My 76' and I

[syborg tt]

This car is just incredible


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[1_Car_Guy]

Originally Posted by syborg tt

This car is just incredible


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Thanks! Itching for it to warm up so I can finish up a few things.

I'd like to be able to claim fuel and brakes 100% complete by mid may.

But before I can do that (brakes) I need to purchase the right length flex lines. Fuel is easy, I just need to take the fuel lines apart and blow them out with some air one final time. I didn't make things very easy for myself with how I routed them from what I remember smh.

[1_Car_Guy]

Entry 25: 4/16/2025

Finished up brake lines to both front corners on Sunday. Will route to rear with hardline, use a 14 inch flex line to rear axel and split with a T-fitting to rear calipers this weekend.

I found a really nice union that has a 1 male -3AN, 2 female 1/8-27NPT and a 3/8 inch hole that you can mount the whole fitting to the rear axel to.

My wife and I are expecting our next son to arrive on May 21st. Getting excited.

I was also quoted $4,200 to apply a ProShield Flake Flooring System (675 sq feet) to the garage. And that includes a Penntek NX300 clear polyaspartic clear coat.

Doesn't sound too bad all things considered.

[1_Car_Guy]

Entry 26: 7/18/2025

I managed to carve out some time the past few weekends. Decided to paint the cage, floor pans, and trunk pans.

I didn't know what product to use so my local body supply shop recommended SEM corrosion control. I made it pretty clear that I wanted to use it on the cage and pans. I sanded the entire cage with 80 grit...by hand, masked everything up in the car and primed. What a pain. I then applied SEM corrosion control as directed (without the hardener or any) since the shop didn't suggest it. I opted to apply by brush; it was probably 80 degrees out and very humid.

Well, it went on like complete garbage. I have no idea why I did the whole cage KNOWING it was going on like crap. I think I was hoping it would smooth out overnight. After 5 solid days...it was still tacky, nowhere near smooth and I got worried. This is not a show car but it was god awful and there was no way my mind could deal with putting foam over the bard to hide just how absolutely horrible it was. So, I needed to strip it, again. I even called SEM and spoke to tech support to figure out set times and verify ratios etc..

I'm embarrassed to say I should have applied hardener and a reducer; what an idiot. SEM tech rep directed me to add hardener (8:1) and add in up to 20% reducer. I ended up having to sand the entire cage for the second by hand...again. Except this time was even worse than the first time because THIS TIME the SEM corrosion control was STILL tacky...even after letting it hang around for 11 days.

I finally got everything to bare metal and found that 8:1:4 was the magic ratio (8 parts SEM corrosion control, 1 part hardener and 4 parts urethane reducer). After the cage was where I wanted it to be I moved on to the interior pans. Some photos of that.

I then added FatMat to the interior pans and rattle canned Rest-oleum flat black and a satin clear coat over the wheel wells.

I still have to give the trunk the same treatment (paint, FatMat, etc.)

Turned out great in the long run; but boy o boy was this a much bigger project than I had intended.

Edit...I also finished the entire brake system a few weeks ago.

[syborg tt]

Holy do do sanding the cage had to be horrible and I am positive that you said hundreds of cuss words while you were sanding.

In the end I am happy that it turned out nice.

[1_Car_Guy]

Entry 27: 8/13/2025

More progress: I got in my new steering wheel and horn assembly. I had to modify the horn cap (I had to shorten it on each peg by 3/8 of an inch to allow enough travel of the horn button). I also had to add two washers between the horn cap and steering shaft in order to aid in horn button travel. Without those modification the horn was sitting right up against the formula adaptor. I also finished painting the trunk pan and laid sound deadening.

I then turned my attention to the dash. I first patched a cut near where the radio resides that resulted from when someone tried to steal the stereo in the mid 1980s. I then did a deep clean with magic erasers with diluted pure simple green on the dashpad and aero bezel. Wow was there a lot of old Amor All absorbed in to that dashpad! I then painstakingly went through each switch with a combination of DeoxIT, and 400 grit sandpaper on each terminal. I also used clear plastic polish on the factory gauge crystals and did a general clean on everything before final assembly.

For a moment I was going to purchase Dakota gauges but I absolutely hate the look of LED lights. They are too modern and emotionless and look strange to me.

Instead, I salvaged each connection from the original harness (incase for some reason American Autowire doesn't supply those once I get the new harness). I also purchased a SW Trans. temp. gauge and SW Oil Temp. gauge. I bought an EGT gauge from Westach and kept my dad's SW Vacuum gauge around from 1972. It's a shame I couldn'tr find everything I wanted with the same bezel color (black with silver ring).

I made a radio delete panel from 16 gauge aluminum and a switch panel that mounts where the climate control used to be. Both switches on the switch panel are rated at 50 amps (one will override the electric fans and the other, the fuel pump). Each switch has an incandescent blue light that will illuminate when the switch is on. The other blue light will light if oil pressure dips below 15 psi.

The final blue light (nearest the oil temp gauge) will illuminate if oil temp gets above 190 degrees. I kept the red firebird and moved him down to the radio delete panel.

I also got all the exterior lights back on the car. I need to order up the truck lock so I can get the trunk back on the car, all hood latch hardware, new splash shields (since the ones I restored are for a 78 and not correct). I will also get the glove box back in there and probably call that good until next spring.

Then, it's Ls7 and T56 time.

[1_Car_Guy]

Entry 28: 2/11/2026

Finally pulled the trigger on motor and trans. Went with the 427/T56 builder series from BluePrint Engines w/o the front drive assembly. Their customer service is awesome btw.

There's an 8-week lead time. Hoping to drop it in sometime in May. I'd like to get the glass re-installed and swap over the driver's side power window assembly while I'm waiting around.

Only other plans this year will be getting an aluminum driveshaft, hood and trunk latches installed, seatbelts, and miscellaneous easy tasks.

At this rate I might be mobile in just 2 more years. For the very first time in the project, I have less to do than I have already done. And, less to spend than I've already spent. I can finally see a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel.

https://blueprintengines.com/collect...-fuel-injected

[camcojb]

I'm seeing and hearing good things about Blueprint Engines.

[Spiffav8]

Originally Posted by 1_Car_Guy

Entry 28: 2/11/2026

Finally pulled the trigger on motor and trans. Went with the 427/T56 builder series from BluePrint Engines w/o the front drive assembly. Their customer service is awesome btw.

There's an 8-week lead time. Hoping to drop it in sometime in May. I'd like to get the glass re-installed and swap over the driver's side power window assembly while I'm waiting around.

Only other plans this year will be getting an aluminum driveshaft, hood and trunk latches installed, seatbelts, and miscellaneous easy tasks.

At this rate I might be mobile in just 2 more years. For the very first time in the project, I have less to do than I have already done. And, less to spend than I've already spent. I can finally see a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel.

https://blueprintengines.com/collect...-fuel-injected

It's funny how projects progress. For the longest time it doesn't feel like you're making any progress and then all of a sudden...you're almost there. Hopefully it doesn't take the full two years.

[syborg tt]

Originally Posted by Spiffav8

It's funny how projects progress. For the longest time it doesn't feel like you're making any progress and then all of a sudden...you're almost there. Hopefully it doesn't take the full two years.

So true


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