I'm all for clean installs. I'll spend all day just to make sure a fuel line looks good.. Under the car..where you'll never see it.. Took me all day to install SFCS just to make them look like there molded into the frame.

 

I was actually thinking about doing a quick vid just to do a rundown of the car and show all the work on it so far. Maybe soon I'll put one up on youtube, and you better belive that when it's done, I'll have planty of action vids of it! Thanks for the support all!

 

Beautiful Job! I cant wait to see you finished power train set up so I can take notes for my project. THanks and keep up the killer work.

 

Do it man! There is no where near enough Thirdgen videos on YouTube! Most all the ones on there are guys doing burnouts. The more the better!

 

Nothing special, just a quick update. I ordered a full stainless steel pre-bent brake line set from www.inlinetube.com. Should be here beginning of next week. Once I have the brakes done, the motor can be dropped in! Needless to say I'm VERY excited and will definately have loads of motivation seeing an LSx motor in my engine bay for the first time. You better believe pics will come soon.

 

im going to inlinetube tomorrow to pick up a set for my 85 since i live near them, ill let you know how they are

 

Sweet man def give me a heads up. I've heard nothing but good from them from this forum so I figured I'd get good stuff. The guy I spoke with when I called to order was very knowledgeable on third gens as well which is always a huge plus when ordering if you have questions.

 

yeah ill definitely let you know, i need one bad because i have a huge hole in my rear line

 

Heres a quick youtube vid I put together showing a rundown of the car and what I've done to it. I'll probably add more vids as I get more work done so I'll post them up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URNbfch6y4k

 

nice video! and I was browsing craigslist just a few minutes ago and it looks like your bro is selling his 86 IROC! Why so quickly if I may ask?

 

He's just confused on what he wants to do right now. He has a supercharged 2007 mustang GT, A 1990 honda civic hatchback thats getting a DOHC V-TEC engine swap, and the camaro. He's actually at the point now he said where after the honda is done he may put a 350 in the camaro with a 6 speed. He can never make up his mind but he's really not rushing to sell it. Guess only time will tell. It is a beautiful car though and I'd hate to see it go to some kid thats going to trash it!

 

Well, my stainless steel brake lines from Inline Tube came in much quicker than expected! I wasn't expecting to see them until monday or tuesday but they showed up on saturday, so I had the weekend to put them in. I have to say, anyone planning to replace thier brake lines just order these and make your life MUCH easier. I am amazed with the quality and fit of these. Even with my tubular K-member they were almost a complete bolt on. I chose Inline Tube because I've heard a lot of good about them and my uncle used them on his 70 chevelle and said they were amazing. I'll let the pics show the fit and quality.

Now I just need caster camber plates to get the front suspension on and it's time to drop the motor in!

The steering coupler was used for mockup only and I will have a brand new one on when I actually go to install it.



Towards the back of the car where the stock fuel filter would be, I had to make a custom bracket to hold the brakeline 2 inches out from the subframe since the fuel line was there and there would have been no way to run the brake line in it's factory location. It came out very clean and sturdy though and I am very happy with the results.

Heres a closeup of where the steel line meets the front rubber hose (will be a stainless flex line...rubber one was for mockup). You can see that Inline Tube has the correct spring style covering over the line. I can't stress enough how much time this saved me, not to mention the stainless line will NEVER rust or corrode.

 

well I was going to replace and rebend all my brake lines. But for the price and the amount of time This seems like a much better route. thanks for such a great build.

 

This is gonna be a very unique car at Marks!
Great meeting you too btw!

 

And likewise to you. Your car is clean! I was loving the fact that it's a convertible too, and the paint looks great. I've always wanted a convert TA to put a speedster bar on, and cruise with the top down lol. I'm sure we'll meet up again, especially if you visit the pike on saturdays. Just wait for the day the trans am makes it out. Hopefully sooner than later!!

 

Thanks! I forgot to tell you, but when I was looking to buy a thirdgen, I wasn't actually planning on buying a convertible. I was expecting to buy a t-top car but then I stumbled across this one and pounced! Anyway, I should be on the pike pretty often (depending on work), except for this upcoming holiday weekend.

