Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Headlights are in. The retaining bracket needs repainted but that's a small project for a later time.

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

What headlights are they and why did you go with them?

I have horrible memories of how bad the headlights were on my car back in the day.

I would love to swap them for something better when I get to the stage you are in.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

They are just your run of the mill eBay 4x6 housings. They look better than stock housings and perform slightly better. Still not the level of brightness as newer vehicles so I'll be switching to the HD bulbs in the near future. The housings also have not held up well. I've had them 4-5 years and the silver reflector inside has begun to get that black crinkle look in it on two of them. So those two will need replaced also.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Mirrors, fuel door and ground effects on and polished. Only thing that is off is the gap between the fro t fender and drivers side door.

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

Damn, I always for get how good shaved door handles look. Any more info on that? Or is it deep in this thread someplace? I bought a kit and ended up not using it and chickened out right before I had my car painted about 10 years ago.

I plan on painting my car myself this time around. Am still on the fence about the shaved door handles. Think it is a robust setup that won't really have a downside that is significant? What is the backup plan in case something screws up?

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I went with an AutoLoc setup. I purchased it maybe 5 years ago because it was a really good deal and I knew I wanted to do shaved door handles. Their kit now may be slightly different. I can't even recall what strength door solenoids I have. After I installed the door solenoids I decided that you would be fine using the weakest of the solenoids that they offer. Our door latches are pretty easy to operate. One other suggestion I would make is to ground the solenoid to the door and also to a good body ground. The instructions say just ground the solenoid to the door but I don't think that other than the hinges our doors are really grounded. There are also a couple different ways that I have seen the solenoids mounted but the way I did it is by far the best, and easiest. The only critique I would make for my mounting is that I should have secured it with the big rivets (1/4") as opposed to the 1/4-20 bolts supplied. It would be less of an eye sore when you open the door. I will probably do that in the future if the holes I drilled aren't to big for the rivets.

Another good pointer is to wire up the relay so that it is triggered from a negative signal, rather than a positive voltage signal. I installed remotes for the door poppers and they put out a negative voltage to trigger the relays and of course I had it wired up to be triggered with a positive signal, so I had to rewire the relay.

Something else to think about with shaved door handles: If you are a car guy you know that people with shaved door handles usually have a button hidden on the exterior or bottom of the car for opening the doors. This is a horrible idea to mount a button that is accessible since it's far too inviting for thieves. Rather than a button, wire the relay to be triggered by a ground wire. You can run a wire from the relay into a body wiring harness that is accessible from the outside. If by some reason you lock the keys in the car or the battery in the remote dies you can access that harness, pull out the wire, touch it to the car (a ground), doors will pop and you can put the wire back in the harness and no one will have any clue what you just did. That's the fail safe I have setup on mine. This is all assuming that you use a remote to open the doors. Another member did a great thread on how he installed the keypad from a Ford motor company vehicle behind the rear license plate. You could use that as your fail safe to open the doors or hatch also. It's an interesting project that I may take on in the future but I just want to finish this car at this point.

Ultimate fail safe is always a slim jim. Lets face it, these doors are easy to open with a slim jim. Like five seconds easy.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

When I primed the fuel system to check for leaks I found a stream of fuel dripping down from the gas tank. One of main feed lines at the union wasn't quite tight I found out. These connections have to be much tighter than the AN style connections. I guess I'll stick to AN connections in the future. Went ahead and took this picture of the finished product of what it looks like with the cover off of the fuel pump access door.

MoJoe

iTrader: (5)

That is a very clean access panel versus the usual hack and slash method!

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Thanks. I didn't have much of a choice since the previous owner did do it the hack and slash method.

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

Great info on the shaved doors. Any pictures of the install? Any backup plan in case the battery dies or a fuse blows?

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

It's explained above, post #406

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Yeah, slim jim is the ultimate back up but if the battery dies I have that planned out sans slim jim too. If you haven't noticed, I never mounted a mount or mechanism for the hood latch. With Fiberglass hoods I always run the side hood pins and this time around I am going to forego the stock center mounted hood latch and use only locking hood pins. Should the battery die I can just unlock the hood and run jumper cables to the alternator charging stud and a ground. The alternator charging wire is 4 gauge so I could probably start the car but I would just rather use the new found power to open the trunk and retrieve the battery or jumper it back there.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

The dash is painted and in. I'll start on making the speaker grills now. I didn't want to use real paint so I used spray can paint which left an odd stripped effect even after 3 coats. You can only see it with the light at the right angle but it's definitely there. So in the future I'll probably sand this black off and get out my spray gun and respray it with some single stage satin black.

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

Are you worried about glare if the paint is too shinny? Even with the stock dash pad, I remember being is situations where the glare from it was a bit annoying.

