My 76' and I
 

Entry 1: 2/10/2022

My name is Andrew, and this is the story of my 76’ Trans Am. I’m a long-time lurker on lateral-g and other pro-touring type websites. I’ve probably started this thread 5 times over the years. I’ve found it difficult to keep a thread alive since my life has changed so drastically and my car’s progress has been painstakingly slow and sporadic. I have a young growing family and with that, a limited budget for my 76’ with big dreams; ‘a champagne-taste with a beer money type-budget’. I’m finally situated in a decent career for the long haul and will hopefully have more cash to throw at it in the future.

There are so many great builds on this forum composed by professionals with great photos, accompanying technical write-ups that are backed by top tier results. There are also plenty of threads out there written by guys with far more experience building cars, more time, and a seemingly endless budget.

With that, I can’t imagine anyone getting much information or technical advice out of this thread other than pure entertainment. I just hope to stay on top of this thread once and for all. I plan on giving a great back story behind the car, what it means to me, why it means what it does and where we’re going. I’m not to be confused as a writer and that will become more and more evident as I continue to add content.

This thread will hopefully serve a multitude of purposes. First and foremost, documenting the journey from beginning to end of the project. I’d like to look back someday and have a record of exactly what the whole trip was like, the steps I took and in what order. I’ll include the setbacks, both mechanical and personal. I’ll incorporate the timing of everything, personal milestones with my defeats. Mixed in there somewhere will be car content. It will also serve as motivation to continue making progress, hopefully an avenue to prevent my childhood dream from evading me.

Any dream must have goals. Without goals the destination is unknown. Let’s keep this simple. As of writing this my dad is 67 years old, my son is 21 months old and I’m 34. I’d like to give my dad a ride in this thing before he’s too old to crawl over the roll cage. I’d like to finish this thing before my son starts referring to the car as a project instead of what it is, a car. In short, lets shoot for 12 years – so 2034. Jesus that seems like a long time from now. A lifetime away.

That’s enough of a general introduction for now. My next post will be a back story of the car, its history, and place in my family. No post is complete without some photos so here are a few to set the mood.

Mom, Dad, and the 76' in 1978:
Attachment 77317

My 16 month old son and the 76' in 2021:
Attachment 77318

Current state of 76' in 2022:
Attachment 77319

Great project, and beautiful family!! Thanks for posting.

Nice intro. I'm in for updates.

"There are so many great builds on this forum composed by professionals with great photos......."

...........seems you've matched them already Andrew, great start, prefect grammar and composition. Am looking forward to more.

Cool...I have a 76 TA also....I will be watching! Good Luck!:flag2:

Good start...
 

After reading thru your post, I see you have put some serious thought into this project.
The one bit of advise from someone that has had a similar experience is write out a plan of the build Put together a excel spreadsheet with the products you are looking for and where they can be purchased and the cost. I found that it helped to keep you in a realistic check of how much it is really going to cost and how much you have spent. Little by little you can get there, but try and keep it realistic so that the scope creep doesn't overwhelm you and you get burned out on the project and give up. Set a goal to do something on the car everyday no matter how small it is.
The journey is a major part of the destination.
Keep the faith and it will get done.

:RunninDog: :flag2:

Cool project :gitrdun:

I agree with sleeper, I have an excel on my build and it helps keep things on track

Awesome first post. Looking forward to your build!

Entry 2: 2/10/2022

Some backstory. Lots of ground to cover so I'll rush through this part. Just jotting this down as I remember it so I don't forget anything.

My father's first car worth mentioning was a 67' 390 Cougar that he bought second hand in 1973. It was piss green and had a tow hitch. The guy he bought it from pulled a boat with it.

He blew up the original 390 a few months after buying it and immediately purchased a 390 crate motor from Ford. Bought a better set of aftermarket heads, a new cam, intake, carb, headers, distributor and ignition. Also added a set of higher ratio rear end gears. If that wasn't enough he broke in to his old high school shop and manually shaved his aftermarket heads on a table sander by hand.

