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Well I guess some of you called it.. I haven't sold the Iroc. I just have too much money in the Holley and other components to sell it for the offers I was getting (sub 9k). I decided to just leave it in bay 3 and wait it out. After putting about 100 miles on the GTR in six months, I decided I needed sell it. Melissa had a 4.8 S10 that was sitting at a shop to be finished, but the hurricane did a lot of damage to the body and it wasn't worth paying to finish it and try to sell it. She said I could have the engine so now I have no excuse other than time and motivation. With the GTR leaving I now have a need for the Iroc again.
I'm most likely going to have a friend's shop who does a lot of LS builds do the swap (if he will make some time to get it done). This is the only chance it has of getting done before fall. I'm still working on the 49 project and my lift is occupied for at least another month or two. IF the car finally provides some satisfaction I plan to go towards a forged 6 liter and twin 76's. Right now I have the single 76 ball bearing. I'm trying to decide if I should start with the single 76 or put on these two Garret 57mm journal bearing turbos I acquired a few years ago, and then I'd already have the plumbing in place for twins when I upgrade assuming I do.
49 is coming along. I have the entire airride suspension work done, but sadly just learned that Accuair went bankrupt so now I have a new in the box system with no warranty or support. I tend to have bad luck with my cars! LOL
Glad to hear you're still moving stuff along if only slowly.
The boosted LS swap is a good one based on what I've seen. The transmission options are certainly better w/o an aftermarket controller. If my 383 pukes out I'm leaning towards a similar path. I really like the idea of running an 0411 over the Megasquirt II even though I'm starting to get mine sorted somewhat. With a 4.8 the 76 will be wholly adequate. I don't even know that I'd go high buck in the headers if you can fit flipped manfiolds in they seem to work well. Do a "sloppy mechanics" setup throw some PAC 1218s at it, the Elgin cam, whatever accessories/intake you need to make it fit and call it a day. If you get a converter I'd do it once and get a 4L80E with a nice setup. I think the 700R4 is a weakness in the build that's been kind of glaring for a long time. Just seems like getting the converter to work right is (justifiably) a path of frustration for you.
Absolutely going 4L80 this go round. I already have a chromoly driveshaft and a crossmember for a 80. I also have an 80 out back that is supposed to be in decent shape (before the hurricane blew the tarp off of it and possibly filled it with water!). So the only dilemma is choosing between that one or spending on a built one. With my luck I'm inclined to use what I have and make sure the rest of the setup is satisfactory before dumping more cash into it.
And yep going with stock manifolds sloppy style unless my installer talks me into something different (doubtful since he would most likely prefer the sloppy way).
GTR rolls out of here tomorrow so I'll have more room in the shop for a bit. Covid boredom has given us a lot of motivation to finish up projects around here like shed repairs, a new veggie garden, enclosing the tractor barn and now starting on building a new 10x20 shed to replace the one that blew away! Somewhere between all of these projects I'll even work on the cars a little!
Pop the pan, if it looks good throw an HD2 kit in it and be done for a while. I'm with you on the projects, I've been working like crazy on my stuff. You'd probably get a chuckle out of the Astro Van, it's coming along well enough I'm getting ready to lose some drivetrain parts.
Well I guess some of you called it.. I haven't sold the Iroc. After putting about 100 miles on the GTR in six months, I decided I needed sell it. With the GTR leaving I now have a need for the Iroc again.
Can't really fault you for that decision Steve, as I had a White GTR years back that I got rid of, and kept the third gen. Maybe its' something because of our era, who the hell knows, but they are not easy to let go of after you put so much time into them. Hope this time around you're successful with your turbo build buddy. Best of luck with it...
I'm removing the one common component for this latest revision... Myself! Letting my friend get this going will eliminate my own early influence to the setup that might otherwise taint it for a lifetime of problems. He is also extremely good at turbo LS/Gen1 builds and it will be right from the get go. Only problem is he is notorious for taking forever to get started and to finish projects so we'll see how (if) it goes. I still need to figure out a way to get this S10 hood open so I can yank out this 4.8 because even if he is ready, nothign is going to happen without the new parts ready. I'm wondering if I should leave it alone, or pull it apart and gap the rings?
Banner week around here.. sold GTR last Friday. Sold my diesel pusher Thursday! No more debt for a little while until I find a boat or plane I can't live without or a house. Right now I'm just happy to breath easy and not be stuck with payments on things I don't use and better yet I don't have to waste any more time maintaining it all.
I'm going to get the Iroc running this week (just a couple of plugs and wires I had off looking for the source of my backfire problem) so I can drive it on the trailer. I'm not going to try to replace the header gasket since I know it will just get blown out again. Sure wish I could take one more blast down the road at 20 psi in this setup for old time's sake though.
