Project Greyscale 1971 Trans Am
 

Its about time i start a build thread for my new project. I am on this forum alot more than any other so I figured its about time to Share and contribute. Here is my quick rendering i created.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psb3dbfd29.jpg
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...ps51503a69.jpg
I originally just wanted to make some upgrades to the Chevelle i built 4 years ago but i decided to start from scratch. I just couldnt tear the chevelle apart.

I picked up the firebird shell and parts as you see here.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psatyibiay.jpg
the car had some rust and damage but was pretty solid. It has rust in the normal areas and had damage on most panels but i dont like show cars i just want a driver.

I liked the ly6 6l90 i put in the chevelle but prices have gone up since. I found a 2010 l92 locally on craigslist and got a used 6l90 from a zl1 camaro similar but a better drivetrain compared to the chevelle.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psrpi9mujp.jpg
The suspension was the hardest decision. f bodys have way to many options compared to the a-body. I purchased one of scott mocks early subframes from someone who decided to go a different route. i decided to go with ridetechs 4 link in the rear to save a little money.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psko80g11n.jpg
I am currently trying to mock everythin up. I will add some more pictures later.

You're going to like that ride/combo a whole lot..... Congrats on a great start I'll try checking in on your thread as time allows....

Nice rendering. Welcome to the site, and good luck!

Thanks Albert, Cochise and your other cars have been great motivation and references. Hopefully i can get some of your carbon fiber parts down the road.

I currently have everything mocked up and I'm running into some problems.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psnyrlz5uo.jpg

The subframe contacts the floor and doesnt fit as well as I hoped. I am using aluminum full height bushings at the firewall mounts but the subframe is really tight to the floors which are original. I know that Scott used half height body mounts on Cochise so I think something might be wrong. the subframe angles down a lot if I used full height body bushings in the rear so I used the half height bushings at the back only which leveled the subframe rails and helped with ground clearance.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psuteuewqa.jpg
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psm42nvcug.jpg


The l92 intake does not clear the hood. I cut and rewelded the engine mounts as low as I could already. This could be caused by the subframe body mount issue. it is very close but the map sensor hits. I might relocate it or switch intakes.


I got AME headers with the subframe but they contact the floor. I raised the trans alot higher than most setups so this made things worse. I will most likely have to switch to a different set of headers.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...pscryfs5dc.jpg

As the great Weld would say "that's Hot Rodding" :D

But seriously just because the parts "bolt"on doesn't mean they are "bolt on" parts, you have to find the right combination for your car to make it all work correctly. Remember this cars are VERY different from one another to begin with so some adjustment may be necessary.

By the way love the car and project!!

Ahhh. Welcome to the world of hot rodding.
Love your ideas. Don't give up!

you really thought that the LQ manifold was going to fit under the hood?...


well then.. prepare your anus..

cause all of that will be surely charged to the game of HOTRODDING..

beat the floor up til it fits!..

That rendering is spot one! I know the feeling ... just this Friday I was ready to bolt on the upper bars and wtf, where is the other 5/8-11 jam nut? Luckily, there is a Fastenal here in town, so mad dash before they close because they aren't open when everyone else has time!!!!

Keep at it ... it will be worth it!

Michael

I understand the hot rodding mindset and never expect things to "blot on". Especially considering I tend to do things a little differently with my builds. I dont think a 6l80/90 has been put in a 2nd gen yet so i new there were going to be plenty of challenges.

I know i can make the truck intake fit. I love running the truck stuff on my builds. the intake performs the same as an ls3 intake but more torque and everything is dirt cheap.

I have the same setup in my chevelle.http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...pssr2o072m.jpg

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6jtccezv.jpg

It is close now. I just need to figure out where to put the subframe before i make any more changes.

The car has a lot of potential. I am going to do a couple of custom body mods but the cars looked great stock.

I build my cars during nights and weekends, its tuff to find time to make calls and buy things during regular business hours.

The 6l90 is huge and has awful ground clearance. I want to be able to comfortably drive this car. I raised the trans 3" to allow plenty of clearance. I might need to raise the entire driveshaft tunnel but i wont know until I get the rear 4link setup.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...pscfpasuid.jpg

Unfortunately, I found my fully welded trans tunnel interfered with the vintage air unit. I moved everything to the passenger side as far as possible and hammered the cowl area allow more room.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psleyowx5m.jpg

Since I am using vintage air, I shaved the firewall. the firewall on the 2nd gens arent flat. The gas pedal area is recessed more and sticks out farther into the engine bay. I think it turned out alright.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psmonfeexo.jpg


You can also see I relocated the wiper motor to under the drivers fender. I used a motor from a 4th gen i picked up for free.

