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The suspension and body bushing kit came in so I'll start on that. Yesterday I went and picked up some goodies about an hr away, well worth the trip. I found a gentleman who was selling some of his old vette stuff he no longer has a need for.
I picked up a 1980 front bumper cover, a brand new carpet kit, a new leather wrapped steering wheel, a booster/master cylinder in very good condition (mine is rusty), a transmission crossmember from a 1982 (so I'll be ready for the 700r4), the driveshaft from the '82, and 4 stock wheels from an '80 or'82 (3 of the tires even looked good but will be replaced).
I got the holes patched where the rear wing and ground effects were. I also discovered my driver side door gaps are not a simple adjustment. The gaps are even at the bottom and widen as you go up. Looks like the front, driver side 1/4 panel is out of position. I'll get the body bushings in and go from there.
Got the trailing arm bushings in on both sides. Wow!! that is a difficult task by yourself, without a lift, and without a homemade holder like I saw on YouTube. I also got the rear strut rod and differential bushings in and replaced the rear flex brake lines.
Finished all the rear suspension bushings. My 1/2 shaft u-joints had (obviously) been changed in the past (they have zerks). I pulled 2 caps off each one and they had grease and looked good so I gave them a few pumps and put them back in. Installed the KYB rear shocks.
I don't have a coil spring compressor so I started on the body bushings. Got 1 & 4 out and top half of #3 on drivers side so far.
Changed the differential gear oil. I used Valvoline full synthetic "limited slip". Is that stuff good enough or do I need an additive for positraction?
I think I found my engine. Good power, roller, and the price is right. I'm completely satisfied with the stock performance of my 300hp '92 so I believe 375hp in the '80 will be fun to drive.
Finished all the suspension bushings and aligned the rear wheels. Set the camber and had to go back and readjust the shims to set the rear wheel track. The Energy Suspension trailing arm bushings are wider than stock so I guessed when I did them originally. I rolled the car out of the garage and it was very noticeable how far they were off. All good now.
I replaced the upper and lower ball joints, all 4 flex brake lines, 1 hard line, and the shocks as well. I bled the brakes today. I had read all the horror stories about people's trouble getting a firm pedal. So far so good, nice and firm. The pile of crap is getting bigger.
I didn't need a spring compressor??? Got the ball joints loose and let the lower arm drop away and just grabbed the spring and pulled it out. I used a floor jack and held the spring in place til it would stay on it's own. A little tricky but no real issues.
Finished all the suspension bushings and aligned the rear wheels. Set the camber and had to go back and readjust the shims to set the rear wheel track. The Energy Suspension trailing arm bushings are wider than stock so I guessed when I did them originally. I rolled the car out of the garage and it was very noticeable how far they were off. All good now.
I replaced the upper and lower ball joints, all 4 flex brake lines, 1 hard line, and the shocks as well. I bled the brakes today. I had read all the horror stories about people's trouble getting a firm pedal. So far so good, nice and firm. The pile of crap is getting bigger.
I didn't need a spring compressor??? Got the ball joints loose and let the lower arm drop away and just grabbed the spring and pulled it out. I used a floor jack and held the spring in place til it would stay on it's own. A little tricky but no real issues.
If you didn't need a spring compressor the springs are probably FE7 heavy duty, 550 lb maybe. They're shorter and didn't require a compressor to remove in my experience also. You'll need one to get them back in though.
That certainly is an impressive pile of junk you got going.
Starting on electrical now. All the exterior lights worked except the brake lights. I had 12v going to the brake switch but none on the output side when I pushed the brake pedal. Then I discovered the 12v went away on the orange (supply side) wire. So then I monitored voltage on the "STOP" fuse and 12v stayed constant. I thought I had a poor (corroded) connection on the back of the fuse panel. Luckily I pulled the fuse and the blades were severely corroded. I wire brushed them and reinstalled it. Brake lights good.
The right turn signal arrow light is inop. Will find out how fun the dash is to pull tomorrow. Also the dash lights are very dim. I guess I'll make sure I'm getting full voltage to the printed circuit board. Maybe it's a corroded fuse too. That would be nice.