Car was fast as all hell but he ran it in to a tree and that was the end of it. Parted out what was left of the car and started chasing girls instead. Fast forward to 1975. It was around September and he was itching to get in to a new car. He was 21 and had some cash so he ordered a 1976 400 4 Speed T/A with no A/C. Really the only game in town that year.

Fast forward to Christmas Eve 1975. He was driving home from work in a Buffalo NY snow storm when he saw a car hauler with a silver 76' Trans Am up on top towards the end. Ended up following the car hauler to the dealership and it was his. Drove it home to family dinner that same night. The next weekend it got a set of headers, a cam, cragars, carb, air shocks, ignition, and distributor.

Later in the summer of 76' my Dad was out and met my mom in the car and the rest is history. They got married in 1981 and have been together ever since. Went on their honeymoon in the thing.

Some side notes/stories to recall someday:
1) Dad and the MG
2) Dad and Mom's first date
3) You go before the car goes
4) Stealing your own car back (clutch repair shop)
5) Corvette on a bridge
6) Getting it repainted in a field
7) Uncle Paul's 76' Formula
8) It almost got stolen 3 times
9) CB sleeper antenna
10) Weekend projects
11) Storing it in an abandoned building during the winter for free
12) Dad falls asleep in a crane, get fired by his boss (who was actually his Dad, Grandpa), and goes down to Pontiac to order his T/A while unemployed on the same day
13) Dad starts college at 34 years old to become an electrical engineer. Ketchup sandwiches, 1 bedroom apartment, newborn - refuses to sell T/A

Dad got it repainted in 1985. Blue decals from a 1979 Trans Am. I came around in 1987 and fell in love the first time I ever realized what it was. I can still remember drawing pictures of it. Dreaming about it. Bragging to my friends about it. This all started by the time I was 5. I've been in love with the thing ever since. It's the only car I ever wanted. Nothing has changed.

I graduated high school in 2005 and joined the Army. I was young and stupid and didn't save much money. I only had about $31,000 in the bank when I got out. After 5 years of the Army I had had enough of ol' Uncle Sam and decided not to re-enlist. Dad sold me the car for $176.00 a week after I left the Army. I enrolled in college in 2011 and graduated with a Bachelors in Finance and a minor in economics. 3.65 GPA. Graduated in 2013. University of Buffalo.

That's a whole lifetime in and of itself but it gets me to where I finally got possession of the car and started the project.

When I bought the car from Dad it had 36,047 miles. Rust free, perfectly running and beautiful car. Nothing to be ashamed of but it wasn't enough. I let my Dad know ahead of time that I planned on restoring it/would complete a substantial build.

The only criteria was that I'd never sell it to anyone outside of the family, hopefully pass it along to my child (should I have had one), keep the shaker hood scoop and not 'turn it in to a Camaro'.

Next post will be some actual car content.

Entry 3: 2/15/2022

I knew for years that someday I'd be switching out the entire driveline of the car but had no where near the funds to purchase what I wanted. So instead of buying a motor and transmission I decided to turn my attention to the chassis and rear end.

So in late 2010 (as soon as I got out of the Army and purchased the car from my father) I moved it to my uncles shop. I was going to start school in January 2011 so I had about 3 months to work with. I had planned on doing a simple mini tub but decided to expand out the project. Went on do to an 8 point cage, Strange rear end, Ladder Bars, Sub Frame Connectors, 3 inch exhaust, new clutch, rear brakes, 11 inch cragars, BF Goodrich Drag Radials.

Image upload limit is 10 images, so here are photos of the Mini Tub and Ladder Bars. This was in the Fall/Winter of 2010.

Entry 4: 2/15/2022

The whole plan after the mini tub and backhalf projects were complete was to get the car running again, take it back to my apartment in Buffalo and enjoy it.

Before any of that could happen though I needed to get the interior back together at least to a point where it was somewhat respectable. My uncle had the idea of modifying the rear seat and rear interior panels to work with the mini tub and ladder bar channels.

