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Thanks to forum member "Bikespace"! He hit me up for a trade: His black aftermarket steering wheel (What I was planning to buy), rubber center console, and sun visors for my Oyster wheel and visors. Win win for us as it would have cost both of us quite a bit more money than the shipping costs to either buy or dye our interior pieces.
Here's the wheel:
And here it is in the car (need to paint the column and button, and it's about time I start dyeing the dash):
Cool! Your priorities are similar to mine, Mine has just been painted but only because it needed some panel repair. Lightening the front and rear is high on my list! Damn these cars are fun with a few modifications...
Looks good! I'm glad the wheel worked out for you! The white dash looks pretty cool with the white dials on the gauges and the black wheel, just sayin'.
Cool! Your priorities are similar to mine, Mine has just been painted but only because it needed some panel repair. Lightening the front and rear is high on my list! Damn these cars are fun with a few modifications...
Absolutely! The biggest killers of fun in these things is the weight (and the stock power). Both are easily remedied! A head and cam swap can get you some pretty decent power, and a weekend of time can get you a few hundred pounds out of your car!
All told it is fairly simple to get these down to 3,200-3,300 pounds (modern sports car weight, lighter than the modern mustangs/Camaros, etc...) and 300 whp. After that, the expense goes up a bit.
This project has changed final goals a few times as my own taste for it has developed. Slowly I'm realizing that my favorites things are the way this car looks and feels (long and low), and I want more modern performance. Most of the suspension has been upgraded (will finish the front this winter), modern wheels and tires, lighter weight with the weight loss mods, so I think the plan may be LS motor and fuel injection to kinda complete the "modern" old school muscle car.
Looks good! I'm glad the wheel worked out for you! The white dash looks pretty cool with the white dials on the gauges and the black wheel, just sayin'.
I'm loving the wheel! Thanks a bunch!
Haven't driven with it yet (have my lights all ripped out at the moment, doing some re-wiring and LED conversion), but it feels great so far!
Absolutely! The biggest killers of fun in these things is the weight (and the stock power). Both are easily remedied! A head and cam swap can get you some pretty decent power, and a weekend of time can get you a few hundred pounds out of your car!
All told it is fairly simple to get these down to 3,200-3,300 pounds (modern sports car weight, lighter than the modern mustangs/Camaros, etc...) and 300 whp. After that, the expense goes up a bit.
This project has changed final goals a few times as my own taste for it has developed. Slowly I'm realizing that my favorites things are the way this car looks and feels (long and low), and I want more modern performance. Most of the suspension has been upgraded (will finish the front this winter), modern wheels and tires, lighter weight with the weight loss mods, so I think the plan may be LS motor and fuel injection to kinda complete the "modern" old school muscle car.
Agreed. I've got the power (and fuel injection), suspension, wheels and tyres, and the car drives very well. Taking some more weight out (I have lost a bunch with alloy engine parts/rad, borgeson steering, exhaust, removed spare etc already) is my next priority. LS is a step too far for me personally (main issue for me is actually the appearance underhood), but I understand the appeal, and would really like an alloy block sbc or bbc myself.
Agreed. I've got the power (and fuel injection), suspension, wheels and tyres, and the car drives very well. Taking some more weight out (I have lost a bunch with alloy engine parts/rad, borgeson steering, exhaust, removed spare etc already) is my next priority. LS is a step too far for me personally (main issue for me is actually the appearance underhood), but I understand the appeal, and would really like an alloy block sbc or bbc myself.
Totally agree, the old school small block looks better than the LS under the hood. I'm gonna try to run my wiring really cleanly to help, but in the end coil on plug just looks a lot worse haha.
So my taillights have always been pretty dim, and at dusk I feel like my car is invisibile with the grey color and dim lights. I was planning to just replace the bulbs with LED bulbs to put out more light, but my tail light covers have some cracks and scrapes on them anyway, so I thought "what the heck" and bought some LED trailer lights. Had to do some creative thinking to mount them up, but I've got them in nice and solid now and all wired up.
Let me know what you think. I'm still a little 50/50 on them. The light output is great. And although my car is sort of a retro-modern look (C5 seats, modern 18" wheels, lowered, side pipes) they might look a little TOO modern. I"ll try them out for a while at least!
Pretty cool! This is like an episode of wheeler dealers, without the bad accents!
Car in the junkyard picture? 4 door 78-81 malibu with slots?
Ever try a Holley carb? I think you can unlock some extra power with one.
Hey, whose to say I don't have a bad accent??
Not sure what that car was! There was some pretty cool vintage iron buried in there though. I should have taken more pictures.
The plan is actually to go EFI. Actually the plan is to go fuel injected LS. So I don't want to invest any more into the carb. However as far as carb function goes, I'd rather run a quadrajet than a Holley. The quad can make just as good power as the Holley, but will tend to get a bit better mileage and have a more "tunable" A/F under the curve. However it takes a little more tinkering to get it perfect.
That said, I REALLY want to get on the fuel injected train.
11-17-2017, 11:21 AM
