice air cleaner. :sarcasm_smiley: :lol:

Maybe you could look for a compromise. More function than your first try and more ascetic than the current unit. :twak: :lmao:

What's that highchair still doing in the car :headscratch:

:) Actually, Eric and I have a new plan in the works that I'm order parts for today. We think we have a good solution which will use what we already have, but give me a good bit more airflow. Hopefully we can pull it together next week. :peepwall:

As for the seat, I gotta have something in there for the first drive this weekend! I've made some calls on those Recaros, we there may be a change in the near future... :G-Dub:

If you could get them to make a real classy looking billet Firebird for the top of the air cleaner, you might be able to pull it off.