Shadow Z

iTrader: (2)

Are they the Kirkey economy drag seats? I like the look of them, and was thinking about a set since they're pretty cheap.

Man, I thought this was another BS 9,000 horsepower thread until I saw the parts. This is going to be an awesome build. Already is for that matter. You're doing exactly what I wish I could afford to do.

Looks like your son is also enjoying the build.

Andrew91GT

Thanks!

Most of the remaining parts are coming from my outlaw 10.5 car. I'm burned out on having a single purpose car and wanted something that I could enjoy with my family with MUCH less maintainence.

The seat is actually pretty comfortable. I took the one you see from my outlaw car, and bought another for the passenger seat, but haven't mounted it yet.

Here's a link to the seats: http://www.jegs.com/p/Kirkey/Kirkey-...46811/10002/-1

The one you want will vary... I have a 17" wide seat for the driver. I'm 6'2", 230# and pretty comfortable in it. I bought an 18" for the passenger to handle a variety of sizes of passengers.

Racecraft sells the brackets. They're ok, don't allow use of factory type sliders or anything if that's a dealbreaker for you. They're a bit of a PITA to set up but allow some adjustability if you're willing to R&R some bolts.

Shadow Z

iTrader: (2)

I'm also a pretty big buy, 6'1" and around 200, so I just keep the seats all the way back, they don't really get moved.

I don't recall where, but I've seen factory style sliders for the Kirkey seats when I was looking into them. Probably wouldn't even bother with them though. Now it's going to bother me that I can't remember this place.

Andrew91GT

A 17" seat would be just about perfect for you IMO.

For me the sliders weren't an option because of the 10 point cage. I couldn't get the seat low enough to keep my head from potentially hitting the A pillar bar (where it travels by the top of the driver's door window) in an accident, even with a 5 point harness. I bought the racecraft brackets so I could dump the seat on the floorpan and keep from killing myself driving it without a helmet.

Shadow Z

iTrader: (2)

I'd probably order an 18" seat just to have a good amount of room. I'm going to miss my factory cloth seats if they ever sell. They're some of the most comfortable stock car seats I've ever sat in.

That's one of the only things I don't like about my Mustang. It feels like you sit "on" them rather than "in" them. Almost as if you're sitting on top of a bench, not reclining into the seat. I've gotten used to it after having the car for about 6 months, but I still get that feeling if I brake hard.

Andrew91GT

If your mustang is anything like my '91 when it was a street car, it felt like sitting upright on a bench.

Shadow Z

iTrader: (2)

Yep, exactly. Entirely different generation of Mustangs, but still that same bench feel, as if you're sitting straight up.

I don't really mind though, at least they're leather. The bench feeling went away for the most part, except when braking hard.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

I'm really impressed about how fast you're getting that much work done.

I like the front half of the cage, but I've always felt that running the down bars back like you did is a big mistake (you're running solid braces into an area that would normally crumple, and a better place to run them would be to the top of the shock mounts or spring pockets). I'm also shocked how far forward your main hoop is, especially since you say you're over 6' tall... you think that someone 6'4" and, well 270 or so lbs would be comfortable in it? I've been debating sort of "fudging" mine a bit, either a 6pt or I'm not sure what to make it a little more streetable/ more room for me in it (worse, it's a t-top car, I can't seem to figure out how to run either halo or front down bars around the t-top trim without having it literally up against my head.

Honestly, I'll be shocked if you can run those tires that tight in there without rubbing problems somewhere...

Andrew91GT

Slow and steady wins the race!

I had that discussion about the rear down bars with my friend JamesB (who bent and installed the roll cage). He and I looked at the option you were talking about. He did bring up the fact that to do it the way it ended up would cost him more because there was more material used in the down bars. I told him that it was his decision, I trusted him and do whatever he thought was right.

I think from a performance standpoint, my installation is better, but I agree in a collision the crumple zone is compromised.

Man, I'm not sure. I'm comfortable in it and there really isn't much room between those bars and the headliner, but I had to lower the seat to make sure that I'm not going to brain myself on one of the bars if granny tbones me.

I'm guessing you'd need an 18" kirkey which makes it a bit more difficult to mount. If you're not above reshaping the floorpan and trans tunnel I think you could make it quite comfortable for yourself.

If you ever make it to the DFW area you're welcome to come by and sit in mine and see what you think.

I think you're right. I have about an index finger width between the tire and quarter panel in front and back. I need to have a little paint and body work done at some point in time. I think I'll have the quarters stretched a little in front and back then. maybe 0.5"-1" in front and back?

Andrew91GT

Got some new rear shocks.

Rear suspension is done except for figuring out how to run a stockish style antiroll bar for the street.