I'm removing the one common component for this latest revision... Myself! Letting my friend get this going will eliminate my own early influence to the setup that might otherwise taint it for a lifetime of problems. He is also extremely good at turbo LS/Gen1 builds and it will be right from the get go. Only problem is he is notorious for taking forever to get started and to finish projects so we'll see how (if) it goes. I still need to figure out a way to get this S10 hood open so I can yank out this 4.8 because even if he is ready, nothign is going to happen without the new parts ready. I'm wondering if I should leave it alone, or pull it apart and gap the rings?
Banner week around here.. sold GTR last Friday. Sold my diesel pusher Thursday! No more debt for a little while until I find a boat or plane I can't live without or a house. Right now I'm just happy to breath easy and not be stuck with payments on things I don't use and better yet I don't have to waste any more time maintaining it all.
I'm going to get the Iroc running this week (just a couple of plugs and wires I had off looking for the source of my backfire problem) so I can drive it on the trailer. I'm not going to try to replace the header gasket since I know it will just get blown out again. Sure wish I could take one more blast down the road at 20 psi in this setup for old time's sake though.
Some times it's bet to get a fresh set of eyes on things and to understand the value of that. It's gonna be weird when he comes back and tells you that X Y or Z little itty bitty part (like say an external fuse holder) was hot and replacing it gets rid of the intermittent issues.
Been on a 7 state road trip most of this month.. just got back but I still have a big list of TTD ahead of the Iroc. I still haven't extracted the 4.8 and haven't heard a word from the person I was hoping to get to do the bulk of the work. Too hot now so will likely be a while!
Getting a little closer to some progress on the cars. My TTD list is quickly diminishing. Just waiting on the spray foam guys to show up (I'm having my doubts now that they got their deposit). New brush seals on the roll up doors and a new man door should help keep the shop cooler as well. I put the plug wires back on the Iroc and got it running to move it out of the way. Looks like I have my gen1 turbo plumbing sold when I pull it out. Looking like I will have to do the swap myself which will slow down the progress since the 49 is still on the lift for a while. I did decide to shortcut the 49 floorpan project significantly and not try to sand and paint the entire floor pan. I'm only going to paint the new metal and welds and just revisit the major project later. This should get it back on the road much quicker which frees up time for the LS swap in the Iroc. Not sure we're going to have much of a country left to drive these around in but I want to get them done either way.
I applied for EIDL and they are emailing asking if I want PPP. I got funded with EIDL. So far we haven't needed it but I thought about getting the loan since its a good rate. Not sure what to do on that yet. Not sure what to do with the EIDL money but we could end up needing it if they start shutting things down again.
Interesting results from the shop insulation efforts that some of you might be interested in. I have been busy installing brush seals on my three roll-up doors while waiting for the foam guys to show up. When I entered the shop through the side door, I immediately noticed the temperature was lower near the doors than previously. I expected to see massive improvement on the Nest thermostat on time report but it made little difference in the compressor run time. The spray foam guys showed up and I decided to leave the thermostat untouched for a few days for an apples to apples comparison. The results are in! With the thermostat at 83 (my normal compromise setting to keep humidity down and not completely kill the AC unit fighting the air intrusion/no insultation), previous week average run time was 10 hours per day. After the spray foam the average run time is 3.2 hours per day! I'm sure the combination of brush seals and spray foam makes this number better than spray foam alone. Either way, I'm very happy with the results. Now I've set the shop temp down to 78 and eventually lower to find that sweet spot between comfort and not over-working the AC unit - hopefully 72ish. Now I have to get busy to put the shop back together nice and organized.
Also had my attic and new shed done. You could say we'll be very busy re-organizing things into the shed and attic now that both are climate controlled. We've been needing the space since the hurricane. The light at the end of the tunnel is visible. It's all that currently stands in the way of working on the cars. Well I did start a little side business with a mopa fiber laser but I'll still have more time to get on the cars soon. In fact I plan to use the laser to do some car related projects but mostly gun and jewelry is the plan.
You going to start engraving for SOTs? That's a pretty good business. If I had a shop I'd be tempted to pay the money to get a SOT but man that's real real bank.
You going to start engraving for SOTs? That's a pretty good business. If I had a shop I'd be tempted to pay the money to get a SOT but man that's real real bank.
I'm hoping to get involved in firearms in general. With record sales and everyone these days wanting to customize everything (tattoo popularity proves this!), I think it has a lot of potential. I've been to many local dealers and it seems no one else is offering services. I also talked with a boutique owner that Melissa knows from spending (often MY ) money there and she was very interested for custom work on some high dollar items they sell and said they get requests daily. I'm not too excited about dealing with paperwork on the FFL but if I see enough interest and willingness to pay for the services I'll make it happen. I also see some potential for automotive work such as marking charge pipes, throttle bodies and valve covers. I just don't want to get too involved in one-offs that require a lot of work for little money. Maybe initially to get experience and interest though!
Actually this will be my second laser engraver/marker. I only managed to make a few test engravings before the first one broke. It stopped working on low power settings initially so I was stuck doing everything near max power. New machine is on the way from a different vender/manufacturer. Iroc engine parts are gonna be marked up like a millennial at a tattoo parlor LOL!
