Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

So after a lot of thinking. I decided against continuing to put money into the badly rusted 92 Rs body. I started looking for a replacement body, with no luck on finding a unmolested 91-92 Rs I went looking for earlier year thirdgens. I love the look of non gfx thirdgens. After owning a 92 and helping a friend with his 89 t/a I decided against gfx and t-tops. I then lucked out and found a local Firebird. Looked clean from the craigslist ad and after a quick check on the way to work I was hooked. The car was spotless. No rust anywhere. Recent paintjob. Not the best but looks good. Minor orange peel and some peeling from not removing the bumpers to paint.


Underbody is spotless I can't find any bad rust area on the car. Bat tray is spotless, wheel wells, floors, strut towers, etc.


As far as the basic info its a 1986 Firebird 2.8L, 700r4 with what I assume 3.42s in a 10 bolt. Car has factory a/c delete. Came with a style 1 ramair hood. Stock suspension as far as I see. Tach shows 89k miles.

Some pictures:







The paint is good but could of been better. Has 2 dents nothing serious. Small clearcoat peal on spoiler, roof and top of doors. I plan to get it repainted next year it will be fine for now.



If I didn't mention the 2.8l is seized. It leaks between the motor and trans. This is no problem since if you check my 92 Rs thread I have a fresh lt1 that will be swapped in. Everything will be swapped over. 89 9 Bolt, 92 4L60, 97 LT1.


Jon (Pocket) has my harness so it will be changed over to it.


Yesterday besides getting it home I just did a basic checkover. Found nothing wrong and was very pleased in my $500 purchase. Expect more updates soon

CharcoalBird

iTrader: (4)

Recent paint and the clear is already peeling? That sucks. But for $500, good deal, car looks nice.

Keegan84

iTrader: (1)

You got yourself a great deal! Wish I got that much for the amount of money I paid for my car.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Thanks I know I got a great deal. I jacked up the car and I was speechless. You can eat off the floors. No rust anywhere. Gonna def coat the underbody to preserve it.

Anyways today I didn't get much done. I swapped in the cams 91-92 wheels which really don't look that bad but I won't keep them. I have crosslaces in mind or pro stars. We shall see. I also got the passenger side ls1 brakes installed with a new moog ball joint. It was a pita.

Anyways pictures:





The plan is to get the 2.8 out this upcoming weekend. Hopefully I don't work on Saturday.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Got the wheels I wanted for the car. They are American Racing Torque Thrust 17s. Came off a 87 Iroc. Decent 255 45 17 Kumhos all around. Overall decent buy for $700. Rear Pbrs clear fine gonna test out the ls1s tomorrow. Some teaser pics. Ill get em mounted and dropped tomorrow.

jaygt

iTrader: (4)

gonna keep the mudflaps?
nice car for the money

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

I personally would. Just because it keeps rocks and thing from screwing up your paint.

GTA1990

iTrader: (1)

hi - nice looking firebird and I like the way your heading with the ls1 front brakes.

I think the camaro rims actually really suit your firebird with the red inserts - I'm picturing it lowered with the RA1 hood you have and think it would look pretty cool - kinda understated and working with the clean lines of a non-gfx firebird

look forward to seeing more

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Gonna get the other side done today for the ls1 brakes and hopefully put it in the garage and swap in the 9 bolt.


I like the 91-92 wheels but I wanted something better. Was thinking of crosslaces but found these tts and went with em.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Didn't do much this weekend. Worked on Saturday so only had a one day weekend. Dropped both cars rear ends decided to stop there since my friend needed help finding out where/how water was getting in behind the seats. Makes me glad this bird is a hardtop. Not gonna miss t-tops.

As for what's next I am replacing the stock tpi/v6 pumps I have with a Walbro 255 that I just ordered. Both pumps haven't run in over 4 months. God knows how long on the bird. Not gonna risk it leaving me stranded or it failing. Might as well upgrade now and forget about it. Also ordered TA Performance 9 bolt girdle and silicone hose kit for the lt1.

Hopefully I will have time this upccoming weekend like to get the rear done on the bird. I think Jon is almost done with my harness too so everything will be done perfectly on time hopefully.


