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1978 Trans Am G Machine. 2014 upgrades!!
Since teh car is in the reader's rides section, I figured I post its build here. One thing about this , is that it is not a chevy or ford. get some variety in here. :)
I purchased the car in September 2005 from the original owner. Prior to my acquisition, many modifications had been done to the car. It even had contact with a wall which is why it had not front end sheet metal. Some of the modifications include Herb Adams front and rear sway bars, brake cooling ducts and other body and suspension mods listed in his handbook, weld in subframe connectors essentially making it a unibody car, support )H-beam) for added strength, .45caliber bullet hole in left ¼, switches to individually turn on/ off tail, side and head lights for ‘stealth’ driving ( not sure why anybody would think of doing such thing ), 474 engine with Holley projection 4, accusump oil reserve, nitrous just for giggles. Here is what it looked like when I first picked it up. Original back in 1992 before accident http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...20gold/old.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/interior.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ld/drvrear.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...gold/rear1.jpg |
Some damage
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/DVC01405.jpg Pulling the body straight http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...memachine2.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...memachine4.jpg In addition to what has been done, I have/ will add the following: GW upper and lower control arms with Aldan Eagle coil-overs, Koni’s in the rear Aluminum radiator w/ dual elec. fans 4 wheel disc brakes by Kore3 to fit C5/C6 rotors and calipers Modern lighting Lizard skin heat and sound insulation coatings T-56 (currently being built) w/ hydr. T/O bearing Engine beefed up w/ KRE heads and roller cam 17 or 18” 3 piece wheels, still trying to decide although I am close. Wheels are way more expensive than I ever thought All undercarriage and suspension parts are powder coated. Some more pics May plan of “just put it back together” didn’t hold for too long http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/barebody.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/3e71940c.jpg |
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/84d779a5.jpg
At paint shop (10/06) for body work and primer, they will also do the final wet sanding on the high build sealer (HOK) and paint after I dry sand the initial high build primer(Claussen Z-chrome). http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT1189.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT1191.jpg Few months later 12/06 its back. Looks like a leopard http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ildprimer2.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ildprimer6.jpg |
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ldprimer26.jpg
Had to take the hood, trunk lid, and fenders down again because the original body guy I had lined up did something wrong and they were rusting under the freshly applied primer. Better to find out now than later. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0091.jpg Sanding the primer and under side. That hippie needs a hair cut. (1/06) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT1058.jpg Looks like a car for the first time since 1993 (2/06) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0095.jpg Hoping this http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0171.jpg |
Will fit into here
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0164.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0165.jpg As of this writing 2/18/07, all plastic body bolts on are sanded and ready for sealer. I am waiting for G-Force trans to finish modifying the Lakewood bell housing to mate up to the t-56. I have found a builder for the T-56 which will be comprised of a 06 Z06 unit (don’t know how he got it, but it was reasonable and I’m not asking questions), the Z06 unit also has an built in pump so I can run a cooler for the trans should it be necessary, viper output shaft and tail and the usual keyway and fork upgrades. This should be good for 750 HP. Not sure why all trans are rated for HP when torque is what kills them. Once the bell is received, I will bolt the trans up to the engine and see exactly how much I have to open up the trans tunnel. A t-56 will fit in the tunnel w/o mods, but that is if you were to drop the body on to a frame per se, it will not be able to be removed or install with a clutch bolted to the fly wheel. I will have more updates on this as I make them. Oh, a custom cross member is also needed, UPDATE 3/2/07 Since the last post, I stopped by the trans shop and looked at exactly what was inside this 6 speed mechanical device. Lots of parts, but nothing that looked difficult to build. Then again, nothing is hard if you know what you are doing. I supposed after about 3 shots, I might get it right. Gforce had sent the modified bellhousing and custom mainshaft to work with triple cone viper tail housings. Very interesting and nicely machine piece. Top notch work by Gforce. Here are some pics Stuff, look at that bad boy. Rated to 750HP . Gears are the weakest link in this. Better gears are rated to 1200HP and cost 2200. I supposed if you can afford that power , you can afford the gears. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0186.jpg Gears http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0180.jpg Carbon fiber syncros, not what I envisioned, but I guess they work well http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0181.jpg I had thought that I would be in for a long night of cutting and welding to fit this trans in the tunnel. With the engine tilted at 4* which is the angle of the carb mounting surface relative to the centerline of the engine, the trans fit in and bolted up in about 1 minute. Not lying here. This is with clutch and all bolted up as well. I instantly doubled checked all heights, angles, ect and all were good to go. |
