How are things going Tim? Long time no talk....

much better than the last few months. things were pretty rough for a while but im starting to feel much better now. docs think i had some crazy virus that put me out for 4 months. i see so many sick people with my job that it at least makes a little sense. i also had my third boy on the 4th. pretty crazy around the house.

im hoping that i can start working on it again slowly next month. i still hope to get it in paint this summer and maybe even on the road by this time next year. we'll see.

thanks again for all your help with the wheels. they look friggin sick!

Congrats on ur 3rd boy. I'll stop by one weekend to check progress

Tim, congrats! You are a boy making machine! :D

I was gonna check in with you this week actually and see how you're feeling... hope the worst is behind you bro.

well, im almost back to normal. ive taken about 6 months off the car and im starting to feel much better now. im still a little dizzy and have some mild shakes, but im back to about 95% mentally and 75% physically. still not sure what the hell happened, but the docs still think i had a bad virus. being that im around sick people all the time, it makes some sense. over the past few months ive learned that when my body tells me to slow down, i have to slow down. before it all started i had a mild cold and was still working out hard and pushing myself on some short 3 mile runs. no more of that. i think if i would have rested at the start, the last 6 months wouldnt have happened. plus its made me reflect on life and the family and where my priorities were. cars going to get done, i just cant spend 3-4 hours a day on it anymore. luckly, its not too far from being finished. im still hoping to have it in paint by the end of summer. its a year behind schedule, but at least it will be done. i just need to figure out where i left on and start working on it again. more to come soon......

The mosty important thing is getting healthy so your around to enjoy all your hard work. Glad your feeling better.

Glad you are better Tim. Due dates on car builds never seem to be on time. It will get done when it is done.

Tim, glad you posted and have improved... Health and family trumps a car anyday. Hang in there and keep feeling better man.

finally got some progress done on the closeout panel. i ended up flush trimming it to the grille and started making the rest of the panel. i debated including the radiator under the panel, but left it out. i think it looks great and dont really want to hide it. i'll post some pics up tomorrow when i get a little further.

also, i need to come up with another material for the grille. the hex mesh just isnt doing it for me. even when painted black it almost doesnt exist. ive seen some honeycomb sheets that i may use if i can find one thats ~3/16 thick. this would give the appearance of being more closed off which i think it really needs.

still hoping to get the car in paint by the end of summer if jcg has room. its going to take some work to get it there, but it needs to get done. my plan was to build it completely with a running motor and all before tearing it back apart. since being sick set me back about 6 months i dont think thats going to happen. hopefully i dont ruin too much by doing the work after paint. im also hoping that working on the car doesnt set my health back at all.

Tim, good to hear your back on it.

What color were you going with again?

Good to hear you are doing well sir. If I may say, I would do the work before paint. It's bound to get nicks and scratches no matter how careful you are. Paint it last.

I've been doing some brainstorming with some grill mesh ideas and am worried about the same problem you sound to be having with the washed out grill. I haven't done any tests yet, but was thinking I may try the honeycomb painted black but take the time to file the paint off inside the honeycomb to add some depth. I know it would be time consuming and have no idea how it would look, but it was just an idea I was throwing around.

thanks! its still "supposed" to be mercedes mars red with the frame color accenting on the outside. ive tossed around the idea of black, but i get swayed back when i see a nice red muscle car.

i agree and im going to get as much done as possible. its going to be things like fuel and brake lines and some of the wiring that probably will have to wait. the old plan had me buying a motor in the next couple months, but i blew that money on a new truck. the kids were getting too big for the extended cab and chevy wanted to give me 13k off sticker. i do have the mockup motor, but its not any good for plumbing or wiring. im hoping to do my research and have some holes placed in the proper spots for whats needed.

that would probably work and look really good at the same time, but theres thousands of holes in this smaller mesh. what i would like is if you were staring straight at it, you could see through what was directly in front of you, but it appears blocked off the further you get to the sides. hard to describe, but right now its not even close to doing that unless you view the piece from its end.....

here are a few of the pics. still not finished, but close. the main piece still needs to get extended all the way to the fenders and where the top piece flares out isnt quite done. the whole back side of the top piece rolls down 3/4" to make a nice lip in the rear, but there isnt one yet where the piece slopes down. when this piece is welded in the transition between the center and the little edge flares will get radiused.

im not totally sold on the edges flaring out by the fenders. its small enough that they dont really distract you, but not large enough to appear to do anything. the real reason was so that i didnt have to cut the support on the drivers side fender. if i end up hating them the piece will just run straight across and ill modify the fender.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1370.jpg
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Hey Tim -- I am glad to see you feeling better and posting. I hope your health continues on a strong path.

I really love that grill piece. :thumbsup:

The grill looks awesome, nice work. Glad to see your well enough to get back on it.

