When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Ive melted enough spark plug wires on the rams horn manifolds both the 2 inch and 2 1/2 inch to understand why GM used those lower V shields. Ive always ran my wires away along the frame rail and I finally bought a set. Drivers side is NOS and the passenger side was used, so I sandblast/painted it and promptly wrecked the paint during installation. Not a bad job, and the wires are ran in a much better manner. Unfortunately one of my 8.5 super conductors, no. 1, came up a little short, so it will have to be outside of the top shield. What matters is the wires are protected where they need it the most.
Also took the opportunity to rebuild the passenger headlight assembly. The vacuum canister is fine but the bushings are shot and I can see the beam of light bounce when I go over bumps.
i thought i got work done quick, good to know i have someone local if i need help
Nice work, i did my trailing arms on both my cars and i enjoyed it alot, then i did the arms on my old bosses 68.
i went mcmaster carr, which is local to us, and got hex headed taper bolts, tapped my hubs and drilled a taper in my rotors so i can shim the runout and bolt rotor on, a good subsitutue to the factory rivets.
i thought i got work done quick, good to know i have someone local if i need help
Nice work, i did my trailing arms on both my cars and i enjoyed it alot, then i did the arms on my old bosses 68.
i went mcmaster carr, which is local to us, and got hex headed taper bolts, tapped my hubs and drilled a taper in my rotors so i can shim the runout and bolt rotor on, a good subsitutue to the factory rivets.
Thank you! I enjoyed the trailing arm work too. Hardest part is getting that bolt back in, but even that was not too hard. Thats a good idea to tap the hubs so you can bolt the rotor on. Mine were riveted on the front and already drilled out on the back. The front ones were a real pain when I did them last year. Mc Master Carr is great, I order from them frequently btw. They always have the small parts for 3D printing projects like springs.
I sure love making strides of progress and when I get on a roll (and there are parts available) I usually dont stop until I’m done. I have been purely running off of the idea of driving it to cruise nights this summer lol
Drivers side completely assembled. Brakes, hoses, parking brake, trailing arm etc. I just have a base toe setting for now. Cant really do much until its all assembled.
Passenger headlight reassembled with new bushings and grease, took all of my bounce out. Front valence reinstalled.
Transmission cooler hoses replaced, they were weeping again, and I rebuilt the power steering pump because the front seal was damaged. Again. Drivers side rocker trim reinstalled.
I also put in a proper drain for the rubber boot around the fuel tank filler, mine was missing.
#8 frame saddle repaired, passenger body mounts and bolts changed, moved shims around and tightened the body to the frame. Reinstalled charcoal canister and closeout panels. Fit front and rear bumper. Installed supports and shims.
I am replacing the master cylinder because it has a bunch of junk floating in it.
Rear suspension is completely assembled, and I made boards to set the toe. Its all torqued, cotter pinned and locked, even greased. Unfortunately when I attempted to open the rear bleeders the inners on both sides snapped clean off, which is very disappointing because I had them open not 6 months ago. When it rains it pours I guess.
While im waiting on calipers I have been fighting the choke on my holley. When cold, the car wont idle on its own unless you hold it over 2100 RPM. Not really sure whats up yet.
I jumped forward a bunch of steps and actually took her for a spin around the neighborhood.
As I left my alley and slowly got onto a side street I was terrified that something bad would happen but as the blocks went by I gradually slipped further back into the seat and lessened my grip on the wheel.
Instantly I noticed how smooth the car now is. It has almost no vibration, other than the rumble you get through the seats from the exhaust. Changing the body mounts was definitely worthwhile.
It drove great. I have zero complaints about the quality of ride or the alignment, the brakes or anything else I touched.
First thing was a tank of gas then about an hours worth of laps around the neighborhood in which every four laps or so, my friends and I would pull it in the garage to check the alignment, mostly the camber, and make adjustments.
There were no major leaks, malfunctions or half shaft-ejections. No weird noises or anything. It drove like a brand new car. Couldn’t be happier.
It still rides like a corvette, but I guess i’m not building a Cadillac. It definitely does not say eldorado on the fenders, it says stingray… last I checked.
Its not a harsh ride by any means, but its a tight, firm comfortable one. Very enjoyable!
MGC/D_7601
Wow. Can you open your hood with that transmission cooler?
I am in the middle of installing a 200-4R and I am having a bear of a time finding a cooler to fit in front of the a/c condenser. Good thing the car is light and I don't tow so it looks like I can use a slender long cooler. Leaning towards the Hayden 402 because it is 3/4 inch x 5 inch x 15-7/8 inch, BUT if you can open your hood with that big cooler then I'm just asking how you managed it?