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0197.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0194.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0195.jpg So I moved on to the shifter using a stock viper unit. Sawzall and a carbide cutter made a nice opening in the tunnel. I have to move the shifter shaft in about 1” so it doesn’t hit the console. I will be installing a short throw, which will be normal throw with the add height/ length of the shifter. Mcleod makes a nice short throw that can be tailored to your specs. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0206.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0209.jpg This is all for now. Tomorrow is finish sanding spoilers and bumpers, fit hydrobooster and hyd. Master cyl in firewall. Update 4/2 Since the last update lost of little items have been attended. Trans tunnel/console mount is attached to car, provisions for hydraulic master clutch cylinder has been made, weld on interior ‘H-beams’ and sub frame connectors have been smoothed and filled. Lizard skin coating has been applied to the interior of the car instead of dynamat. We’ll see out this stuff works out in the future. I held off on applying the sound control as my other t/a’s don’t sound all too load on the inside. Much loader when standing outside of the car. I assume this is due to the location of the tail pipe being a long distance relatively to the driver. I can always apply this with a brush later if the sound is deemed too load. But as the old saying goes, if its too load, your too old. Seam sealer has been applied to all seams and undercoating to the lower inner ¼’s as 1) they love rust and I am trying to break that bond and 2) rubber is easily removed from undercoating. All items that bolt on to the car have been sanded and initial bodywork done (spoilers, bumper covers, ect.) A new fender was add to the car as the original pass side fender that I had intended to use did not want to cooperate and would take more time trying to make it work than just starting over. I have also made provision for the battery cable to run through the frame into the truck where the battery will be located. Car as of today has left to the body shop for final sealing, fixing things that they missed the first time (not a big deal since were are still w/in the original contract as far as agreement, work to be done and money is concerned), wet sanding, subframe installation and paint. So the next time the car comes home, it will look all pretty. YIPEEEE. Gosh I hate bodywork. OK, so here are some pics: |
No rusting here
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0234.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0233.jpg No more messy welds by previous owner and Lizard Skin http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0231.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0227.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0229.jpg |
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A final round of powder coat was sent out as well. Just a few things to detail and polish and its assembly time. 6/12 Playing with color scheme ideas. after several test panels, I decided to do fender (junk one I had laying around) to get a better idea. here is where we are at the moment. also, the T56 is done and looks great. both the powder coater and trans builder are goingt to use it on their websites. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0535.jpg due to lack of sun and camera, teh color is off slightly. this seems to be a problem with golds and pearls. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0534.jpg the area around the extractor better represents the actual gold color http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT0536.jpg close up of scheme. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ld/6g4bbtj.jpg image courtesy of fellow board member paint colors are HOK goldmine pearl, candy apple over soar gold followed by mercedes/ european black. the front and rear will tapper down a little. this is just for an idea to see how it would look around the body line. |
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ld/6g4bbtj.jpg