Here is some teaser pics of the wheels on with one side done with ls1 brakes.

quickkris2006

iTrader: (2)

looking good man!! i didnt see this swap before.. those are the same rims that i have on my 86 ta now! check out my swap thread im also doing an lt1.. started with a camaro and ended up putting it in a ta lol ill be keeping an eye out on this swap looks like its ganna be a nice clean swap with a nice bird

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

That is a nice car! I remember the amount of work you put into your Camaro and it's a shame seeing it get scrapped but this firebird is gonna be fantastic!

Personally, I'd keep the body totally factory along with the cheap wheels to make it a nice sleeper with the LT1 but that's just me.

In any case, keep us posted!

Awesome-X

Geez man thats ridiculous! A great buy for $500 for sure! I didn't know that you had scrapped your Camaro, though. That's a shame

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

I still have the Camaro. What made me want to switch is the ammount of work the body will need. She needed full floors. Both rear wheel wells, bat tray, rear trunk area and some firewall work and both rear quarters to be as close as perfect to the 86. I know all that work won't be cheap. I have no time since I work 60+ hours a week so having it done by a shop of my liking would of easily cost $3000-$5000. Finding another unmolested 91-92 came out short way out of the $1500 I wanted to pay for a clean shell. One motor knocking 92 came up but was sold the day after.


I would of loved to bring her back but the $ wasn't worth it.


Like I said before everything I have done is being swapped over to the bird. The lt1 swap is continuing onto it. I wosnt be cutting corners and in the end most of the oe parts will be upgraded. Right now the only thing that will stay stock is the steering gear box and torque arm which I plan to upgrade both later on.


As far as what I have done so far both cars have their rears on the floor and the 92 lt1 drivetrain is out with the lt1 on the stand getting a full check over again before going in the bird. Hopefully 6 months of sitting around in the garage didn't hurt it. Still turns like butter.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Got a few things done over the weekend. Rear end is 90% done. All that is left is ordering my replacement axle brake lines and she's good to go. I installed a new Walbro 255, was a bit of a tricky install due to the original sending unit not using a quick connect/disconnect system like my 92 modified it to make it fit, hopefully it works. Also installed a T/A Performance 9 bolt rear end girdle. Its a very good peice, quality is amazing and my old cover was bent and needed a lot of rtv to make it leak free anyways. Here is a shot I took when all that was left was the sway bar and one crappy one after I was working to get the 2.8 out.








I also was very close to yanking out the 2.8, I removed most of the engine bay items I won't be needing. Had the harness almost close for removeable but it will have to wait til I have the engine/trans lifted a bit to pop out where it is held in place on one of trans to engine bolts. I know the holder pops open but there was no space to do it.


Here is how the engine bay looks and how my cluttered garage stands with both 3rd gens,








I also love the rear stance the wheels give the car, makes it look like its running some pretty wide tires. Which I just might do later on.






That's all the updates for now, I have alot of parts coming in this week. Mainly my harness and some suspension upgrades that cost a crap ton of money.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Got a few things done. The day ended with a bad thing but we shall see. Got both the lt1 and 2.8 out. 2.8 was given to a friend of my fathers with trans since we have too much crap laying around. Got the lt1 out, in the process somehow the trans well the front being an inch of the ground caused it to cause stress on the bolt area near the guide pin? But a decent chunk broke off. I didn't feel bad since it gives me a good excuse to save up for a pro built 4l60e from dana. Other than that just cleaned up the birds engine bay and got the lt1s oil pan gasket on. Dented the dang oil pan so might replace it this weekend. Pics of todays work to follow. I will see if I don't work on sat. Would be nice to have a two day weekend to get more things done.


If anyone near me (South side Chicago) has a 96-97 4l60e for sale let me know. Want to drive this thing soon.

Awesome-X

Geez man I can't believe you don't have that done yet!

But seriously i looks great, and I love the rims. I want a set like that for my....something. Either one of them I guess.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

I know but I dont feel like rushing to get it on the road. If it takes me all summer to get it done on my standards thats fine. Gives me all winter to have my trans and rear upgraded.

Speaking of which i still have not found a solid 96-97 4l60e. There is one here but has decent mileage and has sat around for a while. On the other hand there is one locally from a 96 that is recently rebuilt with paperwork for $600. I can rush it and just pickup another 700r4 and run with my previous plan but i feel a 4l60e would be better. I will add in a 3200-3600 yank converter and call it a day. As far as the 9 bolt im thinking of getting 3.70s installed. I still have the original 3.42 open rear the car came with but i feel the ratio hit is worth it for PBR brakes and a posi. We shall see i will keep working and saving up got a raise coming up in may so that should bring in more funds.