 

Well guys, just made a much anticipated purchase. I ordered my J&M caster camber plates, stainless steel flex brake lines, and some new bushings for my BMR A-arms since the old ones were a little chewed up from how I had them installed before. All that stuff should allow me to get the entire front suspension and brakes on and then I can sit her back on the wheels! I made sure the parts were all in stock since I kind of need them soon so by early next week I'll have some new progress pics up.

 

SWEET!!! this build is awesome btw man keep up the good work and keep us posted

 

Got a TON of work done today. Entire front suspension and brakes are now back on the car. Just need to bleed the brakes and check for leaks, and then the suspension is done except for my torque arm and steering. Looking at this set up now makes all the waiting and money spending completely worth it! I'll let the pics do the talking, but I am so happy that the car is almost ready for the body shop now.

Drivers side brakes (sorry for the eyesore of a rotor. They've been sitting for a while and I'm painting the centers black)

Pass side brakes

Heres the Russell stainless flex lines I used. Very nice pieces!

J&M caster camber plates. These are so much nicer than the junk previous design.

 

Heres a few more shots showing the bigger picture....

Engine bay view

Closeup of suspension and K-member

The C5 brake conversion was one of the best mods to this car. I like horsepower, but stopping is more important to me.

And how she sits currently

 

how did you put the undercoating on? roll or spray?

 

I used a roller for some parts and in tighter areas I just used a paint brush. Came out really good though for not spraying it on.

 

Lookin like a car again! Oh and will I be seeing you at Mark's tomorrow? I'm pretty sure I'll be there.

 

jw, but in the pics where u test fitted the headers you got from ur buddy. did u put them on backwards? lol or are they supposed to b like tht..

 

As long as the weather is permitting, I'll def be there!

They are supposed to be like that haha. They are turbo manifolds and they face forward like that because they connect to a merge pipe that the turbo mounts to which is in the engine bay.

 

looking great man!

 

I have to say for a "novice" you sure do excellent work. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside watching these builds progress but yours has been especially enjoyable to watch.

Whatever you paid for those Corbeau LG1's they'll be worth it the first time you mash that peddle, trust me.

Don't know if you've mentioned it yet but, any ideas on wheels/tire sizes yet?

 

Thanks for the compliment, and I'm glad you enjoy the build! As I've said before, it's all of you guys that keep me going and putting money into this build and knowing that so many people are enjoying this and getting ideas. I have always wanted to build a pro touring kind of car, and with the amazing suspension of the third gens and the ease of motor swaps and parts available it was a no brainer. It also helps that I already owned the car .

As far as wheels, if you go back to the first page and the first few pics, the chrome 18" Ruff Racing wheels on the car are whats going back on. They are 18x8.5 front and 18x9.5 rear. Tires are 245 fronts and 285 rears. They are going to be temporary because once the cars finished, I would LOVE to get a set of 2 or 3 piece forged wheels for it, and a little wider out back. I just don't have the 3-4k dollars to spend on something like that right now.

 

Just a quick update. I'm having technical difficulties with my internet at home so I am on my work computer now. I made a new vid showing the recent work and have a few pics, but I can't get them up until I fix my problem at home. I also bled the brakes and am VERY happy to say they bled perfectly with absolutely NO leaks. Pedal is rock solid now, and it feels great to have one of the major systems on the car working and out of the way. Anyways, hopefully I'll have the pics and vid up momentarily!

 

Heres a little update. Not much but I just added the clips to the brake lines and painted the center hub of the rotors and caliper brackets to "neaten" it up a little. Also made a new walk-a-round vid. If it doesn't load, it hasn't processed through youtube yet since I just got it up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-iDR1dafAk

Heres the painted hubs

I didn't have my original line retainer clips so I bought these and they worked perfect!

 

Got my steering on today. I stayed home from work because I was fighting a cold and this afternoon I was feeling a little better so I decided to get it done. All parts are Moog and I went with the Hotchkis tie rod adjusting sleeves. Heres the pics...







Now it's the T56 crossmember with torque arm and a new steering shaft, and she's off to paint!!

