Been a while since I last posted an update. I have done some work and ran into some problems and fixed those problems. I ordered a ford 9" rear that was shortened by an inch on both sides. First time it came in, the housing was missing the fill and drain plug. Second time they sent the replacement the ears were bent on the top of the housing causing all kinds of issues. Fourth time they sent it the brackets were wrong. Finally I was able to get the housing back without issues and installed, they did powder coat the rear for me for free though. All these issues took from November to May to get taken care of, so incredibly frustrating. I also picked up a center section with an trutrack posi with 3.89 rear gears.
I got the matching rear brakes from Baer which came with their own issues. First, they sent me the rear brake kit for a 10/12 bolt even though the paperwork said for a ford 9" after waiting for them for close to 2 months. Then it took another month for them to send out the new stuff only to find out the left out the caliper brackets. Took another 2 weeks to get those. The rear brakes are 4 piston 13" rotors. I ran into some real-estate issues. Since the rear was narrowed by an inch on each side some bolts were fighting each other for room. I ended up making a T-bolt to bolt the ridetech rear bracket to the rear end.
For Christmas I got each of my kids something for the chevelle. This way they could each have their own time working on it with me. They loved this. I also got the riverside floor pan for Christmas. The floor wasn't bad, but I figured I have easy access while its on the rotisserie and might as well replace it. The kids helped install the rear sway bar, the rear shock tower brace from UMI, and spherical bushings on the rear end.
I have decided to go the LS route for the car. I was going to do a BBC, but its just not in the cards. I picked up a gen V 454, but it would need a ton of work. The guy previous to me left coolant sitting in the cylinders. It would need to be bored out a bit with new pistons. It would be dumb to re-use the rods then and would get new rods. Have to be balanced, new intake, water pump, distributer, oil pan, headers, serpentine drive, carb or EFI, cam, roller rockers/ lifters, and heads. After calculating everything it comes out cheaper to go the LS route for me. As I have to buy all the cooling and Fuel system anyways since the car came with none. With this I purchased the hooker 1" forward motor mounts and replaced the bushings in the clamshell mounts I picked up used.
I also bought all the brake line fittings and decided to try my hand at running brake lines. I used nicopp 3/16 brake lines and think they turned out damn good for my first time bending and flaring. This stuff is great to work with. This is pretty much where I am at now. Wheels are on order and should arrive at the end of August.
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