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I'm tryi g to determine if an inch and a half crack in the firewall near the windshield is detrimental and cause to look for a more solid roller, no big deal and low on the list of priorities, or worth getting repaired. The car is a 1985 TPI IROC which I believe is the first year of the TPI, and the first year of the IROC as a model ax opposed to a z28 trim level, so it seems to have a lot of cool factor there that might be worth saving. I'm open to all advice.
I can take the good and mate her with an 84 Trans AM With a more finished body, or drive on and bring her back to life. 350 block with mild Lunati Voodoo cam, double hump heads (2.02) off a 70 Chevelle, 22lb Bosch injectors, short hooker headers, high flow exhaust.
Hard to tell where that is... which would matter significantly.
There's a fair amount of stress in certain places in the firewall; that might be an indicator that the chassis has had a generally hard life, and that there might be more of that elsewhere, as well as cracked spot welds everywhere and stuff like that.
I see somebody put some good heads on that... those are probably 186 or 492 castings. Probably the best heads there were on any stock motor up until the L98 (which are roughly comparable) and then of course Vortecs. 69-70 350 4-bbl motors in any car chassis, Impala or Chevelle or Monte Carlo or Camaro or Vette or whatever, often came with those. I used to usually get em off of full-size station wagons, seemed like they were particularly common in those. May or may not have 2.02" valves in em, most don't unless somebody put them there.
Hard to tell where that is... which would matter significantly.
There's a fair amount of stress in certain places in the firewall; that might be an indicator that the chassis has had a generally hard life, and that there might be more of that elsewhere, as well as cracked spot welds everywhere and stuff like that.
I see somebody put some good heads on that... those are probably 186 or 492 castings. Probably the best heads there were on any stock motor up until the L98 (which are roughly comparable) and then of course Vortecs. 69-70 350 4-bbl motors in any car chassis, Impala or Chevelle or Monte Carlo or Camaro or Vette or whatever, often came with those. I used to usually get em off of full-size station wagons, seemed like they were particularly common in those. May or may not have 2.02" valves in em, most don't unless somebody put them there.
The crack is here, I'll clean it up when I get a chance and send some better pics. The heads are double humps ported to 2.02 off of a 70 Chevelle and are definitely the pride of the build at this point. New front brakes, springs, shocks, bearings and ball joints as well...the parts are here and ready to give the rear end the same treatment. I'm leaning towards bringing her all the way back, black on black IROC scheme with the gold trim...delicious!
The crack is here, I'll clean it up when I get a chance and send some better pics. The heads are double humps ported to 2.02 off of a 70 Chevelle and are definitely the pride of the build at this point. New front brakes, springs, shocks, bearings and ball joints as well...the parts are here and ready to give the rear end the same treatment. I'm leaning towards bringing her all the way back, black on black IROC scheme with the gold trim...delicious!
This is my first build so I am of course up for any advice and recommendations....sometimes I wish I had been more patient and waited to find a better starting point, but I'm about 9 months in and it's to late to look back....I just want to make sure I don't go any further if the chassis is too far gone....and an 85 fully restored IROC may be as cool as it gets!
I have an actual crack there, it should be fixed, but it isn't a big deal that just leads to the air intake for the HVAC under there, and there is a drain out the side, water gets in there anyway
What a bunch of the others said: you can't tell what that is till you clean that sealer out and look. I'll bet that it's just a crack in the sealer, but if it's a crack in the metal then drill the ends of the crack and weld it up. If it's rust... well then keep digging till you get rid of the rust.
I wouldn't worry about it if you have to fix it, the fact is to make it a nice car you'll end up putting subframe connectors and other bracing on the car which will make the factory structural weaknesses and any beating on that the chassis got irrelevant as long as you make sure it's straight before you brace it.
What a bunch of the others said: you can't tell what that is till you clean that sealer out and look. I'll bet that it's just a crack in the sealer, but if it's a crack in the metal then drill the ends of the crack and weld it up. If it's rust... well then keep digging till you get rid of the rust.
I wouldn't worry about it if you have to fix it, the fact is to make it a nice car you'll end up putting subframe connectors and other bracing on the car which will make the factory structural weaknesses and any beating on that the chassis got irrelevant as long as you make sure it's straight before you brace it.
I'm going to look into this asap, thanks for the info.
