Project 'Overtime': Pro-Touring 68 Acadian (Nova) with L92 swap

[scherp69]

So I thought I would finally do a build thread on my car. It's a 68 Acadian that I orginally bought for $700. When I got it, it was white with black racing stripes. I fixed the car up on a pizza shop manager's wage. I had it painted cherry red, rebuild the 350 and th350 and put on 15" cragar rims with BFGoodrich tires. Now that I'm a cop and make way more money than I did back then, I'm doing the car again...but the way I want to. My plans are as follows:

Pro Touring theme

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/1968_Acadian_Render_Mascoll_Designs-2.jpg

Suspension, brakes and tires:

18" New Gen Splitters, polished lip and brushed centers. 305-30-18 in the rear and 245-35-18 in the front.
Speed Tech Performance subframe with Speed Tech high clearance tubular control arms.
Speed Tech 1.25" solid sway bar.
Unisteer rack and pinion kit
Ridetech single adjustable coil overs
Wilwood 6 piston calipers with 12.2" rotors
Prodigy bar rear suspension (airbar with adjustable arms) with Ridetech single adjustable coil overs
Moser M9 housing
Moser 31 spline axles
Strange Pro Nodular centre section with 3.70 gears and half billet posi
Wilwood 4 piston calipers with 12.2" rotors

Drivetrain:

LS3 6.2L crate motor. Hope to be around 550 hp.
Speartech ECU with DBW
Comp Cams camshaft: 226/234 .598”/.612” 114LSA custom cam using EPS on intake and LXL lobes on the exhaust.
LS3 intake with LS3 ported and polished throttle body
Speed Tech Performance / Stainless Works long tube polished headers.
Wegner Motorsports polished diamond cut serpentine kit
Tremec TKO600 with MGW shifter
Monster stage 3 clutch

Interior:

Flaming River polished tilt steering column
Flaming River Waterfall leather steering wheel
2005 GTO leather power bucket seats in front and GTO rear seats
Custom console with 7" LCD screen
Thunder Road gauge cluster
Speedhut gauges
Vintage Air Gen IV air conditions
Billet Specialties air conditions louvers

Body:

New sheet metal includes:
Goodmark: quarter panels, inner rear wheel wells, deck filler panel
Auto Metal Direct: 2" cowl hood, inner fender wells, rear cross rail, rear tail light panel, quarter panel end caps, door skins
DSE deep tubs
Firewall has been completely smoothed
Paint will be House of Kolor's apple red with black base coat

Stereo:

JL Audio stereo (haven't decided what but will be big)

More to come, but in the meantime here's some pics:

Here's what the car looked like before I started tearing into it again.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/Picture018.jpg

Here's the car as it sits today

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0016-2.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0017-1.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0018-1.jpg

[scherp69]

Here's some of the goodies I got today :yes::)
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0020-1.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0021-1.jpg
DSE Deep tubs
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0023-2.jpg

[scherp69]

Moser M9 with back brace and G-Bar ready
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0028-1.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0037-1.jpg
AirRide suspension (same as a G-bar)
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0038-1.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0054.jpg

[scherp69]

Wilwood brakes
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0049.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0051.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0052.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0053.jpg
Hydraboost system
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0055.jpg

[scherp69]

I've had these for a while already, but these are the rims I have
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/Foose18s.jpg

I hope to get working on the car next week as the wife and daughter will be gone for 4 days. I will be living in the shop. Will update as I go. I really need to say thanks to Frank and Lisa at Prodigy Customs and www.gpsuperstore.com for the great deals. Frank also went out of his way to get all the brackets welded to the M9 so I didn't have to screw it up trying to set the pinion angle. Thanks again Frank.

[ProdigyCustoms]

Oh that M9 is sexy. You know you got the first one we have done! It is going to be real close on shock / spring clearance. I think a empty housing test would be prudent. Glad everything showed up OK, you still have one more box of brake cables, hoses, etc coming. It is shipping from us tommorrow. Maybe we should ship that straight to your place?

Thanks for the orders. You know where I am if you need me.

[Bulldog68]

Nice project. I read your backstory and got a little nostalgic. I worked for 6 years at a pizza restaurant before finishing up college and becoming a cop here in California. Now it's been a little over 5 years working and I'm still not as far into my project(s) as you! Guess I need some more overtime... :D

[XcYZ]

Kick ass! :woot:

[scherp69]

Thanks for the comments guys. Maybe I should call the 'overtime build' as that's what's paying for it. Work a few shifts....buy another part. Work a few more shifts...buy some more. Hopefully I will have some more pics next week as I plan on hitting the shop for a few days.

[scherp69]

Today I was able to get the G-Bar/Air Ride rear suspension mocked up. It took some cursing and swearing, but not too much. Now I can get this thing as a roller and start putting the body panels on.

Bottle Jacks to help hold brace in place
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0014-1.jpg

Bottle Jack attached to main brace
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0013-1.jpg

Rear suspension is in!!!

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0015-1.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00212.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00192-1.jpg

[scherp69]

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00182-1.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00162-1.jpg

[tones2SS]

That is awesome.
The build seems to coming along quickly. Keep us updated.:thumbsup: :cheers:

[awr68]

rockin'!!!!!!! :thumbsup:

[waynieZ]

Looking good keep the pictures comming.
Wayne

[scherp69]

Thanks for the comments guys. Today I started to do some more cutting. I guess there's no turning back now.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00042.jpg

[scherp69]

Well I haven't had a lot of time to work on the car since my last post, but I did get a few opportunities to get in the shop. I started doing the deep tubs install, but has taken longer than it should have. I originally cut a piece out of the floor and was going to stretch the wheelhouse, then I decided to do the deep tubs. I'm doing a lot of guess work as I can't measure from the stock wheelhouse location. My welder has become my greatest friend. Along with a sheet of metal to fill in when I cut too big. I've got the passenger side deep tub and new outer wheelhouse mocked up. I also put in a new trunk drop off. Now to mock up the quarter panel to make sure my outer wheelhouse lip is right. I did find though that with the deep tubs and the 285/35/18 tires I have....I have almost 2" more that I can go. May have to get some 12" wide rims. Anyone looking for a set of 18" Foose rims and tires?? Anyways...here's some pics.

I had to cut a rusted piece off the rocker panel. Will be an easy patch.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00032.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00052-1.jpg

Frame notched.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00173-1.jpg

Wheels mocked up.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00213.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00203.jpg

[scherp69]

Quite a bit of room still.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00232.jpg

[scherp69]

Well here I go changing my mind again. I am worse than my wife Last night I got a really good deal on a Unisteer rack and pinion kit with steering shaft, hoses and polished pump (thanks to Dark Angel). I also just got off the phone with Blake at Killer Customs and ordered one of the Speed Tech subframes I have wanted one from the day I saw them. When I'm done this build I don't want to say...I wish I would have done this or that. Hopefully picking everything up next Thursday. If you're looking for QA1 coilovers or a AGR power steering box, both new, I now how them for sale. Will post pics when I get the new frame.

[gardnerme]

Scherp,

I have a question for you. I, too, have a fabricated Moser rear axle assembly (thank you, Frank) for my Camaro and started assembling it yesterday. I have never set up a 9" axle before, but it looks like the axles themselves are offset way too much to one side to make sense - it look like they are centered on the ring gear location and not the center of the third member. With the axles in the housing, does yours look something like this? Can anyone else confirm or deny that this looks correct?

Thanx in advance.

Mike

[scherp69]

Scherp,

I have a question for you. I, too, have a fabricated Moser rear axle assembly (thank you, Frank) for my Camaro and started assembling it yesterday. I have never set up a 9" axle before, but it looks like the axles themselves are offset way too much to one side to make sense - it look like they are centered on the ring gear location and not the center of the third member. With the axles in the housing, does yours look something like this? Can anyone else confirm or deny that this looks correct?

Thanx in advance.

Mike

I think you may have the same issue that I did. When my axles were ordered, they were ordered for the wrong centre section. I have a strange centre section with a billet half posi, and they were meant for another type of posi unit. I called Moser and spent about 45 mins on the phone with them before we realized that. In the end all I had to do was cut about 5/8" off the passenger side axle and they fit like a charm. Mine looked like your set up before I cut the one axle. I would suggest calling moser, tell them what kind of centre section and posi unit you have and they should be able to give you the right measurements. You may have to take a bunch of other measurements for them. Hope this helps.

[gardnerme]

Thanx, scherp. I have not actually selected the center section yet so it sounds like I will have a little play with the axles to make sure it all works. I appreciate your help.

[scherp69]

So I finally got to go to Killer Customs and pick up my Speed Tech subframe. It is awesome!!!! And it was $1000 cheaper than some of the other companies (every penny counts). I also picked up my new Unisteer rack and pinion kit, thanks to Dark Angel. Now if I can just get the deep tubs and quarter panels done...I can get the frame bolted up. Here's some pics.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00045.jpg

G-Mod built in
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00054.jpg

Built in adjustable trans crossmember
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00064.jpg

[scherp69]

Adjustable motor mounts
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00073-1.jpg

Billet shock mounts
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00083-1.jpg

Ready for some wider tires up front now
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00093-1.jpg

A feature I hope to never use, built in tow hooks
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00102-1.jpg

Sway bar mounts up front, not underneath where the frame can break (mine did)
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00112-1.jpg

[scherp69]

Unisteer rack and pinion kit
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00122-1.jpg

Polished pump
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00174.jpg

Braided lines
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00153.jpg

Now back to the shop to see if I can get the passenger side quarters done today.

[scherp69]

So I got the Speed Tech high clearance control arms and sway bar that go with the Speed Tech subframe. Now I have the entire Speed Tech subframe package, I just bought it in stages that's all. My plan now is to try and get the driver's side deep tub done and get the quarters on. Then I have to put the driver's side cowel panel on, finish welding up the new floor pans and I'll get to try out the rotisserie that I built.

Here's some pics of the Speed Tech high clearance control arms. These things are sick!!!

Upper Control arm with billet aluminum ball joint cover
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00055.jpg

Stainless Steel cross shafts
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00046.jpg

Lower control arm
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00065.jpg

Sway bar end links
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00094.jpg

[scherp69]

1.25" solid sway bar
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00144.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00134.jpg

[scherp69]

Well I've been able to make some pretty good progress of the past few days until the power switch on my air compressor blew. Wouldn't turn off at all. Thankfully I have a separate breaker in the shop for the compressor. Oh well..this way I'll be able to get a new on that regulates better for the plasma cutter.

Here's some pics of the passenger side that is mostly done. Still have some welding to finish up, but it's strong enough right now to be secure.

new quarter installed
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00352.jpg

Deep tub in
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00154.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00302.jpg

[scherp69]

Today I started on the driver's side. Going to replace the outer wheelhouse, put in deep tubs, replace the trunk drop off and obviously the quarter panel. Here's some before pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00312.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00342.jpg

The glue that didn't work :mad:
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00332.jpg

[scherp69]

And here's what I got done before the compressor kicked out on me:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00372.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00382.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00432.jpg

[scherp69]

Since I had some spare time after the compressor died, I thought I would look and see how much room I actually have to play with now that I have the deep tubs. The tires that I have in these pics are a 285-35-18. I'll have to trim the quarter/outer wheelhouse lip as it's pretty tight, but wow what a difference. If anyone ever wondered if it was worth it...here's proof.

Gap between tire and wheelhouse/quarter lip
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00442.jpg

Distance between wheel and inner wheelhouse now
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00482.jpg

This is a 2 1/2" piece of square tubing that fit between the tire and inner wheelhouse
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00532.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00512.jpg

[scherp69]

So now I am definately going to send my rims away and get them widened to 12". I need to find a tire though that will fit flush with the rim. Here's what I mean:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00602.jpg

Anyone have any ideas? Well I've locked the shop up and will be off to New York on Sunday for a much needed holiday. In the mean time...off to KMS Tools so I can get my compressor fixed :(

[street3285]

Looking good...... so you were able to clear a 12"?
We found the largest without having clearance issues was a 10" or 11" with a 305mm to 315mm tire. Did you move the frame rails in?

[scherp69]

It hasn't cleared yet...I'm assuming I will be able to though with the extra 2 1/2" clearance though. I haven't moved the rails, just notched them. I'm running a g-bar so that's given me some extra clearance. I guess I just got lucky.

[street3285]

I have the same setup on a 70 Nova (g-bar and DSE tubs), and were only able to get a 305/35/20 in there, on a 10" wheel. There is a lot of room to the inside, but with a 12" wheel, there wouldn't of been enough clearance for a driver without rubbing everywhere. We had test fitted a 295/45/18 and it cleared about the same.

I say if you can fit the 12" and a 335mm tire, go for it! Post pics, I would be interested to see how it fits.

[scherp69]

Thanks for the info. I'll definately keep that in mind before I go and send my rims away. I might be better off with an 11" rim then and maybe 315's. Will try and find some to test fit before I do anything though. Thanks again.

[street3285]

No problem, look forward to seeing the progress on the car. Jon @ Driverz Inc is great at finding what tires are available and what works best. Give him a shot.

[WILWAXU]

I say if you can fit the 12" and a 335mm tire, go for it! Post pics, I would be interested to see how it fits.What he said. An take allot of pictures :D

[waynieZ]

Any new pictures?

[scherp69]

I've got a little bit of an update and a few pics. My wife and I went to New York for a week so didn't get much time in the shop. I did get to spend one day last week in the shop. I hope to get out there again on Thursday and Friday.

The driver's side deep tub is going pretty good. I need to cut out the pieces to fill in the frame rail and gap between the trunk and frame rail. It was also good, I looked at some 315 wide tires online and found that on a 11" rim, they will measure 12.6" wide. I cut out a 12.6" wide piece of cardboard and put it in the wheel opening. Lots of room all around!!!! Think I know what size tires I'll be going to. Might even try a 325!!!

Some people have asked about notching the frame rails when installing the deep tubs. Here's some pics of what the frame rail looks like notched. The openings will be filled in with some 1/8" steel plates and the tubs get welded to those plates.

Marking for the frame notch
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00047.jpg

Frame notched
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00056.jpg

Frame notched from underneath
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00104.jpg

Areas to be filled in with 1/8" steel plates
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00135.jpg

Hopefully on Thursday and Friday I"ll get the frame filled back in and then will start on getting the tubs and quarter welded on. Wish I had more of an update but the little vacation got in the way :lol: And if my wife heard me say that, she'd kill me.

