Thanks Joe. I sprayed another LT1 intake I have today in black. I think I'll just stick that for now. No reason to get fancy. I just want it to be clean.

Well, there's no turning back now. The transmission is sitting on the ground under the car and the engine is almost ready to pull. I'll get the stroker built soon. Hopefully, this doesn't take me forever to get put be together.

Trey, you've lost your mind brother. The weather here is turning, and your taking yours apart. I was gonna dust mine off today, but the circus is in town.
I'm building another engine for mine, but I won't change mine out until the new engine is sitting in the shop floor, and I have a free weekend to make it happen.
Hopefully your build goes quickly, and your enjoying yours very soon!

Yeah, the weather has been great. Having the other engine built first was part of my plan, Scott. But, I guess it's not working out exactly like I wanted. I needed the flywheel and under drive pulley off the front of the engine in the car so the new engine can be balanced. I also need to rebuild the T56. At 180k miles it's time for it to get some love as well. I've already bought everything to do the work. I just need to get it done and get the parts to the machine shop for them to fit in the block.

I did drive it around Friday afternoon before parking it. Great day for a drive.

The engine is at the machine shop now getting built. They said 6-8 weeks. That will give me plenty of time to remove the current engine and rebuild the T56. I'm actually planning to do that with weekend. I've taken it apart some and so far it's going easy. I've read some horror stories about people not being able to get the gears off the shafts easily. We'll see what happens once I get fully into it. Stay tuned.

We'll be watching for progress Trey...so don't disappoint us.

:P

https://s16.postimg.org/erb32v45x/IMG_0830.jpgfree photo upload

lol, thanks Skip.

Just a quick update. The new engine is running and car is back on the ground as of about 2 hours ago. I'm a little concerned about the transmission. It doesn't feel like it's wanting to shift very easily. I'll drive it around the neighborhood in a bit and find out for certain though.

Thanks!

Ok Trey, don't leave us hanging. Most of the time, when these trannys don't shift well, it's a clutch issue, and more often than not, its a slave issue. Bleed it again, and try it.
How's it run?

Anyway to paint it to turn it into a LS? LOL if so, I vote that. LOL

Well, I've only driven it a few miles and I haven't gotten on it much. So far, it rips :D It really does rev very fast which is great.

The transmission feels ok just tight. It's getting more manageable the more I drive. I've not driven one with the upgraded internals before so I have no frame of reference. It's much more mechanical feeling than it was before the rebuild.

I've got some tunning issues or maybe sensor issues I need to figure out. I didn't investigate today. Biggest issue I'm seeing right now are split BLM's. Either I've got an exhaust leak or bad O2 sensor.

I'll get it all figured out in time. I'm just happy to have the car back on the ground and running. I tried posting an update a few weeks ago but was having trouble with photobucket. I'll try to get some pictures up soon.

Thanks!

Trey,

I use the free and ultra simple www.postimage.io

Thanks Skip. I may give it a try. I'm getting tired of photobucket taking so long to load from all the ads. I'm also not willing to pay.

I have a ton of pix on PB but avoid using it.

I think postimage is fast. That's a huge reason why I use it.

Updates Bruh...


:rolleyes:


lol

Well, I'm still slacking on getting images of the engine posted obviously.

As for the car, it handles great and has gobs of power. I took it to the mountains a couple weeks ago. It handled so well while I was chasing a stock Mazda Speed Miata. I've done very little dialing in let alone seat time. I figure it will only get better.

I've been busy buying a house and all that's involved with it so I haven't put many miles on the car. I still need to get a dyno tune to make sure that's right and to see if I achieved my goals. It drives so well that meeting my power goals is only icing on the cake. If it's "low" I don't care.

The next thing on the list is to figure out the vibration issues. It's bad from 55 up. I've given up trying to figure it out myself so it's going to McIntosh Performance in Cumming soon. I need fresh eyes on it. Besides, I'd rather spend the money than what little time I have to get it fixed.

Thanks for asking Skip. I'll try to get pictures up soon.

Trey, did you come out my way on your mountain trip? If so, you should have stopped in.
McIntosh has a 6 liter of mine currently. My nephew has already "outgrown" the 5.3 I built for him a couple years ago, so he's bit the bullet and is having me build him an iron 6 liter with 821 heads, ls3 intake, etc.
I can't rag him too much. My engine is about to come out if my chevelle for the 434 Mamo build I've been working on all year...

We did a quick early morning trip around Blood Mountain. Just one pass. We went clockwise so we went thought Dahlonega, to Suches and Wolf Pen Gap, and back down 129. The car handled Wolf Pen better than I thought it would since it's so tight. I'm running Dunlop Dirreza DZ102 tires and they held firm. No sliding the back end out or under steer. Rear tires were biting well with the TruTrac out back. The leaf springs weren't uncomfortable on the bumps during normal driving either. So yeah, I'm pleased with the car.

I just hope McIntosh has better luck figuring this damn vibration out than I have had. I'm hoping it's something simple even if I feel dumb after the fact.