As stated, glad you're better.:thumbsup: :thumbsup: That's the most important thing. The grill is sweet and it's not even finished yet. I love it!!:hail: :hail:

damn that grille looks awesome. I too have a 70 chevelle however it's no where near the level yours is at. Do you have more pictures of how you fabbed the top piece of the core support? I'm not a big fan of the stock style ones myself.

:hail:

Great job Tim. Glad you are feeling better!

thanks buddy. and thanks again for the call. its guys like you that make this site great.

i dont really have any more pics of the build process, just where it sits now. i did most of the machine work with a wood router with the exception of the inside of the triangles. i cut the perimeter with the router and hoggged out the rest of the material with the mill. the top piece started as a flat 1/8" piece of aluminum. i routed a 90* V cut into the back to about half the depth. this allowed me to ease it over to the bends that i needed and kept them razor straight. i did however have an issue doing the same for the flares. different piece of aluminum, and no matter what i did as far as cut depth, the piece would split before hitting a 90* bend. i welded the back of them, but they no where near as easy as the main piece. im not sure if they were different grade metals or what, im just glad the 48" wide piece wasnt the tough one.

what still amazes me is how easy aluminum is to work with. i still cant weld worth crap, but you can knock the welds down and then clean them up with 80 grit on a block. not as fast as wood, but way faster than i would ever have thought. and i still cant believe the finished product turns out as good as it does after seeing it part way through the process with extra material lumped everywhere.

Thanks for the info. I'm gonna go back through and check the pictures/compare it to what you said. I've got a single turbo up front and I'm realizing that I may need to shift things around a lot more than originally planned with an intercooler/radiator/fans etc.

let me know if i can clarify anything. its hard to type, but would be really easy to show you in person. if you have a tig making the top piece is actually pretty simple. really time consuming, but simple. i also say this with never having take a car to a painter. they may bust my ass because of my finish work, but it looks good to me.

****. I just now noticed you're in Huntington beach! I was just working in Long Beach for about 7 weeks and yesterday I came home for good. I would have LOVED to see your car in person- if that would have even been possible.

It's kind of hard to follow part of your last post about how you built it. I understand the large triangle piece which you did with a mill (which is completely bad ass) but initially I was referring to the top piece of the core support as you also described. I would be more inclined to fab one out of steel because for me it's a bit more forgiving. I'm going to go back to my shop tomorrow and do some brain storming. I really appreciate your help in trying to explain and help me.

the top piece isnt that difficult. i just made it wide enough to fit over the top piece of the core support. it drops down about 1.25" in the front and 3/4" in the rear to give it a clean look and to hide the back lip of the original core support. if i had to guess, its probably about 2.25" wide at the top. i was able to heat it with just a plumbing torch and get a nice radius drop down towards the ends.

i agree that sheet metal is easy to work with, but you cant beat the rigidity of the 1/8" aluminum and the ability to work the welds with just 80 grit on a block. there would be no way to sand out the welds as easily with sheet metal and i would fear the normal issues of grinding too thin with 18 ga. if i lose .030 on the 1/8" piece its no big deal at all. plus, the weight difference is minimal, but theres no warping or twisting etc... the bends dont affect the rest of the metal and it can be bolted down without denting as well.

ahhh I gotcha. I didn't realize that the 1/8" aluminum just covers the stock steel piece. That makes since and I understand what you're saying about grinding aluminum vs. the mild steel. I'll have to try working with the AL a little more. How did you attach the aluminum to the stock steel? Is it just bolted at the ends under the fender? This last post totally cleared everything up, the "V" cut to make the 90* bend etc. all makes sense now. Thank you again.:cheers:

Glad to see your back making progress again.

thanks mike. and thanks again for the radiator. it looks bitchin



just a little update for today. i ended up getting the ends of the bottom piece welded on and smoothed out. now i just need to finish the back lip, weld the two pieces together and figure out how im going to mount the latch. its going to use the stock piece with some mods. more pics to come.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1460.jpg

here are the latest pics. its now one piece and the back lip is complete. i will work on the latch later this week and still need to add 2 more bolts into the grille and the bolts on the end of the closeout to the fender. the radiator is still just sitting on the metal, so it will come up ~1/4" to make it the same level as the closeout.

i also plan to call steve at RED about sleeving a block. still hunting for a gen IV aluminum 5.3 block that i can use. ive been convinced that theres no reason to pay for an ls2 or 3 only to sleeve it. im also going to start calling around again for some builders. im actually hoping i can find someone local instead of trying to play phone tag with texas just trying to get a quote.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1527.jpg
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looking good. theres bound to be someone that is good with LS motors around you down there.

yes. very cool

Looking good Tim. Nice job.
You can check ls1tech.com for parts. There's always someone selling lsx engines and parts. Good luck.

