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Just wonder what I have to do in my free time the next years or so .................. and for your information mine is a 74 LS4 manual no AC silver on silver matching numbers
Thx Taarzaahn. I loved my '74 LS4. Very similar options as yours. Blue/black. As you may've read earlier in my thread, I had one from '83 through '89. This '80 is it's successor, with similar underpinnings.
Man this one is like new or better than new.
Really amazing to follow your progress here.
I see you have change the rear spring to a composite and wonder do you have some inlays under and over the spring where it is attached to the rearend?
I got one used but without any parts for attachment except the original parts wich I ordered new.
I made the spring mount out of some heavy duty, high impact plastic blocks. I questioned myself on the plastic idea, but, decided to try it, as the spring is plastic (to a degree) too. Jury is out on whether it'll hold up. I'll be checking it regularly after running it to see how it holds up. I plan on making a heat shield too once the exhaust is built.
I made the spring mount out of some heavy duty, high impact plastic blocks. I questioned myself on the plastic idea, but, decided to try it, as the spring is plastic (to a degree) too. Jury is out on whether it'll hold up. I'll be checking it regularly after running it to see how it holds up. I plan on making a heat shield too once the exhaust is built.
So you actually didnt use the original steel plate under the spring? You think it can be that hot; there are still around 1-2 inches between the tubes and the spring.
Another question do you know any intake working better than the original and still fit under the original hood?
I did use the stock plate. The plastic is between the diff casting and the bottom plate.
My plan is to make an 'L' shaped cover that attaches to the rear area, covering the plastic and the bolts, then goes under to act as a shield. Will also use heat insulation to prevent heat from transferring to the cover
Originally Posted by Taarzaahn
So you actually didnt use the original steel plate under the spring? You think it can be that hot; there are still around 1-2 inches between the tubes and the spring.
Another question do you know any intake working better than the original and still fit under the original hood?
First, a huge 'Thank You' to the members of this forum who have taken the time to answer my posts about my project. Tracdogg2 especially! I now have what I hope is enough knowledge to undertake the project I've been waiting over 10 years to do. I plan on posting regular updates as I plod along.
Small bit of background: This is the fourth Vette I've owned. 2 1974's, an '81, and this 1980. My fav was my second '74, an LS4 454 car. I liked that car a lot, but traded it for the down payment on a rental house in 1989. Always wanted that car under a 1980-1982's skin.
Got this car in about 2003 and decided this would be the car for that. Life happened, and, here we are almost 15 years latter getting under way. Watch as I journey along. I'd love to read your comments!
The car is an LG4 305 California car. Found it in a guy's yard. $1500 later I was on the road. I didn't think I'd make it the 20-odd miles home. A vicious rod knock was voicing its disapproval, and I thought one of those rods would exit the block, top fuel style! 30 minutes latter, I was home, without incident, thankfully. That was the last time the 305 powered the car. Called it 'The Mildew Machine' as it was outside when I found it, and sat a long time at my place in the weather too.
I feel your pain and I feel your love, I understand your complete love for this body style, I was 18 and walking to work one morning (early) because the motor in 68 Camaro was blown, and many thanks to the friend I had let borrow it, anyway I saw a beautiful red 1980 corvette running setting in a guy's garage, it was like seeing the most beautiful girl for the first time in your life and knowing that you have to make her yours, ( the 63 and the 64 were completely out of reach for any regular joe ), said I'm gonna have me one of those before I die, well I retired, grabbed a bit of the ole 401k because that means for one car of your dreams right? did my search, found an 81, beige, 50,698 miles, really mint and stock condition, undercarriage and bird cage zeibarted, so original that 1 and 3 plug was factory and I'm pretty sure so was air cleaner, number 1 was so tough I actually busted a rib pulling it out on the ridge of the fender, eliminated pollution control, put on a pair of dougs header's and side pipes, removed a slight miss that had plagued me since day one, So yes, I can see your love for this series of the Corvette, you can surely understand where the pain part came from, would I do it over again? In a heartbeat, you did, way to commit brother, so I guess there's only one more thing to do, next year, pull the motor bore it out to a 383, put a roller cam in it and timing gears, I have and will do every bit of it except the boring part, its either that or sit around and be bored, also I was wandering what it would look like with red exterior and tan interior ( thanks for pic ) so don't think your work goes unappreciated you remind me of me so keep on keepin on brother, Dammit Dan or mrsiesta 01
I had plans to use the aluminum rims that came with the car. Until I discovered I had a miss-matched set. Decided on some repro chrome aluminum's. This is 1 of 2 like this. Same as the pair, only this one had a black powder coat-like finish in the slots and a portion of the inside. This one had a totally different casting. Notice the different rib design. Bought 4 new repro chromed aluminum's
FFS I hate this forum software sometimes... just lost everything I had typed when I uploaded pictures
Vinegar for derusting!!!! get a large Rubbermaid tote from Walmart or Costco and fill it with vinegar, leave it in there for 3 days on heavily rusted items and then use a pressure washer on them when you pull them out, immediately oil or paint the parts or they will flash rust in less than 30 mins.