If you didn't need a spring compressor the springs are probably FE7 heavy duty, 550 lb maybe. They're shorter and didn't require a compressor to remove in my experience also. You'll need one to get them back in though.
That certainly is an impressive pile of junk you got going.
What is the advantage/disadvantage of those springs? Is it going to be a harsh ride? Maybe like the "sport" mode in some of the modern cars?
What is the advantage/disadvantage of those springs? Is it going to be a harsh ride? Maybe like the "sport" mode in some of the modern cars?
I have the FE7 suspension option in my '77. New replacement 550# front coils and 300# steel leaf. I don't have experience with non-FE7 cars but I think the ride is very agreeable, not harsh, and just the way a sports car should feel. Shocks are Bilstein HDs, don't know how those would compare to the original FE7 HD shocks.
Added some glass to the front of rear 1/4 panel to take up the gap. Bottom gaps are good and door alignment was good, just bad top gaps, mainly on driver side. The before picture is in post #19 on page 1 of this thread. Got a little more work to do on it but I can tell I'll be happy with it when done.
Pulled the instrument panel out and cleaned up all the connections on the bulbs and printed circuit board. Panel brightness is much better with all the bulbs working. Also that took care of my no right turn blinker indicator.
Just tackling one thing at a time. No real rush but unfortunately I'm impatient. I'm a heating/ac contractor and our weather here was very mild today so I spent the day in the garage.
Today I added some glass to, and shaped the rear of the drivers side quarter panel to address that horrible gap. I'm very happy with the results. Compare this to the before picture on page 1 post #19, huge improvement.
I haven't done anything to the passenger door. In the last picture you can see a wide spot in the gap at the front, top half area of the door. I'll probably fix that but I'm not sure where to stop with all this. It's not going to be a show car, I just want it to look good.
Well, back to the original plan for the drivetrain.
After I put the original hood on this morning I looked at the emissions/data plate...5.0L , verified by checking the vin number (no I didn't check it out pre buy). I would have bought anyway. Evidently a California car that wouldn't get out of it's own way.
So from day one I planned to put a crate engine in but after working on it for a few days and seeing how easily it starts right up with no smoke I started having second thoughts. I was toying with the idea of putting off the drivetrain stuff til next yr and just /using what I have til then. Back to plan A. This engine http://www.blueprintengines.com/inde...t1-gm-base-350 and a 700r4.
I was ok with 190hp but 180 is not going to cut it.
Oops, haven't updated in awhile. It turns out the engine has been changed, possibly in 1994/1995 but not put on the road. I don't have the block number in from of me but it's a early 70's 4 bolt main. The cylinder walls, main journals, rod journals, cam, and lifters are all pristine. No gouges, scrapes, or wear. The inside of the valve covers and oil pan have been cleaned. All this work was done by the 3 owners ago guy. I bought from a guy who bought from his boss. The boss said he bought it from a guy who had the motor "gone thru" but no details.
So, I'm going to work with what I have since it would be a shame to ditch such a nice 4 bolt. I wanted to go roller but if I retrofit this block I'll be too close to the cost of a crate engine. The heads are early 80's smoggers, possible the originals off the California 305 block. I know some people used to put 305 heads on 350 blocks to get the compression up. Anyway, I found out those heads suk so I bought some lower cost, iron, aftermarket vortecs. The pistons are dished.
New plan for the engine (these parts already in transit):
Promaxx 2151 heads // Summit flat top pistons & rings // Edelbrock 600cfm vac secondaries // Comp Cams XE274h flat tappet // grabbing a Edelbrock Performer EPS off the shelf in my garage that came on a '79 Z-28 I re-did a few yrs ago (I couldn't use it because I went to GM factory vortecs) - I can use it for this build because the Promaxx's are drilled for old school as well as vortec intakes.
Compression is calculated at 9.6 to 1
I put the same cam in the Z a few yrs ago and loved it.
Transmission is a Mad Dog 700r4 stage 2 and I picked up a driveshaft and a crossmember from a '82 several weeks ago.
I say the engine was done in '94/'95 due to the date code on the Erson cam I pulled out. I was going to leave it because it's new but decided I didn't like the specs on it. It's .450/.450 w/ 108 lobe sep.
09-01-2017, 03:07 AM
