Well, I'm finally getting around to an update. I don't have a lot of pictures or much to report. I've been driving and enjoying the car as much as I can since it was on cribbing for most of the year it seems. I'm going to concentrate on odds and ends and interior for next year I believe. I think this will let me drive and enjoy the car more while still performing needed upgrades. I really need new seats and to have the seat belts redone. I'm pretty set on Recaros. It's just a matter of can I find vintage ones that can be rebuilt or do I just bite the bullet and get new ones.
Ok, onto the updates.
I had the headers coated in satin/flat black depending on who you ask. I like them this color. They do scratch easy and show the scratches so you have to be careful when putting them in and working around them. I taped them up when putting them in the car. I painted the entire exhaust system satin black from a rattle can. I didn't want to spend the money on coating since I knew it would be scratched over time.
One thing I did screw up with the headers is the flange. I put the flanges on upside down. I liked the look of them this way better and they fit the ports the same so I figured no big deal. Well, the gasket shows a lot more than normal. Oh well, I may put the gaskets in upside down one day if it ever really bothers me enough.
The sound has started to already increase and rumble more from when I first finished the system. This is to be expected. It also works out a little better this way as I don't think the car has the traditional SBC rumble. It's smoother sounding than the typical alternating pulses from the engine. I was able to confirm my way of making the mufflers is just fine. I tore apart the can on my new motorcycle to shorten it and make it louder
The insides where steel wool wrapped around the perforated pipe followed by fiberglass material just like I did the mufflers on the car.
Another area of the car I worked on was upgrading the rear end. Some of you may have found my thread where I talked about going with an odd ball setup. That's under the car and working well. I have Ford Torino tapered bearings on the end of my factory 8.5 10 bolt. I put a 30 spline TruTrac posi in there along with US Gear 3.90 ratio gears. The gears are quiet and you can really feel the posi working when taking turns. The Sumitomos don't have a chance now. 180k miles on the drive train, and I break 2nd gear loose. I'm happy! This is the 3rd or 4th rear end that I've set up that's been quiet. I'm waiting for my luck to run out one day in that area, lol. I finished up the rear end with a Moser cover that has the main bearing supports. It also has fill and drain holes which will come in handy.
An unexpected upgrade related to the rear end was to add Kore 3 rear brakes. I didn't want to spend forever trying to make the C5 kit I had on the car work with the new housing ends. So I called Tobin and he hooked me up with a kit and new flex lines for the rear. If you need a GM kit for a rear end that has Ford style bearings, you'll need to contact him. They have the kit. They just don't have it on the website. I now have Kore 3 front and rear. Quality was top notch just as you'd expect. I'm also happy to report I have a functioning parking brake. I'm really enjoying having it as a foot pedal, too.
I did my best to install the brake lines and flex lines in a compact, clean, and protected manner. I'm happy with how it all turned out.
The last thing I did was to dearch the rear springs. I just couldn't stand how high it sat in the rear. I've brought the rear down about 1 inch and it looks so much better to me. Ground clearance is still great.
That's about it for now. Like I said I have a mixture of odds and ends to do for a while. I need to come up with a coolant overflow container. I want to replace the gas tank so I can stop smelling fuel. I have a high speed vibration I need to work on. I think I'll go ahead and replace the driveshaft now instead of waiting til I rebuild the transmission. I'm not sure if that is the source of the vibration but this will rule it out. A better one is needed any way. I have a better gauge panel already in my hands that looks way more professional than what I have in there now.
The seat install may get complicated depending on what I do to the floor to accept the seats. I may go ahead and change the transmission mount at the same time since I think it will combine with the seat mounts. I'm really looking at and liking how DSE has always incorporated the trans brace as a frame brace. I don't want to pull the transmission now in order to do this though. We'll see what happens. The transmission has to be rebuilt at some point, too. Scope creep! Suggestions on my seat/transmission brace idea?
Thanks for looking!