This is a cool idea. I wish I could eliminate my defog vents. I hope to drive my car as early as possible in the spring and as deep into the fall as possible. I don't care about heat, I just need to be able to see! I had one season when I had deleted it all and I got caught trying to drive home, in the rain, with my head out the window cuz the windshield was 100% fogged up and as soon as I wiped it, it fogged up even more!

I have a small in dash aftermarket Summit unit, but I really don't like it. I just can't find anything else. Something electric would have been cool, but nothing of any quality seems to exist.

Build looks great! Still reading thru the entire thing. A few pages left.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I've had the dash fiberglassed for a few years now and the problem is not the dash glaring at you, the problem is the glare from the dash going onto the windshield and creating a ghosting.onto the windshield. I tinted the top of the windshield which may reduce it. It's also legal out here to put anti glare clear tint on the windshield which could also be an option. Otherwise I've always been fine with polarized sunglasses.

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

Great idea with the strip up top. My windshield used to have that, then when I got it painted by a shop near me, they replaced my windshield and the new one didn't have it.

I will be pulling my windshield soon to check for rust. I will add this strip back when I replace my windshield.

I too use polarized sunglasses in my 2013 Camaro. Also Arctic white!

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

[/QUOTE]

Any idea where I can source that black trim around the windshield?

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I had mine replaced in Arlington heights not far from you at a regular windshield place and I reused the strip. I'm fairly certain they just use a generic cut to length strip. I would just go in to a few and see if anyone will sell you 10 feet worth.

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

Same stuff?

http://www.partstrain.com/store/deta...FQK5wAodbhsPgA

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

It looks like we're both using full aftermarket gauges and deleting airbags.

What are your plans for connecting the gauges to the interior harness? Did you delete any circuits from the harness (like airbags)?

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

It's probably the same stuff yes.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Not sure if I posted it but this is the link from my thread a few years ago about the aftermarket gauge install. There's a link in there for the gauge pin out from Austin Thirdgen also. The first time around I used simple spade connectors and this time I used some extra body weather pack connectors I had. Looks much better now. I could not find a plug to fit the body side of the gauges connector.

As far as the airbags and it's system, I removed the sensors, the airbags' ecm and the wires between them. I left in place all of the power and ground wires since they make excellent grounds and switched power circuits! They will run the gauges and shift light that will go on the A pillar.
The other circuits I deleted were the power door locks since I have shaved door handles, Heat and Air conditioning. The defrost circuit I left in place to power the convertible's tonneau cover release(s), The fog lights I left for an extra power circuit. I'm using the switched power for the radio sa the turn on for the amp and the power supply for my USB charging ports. The always hot power for the radio is now the power for the door popper remote unit receiver.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Ran into an issue when I was installing the hatch motor.
When I pulled the motor from the RS I put it in a bag with it's three mounting bolts and when I pulled it out of the bag to mount it I only had two bolts. I thought it was odd but sometimes I work on this car late at night and I have done some absent minded things so I thought nothing of it.

I installed the unit, lined everything up and closed the hatch. The hatch was pulled down 1/2 way while making a strange noise and then stopping. After that the unit would not do anything. I did some testing and found out that everything was getting power but the motor was getting hot. Not warm but hot. So I unplugged everything and thought that I just needed to replace the latch sensor switch. I thought if something could be jambing the unit from coming down and when I looked at the tracks I saw my missing bolt stuck between the bottom of the unit and the latch's catch. Pulled everything apart and reversed the motor and still the unit did not want to function properly. So I was thinking the reversing switch or latch sensing switch needed replaced. I called Lon at Top Down Solutions and within ten minutes we had the unit working again. The reversing switch had to be reset with the unit. All was good. Much thanks to Lon!

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

How were your nylon guides?

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Still looked good from what I could see.

rb85TA

Nice build, absolutely love the engine bay work...I give you an A++ ��

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Thanks for the kinds words. By far I spent the most time on the engine bay followed by redoing the rear to accept a high rise spoiler. I'm working on the hood now and recovering the center console.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

The trunk's lift supports will not hold the trunk lid open, at all anymore. They are only a year old but the reason is probably more to do with the high rise spoiler on the end of the trunk. According to AutoZone, Oreielly's and various other internet sites the strength of the support is supposed to be ~56 pounds of force. I went on www.liftsupportsdepot.com and found the exact same lift support but with a strength of 65 and 75. I'm leaning toward the stronger 75 support because the stock strength of 56 is as if there is nothing there. I'll buy a pair and try them out. TopSpeed made a custom hood latch that is reversed like the Corvette, I'll PM him and see if he'll chime in here. My only worry is if it is too strong for the mounting tabs...