[scherp69]

Here's the frame filled in:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00562.jpg

[scherp69]

Made some progress on the car today. The driver's side outer wheel house and deep tub are in.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0063.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00612.jpg

It was easier just to cut the old bracket out so I just made new brackets where the wheel house supports the rear deck lid.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0065.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0067.jpg


I'm hoping to spend a couple hours in the shop tomorrow when my wife and daughter go to Kelowna, although I told her I would do some yard work also so we'll see. I should have the driver's side quarter panel on by the next update. Once the quarter panel is on, I will be replacing the driver's side cowel panel. I already have the old one off. It looked like someone had been in an accident as the old one was crushed in. I tried to straighten it the best I could.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0004.jpg

Once I get the cowel panel done, I will probably cut out the firewall and put a smooth one in. Right now I'm leaning towards the Mike's Custom Cars inserts. I was going to make them myself, but after looking at several different pics, I think I do like it with the factory seam reproduced. I find it beind completely smooth almost too much and the seam adds just enough. I'm going to replace the driver's side also and then hide the wiper motor under the driver's side fender. Here's a link to the firewall panels I'm looking at. $145 for both.

http://www.mikescustomcars.com/projects/projects.asp?proj=CatalogProTour&album=1&pic=10

http://www.mikescustomcars.com/projects/projects.asp?proj=CatalogProTour&album=1&pic=6

[scherp69]

Well I made the wife happy, I got up early enough to do some yard work and take a load of garbage to the dump...now the shop is nice and clean again :D
She took the daughter to Kelowna for a girls trip so that left me some time in the shop. I got the driver's side quarter on and am about half way done welding it on. The next chance I'll get to finish it will be next Monday. Here's a pic:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0072.jpg

I also put both rear tires on to see how it looks. It looks awesome with the 285's, but I can't wait to get the rims widened and get some 315's, it will look sick :devil: Here's the 285's:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0074.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0075.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0081.jpg

[Tom.A]

Nice job. You are doing some serious metal work :thumbsup:

[scherp69]

Nice job. You are doing some serious metal work :thumbsup:

Thanks Tom. I just hope I'm doing it all right. I think I'm doing pretty good for someone who's never done any of this before.

[scherp69]

Well today I only got to go into the shop for a couple hours so I thought I would work on the rotisserie to take a break from the car. I had already built most of it, but wanted to change some things and I finally got some good strong casters (capacity is 700lbs per caster). Once I get the rotisserie done, I'm going to put the Speed Tech subframe on it and do some cleaning up and then primer. Then I'm going to try a new product from Eastwood. It's a ceramic coat chassis coat. It has small pieces of ceramic in it and when it hardens, are you ready for this......................it's like a ceramic coat. I ordered some last week and hope to see it in the next couple days. Here's a link to it:

http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=1596&itemType=CONTENT&path=32&KickerID=425&KICKER

Once I get the subframe coated, I'll put the car shell onto it and I plan on putting two coats of POR15 and then a coat of Raptor bed liner on top of the POR15. Should stop the rust and help with sound.

Here's a few pics of the rotisserie in progress:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0082.jpg

The bars that will bolt up to the car

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0083.jpg

Bottle jacks (the same ones that I used to install the g-bar)

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0084.jpg

[waynieZ]

Looks like your getting her done! the car looks great . Nie job on the rotisserie

[scherp69]

Thanks WaynieZ.

Got a chance to spend a good portion of the day in the shop today. The driver's side cowel panel is on, I finished welding up the floors underneath and I started putting the new tranny tunnel in. I actually got to put my new TKO600 into the car, even if it was only for a few minutes while I cut the hole out in the tranny patch. Tomorrow I hope to finish the tranny tunnel, finish welding up the driver's side quarter panel and then I might even start smoothing the firewall. Hopefully by next week it will be on the rotisserie. Here's some pics from today:

New cowel panel is in

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00023.jpg

Putting the tranny in with motor mocked up

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00048.jpg

TKO600 in the car

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00075.jpg

New tranny tunnel

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00085.jpg

[scherp69]

I finished welding in the tranny tunnel today. I also took the stock subframe off for the last time. I was waiting until I have the tranny tunnel fit and the quarters in before I took it off. If anyone is looking for a stock subframe in really good shape, I have an extra one. I decided to start smoothing the firewall today also. Everytime I've seen pics of a smooth firewall, no one has posted an in between photo. They are always before and after. I have an in between photo to share for those who are debating about putting in a smooth firewall.

Tranny tunnel in

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00155.jpg

Smooth firewall insert

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00095.jpg

Firewall before

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00105.jpg

Firewall cut up

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00124.jpg

Smooth firewall in. It still needs to have some minor adjustments and to be welded in

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00136.jpg

[scherp69]

Here's a couple more pics from today. I'm going to weld in some plug welds to add some strength to the smooth firewall. I'm using 16 guage sheetmetal so I'm not as worried about it warping. I was also able to smooth out the infamous area where most cars with an HEI distrubutor get the hammer treatment. It's not perfect, but it's better. I'll probably spend a bit more time cleaning it up before I weld everything into place. Here's the pics:

Smooth firewall with plug weld holes and held in place with cleckos

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00165.jpg

Smoothing out the hammer beating, will be easier to clean up with filler now

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00185.jpg

The next area to be smoothed

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00176.jpg

[aany001]

holy smokes Mike your making some serious progress...keep the pics coming.I installed the control arms I got from you and lovin them!! I should have also bought your coil overs too :lol: Keep up the great work!!
Steve

[scherp69]

Thanks Steve. Glad to hear the control arms worked out for you. I was wondering how you made out.

I spent a couple hours between last night and this morning working on the firewall panel for the driver's side. It still needs a few adjustments before I weld it in. I'm going to put the wiper motor into the driver's side cowel panel so it's hidden under the fender. I'm just going to use the stock style as I really don't need to buy the DSE one. Here's some pics:

Firewall panel

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00195.jpg

Firewall before

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00176.jpg

Firewall cut up

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00206.jpg

Panel held in place with cleckos

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00216.jpg

Full smooth firewall, still needs to be welded in to place

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00223.jpg

[waynieZ]

Looks Good keep the updates coming

[scherp69]

Thanks Wayne.

Today I spent about 4 hours welding on the smooth firewall panels. It sure takes a long time when you're trying to be careful and not warp. Hopefully the next time I post some pics, it will be of the car on the rotisserie. Tommorow I plan on getting as close to lifting her in the air as I can.

Here's pics from today:

Smooth firewall all welded in. Welds still need to be ground down and cleaned up

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00282.jpg

It's a good thing I plan on replacing basically everything inside the car. I didn't get rid of all the insulation on the firewall and next thing I knew, there was a fire under the dash

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00303.jpg

[scherp69]

A few things have happened since my last update. Unfortunately I was in need of some money and I have been debating if the engine parts were the parts that I really wanted to use for my motor build, so I ended up selling all the engine stuff that I had. I still have the heads (AFR 210cc) though, which are for sale in the classified section. I've been looking at quite a few different options now. I was even looking at LS engines. The only thing about the LS engines...they're not shiny enough. I know I know....the shine doesnt make it go faster. That really doesn't matter when what ever motor I get it will be well over 500hp. I've also been looking at a Scott Shafiroff 434 crate engine that is 595hp. Right now I don't have the money to do the engine anyways, so I'm just throwing around ideas. Realistically I think I'll be ready for the engine by spring.

I did get some work done on the car (sort of). The way things were going I thought I'd never see the day when I would get it on the rotisserie, but here it is. I hope to get everything welded up tomorrow and hope to get a coat of POR15 on by Friday. Here's some pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00106.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00115.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00125.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00137.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00146.jpg

[scherp69]

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00156.jpg

[awr68]

Nice work! Talk about memories!! I was right there just over a year ago!!

[waynieZ]

Scherp69 Keep plugging at it, your making good progress. As far as the engine goes, I have a beautiful World 454 sb and I still drool over these LS engines make sure what you want before you pull the trigger. Nice work!

[scherp69]

Thanks guys. Thankfully I have a while before I actually need the engine, so I have lots of time to make up my mind.

I spent about 8 hours in the shop today. I was hoping to have it ready for under coating by tomorrow, but when I realized that's not going to happen, I figured I might as well call it a day. Only so much grinding and welding one can do in a day. I'm not trying to get a 10 point car or anything, I'm just trying to clean things up. I ended up getting the welding on the floor boards and tranny tunnel finished. The air bar is welded in place now also.

I did come across one issue. Both the driver's side and passenger side front eye mount brackets were welded to the body (some of you may have seen my thread about this) so I had to grind them off. Once I had them off though, the metal underneath wasn't that bad. I was debating about cutting a new piece and welding it in, but after cleaning up the metal some, I think I'm just going to fill the little holes in with the welder. Here's some pics:

Driver's side

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00242.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00272.jpg

Passenger side

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00217.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00224.jpg

[scherp69]

Driver's side removed

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00393.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00403.jpg

Passenger side removed

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00383.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00373.jpg

[scherp69]

I also decided to clean up the front where the new floor boards were welded in. I wanted it to look smooth and not see where the metal overlaps. I'm using Metal to Metal to fill it in. It's not done yet though.

Driver's side

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00343.jpg

Passenger side

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00353.jpg


The next picture, hopefully someone can help me. I'm going to have to fab up something to fill in this gap. If you've followed my build thread, you'll know that I replaced the quarter panels, trunk drop offs, outer wheels houses and put in deep tubs. I just noticed today that I have a big gap on both sides between the quarter panel and the trunk drop off. It's right below the deep tub. Is this common to have this gap when you replace everything??? Here's some pics:

This is with the car sideways on the rotisserie. It's the passenger side.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00443.jpg

[scherp69]

Well it's been a while since I posted an update. Unfortunately we've been having some family issues (15 year old step daughter!!! need I say more) so haven't had a whole lot of time in the shop.

As for the car, I've sold all the engine parts that I had so now the crate motor is more likely. I see GM is coming out with a LSX 454 soon. That's got me thinking!!!

I sent the arms for my air bar set up to Frank at Prodigy Customs/gpsuperstore.com to have them converted to adjustable ones. Hopefully will have them soon and will post pics. I also ordered a rear sway bar set up. I thought I better get it ordered as I need to drill holes through the rear brace on the M9 housing for the brackets. Once that is done, I can get the housing powder coated.

I got to spend some time in the shop today. I was able to get both gaps between the fender, trunk drop off and inner wells done. I also decided to used Metal to Metal filler and do more of the floor. I don't want a perfect car, I just don't want it that obvious that the floors have been replaced. Tomorrow I hope to sandblast the rest of the floor and finish up some grinding and clean up work. Maybe next week I'll be able to start putting on a coat of POR15. It will be so nice when I can put an update on that isn't about body work.

Here's some pics:

Piece of sheet metal used to fill in gap:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00613.jpg

Passenger side. I decided to weld it to the deep tub so it all blends together.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00632.jpg

Driver's side

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00652.jpg

Cleaning up the front floors and trans tunnel.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00662.jpg

[rlplive]

Incredible work, I will be watching this one.

[scherp69]

I was playing around the other day and thought I'd take some pics of the car upside down. I hope to never see the car like this again :D

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0086.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0085.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0087.jpg

[scherp69]

It feels like it took me forever to get to this point, but I actually started undercoating the car. I decided to go with two coats of POR15 first to stop any rust. I was going to use POR15's new bed liner until I saw the price. It's $255 US or if I get it in Canada it will cost me $350. I was hoping to use it to save a step, but I think I'll have to do that step anyways. With the POR product on top of POR15, you don't have to use a primer. Now I'll likely end up having to use their primer, then put another brand of bed liner to finish the undercoating. For those that wonder why I chose to use POR15, I wanted to use something that will stop any rust from coming back. The other nice thing is since I replaced the floor pans, POR15 helps hide my ugly welds as it's quite thick.

My next step is to get the bed liner done. Once that's done, I found a powder coating place in Kelowna that will do my subframe for $175. They will sandblast, prime and then powder coat. He'll do the rear end housing for about $75. I'm just waiting for a rear sway bar to be shipped to me and once I get that I can drill the holes in the back brace and get the brackets mounted, then off to powder coating.

Enough of that and onto the pictures.

I had to pull the car out of the shop to rinse of the POR degreaser and oxidizer.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0088.jpg

After it was cleaned with degreaser

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0091.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0092.jpg

Finally some progress!! This is after 2 coats of POR15. The white dots all over are because the lens on my camera was dirty.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0093.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0094.jpg

[scherp69]

Here's the tranny tunnel after using metal to metal to clean it up. Can't even tell there's new floor pans. It's not that grey in color. I tried not using the flash to get better detail and that's how it turned out.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0099.jpg

[scherp69]

I finally got around to getting the POR15 tie coat primer on today. They recommend it when you are putting a non POR product on top of the POR15. The annoying thing is, the stuff cures with heat and not moisture so I had to get my shop nice and toasty. Those that are in cold climates will appreciate what I'm talking about. I had to get my shop to a minimum 12 degrees celcius. With the help of two 240v construction heaters and two halogen work lights, it got quite warm in there. I even put a cheap thermometer in the shop to make sure. Next week I hope to get the undercoating on. I'm going to use U-Pol's Raptor bed liner. Once that's done, I hope to get the subframe done and mounted to the car so I can actually start putting parts on.

Construction heater #1

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00024.jpg

Construction heater #2

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00049.jpg

After a couple hours, it was at 18 degrees celcius, by the time I was done it had gone up to about 24. My wife is going to be so mad when we get the hydro bill :devil:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00058.jpg

I had to sand the entire underside before applying the primer

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00016.jpg

With the POR tie coat primer on it. The nice thing about the POR products is they can be applied with a brush.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00076.jpg

[Speedjunkie]

Looks real good, I painted my front clip on my camaro with rust Bullet, basically same as POR 15. Came out pretty nice. hard as nails.

[scherp69]

I finished up the undercoating today. I ended up using Hippo bed liner instead of Rhino. It's a two part urethane caoting so it should be pretty good. I know some guys will say to stay away from do it yourself liners, but the paint guy at the shop I bought it from (which I go to a lot) swore by it. He said their store alone sold over 120 kits last year and he didn't have a single complaint about it. The only time he's ever seen an issue with the stuff is when the surface area wasn't prepped properly. The other nice thing was that it usually sells for about $105 a case and you need 2 cases to finish the whole underside. They were having a trade show and I ended up getting them for about 1/2 price. Now hopefully I had it prepped right.

I was going to roll the liner on, but I figured for $25 bucks for a gun, I couldn't go wrong in spraying it. So far I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

Next week I'm going to start prepping the subframe so I can get it painted and bolt it back on (finally and hopefully for the last time). I was going to use the Eastwood ceramic paint, then I decided I was going to have it powder coated. Well what a shock, I've changed my mind again. When I went to put the POR15 on the underside of the car, I opened the can I had and found it was hard as a rock so I ended up buying another gallon of it. I barely used 1/2 the gallon to put 2 coats on the underside so I have over 1/2 gallon left. I liked the way the stock subframe turned out with the POR15 so I'm going to do the new subframe the same way. I'll put 2 coats of POR15 and then a coat of the POR chassis coat to help with UV rays.

Car masked off

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00096.jpg

Liner is on

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00107.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00138.jpg

Close up of the texture

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00126.jpg

[waynieZ]

It looks like it came out nice. You should never have a problem under there.
Wayne

[fesler]

Project is making some nice progress, not sure how you are working in that temp but nice work. Keep the pictures coming

[Ummgawa]

Very Impressive work. Thanks for all the pix and keep em coming.:thumbsup:

[scherp69]

Thanks for the comments guys. That's what keeps me motivated to keep going.

Project is making some nice progress, not sure how you are working in that temp but nice work. Keep the pictures coming

Thanks Chris. Well seeing as us Canadians live in igloos and drive snowmobiles everywhere, it's quite easy. That wasn't even that cold. For a couple weeks around Xmas it was down to about -28 degrees Celsius...I didn't go near the shop then. Today it was +1 so I was in the shop.


