MIEngineer
04-29-2010, 08:48 PM
I have been looking over this site [and a few others] for a few years on and off.
I finally decided to register here [and at the other site] since I am pulling my car out of storage for the season and the builds I've seen in person or in print [in PHR and so on for the last several years] have been very appealing.
I have a 71 LeMans that is a decent lower mileage driver. This is my first classic car purchase. Upon purchase I decided to go through stage zero to get everything working properly.
The day I bought it and brought it home.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/Saabaru25/LeMans/Lemans962008026.jpg
When I first purchased the car the suspension was tired. There were over half a dozen coil spring "helpers" in the rear coils at the time of purchase. Stock replacement springs in the front and rear along with new KYB front shocks went in.
I have upgraded the suspension with Hotchkis stabilizer bars and lower trailing arms. I added the Edelbrock upper trailing arms at the same time.
I planned to go with adjustable upper units but that will happen later on - I spent some modification funds on a few legs of the Hot Rod Power Tour for 2009.
When I do some front end upgrades I will probably modify the rear end components.
A family friend helped me out since he has access to a lift to make life easier [and he has a nice Nova - thanks Rick].
I've contemplated selling the car but I will see how that goes - I wouldn't mind a nice late 60s/early 70s blazer convertible or a 50s truck/suburban project with LS power.
Here are a few photos of my LeMans from a Power Tour stops in Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. I am hoping to do some of the 2010 event as well.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/Saabaru25/LeMans/PowerTourDay1June909006.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/Saabaru25/LeMans/HotRodPowerTourDay2DaytonJune100937.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/Saabaru25/LeMans/HotRodPowerTourDay2DaytonJune100-2.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/Saabaru25/LeMans/PowerTourJune11KY2009141.jpg
A nice clean slate underneath to work with...not a fan of rust so this works well for me.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/Saabaru25/LeMans/SaabNov09280.jpg
First, I am thinking of adapting the wheels from my G8 [and upgrading the brakes on the LeMans] since the G8 will have some new rollers and it might give the car a more interesting appearance.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/Saabaru25/G8%20GXP/GXPJuly152009115.jpg
-Dan
I finally decided to register here [and at the other site] since I am pulling my car out of storage for the season and the builds I've seen in person or in print [in PHR and so on for the last several years] have been very appealing.
I have a 71 LeMans that is a decent lower mileage driver. This is my first classic car purchase. Upon purchase I decided to go through stage zero to get everything working properly.
The day I bought it and brought it home.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/Saabaru25/LeMans/Lemans962008026.jpg
When I first purchased the car the suspension was tired. There were over half a dozen coil spring "helpers" in the rear coils at the time of purchase. Stock replacement springs in the front and rear along with new KYB front shocks went in.
I have upgraded the suspension with Hotchkis stabilizer bars and lower trailing arms. I added the Edelbrock upper trailing arms at the same time.
I planned to go with adjustable upper units but that will happen later on - I spent some modification funds on a few legs of the Hot Rod Power Tour for 2009.
When I do some front end upgrades I will probably modify the rear end components.
A family friend helped me out since he has access to a lift to make life easier [and he has a nice Nova - thanks Rick].
I've contemplated selling the car but I will see how that goes - I wouldn't mind a nice late 60s/early 70s blazer convertible or a 50s truck/suburban project with LS power.
Here are a few photos of my LeMans from a Power Tour stops in Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. I am hoping to do some of the 2010 event as well.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/Saabaru25/LeMans/PowerTourDay1June909006.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/Saabaru25/LeMans/HotRodPowerTourDay2DaytonJune100937.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/Saabaru25/LeMans/HotRodPowerTourDay2DaytonJune100-2.jpg
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/Saabaru25/LeMans/PowerTourJune11KY2009141.jpg
A nice clean slate underneath to work with...not a fan of rust so this works well for me.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/Saabaru25/LeMans/SaabNov09280.jpg
First, I am thinking of adapting the wheels from my G8 [and upgrading the brakes on the LeMans] since the G8 will have some new rollers and it might give the car a more interesting appearance.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u269/Saabaru25/G8%20GXP/GXPJuly152009115.jpg
-Dan