Great pics, I'm confused on the direction you are going though. I see street style, mid grade parts and then all of the sudden a Race Pack dash that you'd find in a 4,500HP TMPP Pro Mod. What are your final goals with the car?
1985 MC-SS Build Project
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What ever his goals are I like it..... A lot.... and I will not gripe about working in my 2 car garage henceforth .....
Beware the 2 tone green 4 door Pontiac!
That seems like the best method to insure a timely delivery from what I've read.
The Haltech piece looks sweet! Why them over, say, a MSD RacePak?
Thank you and I've been watching your Regal build enthusiastically, keep it up.
Goals
First and foremost; the car will be a very reliable, comfortable, vehicle capable of being daily driven or driven to FL to visit my father if necessary. I'm not looking for a car that is GREAT at one thing but be quite GOOD at a couple.
I'll take the car to the local Auto-X on Sunday's from time to time. I'm not looking to be a top contender for any class, I want to go and improve my skills and the cars capabilities and have a heck of allot of fun doing it.
My son and I would love to drive one of the several different "power tours" together in the car someday. While I don't plan on drag racing the car very often, I would love to be able to hit 9's in the quarter mile with it (9.99 and I'll be happy).
I would love to try and hit 200 mph in the standing mile (199.99 mph will not cut it). I attempted it many years ago in a 1979 Trans-Am but just past 180 mph the passenger side T-top got scared and decided to leave before the finish (p*ssy).
The truth is I can not have a vehicle that I can't press into use if necessary. I'm not independently wealthy, and can't afford a trailer queen or a car that only get's pulled out (insert garage here) only on the weekends. We've had the MCSS for nearly 6 years and I've been collecting
parts this entire time and this is as far as I've been able to get. I was a bit further along in parts; I had a Bowler built T-56 Magnum and QT Bell housing, however I was furloughed for over 2 months this past winter (government shutdown) and our homes heat pump failed. So I decided to
sell the trans set-up instead of taking out a high interested loan while effectively unemployed. I lucked out since the business owner was in the process of building a 69 Camaro for his son so we made a deal.
This isn't going to be a gold plated, chromed, polished and powder coated custom dream built by a SEMA builder for some rich kid or as a "status" symbol for the guy with too much money to spend that wants an old classic to sit next to his new Corvette or Ferrari. But it will be ours and know that
every nut and bolt on it we've touched, is right and what the car can and can't do.
Parts Selection
I'm buying the best parts that I can afford that we feel make sense for what we want the car to do, be capable of, and do it safely. Yes, I'm certain I could have the car nearly done had I decided to build this car with "cheap" or used "upgrade" parts.
While I applaud the hobbyist's out there that found they could swap Jeep steering boxes and shafts, and save money by installing 2wd S10 spindles, whatever brakes, and spare Yugo parts to keep their G-bodies on the road, I was looking for quality built and engineered specifically for a G-body.
Dash
I mentioned earlier that the dash wasn't my first choice. My son purchased it and liked the look. Bottom line is he bought it and gave it to me so I'll use it.
F.Y.I. If my daughter were to buy me a bright Pink (insert part for interior or in trunk) for it I would use it so she would feel she contributed and be part of it as well.
It is the "street" version which has turn signal indicators, high beam, and brake warning light.
Racepak 250-DS-IQ3S IQ3S STREET DASH
Street Instrumentation Has Never Been Easier! Racepak combines high-performance digital instrumentation with the indicators and warnings of a street dash into a compact and versatile product. Based on a rugged, race-proven design, the IQ3S street dash offers the easy to install convenience of a...
www.holley.com
Thank you.
We've gotten creative with the use of engine cranes, floor jacks, and such since they tend not to roll so well in the driveway.
Beware the 2 tone green 4 door Pontiac!
That seems like the best method to insure a timely delivery from what I've read.
The Haltech piece looks sweet! Why them over, say, a MSD RacePak?
With G-body parts: email is the best way to communicate with them and picking up my orders to save time and aggravation. I've always had good luck with Brian and folks there.
They are only about 3 hours away and my son and I used to ride ATV's down at Busco Beach in NC and they were very close to there.
My son received a price discount through Haltech via one of his sponsors. His car was in a booth at a show a couple of years ago that was with Haltech I believe.
They use all of the same sensors and in fact the instructions are straight from Racepak (Holley). I have no idea why Haltech has their brand name on the Racepak.
Excellent explanation and I totally get it and agree ! Watching this one for sure !Thank you and I've been watching your Regal build enthusiastically, keep it up.
Goals
First and foremost; the car will be a very reliable, comfortable, vehicle capable of being daily driven or driven to FL to visit my father if necessary. I'm not looking for a car that is GREAT at one thing but be quite GOOD at a couple.