Build a shop they said. Add a lift and It'll really make car building fun and easy they told me! Put AC in the shop and you'll practically live under your car! Well, I didn't factor in aches, pains, old age and running a business. And a woman that loves to travel! And a cat 5 hurricane to complicate all the other factors. What I'm saying is I haven't touched anything since the last post. We did go on a little five week vacation but just got back this weekend. I promised myself to put the cars as the priority now that the major house projects are done. Well I've been back three days and have yet to open the shop door. Several things have come up since we returned and I'm concerned about how much workable free time I will have in the coming weeks as a result.
I say workable because, as some of you already know, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis a year ago. I only get a few hours a day where I feel like I can go out and wrench or do anything else productive. Add in house/property maintenance and general life responsibilities and it doesn't leave much time for cars. I would be on meds to try to combat it, but the whole chinavirus has my doctors arguing over whether I should risk immunosuppressants or not. Long story short, it's uncontrolled and measurably worsening since the diagnosis. Either as part of the RA, or just in response to chronic pain, I have found my BS tolerance to be extremely low. If something technical is fighting me, I get very angry very quickly. Things get destroyed. Perhaps it's because I've spent 27 years fighting such things in my IT career and I'm just burned out of troubleshooting. Luckily these days I have people to fight those daily battles for me in the IT realm. God Bless Them! Not so much luck on the automotive side though. The 49 came back in pieces on a wrecker and when I had the IROC worked out they wired the coils in the LS firing order then rearranged the firing order in the Holley - screwing up the injector order.
So I am announcing two things today:
1> Both cars must have significant progress by Jan 1st or I am cutting my losses on one or both, then I will just buy a completed 49-54 coupe to enjoy.
2> I am committing to TRY to make progress beginning with today. I am going out to the shop to turn wrenches on both cars TODAY.
As I type this at 7:20 am, my back is already hurting!
Don't feel bad Steve, I can't even get myself to install an aftermarket alternator and power steering pump bracket(s). I walk into the garage, feel how cold it is, then walk right back out. That's my excuse this week. Not going to throw any "shoulda, coulda" your way, but I think you have one too many projects on hand. Maybe restore the Iroc-Z back to it's original glory, get decent money for it, and just forget the LSX stuff. I mean, it's kinda redundant at this point because so many people have done it. Unless of course you have specific plans for it afterwards. I would just put the money towards the '49 build because that is something you just don't see everyday. My two cents..
so are you saying the iroc coils had the wrong firing order causing the backfires?
it can be very confusing dealing with that crap. i put a 24x with ls pcm on an LT1 and had to deal with it. not only wiring them to the correct firing order, but also making sure the guy tuning it has everything configured correctly on that end too.
Ah the joy of multiple projects and life interruptions/setbacks...
1. My daily (2016 Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400 AWD) got totaled. Hit a solid object in the road, busted the oil pan and locked the engine up. *SIGH* At least I dont have to worry about a car note anymore. I may get another one but finding one equipped the same way as the one I had may prove to be difficult.
2. My potential daily is a 2003 BMW 330xi. Waiting for the title. DMV (MVA - "Motor Vehicle Administration") is SUPER delayed due to COVID-19. Its a NICE ride. Only paid $500 for it. And its AWD. Should be a nice daily.
3. My 1995 K1500 will either be LS swapped (LM7 block/crank, L33 rods, 243 heads, TBSS intake, cam, headers, etc) or replaced with an LS based truck. Leaning towards getting the LS truck, building the combo and slapping it in with an LSA blower.
4. My G8 will be getting a TVS2300 REAL SOON. shooting for 600-700 WHP and STILL be able to daily it if necessary (I really dont want to bcuz the gas mileage already sucks in that heavy pig).
5. My RS... I've changed directions soooo many time. Its either gonna be based on Holley manifolds OR the CX Racing kit. I have a 2006 LQ4 (Gen 5 rods), LS3 heads, LS3 intake, 7875, 4L80, etc. Im going to run the Terminator X. I may get a built 4L60E due to fitment issues that I dont want to tackle. Shooting for 800 WHP.
I feel you on having too many projects. And I feel you on not wanting to do jack on them. I dont even want to change BRAKES. LOL! I WOULD like to see you finish the IROC (I've been following you for a WHILE). The 49 might be too much money and work. You might not even get to enjoy it.
My opinion is... Finish the IROC first. Make some serious HP. Enjoy it a little while. And once youre done playing with it, sell it. Take the money from the sale of the IROC and build the 49. Then retire. LOL!
so are you saying the iroc coils had the wrong firing order causing the backfires?
it can be very confusing dealing with that crap. i put a 24x with ls pcm on an LT1 and had to deal with it. not only wiring them to the correct firing order, but also making sure the guy tuning it has everything configured correctly on that end too.
No, they had the firing order rearranged in the tune so the correct coil was firing but the wrong injector. This caused it to run poorly especially at idle. There was never a backfire issue before or after the coils were rewired in the correct order. The backfire only occurred in high boost.