A photoshop from a fellow board member at p-t.. wheels are a little big. they will also have a gun metal color on the center. 7/07 am definatly working with the side body line if I stay with the 2 tone. lettering would go on the bottome where teh panels concave in just about the rocker panels. I have decised to go with the house of kolors goldmone pearl which has noce effects in the sun and still looks good without direct lighting. many pearls dont look good or have no effect without sunlight light. Parts update I have decided to pruchase a watts link from Fays 2 http://www.fays2.net if I decide to run a 9". I have beening working with some fabrication and suspension people to arrive at an acceptable Watts link set up for the 2nd gens with a 9" but without making looked rigged or cause some outher aspect of the suspension to 'fight' itself, this setup looks good. and for the june special price, it is not too bad. If I wind up not using a 9" ( saving 1500 all said and done including cost of redoing the 10 bolt) and say with my current 10 bolt, I can use this on other t/a's for R & D puposes. i scored a set of C5 calipers and brakets off erpae for slightly over 200 shipped. c5, c6 and c5 zo6 all use the same caliper with the exception of the zo6 being red. I will do mine in silver or black to keep the stealth look. the remainder of the brake system will come from tobin at kore3 http://www.kore3.com/ in the meantime, its rebuilding the rear and engine in my 79. thanks again for the kind comments and thoughts. 8/07 Been a bit since I last updated this. Since the last post here is a tid bit on what all has happened and been accomplished. All body work is completed on the car and was shot in a sealer. House of Kolors does not make the slime green sealer any more do to regulations ( damn environmentalist) so we had to use what they now make and use a gray sealer on top of this in order to use less paint. the gray sealer will be applied after the red sealer is wet sanded at 400. The underside will be shot in gold, subframe fitted and weld prior to the body being painted. I have to decide whether or not I want to put a roll bar in it to comply with certain racing regulations. most like not to comply w/ SCCA as that requires and entire cage. Mainly looking at 4 point like the Year One bandit car. have to check measurements I took for compliance. Hopefully I will be able to do that and compy with SCCA club or vintage racing and open road races such as silver state. I have picked up some items such as KRE heads, cam, and a nice Aluminum radiator to keep this sukka cool. Engine is being line bored for new 4 bolt caps. A set of C5 calipers to halt this heavy mass as well. without further ado here are some pics of my red car. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT1153.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT1152.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT1155.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...d/PICT1157.jpg While this is being done, I have installed a new 400 in my 79 so I have a car to cruise around town and have fun. thought about taking it to the nats but 3.23 for 600miles one way would be a lot of gas at 12 MPG 12/07 Wanted to update this for a while, the stars in the universe just haven’t lined up for me. As of this point, assembly is taking place starting with the suspension and then the engine and mechanical components and plumbing. The bottom of the car is painted and looks nice. All that time rubbing and scraping the underside has paid off. Too bad this area will only be seen when on a lift. While this all looks nice, some odd issue have come up, the LCA by Global West did not fit, they were off by ¼”. We resolved this by having, instead of ¼” thick thrust washers on the sides of the bushings, 1/8” washers on the outsides and 3/8” washers on the inside. This keeps the geometry in the intended locations. Global West was great working this problem out and shipped the required thrust washers to me within a few days. While there prices maybe slightly higher compared to other similar parts, their customer service is top notch. Another issue I had was the top of the coil over shocks hit on the subframe. Aldan Eagle is correcting this situation by providing me with different shock top and corresponding shorter spring. They picked up the shocks and I am waiting for the news ones. Better they fix it as compressing 650# springs wouldn’t be the easiest of tasks. Again, another stand up company and American made to boot. Other issues include finding bushings to fit vse leaf springs and sway bars which are long out of production. Prothane has a set that will work and are on their way. I received front and rear brake setup from Kore3. This stuff is car part porn if it ever existed. Even my local machinist was in awe at the quality of the parts. Fit is dead on and all parts are cadmium or zinc coated to prevent rust. Every nut, bolt, washer, ect is included in the kit and will work with any of the corvette brakes from C5 and C6, C6 Z51 and Z06 as long as the caliper assy. matches that of the rotor. Excellent work from Tobin (owner of Kore3) C5/6 brake interchange All C5 and base C6 brakes are the same period just caliper color changes for Z06 C6 Z51 brake option will use above calipers , but reuires different caliper brackets C6 Z06 is all together different. Rotors, pads, calipers and brackets are all different than above. While suspension issue are being resolved, I cleaned up the chambers in the KRE heads and port match the intake to the heads. A lot of material must be removed from a RPM intake to match the ports of these heads. Air flow shouldn’t be a problem. I have been working on adapting a hydrobooster from an astro van to the car. I basically have to cut down the bracket on the stock booster and lengthen the rod on the hydroboost unit. I will probably have 1 or 2 iterations of the bracket before I am happy with it. I figure if all else fails; I can always call Paul at Hydrotech and get on of his units. Engine build will start this week. w/o further ado, some pics. |