As far as current progress i got most of the lt1 swap parts i need to get it running. Im talking to Jon (Pocket) about braided fuel lines, trans and possibly pwr steering. The lt1 oil pan got a good dent while removing it from the camaro so i ordered a replacement. I decided to repaint the intake red but well chevy red/orange is more orange than red. Might strip it and correct it this upcoming weekend.




I ran into some other problems/concerns first off the torque thrust stick out a bit more than I like to. With the ls1 brake swap they stick out a tad more but still the problem is there with stock brakes/unmodified spindles. Here is a picture of how much it sticks out





Wheels are 17x8.5 with 4.5 back space all around if I recall. 255 45 17s all around as well. Any way to fix this? I have a pair of 235 45 17 tires laying around might have one installed and see if it tucks more nicely. Gonna also see if the hub/rotor are flush on the ls1 spindles.


Another question is motor mounts. I know I have to swap in my v8 mounts but I noticed the brake lines sit where the mount will sit. Do I just unbolt and bend out of the way or what?

Awesome-X

I actually really like that color on your intake, I personally would keep it that way. As for the brake lines you should be able to bend them out of the way, they're pretty pliable and as long as you don't kink them or break them they'll be fine.

If you don't like those rims, let me know

evilemokid94

iTrader: (6)

damn....im painting my engine the color saterday...was hoppng it was darker red... oh well, whats wrong with your current lt? i noticed at the begening you said you had one in the garage but now your looking for another?

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

@AwesomeX- Give me an offer. I paid $700 for em. Perfect condition. Gonna give em a polish soon.



Little late update but got a few things done I realized I needed to swap motor mounts. Decided to buy them new instead of swapping the probably worn ones from the Camaro. In the process I cracked a spring off so I now need new springs shitty part is I wanna buy some lowering springs but don't want to do the process more than once if its a too low of a drop or not enough. I might put the Rs springs in before I purchase anything.

I also got the LT1 in. Fit like a glove. I just need to find a lot of bolts. Missing about 12-20 of em. Went ahead and stripped the intake and painted it red. Still gotta sand the fins to a polish. I went ahead and mocked everything on. Looks good.

A few pictures for now. More coming soon. I see it firing in a few weeks.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Forgot to update last weekend. I am still trying to do the most I can without a trans bolted in. A bit of delays has me waiting longer than I expected. Would of been done by now but nothing goes as planned.


Last weekend I got the wiring harness installed and started bolting on the accessories. Here is how she looks now.





I have been working a lot as usual. Good thing about it is most of my earnings goes to the project. My current focus is suspension/cooling. Got a few goodies coming next week.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Haven't updated updated in a while but a lot has been purchased since.


I purchased the 3 row Champion rad mentioned in the cooling sticky. Very good piece. I just need to get ahold of a dual tpi fan setup which I have to purchase from a fellow member.




I also went and traded my TT2s for a set of good un-curbed crosslaces. I plan to wrap em in Bfg Gforce Sports after she's road worthy. She is back on the ground after Moog 5662 install with Kyb Agx's. Still gotta install the 36mm sway bar and install the rear springs and replace the Gr2s with Agxs as well.






Last but not least my 4l60e came in today from Tim (new2chevy). Hopefully she lasts with my crazy driving. I am ordering a Yank Ss 3600 and B&M cooler for it.





Not much left for it to be done:

Cooling hoses
Heater core
Axle brake lines
Pcm tuning
Etc


Probably another month if I don't rush it.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Just a small update. Got a few things done over my 3 day weekend nothing important since the trans can't go in until my Yank Converter comes in.

The big thing this weekend was that the 92 Rs got scrapped. A friend of my dads came and cut it up into 8 pieces. Man the body was gone. Floors were horrible. Leaking heater core did a lot of damage. Hate saying it but cutting it up was fun.








The bird now has the garage all for itself. The 92 had to go had no space to do anything or store any extra parts.


besides scrapping the 92 I got the fans installed, rear moog springs, front 36mm sway bar and gotten most of the harness installed both the lighting and engine. Once I get the trans in I can get a lot more done.