My opinion is... Finish the IROC first. Make some serious HP. Enjoy it a little while. And once youre done playing with it, sell it. Take the money from the sale of the IROC and build the 49. Then retire. LOL!
The issue seems to be getting anything finished. If I had the Iroc finished and running half way reliably I don't see myself getting rid of it. For sure it's the easier project to finish, but cost-wise I'd have to spend another 4-8k on it. The 49 build parts are about 90% acquired with the largest remaining expense being new tires. To further complicate it, we just found the house we've been looking for these past couple of years.. but the uncertainty of the election is holding up a final decision on buying it. If that purchase happens, the cars are in even more trouble because there is a canal! That means boats and boats mean free time gone!
O.P.s NOT GONNA SELL THE IROC! HEs FOOLING HIMSELF! (....again....)
Age is the factor here, and I don't mean the age of the car. There comes a point in time when you just don't feel the same way anymore for the car you started out with, thus the reason why the '49 ever became a factor. Sad to say, but nobody stops for a third gen at any of the car shows that we go to except for former owners of third gens themselves, and they are slowly dying off. Even the Grand National boards are dead, literally. The once mighty have fallen as they always do with time. So if you're looking for a show stopper which most here are, stick with the '49 like he has been doing because it is different, and a turbo charged 4200 I6 drivetrain will have today's tuners drooling at the car shows. He may not admit it, but even that GTR he sold probably drew way more attention than that Iroc ever possibly could. Se La Vie.
Age is the factor here, and I don't mean the age of the car. There comes a point in time when you just don't feel the same way anymore for the car you started out with, thus the reason why the '49 ever became a factor. Sad to say, but nobody stops for a third gen at any of the car shows that we go to except for former owners of third gens themselves, and they are slowly dying off. Even the Grand National boards are dead, literally. The once mighty have fallen as they always do with time. So if you're looking for a show stopper which most here are, stick with the '49 like he has been doing because it is different, and a turbo charged 4200 I6 drivetrain will have today's tuners drooling at the car shows. He may not admit it, but even that GTR he sold probably drew way more attention than that Iroc ever possibly could. Se La Vie.
- Rob
lol are you kidding? thirdgens have been coming up in value, and 4th gens are starting now as well. former owners and the interested generation arent exactly at dying off age either, that is the muscle car guys of the 60's.
the boards are dead because of facebook.
Some good news.. I've been forcing myself to get out in the shop and do work. Sheet metal welding is coming along on the 49. Any progress is a step closer to the Iroc getting some attention. We finally found a house that would work (of course in the peak of the highest priced insane market and during a chaotic election cycle with no certainty of the direction the country will go) and are in the negotiation process. My offer was shot down and we are too far apart, but either way it's clear I need to get as much progress done now as possible. A move alone will distract me, but living in town means 30+ minutes drive to get up here to the current homestead. With motivation at an all time low I doubt I'd finish any builds in less than a few years. If I could just get both cars mostly done before any likely move then I will have the motivation to finish and obviously maintain them. This fits well into my plan of getting some significant progress by the end of the year.
It would be funny if we end up with this house though. It's in a bit of a hoity toity area - certainly that specific street. I plan to bring my chickens and a third gen would just ice the cake. I literally live in redneckville and it's comical that we'd be making a move from here to there. Third gens are not found on this street, yet! There are some chickens in that area on some other streets though. They are pretty popular here since the shortages of groceries earlier this year.
It looks like I am buying a house. Inspection #2 tomorrow and then the appraisal in the next couple of weeks. If all goes well we close at the end of December. For the short term I'm keeping my current house and shop. I've found a lot with a small shop that is 1/2 mile from the other house that could work nicely for continuing builds and getting out of this property entirely. Time will tell. So now I'm considering the idea of dropping the 4.8 in the Iroc as is (it is either stock or possibly gas a small cam upgrade). This would free up the donor truck to be sold and one less obstacle to leaving this property altogether. It would leave the Iroc 100% operational and let me work out the bugs before doing the turbo setup. I think I could knock out that project in a week or so if I really tried. How long would it take for me to be insanely bored with a stock 4.8 sending that mega power through a 4L80 and 9 inch?! LOL
At this point I might have 5-6 weeks before I shift into moving mode, and I'm already 5 days behind my planned work on the 49 this week. I need to have this property sold by the end of March before the foreclosures start affecting prices, so I absolutely must get progress and soon. Need a dose of motivation and some pain free days (today isn't one of those)
lol are you kidding? thirdgens have been coming up in value, and 4th gens are starting now as well. former owners and the interested generation arent exactly at dying off age either, that is the muscle car guys of the 60's.
the boards are dead because of facebook.
So this is something I've had discussions about recently. After tallying up nearly $26k in my thridgen build, I decided to have it appraised by someone who is not only registered with all the major classic car insurance companies, but a hot rodder who knows the industry, is involved in buying and selling, etc.