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/PICT1590.jpg
looking towards the rear http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/PICT1591.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/PICT1619.jpg looking towards the front http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/PICT1592.jpg Cadmium plated hardware to prevent rust. I hate rust and 2nd gens love it. Before http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/PICT1548.jpg |
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/PICT1550.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/PICT1551.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/PICT1618.jpg I had to modify the spindles to work with this setup. A cut-off wheel, sawzall, sander and file got the job done. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/PICT1507.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/PICT1504.jpg |
1/16/2007
Finally bugged the powder coating guy to finish my parts and they magically appeared. I had to custom order some bushings for the VSE/Rancho components even though they (prothane) listed them. I don’t get it, but whatever. I had to send the shocks back to Aldan to be remade as they shipped me the wrong ones 1.5 years ago. They send me ones that fit no questions asked. A stand up company. I’ll get to finish the suspension this weekend hopefully. In the mean time, after looking through books of color chips, I picked a color for my engine. I is a 1971 AMC blue. Looks nice and I feel it will set the chrome items off well and stand out in the gold/black engine bay. I left the heads aluminum and took some recommendations from other members to use Alumiprep33 and Alodine 1001 to prevent corrosion. We’ll see how this works. I friend of mine mentioned that he had a lathe so I made new Watt’s Link bars. They came out decent after some buffing. I also scored so Recaro seats from a nearby fellow for 250. . I may redye them to match the rears or vise versa. These will sever well in the meantime before I redo the interior if I ever decide to do so. Even if I don’t use them, I always wanted a set of Recaro classic N seats. Some pics: Seats http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/PICT1723.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/PICT1722.jpg Rear suspension http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/PICT1721.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...l/PICT1720.jpg Engine Block http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/PICT1676.jpg |
Bottom
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/PICT1678.jpg Top http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/PICT1679.jpg High build primer for a semi smooth look. I could make it look like glass if I felt like sanding for hours which I don’t. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/PICT1704.jpg Color, no head http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/PICT1707.jpg w/ heads http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/PICT1716.jpg |
w/ stock not so nice chrome valve covers
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/PICT1718.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/PICT1719.jpg Next on the list is 1) making the tranny x-member, 2) Measuring for the required driveshaft length and farming that out 3) Running the brake and fuel plumbing 4) Measuring for location of ‘X’ pipe and ordering the RARE oval system 5) Install in tank fuel pump setup from 99-up t/a or camaro 6) Finalize hydroboost setup 7) Decide on either Mcleoad twin disk clutch or a centerforce unit 8) Decide on rims. 17’s or 18’s. 17’s look nice, but 18’s allow room for bigger brakes....hummm those Forgeline WCP3 wheels look nice w/ a gun metal center. A photo edit to see have the 18" forgeline WC3 wheels would look. Look pretty good to me. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ll/real18s.jpg |
how much was it to get all the bolts coated? as for the wheel have the same set coming for my 79z can wait to get them. car look great. :thumbsup:
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what size wheels did you go with?, back spacing?
the bolts were $60 for about 25 -30 lbs of bolts, hardware and parts. they delivered and picked up. turn around was about 2 days. i felt it was a good way to prevent rust. they can be done in white cad as well which looks like stainless. If I were to do it again , I'd go that route as teh gold scratches easily. the colors white or gold are just astetic, the rust preventative is under the color and takes a lot to remove. |
Nice job. Thanks for the running pictorial and documentary. Should be a fun ride when complete. :)
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Awsome documentation and great project :thumbsup: Thank you for posting!!!!
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Looks damn good i been wanting to do the same body style trans am just can't find one thats not a rust bucket.
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Its nice to see more Pontiac powered cars coming into the playing feild. Keep up the good work and I look forward to see the car completed.
