That must feel good having the engine home. It makes some nice power too, and plenty of torque.

There's some fun waiting to happen with those numbers! Sweet motor:happy23:

Thanks, guys! And it should gain more power once it is broken in and receives a final tune. I still have a ways to go and many parts to get before I'm turning tires

Small updates- I painted the engine block this weekend (I must credit Gui for the inspiration for this), and installed the rear windows. Weird thing about the rear window install- they are the same parts going into the same place, but yet they wouldn't roll up all the way. I've moved them back as far as I could and took the stoppers out to get them to work. At least they work, I suppose. I had to make a tool to get the metal bracket off the one window- the rollers were rusted shut. I needed to clean them to get them working again.

I also bought this old wagon at the last Pomona swap meet. I'm thinking some type of gasser theme for it. It'll be fun.

this is a good thread. great progress.

4 sure. Keep posting. I can't wait to hear that thing fire off and see some rubber marks on the road. Seeing you and Wayne so close and Dave and Ron fire up theirs has me wanting to switch gears to motor work.

The motor looks good.

Thanks, guys!

This was one of those weekends where I spent time in the garage, but I didn't feel like I got much accomplished. I'm still waiting for my door handle parts to finish rebuilding my door handles (I lost the originals, and have ordered replacements) Until then I can't install the door latches or windows.

so I thought I'd work on my gas tank. I had previously picked up a "Rick's" SS tank at Pomona, and I need to add an electric fuel pump for my fuel injected engine. (I prefer an in tank pump to allow the fuel to keep the pump cooler/ last longer) I had bought one of those "tanks, inc" fuel pump kits that come with an additional fuel tray. I was all set to install the kit when I realized I need to modify the tank. That will require another weekend or so to get that done.

I did install the window felt on the back windows as well as the last of the replacement rubber parts and I painted some bolts as well as cleaned up the door latches. Progress is progress...

OK, so the good news is I got my door latches and windows in. After installing the vent windows and the door windows nothing lined up, so all three windows on each side needed readjusting, but I think I finally got them working.

I also started working on my gas tank modification- as I need more room for the in-tank fuel pump. So I made a template, cut the tank, filed it, got it all ready and then remembered oh yeah, I have a gauge sender to locate as well. So I made a new template, cut the tank, filed it and got it all ready again. This time I double checked and I seem to have enough room for everything. I tried bending the plate I need (14 gauge SS) but it's a bit thick and came out looking like horribly. So I cut a second piece and will attempt to borrow a hand brake to bend it right.

At a stand still there I decided to install the brakes I got for my car. I started with the rears first until I ruined an axle seal installing it. As my luck would have it there is no part number listed for the axle seal in my paperwork for the axle I bought, and none of the four different local parts stores could even figure out what it came from, let alone have one in stock. So I'll call Moser tomorrow and hopefully they can tell me the part number so I can locate new ones and get the rear brakes on. I did get the fronts on, and I'm happy with that.

It looks like you have it all covered! Nice work.

Brendon, I went through your whole thread again. You've made a lot of great functional and aesthetic improvements. Summer of '14 is looking like a reality for you. It's a long shot for me but I'm still hoping.

Thanks, Ryan! Yeah, I am on a home stretch so to speak. I installed the rear brakes today finally. My hold up now is buying parts & the lack of extra $$ to do so. I don't want to go into debt over this so I will buy as I can afford it. I still have some things to get including:

Wheels
tires
driveshaft
anti sway bars
wiring
radiator
brake lines
fuel lines
seats
master cylinder
exhaust/ exhaust cut outs
headlights (was thinking of upgrading over OEM)
seatbelts
battery
lots of misc items (brackets, clips, hoses, fluids, etc)

I'd also "like to" get new front and rear windows, but I could use mine in a pinch.

OK, as mentioned yesterday I was able to install my rear brakes. The hold up was replacing the rear wheel seal I mangled trying to install it. I don't have a professional wheel seal installer, so I made my own with some scrap aluminum and plastic tubing. This is ever so slightly thinner than the wheel seal itself allowing it to fit inside my axle tube and get the seal in there tight. The plastic served to hold the seal.