For insurance replacement cost, he came up with $21,900 as a value for my Formula, and that is what it is insured at now. For "resale" he came up with. Well, I'll just show you:
So I've had my car listed at various places, with zero interest. I've lowered the price a few times from $15k to $12k. No interest. zero. I can't even find someone interested in it as a roller (leaving the trans, exhaust, headers, fuel system) for $4500. Not a soul! Body work and paint cost more than that haha.
Now I am a member of the various thirdgen and fbody groups on facebook, and there is plenty of love for these cars. Just no money to back up that love.
On the flipside, I'm very active in the muscle car and restoration community. C3 and C2 Corvettes are commanding a premium, first generation fbodies. In fact, a 1967 Firebird went up for sale recently - this thing was an absolute turd, needed major body work, floor pans, trunk, package tray, left quarter, had no motor trans. I considered it a $500 parts car. Sold for $5k and the guy had about 80 phone calls on it.
I watch the auto auctions. Saw this one come through the other day:
This was a LOW LOW mile GTA. Like under 20k. Immaculate condition. Reserve came off and it sold at 7k.. 7k..
For comparison sake, I've got 4 big boxes in my shop right now with parts from ecklers for my C3 build. Total retail price of all of the parts is just over $9,800. This is just chassis parts - control arms, bushings, steering, brakes, brake hoses, etc. Basically all the stupid stuff
to do a frame off restoration. So basically, you can buy a mint condition low mile convertible GTA for less than it cost to buy the parts to re-do a C3 frame..
Sorry just seen this. Actually I wasn't kidding. Although Iroc's were buzzing for awhile, and some still are, only certain ones will bring astronomical amounts in terms of being rare or from a collectability standpoint. Many are still sitting in a for sale state, and will more than likely be like that for quite awhile. My '90 GTA is very rare, fully loaded w/rare options, Blk/Blk Tuned Port w/T5 tranny. Car has very low miles, but I only I know how much because years back when I started fooling around with turbo's I changed clusters to keep the mileage where it was. Only time the cluster went back in, then immediately back out of course, was when it would get registered. However everything is online now, so going through all of that has at least subsided. These cars sold for close to, and sometimes over, thirty grand when new depending on the dealer. I doubt I will see that amount anytime soon though for it. That's part of the reason why I decided to go supercharged with it, have slowly been putting the original parts back on, thank God I kept all of it, and thank God none of it sold years back because I had a lot of it up for grabs. This is why I am so glad that I didn't hack anything up over the years as well. But yeah, save for the thumbs up I might get from friends and fellow members on this website when its back to normal, the rest of the world is no longer interested in them. Might be different in the southern states where American Muscle is way more appreciated, but here on the East Coast, we're a dying breed, especially with the race tracks continuing to close on us...
i said they are coming up.... not established like a 60's car, yet lol. 5-6 years ago they were worth less than nothing.
aftermarket part value- there is no need to even keep receipts for aftermarket parts. they are worth 50 cents on the dollar. dont expect to get even a fraction of their values unless you part the car out.
rare cars- it doesnt matter if its rare as much when it has been molested. people looking for rare cars are wanting them to be in unmolested. and they dont just want rare, they want desireable more. whatever was most desireable when the cars were new will command the highest prices. if they really take off, people will accept the lower trim models and whatnot, like the c-10 market. nobody wanted a longbed..... until all the shortbeds were bought up. and the 60's c10's just now got big in the last 10 years or so....
sometimes cars just dont sell. a friends mint 03 z06 with 20k miles and ungodly amounts of money in mods wouldnt sell at $25k. i mean the turbo kit was over $10k by itself. LSX 6 bolt 427, mast heads, twin turbo, $8k rpm transmission, c6z06 diff, aftermarket axles, suspension, full exhaust, fuel system, etc.etc.etc.etc. probably nearly $100k in that thing. made well over 900 whp slipping on the dyno at 16-18psi. it ran 5's in the 1/8 and looked like a stock car with a/c and factory interior.
anyway, im no barrett jackson guy but the values will continue to come up on the 3rd gens.
Indirectly Iroc related... I'm making incredible progress on the 49. It's almost time to bolt the body back onto the frame. Just need some steering components and I'll be able to move it over to the next bay and off the lift for the first time in 29 months! It wouldn't be a big deal when that happens to slip the Iroc in for the LS swap. I don't see why I couldn't wrap that up in a week (non-turbo) just to get it driving again. We'll see how it works out. House is still happening at this point - only waiting on the appraisal before confirmation.
Lot of changes since my last post. We closed on the house New Year's Eve and accelerated our move-in date slightly.. moved in the second day of owning it thanks to some friends showing up. As expected, all progress has paused with the cars since that date. My RA situation has continued to be a factor in shop time and generally it is a miserable experience to wrench on the cars (or even stand there looking at them) for any length of time. No matter how much I hold and wait with the Iroc, clearly there is not going to be a time when I actually go out there and work on it. This is now compounded by a 30 minute drive to the old property. I'll be lucky to finish the 49 even. Now there has been a decline in the neighborhood due to tweakers and druggies. At the same time, my property value just increased 10% due to recent area sales. It seems prime time to get out of that property and this means no more shop. I was going to build a one bay shop at the new house but I realize that it would be futile due to my condition and interests. Now if I found a piece of property as a rental that has a shop, that might be a consideration. It's just that I'm not going to put up anything new in the short term. Maybe if this RA gets under control and I'm feeling better but not before that happens.
