Introducing BISKWIK - 1961 Biscayne
 

Hello Everyone. I’m finally getting around to starting my build thread. I am enjoying the pleasure of making this 1961 Biscayne road worthy once again. A little back story… I have been around and wrenched on this car for almost 30 years now. I became friends with the owner when I was 17. I met him when I had questions about my 1963 Corvair w/400 SBC in the front. Anyhow, he had sold and bought back this car numerous times. Each time it went to different hot rodders who were friends of his. Each person made changes, upgrades, downgrades, whatever to it. I believe he owned it a total of five times since I have known him. It had combinations ranging from a 350 SBC w/671 blower, to 502 BB w/Procharger and 150 shot of nitrous. It was mostly a street/strip car that he took to car shows. The last owner who had it before he bought it back put a 454 w/671 blower in it. He became ill and was not able to complete the car. My buddy bought it back with intentions of retiring it from the racing scene and make a cruiser out of it. A year and half into it, he lost interest and that’s where I come in!

The car has a full cage in it now but will be modified to accommodate easier entry to the back seat for my kids. The setup it had when I acquired it was a bone stock 6.0 LQ4 with 4L60E. He purchased a Vintage Air AC kit, power steering setup, and a few other goodies for it. The power steering setup was installed and the AC kit is still in the box. Me being who I am, I could not have this beautiful machine running around with a stock motor in it.. especially after the history it has in my area.

Project updates will be added in upcoming posts. In the meantime, here are some pics…

The first pic is from 1997 when it had the 502 in it. It was a respectable land yacht that ran mid-6's in the 1/8th. I took this pic when he let me drive it for the weekend. The others are of when he got it back with the 454 in it and of the interior.

Picking up BISKWIK to bring it to its new home.

BISKWIK’s resting place for a bit…

Some of the frame stiffening work that goes with the roll cage and engine compartment as I received it.

Goodies from CPP and Summit start to arrive…

CPP - Big brake upgrade and brake booster
SUMMIT - Stage 2 Pro LS Truck Cam Kit, Stainless fuel line, a few odds and ends, and a Holley Terminator X Max 4 months later.

First order of business, I wanted to rebuild the front end with new ball joints, tie rod ends, springs, and the brake upgrade.

I don’t know what springs were in it when I got it, but it looked like it was shooting for some good 60’s! Definitely had to fix that ASAP!

Great project! :thumbsup:

Awesome car !!! Congratulations !!!

Cool back story. Looks like a nice car. I also like the car’s crib. Nice empty garage. LOL

Thank you for the replies! I have more updates to post and I will soon. All the pics are on my phone, so I will get them downloaded from there.

In the meantime, I have ordered new wheels. I am going with 18" and 20" versions of the Boyd Coddington Junkyard Dog. Once I get those in, whenever that will be, I'll mount some tires and check ride height. I think the front end is still sitting a little high. We shall see.

If time permits, I am hoping to start mocking up the Vintage Air system to see how and where I can mount the Holley Terminator X Max and run all the wiring. I know I will be fabbing up a center console for it, so it will most likely be tucked away inside it. I do not have the means to smooth the firewall and make fancy, but I will clean it up as best I can. I was thinking about getting the Terminator X Firewall pass through from Sharpe Performance. Is anyone here using that? Thoughts? I would also like to use a bulkhead plate for the AC system rather than passing the hoses through the firewall. I think that would help clean up the firewall somewhat.

If anyone has any suggestions or tips, please feel free to share them. I would appreciate it. :thumbsup:

Out with the old…. In with the new!
Opted for the Summit Pro LS cam kit #8720

Also added an LS2 style dampener with Melling adapter bracket and new timing chain set.

While I had the oil pump off, I massaged the passages a little bit to improve flow and shimmed the spring. I figured since I improved flow and bumped up the pressure a little, I thought it would be a good idea to replace the barbell. I picked one up from SacCityCorvette.com.

I definitely love all the room in the engine compartment of these classics! I was able to reach all but the bottom two transmission bolts from the top! It’s great!

And…. Slowly getting the motor back together. I picked up a set of 243 heads and massaged them a little bit. They probably didn’t need it since I’m not racing anymore, but I enjoy doing the work and I’m sure it won’t hurt it. I upgraded the rocker arm trunnions and installed them along with new springs. I also had to order a set of 7.425 pushrods to get the right lifter preload. I topped it all off with an LS6 intake.

Found this spot on the radiator, so I’ll be taking by a shop sometime next week hopefully to get it checked and repaired if needed. Always something…

More to come as I get things completed.

I remember this car from years ago. It’s cool to see you making the changes you are.

The small Sharpe Performance firewall plug is very nice and perfect for the engine harness. I choose to run my trans harness through the trans tunnel as it layed out perfectly.

The guys at Street Machinery mounted there Terminator under the passenger seat for easy service and it well looks awesome. They also ran the harness through the firewall very low and it comes up to the motor for a very clean look on the firewall.

What every you do don’t follow them on Facebook as they will overwhelm you brain with really cool ideas.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a443f641a7.jpg

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Where have you seen it? It has been around for a while. It lived in NC for a bit, I believe.

Thank you for the info! That install looks supper clean! I like it. Do you know what they used to pass the harness through the floor? It looks like a nice transition for it.