I will update when I can.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

So forgot to update in a long time. She runs and drives! Still have to purchase a cat back and I'm still undecided on Gmmg, Mufflex or Mangaflow.

Here are some old pictures of the car without a tranny so it sits a bit high.







As I said she runs. Got the tranny in with a new Yank Ss3600 TC.




Here is how the bay looks for now. Still gotta install my Canton overflow and polish things up.





Ill update more when I can. If you go to youtube and type "1986 Firebird Lt1 swap startup" if you wanna hear it.

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

Looking good! For some reason I feel like I've mentioned this before, but I like how it still looks mostly stock from the outside. That thing must make a fun sleeper, I bet many imports will just see a "pos" V6 bird pull up next to them at a light.....

karl's-92'-z28

iTrader: (5)

can you post a front pic with the hood down, i dont know if i wanna run a R/A I or R/A II hood on my Formula. Your car is coming along nicely, i say GMMG Exhaust!

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

@Musclecar Thanks. Besides the crosslaces and Ra1 hood it does look stock. Which is what I'm going for.

@karl

Here you go

karl's-92'-z28

iTrader: (5)

Thanx, that looks good. Dam decisions decisions....lol, put back the PMD rally rims for a even more sleeper look & have your plates say "POS V6" lmao....

kmcn47

love that hood wish i had one for my car

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Not a lot to update just a few things done.


Took the headliner out. Found that the backing is perfect and my father said he can recover it for me if I desired and I remember him doing our previous cars and them turning out good. The one thing that has me worried is how close the color would be. We will see when I go see what colors they have.




Took the front end and support off (Pic shows otherwise) took it off to gain access to the tranny cooler decided to give a bit of peace of mind and replace the clamps with efi clamps and mounting the cooler ina better place.




Dropped the pan on the 4l60e. To replace it with a Derale pan. This thing is awesome. Quality is nice. Love the black stealthy look over the others flashy ones. The only thing that kinda seemed "bad" was that I practically had to force my temp sending unit. Even the plug that came with the pan didn't go in for more than a few threads before needing some force to go in deeper. Hopefully thread sealer is enough to prevent a leak. Other than that small hicup I am happy. It is now the lowest part of the car. Well the drain bolt is.







That's it for now. I would do a test drive but brakes need a banjo bolt that I ordered from Gmpartsdirect. Hopefully its here soon.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Well got a few things done over the weekend.


Brakes are done! I seriously struggled on them a lot. First Autozone gives me the wrong caliper and refused to exchange it since it had some love marks that I gave it with my hammer to fit. So I bought another one and used the wrong caliper as my core. Then the Russel line that came with the brake setup I found out was bad. Replaced it with a oem line and then the bolt won't tighten. Stripped the threads. Went to go see if Autozone will warrent exchange it and they did got it all tight and bled the fronts. Their done but still have to see if I have the problem most have with the control arm stops. As far as the rears I replaced them both with working ones reman from Autozone and cthe other from a yard lt1. Also went to hell finding the banjo bolt for the ls1 caliper ended up ordering the bolt from Gmpartsdirect. All that is now finished and done.


Got the B&M cooler remounted. A lot of people haven't run into problems with it but just something with clamps makes it feel unfinished. If I run into problems with it I will run a braided setup to make it more "safe".


Last thing is exhaust, decided to go Longtubes. 2210s to be exact. Hopefully they arrive this week. I plan to run 2210s>Mufflex Y pipe>Gmmg. Hopefully my ground clerance is good. I would gladly take the advantages of longtubes over my 4x4 look. We will see if clearance problems drive me crazy I would most likely go with Dyno Dons Shorties.

My goal for the year is just drive it for a week. I plan to take it apart this winter, TF 185s, Good street cam (CC305?) And maybe 3.70s.

crimsonshade

Hello
love the play by play. I have a 1983 that I am looking at putting a LT1 into when i get back from overseas. I already have the motor and a 5 speed transmission unfortunatly when i bought the motor the person who had sold it to me didn't have any of the accessories and since it was comming out of a 94' caprice i was not to worried about it for $200. I have a painless wireing harness for the motor so that should be covered but what I would like to know is if you pulled your LT1 out of a F-Body and if so did all the accessories swap right into the older generation car or did you have to order them special from somewhere. Also I didnt get the PCM and was wondering if i got one for a formula would i have compatibility issues as the motor came out of a caprice. Feel free to message me directly at my email if you want to.