I'm not an interior guy but I trusted him and this how it all ended up. At this point I was pretty committed to school, working and chasing girls so the car went on the back burner. I probably put about 1,000 miles on it from 2011 to 2015.

The engine and front suspension were tired. The old 4 speed was on its last leg so it was really just a Friday night date night ride. It did have 3 inch exhaust, headers and magnaflow mufflers - sounded great but it was a pretty tired powertrain. It would stay in this form until late 2015.

Entry 5: 2/16/2022

I graduated college in 2013 and eventually got tired of renting apartments and always having to hunt down relatives or friends for a place to store the car. In 2015 I bought a house with a 1.5 car garage and finally had a place to store the car. In all honesty the garage was just a large wooden shed, but it would later serve the purpose of the place where I would tear the car down to a rolling chassis.

In the fall of 2015, I did a complete tear down. Bagged and tagged everything and moved anything that I intended on keeping into the spare bedroom of my house. Somethings got stored in the garage but for the most part everything was stored in my spare bedroom. The girlfriend was not a fan.

Sold the original motor, original transmission, heater core, front core support and front sub frame over that winter.

By March of 2016 the tear down was complete, and I had everything bagged, tagged, or stored away in a somewhat orderly fashion.
Ended up taking out a personal unsecured loan and proceeded to buy a DSE powder coated front sub frame with adjustable shocks, sub frame connectors, LS engine mounts, firewall heater core block off panel, Holly T-56 transmission tunnel hump, pro-touring F-body solid body mounts, and a Tanks Inc. EFI tank kit.

In the Summer of 2016 I sent her off to have the undercarriage, interior pans, trunk pans, and firewall professionally media blasted and painted.

:thumbsup:

Love the storage in the spare bedroom part! I get in trouble for that all the time.

Great thread, watching with interest.

I have a '70 and a '77 T/A and plan on starting complete rebuilds soon.

Evan Q.

Loving this thread !


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Entry 6: 2/17/2022

In the early portion of 2016 the car went to media. Had the rear suspension and rear end dropped before hand. Also had the shop weld in the firewall smooth panel and Holley T-56 Hump panel.

A little foreshadowing here, but used an LS7/T-56 combo for mock up.

Entry 7: 2/17/2022

After media work I had the shop spray the tail panel, firewall, trunk pans, interior pans and undercarriage. They also installed the DSE Front Sub Frame, sub frame connectors, and rear end.

After this I drug it home and put it away in storage for the next 5 years. In that time I'd end up getting married and having my first child.

Entry 8: 3/9/2022

Have a few things in motion worth mentioning.

Decided the next logical thing is to strip the car down to bare metal and have some metal work done I've been putting off.

Took a few weeks and lots of phone calls but I finally found the right shop relatively close to me for the job. They're booked up until late May/early June but I'm excited already.

Planning on getting the firewall smoothed and reinforced. Car will be getting a manual brake set up and I'll be thrashing it often. Need it built up a bit to feel comfortable.

Considered stripping the body by hand once early May hits (60ish degrees) with Aircraft stripper but with two kiddos aged under 3 and a dog...I don't think that's the best choice to save a few thousand so I'm passing that job off to the body shop as well. I've done it before but not at this point in my life.

Picked up an original 76 Core Support the other day from a wreck out in AZ.
It's impeccable and pricey. Also purchased the Ringbrother second gen door hinges. Other than that I have all the original sheet metal and shims.

Shop will reassemble , take care of the firewall, complete any (not expecting much) major rust repair issues that crop up along the way and properly align all panel gaps, spray in epoxy primer. Not doing any ding/dent repair, bondo, filler work at this point. Just getting it all back together first.

I'll have all that work done when it goes to paint (whenever that is).

That's all for now really. Just waiting until I can drag this thing away to the body guy. Progress is progress.