MGC/D_7601
Wow. Can you open your hood with that transmission cooler?
Yes sir, opens just fine, full travel on the hinges too. Actually has ~1/2 of an inch if I recall correctly. The cooler I'm using is a hayden 679 rapid cool plate and fin type.
I have it mounted to the ac condenser there in the picture with a Hayden mounting kit (with those kinda cheesy plastic push locks). The lower line goes through the same hole between the core support and body that the AC hoses do, and for the upper I drilled a hole through my core support and bent up a 3/8 nicopp hard line to pass through. The hard line is only about 5 inches long but I didn't want to shove another hose through the pass or risk kinking the hose.
If your car has AC, (that works/is fully hooked up) you might have to get creative like I did getting those lines through in that location, but if not, that pass through would be perfect for both lines. With the suction/discharge hose and hard line to the condenser its a pain to get one hose through let alone two.
Measurements of my cooler; 3/4 inch x 11 inch x 11-5/8 inch
It was marketed for “fifth wheel and travel trailer pulling / heavy duty use” I have my doubts about that, but its a decent size and Im confident it will keep my 200-4R cool. If you’d like I can take better pictures of how I did it and where it exactly is in terms of measurements tomorrow.
Last edited by MGC/D_7601; Feb 20, 2022 at 01:42 AM.
When I bought the trailing arms I ordered some for a FE7 corvette so they would have holes for a sway bar. I dont have the FE7 suspension package but i always thought having the rear sway bar would be cool. Of course then I realized my frame was already drilled and tapped for the mounts… and someone was selling one on ebay… long story short a sway bar-shaped box appeared on my porch. I bought a used OEM bar that was advertised as being a 7/16, which is correct for a FE7 1976. When the bar arrived it looked… odd. Took my calipers to it and found I actually got a 9/16 F41 bar instead. Im still not sure if that is a good thing or not but time will tell. Definitely interested in the outcome.
I bought a link kit and have been waiting on it (backorder). It finally came in today so I got the bar put in.
Also when I changed the rear calipers I did change the lines, I bought correct stainless pre bent lines and I even sprung for the FE7/F41 correct rock guard. Im sure that makes a solid 0% difference but who cares I think its cool.
very nice, you are def getting stuff done, i know we talked about it last year, but we will have to get a pic of our cars at a cruise night this year. my car would be honored
very nice, you are def getting stuff done, i know we talked about it last year, but we will have to get a pic of our cars at a cruise night this year. my car would be honored
I installed a relay for my electric choke which is kinda unnecessary because the choke only pulls maybe 4 amps, but I just dont like putting any kind of load on the stock GM wiring that GM didn't intend on having.
I had to replace the connectors on my HEI plugs for the battery and tach because the clips broke off. Luckily MSD makes a terminal and housing kit for HEI distributors.
I also drove it around the neighborhood with the F41 swaybar and it is definitely different. It doesn't have as much dip when you go around corners and it is noticeably different all around, I almost feel like the ride is a bit smoother with the bar. I obviously haven't taken any serious corners at high speed but just cruising I seriously enjoy the ride better with the bar.
4 months ago my wiper motor died and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to install a delay setup because I hate the two speed wipers. Only problem is the delay setup is wildly expensive and I ended up going after the suspension and carburetor instead.
I took my old wiper motor completely apart, fixed the electronics, re greased everything and reinstalled it, so I have wipers again. Happy for that because when I first drove it 2 weeks ago it started to rain on the last lap around the block and I couldn’t see anything.
Big day today. A month and 1/2 ago I ordered a brand new Holley carburetor from Holley, because they came out with exactly what I wanted.
I wanted;
600-650 CFM
gold or zinc dichromate
vacuum secondary
Square bore
Center hung floats
glass sight plugs
electric choke
I was convinced that Holley didn't make a carburetor in gold with glass sights but I was proven wrong.
That is a 4150, P/N 80783C, its a 650 vacuum secondary in gold dichromate with electric choke and glass sight plugs.
They were on backorder and I had to order one special. It took a while but I’m ecstatic! Its perfect.
I took it apart and swapped over my jets and such from my 600 as a starting point. I converted the 4160 plate to a jet size (“6” plate = 68/9) and Im using 64s on the primary. Idle is perfect, anything over 2K rpms is very strong and the motor pulls just like I wanted it to. No secondary stumbles. I am still in the process of getting it fully tuned though, I have a part throttle stumble but its a given that you need to fine tune a brand new carburetor. I had to modify my air cleaner further to clear the longer 4150 and make a new fuel rail but that wasn’t a big deal.
