Project Haircut - Third Gen

[RT_66_Pro_Touring]

I rebuilt the rear diff. I combined a 2001 Firebird rear diff and a 3rd gen housing with Moser axels, Richmond Gear 3.73 and a TA girdle.


The Torsen carrier was in great shape.



The Third Gen diff not so much. All I wanted was the housing though.




I modified the drum brake backing plate to accept the LS1 rear disks





Took me four attempts to shim it up and get a good pattern, not too bad. Got it scrubbed up, painted and ready to go!

[RT_66_Pro_Touring]

A few pics from the paint shop:


Last weekend I went to the shop for primer inspection. Not many shops will let you go over the primered car with marking tape




A couple of pics after color and clear. I hesitate to show these since it hasn't been cut and buffed.

[Gmachine1911]

Originally Posted by RT_66_Pro_Touring

A few pics from the paint shop:


Last weekend I went to the shop for primer inspection. Not many shops will let you go over the primered car with marking tape




A couple of pics after color and clear. I hesitate to show these since it hasn't been cut and buffed.

Looks great, love that color blue on a Third Gen! Keep the updates and pics coming!

[RT_66_Pro_Touring]

Originally Posted by Gmachine1911

Looks great, love that color blue on a Third Gen! Keep the updates and pics coming!

Thanks!

Another pic from the paint shop today.


You can't see it in the pics, but they masked off spots for the subframe connectors to weld in once the chassis has weight on it.

Some bad news from today: when bolting on the k-member to get the car off the rotisserie, they found 5 of 6 bolts lined up and the 6th didn't. He hadn't thought of 4-cornering the k-member and the subframe horns. I had him check and it turns out the subframe is either tweaked 1/8", which I doubt because there absolutely no signs of any previous repairs OR 90's GM quality. I bet it's the latter. The stock k-member bolted up fine. Two of the stock bolts were ~110mm, two were ~90mm. Lots of play there. The aftermarket k-member bolts flush to the frame with 6 - 30mm long bolts.

So now the has to go to a frame shop post-paint.

My hope is that with the tweak being only 1/8", subframe connectors, a front steering brace, a solid k-member flange on both sides and the strut tower brace that this won't be a big deal in terms of chassis flex.

Any opinions on this?

[garage_engineer]

Originally Posted by RT_66_Pro_Touring

In the case of a Camaro, the difference between a Camaro steel impact bar and the Firebird aluminum bar modified to work on a Camaro is just over 8 lbs. Not huge, but it's on the extreme end of the car and polar moment is as important as unsprung weight. Also, I only paid a Jackson for it and the challenge of making it fit the Camaro bumper cover was entertaining, although probably not the best use of an entire evening.

I mounted the Camaro support bar and egg crate plastics and used a plumb bob and tape measure to mark the location of multiple points:


Then I mounted the Firebird bar with the Camaro plastics and cut to fit:


It fit great!

Interesting... where did you get the Aluminum one? Are they hard to find or did all Firebirds come with them? Never heard of this before but definitely a great place to lose 8lbs.

[RT_66_Pro_Touring]

Originally Posted by garage_engineer

Interesting... where did you get the Aluminum one? Are they hard to find or did all Firebirds come with them? Never heard of this before but definitely a great place to lose 8lbs.

I pulled it out of junk yard. Honestly, I'm not sure if I got lucky or if they are plentiful.

[WSSix]

Great color choice! I'm sorry to hear about the frame being tweaked. I hope it's easily fixed.

[RT_66_Pro_Touring]

Originally Posted by RT_66_Pro_Touring

Some bad news from today: when bolting on the k-member to get the car off the rotisserie, they found 5 of 6 bolts lined up and the 6th didn't. He hadn't thought of 4-cornering the k-member and the subframe horns. I had him check and it turns out the subframe is either tweaked 1/8", which I doubt because there absolutely no signs of any previous repairs OR 90's GM quality.

I determined yesterday that the issue is definitely just manufacturer quality. The locating pins fit perfect, also when properly 4-cornered the measurement is less than 1/16" off. It's the center DS bolt that isn't quite lining up, but not by much. These are captured nuts and there's some play in the adjustment, the locating pins being straight is the critical issue.

Still working on cutting and buffing, so no complete car pics yet.

Those 15" mags are looking sweet! j/k

Here's a pic of the k-member installed, with 5 bolts lol


UPS delivered these today

Pretty!!

[rixtrix1]

Any particular reason why you had it painted before building it, or will it be primarily just bolt on stuff? Scary having to straighten a unibody, weld on it, etc with all that pretty paint on it. I did it once with a customer's '67 Nova with subframe connectors, mini tubs and a frame tweak of 3/8". Luckily none of the body panels moved from pulling the frame. You shouldn't have any problem making the CAM-T minimum weight with your setup.

[RT_66_Pro_Touring]

Originally Posted by rixtrix1

Any particular reason why you had it painted before building it, or will it be primarily just bolt on stuff? Scary having to straighten a unibody, weld on it, etc with all that pretty paint on it. I did it once with a customer's '67 Nova with subframe connectors, mini tubs and a frame tweak of 3/8". Luckily none of the body panels moved from pulling the frame. You shouldn't have any problem making the CAM-T minimum weight with your setup.

It's primarily bolt on. I should have bolted the aftermarket k-member on before paint though. Luckily, as it turns out, we won't have to straighten it.

As for the subframe connectors, with a unibody, you need all of the weight on the car plus ballast in the driver's seat before welding up the subframe connectors.