You guys know I've made the decision to sell several times but it hasn't happened. The voice of reason told me to cool off and I'll be back on it. Well it's been almost three years and it's still untouched. Now I need to clear out the shop so the gig is up. Won't be easy to sell (figuratively or literally) but I need to put this one to pasture. Also I picked up a new diesel and ole Bessie is hitting the market soon as well. Kind of a complete clearing out and restart I guess you could say.
Lot of changes since my last post. We closed on the house New Year's Eve and accelerated our move-in date slightly.. moved in the second day of owning it thanks to some friends showing up. As expected, all progress has paused with the cars since that date. My RA situation has continued to be a factor in shop time and generally it is a miserable experience to wrench on the cars (or even stand there looking at them) for any length of time. No matter how much I hold and wait with the Iroc, clearly there is not going to be a time when I actually go out there and work on it. This is now compounded by a 30 minute drive to the old property. I'll be lucky to finish the 49 even. Now there has been a decline in the neighborhood due to tweakers and druggies. At the same time, my property value just increased 10% due to recent area sales. It seems prime time to get out of that property and this means no more shop. I was going to build a one bay shop at the new house but I realize that it would be futile due to my condition and interests. Now if I found a piece of property as a rental that has a shop, that might be a consideration. It's just that I'm not going to put up anything new in the short term. Maybe if this RA gets under control and I'm feeling better but not before that happens.
You guys know I've made the decision to sell several times but it hasn't happened. The voice of reason told me to cool off and I'll be back on it. Well it's been almost three years and it's still untouched. Now I need to clear out the shop so the gig is up. Won't be easy to sell (figuratively or literally) but I need to put this one to pasture. Also I picked up a new diesel and ole Bessie is hitting the market soon as well. Kind of a complete clearing out and restart I guess you could say.
I sold my thirdgen a few weeks ago, minus engine, to a forum member.
Sometimes you just have to recalibrate and focus on things more important - health, family, house, etc.
Well 13 months later and I still have the old house and shop mainly because I didn't feel like working on anything for most of 2021. I needed to finish up a few things before selling/renting it. In December I hit a really low point with my RA. I got aggressive with trying to get it under control. New Dr etc. Meds made me sick like the others I've tried, but I got aggressive on my diet and things have been semi-manageable in the past two months. Chronic pain drives a person to certain decisions that others may not understand. It makes you hate doing things you used to love (such as wrenching on cars). It has everything to do with how things have played out over these past few years.
2022 has been really good for the cars and getting the house finished up to sell (or rent). Melissa's TA is ready to hit the road, the 49 starts up and should drive this month. I even found the energy to do something on the Iroc. A friend of a friend was over and looking at the Iroc. I was telling him about the backfire and blowing out the header flange gasket twice. He is a machinist and said he would mill the flanges for me if I decided to pull them. I figure whether I keep it or sell it, or sell the gen1 stuff, fixing the bit of warp in those flanges would be a good thing and would eliminate the need for those fragile Remflex gaskets. I couldn't believe it when I went start to finish on Friday, and walked out of the shop with both headers. He picked them up yesterday.
Taking a survey of the damage from 3 years ago, it blew out the header gasket on two cylinders, the O2 sensor was destroyed, and the cut-out flap was bent out to destruction. I hope the turbo is ok. It was pretty violent. I believe the issue is either a failing spark or a spark jumping to the wrong cylinder. The fact that there was enough fuel to make such a large explosion makes me thing the trigger wheel and cam sensor were not losing signal. Troubleshooting this without further destruction is the problem and a primary reason I just never touched it again. I do have the 4.8 I could put in but every single person that visits the shop sees the Iroc and mentions that they're glad it's a Gen1 still. So anyway, maybe a few more updates on this car before it fades into history.
Headers are back home and flat. I ordered some rubber coated copper gaskets which arrived today. Will have to confirm gasket fit but hopefully I'll have them back on soon. I know it doesn't have quite enough height in the D port so I might have to do a little work on them.
glad to see you are still around with the iroc! are you still making vids? i beieve you said you were going to start posting them elsewhere besides youtube, but forgot where that was.
Hi Diggler. I realized this week the Iroc has been with me for 14 years this year. Like it or not I'm wondering if I should just keep it around lest I regret selling. I have the same problem with houses. I keep saying I'm going to sell the one with the shop and it's been sitting vacant since Jan 2021. Now I have another down the street that I was going to build a shop at and make a rental, but it has just turned into a flip I guess. Or maybe still keep as a rental but definitely not building a shop because it's just too expensive to build right now. So for now it's a 14 mile drive to work on the cars but it still beats no shop or lift at all! With the state of the world today I also like the idea of having the option of going back to the one in the country with the shop and selling the one I'm living in now. Hard to know which is the right decision these days so I'm keeping all possibilities on the table for the moment.
