Looks like a tight fit.

 

actually, it has quite a bit of room in there. if the exhaust manifolds on the donor engine had a different angle they would have worked easily. I think there is more room than the old engine overall.

 

more getting done. retro stereo, four speakers in. retro style, led turn signal mirrors on both sides. back glass is out, as well as the cracked windshield for slight rust repair and reinstall of back and new windshield. body work also being done in prep for paint.

 

updates:

got a lot done. won't go thru all the boring details. the car is in for paint as i write this. going to be gloss black. retro radio is in. have a sub and amp to put in. locking hood pins installed. new rubber done in trunk and all 4 doors. quick recap:

car has: front power disc brake upgrade; tubluar control arms up front with poly bushings, new ball joints, new idler arm, new pitman arm, new tie rod ends, grand cherokee steering box; new shocks; rear has new 442 rear lower control arms (overload shocks and rear sway bar up next); have a used set of upper control arms I am having boxed and then will install new bushings

car has 5.3L ls truck motor with 4l60E tranny. new 3 core aluminum radiator; car is an a/c car so will be getting whatever it needs to hook that to the ls compressor. hAs dual 3" exhaust coming out just behind the rear tires; having custom emblems made looking like the 442 emblems with the three colors but instead will say 5.3 2.

has retro style dual outside mirrors with led turn signals.; new steering wheel.

on for a few pics:

sanding down to metal and then primer on

 

Nice work. Cool idea with the badging. From the sounds of it, that will be one mean car with some nice reliability.

 

Thank you!!!

 

Seems pretty straight, good candidate for black.

 

Thanx!!! from what I can tell, it does look pretty straight...but then, as far as my son is concerned, if it looked like the ocean in rough seas, he would still want it black lol!!!

 

picked it up today. the rebuilding process begins. photos courtesy of my friend who was kind enough to take us to get it. one of the pics that he got captures my son enthusiastically taking his own photos. he was grinning from ear to ear!!!

 

Looks sweet! He's going to have the coolest car at school.

 

Thanx!!! Yea, he is stoked to get back to school next year and driving his car. he has really gotten more involved in putting the car back together and doing stuff on the car which makes me happy to see him take more interest and learn. he wants to go to a car show soon. also pleases me.

 

It turned out nice, glad to see your Maaco can lay a good coat of paint. Did you go single stage or BC/CC? I'm glad you got your son to appreciate, learn, and get some sweat equity invested on this project.

 

Thank you!!! I believe it is a single stage. they did, which I verified, strip it to bare metal. he said it took his painter 3 hours to paint when usually it takes about an hour and a half. the painter came out when we got it and wanted to know who was taking his car. everywhere I go with it, someone wants it. so cool for a 4 door to be that well liked.

he does now have as you say..and I love that phrase...sweat equity. I am going to use that if you don't mind!!!! building great father/son memories here which in reality, for me, is what this is all about. my Dad never did much of anything with me. I wanted to change that.

 

spent the last few days...as much as we can with all the rain we have had, putting the trim back on the car. the bumpers at some point will have to be addressed. rear has a dent in it and both need to be re-chromed. need to go by and finalize the design and colors on the the remake of the 442 badges for this car. the rear socket holders need to be replaced for the turn signals/brake lights. I got some universal ones but they do not hold in the holes tightly and thus do not function like they should.

 

Just checked this thread out. love it. When i was 16 i got my first car and was only armed with the basic. 11 years later i have built engines , diffs, transmissions and do body work work for a living. Hopefully it takes him on a path to be fully hands on.

Love the fact its a 4 door and to be honest its looks awesome i would not mind driving it for daily at all.

 

Thank you!!!!!!! Everyone that has seen it or been involved with it, wants it!!! My son says he will never sell it. I told him, there is a number that gets it done no matter what car you have...enough money gets thrown at it, it is gone!!! But, I understand what he is saying since he is so excited about the car.

 

yeah, he needs to get some stick time before he thinks about selling.

 

for sure!!!!! he actually gets mad if I tell him for the right money, it would be gone and we would just build another one.

 

got the rest of the front stuff put on. got the blinkers finally working, got the grille and newly painted headlight bezels put in. also picked up the custom badging, however, the side fender badges wound up being the same size (length) as the model 442 badge and thus does not cover the mounting holes well. I had given them the dimensions on the first visit and the sales rep had put it into the computer but I surmise that the maker of the badges used the oem badge as his template for the whole deal instead of looking at the computer dimensions. when I called them after picking them the sales rep was asking me if I had told the fabricator, which I did not since I assumed they would use the order sheet with the dimensions on it. well, we all know what happens when you assume. so have to go over there manana and straighten it out......hopefully. I have, what I think is a relatively easy fix but we shall see. in the meantime the custom grille one is on the car and the custom one like the ones that are too short was fine for the trunk so it is on. came out really nice. also started the install of the Gentex compass/temp mirror. the mirror glue for the button I bought was a huge fail. so used some Gorilla super glue and am waiting overnite to see if it holds. going to mount it first and run the wires later. Started the install of the Gentex compass/temp mirror. had to chop off the mirror "stalk" as the old mirror mounting point is on the roof and also seconds as the holder of the sun visors on that side. a little cutting, filing and paint and it will do.

still have the old mirror which is in relatively good shape if anyone needs one.

