blakecharles

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ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

Yup...thats how I did it on the second car. I tried to measure using info from the forums on the first car, and it was kinda sloppy. No where near bad mind you..just....sloppy. Second car I did the method he said. Came out perfect.

You can always keep the front tires and just put them on the back to use as slicks at the track!!

J.

P.S...Y2k's should look sharp on there when youre done!

dprest68

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, you shouldn't be able to compress the shocks & struts by hand at all. More than likely they are shot. Unless you are Hulk Hogan or something!

Man, it's a real good thing you took it all apart. That could have caused you to have an accident if that stuff would have come apart while driving it. I think I have four end link bushings if you need them. You might consider just replacing the end link hardware though if there is a lot of wear on them.

blakecharles

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dprest68

iTrader: (1)

You can usually pick them up at most part stores

BlueMagicSS

Any wear items, bushings, shocks etc may as well be replaced now since you have everything apart. Better to do it now than later IMO. Looking good though. Town Toyz is lookin good as always lol

blakecharles

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blakecharles

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blakecharles

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blakecharles

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90-irocdx3

iTrader: (4)

Nice looking job restoring this car! are you going to painting the engine bay the color of the car or you just leaving a flat black?

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

Blake...You did a fantastic job cleaning up the wheel wells and engine bay!!! If nothing else, spraying it with black shows how clean you got it and how nice that car's "bones" are.

You really seem to have a solid car going...and Im really looking forward to you keeping up this progress.

I wish I had the patience to clean my under carriage and wheel wells like that. I did an "ok" job in my engine bay, but no where near as thorough as you. Your A/C delete panels came out good as well!

J.

blakecharles

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blakecharles

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blakecharles

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blakecharles

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sk8r fer life

doing really good work here.

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

[QUOTE=blakecharles;5003289]gee thanx
this is my 1st time painting, building, taking apart.... or even changing my own oil. I never had a muscle car. Had to do a lot of reading to get to this point, but now that I know I could def do all this faster....

you sir have proven a point ive argued to many newbies a million times that dont want to take the time and read things but let everyone else do it for them. you earned some major respect in my books, thats impressive.
oh and did you forget to take off the hood bumps on the car and painted over them?

h1-vltg

Just subscribed...awesome work!!!

blakecharles

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1fas92

iTrader: (1)

Hello,
Awesome job man!
I have a 1991 Z18 vert that needs the same stuff done to it, and maybe it will after following your thread! I started watching your thread when you started it, AND it has came along way already!

blakecharles

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ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

-Not sure about ls6iroc...but I attached the chains at the sway bar mounts. I left my wonderbar installed, and just bolted the chain to one of the bolt holes.

-Rear tires should be stable. Thats the most important thing. I used ramps similar to what ls6iroc shows in his picture. The higher the better...but you dont want to make it unstable where it can fall or roll. Safety is paramount for this method to be worth it.

-Engine and trans go in together this way. I loosely bolt the trans crossmember to the trans mount so its in place and ready to go.

The only downside to this...for me anyway...is that I have to break open the brake system. I have an idea for routing the passenger side brake line back along the firewall, so that I can hang the calipers in the wheel wells instead of disconnecting things.



I think those metal ramps are around 10" high just for reference in case you are building something else to hold the rear up.

J.

Pocket

iTrader: (24)

I did nearly the same in my garage. Tow strap looped around the sway bar mounts hooked to a chain hoist. Same thing you guys had to deal with, just no crane legs to get in my way. Ramps under the rear wheels too

dprest68

iTrader: (1)

Here's a quote from my own swap. We were able to get it out without raising the rearend, but it was close. I had hooks on the ends of my chain and hooked onto the sheet metal at the corners of the lower radiator support and the frame rails. It worked like a charm.

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

The reasons I put the rear up, was to make up for some of the height of the dolly I used for the motor (which worked great because it cleared the boom legs), and also so I didnt have to lift the hoist too extreme, causing the lift cylinder to hit the nose.

Removing the bumper cover makes this not an issue...and I suspect Blake will probably have his cover off when he installs. So it'll def be a little less dicey in that respect.

With the dolly that I used, and having the rear on ramps, when the car was high enough, the whole shooting match just slide right out the side. Piece of cake. I highly recommend the furniture dollys from Harbor Freight. They are cheap, plenty sturdy, and have big castors to make rolling easier. I used a piece of 4x4 on the back to keep the trans and motor level once on the dolly.

