So I posted a while back the history of my car, but basically I bought my best friend's mom's 1972 CS hardtop. It is a one owner car in sunfire yellow with black buckets and a dual gate which basically makes the car for me. It's my second CS I drove a '71 convertible in high school 20+ years ago.

So I have had the car for about 3 months and using this site as my main recourse I have made some major progress, but some stuff is yet to be decided. I will break it down by component as follows with what I have done and what needs to be decided. The goal is not to have a 100% show car but a really nice car that is a "cruiser with *****" (I am looking for around 350 HP at the crank) that looks basically stock under the hood.

Interior

Not much to do here. Its in great shape. Was covered in mold when I got the car but it looks fabulous now. Going to keep everything as is, but will eventually do a clock tach and one of those cool radios that are modern inside and look original.

Body

I have a client who has 30 cars, mostly GM muscle. He has a full time body guy and mechanic who does great work that I have personally inspected. I made a deal with my client to get 80 hours of his time and excess at his pay rate of $40/hr. The car has minimal rust, so he will be stripping it, fixing surface rust in a couple of spots and repainting the car and undercoating it. Front and rear glass and all trim will be removed.

Questions here:

1. I am totally nuts to even consider lacquer? (Pretty sure the answer is yes but want some opinions).

2. Is there any special type of undercoat I should ask for? I have no idea. I have experience with POR 15 but I am sure there is something else I should be using.

Drivetrain

The motor is apart and at Mardinly in Broomall, PA. I am very comfortable with their ability to build the motor I want. So far, they have bored it .030 over, cut the crank .1 and ordered ARP rod bolts and a set of Sealed Power L2321F30 pistons. I am keeping the rods. I sent the heads to Smitty and he is installing large valves and doing a major port and polish to them. I AM NOT doing a hydraulic/roller set up based on cost. Plan to keep original 4bbl quadrajet carb and intake.

The TH 350 is being built with a mild shift kit and a 2500 stall and mildly beefed up components. I can post full specs if you are interested. I am having the driveshaft sent out for refinishing. The car has posi but I don't know the ratio. I am figuring that if it is anything less than 3:23 I will switch the gears to 3:43. I just haven't gotten there yet.

Questions:

1. I am thinking Hedman headers just because they reportedly fit well and flow well and the price is right.

2. I have no idea on exhaust. I don't want the car super loud but I would like a low rumble and when I step on it I would like it to be loud. Suggestions please.

3. I intend to speak to Smitty about grinding me a cam as we get further along, but am open to suggestions here too.

4. Going for just under 10:1 compression, so do they just do a surfacing of the bottom end so everything fits or do we take metal off? And if so, what head gasket will I need?

Suspension

The springs are about 15-20 years old and have minimal mileage on them. Thinking of leaving them alone. Open to objections. I intend to get repo SSI's in 15" to accommodate the front disks that the car has and to give me more tire choices. Anything I need to know here? It currently has unpainted SSII's but I am not wild about the look.

I intend to do Bilstein HD shocks and a PST urethane complete suspension kit. Intend to replace all body bushings with urethane. Open to suggestions here as well. Also thinking of a rear sway as well depending on how badly I have broken the bank at the end.

So that's it in a nutshell. Sure I am missing a bunch of stuff. Hoping to be done by around Memorial Day. Please tell me what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong.

I know everyone loves pics but I don't have any that are that interesting at this point. When I have more time I will post what I have got. Thanks for your help.

 

Sounds like a good plan, exhaust is an aquired taste. Listen to other cars at car shows and duplicate.

 

Things I forgot:

Water Pump

Oil Pump

Radiator

I would like to over do it on the cooling system. I have been looking around at parts and posts and nothing jumps out at me. What are some good parts recommendations there?

Same for oil pump?

Thanks

 

I connected with the body guy today and he said I need two front fenders, a hood a trunk lid and two rear patch panels. I am looking around the classifieds and reached out to a couple of people, but I am looking at reproduction parts too. Who do I need to know to stay away from? Any advice is appreciated.