Im absolutely blown away at how much you've gotten done in the same timeframe as me, and you've done sooooo much more work >.<
I really wish I had a powdercoating facility near me, but unfortunately I do not =((((
You car and work look amazing!!
Last pic is a F350 rotor in Vinegar, around the edges you can see the swirls in the Vinegar as it works
you cant actually see the rotor, the solution is milk color by now, what your seeing in the outline of the rotor in eddies as the Vinegar reacts with the rust
Thanks for the de-rust tip naramlee. I shall try that on additional stuff. My seat tracks are just as bad as yours were. Thanks for the compliment on my work and how much I've completed. For the most part, I'm having quite a lot of fun doing it, and it's fun to go downstairs and dive in to whatever task I've lined out for the day. I, frankly, am surprised too at the progress. It's taken me half the time to do twice as much as the Nova project I competed 4 years ago. The Nova wasn't planned ahead like this Vette however. It just kind of happened, with many changes of plan as I slogged through it. I've had a clear goal for the Vette. Sure, there's been deviations along the way due to unexpected problems (like the frame cracks), but I was able to handle those relatively quickly.
Thanks for the de-rust tip naramlee. I shall try that on additional stuff. My seat tracks are just as bad as yours were. Thanks for the compliment on my work and how much I've completed. For the most part, I'm having quite a lot of fun doing it, and it's fun to go downstairs and dive in to whatever task I've lined out for the day. I, frankly, am surprised too at the progress. It's taken me half the time to do twice as much as the Nova project I competed 4 years ago. The Nova wasn't planned ahead like this Vette however. It just kind of happened, with many changes of plan as I slogged through it. I've had a clear goal for the Vette. Sure, there's been deviations along the way due to unexpected problems (like the frame cracks), but I was able to handle those relatively quickly.
disclaimer: I've heard you can speed up the vinegar option by using a anode / cathode option on the parts with a car charger in a vinegar solution, I have NOT tried this tho… but supposedly it cut the time from 3 days to 3 hours
btw, although I love the button-allen head bolts, you did use anti-seize on them? Im not trying to nay-say but offer a heads-up that alittle rust from body threads on those fasteners tend to instantly strip the hex of the allen out trying to remove the fastener, we use a lot of stainless security fasteners and you have to be SO careful with them its not even funny how easy they mess up.
Thx for tip on anti seize. I found that out the hard way on my Jetski trailer, when unbolting the storage box, snapped an otherwise perfect nut and bolt combo. Onto today's fun. As I have mentioned, the driver's side had been hit behind the left front tire and back into the leading edge of the driver;s door. The fiberglass skin, while damaged, popped back into shape. The underlying metal door base did not. I searched for a door. Nothing local, and knew I'd pay an arm and a leg to get one shipped to me. So, with a hammer and dolly (another hammer), and an hour or so, it looks like it'll be usable.
I had an idea that I could separate the rear section of fiberglass from the birdcage by cutting the glue and rivets and then lowering the cage. Was unsure about where the glue was. Thought there might be some on the roll hoop. As I have mentioned, I'm putting a '82CE hatch in, and had the donor car's roll hoop. Had nothing to loose if a damaged that, so, as an experiment, separated the hoop fiberglass from the metal. That went well. Glue all along the top of the roll hoop. And, serendipitously, answered lingering questions about the difficulty of installation of the hatch. I noted all the differences in the existing parts on my car vs the 82's. As a result, I think it'll go smoothly. Here are shots of the rear section separated from the b'cage, as well as some pix of the differences of my '80 vs the '82CE. I was debating whether I really wanted to strip it down to the b'cage. Now that it's free, I'm really glad I did. Very rusty indeed! Can't have that!
A little bit Bubba I'll admit, but here's the story: I got stainless e-brake hardware. (Thanks to the members of this forum who helped me get the star adjusters installed correctly) It came time to attach the cable end to the actuating arm. There's a ball on the end of the cable, and trial fitting revealed the ball popping out of the actuating arm any time the e-brake was applied, as there is nothing to keep in place. Maybe it was the wrong actuating arm, I don't know. I've subsequently seen actuating arms with a rounded recess for the ball to fit, so maybe I could've machined mine with a similar indentation. But, at the time, I came up with another idea which I went with. Wanting to go stainless, I dug into my old jetski parts bin and found some stainless tabs that are used to hold the fuel tanks to the hull. Modded these pieces a bit, drilled and tapped the actuating arm for a hold down screw, and now the ball-end of the cable stays in place. If you don't think this will work, let me know. I'd rather eat humble pie than having my idea not work and having to redo it after everything is back together.
Still pic taken with my new Borescope cam with the entire brake assembly installed Still pic taken with my new Borescope cam with the entire brake assembly installed Incredibly tight fit, so I didn't want to have to take everything apart to put the cable back on. I will test it soon to see if it's going to work.
I see that You are using Stainless Parking Brake parts. Generally they are considered junk in the Corvette world, and I can say that the ones I installed 25 years ago were useless. However what has happened since then I have no idea. I would at least check the arch of the shoes, and see how much contact surface they have with the Drums.
08-30-2018, 03:12 AM
Just wonder what I have to do in my free time the next years or so .................. and for your information mine is a 74 LS4 manual no AC silver on silver matching numbers