Madman custom valving double adjustable afcos.







The rear suspension is now essentially identical to the LMR outlaw drag radial firebird.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

I was measured for one of these:
http://www.ultrashieldrace.com/prod.php?id=128

a couple of years ago... I've since lost about 65-70lbs (I'm actually about 255-260 now, I listed a little heavier above since I'd want to size things for if I gained a little weight back), but interestingly, I mostly wear the same size shirt or jacket, just gone down a few pants sizes (I was about a 38 then, I could probably wear a 33 now...). Before and now almost all my weight is in my chest and shoulders, and at 3xxlbs they still recommended:
So even at 30lbs heavier then you I suspect that I'd fit in a 16" , or maybe even 15" Kirky now, the problem I run into is room for my shoulders and arms with a door bar there (I can't drive a newer mustang without opening the window and practically sticking my arm out the window, the big lump in the doors below the windows makes them too narrow for me to sit in them comfortably)

I have to lower the stock seats in these cars down to the floor (I cut and re-weld the back of the seat rails and then mount the seats to them 2" back from the stock location so I'm left with an assembly that when you slide them all the way back the seat bottoms literally sit on the floor, slide them forward and the they're at normal height so my wife can drive it). If I just move them back I don't clear the roof on a hard top, and in a t-top car I just clear the tops, which means I'll brain myself on them hitting a good bump (I've done it before hitting a dip going through an intersection, I actually had a concussion in one years ago when I got t-boned and my head smacked the middle of the roof between the t-tops).

I'm actually saving the hard top from my parts car in case later I decide their is no way to deal with a cage/bar without a hard top (even though the headliner is lower then the t-tops, the headliner around the t-tops is significantly lower than the non t-top headliner)...

Andrew91GT

That looks like a REALLY nice seat! How comfortable was it? Did you actually get it or not?

I still can rest my arms on the armrest, though my arm is touching the door bar. I suspect that there is some play in the actual seat location, etc.

I wear size 38 pants, I'm guessing that your upper body is larger than mine so you might have problems. I guess you could always do a nascar style cage with bars that extend into the doors but that seems like a pretty big step to take in terms of having a 'street car'.... but who am I to start that debate!

I actually like the idea of modifying the stock sliders... I may try that instead of what I have. I think I might end up with something nicer with more and easier adjustment than the racecraft brackets. Yeah, I know that the seats are supposed to be attached to the back brace. I have yet to implement that.

Interesting. I wanted a t top car but couldn't find one without rust, so I bought the hardtop. Actually, wanted a TA or formula in decent shape in maui blue, t-tops were a secondary want. Knowing what I know now I may have passed on this car, but I DID get pretty good at sheetmetal repair! lol

Andrew91GT

Got the car mobile again and on the road. I got the passenger seat mounted, etc. I took my car to get a muffler put on so that I can drive my junk around without getting tickets.... and they hooked me up with an ULTRA PERFORMANCE exhaust setup!











Honestly it ended up with just a small turndown. I have a friendly rivalry with some turbo viper guys here locally, so that's where the 'text' on the pipe comes from.

I think I am going to drive the car for a while and enjoy it, when the motor comes out for the SBF, it's going to be a bit before it runs again!

Andrew91GT

Got the windows tinted. 35/20.

Shadow Z

iTrader: (2)

I finally found what I was talking about, just for some reference. It was Ed Quay race cars.

Page 20 of their catalog, they have slider style mounts for Kirkey seats. I wouldn't mind a fixed seat at all since I leave mine all the way back all the time, but it's neat that there's options.

http://www.edquay.com/camaro/82-92camaro_catalog.pdf

BTW, tint looks really good.

drknow90rs_ss@y

iTrader: (3)

Thing of beauty!

Andrew91GT

Test fit some 19x12 C6Z wheels with 345 nitto drag radials on them. I've still got about 2" from the inside sidewall to the wheeltub, but only around 1" to the control arm. In any case, I think it looks ok. Now to find a set of cheap used C6Z wheels! lol

Andrew91GT

When I was putting the C6z wheels on I noticed that the rearend was 1/8" out of center, and my panhard bar was as short as I could make it......

so....






AND, when I was pulling into my buddy's garage, I found out what happens if you have your torquearm mounted too low....



Old bracket once I got it off


Old weld that needs to be cleaned up


I decided to move the brackets up and to do that I had to fill in the notch on the new ones and renotch them. I also cut a 45 degree angle in the leading edge (bottom towards front bumper) that I will box with 1/8" steel to keep this from happening again.


Difference in height:

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

What did you hit to do that and how fast were you going?

