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Larry Middleton's
78 T/A |
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I purchased the car in
September 2005 from the original owner. Prior to my acquisition, many
modifications had been done to the car. It even had contact with a wall which is
why it had not front end sheet metal. Some of the modifications include Herb
Adams front and rear sway bars, brake cooling ducts and other body and
suspension mods listed in his handbook, weld in subframe connectors essentially
making it a unibody car, support) H-beam) for added strength, .45caliber bullet
hole in left �, switches to individually turn on/ off tail, side and head lights
for �stealth� driving ( not sure why anybody would think of doing such thing J),
474 engine with Holley projection 4, accusump oil reserve, nitrous just for
giggles. Here is what it looked like when I first picked it up.
In addition to what has been done, I have/ will add the following:
GW upper and lower control arms with Aldan Eagle coil-overs, Koni�s in the rear
Aluminum radiator w/ dual elec. fans
4 wheel disc brakes by Kore3 to fit C5/C6 rotors and calipers
Modern lighting
Lizard skin heat and sound insulation coatings
T-56 (currently being built) w/ hydr. T/O bearing
Engine beefed up w/ KRE heads and roller cam
17 or 18� 3 piece wheels, still trying to decide although I am close. Wheels are
way more expensive than I ever thought
All undercarriage and suspension parts are powder coated.
As of this writing 2/18/07, all plastic body bolts on are sanded and ready for
sealer. I am waiting for G-Force trans to finish modifying the Lakewood bell
housing to mate up to the t-56. I have found a builder for the T-56 which will
be comprised of a 06 Z06 unit (don�t know how he got it, but it was reasonable
and I�m not asking questions), the Z06 unit also has an built in pump so I can
run a cooler for the trans should it be necessary, viper output shaft and tail
and the usual keyway and fork upgrades. This should be good for 750 HP. Not sure
why all trans are rated for HP when torque is what kills them. Once the bell is
received, I will bolt the trans up to the engine and see exactly how much I have
to open up the trans tunnel. A t-56 will fit in the tunnel w/o mods, but that is
if you were to drop the body on to a frame per se, it will not be able to be
removed or install with a clutch bolted to the fly wheel. I will have more
updates on this as I make them. Oh, a custom cross member is also needed,
UPDATE 3/2/07
Since the last post, I stopped by the trans shop and looked at exactly what was
inside this 6 speed mechanical device. Lots of parts, but nothing that looked
difficult to build. Then again, nothing is hard if you know what you are doing.
I supposed after about 3 shots, I might get it right. Gforce had sent the
modified bellhousing and custom mainshaft to work with triple cone viper tail
housings. Very interesting and nicely machine piece. Top notch work by Gforce.
Here are some pics
Stuff, look at that bad boy. Rated to 750HP . Gears are the weakest link in
this. Better gears are rated to 1200HP and cost 2200. I supposed if you can
afford that power , you can afford the gears.
I had thought that I would be in for a long night of cutting and welding to fit
this trans in the tunnel. With the engine tilted at 4* which is the angle of the
carb mounting surface relative to the centerline of the engine, the trans fit in
and bolted up in about 1 minute. Not lying here. This is with clutch and all
bolted up as well. I instantly doubled checked all heights, angles, ect and all
were good to go.
So I moved on to the shifter using a stock viper unit. Sawzall and a carbide
cutter made a nice opening in the tunnel. I have to move the shifter shaft in
about 1� so it doesn�t hit the console. I will be installing a short throw,
which will be normal throw with the add height/ length of the shifter. Mcleod
makes a nice short throw that can be tailored to your specs.
This is all for now. Tomorrow is finish sanding spoilers and bumpers, fit
hydrobooster and hyd. Master cyl in firewall.
Update 4/2
Since the last update lost of little items have been attended. Trans
tunnel/console mount is attached to car, provisions for hydraulic master clutch
cylinder has been made, weld on interior �H-beams� and sub frame connectors have
been smoothed and filled. Lizard skin coating has been applied to the interior
of the car instead of dynamat. We�ll see out this stuff works out in the future.
I held off on applying the sound control as my other t/a�s don�t sound all too
load on the inside. Much loader when standing outside of the car. I assume this
is due to the location of the tail pipe being a long distance relatively to the
driver. I can always apply this with a brush later if the sound is deemed too
load. But as the old saying goes, if its too load, your too old. Seam sealer has
been applied to all seams and undercoating to the lower inner ��s as 1) they
love rust and I am trying to break that bond and 2) rubber is easily removed
from undercoating. All items that bolt on to the car have been sanded and
initial bodywork done (spoilers, bumper covers, ect.) A new fender was add to
the car as the original pass side fender that I had intended to use did not want
to cooperate and would take more time trying to make it work than just starting
over. I have also made provision for the battery cable to run through the frame
into the truck where the battery will be located. Car as of today has left to
the body shop for final sealing, fixing things that they missed the first time
(not a big deal since were are still w/in the original contract as far as
agreement, work to be done and money is concerned), wet sanding, subframe
installation and paint. So the next time the car comes home, it will look all
pretty. YIPEEEE. Gosh I hate bodywork. OK, so here are some pics:
A final round of powder coat was sent out as well. Just a few things to detail
and polish and its assembly time.
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