Last pic of it together for a while.

[gearheads78]

I leave for Hotrod Power Tour in Two months. Sunday I took final drive for a while. Next weekend I will be starting on a lot of disasembly, detail work and making some changes to the car. I am still undecided I how far I want to go and know for sure I can have it back together in time.

[Oldsguy]

Good luck, perhaps with the next picture of it complete it will look "brand new again".

[Lady72nRob71]

Judging by that picture, she looks brand new as-is!
To me the only things missing are the dog dishes on the wheels - she looks great!
Best of luck in the detailing and perfectionizing!
(I am doing that myself to my '72).

[gearheads78]

Originally Posted by Lady72nRob71

Judging by that picture, she looks brand new as-is!
To me the only things missing are the dog dishes on the wheels - she looks great!
Best of luck in the detailing and perfectionizing!
(I am doing that myself to my '72).

Thanks pictures hide a lot. Don't get me wrong its a very nice all original (even paint) survivor. It needs a complete restoration to be perfect but for now I want to make drivetrain, suspension, and brake changes. The paint is the original laquer so for now I will just do the best I can with the body and paint. Lots of checking in the old laquer that will get some rubbing out.

[gearheads78]

Well after I set it down with this tires today I talked myself back out of the steelies. Lots of work to do but I am sticking with my original plan.
Got it mocked up with tires under the car at what will be ride height.



Got all the suspension out of it to mock up the new suspension and brakes tomarrow. I should have all the data I need to order wheels.

8.5 rear thats going under it.

[gearheads78]

measuring for front and rear wheel clearance


made some brackets for the brake new emergency brake cables. Ready for refinish.

[J-(Chicago)]

Nice work. While your at it,might as well box the control arms

[gearheads78]

Originally Posted by J-(Chicago)

Nice work. While your at it,might as well box the control arms

Thanks...

Already have aftermarket rear arms so no boxing will be nessasary

[gearheads78]

Todays progress only 48 days till power tour

[Eddie Hansen]

just some upgrades and brakes LOL..... I thought you were gonna just bite off little bits!!!! C'mon fellas get your lobster bibs on, Gear head's on a mission from God!! gonna be plety to chew for all of us in 48 days !!! speed on brutha, she does look sweet though, and your welding is aces!!

[Olds64]

I like those rims in the second set of pictures. They are so shiny they are invisible! It doesn't even look like there are any wheels on the car!

[gearheads78]

Rear bumper had a couple of pretty good dents so I dropped it off at the plater this morning.
Got the brackets for the rear brake lines made up and welded today. Also got the housing stripped down ready to go to the powder coater.


Lots more dissasmebly only 42 days

[gearheads78]

Almost 1/2 way there. Just about everything thats coming apart is now apart. I dropped off lots of stuff to the plater late Saturday. Going to do lots of parts in white and black zinc for an OEM look to everything even though its all custom.
I already told my boss I will be in late on Monday. I hope to have this stuff at the powder coaters when they open.

[gearheads78]

I picked up my slightly modified C6 Corvette calipers tonight after work. What do you think? I don't know if I am the first to do this but I have never seen it done.

[Oldsguy]

That is really cool. Tell us the story behind the calipers (I read over at R.O.P.).

[gearheads78]

Originally Posted by Oldsguy

That is really cool. Tell us the story behind the calipers (I read over at R.O.P.).

LOL I thought it was pretty obvious that was a joke but a few people are taking it serious. I better not repeat it or rumors are really going to start

The real story is they are off a 2006 Corvette. I paid a machine shop to mill the "Corvette" off and countersink the new lettering.

[Oldsguy]

haha, you had me for a little while. I am not up so much on the newer Oldsmobiles so it sounded quasi plausible.

[68conv455]

Am I the only one with "Lift Envy".
I think I reeealllly need one.