J.

blakecharles

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blakecharles

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blakecharles

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blakecharles

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blakecharles

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Pocket

iTrader: (24)

Instead of using filler to smooth the battery trays, why not cut flat pieces of steel and weld in

With no notch in the K-member, your oil pan clearance is going to be very tight. Not a problem, just be aware. You MUST use 1" setback mounts for the SBC adapters or the Spohn stands

blakecharles

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blakecharles

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ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

Man that raptor stuff looks great in the wheel wells. I might have to steal that idea one of these days. When I get motivated enough to actually clean my under carriage. haha.

J.

blakecharles

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BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

That undercoating looks amazing. One day I'm going to do that to my car...

White'89

iTrader: (8)

[quote=blakecharles;5002960]last but not least, the bottom of the bay


went back over it with bondo gold + evercoat = much better now... Still quite a bit of sanding to do. Makes be appreciate the guys that do this for a living waaay more.

My attempt to smooth the battery tray, BAD IDEA. Have to grind it back down and paint it again. A friend told me that if I could not weld all the holes, to lay down some kitty hair or long strand fiberglass filler before the lite stuff... He told me it will not hold up for too long with just lite filler.

As tempting as it is as a new painter to go straight for the big wide open spaces first, you must restrain yourself. ALWAYS go for the undersides and smaller less exposed surfaces first. Overspray is a b!@tch and if you don't follow that rule you will end up with droplets(overspray) causing a rough finish on your highly visible areas.

It seems like your doing a pretty good job though and learning alot through the mistakes, just trying to add anything you may or may not have heard before.

As for the bondo, its never a permanent solution, but if thats what you choose to use then the area you are slathering must be EXTREMELY ROUGH.


Considering how much these cars twist and flex I really hope that all the bondo you put on the strut towers doesn't just crack and pop off.

blakecharles

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blakecharles

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Pocket

iTrader: (24)

You need a rotisserie

blakecharles

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blakecharles

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Pocket

iTrader: (24)

Clutch disk looks pretty low, might want to order another. Snap a pic of the flywheel and PP surfaces. Cant gauge anything from the backside

blakecharles

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ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

No on the media blast... Yes on an LS7 clutch kit from Scoggin Dickey (or any vendor with a good price). If you want a piece of mind. Also, replace the slave cylinder now, and install a remote bleeder. You'll thank yourself later. Get the slave cylinder from whoever you order the clutch kit, and make sure its a GM unit.

You can go with a stock clutch kit...but the LS7 is a nicer set up, and is pretty cheap. At least it used to be... I got mine from Scoggy.

The clutch/slave cylinder are just those parts that you dont want to have to go back in to replace. It would really suck to get it all back together, and have to tear it right back down again. I should have done this during my swap, but I left the SPEC clutch that came with the donor in. I was replacing it the next season...

As for your disassembly. Normally, you separate the trans from the bellhousing. Then remove the bellhousing from the block. It just makes it easier... But if its never been apart, I imagine it would need a little help. When you install...make sure you install the clutch kit, then the bell housing, then with the alignment tool in place, the trans.

J.

blakecharles

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1bdbrd

iTrader: (1)

I would pay the extra for the Monster clutch. I've driven a car with an ls7 kit and a Monster stage 6 or 7 in it. Both worked great but IMO the Monster is better due to the weight. The LS7 kit is very heavy in comparison.

blakecharles

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ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

Ah... I paid a lot less than that for my LS7 kit. I thought they were still in the $450 range for the stock LS7 kit...and $550 for the kit with the RAM lightened flywheel. I know a few vendors over on LS1tech have sales regularily. I think one was selling it for $435 for a while...and for that price, I think its hard to beat the LS7 kit for a mild build.

But I agree..its got a VERY heavy flywheel in my opinion. However...its fantastic for street driving and low speed situations! It made the car much more pleasant to putz around in. Also made my idle easier to dial in.

The clutch set up before was a Spec Stage I or whatever they called it. It had an aluminum flywheel. Which was awesome for revving the motor, or going WOT. But was sort of a pain around town. I had to get used to giving it more revs to get going...sort of feathering the gas. It sounded like I was showing off all the time, but really I was just trying to get going smooth.

Ive heard great things about the monster kits...so Ide say shop around, find yourself a good deal, and go for it. Cant go wrong in my opinion.

J.