Thanks in advance

SGT ANDERSON, BRIAN

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

A T5? That thing will not last with that Lt1. Even more if you get on it. People worry about them behind a l98 a Lt1 is just asking for trouble. Yep my Lt1 is out of a 97 Trans Am. Everything swapped over besides the Ac compressor. You need to modify the Kmember for clearance. I bypassed the A/C. You can pickup a Fbody Bracket from ebay for around $60. I would personally buy all new parts to fill up the bracket but its all on your budget. As far as Pcm you will need a Bbody tune/pcm. Since Bbody uses 2 knock sensors and have diff head, cam, etc.







As far as Updates got these in during the week




They are 2210s if you are wondering. I have owned Hedman Longtubes, Slp 1 3/4, Hedmans shorties, Edelbrocks, etc and these are by far the best.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Didn't do much this weekend. Spent it mostly being lazy for once. Went to PicknPull at Hammond with a old friend trying to pickup body parts for his 89. Didn't think I would find anything since I mostly don't need anything. Well found a hatch pull down motor that looked ok since mine is apperently does not work and wiring/relay works. Picked it up and a Headlight switch since mine needs to be held for lights to go down. Got home and continued cleaning up and prepping my Hooker 2210s for paint.


Went ahead and replaced the pull down and it worked! I then saw why the old one didn't work:




I plan to pick up another bare motor when I see a good one at the yard again for a backup. I then finished up the 2210s. Went for a few trials to see what angle I need to get em in. Passenger gave me a fight but I found a way to get it in and slipped right in. There was no clearance for the knock sensor connector. So I went ahead to just pickup a new BWD and relocate it to the driver side. Taped it and torqued it down just need to lenghten the wire to reach it. I have a new stock style starter and it fits fine but I will replace it with a LT1 Corvette version since I hear a lot of good things about em. As far as the driver side it just slipped right in no need to lift anything just removing spark plugs and my autometer temp sending unit.








Granted my Moog springs still have to settle and it was on stands for 2 weeks but here is the clearance of the collector which is now the lowest part of the vehicle followed by the derale pan.







That's pretty much all I did. Cleaned up some of the wiring under the hood and started putting some of the interior back on. Still about another small stretch to go. Replacing the Alt with a Tuff Stuff 200amp. Mufflex Ypipe is coming during the week, also found out my Wp coupling is most likely worn causing issues with the cooling ordered that last week and should be here this week as well. I will be ordering my Gmmg from Madhammer next week hopefully. I see it being ready soon, very soon probably as soon as early Sept if nothing goes wrong.

kmcn47

if i remember right from reading the 2.8 didn't run but what exactly did you do with it? still got it? any idea what was wrong with it?

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

It wsas completely seized. After we took it out and I removed the intake we found that the oil was horrible. Sticky and as black as can be. I gave it and the 700r4 to the scrap guys that drive around picking up metal around here.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Well she's almost ready. I found out my all new cooling system wasn't flowing. Buddy of mine that lives down the street said to check the Water Pump Coupling or "Driveshaft" as some call it. Went out removed the rad hoses and pump and checked the old coupling. Sure enough it looked stripped. Went onto Gmpartsdirect and ordered one.






Few days later it comes, such a small part to cause a lot of expensive parts to fail.





Got the pump back in and hooked up the lines and got a leak... well atleast its flowing now. Saw the area that leaked was around the top radiator hose and suspected bad clamps. Went to Autozone and bought better ones and it still leaked. I looked closely annd saw it was leaking from the bleed valve on the waterneck. Simple tighting and no more leaks! Cooling system is done.


I then saw at one of the few things I never replaced or looked at. The alternator. Took it apartand saw it had seen better days a lot of things like the brushes and rotor were worn and saw one brush needed resoldering. Said screw it and researched on alts. Everything came up bad. Autozone alts were said to be crap, same with Oreillys. Same with Powermasters and so on. Saw that Summit carries a alt line named Tuff Stuff. Researched and found out they might be ok to take a chance with. I went with their polished 200amp version which ran me around $325. It actually got her today and externally it looks good. Some small areas thatwer not polished but those areas won't be seen, still kinda irked me for what I paid for it. Ill have more to say about it and the company once times go on.