Too Late!!!!! :lmao:

I’m getting ready to start installing the Vintage Air and finding a good home for the Holley Terminator X Max.

First order of business will be getting the ginormous bench seat out. I will them pull out the carpet so I can put some sound deadening material in, and Yes, I will be cutting the drop bars on the cage. As you can see, they are a hinderance for getting in and out. I am not getting any younger and I would also like to make it easier for my kids to get into the back.

The NOS floormats are up for grabs. Who wants them? I do need a MAP sensor for and LS6 manifold. Just sayin’. :lmao: Shoot me a PM if anyone wants the mats.

So much room for activities!!!!

That was a chore for one person! WOW!!!

I have pictures of it somewhere on my computer.

If it was in North Carolina I may have seen it at a car show many years ago.

I’m… I done did it. There’s no turning back now!

On a side note… the defroster vent is a total pain to cut out. Especially with the dash still in place. The instructions say to use a chisel or die grinder to cut the spot welds. Yeah… about that.

The floor pans are in good shape. I’ll deal with the wiring nightmare as I work on the Vintage Air.

Marty- Do you mind sending your wiring tool box down for a little bit? You definitely have a jam up setup!

That is a very good possibility. Would you mind sending them to me if you can find them? My buddy’s wife is making a scrap book for me to have when I go to car shows.

I feel like it's a quest as I know I have them and I feel the need to find them more then you can imagine.

Love all the pics Matt. Your doing great sir. Keep it up.

Thanks, Scott! I’m working on it. I’ll post an update in the next day or so. I started on the AC install and I’m not to fond of the plastic firewall plate that’s supplied with the kit.

So much to do and definitely not enough time or funds. I’m still waiting for my money tree to bloom!! :lmao:

Small update: I started working on mocking up the Vintage Air system. I can say that I definitely do not like the chincey plastic firewall cover that is supplied with the kit. I would like to replace that with metal and used bulkhead fittings. We shall see what I can come up with. Anyone have any ideas in the meantime?

As you all can see, the many years in Kindergarten almost paid off.

The template is supposed to line up somewhere in this area...

The template was no use.... or I just didn't know how to use it. Either way, I managed to get the defrost duct mounted.

The airbox is mounted temporarily. I will layout everything for the Terminator X Max next and also determine how I want to run the AC and heater lines. And Yes, the wiring under the dash will be addressed too. I'm leaving it in place now for your viewing pleasure.

The floor pans are a hot mess. I'm going to get them cleaned up and install some sound deadener. Hopefully what I ordered will get here before the 4th of Neverary. Everything is either out of stock right when you hit the "PLACE ORDER" button or it is delayed with shipping. The deadener I ordered on the 20th is lost somewhere and they supposedly sent out a replacement order. We shall see.

On a side note, I did receive the wheels. Unfortunately, I had to send two back due to damage. Hopefully the replacements will be here soon. I'm going with 20X9 in the back and 18X8 in the front and looking at 285/35's rear and 245/40's for the front.

I also scored a set of Dakota Digital gauges from FB Marketplace. They were new in the box and I couldn't pass up the deal.

Pics of all coming soon!

Introducing BISKWIK
 

I just reinstalled my vintage and I have one more line to make and I’m looking forward to that project being complete.

So which line / fittings are you using. There new lines/fittings are pretty cool as you don’t need the crimper.


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To be honest, Marty... I am not sure yet. I have to unwrap the ones that came with the kit to see how they are. This kit came with the car and is about a year old.

Do you have any pics of yours?

@syborg tt - Looking at your thread, it appears I have the same lines as you. I did a mockup of the condenser/drier setup. I'm not liking how the drier is mounted on the condenser. I may use your idea and move it to the core support. My only issue would be making new lines.

I managed to finish removing the down braces for the roll cage. I will leave the rest of it and either repaint or get some sort of cover to “hide” the areas where I had to cut. These are rough cuts currently. I will remove whatever interior I can and tape up the rest so I can grind the rest down. At least now, it will be easier to get in and out of the front and my kids can actually sit in the back.

So much MORE room for activities!!!

The last of my wheels finally came in. I will be running polished Boyd Coddington Junkyard Dogs. 20X9 Rear and 18X8 Front. I did notice a few things after looking at these pics...

1- I need to sweep my porch
2- I definitely need to drop the front more
3- The center caps don’t match 🤦🏻

Seems like the way things are nowadays. Oh well. I’ll see if I can get a matching set. Wish me luck!

Until then, I’ll leave these here…

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...b0727b25e.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...dd6edbdaf.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...ecaa6ccff.jpeg

Match each side?
 

Couldn't you just run two matching center caps on each side of the car for now?

I have thought of that and that would be my plan if I get it running before the center caps arrive. Great minds think alike! 🤙🏼

Nothing really to update as I haven't had much if any time to work on BISKWIK. I did get updates on shipping of a couple items though.

The 4-speed hump has been delayed yet again until sometime in July and the Lokar shifter is not shipping until August sometime. :headscratch:

It is an absolute shame that this has become "the norm" and most find it acceptable. Just plain sad.

Hopefully I'll have some updates with pics in the near future.

On a side note, I am thinking about picking these up for speakers to replace the vents. Anyone have any other suggestions?

You're making good progress. Those wheels will look good on the car.