Been a while.. 79 Calais Update

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N3M3S1S

Apprentice
Mar 24, 2013
98
103
33
Wilmington, DE
My old thread (https://gbodyforum.com/threads/79-cutlass-calais-build-thread-formerly-an-intro.44362/) was locked from inactivity I imagine so I figured I'd roll through with somewhere I can post some progress on my car. Here's what she looks like these days:
21766610_10155753506857138_7283838958258274510_n.jpg

The only thing to change since that picture is the front tires were worn due to a bad alignment problem with non raised white letter tires. It used to have Monte SS style rear bumper exit exhaust but I recently had my friend's exhaust shop build me a nice custom proper exit exhaust. Here's a few pics of it:
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It is a super sweet sounding exhaust which is tucked nicely like I wanted since I ordered all these goodies:
a5278b562cf2c03bad97c505dbb001abbeb4f88e_1_374x500.jpg

BMR lowering springs, QA1 coilovers, other goodies. Going to go on the car eventually. Had to do a bunch of work(that exhaust included) to get it ready for our annoying emissions tests. Also had power steering issues which -shouldn't- of been issues but.. yeah. It's originally a 305 car but the P/O swapped in a 350 from a 70s truck. When they did they swapped the accessory drive with it so there was a lot of guess work to what pump we had to get to make it work. I FINALLY seem to have it ok but I'm not banking on it at this point. This post is running a little long so I'll catalog some more below.
 
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N3M3S1S

Apprentice
Mar 24, 2013
98
103
33
Wilmington, DE
Also since the my last thread the front end was rebuilt with new bushings all over the place which helped a lot. Alignment went out of whack since then but I'm going to be tearing it down partially for those coil overs so I'm just waiting for that before I have it aligned again(this time by a shop that doesn't suck). A friend also bought a really neat house earlier this year with a detached garage perfect for car work. He's a body guy and is going to help me knock off all the rust on this car which is sweet. We starting stripping the interior about 2 weeks ago:
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We're going to do the rest of the interior so we can knock it all down to bare metal and do a proper POR15 coating. I'm also going to delete the vinyl top and am planning on a "street race car" sort of look and feel. My interior was pretty junk when I got it but I did a good job of keeping it clean and polishing a turd but I'm pretty done with its current condition. Going to strip out all the sun baked nonsense and do a lot of aluminum sheeting to cover up certain things. Deleted the AC in the engine bay too but want to keep heat so I haven't removed the whole box assembly from the firewall. Here's a decent pic where you can see the worst of the body cancer:
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That quarter panel is the worst spot. Hopefully after this winter the car will be all primer and ready for paint. (this pic was from replacing the upper door hinge. sucked.)
I think that mostly catches me up on the big stuff. If I remember more I'll post more.
 
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Texas82GP

Just-a-worm
Apr 3, 2015
7,981
18,676
113
Spring, Texas
Cool car. Keep the updates coming.
 
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liquidh8

Comic Book Super Hero
Thanks for the updates!
 

N3M3S1S

Apprentice
Mar 24, 2013
98
103
33
Wilmington, DE
Was checking out my body mounts.. Kinda wish I hadn't.. Lol. They're pretty much pooched. Going to have to add that to the list.. The long.. long list. Going to start researching that project.
 
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N3M3S1S

Apprentice
Mar 24, 2013
98
103
33
Wilmington, DE
Finally got around to tuning the ol' Holley that is on top since the new exhaust went on. No more bogging. No more hesitation. Runs like an SOB. My old man is a master of the carb just by ear. Crazy to me. Lol
 
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DRIVEN

Geezer
Apr 25, 2009
8,062
14,479
113
*CENSORED*
Lots of great progress. Keep it up.

If you contact a moderator they may unlock your old thread for you. May even merge this one with it. Can't hurt to ask.
 
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N3M3S1S

Apprentice
Mar 24, 2013
98
103
33
Wilmington, DE
Lots of great progress. Keep it up.

If you contact a moderator they may unlock your old thread for you. May even merge this one with it. Can't hurt to ask.
Honestly that old thread was a bit of a mess and I didn't know g bodies at all at that point. Keeping this one fresh! lol
 
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N3M3S1S

Apprentice
Mar 24, 2013
98
103
33
Wilmington, DE
Put a very important mod on my car today...
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Going to drive it the rest of this week plus a Cars and Coffee this weekend then it's garage time to start getting torn apart. Excited and anxious at the same time.
 
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N3M3S1S

Apprentice
Mar 24, 2013
98
103
33
Wilmington, DE
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Was messing with stupid filters on my phone after taking this pic. Thought it was neat. Drove the car all week to work and while uneventful(in a good way) it was wonderful. Temperatures this week were around 70 the whole time. I really love this car and I can't wait to start curing the cancer on the quarter panels. Today she gets a quick wash before tomorrow's cars and coffee and then it's off to a garage for slumber and surgery.
 
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