I also picked up all new wheel flares and the lower front spoiler (plastic ones, not the urethane ones). Having talked to the body guy, he said it's a good idea to buy them now and allow them to acclimate before they ever go on the car. Let them sit out in the sun, in the cold garage in the winter and allow them to go through their natural heating and cooling (expansion and contraction phase). I guess what happens, is people buy them and immediately mount them, prime and paint and they crack pretty quickly. I don't know how much of that can be avoided but I'll give it a shot I guess.

Sounds like a solid plan to me. Good luck with it all!

Entry 9: 5/11/2022

It's been a pretty slow spring for me. Lots of waiting around but things have started happening.

The shop called and the '76 goes to paint and body in the middle of June for the things I mentioned in my prior post.

The wife and I are also hoping the new house is ready by July. The third garage bay is pretty sweet. 4 feet wider than a normal bay and 4 feet deeper. I have a bunch of extra outlets and 2 x 220 35 amp plugs. Ceilings rafters in the third bay are an extra 12 inches higher than normal so I'll have no trouble fitting a lift in there.

Entry 10: 9/8/2022

Been a while. Got the car to the body shop in July. Not much progress so far.

Was quoted 15,000 for the following:

1) Smooth firewall
2) Repair drivers side cowl section
3) Strip car to bare metal
4) Paint engine bay (flat black)
5) Reassemble (sheet metal)
6) Get car in sealer/primer and paint behind panels. Car isn't coming apart ever again so I'm having them spray behind panels

I have all factory panels, hardware, shims. I did purchase an OEM 1976 front bumper that is in better shape than mine. Also bought a new core support, door hinges...but everything is there; bagged and tagged.

I try to stop in once every few weeks to grab some photos but I don't like to linger and bother the guys. I'm usually in and out in about 5 mins.

As of last Friday they started work on the firewall and removed the damaged drivers side cowl section. I'd have to guess it won't get stripped until late November.

Progress is good. :thumbsup:

Entry 11: 9/9/2022

Stopped in this afternoon to drop off the rear bumper and fenders. Still have to deliver the hood, hood scoop, spoilers and a few other pieces but everything else is over there for the most part.

Looks like they have the driver's side cowl panel mocked up to tack. Car was hit in the late 70s and the original panel was bent. My dad had the fender and door replaced but opted not to have the cowl panel addressed. That bugged me so I'm getting it done now.

Replacement panel came from a donor 78 firebird out in Arizona.

Yeah, that would bug the hell out of me, too. Just because it's not seen doesn't mean it should be covered up. Glad you're making progress!

Entry 12: 10/8/2022

Had some time to kill so stopped by the shop. Firewall nearly done. Next up is temporarily hanging doors and aligning fenders before stripping panels to metal. We'll assess what needs to be addressed and get a better idea at what we're looking at as far as bodywork is concerned.

Shop is hoping it's ready to strip to metal in two weeks or so.

Meanwhile, started my workbench. 2 feet deep by 16 feet long. Lots more to do out there before the car is back home.

Progress is a good thing. :thumbsup:

That's a nice work bench you built.

Entry 13: 10/21/2022

I dropped the hood and fender hardware off a week ago and caught up with the shop owner. Push came to shove, and we decided it wouldn't be a horrible idea if I came in on the weekends to try and get my car further down the road.

Talked to the wife and cleared it with her. Weather has started to turn here in Buffalo and the wife is usually busy carting our son back to fourth to hockey all Saturday afternoon.

This past weekend was the first time there - spent roughly 7 hours dicking around. Did a rough assembly of the front clip. Replaced the door hinges and got the doors pretty much perfect - used the old floor jack and 2x4 trick.
Brought my power inverter and finally brought down the passenger side window (that has been up for the past 5 years or so because I forgot to roll it down before ripping the wiring harness out).

When I ripped the front clip apart for the sub frame, I took detailed notes of what shim went where which really helped in re-assembly. The aftermarket core support fit perfectly and I am astonished - was fully intending to be disappointed. Also of note, I'm using Pro-Touring F-Body solid body mounts.