[gearheads78]

Originally Posted by 68conv455

Am I the only one with "Lift Envy".
I think I reeealllly need one.

basic tools any car guy needs 1/2" wrench, 9/16" wrench, lift, 3/8 rachet, screwdrivers ect ect

[gearheads78]

Little bit of progress this weekend. Still a few days before I get the cad/zinc plating and the powder coated stuff back. I worked of prepping some of the stuff I still have here.
455 won't be built for a while so the orginal 330 will go back in for now. The motor was pulled down to a bare long block and scaped, chisled, and wire brushed 42 years worth of grease and grime. Also resealed everything back up with new gaskets. Little bit more cleaning and motor will be ready for a fresh coat of Oldsmobile gold.
The rest of the time was spent cleaning, sand blasting and painting lots of misc parts.

[J-(Chicago)]

Originally Posted by 68conv455

Am I the only one with "Lift Envy".
I think I reeealllly need one.

I'm a fan of this lift

Originally Posted by gearheads78

basic tools any car guy needs 1/2" wrench, 9/16" wrench

80's deltas use metric bolts, so those wrenches are usually only good for popping off beer bottle caps.

[gearheads78]

Two phone calls today. One was from the machine shop the other from the plater.
Since I am using LS1 F-body rear brakes on a stock 72 rear there is nothing to hold in the factory bolt in axles tight. I had these spacers made to take care of that. I also had them cut down the front hubs to clear the C6 Corvette front rotors. the last thing I had them do was cut the stud holes to .503 to get the correct interference fit with my aftermarket ARP metric studs. I cut them down to 2.200 so they will still be long but stay under the closed end lug nuts.
The plating I am extreemly happy with. I had old greasy rusty original parts and new gold cad after market parts parts. I did not like the look of either. Anything that did not go to the powder coater went to the plater. After this I don't think I will ever clean a rusty bolt again. Below is just some of the stuff.

[The_Jeremiah]

Thats lookin pretty cool. You are going through a lot of work. Is that your own garage in the pic where you were mocking up the new tires ? thats a sweet facility, your pockets must be bottomless : )

[gearheads78]

Originally Posted by The_Jeremiah

Thats lookin pretty cool. You are going through a lot of work. Is that your own garage in the pic where you were mocking up the new tires ? thats a sweet facility, your pockets must be bottomless : )

Thanks for the complements on the car. As for bottomless pockets that is far from the truth. I saved a long time building and collecting parts for my 78 malibu race car. I sold that a few month back and all tht money is going in the 66. When we bought our house it had a 900 SF wood shop in the back yard. I converted that for car use by adding bay doors and a concrete parking slab. The lift was free. A shop was going out of business. I bought all he had and and resold all but the lift and a few thing I kept.

If I really had deep pockets you wouldn't see all the used parts with a spit shine. My BTR 455 or twin turbo DX motor would be sitting on the stand waiting to go in. I have less in my whole brake system than many guys are spending on one caliper. My wheels are about 1/2 of what many pro-touring guys are spending. Instead of calling up someone and ordering a turn key 5 speed conversion kit I was only able to buy the trans and clutch. The rest is used parts modifed and refurbished. I'm using stock spindles instead of a ATS. I could go on all day. I could be doing things very different if I was not on a tight budget.

[Oldsguy]

Is the plating charged by the piece or by the pound? The hardware looks really good by the way.

[Eddie Hansen]

Gearhead, man you rock!!! that build is coming out awesome man!! wow keep up the updates!!! I am sure it is inspiring us all!!

[gearheads78]

plating price was shot from the hip. 5 boxes were less then 300.00

Originally Posted by Eddie Hansen

Gearhead, man you rock!!! that build is coming out awesome man!! wow keep up the updates!!! I am sure it is inspiring us all!!

thanks I've never taken on a project this big especially in such a limited time frame.

I got some high heat primer and Fusicks gold on the motor tonight. I should have waited till a daytime I could do it. The bugs and trash were getting in it like crazy. The intake and block still look great because the rough cast iron hides the imperfections. The pan and valve cover don't look to good up close. I will probably redo the valve covers since they are so visible.