I also ground some notches into the axle bolts so they would fit snug and not be cockeyed during the install. I need to get a master cylinder, proportioning valve and some tubing so I can finish this part up.

I started the e-brake assembly, but there is little point in finishing this part now as I believe this needs to fit/ work around other components that are not yet in the car (not the other way around)

OK, the rate of progress is at a crawl but at least it's still moving forward. I had a few hours today so I started assembling my in tank fuel pump kit. I must first give Brett (Fab53) a shout out of great job on welding up my tank. Now that the new mounting surface is welded in place I was able to realize that the baffle tray from the kit is about 1/8" too long (it hit against the baffle plate inside the tank) So I chopped it and welded that back up. Then the height of the pump didn't fit (there is only 6" or so of room- the "minimum" adjustment of the kit). So I chopped the end of the nipple off to get it to just clear. I've since assembled the rest of the kit, but I'm not happy with how little room is between the filter and the baffle tray. The filter is virtually pressed against it. I think the next time I'm in the garage I'll cut a hole in the bottom of the baffle tray to allow a bit more room for the pump to collect fuel. The baffle tray walls will still reduce the "sloshing" and its touching the bottom of the tank anyhow so I believe it will still be effective.

Still alive. Been busy. Today I had a day to work on the car. I was able to get the fuel pump installed after 3 attempts- kept breaking bolts and making a mess of it it's installed in the tank. The tank is now loosely assembled in the car, and will be tightened in after I add some fuel lines (still need to purchase) and clamps for the filler neck (still need to purchase). I also started roughing in some front brake lines using some 9 gauge bailing wire.

My buddy Dave came by with his car fresh from the paint/ body shop. It looks better than new. It was also motivating to ride in that to keep me going on my car. The color on his car, btw, is called "Nightshade Green" It's a 1 year only color which is original to his car (a #'s matching 400 car) It's really sweet.

I'm just happy to be making a little progress again.

Looking good. Glad to see your getting some time to work on the car.

Thanks, Wayne!

Today, with 3 trips to the hardware store, I was able to finally get my tank installed. I keep ruining the stainless steel tank strap carriage bolts. They just bind up and break when trying to remove the nuts. Very frustrating. I also built a few flexible fuel lines with some goodies that arrived from Summit Racing. I ordered the PTFE lines and put a few sections together and connected them to the tank, as well as made a few of the front brake lines and installed my master cylinder. Between using the copper nickel alloy and the Eastwood brake flaring tool these were a breeze to make. Let's just hope they don't leak. I also tacked on a few brackets to the rear axle for mounting brake lines before I ran out of daylight.

Just read thru your project. Very nice work. Really liked the mods you did to the car. Wished I had done the same thing when I had my car apart.

Looking Good.

Thanks, guys!

A little more progress on the brake lines this weekend. I made the rear axle tubes, and the large one across the bottom of the car. I have it connected to the proportioning valve, but forgot to get a pic. Next week. I also made a bracket for the valve out of a scrap piece of square tube and got that mounted. I'm sure with this, and my brake lines there will be some interference with the inner fender. Oh well.

All I have left for the brake lines is the front tube, but I'll wait until after my engine is in to make that.

stainless steel on stainless steel is a recipe for galling usually

a little bit of anti seize will help fix that

(slap to the forehead) I wish I had known that :P and I have a bottle of anti seize, too... Thank you for the tip!