Picked up an OEM 1977 Trans Am fender to replace the original:
For the one guy out there who reads this thread 10 years from now looking to see if a 1977 Trans Am fender will fit his 1976 Trans Am - the answer is yes. The only note is that you need to remove the brace from the original 1976 Trans Am fender and tack it to the 1977. For clarification 1970-1976 Fenders will fit your 1976 Trans Am. 1977 and 1978 fenders will fit your 1976 too - as long as you bring over that front brace.

Shop owner said he took the factory inner fender wells down to bare metal and that they are in great shape. No need to replace them. Going to stop in for a little bit this Saturday (10/22/2022). Gotta drop off splash shields and front bumper supports. There's also slight bondo by the drivers side quarter panel I'm going to burn out and a little on the drivers side door.

Here's how I left it last weekend:

I went back to the beginning and read the entire thread. Great back story and love seeing all the progress pics. I can’t wait to see it in your garage.

Are you taking the car home in primer or painted. If your taking it home in primer I would have him spray the complete inside of the trunk, interior, firewall and underside. This way you can assemble the car as a finished roller and have him spray the outside when you’re ready.


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Ideally, I'd get it painted and back home. But that all depends on final quote. So far, shop quoted me $16,000 to get the whole car stripped bare metal with all body work done and put in epoxy sealer.

Honestly, I've managed to save about $26,000 in cash for paint and body work. But until we get the thing totally stripped...we won't know the exact quote. From what me and shop owner can tell it won't need much body work. Minimal surface rust with no rot. For $26,000...I'm not sure that will be enough. I might just drag it home in epoxy sealer and start interior / fuel / brakes / steering / electrical while funds build back up. Just getting it all one color will be an insane boost to my motivation and confidence...even if it's just epoxy sealer.

For what it's worth, I had the entire interior, trunk pan, and undercarriage media blasted and painted about three years ago already when the sub frame/sub frame connectors were done; so, we're good there.

Entry 14: 12/10/2022

Been a while since I updated this. Stopped over once or twice between this post and the last. Started burning out some old bondo near the driver side door. Wasn't a lot, but enough.

When it was originally hit back in 1981 - looks the body shop salvaged the original door. In the process of their repair, they grinded a bit too thin in a few spots and instead of spot welding, grinding smooth etc., they went straight for the bondo. You can kind of see what I'm talking about in one of those pics where I started grinding it out/burning.

Burning bondo out I can handle, door skin repair is well out of my wheelhouse. Leaving that task to the shop. Overall, there's no rot which isn't a surprise, but that shady door repair was.

Some more bondo near passenger side rear wheel well, some more above driver rear wheel. Passenger rocker panel is solid but slightly bent from a floor jack, need to replace that.

Ordered new hood hinges - wanted to salvage original but too much trouble for what it's worth in time. Ordered all new hardware for sheet metal. Silly me thought bagging and tagging every bolt, nut, washer 7 years ago was worth it.

Check out that door gap. Look better than the day I ripped the thing apart.

Entry 15: 12/27/2022

Started stripping to bare metal with a combination of razor blades and the DA. Started off pretty well until I got to the driver's side rear quarter and door.

Unbeknownst to me, when the driver's side door/cowl section/rear quarter was hit back in the 80s...looks like the repair shop salvaged the original sheet metal, fixed the dents and used bondo for repairs.

These are expenses I wasn't planning on. I was well aware there was no rust/rot...but silly me assumed the repairs from yesteryear used NOS/salvaged sheet metal.

Oh well what can you do. Ordered up a new rear quarter panel and located a salvaged door from another 76. I was worried about going too far with the DA and possible warping panels due to heat/my inexperience...so we won't have any full car in bare metal shots...letting the shop handle the rest

These are photos from where I left off last weekend:

Entry 16: 2/2/2023

Stopped by the shop the other day; new rear quarter and door roughly in place. Some pictures below of that. I still don't know how to add an image correctly, where/how I can write, add an image and keep writing again. Whenever I add photos they simply appear at the bottom of the post by default. Also, how big should I have the photos? 600 x 600 seems about right...right?