Here's an update: I finally got my rear sway bar package and converted arms for my air bar set up. The arms have been converted by Frank at www.gpsuperstore.com so they are adjustable now. These are what come with his prodigy bar rear suspension set up. The rear sway bar is a Hellwig package. I was able to get the rear suspension mocked up again today. Hopefully that's the last time for a mock up. It was definitely a lot easier to put together with the adjustable arms. I'm going to get the rear sway bar mounted over the next couple days so I can take a bunch of stuff, including the subframe and rear end housing, to get powder coated. Hope to have everything back mid next week after I get back from Las Vegas. Here's some pics:

Arms have been converted so now they are adjustable

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00483.jpg

Close up of the short arms

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00492.jpg

Rear sway bar package

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00502.jpg

Rear suspension mocked up with converted arms

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00513.jpg

[tones2SS]

Keep up the great work.
You're making great progress, in the cold, none-the-less!!!:thumbsup:

[scherp69]

Keep up the great work.
You're making great progress, in the cold, none-the-less!!!:thumbsup:

Thanks. Hasn't been that cold lately, today it was 0 degrees celcius.

Today I got the rear sway bar mocked up. Because of the back brace on the rear housing, I wasn't able to use the U-bolts. If I hadn't sold my plasma cutter, I'm sure I could have got the U-bolts to work. Instead I thought I would just weld the brackets to the housing. I also did a bit of clean up work on the subframe and got it ready for powder coating. Tomorrow morning I plan on heading to Summerland to Sunview coating and get the subframe and rear housing coated. I hope to head back down next week when I'm back from Las Vegas and pick everything up. Will post pics when I get everything.

Here's some pics of what I did today:

Rear sway bar mocked up. I still have to adjust it to make it level.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00563.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0058-1.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00594.jpg

Brackets welded onto housing

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00605.jpg

[scherp69]

Subframe ready for powder coating

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00712.jpg

Motor mounts, trans cross member and c-clips also getting powder coated

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00722.jpg

[scherp69]

I picked up the subframe and rear end housing from the powder coaters today. It cost me more than they originally quoted me a few months ago, but it included sandblasting, priming and coating so I guess I can't complain. It ended up costing me $480 to get the subframe, rear end housing, motor mounts, trans cross member and c-clips done. I love the way it turned out with one exception, which is my fault. This is the first time I've had anything powder coated and I got so used to how thick POR15 is. POR15 fills in a lot of blemishes and small dents and such. There are a couple small areas where I assumed the powder coating would have filled in, but it wasn't as thick as I thought it was. I wish I would have spent a little more time doing body work on the frame so I wouldn't have the few little spots. But on the other hand, if anyone sees the spots that I'm referring to, I better be at the car too cause they're way too close. Anyways, here's some pics. Hope to start putting some of it back on Friday.

Rear end housing

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0073.jpg

Close up

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00742.jpg

Subframe

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00772.jpg

Motor mounts, trans cross member and c-clips

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00752.jpg

[Blake Foster]

looks awesome!
you going to have it done in time to bring it to our car show at the begining of June????:unibrow:

[scherp69]

Thanks Blake. The beginning of June....2011?? Oh wait, you meant this year. No unfortunately won't be ready. I need to start picking up all the overtime I can to get the LSX454 budget higher. I'm just happy to be putting parts back on that will stay on.

[HRBS]

wow.. I just found this thread now.
Great project and great work !
That looks like its gonna be a killer on the street.

[scherp69]

I think I sold my Foose wheels and Falken tires to a guy I work with. Now that I have so much more room with the deep tubs, I want go with 315's. My buddy doesn't want his wife to know about buying the rims, so he's asked to pay in installments. Hopefully he doesn't take too long to pay. Here's the rims I think I'm going to replace them with. I'm looking at 17x11 in the back with 315's and 17x8 in the front with 255's.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/billetspecialties_fastlane.jpg

I got some new leaf spring perches as the old ones were welded to the car and were ugly when I took them off

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00025.jpg

I got to spend some time in the shop today. Some of you may find this update boring as it's going to look very similar to some other pics, but it's exciting for me as I finally got the car completely off the rotisserie and got the rear housing and rear suspension put in for the last time. I just need to get the rear sway bar, axles, centre section and brakes in and the rear end is all done. Here's some pics of today's accomplishments.

Car finally completely off the rotisserie

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0005.jpg

Spring perches painted

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0004-1.jpg

[scherp69]

Rear end housing and suspension

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0007-1.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0009-1.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0011-1.jpg

[street3285]

Looks really good..... this is motivation to get working again on my project Nova.

[scherp69]

I was able to get the center section of the rear end in today. The one I'm using is a Strange pro nodular case with 3.70 gears. It has a half billet posi unit and I've upgraded to the black aluminum (nodular) pinion support with a 1350 yoke. I know I've gone overkill with this, but better not to have any weak links. I got the Moroso race anodized blue ujoint caps to go along with it.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00344.jpg

I also got the rear brakes and axles in. I sure like how easy Wilwood makes it to change the brake pads. Pull out a cotter pin and the pads come out. The brakes have a drum brake parking brake. Once I figured out how to install the safety wire with the safety wire pliers, it all went together quite nicely. Tomorrow I hope to get the rear sway bar back in and I'll do some more grinding on the firewall so I can get the subframe back on.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00364.jpg

[Blake Foster]

keep up the good work and the progress, what is your expected finish date??

[clinkster]

love this thread. keep up the great work and l look forward to all the progress.:D

[scherp69]

Thanks guys. I appreciate it. Not really sure when I plan on having it done Blake. I guess it all depends on how much overtime I get in the next while. We're so short at work that I can get a shift every week so far so hopefully will have the money for LS soon. Realistically with everything I want to do to it, probably another 2 years for everything including paint, interior, etc. Once the weather stays nice, I'll be able to spend more time in the shop. I was hoping to spend a few hours out there today, but with -12 degree weather, I don't want to have to crank up the 240 heater everytime I go out.

[scherp69]

Today I finally go the rear sway bar in for good. It looks awesome back there now. I can't wait to get some 315's in there. After I got the sway bar in, I spent about 3 hours grinding, welding, grinding, welding, grinding, etc, the firewall. Once I get all the welds ground down I going to put some metal to metal filler and get it looking all nice. Here's some pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00293.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00304.jpg

[waynieZ]

That rear looks sweet in there. The firewall's coming along too, looks good.

[scherp69]

Thanks Wayne.

I haven't had a lot of time since the last update to work on the car, but got a little bit done. I've been spending most of the time I have had on the firewall. I went to install my new Flaming River steering column with the installation kit that I bought from them, but....it's doesn't even come close to fitting. So I sent them an email with a bunch of pictures explaining the issue and they told me I needed a another part, so I ordered it directly from them as no one in Canada has the part and it would have taken them about 6 weeks to get it. The new part cost me $40US and $30US shipping, so about $90 CDN. When I finally got the part, I was charged another $40 for brokerage fees. So now I'm at $130 for the new bracket and $200 for the installation kit. I go an try the new bracket...guess what...it's doesn't even come close to fitting either. So now I've spent $330 on parts that don't even fit. In the end, I ended up using a $10 piece of exhaust tube, had it welded onto the steering column. I need to get one more piece exhaust tube and wrap it around the other piece that was welded on and it will fit in my car just like stock. Glad I spent the other money, but enough venting. Today I cut out the area on the firewall where the steering column goes and put in a piece of sheet metal to get rid of the big ugly stock hole. I have probably a couple more hours of grinding and cleaning up on the firewall, then I'm going to put some metal to metal filler on to make it look better and spray some primer. Then I need to decide if I'm going to paint the firewall black or the same color as the car (which I haven't 100% decided on yet). Here's some pics.

Where the steering column fits

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/wherecolumngoes.jpg

Bracket that came in the installation kit that doesn't come close to fitting, oh well now I have a nice piece of billet aluminum to do something with

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/flamingriverbracket.jpg

Bracket that I needed off stock steering column. I had to drill out all the plug welds to get it off. With the 69 and up is nice cause they bolt on.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/stocksteeringcolumnwithbracket.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/stockbracketoffcolumn.jpg

Bracket I got from Flaming River that doesn't work with a 68

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00404.jpg

Bracket I made to be welded onto the new column. I'm going to weld one more of these on top of the one already there and it will fit in the stock bracket nicely

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00412.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00423.jpg

On the column (it's a polished stainless steel column, I just have electrical tape on it to protect it)

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00444.jpg

Area of the firewall I wanted smoothed

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00206.jpg

Out with the old

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00464.jpg

And in with the new

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00453.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00473.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00514.jpg

[98ssnova]

Cool glad you came up with a fix. To bad you had to spend all that money.

[scherp69]

Cool glad you came up with a fix. To bad you had to spend all that money.

Yeah but the nice thing was I sent a long email to Flaming River and they ended up putting a credit on my credit card for the new bracket and the shipping. Very impressed. And they said they are going to change their catalog so no one else ends up in the same boat I did.

Well time for another update. Not a whole lot done, but it's getting there. The other day I was feeling a little destructive so I ripped out the rest of the dash. It really ticked me off, once I had the gauge cluster out, I put it on top of a cabinet for safe keeping. When I went into the shop this morning, everything that was on top of the cabinet was lying on the floor, including the gauge cluster. Unfortunately it has 3 big cracks in it and the radio area broke right off. As most of you know, the 68 gauge cluster is rare as it is one year only. I was thinking about getting a Covan's, I guess I'm committed to that now. Here's some pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00615.jpg

Wiring harness out

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00664.jpg

If you've read the rest of my thread, you'll know that I had a little fire when I was welding the firewall. Here's the inside of the dash where the fire was

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00683.jpg

What ended up on fire....my defrost ducting. Guess I need to find a new one of those now too

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00625.jpg

As I was taking the dash apart, I found this. Add this to the list of strange things found in a car

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00743.jpg

I did some more work on the firewall and since I used sheet metal that I had laying around, it had some surface rust on it. I found some of these 3M pads that fit into a die grinder backing plate and they work great for taking off surface rust, paint and even POR15. They are not cheap, but well worth the money.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00554.jpg

Here's how the firewall's looking. I'm getting almost to the point of putting primer on it, but then I got thinking. I want to put in a Vintage Air kit and I don't want to weld studs on the back of my firewall and ruin the primer/paint so will be ordering a kit from Frank at www.gpsuperstore.com and get it mocked up before I spray any primer. I've also decided to paint the firewall the same color as the car. I think I've decided on Viper Red for the car. It still needs work, but here's where I'm at:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00703.jpg

Area around steering column

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00732.jpg

[Kendall Burleson]

killer project looking good:hail: :hail:

[98ssnova]

Cool I'm glad they credited your account and viper red should look good.

[waynieZ]

The firewall looks great nice job.

[scherp69]

So I ordered a Vintage Air Gen IV from Frank. He said it shouldn't take too long to get to me, but after hearing a lot of the horror stories about how long guys are waiting, I thought I'd put my Speed Tech subframe on and start working with the gaps. I hope to get the brakes on later this week or next. Here's some pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00017.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00038.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00059.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT000410.jpg

[1badchevelle]

This is one nice build I have been checking this out form the begining:thumbsup:

[70rs]

Very nice project. I just read the whole thread today. Nice work! Can't wait to see more progress.

[scherp69]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the comments. Here's some more progress.

I finally got going on the front brakes. Not without issue though. I started putting them on last week when I found that Wilwood sent me too many of the bolts that attach the hub to the rotor and none of the bolts to attach the rotor to the adapter plate. I called them and after spending a few minutes convincing him that I knew what I was talking about, he agreed to send me the bolts. They were to me in Canada in about 4 days. Very impressed. So now that I had the bolts I was able to start attaching every thing. When I got to putting the entire hub assembly on I realized that when I bought new spindles, I never bothered to get new spindle nuts. Thankfully I called one of the local GM places and they were able to over night it. I went and got the nuts this morning and was able to get the passenger side finished. Here's some pics.

Rotor with adapter plate on and showing the safety wire. At this point I still needed to run safety wire around the bolts holding the hub on.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/backofrotor.jpg

The aluminum hub. Very nice piece of work.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/hub.jpg

The brakes are on :D

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/brakes.jpg

Close up

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/brakescloseup.jpg

I know some of you are wondering about the black coating. Apparently it will wear off with braking. I've been tracking my Vintage Air Gen IV kit and it should be to me by Monday or Tuesday. Next week I'll likely start mocking that up.

[scherp69]

Today was a good day. I got a knock at the door and my stuff from Vintage Air showed up. Thanks again Frank. It's a Vintage Air Gen IV Magnum universal kit. I didn't order a A/C pump yet as I haven't decided what serpentine kit I'm going with. I also didn't order any of the vents. I'm going to put a custom centre console into the car and am leaning towards putting an air vent on either side of the console. This kit came with all the mounting brackets, new defrost ductwork (thankfully as my other one was melted) and all the wiring. I also ordered one of the streamline 3 knob panel controls. I'm going to put it into the custom console so all my controls are central. I'm also going to end up getting one of the Prodigy Custom LS aluminum radiators that has an attached condenser. Here's some pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00077.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00086.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00097.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00108.jpg

[frojoe]

Wow this is a great build!!

I have a '72 Nova down here in Vancouver that's also getting the pro-touring thing, just not quite as nicely as yours! I just ordered the Speedtech control arms, coilovers, and the Wilwood brakes that you have, and your thread is a great inspiration!!!

I'll definitely have to keep watching your progress, great job.

-Joe

[scherp69]

Thanks frojoe. Always nice to see another member from BC on here.

So today I got the front sway bar mounted. My buddy confirmed and even gave me part of the money, that he's going buying my Foose Nitrous wheels and Falken tires. Now to figure out which new wheels and tires to go with. Still leaning towards Billet Specialties Fast Lanes, 10" in the back and 8" in the front with 315's back and 245 or 255 in front.

Next Friday or the following Monday I'll be going across the line to pick up some new exciting parts :cheering: Will post pics of the parts as soon as I can.

Before my buddy comes and picks up the wheels/tires, I thought I would mount them on my car to see how it's going to sit. This is the first time my car has been outside in over 7 years. Here's some pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00166.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00157.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00218.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00207.jpg

[street3285]

Project is looking good! Definitely gives me some motivation to get back to work on my own.

What are your plans for the drivetrain?

[scherp69]

Thanks. That's part of what's coming next week. I'll update when I get it :D

[scherp69]

So I know many people decide to name their projects, well I've finally come up with a name for mine which I feel is appropriate. My build will now be known as project 'Overtime'. The reason I chose this name is in order for me to get this thing done sometime in the next decade, I'm going to have to work a bunch of overtime shifts. I already have 5 ten hours shifts planned for the next month, so it's a good start.

After much debate on what I was going to run for a motor...I finally made a decision. I am officially part of the LS group. I ended up going with one of the L92's that Frank at www.gpsuperstore.com had. For those of you that don't know what the L92 is, here's what Pace Performance has about it:

Standard equipment on the 2008 Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon Denali, the L92 has brought Corvette technology into the truck market. The L92 engine brings you the same 403HP @5700 RPM effort from a 6.2L Vortec V-8 small block that borrows from all of the features that have made our LS family of engines world renowned for thier efficiency, design and performance. Now the L92 is available to you as a crate engine from GM Performance Parts. The 6.2L L92 engine features an all aluminum design: deep skirt 6 bolt main LS block, variarble valve timing, coil on plug design, high-flow L92 heads designed with influences from the LS7 Corvette head, true 4-into-1 exhaust manifolds, hig volume intake plenum, beehive valve springs, cast aluminum rockers on needle bearings, and a large volume throttle body.