Last of the work has been te exhaust. I'm not going small for this. I originally was going with shorties but went against it and found a nice deal on the 2210s. $100 for em was too hard to pass up. They were rough but a Saturday fixed that as you can see from my previous post. Well I ordered and received my Mufflex Y Pipe this week. Looks great fitment isn't as bad as people said. After messing with it today for a few hours I came to the fact that I need to shave my crossmember a bit to tuck it up a bit more. I will work on it all day today (Sunday) and get it in right. As far as the remainder or catback I have had my mind set on Gmmg since the get go and been looking at others like Corsa, Borla, etc but nothing has swayed me away from it. I will be ordering it next week if everything goes as planned. Here is a pic of the y pipe for those interested, 3' to a flowmaster Y that goes to a 4'.




Long update is long. I will get pictures of the y when its all bolted up. I plan to drive it around the block before it goes onto standby until I buy the catbac and get her street legal.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Well the past weekend wasn't very productive. Worked Saturday and Sunday morning I spent wrestling with the Mufflex Y pipe and I got defeated by it. Had it nice and tucked but I could not get the Y to line up. I took off the tranny crossmember and bam it lined up. Looks like I need to shave it a bit to get the clearance I need. I only spent about half an hour doing this before I went out. Picked up a new Laptop and a few other small electronics. For once I spent money on other things than food and the 86.

With the upcoming labor day weekend I might get a 3 day weekend to finally get her ready and just need to bolt up a cat back or in this case Y back and plate her up. Just some small things to finish it up. I still want to perfect my tranny cooler and I will try to perfect my routing of the lines.


Other than Tranny Cooler cleaning up and Y pipe and some interior re-assembly shes mostly ready. I have big plans for this winter, very big plans

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Well it was a fun weekend. Decided to get the car as road ready as possible and take it for a test drive. I made sure all the hoses were secured down mainly the trans lines. Left the air dam off since it was just a quick drive (No plates & Open Y pipe..).

Drove around normally to see how it felt and well it felt awesome. Steering was good even though it still has all old worn parts (Still deciding on Spohn or Moog). There is a really rough road near me where train tracks are and I went right for it to test the longtubes and the suspension. It felt awesome, in my friends 89 GTA and my old 92 (Both Worn Suspension Shocks/Springs wise) everything rattled over these roads and I mean everything. Felt like nothing was bolted on to them but not with the 86. Besides a few panel pieces I left unscrewed due to wiring it was very soft ride. I believe I had the AGX on the softest setting. Springs still need to settle so ride height is a bit high but it felt great. Nothing really challenging this car will see maybe quick moves to dodge potholes.

I really did not go hard on it, I remembered Yank said to normally drive 150 miles before foot stalling or Wot passes. So I only went 50% throttle from a stop and man does it take off with the Yank. Tires are pretty bald and rotted so of course it would not hook for poop. Sounded great though with the open Y pipe, apparently I can be heard from a few blocks away


She did great, ran great. Temps on the tranny were perfect and motor never went over 184. Everything just seemed perfect to me but I still had alot to do before I take it to work and put real use into it.


Nothing went terribly bad besides loosing the steering shaft nut that I forgot to tighten down and a small leak on the return power steering line that goes from the cooler to the res. I also apparently need to cut off or modify the spindle stops on the control arms since it seems to be too close to the brake line for comfort. The last thing I need to do as well is fixed the stripped crossmember holes. From what I read the wise thing to do was tap it to a 7/16 14 thread. Easier said then done, my tap I bought was crap so that didn't help and me thinking a drill could do the job didn't help either. Going to Harbor Freight tomorrow to pick up a Tap wrench for the job. Don't like the fact that only 2 bolts are properly torqued down.


I am still debating on exhaust. I now want to run Dyno Dons shorties and Y pipe with the GMMG setup and give the car a good stance and not have to worry about loosing all the money I put into the longtubes and Y pipe when I scrape it to hell one day. I already gave Dyno Don a PM and his prices are very good. This probably wont happen for a few weeks since I have other things to buy for parents home before my income is free again for the car.


Thats pretty much it, the only thing stopping me from plating and insuring it is the exhaust. To be honest, I should of kept the Slp's. Would of been done by now

Anyways here is a pic I took before I put on the belt and drove it. I will get some good pictures of the whole car this upcoming weekend, she was too dusty for my taste. I didnt have any washing equipment so I said screw it.