I really like the c5 Z06 wheels, I plan on using them on this car as well. I found a set on craigslist for 450 and they came with a decent set of tires. The tires are old but they aren’t dry rotted. I will use the 18x10.5’s on the Trans Am and the 17x9.5’s on the chevelle. I plan on running 295/35/18 on all 4 corners for now but I might end up buying new tires and going with 315’s for the rear.

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psjxmnl3bz.jpg

I want black wheels on the Trans Am but I don’t want to devalue the wheels so I decided to plasti-dip them. This was the first time using plasti-dip and it worked out really well. Hopefully they will hold up to the abuse but again this is not a show car.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2ubzvuf7.jpg
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...pswzsel99u.jpg

Scott verified that his subframe had a similar fit on Grendel's Mullet Camaro. The half height body mounts can not be used at the firewall. I can now move forward with confidence in my setup.

I might keep the subframe wedged as i have it now with the small body mounts in the rear and full height at the firewall. I did the math and the suspension angles will only change by 1.2 degrees.

I am going to move the motor mounts again but I am waiting on my new headers to show up first. You can see how i already lowered the mounts in the pictures below.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psrfjxcrgk.jpg
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...pslpwbittg.jpg

I will also add Scotts new extended shock mount to allow a lower ride height.

Great effort on the 'Bird. :thumbsup:

Glad I could help in your build ;)

Its not the best photo but those wheels look nice in plasti-dip. I might have to try that. Due to my brakes I have to use race pads which leaves everything horrible and its corroding the aluminum so I have to at least paint them but that looks kind of cool. Thanks for the tip, and good luck getting your stuff put together. When I run into problems like that I break out the sawzall !

Thanks

Your build helps but it also makes me want to spend more than I need to, like a lot of the builds on here. Anvil CF, IRS its addicting

Its cheap and easy to try plasti-dip. I would recommend it. They look great but I don't know how they are going to hold up.

The wheels look great in black, the plasti-dip looks like it works good.

I don't know why, but everytime I look at this thread I think of this rendering:

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/v...ps920fee3b.jpg

I got the 2010 L92 engine from craigslist. It came from a escalade that had bad lifter noise. The dealership replaced the engine under warranty and i ended up getting the engine for a good deal.

I know the AFM/DOD lifters have had some issues so i wanted to upgrade the top end. The L92 has VVT as well and i wanted to keep it. VVT gives you the best of both worlds, low end torque and top end HP.

After doing some research i decided to go with a Cam from Gwatney Performance. They seem to have more knowledge on the VVT 6l80/90 setups.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psxpnmqrz7.jpg
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...pslngvvhxu.jpg
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...pscgwwfw0w.jpg
This last picture shows the bad lifter which almost completely wiped out the cam lobe.

I installed the new cam, comp vvt phaser, new lifters, pushrods and brian tooley springs. The install was pretty simple. The only hard part was lining up the cam phaser and gear while getting the chain on.

I took my time but somehow messed it up once. I noticed the timing was off when i went to torque down the rockers but i got it setup.

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psszvpenwd.jpg
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psxvpx1jxc.jpg

Another sweet Bird build. Keep posting up the pics. I really like your rendering. I'm a bit partial to a White TA though. Ha!

Love the stacks coming through the hood. Looks mean as heJJ.

I found and saved that rendering a while ago. I like it a lot. My car probably doesn't deserve to be compared to it.


There have been a lot of new firebird builds lately. I enjoyed following your build. I hope you don't mind but I might copy your front air splitter setup down the road.

The Escalade engine has a deep truck pan. I bought a used f-body pan but it i noticed it had a small hair line crack. Luckily the seller was understanding(i think he knew it was cracked) and refunded me. its not easy to find good f-body pans anymore. I decided to repair it. I put a thin layer of RTV on the inside and Jb weld on the outside.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0hemhjru.jpg

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psyd6dda5l.jpg

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psmaz0sfjy.jpg


I also bought a used baffle from impoved racing. I dont want to have issues if i take this thing on the road course.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psf589458d.jpg

I could tig weld that for you if you were closer.

I like those baffles and I think one will make it into my build. Let me know what you think of the quality.

I've use improved racing's products in my last 3 builds.

I think i am going to buy a tig machine before my next project.

I bought a used one and was very impressed with quality and fit. Its definitely worth the money in my mind.

I loved how unique the escalade gauges were in my chevelle. I really wanted to setup the BCM and use another set of factory set of gauges.

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0payfzec.jpg

I had used the Dakota Digital Gauges on another project and decided to use them again to keep things simple.

