i say "re-restore," because my dad had restored it in the mid to late 90's, into the early 2000's.. she sat in the woods from 2004 until this past september, when i obtained the car (after 8or 9 years of telling him i was going to off him for it LOL). when i got it home, i did the usual "must-do's" like clean the carb, an oil change, new plugs, fresh gas and rebuilt the starter. when she was parked, there was nothing wrong with her, except a dead battery and an empty gas tank. since i've gotten it, it's been a semi-nightmare, from sitting so long. it took me a couple days to get her up, running and moving, between work and the girlfriend.. but the first time it fired up, my childhood flashed before my eyes. a lot of my mechanical knowledge was learned on, in and around this car, so it's clearly an important part of my life and i'm extremely excited to dig my hands into her and make her better and stronger than ever before. i'll start by listing everything that was done the first time she was restored, then list my plans, what little i've done in the past month and some recent pics (i'll upload some of the original restoration pics when i gather them all and scan them).
original resto:
- jasper 305 reman longblock (.030 over, .010 under cut crank)
- crane cam
- edelbrock air gap
- 600cfm edelbrock
- flowtech shorty's
- 2-1/2" true duals with raptor mufflers
- accel "supercoil"
- TH350 to replace the 200R
- B&M 3500 stall converter
- B&M shift kit
- external trans cooler
- floor shifter swap
- cavalier bucket seats
- autometer tach with built in shift light
- a couple small audio upgrades (most notably, the SN95 mustang "460 surround sound" tweeters in the headliner)
- new frame from an 81 monte donor car my dad picked up
- frame was blasted and painted with POR15
- new polyurethane bushings everywhere
- stainless steel brake lines/aluminum fuel and trans cooler lines
- 3 way adjustable shocks in the front/gabriel air shocks in the rear (was set up as a self contained system with a lincoln "prc" compressor
- grand national rear with a 2.whatever gear set (gained posi, lost the 4.11's a couple months later when the pinion bearing went and shredded a couple teeth, so he went back to a stock gear set)
- boxed lower control arms
- all the rust repair/body work/paint
- 80's firebird (or trans am, i don't know which) spoiler
i'm sure there are things i'm missing here, but that's all i can really think of, without walking around the car
things i've done so far:
- the usual things to get a neglected car running
- replaced the water pump/alt belt 4 times (couldn't figure out why it kept shredding, but seems to have fixed itself)
- a little carb/timing tinkering
- new front tires
- hollowed the clugged cats
and now my future plans:
- AR torque thrust II's (16x6 fronts, 16x9 rears.. should give it a really mean stance with the right tires)
- new 1/4's, rockers, doors and deck lid
- pull the body and redo the frame.. the POR15 didn't hold up worth a damn
- new rear bumper. mine is falling apart at the mounts.. another aluminum bumper is going to be nearly impossible to find
- boost.. first on the 305, then a bigger turbo for the forged 355 i'm collecting parts for
- TKO 600 trans (this i already have. was going to use it for my 4cyl TC, but i'd like to get the cutlass finished by spring. the bird won't be done for at least a year, because of the plans i have for it, so i have plenty of time to get another 1)
- 8.8 rear out of a turbo coupe with moser axles and a locker (i have an empty housing and a mark 7 disk brake upgrade already (11" rotors and dual piston calipers), just need axles and a locker)
- tubular control arms for the rear. i started building a set for my TC, i'll just cut them down a little to work with this car
- 13" front brake upgrade with wilwood 4 piston calipers (already have the calipers, just need rotors)
- new shocks, possibly coilovers on all 4 corners
- front swaybar out of 1 of my TC's (i have 4 of them just laying around. there's only a 1/2" difference in overall width and will fit perfectly into the g-body mounting locations on the frame)
- some minor interior work, nothing crazy or out of the ordinary.. new seats are a must
anything else, i'm either not decided on or haven't put much thought into, yet.. so for now, that's my "to-do" list.. so now, some pics (even though i already posted them in my noob thread)
original resto:
- jasper 305 reman longblock (.030 over, .010 under cut crank)
- crane cam
- edelbrock air gap
- 600cfm edelbrock
- flowtech shorty's
- 2-1/2" true duals with raptor mufflers
- accel "supercoil"
- TH350 to replace the 200R
- B&M 3500 stall converter
- B&M shift kit
- external trans cooler
- floor shifter swap
- cavalier bucket seats
- autometer tach with built in shift light
- a couple small audio upgrades (most notably, the SN95 mustang "460 surround sound" tweeters in the headliner)
- new frame from an 81 monte donor car my dad picked up
- frame was blasted and painted with POR15
- new polyurethane bushings everywhere
- stainless steel brake lines/aluminum fuel and trans cooler lines
- 3 way adjustable shocks in the front/gabriel air shocks in the rear (was set up as a self contained system with a lincoln "prc" compressor
- grand national rear with a 2.whatever gear set (gained posi, lost the 4.11's a couple months later when the pinion bearing went and shredded a couple teeth, so he went back to a stock gear set)
- boxed lower control arms
- all the rust repair/body work/paint
- 80's firebird (or trans am, i don't know which) spoiler
i'm sure there are things i'm missing here, but that's all i can really think of, without walking around the car
things i've done so far:
- the usual things to get a neglected car running
- replaced the water pump/alt belt 4 times (couldn't figure out why it kept shredding, but seems to have fixed itself)
- a little carb/timing tinkering
- new front tires
- hollowed the clugged cats
and now my future plans:
- AR torque thrust II's (16x6 fronts, 16x9 rears.. should give it a really mean stance with the right tires)
- new 1/4's, rockers, doors and deck lid
- pull the body and redo the frame.. the POR15 didn't hold up worth a damn
- new rear bumper. mine is falling apart at the mounts.. another aluminum bumper is going to be nearly impossible to find
- boost.. first on the 305, then a bigger turbo for the forged 355 i'm collecting parts for
- TKO 600 trans (this i already have. was going to use it for my 4cyl TC, but i'd like to get the cutlass finished by spring. the bird won't be done for at least a year, because of the plans i have for it, so i have plenty of time to get another 1)
- 8.8 rear out of a turbo coupe with moser axles and a locker (i have an empty housing and a mark 7 disk brake upgrade already (11" rotors and dual piston calipers), just need axles and a locker)
- tubular control arms for the rear. i started building a set for my TC, i'll just cut them down a little to work with this car
- 13" front brake upgrade with wilwood 4 piston calipers (already have the calipers, just need rotors)
- new shocks, possibly coilovers on all 4 corners
- front swaybar out of 1 of my TC's (i have 4 of them just laying around. there's only a 1/2" difference in overall width and will fit perfectly into the g-body mounting locations on the frame)
- some minor interior work, nothing crazy or out of the ordinary.. new seats are a must
anything else, i'm either not decided on or haven't put much thought into, yet.. so for now, that's my "to-do" list.. so now, some pics (even though i already posted them in my noob thread)