One more thing to add here. A few years back I added a T56 hump panel to the transmission tunnel; the first bit of welding I ever did myself. Not sure if it was necessary since the car was a 4-speed from the factory. I didn't have a T56 magnum laying around at the time so I kind of just guessed - but IIRC instruction specified that it should sit essentially where the factory hole was (I guess we'll find out!). The hump does clear the factory console, luckily.

I bring this up because I got the urge to explore other manual transmission options since T56 conversions are the norm. Budget considered...with what I'm trying to do (with a 3,500 lb. car, drag radials, ladder bars and 700 ft. lb. I'd be right at the brink of stock T56 Magnum limitations). I thiiiink TKOs are 650 fl. lbs.

Auto Gear and Equipment (out in Syracuse NY and 2.5 hours from me) build mean Muncie transmissions, including M23 and their M24. I spoke to a representative for about an hour and was told they're capable of building an M24 that can hold +700 ft. lbs. We spoke in very loose terms but it was an interesting conversation, worth re-visiting possibly. The thought of having a loud Muncie churning along is cool. Being different is cool. Lacking OD is not cool, and neither would be having to replace it after an expensive lesson in mechanical limitation.

Just curious if any of you have experience with them or a Muncie with such claims? Is it a pipe dream?

Link = http://www.autogear.net/

If you want the pics to show up in the text they need to be hosted on the internet somewhere. Click for more info:

https://lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9127

Entry 17: 3/8/2023

Stopped in the shop last Friday; not a whole lot to update.

Car was moved from the very back of the shop to the front and now next in line to be the main priority.

Next up is straightening both rocker panels. The B-pillar to roof seam needs to be done before bodywork starts up.

For a while there I was contemplating getting it painted but decided to just get the body work all done, epoxy seal it, prime it and drag it home. I'll just block sand it down in a few years when it's time to paint.

Ordered up a new Flamingriver tilt steering column the other day, along with all new hardware and steering shaft.

Awesome build so far! I don't know why but I was thinking the $16k quote had to include paint from the shop. Makes me question the quote I got from my shop when they said it's $10k-$12k for bodywork and paint. What are they halfassing? lol

Man, I'd be stoked if my quote came in at $12k. There are so many different things to consider when it comes to a price quote.

For my situation, there are really only 3 shops within a 40 mile radius that I'd trust. That lack of competition can't help me.

Also, I needed a new driver's side door, replaced the driver's side cowl section, got new inner fender wells and replaced driver's side quarter panel. That all upped the cost...things I really wasn't expecting.

The sheet metal was already off the car in an effort to make life easier for the shop but at the same time the factory shims and reference points were long gone...so reassembly was probably a royal pain.

Add in the cost of reassembling the car, stripping old paint off, some dent repair, body work, epoxy sealing and primer...$16,000 goes by fast.

If I wanted to keep costs down I could have opted to save the old quarter panel, could have chosen not to repair the driver's side cowl section and could have gone right to the actual paint job, but I'm too afraid of dropping a socket wrench on a fender or something between.

I asked around and for what I was asking to have done; $15-$25k sounded like the range I was going to be looking at.

Entry 18: 4/29/2023

If you've been following along since the beginning, you'll remember that my original plan with this phase was to get the sheet metal back on the car and metal work wrapped up.

That soon became more involved and expensive than I anticipated. While the car was a 32,000 original mile car, 1 owner (my father), never saw snow...it had been in a collision.

Once all the paint was off, I was somewhat surprised when it became pretty obvious that replacing the previously 'saved' driver's side door and quarter was essential if
i wanted it done correctly. While a surprise I wasn't disappointed because this stuff happens when restoring a 48-year-old car. I also had the firewall smoothed and drivers side cowl panel replaced.