Here's also a good thread about it on www.ls1tech.com http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/generation-iv-internal-engine/499059-ls3-l92-info.html

This engine is 403hp and 417tq stock. The displacement is 378cu in. It is basically a truck version of the LS3. If I was to take out the VVT cam and put in a LS3 cam, they would be almost the same (from what I understand).

Here are my plans for the motor:
- Get rid of the truck intake and put on a car intake, either the corvette one or the new FAST 102mm intake
- Cam, springs, water pump and 3 bolt timing gear upgrade. Will likely go with a comp cam: 231 / 239 at .050, and 616 / 623 lift
- Vintage Air Frontrunner or Billet Specialties serpentine kit
- I plan on keeping the VVT technology. Right now Mast Motorsports is the only one that is producing an aftermarket computer to run this set up. I will likely go this route unless by the time I need it, there are more on the market
- Speed Tech/Stainless Works polished stainless long tube headers http://www.speedtech-performance.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=183/category_id=230/home_id=230/mode=prod/prd183.htm
- Autokraft oil pan and motor mounts
- polished valve covers with some type of coil relocation set up

With the cam upgrade, I've been told I should be at around 525hp. I'm hoping with the intake and headers upgrade, I will be closer to 550hp when I'm all done.

Anyways, enough yapping and onto the pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00234.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00252.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00243.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00313.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00262.jpg

I already bought the Autokraft oil pan and motor mounts. For some reason though the motor mounts were in the package. Need to make a phone call this morning. Amazing work though on this oil pan.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00335.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00347.jpg

And I also decided to get new Goodmark door hinges for both sides. I didn't like the Classic Industries ones. These ones look more like the original ones I took off so am much happier with them.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00355.jpg

[scherp69]

Well definitely not as exciting as the last update, but I did get some work today. I had to take the subframe off again so I could get the firewall done and painted. Once that's done, the subframe will be back on for good.

Now that I have the motor and I know that I will be using a drive by wire throttle, I decided to smooth out the throttle cable hole and the throttle pedal mounts.

Two areas to smooth

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00424.jpg

Throttle hole smoothed

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00434.jpg

I posted this in the Body section also, but since this is my thread, I thought I'd post it here also. I know there are lots of great fabricators and body guys on this site, none of which would ever need any advice from a guy like me, but I thought I would share a tip a discovered today,all because I was lazy the other day.

This is for anyone who had a hole in a panel that they needed to fill in with more sheet metal. I'm sure a lot of us have sat there cutting and testing, cutting and testing until finally the filler piece is the right size. Sometimes it may take several attempts, but eventually we make it. Today I was doing some more work on smoothing my firewall now that I now I will be using a drive by wire throttle. I cut out the area I wanted to smooth and started looking at the hole I had to fill trying to figure out the best way to make a template. I happened to look over on the floor and saw a roll of masking tape that I was too lazy to pick up the other day and it gave me this idea.

I thought of taking pics after I had the tape on, but you'll get the point.

The area I wanted to fill in was the pedal holes to the left of the steering column hole.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00424.jpg

Once you have the hole cut, cover the entire hole with masking tape.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00445.jpg

I used an exacto knife to cut along the sides of the hole

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00454.jpg

I then stuck the newly cut piece of tape to some sheet metal giving me my template

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00465.jpg

If you cut it along the side of the tape, it will be the about the same size of the hole. Since I wanted to butt weld it, I cut a little smaller than the tape

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00474.jpg

Take the tape off and you have your patch

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00484.jpg

Tack it into place. The nice thing about trimming a bit smaller than the tape was it left me nice gap to fill in with weld

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00493.jpg

Finish your welding

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00503.jpg

And finally after some clean up

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00515.jpg

I'm also going to smooth out the two mounting holes for the emergency brake. I'm going to fab something up to mount the new Lokar unit when I get it. I had smoothed it out, but forgot to take my camera back to the shop with me so will post pics later.

These will be filled in

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00523.jpg

[70rs]

Nice project. I like the new power plant too.
Thanks for posting the tip on patching holes. I am a total rookie with the body work and could always use this kind of info. This one of the reasons I like this site so much. Everyone sharing ideas and experiences.
Keep the updates and pics coming.:thumbsup:

[JohnKellum]

I just sat here and read this whole thread.... What an inspiration!

[waynieZ]

Hi Mike how's the car going. Post up some pictures when you get them. I live Vicariously through other peoples progress. lol I hope all is well. Wayne

[scherp69]

Thanks for the comments guys. I know how you feel Wayne. I too live vicariously through others....especially when I see cars on the street. Unfortunately no updates right now. A few weeks ago I decided I was going to extend our 3' x 5' porch to about 8' by 3'. Then I got the Home Depot flyer and saw some new railing I like, next thing I know I was planning a 400 square foot deck. So the past couple weeks I've been doing that. Even my wife was surprised when I spent a week while she was away on a course working on the deck and not in the shop working on my car. I think I'm getting domesticated :rolleyes: Here's a couple pics of the deck transformation:

Before:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0023-3.jpg

After:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00282-1.jpg

[1badchevelle]

nice view.

Hope you coated your wood before installing it as it looks plain.

[waynieZ]

Nice job on the deck. Where were you when my front porch got fixed last week. lol After a tuff day on the car you can chill out there.
Oh another thing the good will you get from the wife for building that will go a long way....

[scherp69]

Nothing major to update. The past couple months I've been pretty busy with other things. We spent 5 days in Vegas, I built a deck in the back yard (as I already mentioned) and with all the forest fires in the area I've been working a bunch of overtime shifts making sure no one is looting in the evacuated areas. I've spent a bit of time on the car. I'm hoping next week to get the firewall primed and then to figure out the paint. I also bought a few new parts. Here's some pics:

When I was stripping the windshield channel, I found some rust

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00348.jpg

Out with the rust

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00356.jpg

In with the new

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00435.jpg

Other than that, I've just been getting the firewall ready for primer and paint. But did get new stuff

Autokraft motor mounts

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00485.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00494.jpg

Lakewood LS scattershield

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00524.jpg

Keisler hydraulic actuator kit. I went with this kit as I don't have to modify the firewall to mount the master

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00504.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0107.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00516.jpg

And finally some of you may saw that I ordered new wheels. I decided to go with New Gen Splitters wth the brushed centres and polished lips. I'll be running 18 x 10 with a 5.5" backspace on the back with Nitto 555R 305-35-18's. On the front I'll be running 18 x 8 with a 4.75" backspace with Nitto 555 245-40-18's. I was hoping to run 315's in the back but with and 18" wheel it just wouldn't fit. I could have ran 315-17's, but wanted to stay with the 18's. Here's a pic on Jon's (from Driverz Inc) Nova.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/Splitters.jpg

[waynieZ]

Nice choice on the wheels I like them. It looks like the parts are coming together.. Wayne

[scherp69]

Thanks Wayne. Yeah I hope I end up being happy with the wheels. I'm bad for changing my mind all the time. I think I'll like them.

So I finally got some primer on the firewall. I did it in black to see how my body work would look and was told it would make a good base under red. Guess I need to do a bit more on it before I lay the paint. Thankfully I'm not painting the car black and the red paint should hide some of the blemishes. I also need to fix the orange peel look to it. Anyone have any suggestions. To be honest I'm a complete idiot when it comes to body work, especially using the spray guns so any advice would be great. I'm using these guns from DiVilbiss: http://www.eastwood.com/paint-equipment/paint-guns/devilbiss-auto-paint-and-priming-system.html

Here's a pic:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0108.jpg

[70rs]

In regard to using the spray guns, I have ZERO experience with automotive finishes. But 20 plus years of cabinetry type finishes. In my experience it all comes down to fan pattern and flow rate. Both of those require practice. If you have anything to practice on try changing the spread of the "fan" and you flow rate (make sure your line and gun pressures are set accourding to your material needs) and your movement speed.
I am sure someone else here can chime in with line and gun pressures for your materials. Prctice and consistency are key. Keep at it and good luck.:thumbsup:

[scherp69]

Thanks for the advice 70rs. Well a quick update..so after speaking to a body shop owner, I'll be stripping the primer off the firewall and will starting over. I found out that the primer I used is not the best for what I'm hoping to accomplish. The parts guy sold me PPG DP primer/sealer. Apparently not the best to do block sanding and not designed to be laid on heavy at all. So with this in mind, I'll be heading back to the store and getting some Nexa high build epoxy primer and laying that down next week. Then I'll do some block sanding to get it looking nice.

[Blake Foster]

have someone how is good lay the paint on!!! bring it down when it is all ready and we can just mask and spray it.
nothing worse than trying to sand out orange peal or runs and then polishing it

[scherp69]

have someone how is good lay the paint on!!! bring it down when it is all ready and we can just mask and spray it.
nothing worse than trying to sand out orange peal or runs and then polishing it

Hey Blake. My plans are to have the rest of the car done professionally. I'm going to take a shot at spraying the firewall and door jams. I figure if there are any issues, they'll be harder to see. I painted a truck before with a metallic base clear and it turned out pretty good, I'm just going to take more time doing this one. When I get closer to doing the rest of the car, I'll keep you guys in mind.

Another quick update, I'm not going to use the Nexa primer...I just ended up ordering BASF's high build epoxy primer. I got a gallon of grey and a quart of black to tint the grey. Will be nice, can spray it on and block sand it. Less spraying and doing the same job. It's not cheap, but it's a good product. If anyone wants parts numbers, they are EP569 for grey, EP769 for black and PA897 for the activator. Will hope to spray the firewall again next Wednesday and will let it sit for a while.

[MarkM66]

Nice build.

I was glad to read you are not going to run those Foose Wheels.

[LowchevyII]

Nice build.

I was glad to read you are not going to run those Foose Wheels.

x2. Nothing against foose, but those wheels are so overused. i see them on everything and have become a bit jaded with them. Then ones on there now are sweet. sick lookin build up. cant wait to see it finished.

[scherp69]

Thanks guys. I agree with you on the Foose wheels. I'm glad I changed my mind. The other night my wife and I went out for dinner and saw a mid 70's corvette with them on. I turned to my wife and said "see that's why I got rid of those wheels". :D

So I got the firewall stripped again and sprayed it with BASF's high build epoxy primer. When I was stripping it, I decided to get rid of some of the mud that I had put on there and glad I did. I think it looks way better now. I guess it also helps that I got some help with the settings on the gun. Makes a big difference. I'm going to let it sit for a week or so and get to the blocking.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0116.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0117.jpg

[scherp69]

This isn't a very exciting update, but it's an update. Here's after about 4 or 5 hours sanding and applying filler. Again if anyone is wondering, I'm using Evercoat's Rage Extreme body filler. I know some people are probably wondering why I'm spending so much time on the firewall. Couple reasons: it's good practice, I've already spend so much time on the car a few extra days on the firewall won't hurt and in the end...it will look sweet.

Onto the pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0193.jpg

And after a few more coats of primer....definitely is looking good

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0197.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0199.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0200.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0202.jpg

Now I need to choose a shade of red for the car. I know I want something that is a deep red but I keep finding ones that end up too maroon looking at night. I might end up going back to the cherry red that I had on it originally. I might throw in some metallic to make it different.

[waynieZ]

It looks real good to me Mike. Did you ever get the Throw out bearing situation figured out ?

[scherp69]

Thanks Wayne. I did get the throwout bearing thing figured out. According to Keisler, there should be no issue using it with the Monster clutches. I ended up ordering a Monster level 3.5. It's good to 700 hp and is still supposed to have very good daily driving qualities. They say their clutches are about 8% stiffer than stock so not bad at all, plus they offer a 12 month, 12000m warranty. I've heard all good things about their clutches so will give it a shot. I thought about the LS7 clutch, but I'm right on the border for it's limits so this way if I do any upgrades to the engine, I'll be fine.

[scherp69]

Well I finally got the firewall painted. Overall I'm happy with the way it turned out considering I did it in my garage. There are a few dust specs and a couple places where a dark spot of red came out, but it is only the firewall and when the motor and everything is in there, it will be barely noticeable. Unfortunately I ended up with a few runs at some of the holes in the firewall. I didn't mask them from the inside and ended up with runs. Not sure if I'm going to bother fixing them or not as the fenders will cover them up and will never be seen by the public's eye.

Next week I hope to put the subframe back on and roll the car outside to get some pics of it in the sun.

Here's some pics:

My home made spray booth. I always had 2 litre bottles near by so I could keep the floor wet.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00072-2.jpg

The HOK universal black base coat (BC25 with RU310 reducer) is on.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00082-1.jpg

And finally the HOK apple red (KBC11 with RU310 reducer) with 3 coats of HOK clear (UC35 with RU310 reducer and KU100 catalyst). The lens on my camera was a bit dirty.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00116.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00147.jpg

[LSXZ28]

That looks sweet Mike! Like that red you picked :thumbsup:

[70rs]

That is a really good choice in color! Looks great!:thumbsup:

[waynieZ]

Awesome colour!

[DFRESH]

Mike, great choice on the Splitter Wheels. I've seen them in person on Jon's car and they are amazing--they are sure to set you car apart. They are by far and away a much better choice than the Foose wheels. Your car will look the way it should with them.

Car looks amazing and I really dig the detail stuff on the Speetech Sub that you've highlighted.

Doug

[Blake Foster]

cool a little wet sand and you can install that sub frame!!!:thumbsup:

[OnEdge]

Love the color. I have learned so much from reading your thread about what to do for my 72 Nova. Looking forward to seeing your car with the subframe back on. Keep up the great work.

[scherp69]

That looks sweet Mike! Like that red you picked :thumbsup:

That is a really good choice in color! Looks great!:thumbsup:

Awesome colour!

Thanks guys. I'm really happy with the way the color turned out. I can't wait to see it in the sun.

Mike, great choice on the Splitter Wheels. I've seen them in person on Jon's car and they are amazing--they are sure to set you car apart. They are by far and away a much better choice than the Foose wheels. Your car will look the way it should with them.

Car looks amazing and I really dig the detail stuff on the Speetech Sub that you've highlighted.

Doug

Thanks Doug. I like hearing that about the Splitters. It's always hard picking wheels that you've never seen in person. Just got a call from Jon yesterday and the wheels will ship out today. I'm glad I decided to get rid of the Foose wheels too. I was never really happy with them from day one.

cool a little wet sand and you can install that sub frame!!!:thumbsup:

Thanks Blake. Hopefully on Monday or Tuesday I will get the wet sanding and polishing done. Then to put the subframe back on. I'm hoping to pick up the new wheels the following Monday or Tuesday so will stop by the shop to see you guys and get the new springs and will pick up a steering linkage kit while I'm there.

Love the color. I have learned so much from reading your thread about what to do for my 72 Nova. Looking forward to seeing your car with the subframe back on. Keep up the great work.

Thanks. I really appreciate the comments. Glad I've been able to give you some ideas. That's the nice thing about this site, I get ideas from other builds and ideas are created from my build and so on.......

[scherp69]

I got the firewall wet sanded and polished today. Tomorrow I'll put the subframe back on for good!!! :D Next week.....new parts!!!

Here's some pics:

After wetsanding

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00208.jpg

After buffing

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00244.jpg

And of course the reflection shots

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00235.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00253.jpg

[waynieZ]

Looking Good.

[scherp69]

Thanks Wayne.

I got the subframe back on. This time for good!!!! I also decided to polish the firewall again with swirl remover/polish. Hard to tell in the pics, but it did make a difference. You may notice that one of the front shocks are missing. That's because the ones I had in there were for a small block and now that I'm going with the LS conversion, I need some lighter ones. I'm also going a bit shorter as there was no room for adjustment on these ones.