As for videos, whatever point I was trying to make by not uploading has been made, I suppose. Google is no worse off from my absence but I will sayi it has been MUCH easier to build/fabricate a car without dealing with the cameras. I've done some interesting work on the 49 this past two months and haven't filmed any of it. I have been uploading some progress and driving videos to my Youtube channel this past week. I also have a FB page for ZZ3Astro where I do more regular photo updates. I'm starting to think seriously about just resuming my Youtube uploads though. I've always had to hold back on my videos because of business related reasons. If I really uploaded everything I've done these past five years my channel would have been much bigger but I might be out of a job LOL! Let's just say 185 mph is quite intense!
Today I'm stuck with tax paperwork and some work on the flip house or I'd start on the header install. I'm still torn between gen1 and LS swap as well. Keeping the $$ to a minimum is why I'm trying one more cycle on the gen1 but LS sure makes the most sense. Just the idea of no trigger wheel and accessories that don't mount on exhaust bolts are justification enough in my book. But starting a swap right now is not on my list of want to dos.
Hi Diggler. I realized this week the Iroc has been with me for 14 years this year. Like it or not I'm wondering if I should just keep it around lest I regret selling. I have the same problem with houses. I keep saying I'm going to sell the one with the shop and it's been sitting vacant since Jan 2021. Now I have another down the street that I was going to build a shop at and make a rental, but it has just turned into a flip I guess. Or maybe still keep as a rental but definitely not building a shop because it's just too expensive to build right now. So for now it's a 14 mile drive to work on the cars but it still beats no shop or lift at all! With the state of the world today I also like the idea of having the option of going back to the one in the country with the shop and selling the one I'm living in now. Hard to know which is the right decision these days so I'm keeping all possibilities on the table for the moment.
As for videos, whatever point I was trying to make by not uploading has been made, I suppose. Google is no worse off from my absence but I will sayi it has been MUCH easier to build/fabricate a car without dealing with the cameras. I've done some interesting work on the 49 this past two months and haven't filmed any of it. I have been uploading some progress and driving videos to my Youtube channel this past week. I also have a FB page for ZZ3Astro where I do more regular photo updates. I'm starting to think seriously about just resuming my Youtube uploads though. I've always had to hold back on my videos because of business related reasons. If I really uploaded everything I've done these past five years my channel would have been much bigger but I might be out of a job LOL! Let's just say 185 mph is quite intense!
Today I'm stuck with tax paperwork and some work on the flip house or I'd start on the header install. I'm still torn between gen1 and LS swap as well. Keeping the $$ to a minimum is why I'm trying one more cycle on the gen1 but LS sure makes the most sense. Just the idea of no trigger wheel and accessories that don't mount on exhaust bolts are justification enough in my book. But starting a swap right now is not on my list of want to dos.
Steve
aparantly i had unsubscribed from your channel and did not know you were posting again...? im getting caught up now.
on the trigger wheel, since you have a dominator, would you be able to swap a standard 4x flying magnet crank trigger on there? holley sells a compatible 3/4" screw in sensor that works with the msd bracket so it all works with a dominator. it is more stable than trying to run a 24x. we have had some issues with a friends 24x setup breaking up and backfiring down track before.
aparantly i had unsubscribed from your channel and did not know you were posting again...? im getting caught up now.
on the trigger wheel, since you have a dominator, would you be able to swap a standard 4x flying magnet crank trigger on there? holley sells a compatible 3/4" screw in sensor that works with the msd bracket so it all works with a dominator. it is more stable than trying to run a 24x. we have had some issues with a friends 24x setup breaking up and backfiring down track before.
I suppose I could but if I'm dishing out more cash I might as well get LS swap parts and go the easy route. I'll probably fight this setup and hope that the next backfire doesn't compromise the header gaskets. If it does then I'll just spend money on the LS swap parts. I won't need much since it's already in an S10 and has some of what I'd need. If the new header gaskets hold up though, I should be able to troubleshoot the 24x signal with datalogs and if that is where the issue is I can decide on a 4x wheel or just going to the LS.
So I tried one last push on the Gen1 and lost the battle. The header flanges came back nice and flat, but they had a strange look with discolorations. I didn't put 2+2 until I tried to bolt them on and they wouldn't fit!! They used a table sander, overheated the flanges while making them flat and caused them to bow vertically relative to the exhaust ports. Both ends of the header flange bowed in the direction of the collector/tubing, so one header bowed opposite of the other. This caused a misalignment of approx 1/8" on the end ports relative to the middle ports which makes installing the bolts impossible. At least the "fix" was free, only cost me a set of headers! I'm not sweating it, they were screwed beforehand and now they are just screwed a different way. He mentioned sanding or milling and next time I'll know it's milling or no go. I'm not sure of the headers can be saved and bent back straight, but they aren't going on anything I own because I'm over this gen 1 crap.