Through all of this I was hopeful that when it came time for bodywork to begin (filler, sanding, prepping for sealer, spraying in sealer), that I could afford to get it done all at the same point after metal work was done. This wasn't part of my original plan but getting the car back 'paint ready' was going to be comforting to know that that phase was done.
A big milestone for me. Would just need color down the road.

However, I stopped by the shop yesterday and was awestruck at the body work estimate. I don't see many people throw around exact numbers around here, but I will.

I was quoted 15,000 for body work. Mind you this would be on top of the 12,500 I've laid out for what I've had done so far. So in total...bill would be around 27,500 to receive a car back with all metal work and body work done...in sealer.

Like I said in the beginning, I've never restored a car before and have never messed with body work, but this is a bit out of my price range right now.

New plan is to get her back with all metal work done and the egregious body work areas completed (B-pillar to roof line for new quarter, and the hood).

I think I'm going to give the remaining body work a shot on my own. My uncle has a private shop a few towns away. I figure I can pick up block sanders, an air file, and supplies for under 1,000. If it's not good enough, I'll just sand it off and try again until it is or until I throw in the towel and decide I'm willing to pay approximately 15,000 for body work. Whatever comes first.

One other area that needed to be address is the package tray area along the bottom of the rear window. This was also a surprise. Car never saw snow and was only a daily driver for 1 year of its life which means this is all from hand washing and a compromised window seal.

Two other photos of the new quarter seams.

Entry 19: 7/21/2023

Time flies. I got the car back on 7/21 and pretty happy with how the car came back. Metal work is what I asked for. Rocker panels left a little to be desired, and B-pillar/roof seams are ROUGH but what can I expect. It needs body work anyway down the road.

Since home I've been focused on gathering parts and tools for what I hope is a productive late summer and fall. Hoping to knock out the fuel system, and steering column re-build through December. Brakes will probably have to wait until winter.

I got to work on the Tanks Inc. EFI set-up last night and wrapped up the pump and sending unit. Instructions were vague in parts but it all worked out. Some photos of that.

Just ordered up a flaring kit since my last one was for 45 degree only! Man, prices are crazy these days.

Next up is picking up some braided tube, Nicopp hardline and laying out the system on the ol' whiteboard:
https://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/p...cat/cat162.htm

Entry 20: 4/30/2024

Been awhile. Got some work done late last winter with the fuel lines / fuel delivery that I forgot to post.

Decided to run hardline throughout the system. I wanted to run 1/2 inch for the entire system but the Tanks Inc. kit I bought back in 2016/2017 has 1/4 inch NPT for both the sending and return ports. There isn't enough clearance initially to step right up to -8AN.

To get it started I went from 1/4 inch NPT to -6AN and NiCopp line. Once space was available I stepped up to -8AN and aluminum line. Running an Aeromotive inline filter. Winter came on quick and I got sick of kneeling on the 15 degree concrete bending fuel line using wire hangers as templates so I stopped once I bent up lines past the rear axel. Picture don't do them justice but boy are they spot on and nice. Some red scotch bright should clean them up nicely after mock up. For the record, I plan on finishing the lines to the firewall and regulator this spring. One of the pictures below is of the diagram with part numbers for all fittings.

I also picked up an access panel but quickly realized that with the original contours of the original trunk pan and where the pump and sending until reside...simply cutting out the pan and adding the access panel accomplishes practically nothing since even in the most optimal location possible...the pump and sending unit are just not easily accessible. And further...there is absolutely no space to screw and unscrew the hardlines to the sending and return ports on the pump. Both of these things facilitated the inevitable access panel project I'm about to wrap up.

I made templates out of plastic card and along with a nibbler, double edge shears, cut off wheel and a trusty die grinder got everything damn near perfect. Tacked everything up minus the top panel this past weekend - ran out of 75A/25C gas. I plan on refilling tomorrow and will hopefully wrap it all up this week with some more grinding, seam sealer, primer and rattle can black.