Onto the pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00315.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00324.jpg

You can see where I was practicing before I painted :D

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00357.jpg

[montessaj]

Beautiful. I love this car. I'm glad you are getting rid of the Foose wheels.

Andy:hail:

[scherp69]

Beautiful. I love this car. I'm glad you are getting rid of the Foose wheels.

Andy:hail:

Thanks. I'm glad I decided to get rid of the Foose wheels too.

[scherp69]

WOOHOO new parts!!!!!!!! :D

Speed Tech steering shaft kit for the rack and pinion. It will be used with the headers that Stainless Works and them built for their subframe.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00325.jpg

Since I sold the hyrdaboost, I decided to go with an 8" dual diaphragm booster, polished stainless of course

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00226.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00245.jpg

When it came to choosing a clutch, I know a lot of guys recommended going with the LS7 one. From what I understood, it was rated to 500hp at the wheels. I hope to be around 560 - 570 at the engine so would be close. I finally decided to go with a Monster level 3.5 clutch. Monster is fairly new but have nothing but good reviews over at www.ls1tech.com And they offer a one year, 12000 mile warranty. They guarantee it will find the weak links in your drive train. The level 3.5 is rated at 700hp at the wheels, but is designed for daily driving.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00087.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00092-2.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00109.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00117.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00158.jpg

I know I could have gone with a stock LS3 intake, but this one was so tempting. Especially because where I bought it from had it listed on their website for $100 cheaper than it was supposed to be going for and they gave it to me for that price. I plan on getting a Nick Williams 102mm drive by wire throttle body, or if FAST come out with one I may look at theirs.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT000510.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00062-2.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00078.jpg

[scherp69]

And finally....the new wheels and tires. Overall I'm very happy with the wheels. The only thing that will take a little getting used to is that I have always liked the really shiny chrome wheels. These are brushed aluminum in the centre and polished around the outside. They are then clear powder coated taking away some of the shine. Other than I wish they were a bit more shiny....I really like them. For those that don't know which wheels they are, they are New Gen's Splitters with Nitto 555's.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00316.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00027.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00039.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00018.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00336.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00349.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00358.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00365.jpg

[waynieZ]

Nice wheels and tires . I like the brushed centers, with polished outers. I wish they made those 555's in 345 -19's When are you painting the rest of the body?

[scherp69]

Thanks Wayne. My plans for paint were to try and get as much of the car done as possible and leave the paint pretty much to the end. I'll paint the jams before then, but the outer will be done later. With my luck, I'd end up scratching the up with every part I put on so thought I'd wait.

[street3285]

Hurry up and put those wheels on and take some pictures! :thumbsup:

Firewall came out great, nice work.

[70rs]

Nice choice on the wheels! In fact, nice choices on all of your parts!
:cheers:

[scherp69]

Thanks guys.

Well I decided to atleast put the rear wheels on today. I had to take the rear brakes apart though as I had the rotors on backwards. I'm getting pretty good at installing the safety wire :D I hope to have the fronts on next week as I go into my 4 work days starting tomorrow.

Before I got to the wheels, I spent a bit more time reorganizing the shop. I've put in a few shelving units to make more room. If any of you have ever wondered what you could do with your air tools, here's what I did with mine. I had them under a cupboard before, but the cupboard went to the dump so I made a new shelf. The initial cost isn't cheap as all the female air ends are not cheap. I plan on adding 3 more still for a total of 15.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00384.jpg

So now with the 305's, I still have about 2" clearance inside. I think once I wear these tires down, I'm going to send the wheels away to be widened (I can get them done for $150 each where a lot of the wheel companies want $400 each) and look at some even wider tires. Now that I have the wheels on the car, I'm really happy with the way they look. Here's some pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00505.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00436.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00446.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00455.jpg

[70rs]

WOW Mike! They look great on there. And the brakes really stand out nice too. When you get the color on the whole car it sure will come together nice!
:cheers:

[gearheads78]

Looking great....really nice job on the firewall and I like those wheels much better :yes:

[scherp69]

Thanks guys. I'm really happy seeing them on the car. I agree..I think they will look really good once the entire car's painted. I hope to have the fronts on later this week and will post pics.

[scherp69]

I got the front end bolted back together with the shorter coils. I also got the front wheels on. Thought I would hang one fender and door to see how it's going to look. I think I like it :D

Next on the to do list is to get the tranny mated up to the motor and drop it in. I'll pull the subframe back out to put it all in at once instead of risking dinging up the firewall. I will need to check the clearance on the clutch as well as the scattershield.

Onto the pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00544.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00565.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00575.jpg

[1badchevelle]

Those wheels really make the car kuddos:thumbsup:

[scherp69]

Those wheels really make the car kuddos:thumbsup:

Thanks...I'm really happy with the way they look.

I started doing some work on the engine today. I know the LS conversion is becoming almost the norm, so I thought I be quite detailed in what I'm doing. Any area where I had any questions, I will post more pics. Hopefully there aren't too many to make it boring. Onto the pics:

First thing was to take off the stock oil pan

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00644.jpg

Yep it's definitely a LS

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00626.jpg

Replace the stock oil pickup with the one included with the Autokraft oil pan. After talking to another member who did the L92 swap, I decided to leave the stock windage pan on also.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00655.jpg

The stock oil pan gasket is metal so there's no reason not to reuse it

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00665.jpg

To get the stock gasket off, I had to drill out two rivets holding it in place

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00674.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00684.jpg

Gasket in place

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00693.jpg

Autokraft pan on

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00723.jpg

When using the Autokraft pan, the stock oil pan bolts are a bit too long. You can either put washers under then or get new bolts. I decided to get new bolts as they look way nicer than the stock one. They cost me about 4 bucks for all of them with washers. Torqued to 80 inch/lbs as per GM specs.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00733.jpg

[scherp69]

I also put on the Autokraft LS conversion motor mounts. I've seen them put on several different ways, but after confirming with Autokraft, these are the proper way of mounting them. The driver's side and passenger side are both marked, so unless you can't read, it's pretty straight forward. Also, they are designed that when the engine is sitting in the car, you should be able to read the writing on the side of the plates right side up.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00744.jpg

This is with the motor upside down

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00753.jpg

Next came getting rid of the truck intake. If anyone is looking for one with drive by wire throttle body, I'm wanting to get rid of this one. Brand new, never been started.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00763.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00773.jpg

Taped off the heads.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00783.jpg

Next was to get rid of the ugly accessory bracket

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00823.jpg

Looks way better already

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00833.jpg

I then took the engine off the stand to start hooking up the scattershield and to dial it in.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00852.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00862.jpg

[scherp69]

The stock flex plate (also for sale if someone wants them as well as the stock exhaust manifolds)

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00872.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00882.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00922.jpg

You'll notice there is one bolt missing, that is for the dialing in process

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00972.jpg

That's where I got to today. I started to dial in the scattershield, but didn't have all the hardware to properly secure it to the block. I'm going to get the nuts and bolts in the morning and will hopefully have it dialed in. I will post pics of how to dial in the scattershield/bellhousing when I'm done.

[70rs]

It's looking great Mike! I like the look (with the door and fender mock up).

Do you not re use the stock TB off the factory intake? I thought you just transfer it over to the new one.

[scherp69]

It's looking great Mike! I like the look (with the door and fender mock up).

Do you not re use the stock TB off the factory intake? I thought you just transfer it over to the new one.

Thanks Eric. I could have just taken the stock throttle body off and put it on the new intake, but I thought that since I have the 102mm intake, I'm going to get a 102mm throttle body to match. I'm waiting until spring to get it as that's when I hope to get more parts. By then, FAST may have a drive by wire one available. Right now I believe Nick Williams is the only one that has one. It's really nice.

[waynieZ]

Looks good . That Fast 102 intake is nice .

[scherp69]

Thanks Wayne. I think I'll be happy with that intake.

Man how I do love LS porn.........great details....great write up....

BTW, I am diggin' the new wheels much better, not so blingy, and is going to look killer against that paint......not too much, just right.......post more when you can. I can't wait to see the FAST intake on there......:yes:


T,

Nice work... dig the inspiration, and have to agree with the wheel choice also!
:yes:

can't wait for more pics on the motor:D

Looking great.

Thanks guys. I appreciate the comments. I can't wait to get this motor in, it will look so sweet against the apple red.

So a little update, a very frustrating one for me, but hopefully someone will learn from my mistake. I started dialing in the scattershield. First I had to buy a dial indicator and a magnetic base. Some write ups I read said you could use a 3" bolt and a c-clamp, but for $18 I thought the magnetic base would be easier. The dial indicator cost me about $20. You can also use a test indicator for this.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0098.jpg

I hooked the dial indicator up to the magnetic base and put it on the flywheel to give a good picture of how it looks without the scattershield on.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0100.jpg

The scattershield went on and I put the dial indicator back on the flywheel. Here's some pics of how it looks

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0106.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT01073.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT01162.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT0114.jpg

After posting several questions on another forum, I found out this was not the right way to do it

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT01082.jpg

It needs to be as flat as possible like this

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT01102.jpg

Once the dial indicator was in place, I turned the engine 360 degrees and found the high and low points. My high point was at about 7 o'clock which put my low point around 2 o'clock. Your high point should be almost across from your high point. Once you get your high point and low point numbers, you take the difference and divide by 2. Then you get the off set dowels accordingly. For mine, I needed 0.0021 dowels.

Here's where I made a big mistake. It was recommend that I get some dowels from http://www.robbmcperformance.com/ but I thought "they're all the same and I can just get them in Canada and not have to pay the duty". So I had a pair of Lakewood ones shipped to me. They cost $19 for the dowels and $15 shipping. The Lakewood ones are supposed to turn using a screwdriver......I call bulls$*t. I'll get back to that in a minute.

So I finally got the new dowels

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00019.jpg

And it was time to take out the old ones. This was quite easy. I took off the exhaust manifolds as they're not being used anyways and used a long bolt. I then tapped them out with a hammer.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00284.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT000412.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00079.jpg

[scherp69]

Now you want to put some grease on in the dowel holes and on the dowel and tap them in.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00098.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00118.jpg

Before putting them in, look at them and find out where the high point on the dowel is, for both. You want to have them parallel in the block.

Here's where I was/am getting confused. My high reading was at 7 o'clock and my low was at 2 o'clock. I wasn't sure which way to point the dowels. After watching a video by Keisler, I found you want to point the high side of the dowel towards the biggest number you got with the dial indicator. This is because that number is telling you that it is 0.0035 (for example) away from the center. I think this is correct, but please if someone knows...correct me and help me figure this damn process out. I want to do it right.

So I went to try and turn the dowel with a screwdriver, like it said to do, and I'm not sure who was doing it, but there is no way in hell those things were moving. So I grabbed some vice grips and was able to turn them with those. I kept turning the dowels and remeasuring but ended up no farther ahead. The annoying thing is everytime you need to turn the dowels, you have to loosen all the bolts holding the scattershield, turn the dowels and then tighten them back up. On the passenger side I had no problem fitting the vice grips but on the driver's side, I had to cut out the mechanical linkage bracket. Good thing I'm going hydraulic.

Before

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/IMG00050.jpg

After. I'm going to grind it down smooth and put some red paint on to clean it up.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00263.jpg

That last picture gave a glimpse as to why not to use the 'screwdriver type' of dowels. You can only clamp them so many times before they end up looking like this

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00219.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00159.jpg

So basically I wasted $40 on dowels when I was told to get the good ones to start with. Take my advice....get the good ones to start with!!!

Yesterday I called RobbMC Performance and they will ship me a new set on Monday. The new dowels run $28 and the thing that pi****es me off...I paid $15 to have the first ones shipped from a place that is 3 hours away. RobbMC is charging $10 to be shipped from Nevada. The difference between the good ones and the Lakewood ones are that once they are in place, you can use a open end wrench to turn them. They also have a screw down the middle that allows you to loosen the dowels so they turn. Once in final place, you tighten the screw and they are locked in place. Here's a link to the good ones: http://www.robbmcperformance.com/products/dowels.html

Another thing I found during all the trial and error runs was that my magnetic base was not sitting completely flat on the flywheel. I could lightly touch the shaft on it and it would rock. I found out why. When it was sitting on the flywheel, the lip on the crank that comes through the flywheel (hopefully that makes sense) sits slightly higher, causing there to be a ridge. Also, the magnetic base would not sit flat between the two bolts as it was a little bit two wide. Nothing a grinder can't fix.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00295.jpg

So today I am no farther ahead, but actually down $40 and a few frustrating hours. Hopefully next week I will get a chance to put the new dowels in and get this done once and for all. I just hope that I have all the kinks worked out and it goes smoothly.

Please if anyone has any suggestions or advice on dialing in the scattershield, please feel free to join in. I want this to be as informative as possible for anyone reading this.

[70rs]

Hey Mike,
I don't have any experience with what you are doing there so I can't help. But I can give you tons of credit and a huge thanks for posting all of this. It will without a doubt help me and I imagine many others when we go to tackle the same task.

It looks like you're on the right track now!:cheers:

[70rs]

It's been a while Mike. How are things coming along?

Did you have to remove the factory windage tray on the L92 when you used the Autokraft oil pan? There was a question from another member on that exact issue. :cheers:

[130fe]

Mike, what accessories are you going to use since you are keeping the VVT? I know the wegner setup gives you the option running either one. I am in the process of trying to decide whether to keep the VVT or remove it and make it an LS3 oon my L92.

[GregWeld]

Eric --

He had to rewire the shop so he could see the dial indicator.
:rofl:

[70rs]

Eric --

He had to rewire the shop so he could see the dial indicator.
:rofl:

That's right! I forgot about that whole deal. Light is always a welcom thing when building anything.:rofl:

It sounds like there was still a static issue with the radio.

[scherp69]

It's been a while Mike. How are things coming along?

Did you have to remove the factory windage tray on the L92 when you used the Autokraft oil pan? There was a question from another member on that exact issue. :cheers:

Eric --

He had to rewire the shop so he could see the dial indicator.
:rofl:

That's right! I forgot about that whole deal. Light is always a welcom thing when building anything.:rofl:

It sounds like there was still a static issue with the radio.

Yes I had to rewire the shop....and all because I didn't want static on my radio. Some times it seems better to leave things well enough alone. But on the other hand, I now have 8 fluorescent lights with 16 bulbs in the shop instead of 4 single bulbs. Now I can see the dial indicator again without a flash light :thumbsup: :lol: Tomorrow I plan on running a cable coax out to the shop so I will have static free radio again.

As for an update....unfortunately there isn't one. I'm still waiting for the RobbMC dowels to arrive in the mail. Rob said they usually take about 2 weeks and it will be 2 weeks tomorrow. Hopefully as I go back to work on Tuesday and would like to get the scattershield done next week.

With the Autokraft pan...I left the stock windage tray on there. I sent Andrewb70 a message about that as he's done the L92 swap and he told me to keep the stock one in there. The pan and pickup fit quite nicely with the stock tray still there.

Thanks again guys for your help with the advice on the RFI filter and the wiring issues. I really appreciate it.

Mike, what accessories are you going to use since you are keeping the VVT? I know the wegner setup gives you the option running either one. I am in the process of trying to decide whether to keep the VVT or remove it and make it an LS3 oon my L92.