the two options for stock 91 Convertible trunk lid lift supports:
https://www.liftsupportsdepot.com/stabilus-sg330013-w/
http://www.autozone.com/collision-bo...rt/193475_0_0/

Topspeed

I used the stock hood lift supports

rb85TA

I would think that the 65 lbs would be more than adequate, you can really screwed things up if they're to strong... JMO

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Maybe, maybe not. I'm looking at the technical specs of the lift supports for the hatch on a hard top or T-top car and here is what I'm finding:

Hatch without a spoiler or wiper: 110-125 pounds of force
http://www.autozone.com/parts/collis...?checkfit=true

Hatch with spoiler OR wiper: 134-149 pounds of force
http://www.autozone.com/parts/collis...?checkfit=true

Hatch with spoiler And wiper: 150-165 pounds of force
http://www.autozone.com/parts/collis...?checkfit=true

I'll look at my RS' mounting tabs when I get home and see if they are the same as the Convertible's. If the tabs are the same I'll stop sweating this and go ahead and get the stronger support for my trunk lid.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I had covered my center console in marine grade vinyl (faux leather basically) two years ago and it looked ok at best. I didn't like the padding I used on it or how the leather came together at the back. I decided it best to redo it. I bought the same marine grade vinyl since being a convertible it needs to withstand direct sunlight over time and the occasional rain. This time i traced the outline of the console onto the leather, cut them out and sewed them together. So the side pieces are sewn to the back piece--I never used that ash tray anyway.



I did a double stitch and up close like this you can see it's not dead straight but installed in the car you can't tell. I didn't sew all the way to the top and bottom because once it is wrapped and the top put on that unsewn portion gets cut off anyway.




In these up close pictures the seam looks more pronounced but again, once it's in the car it could pass for factory. Not modern day Cadillac or Lincoln or BMW factory but definitely 1980-90's factory.




The backside viewed when it is inside the car




Installed in the car with wires hanging out everywhere.



Next I can start on recovering the top piece and the tablet mount piece. I had previously used an alcantra material that WAS NOT UV resistant. that sucks.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

With the center console now installed I got to find out about a new problem. Always fun

The shifter is a Pro 5.0 Power Tower and sits pretty low in the console, low enough to the point that I will be sewing a new shifter boot.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

The other problem is with the position of the transmission. You can look at this picture and see that the transmission really is shifted or angled toward the passenger side.




I believe that the culprit is the UMI K member. I used it on my RS previously with solid motor mounts and a Spohn transmission crossmember and the T5's transmission mount (red poly mount) bolt hole was just barely lined up with the holes for the transmission crossmember. I always thought it was the combination of multiple aftermarket parts from multiple vendors. So this time around I am using the UMI crossmember and the UMI solid motor mounts. When I first put the engine in I used Moroso solid mounts and still had an angling so I switched to the UMI and have the same angling. Then I made the transmission crossmember fit the position of the transmission's mount. Neither of my Camaros have been in a collision. I reached out and spoke to Ramey at UMI who was very helpful and willing to go further then what most companies would allow for. We agreed on a plan and we both hope the easier solution will work. I'm sure when it's all said and done I'll be happy again. After speaking with him I would say this was/is an issue solely attributed to my K member only and no other issues have ever been reported.

The following pictures show the shifter in the 1st, 3rd and fifth gear respectively. To get it in reverse it has to come in contact with the console and push the console slightly.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I also was able to work on the A pillar gauges. I bought an oil temperature gauge (http://www.speedhut.com/gauge/G-OILT...Gauge-140-300F) from Speedhut (All of the gauges I have in the car are Speedhut) and am using their triple gauge pod.

The prior owner did a real job on the Convertible's A pillar trim. He couldn't figure out how it clips back on so he simply drilled a hole through the trim and into the A pillar. He screwed it on too tight and warped it out of shape also.
I decided it would be better to just cut my RS' A pillar trim to shape and use it.



After cutting what I needed to I mounted the new gauge pod on and installed the gauges.



The gauge at the top is the oil temperature, then a small tachometer and the four lights are a set of shift lights I made. The orange comes on at 5,000 RPM and the red set at 6,000 RPM. I greatly prefer the stepped shift lights so rather than a "surprise! its time to shift" you get a "get ready to shift" followed by a "shift now!" light. Mega Squirt has half a dozen programmable outputs and I have two of those ports used for turning on/off the lights.



Installed on the A pillar itself



A dusty shot of all the gauges

J. Chris Davis

iTrader: (1)

Coming along quite nicely!

