1971 Firebird Build ("The Other Woman", a.k.a. Project "T.O.W.")

[rat_rod_russell]

Originally Posted by carbuff

That is good to know. No telling how many times I've paid the overnight fee to Summit for parts like that. And this weekend will be a thrash! Hopefully I've gotten through all of the plumbing, but we will have to remake the brake lines. Little things that take a lot of time!

As for the time shake down, that will likely happen on I-35N on Wednesday unfortunately! There is a Spokes event on Saturday, but I won't make that... Heck, I probably won't even get on a dyno before Wednesday. Thankfully the Holley HP EFI is good at self-tuning and my map shouldn't need to change much. I'll be able to do some idle tuning myself before I go.

We did the same thing before the 09 Optima event in Vegas. Pushed the truck into the SEMA show and drove it out. Tuned on the dyno at 2AM then went to the race a few hours later. I wish you better luck than we had. But you're manly doing a refresh we did a fresh build with the added complication of twin turbos and a critical differential component I built and hadn't really tested yet. You'll be good.

You might take the back way up 183, 281, 220 and 67 into fort worth. There are a few hills and the stop and go of small highway over interstates will give the computer more data to crunch. Plus you can run more various RMP's and not have to avoid traffic at the same time. I'm normally in Denton at least once a month and I've actually gone faster that way depending on the 35 constructions. Worst case it added 45 minutes to the trip.

And I have AN-3, -4 stuff out the butt, all black aluminum or cadmium plated steel. Brake lines and fuel lines on the frames we build is a big part of what I call "the parts that will kill you" and a lot of guys want us to do them for their piece of mind.

Good luck!

[carbuff]

Grr, this powder coater is killing me! Looks like late tomorrow for the parts now. They better be ready or my head may explode...

Only got a little bit of work done today. The one picture-worthy item was coilover reassembly. Ron Sutton supplied a new pair of springs and some bump stops for the rear set, so I put those together tonight. I purchased a pair of 0-rate springs due to the amount of droop the rear sees when raised. It causes the springs to unload from the coilover, and did some damage to the shock bodies (I had Ridetech replace / rebuild them, through Ron). Don't want to repeat that problem.



Hopefully I'll have some more interesting pictures to show of the reassembly this weekend.

[GregWeld]

Oh yeah -- ya got the PURPLE springs! They're fast! LOL

[SSLance]

Man, I need a set of those 0-rate springs too. Did you get those through Ron and if so, how much were they?

Good luck on getting the parts, sure hope I get to see TOW in person next week.

Originally Posted by carbuff

Grr, this powder coater is killing me! Looks like late tomorrow for the parts now. They better be ready or my head may explode...

Only got a little bit of work done today. The one picture-worthy item was coilover reassembly. Ron Sutton supplied a new pair of springs and some bump stops for the rear set, so I put those together tonight. I purchased a pair of 0-rate springs due to the amount of droop the rear sees when raised. It causes the springs to unload from the coilover, and did some damage to the shock bodies (I had Ridetech replace / rebuild them, through Ron). Don't want to repeat that problem.



Hopefully I'll have some more interesting pictures to show of the reassembly this weekend.

[carbuff]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Oh yeah -- ya got the PURPLE springs! They're fast! LOL

And my secret weapon is the set of purple bump stops that match, courtesy of Mr. Sutton.

[carbuff]

Originally Posted by SSLance

Man, I need a set of those 0-rate springs too. Did you get those through Ron and if so, how much were they?

Good luck on getting the parts, sure hope I get to see TOW in person next week.

Lance,

I actually got those through Pegasus Racing. Bloody expensive too for what looks like such simple pieces. (I actually ended up with an extra of the spring... if you are seriously thinking of getting a set, I'll throw it in the car and bring it with me next week for you)

First I bought two of these...

Then I needed two of these...

And finally I needed 2 sets of these...

But that still comes out cheaper than having to replace a shock body, and really is a nice solution to the spring falling loose when you raise the car.

I'll be at Ron's seminar no matter what next week, but I sure hope that TOW is with me. Look forward to meeting you!

Bryan

[SSLance]

I haven't really noticed any damage to my shock bodies yet, but I hate the BANG every time I set the car back down and the spring slips onto the top spring collar and sets itself in place. Thanks for the parts link, that sounds like a good plan.

I toyed with the idea of bringing Barney down with me next week but it just isn't in the cards. I hope to get to see everyone's cars that are there though including TOW.

[carbuff]

Sorry to hear Barney won't make it. I was hoping to get to check it out!

I was surprised how much my springs were rubbing on the shock bodies. But they were unloading by at least 2" if not more, which may have affected that...

[Gscherer78ta]

Originally Posted by carbuff

Lance,



I'll be at Ron's seminar no matter what next week, but I sure hope that TOW is with me. Look forward to meeting you!

Bryan

Hey Bryan,

I too hope to see TOW again but, I will see you at the workshop! If the weather is good, I'll bring my TA. Are you sticking around thru the weekend to autocross at GG's? I wish they would allow my '78 in and I could run with you guys!

Greg

[Vince@Meanstreets]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Oh yeah -- ya got the PURPLE springs! They're fast! LOL

if not fast just plain Fabulous

what spring rate are you using B?