I recently purchased this car as a project to restore to semi original but still customized with my own style..anyways onto the pictures..


This was right after it came off the tow truck. Pretty solid and almost no rust.


This is the 350 that is in it, it has a slight knock and I'm still unsure whether to rebuild it or just swap another engine in.







I'm on a limited budget but I will continue to upload pictures as I get more done. any and all input is welcome too.

 

good to see no top cut to the fuel pump!!! looks like a solid project...is that the original engine or was it swapped in??? Anyways good luck with it and hope to see it brought back to life !!!

 

thanks, and the engine isn't original the previous owner dropped it in..He was definitely not a mechanic or electrician to say the least lol.

 

After months of procrastination, I finally get some work done.
#1 driver side and passenger side floorpans.
#2 rear
#3 Passenger side wheel well.

 

After a snow day a lot of work gets done.
1. The front carpet finally in and bolted down
2. I don't even want to know what the guy before me was trying to do with this wiring, he had it wrapped in duct tape and hanging under the dash.
3. Just realized these recaro t/a doorhandles..too bad this isn't a recaro..

 

^better to have duct tape vs black/burnt wires under there....lol.....lookin good

 

Yes I guess this is true, I'm still collecting the interior plastic parts but I have the seats. Also do you think I should change the seatbelts to match the black or keep them to match the door inserts?

 

No fuel pump in the tank on a carb'd car.

 

Not necessarily true.

 

yeah that carpet was looking rough. good job.

 

Thanks, can't wait to get the interior all together..

 

Wicked good job on the floor boards!!!

 

Thanks , I should have all the interior in within a week or so, painting plastic interior sucks..So look out for interior pictures soon!

 

Got all the front interior in but still need to clean it up a bit. Next step rear interior.

 

Got the engine out this weekend with the help of a crane and some relatives/friends. Only bad thing is I learned the engine was junk >.>

 

It sucks that the engine was junk.

But it's lookin' good so far. I can't wait to see the finished product. I really like the early third gens.

 

Got a running engine for the car, it supposedly ran before it was pulled *crosses fingers*
Any opinions on the blower? I'm thinking about buying a flat hood and cutting a hole in it. Still undecided.

 

ehh, eventually just to match...(sorry for late reply)...didnt even think carberator and no fuel tank fuel pump

good to see its coming along ... didnt think i saw stats on new engine????

 

that thing with 3 holes is not a blower. its a fake injector hat, sometimes called a bug catcher. In my opinion anything fake like that is stupid and has no place on a thirdgen.

Where in northern Indiana are you?

 

Thanks, I don't technically have the stats on the new engine. We pulled it out of an old chevy show truck that has been sitting for a year or two. We aren't sure if it runs but the exhaust holes were chalky, the spark plugs were dry and the rear main seal wasn't leaking so hopefully I can just drop her in and go. I think it has some aftermarket parts in it. Still not sure because it has all aftermarket bolts in it, chrome hose covers and looked like someone put some money into the engine at one time. I would pull it apart and see but I don't really have the money to pour into it at the moment.
Yeah I understand it technically isn't a "blower" but ya catch my drift and I guess its just a matter of opinion. I'm located in the Michigan City area.

 

Finally decided to pull the engine apart and research codes. Its a 96 crate 350 Goodwrench 4 bolt main. For now I'm just replacing all gaskets, rods and mainbearings. I will post and update if there is anymore damage the farther I dig.

 

Finally got the engine to the bare block. Everything looks good just going to replace all the bearings, gaskets, rering kit and timing chain for now. Might upgrade the pistons for a higher compression ratio. Its 8.5:1 right now but I would like 9 - 10:1 ratio. Anyone know any good pistons for a older 350? It has 4.00 in. bore and a 3.47 in. stroke and 76cc chamber heads. I also thought about upgrading the cam but it already has a low end torque cam in it which is what I want.

 

Nice resto job! Car does look pretty solid. Good to see more early 3rd gens here Also, I wouldn't use that hood scoop thingy...that would totally ruin the car and would look more "trailer trash" than the 3rd gen already does. But it's your car, so do what you want. Just trying to keep the car looking more original.

 

Thanks! Its taken a lot of work and time and I can't wait to get it on the road.
Yeah I have since decided against using it. Not that I think it would look all that bad, but its the time and money I have to put into it. Also there would be no guarantee I would like it.