I'll take the car to the local Auto-X on Sunday's from time to time. I'm not looking to be a top contender for any class, I want to go and improve my skills and the cars capabilities and have a heck of allot of fun doing it.
My son and I would love to drive one of the several different "power tours" together in the car someday. While I don't plan on drag racing the car very often, I would love to be able to hit 9's in the quarter mile with it (9.99 and I'll be happy).
I would love to try and hit 200 mph in the standing mile (199.99 mph will not cut it). I attempted it many years ago in a 1979 Trans-Am but just past 180 mph the passenger side T-top got scared and decided to leave before the finish (p*ssy).
The truth is I can not have a vehicle that I can't press into use if necessary. I'm not independently wealthy, and can't afford a trailer queen or a car that only get's pulled out (insert garage here) only on the weekends. We've had the MCSS for nearly 6 years and I've been collecting
parts this entire time and this is as far as I've been able to get. I was a bit further along in parts; I had a Bowler built T-56 Magnum and QT Bell housing, however I was furloughed for over 2 months this past winter (government shutdown) and our homes heat pump failed. So I decided to
sell the trans set-up instead of taking out a high interested loan while effectively unemployed. I lucked out since the business owner was in the process of building a 69 Camaro for his son so we made a deal.
This isn't going to be a gold plated, chromed, polished and powder coated custom dream built by a SEMA builder for some rich kid or as a "status" symbol for the guy with too much money to spend that wants an old classic to sit next to his new Corvette or Ferrari. But it will be ours and know that
every nut and bolt on it we've touched, is right and what the car can and can't do.
Parts Selection
I'm buying the best parts that I can afford that we feel make sense for what we want the car to do, be capable of, and do it safely. Yes, I'm certain I could have the car nearly done had I decided to build this car with "cheap" or used "upgrade" parts.
While I applaud the hobbyist's out there that found they could swap Jeep steering boxes and shafts, and save money by installing 2wd S10 spindles, whatever brakes, and spare Yugo parts to keep their G-bodies on the road, I was looking for quality built and engineered specifically for a G-body.
Dash
I mentioned earlier that the dash wasn't my first choice. My son purchased it and liked the look. Bottom line is he bought it and gave it to me so I'll use it.
F.Y.I. If my daughter were to buy me a bright Pink (insert part for interior or in trunk) for it I would use it so she would feel she contributed and be part of it as well.
It is the "street" version which has turn signal indicators, high beam, and brake warning light.
Racepak 250-DS-IQ3S IQ3S STREET DASH
Street Instrumentation Has Never Been Easier! Racepak combines high-performance digital instrumentation with the indicators and warnings of a street dash into a compact and versatile product. Based on a rugged, race-proven design, the IQ3S street dash offers the easy to install convenience of a...
Minor update;
I received the SpeedTech\Sweet Manufacturing steering box I ordered. This past weekend we had some very nice weather here in VA so I was able to get the box mounted and swapped over the pitman arm and installed new center link, drag-link, and tie rods. Somehow I managed to not order outer TRE's so I had to order them since none of the local auto parts stores had any in stock.
I also removed the coil-overs so that I could clearance the frame opening for the chicane brackets. I noticed that once I had everything bolted up after doing the conversion that I didn't have enough space and it looked like the top of the coil springs were going to possibly bind or hit the frame. So after opening up the hole, I reinstalled the coil-overs, positioned the Viking coil-over bodies so that the adjustment knobs were pointing towards the wheels.
So now that I am at a point where I could mount the wheels on the front, I built a pair of wheel stands. I made the set in the pictures a bit tall so that I could have ample room to get under the car with a pressure washer nozzle. I had hoped to get the body unbolted from the frame but my "honey-do" list expanded more than I bargained for and ran out of time. Besides, my back was indicating that I had done enough over the weekend.
I received the SpeedTech\Sweet Manufacturing steering box I ordered. This past weekend we had some very nice weather here in VA so I was able to get the box mounted and swapped over the pitman arm and installed new center link, drag-link, and tie rods. Somehow I managed to not order outer TRE's so I had to order them since none of the local auto parts stores had any in stock.
I also removed the coil-overs so that I could clearance the frame opening for the chicane brackets. I noticed that once I had everything bolted up after doing the conversion that I didn't have enough space and it looked like the top of the coil springs were going to possibly bind or hit the frame. So after opening up the hole, I reinstalled the coil-overs, positioned the Viking coil-over bodies so that the adjustment knobs were pointing towards the wheels.
So now that I am at a point where I could mount the wheels on the front, I built a pair of wheel stands. I made the set in the pictures a bit tall so that I could have ample room to get under the car with a pressure washer nozzle. I had hoped to get the body unbolted from the frame but my "honey-do" list expanded more than I bargained for and ran out of time. Besides, my back was indicating that I had done enough over the weekend.
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