I'll definitely give you a heads up next time we plan a trip north that's not a quick up and back like this one was.

Thanks Scott

Any updates on this bad boy?

I appreciate the interest.

Yes, I've slowly but surely been fixing the floor and trans tunnel so that I could get my drive line angles correct and stop the vibration issue. I'm very slow due to life and the fact that I'm trying to do my best with something I've never done before. It's quickly coming up on a year since I started this work. I hope to be back on the ground in a couple months. Work and life are getting in the way though so I may be optimistic in my time frame yet. I'll try to post some pictures this weekend.

Thank you

Good to hear Trey! Keep us updated.

slow but sure wins the race, at least in building a car yourself... I feel the pain and wish you the best

I appreciate it, Joe and Scott. Thank you

I promised pictures.

I had to raise the transmission up in order to correct the driveline angle issue I was having, this pushed the exhaust into the transmission cross brace. I could have gone with a better, bolt in design, but I wanted to increase the structural rigidity of the car some more. I also apparently really like to take the longest most difficult path I can take to get the job done. So here's my version of a welded in transmission cross brace.

https://i.imgur.com/tkKnPDhl.jpg

The center section I put together with sheet metal. The sides are 2x3 tubing. Here it is installed in the car.

https://i.imgur.com/aGzHAYRl.jpg

I had to replace the front foot wells and the lower parts of the toe boards in the car due to rust. I wanted to make a more rounded tunnel to clear the T56, but this is what I came up with given my limited abilities. It'll be covered by the center console eventually but it also will look good if exposed in my opinion.

https://i.imgur.com/Vg1K5ySl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cgqc5sJl.jpg

Here it is with a lot of the grinding completed. I still have plenty more to go. I'm not fully welded yet either.
https://i.imgur.com/Cf9b1iil.jpg

Part of what is taking me so long is having never done this before, me moving slowly, and me wanting to do minor stuff like welding the drain plug into the floor because I didn't like the way the floor would look from underneath. Like I said, the long, difficult road.

https://i.imgur.com/waYQKhrl.jpg

I also have a lot of gaps I have to fill in. I removed too much metal in places so I have to put it back some how. It's really time consuming but I'll get there.

That's it for now. As I said, I hope to have it back on the ground in a couple months. We'll see what life has to say about that though.

Thanks for looking.

I cranked the car for the first time in 13 or 14 months this evening. I had forgotten how good it sounded, lol. I should have the car on the ground tomorrow.

Yes!!

Progress!!!!!

I wish I could say I drove it today to confirm the vibration that was the whole reason for this last round of work is indeed resolved. Maybe tomorrow, but later this week for sure I'll drive it. The car is on the ground again though. The garage is cleaned out where it was sitting now, too. It'll be nice to have the place cleaned up again.

Thanks guys.

Pulling for you Trey! Are you still in Dunwoody?

Thanks, Scott. Yes, still in Dunwoody. I'm hoping to make some mountain trips this fall. Planning a bathroom renovation too though so we'll see. I need to get both the 540 and the TA up to the mountains. It'll be a huge weight off my shoulders once I've got the TA done with this latest round of work. I plan to keep it in this state for some time.

Trey, the work really looks good. One cool build!

I appreciate the kind words, Lenie. Now that the weather has started cooling off, I plan to drive it more.

Great fab work and attention to detail! Car is looking good

I appreciate it. I'm still plugging away on the car. Slowly but surely.

I just went back and looked at this entire thread - Wow I forgot how awesome this car & thread was/is.

Thanks, Marty. I really appreciate the kind words. You really shouldn't have punished yourself like that though, lol.

Did you find the pics on how I ran the fuel lines on my tank? Let me know if not. I can get more.

I'm planning an update soon as I've cut part of my quarter panel apart to repair damage. I'm starting on body work at this point in the build since it takes more time than money. I have some craziness planned. Hopefully, it'll be worth the effort.

So the update I mentioned above is the car is for sale again. I just don't have the time to work on it and don't want it to sit. Plus, I have this minor thing coming along in June called a baby boy. I definitely won't have time once he's here.

Here's the CL link while it still lasts. Price is very negotiable.

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/c...288520607.html

It's been a fun ride. I'm going to miss it. I still like these cars very much, but after 21 years, it's time to move on to something else. It feels a lot like when I sold my Ducati and stopped riding motorcycles entirely. I still miss them and want another at times, but it was the right decision. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks

Trey,
I sent the link to a friend mine in South Carolina. He had one when we were stationed in California, I think it was a 76.

Good luck!,
Joe

I appreciate it, Joe. Thank you.

Well, I sold the car today. The new owner is ecstatic. He said something along the lines of "This thing sounds like the car I've always dreamed about" during the test ride. Not gonna lie, that was a difficult compliment for me to hear and not tear up. I'm sad to see it go as it sounded great and looked great as it was leaving. I'm happy with what I built. I'm excited for what's next.

Thanks for following along and the words of encouragement, not to mention the help, everyone!