Looks great! Keep up the great work.

 

Thanks again, It's coming along however as I start bolting on the remainder of the components for the engine I'm feeling a little frustrated for more fabrication is in order. The headers bolt on nicely however the my 88 has supports which tie the K member to the frame of the car and are in the way of the headers path. I'm not sure if this is on the Delta 88 in general or if it's the convertible model that has extra reinforcement added. These supports look to be pretty beefy so I'm thinking they needing to be there. I'm in the process of making new ones from 3/4" seamless tubing to be bent around the headers. In addition I was unaware that there are 2 water pumps for the 455. My original was a 5 1/2' tall pump but I got a 6" one on the motor and is now painted so I've ordered a new aluminum pulley to line up with the crank pulley properly. Maybe it's because my car came without A/C. I'm Unsure as to why and when I ordered it there was not an option listed. I'm hoping to get it some what completed be the end of this weekend coming and will post some more picks.

 

rockauto shows 5.5 for no ac and 6" for ac

IDK if the AL pulley will work alot of people have pulley mismatch due to these water pumps....

 

Well I took a chance and ordered one and it lines up, however it’s now a smaller diameter than the original. I’m not sure how it will affect the water pump. It will spin the pump a bit faster than stock. Is that a good thing or not? IDK!

 

I got the exhaust fabbed and bolted together. I’ll be replacing the back section next winter but the exhaust is good still to get her running. I’ll be going 2 1/2” all the way back. It’ll give it that deep quiet rumble.



I also fabbed up those supports for the K member. There close but everything clears good. I’ll send them off to get powder coated on Monday.

 

The progress has steady but I’ve been taking more time to enjoy the summer. Got the supports back and installed. They look and fit good. Got the underside of the car buttoned up and starting to move upwards.


I’ve got a lot done on the top of the motor and basicly just picked away at different things starting at the back and worked my way forward. I’m not going into to much details with each thing I’ve done but if anyone has questions regarding anything specific I can provide more detail.
Installed the distributor, carb, fuel lines, vac lines, and electrical. Spent some time making brackets to keep things tidy and other than the cooling system, alternater, power steering, pulleys and running plug wires, it’s pretty much done up top.





Im going to build an cold air intake with polished aluminum tubing so I put the air cleaner on to take some measurements. It’s going work out pretty good. I’m liking it.

 

 

What kind of headers are those?

 

They are headman headers. I painted them with gun metal grey header paint. I like the color, goes good with the blue adds s bit of contrast. They fit the motor good except for the drivers side. I had to put a small dent in the back to clear the steering knuckle. They were made for the cutlas not the 88.

 

It’s frustrating when posts don’t come out right. Everything is done now. Just have to finish up the electrical for aftermarket options I’ve installed such as distributor, carb, electric fans and gauges. Check it out.

 

Just got to put fluids in her then she’s ready to fire up. Exciting times! Lol

 

Really impressive work you're doing here. Looks really good!

 

Thanks Tim75, it’s been a good 10 months in the first part of the build but the hardest part is done. As with any new motor one builds it’s always a little nerve racking firing it up. Had some hickups with the distributor and the timing but nothing major to get it fired up and no leaks! The 455 runs smooth and the car floats like it should. I’m going to enjoy it for a couple months now before I get started on it again in winter. I’ll resume the post when I get started. ��

 

Well it’s been awhile since my last post in the fall and really didn’t do much to the car but a few things. I had over heating issues with the new motor install and after a bit of troubleshooting I found that the electric fans I installed don’t have the air flow required to maintain temperature. Combined cfm was only about 3000 and with the large dual core aluminum rad I put in, the fans weren’t drawing enough air through. I went back to the mechanical flex fan I had and problem solved. I also finished off the cold air intake and I have to say it filled the large engine bay quite nicely. Was expensive but the look is killer and very functional. I ducted it into the front corner of the fender to get nice cool air coming in.

 

Wow the engine bay looks great. Nice work on the cold air intake and wire routing on the drivers fender well.

what is the gold box by the brake booster?

 

It does fill the bay and look good, Hard to believe such a big engine is dwarfed by the size of the engine bay in these cars. The gold box is the cruise control module which I disconnected. It didn't work and the vacuum pod on the engine was ugly and leaking.

 

When I bought this car the one thing that stood out for me is that the steering wheel was replaced with an aftermarket peice of crap. It looked like it came out of a S10 or something. I asked the owner if he had the original but he told me the trim ring started to lift and cut him while driving so he replaced it. It’s small and doesn’t fit with the car. IMO one of the things that makes these cars great we’re their steering wheels, big, bold and stylish. I began my search for one and hoping to find one in good shape. Tougher than I thought. Most were not even repairable or pieces were missing off them. I managed to find one after a long search. It came out of a 72’ delta 88. Still a bit rough but I thought it was repairable. This is the one I got with the car and the pic of the future replacement.

 

Awesome build

 

Thanks, a lot of blood, sweat and money has gone into it. So far I’m about 12K into it in just parts. Lost track of the hours but I’d say about a couple or 3 hundred.

I tore down the steering wheel from the junker and the spline and horn mech is in really good shape. The aluminum wood grained trim on the bottom is worn and faded as well as the trim ring all they way around is destroyed, it was just plastic. The wheel itself is cracked and split in 3 places.

My first thought was whether to reproduce the trim ring around the wheel myself or just fill it in for trying to find an oringinal in good condition would I think be impossible or if I did really expensive. I think for the style I decided to reproduce a polished aluminum one to inset.

I used JB weld 2 part appoxy to fill and inset the ring around the wheel. It set up quite nicely but required a second fill to go over due to some minor shrinking. Got it sanded and prepped for paint

 

I gave the aluminum trim ring a polish and masked it off. I cleaned the horn pad and managed to get it all painted and I’m happy with how it turned out.