 

I used Moog parts to rebuild my front end too. How did you paint yours, brush or spray? Did you tape off the spindles and grease points?

 

I just brushed them with an SEM chassis paint. Real heavy duty stuff. And I didn't tape anything, just painted right up to the rubber boots and that was it. I didn't screw the grease fittings on until after I painted them either, and the brush I was using was small enough so that I could keep paint out of areas I didn't want it to get into. They came out great and shouldn't rust for a long time now!

 

sweet everything is lookin great man keep it up the good work bro!!

 

im addicted to this thread , i need my fix !!!

 

I'm ordering my new steering shaft tonight and unfortunately I have a car payment due so I'm not going to be able to get the T56 crossmember and torque arm for another week or two. I promise I'll have updates soon though!

 

Damnn,I haven't looked at this thread in awhile and its coming out amazing! Where in ct do you live? I'm in southern ma right near putnam and thompson

 

Very good job but if it was mine would make that black paint undernath the car!
at the moment I am doin my camaro the same way

 

That youtube vid was really great. You should be very happy with your car. Good luck with this project.

Gail
1985 sport coupe
5.OL 4BBL

 

I'm actually about 10 minutes from the MA line. I'm in Suffield, CT if you've heard of it. I know where Putnum is although I'm not really sure how far from me it is. And thanks for the compliments!

I am MUCH happier with it now than when I started, thats for sure. It was more of a "what the heck did I do?" in the beginning haha. I'm sure anyone that takes on a project like this feels that way though. I actually have 2 vids up on youtube of the car now and will continue to make them as I progress, as well as posting up still pictures....it offers a few different views on it.

 

Oh Ok yeah I know where abouts that it,id love to come down and actually see this build in the making sometime if you wouldn't mind! Maybe it would motovate me to fix mine lol

 

Feel free to swing by and check it out! I wouldn't mind one bit. If your ever free on a weekend or something, PM me and I'll shoot you my cell number. I'm always around the house so it's not a problem at all.

 

Alright cool,do you live near springfield?

 

Yup, bout 10 mins away actually. I'm off of exit 47w from 91.....it's roughly about 10 minutes or so. I used to work in springfield and it would take me about 7 minutes to get to work from my house......but I did drive a little fast on the highway haha.

 

Great build man. Makes me want to work on my 89 T/A.

 

Just a quick written update for ya all. I took the rear bumper, pass door, and rear hatch trunklid to the soda blasting place and they should be done by this weekend. Gotta get them in primer and put the pass door on and thats it for the body. Tomorrow is pay day so I'm ordering the BMR trans crossmember with torque arm and that will 100% complete the suspension. When thats on, the car is going to the body shop! I'm guessing I should have it there within the next 2 weeks. 1 color is going to look nice!!!!

 

Got some stuff done over the weekend. Had aqua blast soda blast my pass side door, trunklid, and rear bumper in preparation for paint. Laid some etching primer and some 2k primer on the door and trunklid and put the door on as well as all 4 wheels. the torque arm and tranny crossmember set up is ALL I NEED NOW!! Then she's off to paint. I should have those by weds or thurs. Once those are on, i'll roll her outside and snap some on the ground pics before we get to see it all one color! Heres a few pics I took...

Heres the trunklid. The old crap spoiler pulled the bolt mounting areas up a bit so those will need to be straightened


Heres the pass door on the car.




LOVE how those 285's look form the back!

 

how did you get your hatch glass of the trunk lid ?

 

There are 8 nuts that have to be removed from the studs that go through the glass. Theres also 2 screws on each side that hold the ends of the metal frame that wraps around the glass part. Then the trunk lid is held to the glass with window adhesive. I just pulled a little bit at one corner and got a kitchen knife in between the glass and trunklid and started sawing at it unitl it started to free up. Then it pretty much pulled right off. It was a huge PITA if thats what your asking, lol. Should go back together much easier.

 

would you say its a two man job ? ,i always wondered why my trunk lid always overlapped my tail light "sagging " that and the worn out hatch supports were the demise of my hatch motor , now it wont close ... oh well , Dame mas "updates" de tu Trans Am porfavor .