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Thanks. Still have several small projects left to do. I need to make door panels and drill the holes to mount the bottom of the front bumper cover. Even when I have the car drive-able and show-able it won't be finished. You can kind of see in the picture with gauges that the dash that I painted is a different black then the non-painted piece that surrounds the gauge cluster. Also the filler I used seems to be failing, and it's the good evercoat made for this. I'm really leaning on covering the dash in the same marine grade vinyl. I would have to stretch it in a few areas and sew in two seams but it *looks* doable.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I made some lower plates for the strut tower brace so that the strut tower's cap is now firmly sandwiched between two plates. I was worried about the two bolts dimpling the strut tower caps over time. I have no clue if that would really happen but for the small amount of time that this takes, why not? There is also still full clearence to move the strut hat around without obstruction.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I also wanted to post what I had done with the brackets for the strut tower brace. There are some members who decree this strut tower brace to be a waste of money because the brace to tower brackets prevent full articulation of the strut mounts. You can easily solve it in 30 mins time. You just have to notch out the inner corner of the bracket and weld in a plate on the engine side. Voila! It's wonderful again. Even if you didn't have a welder I would think a welding shop would charge more then $50 for this.

BADNBLK

iTrader: (11)

Good thinking on the bracket mod

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Thanks, what brace is it that you're using?

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

As a small side note In my research on wiring the car for a trunk mounted battery there was a popular opinion that you really need to run a ground from the battery in the trunk to the engine block along with an uninterrupted fat power cable from the battery to the starter. I've posted various times throughout this build thread about how I am wiring everything. I am trying to ground everything separately and to as thick of metal as I can get it. I am not running that long ground wire and my main power wire goes to a junction block under the dash.

Out of curiosity I attempted to see how well the engine would turn over (ecm disconnected so no fuel or spark but full compression) and it turns over as if it still had an engine bay mounted battery. The starter turns over just as fast as it previously did. Off the top of my head I believe I had calculated 11:1 compression ratio or just shy of that when I was building the engine. At the moment it would seem the way I have everything wired works fine. So if your system is grounded well and you have the proper gauge power and ground wires you should have zero troubles with a trunk mounted battery.

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

You're correct. The metal of your car is far thicker than and GND cable you'd run anyway. There's a reason there are harness GND connections all over the car (under the seats, behind the dash, under center console), and they all don't run directly to the battery. You're using the metal of the car as your GND common (I'm sure you already understand this, just sayin).

Some people can experience problems with extreme rust/rot that causes electrical opens in the metal of your vehicle, but those are fairly rare.

robguitargod1

iTrader: (4)

BTW, I got the seat warmers and the power leads are scary small.......10A fused but still made me laugh. I'm sure it'll be fine but I'll be monitoring the temp of those wire the first few times I use them.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I found these on ebay a short while ago and they are probably the same.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/371821448088...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Rated at 27 Watts +/-3 watts per pad and there are two so 60 Watts per seat would only be 5 amps per seat or 10 amps for both seats. What gauge is the wire? I would think 14 gauge would be the best to use.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Yeah, I think the problems people that have with trunk mounted batteries are inadvertently blamed on trunk mounting the battery instead of the grounding issue, continuity issues or power wire being too small. Kinda like lowering these cars properly isn't as simple as installing shorter springs.

Are you keeping your battery up front?

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

This convertible did not have any trunk plastic panels when I took ownership of it. I'm thinking it did but the prior owner disposed of them when he put in the big trunk mounted stereo system. I found the remnant wiring and tell tale signs of one.
I cannabilized the panels from my 92 RS to make them fit in the trunk of this 91 convertible. It was just trial and error with a set of tin snips. I still have a little trimming to do but they fit in well enough for now.
Now without further adue, Lowly lit and dirty pictures of the trunk






As a project later on I will make a new subwoofer enclosure that will also have a cover over the battery. I'll be posting my current one for sale.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

I wasn't very happy with the first tablet mount I made a few years ago. It looked OK and it worked so I always left it as a project for the future. One of its problems was that the backside of the tablet was completely covered so it heated up easily and I would get that warning. The Mount's fabric became sun bleached when I left it outside for two days so I decided to redo it then. The pictures are fairly self explanatory, I just bought two 8x10 plates of Plexiglas and cut them to the dimensions I needed and glued it all together with plastic epoxy suitable for Plexiglas. Then just covered with the same "leather" material I've been using. This mount is also different in that the faceplate must be removed to slide the tablet in and out.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

The below pic shows a small amount of plastic just below the bolt head that must be cut out or clearenced to allow the mount to fit-- a small price to pay!


I also used a switched power wire to power a USB charging port by the e brake handle and another for the charging cord that goes to the tablet.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Covering it in fabric. Again, not much to say.





I made the mount slightly larger than the screen so you can drag down the status bar easier instead of inadvertently tapping an icon like would happen with my last mount. The power button and volume buttons are covered, which is fine. I can tap on the screen to turn it on/off and the volume control is a widget on the tablet screen.