 

custom 442 style badges done and on the car. gabriel hijackers on. seats are done. got a front bench seat out of a 70 Chevelle that has the headrests for neck protection as is in the car and re-upholstered with the back seat done to match. new package tray done; used pvc shower liner for insulation in a lot of places including behind the door panel in place of the paper moisture shields that were in the car. hood locks all done. the wiper motor gave out...what a pain the butt that was to do. of course I dropped the nut that holds the lever on the back of the motor and it went into the black hole. had to stop to go get something to use as a replacement. all in with a new washer pump so I can hopefully get that working.

really coming together now.

 

I have the same car. Any tips for the rebuild?

 

Congrats on the paint, it looks like Maaco did a great job. I would be excited to drive that everyday too!

 

be glad to, let me know what your specific questions are and I would be happy to try to help!!

 

Thanx!!!!

 

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Front custom badge

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getting ready for the dash paint...

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I blacked out the read panel on the trunk lid and the tail light housings ala 442

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Turned out very nice, bet he's proud of it.

 

Wow nice job, ill bet that power plant is a little more stout than the original. What a great thing to do with your son.

 

That's a nice ride.

 

Thanks so much!!! He really is. He is a senior this year in high school and paid to have his own parking place!!!

Thank you!! What I was always hoping to do with one of my children. my two girls never really got into it. Now to get him to a car show with it!

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

curious so I looked up the advertised weight of the car. of course, now it is lighter with the LS motor in it, but I was surprised by the figures I saw. it is allegedly lighter than my Cobra Mustang!!!!

 

snag. went to get aligned, turns out the after market control arms on one side did not fit properly and the new ball joints that came in the control arms are shot after about 1k miles. control arm modified to fit properly and new Moog ball joints installed and now all of that changed the suspension geometry enough that the knuckle where the inner tie rod ends attach to the center link is hitting the oil pan and lifting the motor up on tight turns. solutions: buy a camaro intake which is lower (the truck intake on the car is very close to the hood now) and shim the motor mounts or notch the Caddy CTS-V pan we had to use for ground clearance. probably the cheapest way is to notch the pan. the saga continues.......

 

shimmed the motor, new ball joints in and the control arm modded, so all seems good. off to get it aligned sometime next week so we shall see. meanwhile finishing up stuff in the interior.

 

The reason I didn't go the tubular route is what you experienced. I've seen premature upper/lower bushing failures and numerous BJ issues over the years.

 

beginning to see that. thought I was doing a good thing. time will tell. I will be sure and keep everything well lubed. Thanx!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

saga comes to a close unfortunately. son, going to school in the rain in the car, lost control . went off the road and it scared him. put new front tires on as the ones that were on at the time were brand new from the day before after he had a flat. went to the tire place and told them the ones they sold me were no good in the rain so got something better. car road great, but now, being a relatively new driver, he is afraid of the car. so will button up a few things and put her up for sale. too bad, has a lot of sentimental value to me having done this with him and put in a lot of sweat time, but not about me so.....soon to be sold.

 

Sorry to hear that but I totally understand. Went through the same thing with my boys riding dirt bikes. As they grew into faster bigger bikes they both became afraid of them (when I was their age I couldn't go fast enough). I guess it's a generation thing.

 

You should hold on to it for a bit and see if he comes around. I'm surprised an issue that didn't result in vehicle damage scared him that much. I've had more than a few scares in a couple of my cars, but I never thought to stop driving them.

 

Sorry it got away from him, perhaps a little more practice. My son had similar feelings when we were putting this one together. He was never comfortable driving it either.

 

If keeping it for a while is an option, I'm with young olds. Can't count how many times I've heard "Man I wish I still had that car...".

Something about when you fall off your horse also comes to mind.

The passage of a bit of time may take the edge off the experience enough that he'll be interested in venturing out in the car again, and will be glad it's still there.

 

Thanks to everyone for the kind words and advice. He has been pretty adamant about it to the point I got him a 6cyl 04 mustang auto. he is fine with it and has no apprehension about driving it. even with all the attention that car got, in fact today, he told me about some kind of voting thing at school that he was in and part of it was having the coolest car (the cutlass) at school. but, the wife and him convinced me to get something else last week which I did, now have to pay for it by selling the olds. the other part of it....one of of the first cars I drove was my Dad's 67 cutlass convertible so having this car really brought back a lot of memories. I can't afford to keep it though.