1969 Trans Am Clonification

[ZMAN1969]

Originally Posted by murtah

Digging the project. What part of the metroplex are you located? I'm from Denton.

pretty close I'm in Lewisville neighbor

[ProdigyCustoms]

Car is coming along nicely


The hoods are made by Early Birds (who ships out of Niagra Falls). They need a LOT of work to fit. They are basically TOO BIG for the opening because the fiberglass skin is much thicker then the original steel skin. We have done 5 of these now and we figure 40 hours of trimming and body work to make one fit.

[ZMAN1969]

Originally Posted by ProdigyCustoms

Car is coming along nicely


The hoods are made by Early Birds (who ships out of Niagra Falls). They need a LOT of work to fit. They are basically TOO BIG for the opening because the fiberglass skin is much thicker then the original steel skin. We have done 5 of these now and we figure 40 hours of trimming and body work to make one fit.

UHG! not what i wanted to hear . that co name dosent sound right but from what i remember about the skin it was like 1/4" thick - really wish they came out with that repo all steel hood earlier have you tried fitting that hood yet Frank?

[dhutton]

I had to dimple the fiberglass to clear the buttonhead screws that attach the fenders to the gusset. Even then the clearance to the fenders is very tight, I cannot install the fender bumpers. I could probably add more dimples for the fender bumpers but the fit is so tight that I don't think they are needed. It took quite a lot of trimming just to get it to clear the fenders. I think the gaps are around 1/16" on each side. Sounds like Frank did a lot more trimming.

I did finally get the hood latch to work.

Make sure you have your body guy do a mock up soon.

The metal hood has to be better (how could it be any worse?) but it's hard to spend another $1300 after spending $800 or so on the fiberglass hood...

Don

[ProdigyCustoms]

I have not. I am building another one and will use the steel hood this time.

[almcbri]

looking good.

[ZMAN1969]

Well we took the motor and got it bolted up to the trans, new LS6 clutch, slave friday evening- did it in the back of my pickup truck, tied it down and saturday went up to my body mans place - its about 40 mi each way which isnt bad but at least its not a $25 trip now, unfortunately with the colder weather he didnt get a chance to paint the fire wall so it didnt "make it home" but will be next trip we did pull the old 8.2 pont rear end and springs out. we figured up where the shock crossmember needs to be welded in the lower back half of the car will then get some paint on it and the built 8.5 rear end will be ready to install with the Hotchkis springs and hardware. was hoping to get that done but his welder was inop at that time - oh well, more delays but it was some progress.
We then turned our attention to the interior we pulled the steering column, all the wiring harness and all the rest of the insulation - thats falling apart anyway and we also used some body filler spreaders to scrape the cardboard like stuff off the roof - all in all, nasty dirty work that HAD to get done sometime! Dirty nasty stuff- blowing all that out of the car and then his shop I'm glad that its done! We did also manage to have some tasty beverages so it wasnt a total loss - next time out I should have some pics of the engine drop in and the rear getting put in it.

[ZMAN1969]

its been a while but finally got the rear end in and back on the tires

[ZMAN1969]

finally rolling again

[GHOSTDANCER]

Looking good