Tranny is out and off to be repaired. Our fault...had wrong clutch slave, not quite installed correctly and gave up the ghost at the track in BG. Chewed up 3rd gear synchros.

Will start working on wet sanding scratches out of the side pipes. Also Aeromotive Fuel pump crapped out so have purchased a new one. Dead short across the pump terminals. Problem is I bought it in August 2008, didn't run it until May last year. Car only has maybe 100 miles on it but warrantee is out of date. Bummer.

When the tranny comes back, we will finish off the punch list for the car. I hope to get to driving and showing the car by mid-February. Today was in the 70's and would have been an awesome day for a cruise!

Tomorrow will also finish cleaning out the garage and move my other cars back in.

Until then, we wait.

Doug

 

I'd give Aeromotive a call and plead your case. Maybe they can fix that one. They are good pumps! Weird that it died. Especially electrically......

JIM

 

Snowman what an excellent project and end result!

You and your crew did an outstanding job with nothing but the finest and first class craftsmanship, For now I will just sit back, continue to dream and enjoy your awesome car!

 

What are these Cobalt Lights you speak of and where did you get them?

Looking to upgrade my 81 Instrument Lighting and those sure do the trick. Any help would be appreciated!

 

Snowman, I have them wired into my dimmer wire on the Z. Not sure how the adjustment varies as compared to the Vette...

BACNBLK - The gauges are Autometer - http://www.autometer.com/cat_gaugeop.aspx?sid=4

 

Thanks we will check again. Those gauges are BRIGHT!

 

Just heard that RSG Race Group has turned my tranny around in 3 days. THAT is amazing! It got there late Tuesday and is being shipped back out today. Still have to get all their input on what they suspect the troubles were so we make the corrections we need to make.

Ordering the Bogart race wheels today.

Mike and I are tuning up our punch lists for when he returns which should be in about a week-10 days.

Yeeeehaaaa!

Doug

 

Just wanted to give a shout out to Rockland Standard Gear.

I spoke with George at RSG today. The tranny is done, all I have to pay for is shipping back eevn though Jim and I were very straight from the start that we screwed up the tranny with the clutch slave failure at the track in BG.

He is throwing in some more of his special mix of oil....his oil person designed lubricants for the space shuttle. I offered to pay for the oil but he said no. As I understand it, George is one of the partners apparently. He said his policy is to eat the repair costs even when it's obvious that the failure was outside the scope of the warrantee. He said that most everyone else tries to find ways to keep from fixing units that come back. He believes that in the long run, that investment in going beyond what is expected will pay off. I certainly hope he is right.

He said that the failure does look like a failure of the clutch to disengage fully. He also said there was light wear caused from alignment being slightly off. He asked what bell housing we used and I said Quicktime. I said maybe we didn't align it properly with the dowels. He said if we did ANYthing with the dowels, we threw it off...said the Quicktime units are absolutely true, said we should pull the adjusting dowel out of ours and bolt it straight on. Hopefully we can do that without pulling the motor.

Tranny ships out Monday so will be here by the end of the week.

Pretty cool!

Doug

 

Big for RSG!
I'll be ordering my tranzilla or son of transzilla from them once i get some coin put aside. (very jealous of your combo you've built there, great job)
A part is only as good as the company that stands behind it

 

Excellent customer support from RSG. Will keep that in mind should I need any parts in the future.

 

Any updates?

 

Tranny arrives tomorrow afternoon. Drag wheels have been ordered (Bogart Racing Wheels...worked with Rich himself...nice guy) and my friend Patrick ordered me slicks and skinnies. I am hoping to be driving the car by the weekend or early next week at the latest. Will be fun to be out and about again!

To drive me to complete, I am signing up for two car shows in Houston this spring....the CorvetteChevy Expo in March and the Keels and Wheels show in early May.

Is also time to get going on the other article drafts...we intend to do one on suspension and drivetrain, one on the body work and paint and one on the car when it is done. While it takes something to get it together, is a great result when it is done.

I can't tell if the Texas group is going to BG this year. I may fly up just to keep up my streak, depending on whether we get drag racing going again. Don't know if Bruiser is coming or if I will do the Lone Star here in Dallas and the Shootout in October. I will bring the car to Carlisle and intend to bring it to the SEMA show as well.

Will have to wait and see.

DP

 

Drag rubber is here. Wheels should be here soon. Tranny is here and ready to go. I will spend some time this weekend wet sanding and polishing the sidepipes and helping my friend Dave (C5droptop) install EFI in his 69 coupe.

I now have a punch list for what's left to complete and I'm on a timeline. Will be fun to drive and show when it is done. We are collecting the photographs now for the remaining articles which should be fun and education for folks as well.

Doug

 

Mike came down last night.

Today he re-installed the bell housing with straight dowels, installed the tranny, drive shaft, cross member, that is all done. We need some DOT3 for the hydraulic clutch which we'll get in the morning.

He finished installing the side pipes with the tabs down. That looks real sharp. Sorry Dave. Still need to take them off again, weld the bolts to the frame so they become studs and paint it all flat black.

He fit the L88 carburetor lower plate, we need to trim the hood seal just a bit then that will all go together. Have ordered spark arrestor cover which will dress that up a bit.

In the morning, a new shiny Aeromotive 1000 fuel pump and an A/C Delco fuel sending unit (the ones you buy from Ecklers are crap) and we'll be able to start the motor.

We have to find brake leak which could be time consuming but let's have it be fast. Then we can drive the car weather permitting.

I'm going to do more wet sanding and compounding of the side pipes. They are getting better but still have some deep scratches in them. We figured now the scratches came from Rick doing the roll bar and dragging the ground clip across the side pipes a few times. P have him wrap your side pipes with towels or take them off before you go.

I need to take both bumpers to chroming shop and see which one they can fix to fit.

Bolt in roll cage, connect all seat belt harnesses

Trim door panels trimmed to accommodate roll cage

Clear decklid scratch protector and re-install hard top.

Still need to get speedo signal from tranny to drive the speedo.

And a whole punch list after that. What is exciting is I can see the end of the tunnel from here. Pretty cool!

 

 

Wow we are almost done! Mike Dyer has done an incredible job. All that's left in the morning before we take it down to Starbucks where the NWHoustonVetteRods guys hang out is to put the hardtop on and wipe down the car.

Here are a couple of low quality videos taken on my BB which at least give you an idea of what it looks like.

http://www.fototime.com/7CAC8534A1A670A/convx264.mp4

http://www.fototime.com/BB277A35C65DF5A/convx264.mp4

Still probably 3098092834 items left on our punch list but pretty much everything that is important is now done.

Doug

 

With everything that's been done on that car inside & out, NOBODY had a bottle of DOT3 laying around?

 

Following this thread and seeing all of the marathon thrashing that went into getting it this far. I'd suggest someone thought it was beer and drank it. Things can get pretty fuzzy at 4AM- I'm sure you've been there too.

 

Watch what you say Dave! Over in the C6 Z06 Forum, there is a Z06 getting a Maggie TVS2300 blower package that you might have to learn how to drive.

Took Bruiser out to a NWHVR street meet 2 weeks ago. Is certainly coming together!











Okay front bling is back on the car, L88 cold air hood stuff has been installed, have sanded some scratches out of the sidepipes. We are one week away from CorvetteChevy Expo in Houston. Detailing the wheels and tires today and putting them back on the car. Stan and Mike will be here mid week to do final elements and buff out the car one more time.

Is looking gooooood!

 

Been waiting for final pics. Well worth the wait.
Now get out there and drive the **** out of it and enjoy.