I'm leaning towards using the Vintage Air Frontrunner kit http://www.vintageair.com/ls.asp For the price, it seems to be the most complete kit. It includes an ATI balancer which I don't believe most kits do and I like the way the air conditioning lines come out of the pump. Mast Motorsports has some L92 billet spacers that allow you to use any serpentine kit with the VVT. I emailed them and made sure they would allow me to use the VA kit. They're not too badly priced either at $200 and they allow you to keep the VVT. Here's a link to them: http://www.mastmotorsports.com/page.php?Category=Engineered%20Accessories&Section=Billet%20Accessories&id=28

[70rs]

Thanks Mike. I hope your parts show soon. I want to see it all together almost as bad as you do.:D
Glad to hear the lighting all worked out.

I posted in the other thread regarding the oil pan question. It was GM Muscle asking about that pan on a 6.0L swap.:cheers:

[The WidowMaker]

any issues with your autokraft pan and the block plate from the bellhousing? my mcleod hits it, and i havent found a thread on what the best solution is.

Tim

[scherp69]

Thanks Mike. I hope your parts show soon. I want to see it all together almost as bad as you do.:D
Glad to hear the lighting all worked out.

I posted in the other thread regarding the oil pan question. It was GM Muscle asking about that pan on a 6.0L swap.:cheers:

I just got off the phone with USPS to see where the stuff is...they weren't much help at all. She said first class priority international can take a week. When I told her it's been two weeks, she said that's perfectly normal and I should just keep waiting. Guess I'll just keep waiting :mad:

any issues with your autokraft pan and the block plate from the bellhousing? my mcleod hits it, and i havent found a thread on what the best solution is.

Tim

Hey Tim...no issues with mine that I noticed. Is your block plate hitting the oil pan when you put it on??? I didn't notice, but I don't think mine is hitting. I wonder if you could grind the rear edge of the oil pan to clear it.

[70rs]

First they say it can take a week and then right after that say it's normal for two weeks? Sounds like a good answer instead of just saying "I don't know, I'll look into it". Gotta love the support huh? :lol:

Well I hope they get there soon for you. How is the rest of the project doing?

[scherp69]

First they say it can take a week and then right after that say it's normal for two weeks? Sounds like a good answer instead of just saying "I don't know, I'll look into it". Gotta love the support huh? :lol:

Well I hope they get there soon for you. How is the rest of the project doing?

And the funny thing is she kept saying "I'd be happy to help you" throughout the conversation. Oh well...hopefully in the next couple days.

Haven't done anything else on the car. With my 4 on 4 off schedule, I usually go a month when most of my days off are during the week and the wife is at work. I spend most of my time in the shop then. During the other month when I'm off during the weekends, I might get a bit of time in the shop, but not much. I hope to get the scattershield done next Monday/Tuesday and then measure the throw out bearing in the clutch to make sure I don't need any shims. Next will be to drop the motor/tranny in. Can't wait.

[GregWeld]

Mike -

Don't pound those pins in until you've got the bellhousing sorted out - and then watch how you tighten up the thing - it will change on you! And typically there will be one or two bolts that pull it off center -- once you identify those - tighten the others first and leave those for last...

If you sink the dowels all the way home - they're too hard to turn and they should also have a dab of anti seize applied - once you gal the aluminum - there's no way you're going to turn them again "nicely".

[scherp69]

Today was a good day. I got the new RobbMC dowels on Monday and really wanted to take another shot at getting the scatter shield dialed in so thought I would try it today. If you wondering what the big deal is about the RobbMC dowels, there is a huge difference between them and the Lakewood ones. You'll see in the pics. I was able to get it dialed in....and on the first try I got it to 0.0035" :D :D :D :D As the minimum recommended is 0.005", I wasn't going to play around with it any more. Onto the pics.

The new RobbMC dowels. They are .021. You can vaguely see a flat spot on the top of them. That is so you can use a 9/16 open end wrench to turn them while in the block instead of a flat screw driver which does not work.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00425.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00486.jpg

Here's the two side by side. Huge difference

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00525.jpg

Here's the old one's sticking through the scatter shield. No wonder they got chewed up

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00496.jpg

And the new ones

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00534.jpg

Now that I ground down the sides if the magnetic base for the dial indicator, it sat on the flywheel completely flat and there was no movement. A huge must for doing this.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00545.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00555.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00566.jpg

Now that the dial indicator was in place, it was time to get my readings. This time I decided to get only the 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock readings. Last time I was writing them down on pieces of paper and trying to remember which was which or I had a bunch of pieces of paper going with a ton of diagrams. Here's a very easy way to keep track of your measurements. Get a dry erase marker and write it on the face. When you need to repeat, wipe off the marks and start over. Here's my readings.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00627.jpg

With these readings I was so happy. I tightened the screws in the dowels and set them in place.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00582.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00576.jpg

Not sure if I'll get it done today or not, but I plan on doing a new thread showing how to dial in the scatter shield will a bunch of pics.

[scherp69]

Now that that was done...it was time to measure the clutch.

I didn't take a bunch of pics of this process as I know there are quite a few threads out there, but here's the engine with the Monster on

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00675.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00685.jpg

I took the measurements and found the following: The difference between the end of the clutch fingers and the face of the scatter shield was 3 1/8". The difference between the face of the trans and the top of the throwout bearing when it was fully compressed was 2 3/8" giving me a difference of 3/4". According to the instructions from Keisler, the ideal difference would be 1/4", so it looks like I need 1/2" shims. I've pm'd Shafi at Keisler as I'm not sure if these are shims or not. They were included in the kit. They seem to be shims, but have no threaded holes to mount the throwout bearings. Anyone know if these are shims as they are 1/2" thick together, and that's exactly what I need.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00694.jpg

[Vegas69]

Mike, is that the wrong picture of your final readings on the bellhousing?

[scherp69]

Mike, is that the wrong picture of your final readings on the bellhousing?

No it's the right one...but after I posted this, I started thinking. I think I do need to keep adjusting as I'm not close enough yet.

[scherp69]

I spent a couple hours in the shop yesterday and today. I finally got the damn scatter shield dialed in to within specs. It's at 0.005" both ways so I am happy with that. Here's my readings for the final time.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT000110.jpg

Once that was done, I had to swap the bearing plate or whatever it's called from the one that came with the tranny for a mechanical clutch set up for the new hydraulic set up.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00635.jpg

With it off

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00656.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00666.jpg

When you're putting the new one on, you have to be careful as there's a shim behind it that has to go back into place

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00714.jpg

New plate on

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00754.jpg

I had already done this step and knew I needed to use the two 1/4" shims, but I thought I'd post a pic of how you measure it. I've explained on the previous page what you need to measure.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00724.jpg

Shims going on

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00734.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00774.jpg

Once the shims were, bolted on the hydraulic throwout bearing

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00813.jpg

And then the scatter shield

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT000710.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00873.jpg

Then I had to install the pilot bearing. I read on one of the forums to freeze the bearing over night, so that's what I did. It went in pretty easy.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00883.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00067.jpg

[scherp69]

The Monster is back on...this time for good!!!

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00088.jpg

And finally....the two have mated :D

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT001010.jpg

I debated about pulling the subframe and dropping it in today, but instead I thought I would run cable coax to the shop while the ground was still soft enough to do it. Next week I will drop the motor/trans in.

[waynieZ]

Nice progress, and a good write up very interesting.

[scherp69]

Thanks Wayne.

If anyone wants to read a thread I made on how to dial in bellhousings/scattershields, the way I did it, I made one that shows the process from start to finish. Here's the link: http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php4?t=23913

I got the motor and transmission onto the subframe today. I thought the subframe was back on the car for good, but it was so much easier to put the motor/trans in when it's out...especially when you're doing it by yourself. The one thing everyone should get to make the job easier..is an engine leveler, something like this one: http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/80048/10002/-1
I didn't get the subframe bolted back to the car yet as I need to get some touch up paint for the scattershield and I have a new shifter coming that I may need to modify the shifter hole for.

Onto the pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT000111.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT000311.jpg

I really wanted to see how the FAST intake would look so I put it in place. It's going to look so sweet with that red.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00068.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00089.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT001510.jpg

One question for you guys though who have the Autokraft oil pan, what do I need to get for here? I just put the stock one on for now to keep crap out.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00127.jpg

[waynieZ]

That sure looks sweet in there. Nice job.

[70rs]

Looks great Mike!

[GregWeld]

Nice job Mike -- and good picture story etc.... that takes a lot of work all in itself!

[scherp69]

Thanks for the compliments guys. It's what keeps me motivated.

Not a bug update...but got some new parts.

Tremec's new shifter. Thanks Gene!!! According to Gene: The new Tremec shifter is lower profile and has spring biasing adjustment. It also make provisions for the 2-3 shift. Like he also said...since I have never used my shifter yet, I won't know the difference, but I'm taking his word on it.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000130.jpg

I also decided to get the new Speed Tech body mounts. I had the original silver ones and got them before Killer Customs bought the company. I thought I would go with the black anodized ones instead. Thanks Roger!!!

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000131.jpg

It's nice for dummies like me, they have put 1, 2 or 3 lines in them to tell where they go.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000132.jpg

If I don't spend a couple hours in the shop tomorrow, likely won't be until the new year. That's okay as last week we were down to -20 Celsius so was getting a bit cold.

[GregWeld]

Get your butt out there! The cold temps will make those body mounts slip right into place!! Kinda like putting a bearing in the freezer! LOL

Oh man!

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr......

[scherp69]

We've had a cold snap for the past few weeks and with Christmas and New Years I really haven't had a chance to get into the shop at all. With reading about all the guys that are having to sell their projects, I knew I had to get into the shop today even if it was for a couple hours. Fired up a couple 220 heaters and got the shop to about 10 or 12 C or about 50 F. Got to spend a couple hours out there, not a major update but an update none the less.

I started by changing the old Tremec shifter to the new improved one

The old one

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000213.jpg

I'll admit I didn't know what to expect when I took the shifter off. I had no clue how it attached. Pretty simple set up, especially to swap the shifter from front to back.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000219.jpg

Before I put the new on one, I thought I would take some side by side shots to show the differences. The one on the right is the new improved one. You can the screws which allow you to make adjustments on the new shifter.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000216.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000215.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000217.jpg

And the new shifter is on the tranny.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000220.jpg

I know some guys were debating if after market aluminum mounts needed the factory shims when putting into a Nova. Speedtech has assured me they don't require the shims and here's why. The one on the left is the firewall mount and is higher than the back one to make up for the shims.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000221.jpg

And finally the subframe is attached to the body for good :D It still needs to be aligned, but I had to put it on the ground to see how it looks. Aligning it by myself should be fun :(

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000222.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000225.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000232.jpg

Lots of room to spare

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000224.jpg

And my secret weapon. Two L92's :drive:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000226.jpg

[scherp69]

I had to cut the shifter hole a bit to adjust for the changing it around. I still need to trim a bit more to make it more even all around. I plan on making a cover to fit over the hole. Do any of you think it would be an issue making a cover and putting some seam sealer underneath and using rivets to secure it down to the floor. I want to be able to just drill out the rivets if I ever need to access the shifter.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000230.jpg

[70rs]

Looking good Mike. On that shifter cover, do you think having it bolted somehow might be easier instead of riveted on? Not that service will be too often , but you never know.:cheers:

[scherp69]

Looking good Mike. On that shifter cover, do you think having it bolted somehow might be easier instead of riveted on? Not that service will be too often , but you never know.:cheers:

Thanks Eric. I thought about bolting it on, but then it's accessing the nuts from the top. I agree it will not be very often that I need to access the shifter, that's why I thought using rivets might work. Don't have to worry about them rattling loose and can just drill them out when needed and re-rivet to secure again.

[Vegas69]

Nice updates....I think you have the shifter on backwards for our application. Meaning your reach will be affected. Mine has the shifter in the back hole. Reach is perfect, of course it's a camaro.

[70rs]

Thanks Eric. I thought about bolting it on, but then it's accessing the nuts from the top. I agree it will not be very often that I need to access the shifter, that's why I thought using rivets might work. Don't have to worry about them rattling loose and can just drill them out when needed and re-rivet to secure again.

What about some other kind of quick release body clips(Dezus sp?). I can just see there being a need at some point and looking back saying "should have listened to Eric" is going to suck.....:D

[scherp69]

Nice updates....I think you have the shifter on backwards for our application. Meaning your reach will be affected. Mine has the shifter in the back hole. Reach is perfect, of course it's a camaro.

Thanks Todd. Actually it was originally the other way. Keisler recommended changing it. They said with mine this way it will move it forward and put it in more of a natural location for shifter. The one nice thing with the hole that is left for access, if I don't like it where it is, I can always switch it back (unless of course I don't account for that when I build the console)

What about some other kind of quick release body clips(Dezus sp?). I can just see there being a need at some point and looking back saying "should have listened to Eric" is going to suck.....:D

I guess I could use some small bolts with u nuts attached to the sheet metal. Something like these. They are used on other parts of the car. http://autobodyclips.com/product_info.php?products_id=10055

[BBC71Nova]

Coming right along.

The removable tunnel discussion came up a lot on the FFR related forums because of the same issue. There is a rivnut type deal you might want to look into. If I remember correctly it is like a nut that you rivet into the panel. Using nuts/bolts would be better than plain rivits IMHO but getting to the nuts is a pain after the fact. The riv nut makes that blind nut not such a big deal.

John

[waynieZ]

Nice update . How about some rivnuts like the ones they hold the console in the Camaro's.

[scherp69]

Nice updates....I think you have the shifter on backwards for our application. Meaning your reach will be affected. Mine has the shifter in the back hole. Reach is perfect, of course it's a camaro.

Just had someone else comment about the shifter location. He also has a 68 Nova and has it in the stock location (the way it was originally). He mentioned that he tried it this way and it didn't feel as good so I may end up changing it back. Good thing I made the hole big enough to access it.

Coming right along.

The removable tunnel discussion came up a lot on the FFR related forums because of the same issue. There is a rivnut type deal you might want to look into. If I remember correctly it is like a nut that you rivet into the panel. Using nuts/bolts would be better than plain rivits IMHO but getting to the nuts is a pain after the fact. The riv nut makes that blind nut not such a big deal.

John

Thanks John. I'll look into that.

[scherp69]

Nice update . How about some rivnuts like the ones they hold the console in the Camaro's.

Thanks Wayne. I was just looking at www.rivetnuts.com I think you guys are right...those look like they will do the job nicely. Thanks for the heads up on those.

[GregWeld]

Rivnuts are simple and effective... easy to use too...

Neat update -- glad something fired you up and got you out there bangin' up your knuckles!

LOL

[98ssnova]

We use rivnuts on B-1's just be carefuly and amke sure you "lube" the thread graphite works best IMO:thumbsup:

[syborg tt]

Awesome Project - just read the entire thread

[waynieZ]

Anything New? I need my fix.

[scherp69]

Awesome Project - just read the entire thread

Thanks Marty.

Here's the update Wayne.

I finally had a couple hours this morning to go play in the shop. My step daughter started a new school this semester and hasn't made any new friends yet so I have been taking her out for lunch on my days off. It's amazing how that interferes with my shop time :devil:

I borrowed this idea from Billy's (72novadriver) car. http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k411/72novadriver/gascapweb.jpg I love the way it look so thought I would do the same thing to mine. Billy made his insert, but I cheated. I found someone who was willing to cut out the filler cap portion of a tail panel from a 67 Camaro.