Andrew91GT

I hit something similar to this:



See the step in the concrete? This guy's garage had a MUCH bigger step, probably 1-2". Compounding this was the fact that the driveway entering the garage had a significant slope, which had the affect of reducing ground clearance further. I was going less than 5 mph.

Got the new bracket welded on. I have gained almost an inch of ground clearance by doing this.

bluegrassz

iTrader: (3)

Very nice build so far.

Andrew91GT

Thanks!

The driver side rear spring had an angle to it that I wasn't really pleased with.

You can kind of see the lean here..... it's much more pronounced with the spring compressed a bit more and a lower ride height.



I cut out the adjuster, and moved it to the proper location.





I used a trick to locate the spring that madman told me about. I put the spring on the rearend (with the rearend set up so that the tire is properly centered in the wheel well) and the adjuster on top of the spring. I then jacked the rearend up to get the rear tires at approximate ride height and the adjuster pressed up against the car. A hammer and a few light taps finished the location, and I used a plumb bob to make sure that the center of the spring adjuster was aligned with the center of the spring locator on the rearend. I then tacked the adjuster in and lowered the rearend and yanked the spring for final welding.


Welded up

Andrew91GT

Yanked another piece off of the racecar that I would like to reuse.

These are 15 x 3.5" alumastar 2.0 billet front wheels, ford bolt pattern (5 x 4.5").

I am trying to get them to fit over my C5 front brakes and keep them within the factory fenders if possible.

With a 2 5/8" 'spacer' that I fabbed up, I get this:










I think if I can pull them in 1/2" or so it will look pretty good, but the issue will be how much I have to grind off of the c5 calipers to make it work.

I found a 2" thick 5 x 4.75" to 5 x 4.5" adapter on ebay... anyone know where I can find a 2.25" thick adapter? TIA!

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

I'd be selling those and ordering the 17" skinny rims that weld makes instead, I wouldn't want to run spacers of any kind on my race car that will obviously be seeing wheelies.

Andrew91GT

The spacers are 6061 billet aluminum, they are just as strong as the wheels. The hubs have long ARP studs in them, there is plenty of thread engagement on the studs for the spacers.

The wheels are ford wheels, 15 x 3.5" 5 x 4.5" bolt spacing, 2.25" backspacing.

I used a 2" pattern adapter spacer and had to grind on the C5 caliper just a bit:



Rear wheels are the 15 x 12.25" 7.5" BS weld RT-S with 315/60/15 MT Drag radials, I think they match the fronts fairly well.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

those look killer, but I think they're RTs, not RT-S's (they have bolts around the outside). They come in the offsets that I want, if I could justify $4xx wheels I would be running them also...

Andrew91GT

This is what I have: http://weldracing.com/street-performance/rt-s.html

Jegs racer price for the wheels I got was only $210 each or something close to that.

83 Crossfire TA

iTrader: (2)

Huh, looks like summit's site was messed up when I looked...

Andrew91GT

IMO it is a very nice wheel for the price. It may not be the lightest thing in the world but for $425 for a pair it is hard for me to complain.

drknow90rs_ss@y

iTrader: (3)

They are a great wheel for the price...

Andrew91GT

I haven't done much in a while, just been driving and enjoying the car before tearing it down to put in the new engine.
I emptied the gas tank most of the way and figured this was as good a time as any to put a sump and return on it.... so...



Not real exciting.

noboostnogo

iTrader: (4)

so whats the plan for the engine and transmission? 2k hp is alot of ponies lol

Andrew91GT

One of the first posts in this thread has a link to the engine build. It's the 433" smallblock out of my outlaw 10.5 car. For now I'm going to reuse my 114mm billet turbocharger but I'd really like to go twin 7675's instead... on the lookout for a pair of 76-88mm T4 turbochargers.

The transmission for now is going to be the glide from my outlaw car. I'd love to get a gear vendors box someday.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

I'd like to know how to rig up a gear vendors kit....that would be nice. Probably have to cut the floor pans out to make room and weld in a new xmember for the gear vendor unit.

Its just likely cheaper to go 4L80E....

Andrew91GT

Here's a pic of a glide with gear vendors unit vs. a turbo 400:



I'm not sure that there would be any real body modification to do to make it work....

as far as cost you're right on the money there. It is a LOT of money to do a good glide + gear vendors, but IMO it will hold a LOT more power than a 4L80E.

weberflorida

iTrader: (2)

Love the build man. GL

Andrew91GT

Thanks!

I thought about welding the sump on myself... for about a minute. I know I have the skill to do the welding part, but I'm not sure about the prep insofar as getting all of the gas out and making it safe... so I decided to contract that part of it out and pay someone else to take the risk.

