78 Grand Prix project

[G-Body_Vet]

Thanks for the comments and keeping this thread alive! It's great motivation for me to keep plugging away at it.

Motivation is always good, especially with a long-term project. Here's some more for you, my almost fully assembled 461

That's looking really nice! I like how you're trying to pass it off for a plain old Pontiac mill on the outside. The untrained eye may not notice the powder coating and Edelbrock heads :lol:

 

[67rstbkt]

That's looking really nice! I like how you're trying to pass it off for a plain old Pontiac mill on the outside. The untrained eye may not notice the powder coating and Edelbrock heads :lol:

Thanks, that's the plan. I would really like to fit a stock air cleaner on it too and maybe go with those RA manifolds instead of headers. The paint on it is Eastwood's ceramic engine paint with the hardener, manifold too. I really like how it sprayed, just took longer than I expected to dry.

 

[G-Body_Vet]

Thanks, that's the plan. I would really like to fit a stock air cleaner on it too and maybe go with those RA manifolds instead of headers. The paint on it is Eastwood's ceramic with the hardener. I really like how it sprayed, just took longer than I expected to dry.

Really? The valve covers look powder coated. I'll probably go with the RA manifolds myself. I'm at that age where reliability trumps all-out power. I know long tubes are the way to go but they're just too much of a pain on a street car IMO.

I've been debating whether or not I want to dress-down my engine too. The only bling items I currently have are the polished Ansen Pontiac script valve covers. I got a good deal on them and hate to let them go.

 

[Volumeshooter]

I would not want to let them go either, those are pretty sweet.

 

[deanlemans81]

great progress on the gp Steve. Keep it up and it will drive next summer! I am also going the dressing down route with my 400. I hope to have the engine compartment look pretty much stock with just a little "something fishy" going on. The wdelbrock intake is painted engine color (I`m using the late pale blue from the last years of production). I have a dual snorkle air cleaner from a iroc camaro which is just painted black with a 400-4 sticker. The only shiny parts are the original chrome valve covers which came off my 69 GTO 20 years ago. I always kept them for my next Lemans.
Dean

 

[67rstbkt]

Really? The valve covers look powder coated. I'll probably go with the RA manifolds myself. I'm at that age where reliability trumps all-out power. I know long tubes are the way to go but they're just too much of a pain on a street car IMO.

I've been debating whether or not I want to dress-down my engine too. The only bling items I currently have are the polished Ansen Pontiac script valve covers. I got a good deal on them and hate to let them go.

The valve covers on there now are in rough shape and came with the motor. I used them to keep dust and paint out of the motor. I'm undecided on what to replace them with; I'd like a low profile valve cover, but I don't think the roller rockers would clear. Another idea I was throwing around was to buy a cheap set of tall covers and do them up in a flat black crinkle finish.

I feel the same about the headers; I had long tubes on the car when I got it and they are pretty beat up. I can't use them with my round port heads and could not find any shorty headers, so the RA manifolds seem to be the best option. Plus, it just goes along with the stock look

 

[G-Body_Vet]

I got out there last night and started working on the rear frame rails. Keep in mind I'm not doing a 100pt resto or building a show car. This is a functional car being done on an average Joe's budget. Media blasting the frame and grinding on it for hours wasn't in my agenda. Since the frame was already decent I only wanted to remove any loose rust and go the KBS Coating route again.

This is what I started with. No matter what kind of rust inhibitor/coating/etc you go with there's no way around flaky rust. Even with rust converter, the less rust you start with the better.

Quality factory welds eh?

Here's the same pic with the flash on. Notice the small hole in the middle of the weld.

This is after using a rust/paint stripping wheel (works great btw) and a wire wheel for the welds.

The Rust Blast converter being applied

After the rinse

Remember the hole I pointed out in the weld earlier? Since I had some of the fast-setting JB Weld laying around I decided to put it to use and fill the hole. While I was at it, I figured I'd just fill in the uneven areas of the welds to prevent anything from collecting in the crevices. Will it help? Maybe, maybe not.

This was after the first coat and it was still drying. I'll go back out in the garage today to get some better pics. You can see why I'm planning to use Eastwood's internal frame coating kit too. Also note that I gave the rail some healthy BFH whacks to knock loose anything before I got started. I also blew out the inside of the rail with compressed air to clear out the flaky rust.

 

[G-Body_Vet]

Here's some more pics of it cured. Doesn't look too bad for a few hours of work I suppose. Either way it will do it's intended purpose for years to come.

I gave everything a 2nd coat after I noticed a few tiny spots I missed. Down side of too many beers in the garage...not to mention getting this stuff on my hands! I'll knock off those little drip spots when I get ready to put the bumper shocks back on.

 

[86 maroon gp 2+2]

I have been following your thread ever since you started and man you've come a long way! I look your thread up almost every other day and will continue to because of your grade "A" work, you may not think so but your doing what few people have ever done on this forum. I'm planning on doing the same thing because of what happened recently with my car keep up the good work!

 

[pontiacgp]

I upgraded all the factory welds just for the reason you pointed out, factory welds are not very pretty....found out tho the best way to weld the frame is with a stick and lucky for me there was an excellent stick welder in the race shop