Bought a filler cap from Chassis Works. Beautiful piece. Not cheap though. I know there are cheaper ones out there, but I decided to go with this one.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000270.jpg

Panel from the Camaro

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000269.jpg

Cut it down to a better size

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000275.jpg

There's a bit of a contour to these, so I had to finesse it a bit

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000272.jpg

Had to clean up the area where I was going to weld it into place

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000274.jpg

I had to find centre and start cutting

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000276.jpg

Temporarily in place

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000278.jpg

Welded into place and the filler cap is in place for a test fit. It's missing the gasket in behind so will stick out a little farther. I might make a thicker gasket so it is a little more flush with the tail panel.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000281.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000282.jpg

Now I have to modify the trunk to fit the filler neck.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000283.jpg

Hopefully I'll get out to the shop again in the morning and finish up the welding and start fitting the filler neck. What do you guys think??

[67rstbkt]

That looks awesome so far. I robbed your idea and got a piece from another member on here willing to do the same thing for me :thumbsup: . I just got it yesterday. Thanks for the idea, update, and the pictures :cheers:

[waynieZ]

It looks great, and nice idea to use the piece of tail panel.

[novanutcase]

Looking good!!!:thumbsup:

John

[scherp69]

That looks awesome so far. I robbed your idea and got a piece from another member on here willing to do the same thing for me :thumbsup: . I just got it yesterday. Thanks for the idea, update, and the pictures :cheers:

Thanks. No worries about taking the idea. As stated earlier, I took the idea from 72novadriver :D That's the nice thing (and sometimes bad) about these forums...so many great ideas.

It looks great, and nice idea to use the piece of tail panel.

Thanks Wayne.

Looking good!!!:thumbsup:

John

Thanks John.

Not much of an update, but it's one anyways. After looking at where I have the gas filler panel, I thought it might be sitting too low once the bumper was on. I put the tail lights on and measured and found that the bumper likely would have been right at the bottom of the filler cap so I decided to move it up slightly. I also spent some time cleaning up the welds. The area that has some crack/lines/whatever you would call them is a bit indented so I will need to do a bit of mud work there so I'm not really concerned. Next plan is to get some exhaust the same diameter as the filler neck and figure out where I need to drill a hole through the floor. Here's the pics:

You can see how much I moved it up. It's about 1/4".

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000290.jpg

All cleaned up

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000292.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000293.jpg

[70rs]

Nice work Mike!! That will add alot to the overall look of the car. Now get it painted and on the road would ya?:D

[scherp69]

Thanks Eric. I wish I could be at the painting stage. It's hard watching the other cars get painted and finishing up. If I hadn't found these websites, my car would have been a long time ago, oh well the wait will be well worth it :unibrow:

[waynieZ]

The extra time will make the wait worth it for sure.

[scherp69]

The extra time will make the wait worth it for sure.

Thanks Wayne. I think if anyone can speak from experience....it would be you. Can't wait to see your project start the next phase.

Just a quick update...Unfortunately the 'budget' at work has been shot for quite a while now and with the costs of the security of the olympics, they have been very stingy with overtime and as my project name states....I've been relying on overtime to get parts. As there has not been any overtime shifts in a while, I'm going to start working on the tedious stuff....the body work. My plans for the spring/summer are to get all the panels hung and fit, get the car completely stripped and in primer and get the interior painted with some type of rust protection...likely POR15 as I still have about 3/4's of a gallon left. I hope to pick up a few overtime shifts whenever I can to add to the parts list, but I also need to concentrate on getting a few bills paid off. So with no money for parts right now, will get closer to the paint stage sooner than I originally planned. Oh well....not the worse thing that could have happened. Thanks for all the support guys, it is what keeps this project going.

[waynieZ]

Thanks I can't wait to get it back either. Mike should be back at it soon. Your still making some nice progress.

[70rs]

Body work early? Sounds like a good thing to me. :thumbsup:

Nice job on the whole thing so far Mike. And that you are doing it all yourself is awesome!! I have learned a lot from you and it will all come in handy when I get back on my own dust collector project.:D

[scherp69]

Thanks I can't wait to get it back either. Mike should be back at it soon. Your still making some nice progress.

Thanks Wayne. Can't wait until you get yours back and see some progress pics.

Body work early? Sounds like a good thing to me. :thumbsup:

Nice job on the whole thing so far Mike. And that you are doing it all yourself is awesome!! I have learned a lot from you and it will all come in handy when I get back on my own dust collector project.:D

Thanks Eric. I think it will end up being a good thing getting at the body work early. Atleast the gaps all the tedious stuff will be out of the way.

[IndyNova]

nice ride!! you have given me some cool ideas for my 70 Nova, good luck with her. Hope you don't mind if i "borrow" some ideas for mine :unibrow: keep up the good work

[scherp69]

nice ride!! you have given me some cool ideas for my 70 Nova, good luck with her. Hope you don't mind if i "borrow" some ideas for mine :unibrow: keep up the good work

Thanks. Don't mind at all if you borrow some ideas. Most of the ideas I got for my build I borrowed from other cars on here and other forums. Good luck with yours. Can't wait to see some pics.

[scherp69]

Well it's been a while since I had any updates. To be honest, I haven't been all that motivated to actually work on the car. There has been zero overtime at work so no new parts coming in and I feel like I'm in over my head with this build. As I stated before, I've decided to do as much as I can without having to get new parts. This update is also going to have quite a few questions, so if you can answer any of them that would be greatly appreciated.

After welding in the rear fuel filler panel, I decided I was going to work on routing the filler tube through the trunk. I tried working around the trunk latch but the filler neck wouldn't fit, so I decided to remove it for the time being. I welded in some support braces

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000304.jpg

After taking a bunch of measurements, I cut the latch out

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000306.jpg

Unfortunately that's still how's it sitting. I was trying to figure out how to run the filler neck. The one that came with the Alston filler cap is designed for a Camaro so it goes off to the right instead of straight down. I can get a universal one that comes straight out from the filler cap and then I would have to run it down somehow. My first question....if I decided to get the straight one would I be able to use exhaust tube for the rest of the filler neck? Would there be any issue having gas gown down exhaust tube? I was thinking about drilling a hole though the trunk floor and running the exhaust tube with different bends so it came out where the filler tube on a stock tank would meet it. I was then going to weld the exhaust tube to the trunk so it doesn't move. I would then put the trunk latch back on to cover all this up. I would likely have to use a 90 degree piece of rubber tube to join the filler cover and the exhaust tube running down. Does this sound like it would work???

The next thing I started to do was to get the subframe aligned and push the motor back. The subframe was pretty close and I didn't have to do a lot of moving it. I can't remember where online I found the diagram with measurements, but I used a hole on the rear frame rails and measured to the alignment hole on the subframe beside where the firewall body mounts sit. I got the subframe so it was within 1/4" of the factory measurements. Is that close enough??

Once the frame was aligned, I pushed the motor back as far as I could. There's still quite a bit of room to the firewall

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000318.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000319.jpg

I then started hanging the sheet metal. I fought with getting the doors aligned. I have new Goodmark hinges and now I've read I would have been better off rebuilding the old ones. Oh well. I was told to take the strikers out...that helped. I also ripped out all the old weather stripping..that really helped. Here's the passenger door. The driver's door gap is almost the same. Will have some fixing to do.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000316.jpg

I started to hang the fenders and found that things weren't fitting very well. I ended up needing to find a stock set of body mount washers to put on top of the body mounts. Called Dave at Tin Man's and got a pair for $25.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000322.jpg

Without them in

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000324.jpg

With them in

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000326.jpg

Started hanging the fenders

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000330.jpg

Which brings me to some more questions. I know I'm supposed to align the doors first, then the fenders to the doors (I think that's right) but how do I know I'm doing it right? How do I know the driver's side and pass side with match up when I got to start putting everything else on? When should I add the hood? Any advice on aligning the sheetmetal would be greatly appreciated.

[GregWeld]

Looks good Mike! Who says you need parts.....

[waynieZ]

I agree with Greg, it Looks good to me too.

[DFRESH]

Looks great bro---you are getting closer---can't wait to see it outside with the sheetmetal on it and the tires and wheels----you've done a great job on it:thumbsup:

Doug

[OnEdge]

Nova is looking really good. When you say that you feel like you are in over your head, what is somethings that you would have done differently? I'm still in the very beginning stages of my Nova build and I would love to go the route that you are going but, the budget doesn't allow it. I'm planning on a fairly simple build with the right stance and a killer set of wheels.

Keep up the great work and keep making progress with what you have! I've missed seeing the updates!

[GregWeld]

Mike --

Sometimes during a project - when I get an "overwhelmed" feeling - like "there's so much left to do... " I revert to just breaking it down to a LIST - and then I just put my head down and do ONE THING AT A TIME. Check it off the list. Suddenly the list is shrinking and it's much more organized - and putting it down on the list - clears it out of my pea brain. I generally post up the list on one leg of the lift -- cross them off with RED pen.... it looks better. :yes:

A buddy has an erasable white board - same thing only fancier...

Usually we leave obscene messages on it.


:cheers:

[MarkM66]

Which brings me to some more questions. I know I'm supposed to align the doors first, then the fenders to the doors (I think that's right) but how do I know I'm doing it right? How do I know the driver's side and pass side with match up when I got to start putting everything else on? When should I add the hood? Any advice on aligning the sheetmetal would be greatly appreciated.

No way to know until it's together. You may have to put it together and take it apart several times to get it right.

And when you think you have it correct, the next time it goes together, it won't be , ;) .

[scherp69]

Thanks for all the support and tips guys. I just need to get into the shop and make some good progress to get me back into the swing of things. I have to do a bunch of leveling work in my back yard also so that has been taking away my shop time. I know the car won't be done for a while so it will still be there when the landscaping is done.

As for feeling in over my head, I think it's the fact that I have taken on a full body restoration and when I sit back and look at what still needs done, that's when it makes me feel in over my head. On the other hand though, when I look at what I've accomplished for someone who has absolutely no training in any of these areas.....it makes me feel damn good. I know if I took the car to a good shop they would find things wrong with what I did, but hey if it works and turns out okay...I'll be happy. If I stuck to my original plans of a fairly low budget build, it would have been done. Would I have been as happy though...probably not!

Greg..good idea on the list and setting more short term goals. I already have a white board in the shop for making notes, but I should get a bigger one to put a list on. Thanks.

Well enough of that....on to better things. Once I'm done digging up my yard, I'll get my a$$ into the shop and get some work done. As usual, will post pics as I go.

Thanks again for all the support guys. That's the great thing about these forums. I know I'm not the only one that gets motivated by you guys.

[scherp69]

Unfortunately I haven't been back in the shop to do anything else. Last weekend I rented a mini excavator and re-graded a big chunk of my back yard. Now I have a giant litter box in the back for all our cats. Hope to get it all seeded this weekend, then back to the car.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000347.jpg

As stated, not much to update. I did end up getting a set of bucket seat brackets from a 74 SS from Dave at Tin Man. Thanks again Dave. Now I just need to get them cleaned up and weld them in. New parts coming May 15 :D Going to see the Eagles the night of the 14th, then pick up new stuff on the way back. Will post pics of the goodies when I get them.

Pics of the bucket seat brackets:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000340.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000341.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000342.jpg

[scherp69]

The best way to get re-motivated................NEW PARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000363.jpg

Decided to get a new filler neck. This is Ridetech's universal one. The other one that I have is for a Camaro. I thought this one might be easier to use as now I can run the rest of the filler neck straight as the Camaro one slants to the passenger side.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000371.jpg

One for Camaro (if anyone needs one of these let me know as now I have an extra)

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000372.jpg

Hotchkis subframe connectors

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000378.jpg

Billet Specialties 3/16" line clamps for when I start running the brake lines.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000373.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000374.jpg

AMD inner fenders

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000368.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000369.jpg

AMD 2" cowl hood - damn this thing is going to look sweet

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000375.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000376.jpg

Don't worry....I have towels underneath

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000380.jpg

And finally.....I decided to go with leather seats out of a 2005 GTO. I got fronts, back and seat belts for $525 + shipping. Can't go wrong with that. They are in great shape too. I'll have to clean up some of the metal and re-paint it. Damn are they comfy. Now the fun begins trying to make these things fit.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000366.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000364.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000365.jpg

I plan on spending quite a bit of time in the shop as I don't go back to work until Thursday. Watch for updates, hopefully daily.

[67rstbkt]

Nice stuff....:thumbsup: I picked up the same set of seats for my Firebird. What are you planning to do about the height? The fronts seem a little tall. I was thinking I would get rid of the power brackets on mine.

[scherp69]

Nice stuff....:thumbsup: I picked up the same set of seats for my Firebird. What are you planning to do about the height? The fronts seem a little tall. I was thinking I would get rid of the power brackets on mine.

Thanks. I haven't had time to figure out what I'm going to do about the height. I see there are a few threads where guys have cut down the rears. After just quickly looking at the brackets that are on the front seats, I'm going to have to do something with them as right now they won't work. I'll post pics when I have some updates on that. I'm just in the process of putting in some SS bucket seat brackets so once I have those in, I will work on getting the front seats mounted.

[waynieZ]

SWEET! Those are some nice parts. The quality of the front inner fenders looks good. Those seats look comfortable. You must have extra head room than a Camaro. Maybe they'll be close. Nice parts.

[BBC71Nova]

Cool parts :) . Glad to see the AMD stuff getting out there. I've heard nothing but good things so far. I'm gonna be going that way for their new fenders I think. Hood looks good too.

John

[scherp69]

SWEET! Those are some nice parts. The quality of the front inner fenders looks good. Those seats look comfortable. You must have extra head room than a Camaro. Maybe they'll be close. Nice parts.

Thank Wayne. Yeah the quality of the sheet metal is very nice. Feels way more sturdy/strong than other parts I've bought.

Cool parts :) . Glad to see the AMD stuff getting out there. I've heard nothing but good things so far. I'm gonna be going that way for their new fenders I think. Hood looks good too.

John

Thanks John. I'm really happy so far with the AMD stuff. The final test will be how they fit.


So I made it into the shop. Didn't get as much done as I was hoping. It's amazing what a couple crappy sleeps will do to you. The couch feels so comfortable. I started by putting the rear seats in just to see how much work they are going to be. Going to be some work!!! Didn't take any pics yet. With a car without mini tubs I don't think it would be as bad.