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psjdldembs.jpg

Its a bad picture and they obviously havent been wired yet but I am happy with how they look. I also got the Bim-001 Module since I want to see the trans gears when manually shifting the 6l90.

Don't mind at all. You kidding me. It would be great to see another Bird with a splitter running around out there at events. Let me know if you need any pics or have any questions on it.

Cant wait
 

Want to see this thing done!. The big front splitter screams awesome:Tomcat:

The 8.5 10 bolts are strong and could handle the LS3 but mine was an open rear. I would have needed to rebuild it and by new stronger axles. Considering I was going to change the rear suspension I started to look at my other options.


I started reading about the detroit lockers and learned the 9" lockers will perform better since they dont have c clips and cross pin. I was able to pick up a complete big web 9" that included a 31 spline third member with 3.20 gears and a locker for around $280 on Craigslist.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...pss0m44wnk.jpg
It was in rough shape but it cleaned up after a little work.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8nqhxpo4.jpg
I will go over the suspension in the next update

Nice score!

I have seen similar deals. I was going to remove the suspension brackets and bearing ends no matter what. I could use any ford 9". Finding a third member with a good original locker takes patience and it might not last with how i plan to drive it.

That's part of why I said screw it and just built a 10bolt. I had no desire to just wait around scouring the classifieds in an attempt to find a deal.

The front Subframe came with ridetech coilovers and I have always like Ridetech's products. It was an easy to pick their 4 link for the rear. The install seemed simple and the price is better than most of the other options. I got the weld on lower brackets since I was using the 9" housing and I also went with the rod ends but I wish I did a combination with some Poly joints.
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psetyeq7x2.jpg
The upper cradles were very easy to install. They fit my car very well and needed no adjustments. The rest of the install was not as easy as I had hoped. I knew some fabrication and welding was needed for the "bolt in" 4 link but I was really disappointed with the instructions and information available from ridetech.

The directions don't include a single measurement or diagram to help you locate the brackets. They make it seem like they fall into place but that is not the case especially when using a 9".

After calling and getting as much info as possible I starting installing the brackets. I needed to modify the upper brackets to fit on the 9" housing but finally got everything where I thought they should be and welded the brackets on.

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psikgxlj2g.jpg
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...pskqllwztc.jpg

When you install the brackets on the rear frame rails they were designed to be bolted in. A few guys have fully welded there brackets in and had the frame rails crack.

Here is what we did on 2nd chance.

http://garagescene.net/gallery3/var/...peed%20005.JPG

http://garagescene.net/gallery3/var/...peed%20015.JPG


http://garagescene.net/gallery3/var/...peed%20003.JPG

http://garagescene.net/gallery3/var/...peed%20001.JPG

On a side not I don't plan to track this car just autocross and I believe the two cars that have had there frame rails crack were both on a Road Course.

I read about the cracked frames on Jay's thread. I am glad that I have not welded the frame brackets yet. I didn't plan on fully welding them but I am now considering strengthening the frame first. I looked into the replacement rails today. They are expensive but I do plan on going on a Road Course.

Fairly certain you can get a set of Rails from Art Morrison.

I have been working with Jay(JSM) since he originally posted his c5/c6 flange setup. I knew that I wanted to use this type of flange on my current build. I was honestly waiting for DSE to finalize their setup using Steilows flanges.
I am extremely happy that Jay offered his flanges first.
This setup is not only better and more versatile than all the other options but it is also cheaper than most. The flanges might seem expensive when compared to a set of Ford Big bearing flanges($80) but you don't need brackets like those available from Kore3($750 for parking brake).

I already had a Ford 9" housing so I ordered the flanges and jig ends from Jay. I also ordered Mittler Bros 60" alignment bar from Jegs($130) and the 2.890 inner alignment blocks($80) for the third member from JEGS.


http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psml90ehxc.jpg

Jay will loan the larger inner alignment blocks but the third member cases with larger bearings are harder to find and are more expensive. I bought a empty case for $40 on craigslist. I now own a Jig for any 9" housing.

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...pswvyeaybf.jpg
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2qdemjr0.jpg
I measured and cut my axle tubes to the correct lengths. Assembling the fixture and using the jigs is extremely simple. I than tacked the flanges on and test fit everything under the car to make sure everything was perfect.

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psyhie0pa7.jpg
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7ph7rwhd.jpg
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...pskdsha3on.jpg
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...pslphptvis.jpg

Everything looked great so I put it back in the Jig and had the axle fully welded. Truck Tech on spike had a good episode on building a custom 9". You can watch them online http://www.powernationtv.com/episode...om-9-rear-gear
http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/...psqu7ge7fw.jpg

I am now waiting for the weather to warm up so I can paint and assemble evrything