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

Looks good man! Glad to see that you're enjoying it. As for the front end rebuild, I rebuilt mine with Moog parts about 11,000 or so miles ago and I gotta say that the car feels great. Invest in a wonder bar as well in case you don't have one, I got the TDS unit and I like it; really tightened up the front end even more.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Thanks, Really thinking of going Moog. Buying all the parts locally would be alot more than going to Rockauto or Summit. The Spohn kit is the least inexpensive but I hear alot of bad things about it.

I will get pictures up when I give her a good detail this weekend. Gonna finish up the crosslaces as well.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Well kinda of a good and bad day. First off, my cooling problem continued. There was no coolant flow at all and the car would overheat very badly. I knew the block was empty so I took out the thermostat and filled it up and it filled up and it seemed to work. Temps never went over 182 on my Autometer gauge. Still in the process of reinstalling the thermostat, me being dumb I saw just how hot the coolant was. I quickly put it in but I think the damage might of been done. The Opti got wet

I decided to just disconnect the bat and let it dry over the week. Hopefully I dont need to replace it. No big deal lesson learned but the optispark has 0 miles and is a GM replacement.

I did however get another video taken of the car. Still cleaning it up. I see myself not taking her out to be honest. Its almost too late to enjoy her for the remaining of the good weather. I would rather just keep her in the garage and keep on making it better for next year. I will see it all depends on what happends with the opti.

Anyways here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEiK1..._order&list=UL

jessie83

hey man was looking over your bulid and dam it came out good and now iam gonna do a LT1 swap now in my camaro

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Just make sure your LT1 is in good running condition. Looking back I could of had a pretty sick LS1/4l60e car If I would of waited a bit longer til I got my job.

Thirdgen89GTA

iTrader: (5)

The opti getting a little wet isn't really an issue. As long as it dries out and doesn't get moisture inside the opti itself.

My opti has gotten wet when I hit a puddle and it splashed up in the engine bay. Then it chugged for a good 10 minutes. But it dried out and all was well.

To bleed the LT1 you need to fill the system with the bleeder screw on the thermostat housing open. Otherwise the air pressure will keep the system from filling properly. I made this mistake exactly ONCE and thankfully no damage was done.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Hopefully it dries out during the week. It lost a good amount of coolant but I saw it only wet a bit but hopefully it doesnt do any damage. I ran the car before and turned it off before it hit 240f. This is from the Autometer Gauge.

I will run the car next weekend and bleed the system right. Hopefully everything is good.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Well the Opti seems fine. Started it up before I went to work and started like nothing happened. Very happy but I am not out of the dark yet, I will test it out over the weekend and see how the car does. I will be modifying my Trans cooler again and routing the lines away from under the car and route around the Radiator more clean and safer.

I am also picking up a complete exhaust system from Sean (Wanab03ss) this weekend. Hedman Longtubes (Forget the Part #), Custom Y pipe (That fits) and Hooker Aerochamber. I had a chance to pick the system before but gave my old systems a chance. I thought he ended up using/selling it but apparently its still for sale which I will go and pickup since its a great deal for a complete system. A good cleanup and new gaskets/bolts and it will be ready for a long drive on sunday hopefully.

Thirdgen89GTA

iTrader: (5)

You will be very happy with the LTs and aerochamber. My friend had LT's and an Aerochamber on his 30th Z. The Aerochamber is a perfect match to the LT1 I think, great tone all the time, quiet on the highway, and eat your firstborn child noise at WOT.

Carlos773

iTrader: (3)

Hopefully it sounds good. If it does I will probably stick with it.

I picked up the exhaust from Sean (Wanab03ss) and its great. Headers were a bit rough but I sanded them down and coated them. They have been hammered for the clearance areas and even on areas for spark plug clearance. Y pipe is amazing, tucks up nice. Of course the lowest spot is where it routes under the crossmember but I am sure it wont be a problem.

The bad part is I could not use my Derale Transmission pan . Its too low and the Y pipe hit it. I thought about giving it some hammer love but decided against it. I mainly bought it for cooling but If I see I need it I will just add a fan onto the B&M Cooler.

I should get some exhaust videos up tomorrow. Maybe a good test drive as well.