I got the bucket seat brackets welded in. I tried to get them as far apart as they would go, but could only get the bolts to be 11.5" apart from the hump to the rocker. They are 14.24" apart front to back. The worst thing about putting these in now is that if you've been following my build, you know that I had the bottom of the car already done. Haven't looked underneath yet to see what it did to the bedliner.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000390.jpg

I then started on fitting the front seats. I decided the easiest was to take off the tracks first. Very easy to take off. It is held on by 4 nuts. There are a few wires that need to be disconnected, but pretty easy to figure out.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000387.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000388.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000389.jpg

I then put the track into the car...damn this thing is wide. If I remember correct, the holes are 16 or 17" across from each other.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000394.jpg

First thing to go...the stock mounting brackets. They were pretty easy to get off. They are held on by a pin in the middle of them and some welds on either side.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000395.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000396.jpg

When you are taking these off, don't do like I did originally and pound the pins out. They appear to actually serve a purpose. I had to fight with them and get them back into the holes. I then welded them to the frame.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000397.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000398.jpg

Once the stock mounting brackets were off, I put the whole thing back into the car. Fits much better now, but still need to mock up some new mounting brackets.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000399.jpg

Unfortunately I didn't have any metal to start fabbing up the brackets, so the seats are on hold until I get some stuff. I'll head in tomorrow and grab an assortment of angle iron, round bar, square tube, etc. so I have a good selection. In the mean time though, I put the seat back onto the base to see how it would look in the car. It fits fairly high up on the floor, but that's because of the all the power stuff. I like the way it looks. I'll probably take off the headrest and see how it looks without it and decide from there which I like better.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000402.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000404.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000403.jpg

[scherp69]

Since I couldn't do anything else with the seats, I thought I would start working on the filler neck. Yesterday I bought a new pipe bender:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000400.jpg

What a P.O.S.!!! I tried bending a 2" piece of exhaust tube. It bent it some, but actually flattened it out more than it actually bent it. Think I'll be taking that thing back. A buddy of mine was supposed to come over yesterday or today and help me finish aligning the doors, but he got stuck all day in court only to have the case adjourned before he got on the stand. The joys of our job!! Spend your time off sitting in a court house waiting to put rats in jail. But, at least it's all double bubble :D I likely won't get back into the shop now until Monday or Tuesday as I go back to work soon. Will post more pics when I get something else done.

[70rs]

I am glad to see you making more progress Mike. I like the seats, they will look great in the car.

[scherp69]

I am glad to see you making more progress Mike. I like the seats, they will look great in the car.

Thanks Eric. Where have you been. Haven't seen you online in a couple weeks.

[6spdcamaro]

Thanks for the pictures of GTO seats. I'm still trying to squeeze those in to a 69 Nova :thumbsup:

[frojoe]

I started to hang the fenders and found that things weren't fitting very well. I ended up needing to find a stock set of body mount washers to put on top of the body mounts. Called Dave at Tin Man's and got a pair for $25.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000322.jpg

Without them in

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000324.jpg

With them in

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000326.jpg

Started hanging the fenders

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000330.jpg

Which brings me to some more questions. I know I'm supposed to align the doors first, then the fenders to the doors (I think that's right) but how do I know I'm doing it right? How do I know the driver's side and pass side with match up when I got to start putting everything else on? When should I add the hood? Any advice on aligning the sheetmetal would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Mike,

What solid body bushings are you using... are they SpeedTech? I installed mine just for mockup, and I'm pretty sure that they're supposed to be stock height because I couldn't see any drop bushings on their site at the time, but the radiator core support is definitely a lot higher than it was even with saggy squished rubber bushings, and I can't figure out why...

It also looks like your bushings are short, are they the drop bushings? My bushings definitely look taller, and I can't figure out what, if anything, I'm messing up on the quarterpanel re-assembly.

PS all the rest of the work looks killer... I might have to make an interior BC roadtrip when my car is finished (whenever the heck that'll be)!!!

Cheers,
Joe

[scherp69]

Thanks Joe. The body mounts are Speedtech's. I spoke to Roger at Speed Tech and they said they were finding issues with their mounts on a Nova. They are not drop mounts, they are the standard ones that Speedtech has for the novas. Once I got the stock bushings and put them in, everything fit way nicer. Definitely let me know if you make it down this way.

[Blake Foster]

i will be installing the sub in the shop nova this week end, but with no bushings. also moving the motor back 2.5 inches, htis will require removing the entire tunnel, but hey why not??? it's not like it has to be finished by July 20th for a track day or anything like that.
i will post up some pics after the week end

[scherp69]

i will be installing the sub in the shop nova this week end, but with no bushings. also moving the motor back 2.5 inches, htis will require removing the entire tunnel, but hey why not??? it's not like it has to be finished by July 20th for a track day or anything like that.
i will post up some pics after the week end

Can't wait to see some pics of you Nova Blake. I'm sure it will be amazing.

I finally got the passenger seat mounted. I sat beside the car staring at how to get these damn seats in and I found that the bolts were just too close to the bracket and a pain to try and use them, so I solved that issue.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000415.jpg

Once the bolts on the floor were gone, I could put new ones anywhere I wanted. I finally decided on a very easy, but time consuming, set up.

I started by welding in a small piece of steel onto the ends to give some area to weld into.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000411.jpg

Once those were in place, I made some brackets.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000414.jpg

And welded it into place.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000419.jpg

Did the other three corners.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000418.jpg

I then put some bolts into the bracket holes and put it into the car. After some measuring, I tacked the bolts, removed the bracket and finished welding the bolts into place. I wanted to get the bolts as flush to the floor as possible, but found that welding the bolt, with the heads, to the floor was the easiest and probably stronger. I plan on welding in some washers around the bolt heads so the brackets are not just resting on the bolt heads.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000421.jpg

Attached the bracket back to the seat and tried it out.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000422.jpg

When looking at the brackets, they are set up quite high right now. I'm almost positive that when I get some power hooked up, the seats will come down putting them closer to the ground. Right now, the bottom of the seats are just under 6" from the floor...way too high. I was looking at a bunch on ebay, and they all look quite a bit lower.

Here's how high they sit right now.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000423.jpg

Next week I hope to get the driver's side done and then onto the rear.

[scherp69]

I just got an email back from the guy I bought the seats off. He confirmed that they were shipped in the raised position so will come down quite a bit :)

[waynieZ]

Nice progress Mike. Glad you got it figured out. The back should be some fun.

[70rs]

:thumbsup: Looking great Mike!!

[scherp69]

Thanks guys.

So after I got the passenger side seat put in, I sat in it and it felt like it wasn't square. I didn't think much of it until I was laying in bed a few nights later and realized that it wasn't square. When I measured the frame, I measured from the back points of it, not taking into consideration that one side was longer than the other. You can see it in this picture here. The top left frame rail is longer than the one on the right.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000418.jpg

So I ended up cutting out the bolts that I had welded in. This turned out to be a good thing anyways as I decided to put in 3/8" bolts instead of the 7/16" ones that I had. The 3/8" fit nicer and have more room to turn the nuts. Once I had the bolts welded into place, I didn't like the idea of the seat brackets sitting on the head of the bolts and off the floor. I took some washers and cut out the centers so they would fit around the bolts. I had to grind some of the welds, but they fit around the bold nicely. I then filled in the holes with more weld and the brackets had a more solid place to sit.

Picture of the washer. The two holes are just to plug weld to the floor. I thought I took pics of them welded in place, but I guess I didn't.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000425.jpg

I then got the driver's side put in. The passenger side is not bolted down that's why it's leaning to one side.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000427.jpg

I think I have most of the wiring figured out, except for two wires that were connected to the side of the seat. Does anyone know where these two wires hook up. It's the white connector and the yellow connectors that I'm wondering about.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000426.jpg

Along with realizing that the seat was crooked, I also started thinking about my steering column (had a hard time sleeping that night). I went out and checked my suspicion and was right. A while back in this thread, I mentioned how the Flaming River column bracket would not work. Well I couldn't have been more wrong (and if anyone from Flaming River is reading this, my sincere apologies for the emails I sent). When I was trying to fit the bracket, I had the stock bracket in there as well. No s**t it's not going to fit with the 2 brackets in there :awkward:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/wherecolumngoes.jpg

So I cut off the exhaust tube that I welded onto the column. It left a few scratches on the nice polished column, but hopefully none of them will be seen anyways.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/PICT00433.jpg

Hooked up the bracket that Flaming River supplied and it fit quite nicely.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000430.jpg

:slap::slap::slap::doh::doh::doh:

Once I had the bracket in place, I want to see how the floor mounts would look. I realized that the hole in the firewall is not quite in the right spot as the inside floor mount doesn't sit flush, although it's not far off. I'm just going to grind the top part of the mount so the column fits through and the mount will sit flush. I'm not that concerned about the angle as I will be running two u-joints from the column to the r&p.

You can see where the top of the column is hitting the mount.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000431.jpg

One thing that was a pleasant surprise, I was cleaning up in the shop and found a Goodmark box. I looked at the side and it came back to me. When I ordered some Goodmark stuff off Nightshade, Goodmark shipped a deck panel to me also, which I didn't order. Nightshade checked his records and he hadn't been charged either. So we agreed that I will keep it. This works out great as I was looking at my deck panel and where it connects to the quarters, it's rusting through. So I have now added 'replace deck panel' to my list of to dos.

And finally, some of you may have saw the thread I had about wondering if I could remove the post in the center of my shop. The main reason for this was I was getting sick of working around it. If I wanted to work on the inside of the car, I would have to push the car forward and then back when I was done. If I wanted to work on the driver's side, I would have to turn the wheels, push car forward, turn wheels again, push back, turn wheels, and on and on. I'm sure you get the point. As I don't have the steering column hooked up, I had to literally turn the front wheels and since everything is new and tight, was harder to do while on the ground. So yesterday I found a cheap and easy solution. Not sure why I didn't do this before.

Car dollies:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000432.jpg

Car rolls around quite easily now. Hopefully more updates next week. On a good note, my job will be changing in the next couple weeks. My new position will be more overtime opportunities and will be making more money. More money = more parts.

[67rstbkt]

Looking good Mike. I believe the yellow connector is for the seatbelt retractor device. My understanding is that in newer. airbag equipped cars, the seatbelt has a little explosion of it's own to tighten down some more. If you follow these wires, they should go right to it at the seatbelt location. It's a steel tube. There should only be two wires since all the switches are on the seat - power and ground. Anything else should be internal. If you need more info, I can compare what you have to my GTO seats when I get home tonight.

[scherp69]

Looking good Mike. I believe the yellow connector is for the seatbelt retractor device. My understanding is that in newer. airbag equipped cars, the seatbelt has a little explosion of it's own to tighten down some more. If you follow these wires, they should go right to it at the seatbelt location. It's a steel tube. There should only be two wires since all the switches are on the seat - power and ground. Anything else should be internal. If you need more info, I can compare what you have to my GTO seats when I get home tonight.

Thanks Joe. Any idea what the white connector's for. I know the bigger white one plugs into the side controls, but what about the other one. You're right...the yellow wire runs back to the seat buckle on the side of the seat. I guess if I took the seat belts out, I might find some more plugs.

[67rstbkt]

Thanks Joe. Any idea what the white connector's for. I know the bigger white one plugs into the side controls, but what about the other one. You're right...the yellow wire runs back to the seat buckle on the side of the seat. I guess if I took the seat belts out, I might find some more plugs.

Are you talking about the smaller white connector with the two wires? If so, is that not the power and ground? I can double check later tonight.

[scherp69]

Are you talking about the smaller white connector with the two wires? If so, is that not the power and ground? I can double check later tonight.

Thanks Joe. That would be a great help. The white plug that I'm talking about is the one that is attached to the side bracket, just above the yellow plug. It looks like there is atleast 3 wires in the plug, a red and two blacks. I know there is also an orange and black wire that are together that has been cut. I read on another thread that the orange is for power and the black is a ground.

[67rstbkt]

Thanks Joe. That would be a great help. The white plug that I'm talking about is the one that is attached to the side bracket, just above the yellow plug. It looks like there is atleast 3 wires in the plug, a red and two blacks. I know there is also an orange and black wire that are together that has been cut. I read on another thread that the orange is for power and the black is a ground.

I'll look tonight and maybe take a few pictures of what I find. I'm pretty sure none of my wires were cut, so it should be pretty easy to figure out.

[waynieZ]

Nice progress Mike, its coming along nice.

[67rstbkt]

Thanks Joe. That would be a great help. The white plug that I'm talking about is the one that is attached to the side bracket, just above the yellow plug. It looks like there is atleast 3 wires in the plug, a red and two blacks. I know there is also an orange and black wire that are together that has been cut. I read on another thread that the orange is for power and the black is a ground.

I forgot that I separated my seats from the mounts :wow:
I went up in the attic and looked at both assemblies. They both have a white plug, the only difference is that one of them is the tree prong plug you described with the red and two black wires and the other assembly is a two prong, just one red and black. I'm pretty sure that those are the power and ground wires. I would hook up a battery and try them out, but like I said the mounts are in the attic and the seats are in my spare bedroom. If you hook up a battery to yours and have any concerns, put a small amperage fuse between the + side and the red wire. That's how I would do it, but proceed at your own risk here... Let me know if there's anything else I can look at for you :lateral: :cheers:

[scherp69]

I started working on getting the deck filler panel off. Overall it wasn't in that bad of shape, except for where they meet up with the quarters. If I didn't have this one laying around, I likely would have just cut out the rusty sections and welded in new pieces.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000433.jpg

Old deck filler panel

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000434.jpg

And it's off. Took about an hour and a bit to get the old one off. Just had to drill out a bunch of spot welds.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000436.jpg

It's in pretty good condition, just a bit of surface rust underneath. Nothing some por15 won't stop.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000437.jpg

New panel sitting in place, not welded in yet though as I ran out of 2" prep discs. Going to see if I can get a good deal on a case of them.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000435.jpg

One question I have though, where the filler panel meets the quarter panels, does the filler panel sit on top like it is in this photo or does it go underneath the quarter. I put it on top when I put the quarters on.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000438.jpg

[scherp69]

A buddy of mine came over today and we tried aligning the doors. Unfortunately we hit some issues. We also got the subframe aligned and it's within 1/4" of the factory specs so I'm pretty happy with that. Back to the doors. We started with the passenger side and I got the quarter/door gaps to 1/8" and the body lines matched up nicely and thought it was good. Then I realized some other issues.

Gap to quarter panel. It's about 1/8"

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000441.jpg

The top part of the door is hitting the screw along the frame

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000442.jpg

I didn't take a picture of it, but the gap along the bottom is between 1/4" and 1/2". I know I can fill it in, but that's a lot to fill in isn't it? If I try and move the door down, the body lines won't match up. What about if I cut into the quarter panel along the gap and welded it back in place about 1/8" back?

The passenger side wasn't a whole lot better. The gap with the quarter panel was tight and the body lines match up pretty good.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000444.jpg

Along the front/top of the door, I have a gap that's about 1/4" to 1/2".

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000445.jpg

The rocker gap is good, but it's sunk in at the front. I kept trying to adjust it, but when I align the door to the quarter, this happens.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/scherp69/P1000449.jpg

Any suggestions?? Tomorrow I plan on finishing up the deck filler panel.

[GregWeld]

Mike -- unless you're prepared to do a complete weld and grind - and add and fill.... REMEMBER that working with what you have is about SPLITTING the distance -- so it's half of what "would be" perfect... you can't expect an old stock body to have gaps that are like a high dollar custom build... just get them "good" - and splitting hairs here and a little there...

I helped with a 57 Limo -- 4 doors PER SIDE... we split the window frames to get the gaps at the top "right" --- and had to add welding rod to the door edge to close gaps up etc.... it's A LOT of work to get this old stuff "right".

Check out the way these had to be done:


http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad33/gregweld/TIms%20Limo/DSC00759.jpg



http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad33/gregweld/TIms%20Limo/DSC00609.jpg



http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad33/gregweld/TIms%20Limo/DSC00761.jpg

[GregWeld]

Look at how far this one was off:


http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/ad33/gregweld/TIms%20Limo/DSC00614.jpg

[scherp69]

Thanks Greg. To be honest, I don't expect to have perfect gaps. I just want to get them so they look good. I just found that doors seem to be so off in some areas that I'm worried that I may have screwed up the quarter install. If I can get the doors to look good, I will be happy.