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I would like to point out that there have been some bumps along the way. Some of the aftermarket items, have requires 'massaging' in order to fit/ function properly. I also have the feeling that someone took a handful of misc hardware from my stash at the platers and simply threw it out as i am missing random pieces. I will contact them this week to see what happened. I did take a picture of what was sent so that will help me identify any know missing items. I know of a couple at the moment that are more than just ordinary hardware.
anyhow, as promised, here are some pics. its really starting to look like something. I noticed that the one header hangs lower than the other, I guess i'll have to even them out in the pipes as having ron (maker of the headers) fix then is non existent as he owes people headers for 3+ years ago. engine outside http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/PICT1724.jpg ready to be installed. yes, I attempted to do it in one shot. to my surprise, it went quite smoothly. we had a small blemish occur, but it can be touched up and it is in a hard place to see which is good. wonder if my little viper head will show once installed. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/PICT1731.jpg success :-D :-D http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/PICT1732.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/PICT1734.jpg |
one more
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/PICT1739.jpg Quote:
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Im broke right now but thanks for the offer btw its looking a lot better with every picture.
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5/08
Been quite busy working on some designs for the car as well as sucking it up and ordering a bunch of AN fittings and hoses for the power steering, fuel and oil systems. What a PITA choosing what ends and fitting you need. And then once you start, you realize you need more. I went with all endura or nickel finish as the color is very similar amongst all the manufactures and it doesn’t show scratches as much as the red and blue fittings. I picked up some C4 corvette wheels for rollers so I don’t ruin the good wheels. C4 wheels don’t fit a second gen w/o some serious spacers. I rigged up a set of old axles I had laying around to use with these wheels. The car will never be driven on these so as long as they don’t fall off or rub on the car, that is all that matters. I had been contemplating applying the Lizard Skin sound deadener over the LS heat coating. Instead of letting it sit, I opted to spray it on. We’ll see how well it works later. Now for the BIG news…..New Forgeline WC3 wheels that actually fit. YEA. J . there was an issue with the first set I ordered which were sent back ( GM has 2 hub diameters, 70.3mm and 70.5mm. late second gen t/a’s as far as I am aware have the larger hubs) and I order these though local BMW race shop and worked w/ forgeline to make sure everything is up to snuff. The wheels are 18 x 9 up front w/ 5.4” BS and 18x9.5 rear w/ 5.5” BS. The tires are toyo T1R 255/40 front and 285/35 rear to have all the tires at 26” tall. 295 in the rear would work, but be tight and could probably do 275 up front. I have to work something out for the front center caps. I may be able t o remove enough material from the spindle and crush the grease cap to allow the forgeline caps to fit. I'll get to that after I finish the plumbing and send the car off to the painter as I can use a old stock unit for measure. Here are some pictures of the car so far: Cheap labor (sushi dinner) installing sound deadener http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8/PICT1791.jpg Newly painted cowl to match interior http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8/PICT3317.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8/PICT3318.jpg Use some rustoleum semi gloss on the A/C boxes to give them a better look. The plain fiberglass didn’t blend well with the rest of the engine bay. You can still see the fibers through the paint which I feel adds a nice touch. If you use a ‘high solids’ paint, it will not be translucent and you wont see the fibers. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8/PICT3319.jpg AND NOW……WHEELS… These look awesome Nice dish/ lip to them as well compared to the first set. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ineWC3pt21.jpg |
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Great looking car! I think it would only be right to paint the center of the wheels to match the car.
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Love this build, that blue engine looks sick against the paint on the firewall.
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Looks great. Hope to see you and the car soon.
Brad |
Nice man, I love 2nd gens! Glad to see your also doing the work! Keep it up!
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It gives it a consistent textured appearance & is still easy to touch-up is needed. |
Nice build!
The dark center rims look great :thumbsup: |
I appriciate the cmplements. its those simple words that make the researching, time and effort worth it.
the wheels were a big part b/c if you get them wrong, the n your car will look odd. After have light colored wheels in that past, I decided that teh 'brake dust' colored centers would be nice for a change as tey could hide some of the brake dust. Brad - your 73 rocks. Everytime I see it, it make s me want to get mine done. then you , your borther and myself could terrorize some tracks. there is a nice show (500+ cars) 5/25 that I help run if you would lik eto attend. it is a far run for you ( about 2.5 hrs from bear mountain) so I understand if you cant make it. show info http://www.hackettstownrotary.org/ when is the next decent show by you? Scot - do you have any pictures of the a/c box you painted. interested to see what it looks like. |
Awesome job on the buildup- and best of all you kept it Pontiac powered! I'm really happy to see the second-gen Firebird is well represented here, since T/As and Firebirds been the factory sleeper road race car for almost 40 years.