[J-(Chicago)]

That plater idea was a great one.
Trumps my brilliant idea.
I'm putting coal slag and corn cob media in a bullet casing tumbler and leaving it on all night 20 bolts at a time
But then again, I will have 250 more dollars for beer. Minus the electric bill of course

[Oldsguy]

On V8.com the guy building the Cutlass decided to re-use all his hardware too, he did something similar to your approach J.

[gearheads78]

Well its over a week later than quoted but I finally got my pieces back from the coater tonight. Do these things come with instructions ?
23 days left. Oh Shhhhh**

[J-(Chicago)]

You got it man. No problem.

[gearheads78]

I was off today and worked in the shop most of the day. Lots of minor progress. A few steps forward and a step back ops:
I started getting things ready for the manual conversion with the TKO600.
My first thisng to do was see if and how much I needed to drill the crank for input shaft clearance. In process of measuring I noticticed the pilot bearing I got was out of spec. I called Supercars and they are rushing another out.
I did need to bore the crank. I went to a local industrial machine tool surplus store and picked up a couple bits to drill the hard crank material. One was a 1/4" and the other .798 to give me plenty of clearance from the input shaft. I love that place $10.00 for both bits.
I knew it would never be perfect with a hand drill but I wanted to get as close as I could. To do this I set the motor on wood blocks and shimmed it up until it was level at the pan rails. I the drilled at a slow speed and used the bubble on the drill to keep it level up and down. I eyeballed the side to side by having a long bolt to the crank to reference to. About a full hour of drilling I'm sure glad that is over.



Since I got powdercoating back. I also got my scatter shield from them. Luckily I had read the it would need clearanced for the lower pushrod. They had already blasted but I called before it was coated. I mocked it up and trimmed it off with a plasma cutter.

The next thing I did was check the runout of the bellhousing. Its just a hair out of recommended specs but better safe than sorry I ordered some .007 off set dowel to correct it.
I tried to remove the dowels with vise grips and a little heat but all they would do is spin. I decided to make a makeshift puller by tacking a 1/2" nut on the dowels. I then took a 1/2" bolt and another nut and pull them right out by pressing against the back side of a larger socket. They came right out.




The last thing of the night was work on the front lower control arms. Iv'e done bushings and ball joints a few times but never with nice new finshed pieces. The ball joints worked out pretty good. I used duct tape and pieces of broken up paint sticks to push against. It worked out great with no damage to the finish.
I then went to the bushings and things didn't go quite as well. My first idea was to just put both bushings in and press against each other till they seat. WRONG!!! The arm started bending and when I released pressure it did not defect all the way back. Now I have to figure out a way to bend it back without damaging the finish. I've got an idea I will try Sunday when I am off again.
The next arm I did a different way and it worked great. I got a piece of 1/2" all thread to pull against. I then cut a piece of pipe to just smaller than the inside width cut it in half and wraped with tape. I then cut a piece of 3/8" plate in a circle and drilled a hole in the middle. I welded that to a 2" iron pipe coupler and wrapped with tape. Then slid the halves to keep the end of the arm from pushing together. Finally bolted it all together untill the shells were seated. Once I made the tool all 4 bushing were took less than 10 min total.

[gearheads78]

No progress today but the parts pile did get 4 boxes bigger

[gearheads78]

I had to work Satuday but I was off today and got some stuff done.
The first order of business was to see if I could fix the front control arm that I bent in the press last week. My idea worked using a long piece of all thread. The nuts were able to bend it back in to place. It was a relief not to have to find another control arm.

I was able to pick up my rear end housing on Friday night. I friend set up the new Eaton posi and a set of used GM 3.73's out of a late model Chevy truck. I made another press tool to get the upper bushings in. The LH side is so close that I had to hack off a large part of the circle to get it to clear.


When you order SPC arms with screw in upper ball joints there come already assembled. I did not want the gold cad finish so I had them sent apart so I could get them plated silver. I found a socket but it only came in 3/4 drive so I asked the techs at my office if anyone had a rachet I could borrow. Well I got one. I am calling this the "GODZILLA" wrench. :shock:

It would be too much to ask for things to just bolt together. The upper Currie Trac arm would not get close to fitting on the LH side. I had to ruin thier nice powder coating and notch a bunch of material off the inside edge. Few coats of Semigloss spray paint and it was back in business.