turns out my mockup block is an ls2 block. never really paid any attention since i thought it was trash. it has a few nicks in the deck and the front surfaces which can be welded up. ive also been told that the 5.3 blocks are stronger since there are no windows in the lower webbing. problem is this only complicates windage issues at high rpm. so, steve is telling me to use the ls2 block that i have.

i now just need to decide what i want to do and who i want to build it. im down to two builders right now and will call one more tomorrow. i have a feeling theyll be close to 20k and thats not in my budget. as far as size, i was originally quoted 1500 for a new ls3 block for a 416 and i can buy a block and get it sleeved for 2300. so for 800 bucks more i can get 454 ci. easy choice in my mind since i will regret it if i dont, plus i have friggin 600 dollar hood hinges. the problem is with the added power, the engine builders want me to add a bunch more money for better parts (dry sump, steel caps, titanium valves etc..) this will add a TON to the cost and kill the idea. if i could just build it the same as the 416 but with more cubes it will get done. not sure this motor will ever get pushed the way i think they believe it will. 95% street use and my car and my skills wont complete an autocross like kyle. i just cant see running a dry sump on the street. hell, the 4k cost would buy me a rebuild.

no updated pics, but ive gotten some more work done. i ended up welding a 1/4 plate to the bottom of the closeout that mounts the latch. i was going to bolt it so it could be adjusted, but decided that i could move the part mounted to the hood so there was no need. i also had to cut and weld on the nice cast latch that i bought from rick a while back. since my closeout doesnt drop down like stock, the part that the hook goes into was about 1/8 too long. in addition, it hit the little trim ring that the pin goes through. i ended up taking about 3/4" off. all i need now is the hook and the closeout is complete. i work the next 3 days, but ill get some pics when i get back home. heres a pic of the latch that i had to cut down.

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/s...lishedassy.jpg

Turn Key Engine Supply - worked with Kolby there to get my LS3 - a little ways south of you in Oceanside.

Can't recommend them enough!

thanks. i thought of them, just wasnt sure if they did custom stuff or just supplied crate engines. i'll look into it a little more. right now, im still stuck on charlie at rpm in santa clarita and erik at hke in texas. one has tax, the other has shipping. both seem to be great builders. im going to call a couple more socal shops, but i dont know that im going to find much else.

They do some awesome work - got their start in trophy truck engines and have been expanding the business ever since. Do some custom work as well, I started off with a crate LS3 and had them start tweaking from there.

Again, couldn't recommend them enough and Kolby / Paul are stand up guys. They put up with me stopping by their shop on once a month or so to talk for 6 months before I placed my order haha.

heres the last pics on the closeout. other than some smoothing and paint, its done. i got the hook done, and although it sits higher than i want it works really well. i had to balance being able to get my hand in to unlatch it with trying to make it as short as possible. luckly i have huge hands..... i was able to unlatch the pin and put ~100lbs of pull on the hood and it didnt budge. forces at speed are insane, but i think it will be sufficent. you can also see how i shaved down the part that holds the hook. i took 3/4" off and it works really well.

next up is finishing the front bumper. still need to get it cut to the correct angle for the grille. i'll finish it off with some 1/4" round bar on the lip to make it nice and smooth. i also need to get the inserts mounted. after the bumper i will start working on the front inner fenders.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1710.jpg
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It looks great, you do very nice work. :thumbsup:

getting better and better :thumbsup:

just spent 3 hours trying to get the bumper back on and re aligned. i pulled it to do a little straigtening before welding the round bar to the edge against the grille. the camaro guys dont know how well they have it with nothing to line the bumper up with. between the headlight extensions and the grille its frustrating as hell.

i also finally pulled the trigger and bought an ls7 short block. its sitting at RED in oceanside and will be getting a full sleeve job. i will end up boring it to 4.185 and will either build a 4" stroke 440 or a 4.125" stroke 454. im really wanting to do the 454 and will have to look past some of the hype about rod angles. the longer sleeves get rid of the issue of piston rock with the longer stroke. i also now have the stock titanium rods and ls7 crank for sale........

im also deciding if i want to do a wet sump with accusump, or an ls7 dry sump. the wet sump would use the autokraft pan and the dry would use the stock pan, avaid pan baffle, stock pump and peterson 2.5 gallon tank. i found a pretty good deal on most of the ls7 stuff, so a rough quote makes these two systems about $200 apart. at this point, 200 means nothing. but, some say the ls7 system isnt any good and start upgrading even more parts. if i have to run an ARE pan, ls9 pump etc., its no longer worth it. but, if the poorly built ls7 dret system is still better than any wet sump pan it will be worth it to me. any thoughts? ron gave me some good insight.

have a quote from charlie at RPM and waiting on livernois, wegner, dan zio and hke

more to come.....