Well, I got the engine in this weekend. Cool

To do that I tied down the front brake line along the crossmember, assembled the flywheel/ clutch/ throwout bearing and bolted & torqued the trans to the engine, then learned that I should measure the throwout bearing so it came back apart. Seems I'm within spec (barely) and shouldn't need a shim for the throwout bearing. Since I was on a roll I set the engine in the car on Sat night. I did gouge a few areas and scrape some paint. Oh well, I plan to drive the car, not trailer it to shows. I also mocked up the fuel line and installed the fuel pressure regulator and cut the hole for the shifter. I have the original bracket from the old trans tunnel that I'll weld back in for support. I have a few more parts on order and hope to get a little more done over the holiday weekend.

good idea to paint the ls green pontiac.
I had the same idea for mine, but im not at the same point in my built

Big step Brendon. Congrats! :cheers:

Congrats Brandon; That's some great progress. It looks good in there.

Thanks, guys! Ron- you'll be glad to know I put that alum flywheel to good use. It's in there...

Congratulations that is a big step forward.:thumbsup:

:cheers:

Nice progress, looks great!

Ditto!!

Thanks, guys, I appreciate the support!

Just a few small things this weekend- I have most of the fuel line made, though it killed both my tube cutter and 37º tubing flare tool in the process. I also made a fuel filter bracket out of some mangled scrap metal, welded up the brace around the shifter and starting to mock up the center console, as well as some crack repair and covered it with some carbon fiber type wrap. I'll need to weld some bolts to the floor pan to make future removal/ installation easier

Almost ready for a test drive. Good work.

Great progress!!!

Wicked work man! Been on this forum for how many years and can't believe this thread slipped past me. I subscribed by the second or third post haha. Keep it up and keep posting tons of pics! :thumbsup:

Brendon, excellent work it is coming out great! Do you have any pmore detailed pics on how you did you rear fender flares and ducting towards the rear wheels\brakes? Really like the work you did there and ideas.

Thanks!

Gui

Lookin forward to your next post!

Thanks, G! I've posted most of them but I'll see if I have any that I didn't post and I'll send them your way.

I don't have anything else on the ducting yet because I've put that on the back burner for the moment as I'm trying to get more of the car together first. Once I get the rims for the car and have the sheet metal back on I'll have a better sense of I can build the ducting plates for the front (behind the brakes to channel the air to the center of the rotors).



Thanks, Ryan! I have been out of the country for 5 weeks partly traveling, partly for work. I made one big trip out of it, but it hurts the progress.

I'm back now, and today I was able to get back out there. I stopped by PTB in Irwindale, CA, and picked up some very nice mandrel bent tubing sections so I can work on getting my driver side header fabbed up. I also replaced my oil pan as I unfortunately had a broken one and it was wicking oil out of an epoxied area. Stupid me, I should have replaced the pan before I had my engine built. Live and learn... So I got a new one and swapped that in. No more leaks, the way it should have been...

And I was the lucky recipient of a drill press- thank you, Brett!! I bought a stand and await some metal to drill...

OK, I went back and I have a few pics I didn't use in my post on the quarter panel here:

https://lateral-g.net/forums/show...&postcount=179

The basic premise of what I did was to align the front of the quarter panel into the car- same as if I were going to replace it stock. I had trimmed the old quarter off up about .25" after the edge of the door jamb. from that I used the spoiler to determine the width of the rear, and, in the one pic you can see a clecko holding the front, and black duct tape holding the back. From this I used the crease of the body line and did my best to align it with the door to keep the car looking straight also making sure it met up wit hthe back of the tail panel. I then made a cardboard template for the top- which was a long thin crescent shaped wedge. I had to do a little trimming along the way but did my best to keep a smooth transition along the top. I then made the smaller pieces to fill in the back tail panel, and lastly filled in the wheel well.

To make the right side I did this all over again, and measured the driver side for reference to make it as symmetrical as possible.

I hope this is helpful..

Glad you're back. Hope you enjoyed your time out of the country. Beside Canada I've never been and Canada doesn't really count. :)

Looks like you're getting right back into the swing of things. You sure don't mess around. All that work to widen the car, a lot of functional improvements, and now you're building headers. Impressive!

awesome thread brendon!!!
man, the fab work you're doing there is really impressive...
and i definitely like the idea of going with the original pontiac color on the engine!
i'll be staying tuned!