 

I'd throw those 76cc heads in the recycle bin and get some vortecs. There are also lots of engine math calculators online that will help you pick pistons with the correct compression height and dish volume. Or you can call Summit and they can help you. Even if you're on a budget and have to keep the heads, you can still order pistons that will get the compression up with the lazy heads. I'd shoot for 9.5:1 with iron heads.

 

Yeah I wanted to change the heads but it just isn't in my budget at the moment. I might go to the junkyard and see if I can get lucky. If not it might just be new pistons. My problem is I'm to eager to get this thing on the road. I'm definitely tired of seeing it sitting in my garage. I want to get on the road lol

 

well if you are planning on running different heads in the future, get pistons that will work with the new heads and just deal with the dismal compression ratio you're going to have with the stock heads.

 

As of now I don't plan on upgrading the heads. I don't plan on keeping the car for too long either. I want to keep it for a year maybe two and then sell it and buy another third gen. So due to money and time I'm just going to re-ring my old pistons and drop her in.

 

A lot of work done for a one year car imo, and good thing you didn't but the air induction thing on if your gonna sell it in the near future, seeing as most buyers prolly wouldn't like it. If you don't mind me asking why sell a third gen with that much time into it to buy another third gen? If the car is solid i would think it would be safer to do what you want with that car.

 

Thanks, and I see where you're coming from. I guess my problem is I don't want to dig myself so deep into the car that I can't break even when I sell it. I know the more money I pour into it the longer I'm going to want to keep the car and if I'm ever short on cash I will have to take a giant cash loss. If this was a 2nd gen or older car I would definitely keep it. I guess time will only tell.

 

So today I ordered a master engine rebuild kit from northern auto parts and upgraded the camshaft to Speed Pro 2000-4500 RPM # CS1013R 214/224 adv duration .443/.465 lift. I'm also going to bore the engine over .020. I will upload pictures when it gets here.

 

So stoked I got my parts today
The whole kit came with new oil pump, mr.gasket overhaul kit, ring/main bearings, camshaft(Speed Pro 2000-4500 RPM # CS1013R 214/224 adv duration .443/.465 lift), cam bearings, lifters, 8 new pistons .020, .020 rings, timing set, and frost plugs. All for $260 with shipping. Now to get the engine bored over .020

 

**Update**
I should be getting the engine back this week so I'm working on cleaning up the wiring and painting the engine bay. I put the car on jack stands and noticed gas was leaking all over my floor. I now need a new gas tank...Also I was looking at the brake lines and for some reason the guy cut the back brake lines and put new zinc brake lines on the front. I have way more work ahead of me than I expected..

 

Got the engine back from the machine shop today
I also prep'd the engine bay and just got done finishing painting the whole engine bay. I will upload some pictures of it painted and the engine with in the next week.

 

Finally got the engine bay painted and now I'm putting parts back in slowly.

 

I have got a lot of work done in the past week or so. I put on all new brake lines, grinded down all the rotors, put on two new rear calipers, flushed the rear end out and figured out my gears are 2.?? I forgot to count the spines so I just rotated the wheels one whole turn and check how many times the drive shaft went around.
I'm undecided on this steering wheel. I like the looks but the padding is falling apart on the inside and is all mushy. I have this GT grant steering wheel that I got from a friend, it was all pitted but I've sanded it down and shined it to look decent again. All opinions are welcome.

 

Finally got the engine painted and 90% together. Now it looks like things are actually getting done!

 

Any updates? I wouldn'tve painted the machined surface of the cylinder head where the manifold bolts onto but that's just me. Looks good man. Keep up the good work.

 

Yes, there are lots of updates. I just stopped posting because I didn't think I had anyone looking lol. I also didn't mind painting it because I figured its on the exhaust end so who cares.

I have done quite a lot to the car in the months I haven't posted here. I rebuilt the TH350 that was in the car, put in a new gas tank(with lots of problems), put a 9 bolt Borg Warner 3.23 rear-end in the car, replaced the valve covers and valve cover gaskets, did some body work, welded the exhaust together and that's about it.
Since the last post I have put the engine in the car and have almost a thousand miles on it.

 

Pictures

 

More Pictures

 

I do have future plans for the car but have contemplated selling the car for an older car restoration job. Some things I need to get done are putting in the B&M slap shifter, rebuilding the center console(with a fiberglass type material), rewire the stereo, put a new carb on, put on new rims with some fatter tires,Headers with true dual exhaust and eventually repainting the car.
Still undecided on what I'm going to do with the car for now. If I keep the car this winter I plan on building a mean street/strip motor, new rearend, and new transmission.