I've already put it on the lift and drained the coolant. Next time I'm up there I'll drain the trans and start removing everything. I'll have the 4.8 out of the S10 this weekend and get it in the Iroc for the first mockup asap. My goal is to have it able to start up and move N/A in by the end of April, hopefully sooner though. I have no idea if I should keep it stock or go ahead and do a cam, springs, gap the rings etc. Seems like I need to catch up on that in the next few days.
Plumbing out the turbo(s) will take a while. I have the option of the single 76 bb or a pair of 57's. Twins sound like a good time! That 76 would love to sit on Melissa's WS6. I have a 4L80e out back, literally on my back 40 sitting in the wide open since the hurricane shredded the tarp in 2018. I wonder if it can recover from the exposure and save me a lot of trouble. I bet so. I can finally put my 9 inch and driveshaft to work, as well as the aluminum radiator I picked up with the 9 inch several years back.
The 49 is on the road! So far I've been super happy with the sound and performance. I expected the air ride to be the Achilles heel and so far it has. Battling a slow leakdown and slightly stiffer ride than I'd hoped for, but it's almost worth the trouble because everyone seems to love it, especially when I park and drop it!
In the same boat, though I have one final Gen 1 SBC build coming up, and it's only because I have had the block sitting in the garage for quite a few years. Then I am done with Gen 1 myself. Enjoyed the live video yesterday, had it playing while I was in the garage myself wrenching away... and by the way Steve, my wife came into the garage at just rthe right time and caught that little kiss you gave your girl in the reflection on the Iroc's fender while on the lift, and we were both like "awhhhhhh" lol. Also thought it was hilarious how that engine gave everyone one final middle finger by puking all over the carpet on the floor when it was taken out, surprised you didn't stick dynamite in that engine and blow it to kingdom come after that one.
I tell ya, it was par for the course with this dang thing. I HOPE it's that stupid ZZ3 engine and not the car that is responsible for this situation. In reality though, this car has been plagued with annoyances:
Code 59 fiasco - never could get it to work right
Original turbo setup - should have made more power but never would
Version 2 custom headers - it did deliver the numbers but plagued with fuel delivery issues, header leaks
Version 3 Fastburn/Pro-Flo XT/LS coils/Throttle body - never got to enjoy it due to ignition issue, head gasket/O2 blowout sealed its fate
Final attempt - "machinist" damaged header flange, ruining chances of recovery
Remove - **** on my shop rug SAYS IT ALL
Final insult, it shot out some more when I put it over next to the Gen2 engine :-)
Through it all though, this car has never once been towed! It always made it back to the garage. I made countless trips into Alabama and 2-3 three hour destinations along the coast. It made 600+ to the tires but I never had a good track day at those levels. It was always fuel delivery issues when hot. Everything neat the passenger header is cooked out under the hood. The oil filler cap is a melted pile of unrecognizable plastic. The AC system o-rings let go. Too much header surface area up high. The upturned header was ultimately an expensive disaster for a true street vehicle. Perhaps as a race car it would be fine but for this new project I am minimizing tubing. It really makes me want to go with twins, but I'm thinking these on-center housings will be a liability if I decide I need to change turbos. They are hard to find and my plumbing will be incorrect to go to standards. Also this pte7675 bb is a top of the line turbo and perfectly matched to the LS combo. Of course I'm only building a few pieces of mild steel pipe, so changing things up will be cheap and easy. Decisions decisions....
Dirty Dingo engine mounts are here. I started not to buy them because they are pricey for what they are, but they looked really good. I was surprised to open the box and find unpainted steel because the picture showed a nice black powedrcoat looking finish. Sure enough I re-read the details and it said raw steel. Disappointed to have to take an additional step having spent $112. I could have just modified the S10 mounts if I wanted additional work and paint prep. Oh well. I also ordered ***** and buttons for the 49 radio and none of it fit correctly, so I guess that's the theme of the week.
An experienced LS swap guy came over to look at the S10 to possibly buy. He has me second guessing using this 4.8 because of the power difference for a 6.0. Less boost and more power sure sounds easier to deal with. I guess though I'll stick to the 4.8 unless anyone else chimes in and tells me how much I'm going to regret not going to a 6.0 from the get-go. Oh well, the mounts are here so at least I can go ahead and do the mockup for planning!
They're a single digit engine on E. There's a few people on The Turbo forums running at least deep into the 9s with em if not the 8s (I think Bad Medicine Racing has a g-body in the 8s with one if not darn close.) Personally if I wasn't trying make super pump gas power and wasn't cracking the engine open to swap a bunch of parts I'd rather have a 4.8 gen 4 than a 6.0 gen 3 just because of the rods.
04-22-2020, 07:29 PM
) money there and she was very interested for custom work on some high dollar items they sell and said they get requests daily. I'm not too excited about dealing with paperwork on the FFL but if I see enough interest and willingness to pay for the services I'll make it happen. I also see some potential for automotive work such as marking charge pipes, throttle bodies and valve covers. I just don't want to get too involved in one-offs that require a lot of work for little money. Maybe initially to get experience and interest though!