Here's a pic of the sump installed. He used a TIG welder and silicon bronze to install it. He says it's more like brazing than welding. We will see how it works out.



I'm considering buying the eastwood gas tank sealer kit.

Anyone ever used that? If I'm going to do it, now is the time.....

fireturd350

iTrader: (8)

Por-15 makes a sealer too http://www.advanced-rust-protection....de=TankSealers.

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

sealer kits can break up and fall into the fuel lines, filters, pumps, etc. Usually not recommended to do that.

Andrew91GT

After a little research I've come to the same conclusion. I'm not sure how much the prep and the person using the kits plays into the equation but my tank doesn't have much if any rust inside so I think I'll pass on the sealer kit for now.

Andrew91GT

It's been a while since I've done much to the car but I did get the gastank cleaned out, painted and back in the car.

I painted it with the same paint I used on my rollcage:

You can see where I located the return. It seemed to work well when I was mocking it up pointing towards the front fo the car, but I ended up having to turn it 180 degrees or thereabouts and point it towards the rear of the gas tank. It will still work but if I had known that I would have welded the fitting on the back side of the filler neck.




I also fixed/rebuilt my fuel level sending unit, here's the thread for that: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/elec...l-sending.html

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

In all reality you could just run a good glide if the car isnt that heavy. I can leave my car in 2nd gear which is 1.48 ratio and leave from a dead stop just fine even with 2.73's out back. 400" makes some torque. Its abit lazy compared to first, but doable if not trying to leave in a hurry. Then again with good tune it dont take long for the turbos to come up so you get the power you need to push through that gearing.
If you get a glide with a 1.76-1.96 first gear, thats all you need really. With a good converter and 3.00 gears, it will move just fine on the street, no need for overdrive unless you really wanted to get on the highway with higher speeds and keep rpms down. I've been fairly happy with how the Th400/2.73 gear combo works on the street at 55-60mph so far but always wished it was lower like with a 700r4.

I'd consider a glide for my car but feel its too heavy. Its likely 3600lbs now with me. I thought glides were for 3300 and under? But then again I'd be kinda weirded out by doing 0-100 in just one gear....

Andrew91GT

I'm kind of the opinion that the weight for a powerglide is an urban legend. I think if you have enough power and a well built powerglide it will be plenty fast even at higher weights. Look at the outlaw drag radial cars... before the 25.3 cert fiasco there were PLENTY of guys running mid/low 7's with a powerglide at 3400ish pounds.

I plan to use my neal trans pro series glide from my racecar. It has a 1.8 low gear.

Here's a link: http://www.nealtrans.com/racing-transmissions.html

They claim that :"The NRT Pro Series Powerglide is recommended for cars weighing up to 3400 lbs and making up to 2800 hp."

Strange sells a 2.93 40 spline pinion 9.5" gearset that I would LOVE to have!

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Well hell, 3400 lbs and 2800 hp is ALOT more stressful than 3600-3700 lbs and 1000 hp for me I may look into a glide if this Th400 ever craps out but then again they are quite pricey... They still have low weight limits for the other glides in their line up

kstanbach

What is distance between the outer lips on the 15 inch rims? You have so many offsets, spacers, and rims it is hard to follow.

Yahtzee

What kind of shop did the sump for you?

Andrew91GT

Started tearing the firebird down.

Getting ready to pull the engine and transmission.


Found the build sheet between the bumper cover and front bumper!

Andrew91GT

I spent a little bit of time trying to plan where the tubing would run for the turbochargers.

I want to relocate the battery to the trunk. Next I will remove the battery trays from both sides of the car.

I think the bumper will need a bit of trimming.....

I want to locate the turbos down and to the front behind the front bumper and between the framerail and fenders. The headers will face down and forward... I may have to trim/notch the framerails to get the hot side tubing to the turbines.

I will notch and plate the portion of the frame that supports the stock front springs and run the downpipes between the frame and coilovers, with the downpipes exiting the fenders behind the front wheels.

At least that is the plan. I have the turbos on order, I haven't gotten them yet.

It appears that the stock style steering will have to go, it looks to be a huge pain in the *** to work around... I am thinking of converting to manual steering if racecraft will sell me the brackets to weld onto their k member.

kstanbach

Ok, I've just read that the rear end is narrowed 4" making it 58" from axle flange to axle flange?

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

Thats exactly where I found the paper for my car that you found 4 yours, tapped to the plactic behind the bumper.. I have also found one of those in the hatch area and have heard of them in the interior. All with diff things on them for diff parts/areas of the car.
I cant remember exactly what John called those but its not the build sheet..
They are more like mini build sheets..