For the most part the rest of eveything went smooth. Got the new 3/8 fuel line to upgrade from the original 5/16 line so it will be ready for the future 455. All the rear suspension and part of the front suspension is now together. Also got the motor frame pads but on. Its starting to look like it might be a car again.

[Oldsguy]

that is very nice work. Can't wait to see it!

[bulldog]

Very impresive,There is something to be said about having alot of patience.

[gearheads78]

Well guys it does not look like its going to happen. I am over the budget I gave myself and still short about $500.00 for some mis stuff I need to finish. I was fortunate enough to get myself out of dept last year and I refuse to go back in. In addition the powder coating taking an extra 8 days just threw off my already very tight schedule. I could just slam it together and still make it but I have come this far already I just don't want to cut any corners. My wife has been very understanding but my 2yo daughter is having I hard time with me comming straight home eating and going out to the garage every night for the last month so I need to spend some time with her.
I already have the time off for PT and some money set aside for the trip so I am going to supprise them both and spend a few days down in South TX at the beach.
On to project update........
When I went to assemble my rear E-brake assemblies I noticed I was missing two little pins. My guess is they fell through the screen when I had the harware cleaned up and zinc plated. The only way to get that pin is a 100.00 kit from GM.
I dicided to make them and it turned out pretty good. I borrowed one out of a friends Camaro to copy. I used 1/4" grade 8 bolts to make two new ones. I chucked the bolt up in a drill and ground off the head will a bench grinder while the drill was spinning to keep it uniform. I used a file while the drill was spinning to sneak up on the size. Then 180 sand paper and finally 400 emery cloth to polish the tips. My finished pieces are with in
.004 of the of what the factory ones are long. Few hours work was a whole lot better than $100.00 to get new ones.

After greasing up the front bearings and installing the hubs I slipped on the C6 rotors. I one side I could see a bad wobble. I put a dial indicator on it and it was .035 tolerence on the runout. I took that rotor to work to check it on a brake lathe and it was fine. Now I was thinking I had a bent hub so I but the indicator on it. Luckiy the problem was a high spot on the face of the hub. I few minutes with a hand file and it was level with the rest of the hub. Now the runout is only .004 on that side. Much better.


Only other thing I have done is finish the front suspension and steering. I ordered the wrong drag link. I did not know there were two different sizes. I ordered a 7/8 and need a 13/16. I thought to save time and $$ I cleaned up the original and installed it but it has a little play in one of the joints so its going to come back off. Now I need to oder a 13/16 link or find a pitman and idler for the 7/8 one.
The last thing I did Saturday was test fit a wheel to get an idea where to run the hard lines so the still clear the 9" wheels up front. I sure do like that last picture.

[J-(Chicago)]

Those are the craziest looking A-arms I have ever laid eyes on.

[gearheads78]

Originally Posted by J-(Chicago)

Those are the craziest looking A-arms I have ever laid eyes on.

SPC arms with optional screw in ball joints. They came all gold cad finished so I disected them and made tham match everything else.

Today was a bust. As far as the project. I spent the morning with my daughter and went outside mid day. I planned on building brake lines. After making one of the rear axle lines I went to flare the end. Just as the tool started to seat I heard a pop. The insert for the double flare broke

Only other thing I did was spend a few hours on the front calipers. I filed, sanded and smoothed all the machine marks and casting texture and flash. I can't wait to get these painted. They are one of my favorite things about the whole build.

[J-(Chicago)]

Originally Posted by gearheads78

Today was a bust. As far as the project. I spent the morning with my daughter and went outside mid day.

Same here bud. Total bust. The weather channel and news was sending out alerts all day for thunderstorms. Sky was pitch black, so I tarped her and went to sleep around noon. Turns out the storm totally missed us and I wasted a great 75 degree day.