I like your attention to detail, especially with the chassis reinforcements. BTW, what brand of sway bars are those, are they Herb Adams units? Did you consider mini tubbing the rear to go wider rubber? Please keep the updates coming. Geno |
The 25th going to Muclepalooza that day, otherwise would have been up for a ride in the TA.
We plan on gpoing to XV motorpsorts Open House on June 14th again, maybe you can make it-this time no rain hopefully on the return trip. Brad |
blackbird - thank you for teh complements. I tried to build this car using as many stock GM pieces I could as well as keep it a pontiac powered car. I like doijng things that present a challenge. tjose sway bars are either herb adams or rancho. I am leaning more towards rancho, but there is very little difference between the two. almost like rancho made them for herb and sold them as well. originally I had not planned on taking the car to this level so I did not think about mini tubbing. I could sqeeze a 295 in the rear w/ no issues w/ simple massaging. the limiting factor is the leaf spring. a super wide tire hits that before it makes contact with the wheel well. It is a thought in the back of my mind, but I am keeping seeing what can be done to a second gen with minimal body mods . again, the challange.
brad - seems our schedules conflict this year. the XV open house is the same time I will be in LA. last year's rain was not fun at all , expecially on the bike.:mad: If I recall, the entire front of my body was tingely when I got home. my back was dry though:) . maybe we can meet at bear mt sometime. not sure if it suits your fancy, but labor day weekend there is a huge 4 day street/hot rod show in whippany, NJ called Lead East. |
takid,
My 'Bird has alot of factory T/A parts on it too- those worked great back in the '90s, but my car feels a bit 'long in the tooth'- time for some upgrades. I've always loved the SCCA road racer look with the wide, low profile meats stuffed in the wheelwells- I guess mini-tubbing for me is just another step to making it happen. Brett Evans got a 275/35 R18 on a 18 x 9.5 CCW to fit perfect on a GM subframe (his project Splitter '70 'Bird)- that's plenty for me in front. You would think a 295/35R18 would be good enough in back for me, but the 335/30R18 on a 18 x 12 is just too sexy to pass up for my car. :D What does the Kore3 setup cost about? How does it compare to the Baer Brake 14" monoblock setup? Geno |
I agree the 12" wide rims and wide tire look awesome. A benefit to you is the early birds can fit some rather wide rims in the stock wheel wells. I a pretty sure you can squeeze a 315 in there ask NOTATA (#14 car) as he has done so I believe. I am not ruling out taht I wont make future mod to the car, just right now I needed to start somewhere and get a good base line for the current mods vs stock and then the future will have those mods vs current if that makes sense at all.
just to avoid confusion, by 'stock parts' , a better definition would be a part that is readily available with a wide selection of aftermarket support. ie Z06 mono block calipers light years ahead of 1978 parts, yet are for the most part readily available should you need one in a crunch or need replacement parts. I was not nesseccerally referring or stating that I would like to use and keep all the parts from 1978 if you catch my drift. the Kore3 kit (front and rear w/o rotors , calipers or pads) was around 1200 shipped. it is a superb kit and Tobin is extremely knowledgeable in brakes. I don't know how they compare to the baers as I am looking to use Porsche turbo or GT3 calipers and rotors. these are made by brembo. another company that I would consider is StopTech. You can alway go to Alcon if you really want top notch brakes and empty your wallet:thumbsup: . In any event, to change calipers all you have to do is obtain or make brackets for the calipers to the spindle or rear backing plate. the good thing about the above mentioned companies is, as far as I am aware, you don't hate to by their pads as they are common items and you have a wide selection of manufactures and compounds. |
hey man its looking great!!!! ive been watching the thread from the begining...love the color,wheels,car!! cant go wrong with a gold 2nd gen:D
heres mine got some 18s im working on in the garage(cheap bmw replicas) polishing lips and painting center gray... look like we have the same taste... :unibrow: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...7/DSCN1107.jpg http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...7/DSCN1108.jpg |
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