Introducing....Project Grocery Getter!

[BulldawgMusclecars]

Jeff from BRP/Musclerods came by on his way home from work this evening, and brought us the mount kit, transmission crossmember, and the 1 7/8 longtubes. Thanks Jeff!
I'd like to note that the BRP/Musclerods kits are made in the USA, in *******, GA. The Hedman/Husler headers are also USA made, in nearby Alpharetta, GA.

I just had to throw one of the headers on to see how it looked:

The Autometer tach adapter:

The engine compartment was a mess, with lots of grease caked on the supension components. Here it is after a little scrubbing and degreasing:

Here are the new plastic fenderwells, to replace the damaged originals. They came from Dixie Monte Carlo Depot, which, oddly enough, isn't in Dixie!

 

[BulldawgMusclecars]

Nice thick flanges on the headers...I like that, they should seal well and not warp.

Heddman east coast makes some very nice stuff. The coating is much nicer than most on the market, too...its done by Performance Coatings in Jonesboro, GA. I use them for all my ceramic and powder coating.
I have all but given up on the other major name brand headers, due to fitment issues. These are specifically engineered to work with BRP's mounts, too, so there is no guesswork.

 

[BulldawgMusclecars]

The ride height looks great, and the rear is dropped properly, but the front springs are still the heated originals. I'll be ordering a new set of springs today, and swapping them out while we still have everything apart. They may have to come back out to be cut once the engine is in, though, but that is to be expected.

The plug on the truck alternator I purchased is different than on the harness, so I have a Corvette alternator on the way. I could change the plug out, but I'd rather not start modifying a brand new harness. I also ordered a sending unit/fuel pump bracket assembly and the Vette regulator/filter assembly; both should be in on Friday.

The fuel tank and lines are out, as is the TPI wiring and computer. We'll do some detailing on the front suspension, frame, and brakes while we are at it.

Here is the original tank. I was surprised how small it is.

The TPI harness:

More underhood shots...in progress

Caliper, rotor, and dust shield removed for detailing. The brakes are all stock. They are in serious need of an upgrade, especially with what is going in this car.

 

[BulldawgMusclecars]

This afternoon was mostly spent cleaning, painting, and detailing parts. The lowering springs will go in tomorrow. Since we are this far in, and have to break the spindles loose anyway, we will remove, clean, and repaint the a-arms, spindles, sway bar, steering linkage, and the steering box.The whole underside is getting pressure washed, and freshened up before any parts go back on. We should also get the new battery box in tomorrow.

As you can imagine, this is already an expensive project (everything is new), but the owner is interested in doing a brake upgrade if we can do it affordably. I have some ideas, including possibly C5/6 parts in the front, and 4th gen F-body rear. That way, if there is ever an issue on the road, repairs are not a big deal.
We're going to look into selling all the takeoffs. That should easily pay for the whole 4 wheel disc conversion. The 305 and TH700R4 wouldn't be cost effective to ship, but if anyone is interested in the other components (the complete TPI, the Concept One accessory drive, the ball milled aluminum valve covers, a like new radiator,etc), let me know and I'll see what I can do.

The front springs are from Hotchkiss, part # 1902F. They are going on the car now. The existing front springs were heated originals, which are being trashed. I'm not sure what brand the rear are, but I'll find out.

We got a lot done today. The whole front supension and steering has been removed, and all the components have been cleaned up and painted. Chris and I took off to the local Pull-A-Part after lunch, and got the spindles we will be using. They are from a 2002 S-10 Blazer 2WD, and are a direct bolt in replacement for the G-body (and earlier S10) spindles.

Going on the car:

The front crossmember after cleaning and painting:

One of the control arms after cleaning and painting:

A shot of the underside, before any cleaning was done. The 8.5 Buick GN rear (3.42 posi) with Edelbrock control arms and a Hotchkiss sway bar, and Air Lift bags, were installed by another shop right before delivery. The shocks are Bell Tech.

The gas tank's stock location, removed for cleaning and painting. The straps will come off for painting as well.

Another underside shot...the dirt daubers will have to go!

One of the original front springs, which appears to have been cut down severely, rather than heated as I initially thought.

Another shot of the front end going back together

 

[BulldawgMusclecars]

The front brakes are going to be a pretty cool, yet relatively inexpensive, setup. We could have just as easily snagged the 2 piston calipers and rotors that came on these spindles, and had a decent upgrade, but with over 500hp on tap we're going to need more than decent. I had originally expected to do some spindle cutting, and using an aftermarket bracket on the original spindles, but a talk with Tobin at Kore3 put me on the right track. He advised using the S10 Blazer spindles and hubs, since its already set up to accept a 2 piston style caliper, and he has a bracket kit that will allow the use of C5/C5Z06/or base C6/Z51 calipers. I'll be using the C6 Z51 style abutments (brackets), and the corresponding 13.3 inch rotors. Jeff Tate has ordered the abutments for me, and I'm still checking around on the rotors and calipers, but it looks like the total parts bill for the front discs will be about $7-750. Using F-body stuff for the rear, and the original quick takeup master cylinder, we'll have a serious 4 wheel disc braking system for a little over a grand!

We just received the new front rotors. They are C6 "J55" front rotors, from the Z51 suspension package. They use standard C5/C5 Z06/C6 base calipers (all the same), but a taller abutment. The calipers and pins are on the way, and the abutments should be in today also.

Comparing the old rotors to the new is like comparing tea saucers to trash can lids!

The old rotor on top of the new:

Rotor installed...still waiting on calipers, brackets, etc.

 

[BulldawgMusclecars]

BTW, we're not doing anything with the interior or paint, just mechanicals. The car is in very good shape paint and interiorwise...not flawless, but far nicer than most G-bodies I run across. It gets more attention than just about any car that has ever been in my shop.
We have repainted the engine compartment (semi gloss black), and are painting the frame, and coating the underbody with spray-on bedliner. There will be a lot of paint detailing on the smaller parts...gas tank and straps, etc...and all new lines run for fuel and brakes...but the focus of this build is on the mechanicals. We love doing full builds, but we also do quite a few like this one (engine and transmission swaps/upgrades, along with suspension and brake upgrades, on a basically sound or finished car). We're doing a '67 Camaro like that now. Honestly, I prefer jobs like this one, since its easy to get bogged down in the paint and bodywork, and those are often "budget killers"!

Here are a few shots of the BRP/Musclerods engine mounts. They come powdercoated with a nice silver, and have Energy Suspension bushings installed. All the parts are marked, so there is no guesswork as far as how to mount them.

I got a surprise today...my order from KORE3 came in (just ordered late Thursday!). I ordered the front hoses, and the caliper bracket kit. They came with all the hardware, brackets for the hoses, as well as Loctite for the mounting bolts. This was my first order from KORE3, and won't be the last. Thanks Tobin!

 

[BulldawgMusclecars]

To me, after looking at the options, the Z51s are pretty much a no-brainer. Sure, the rotors cost a little more than a regular C5 rotor (I paid about $90 each with my discount from O"Reilly's), but for the price of a cheaply made, Chinese stock-size disc brake kit for an old musclecar we're getting something proven, and that can be serviced easily anywhere. There are probably more pad choices for a C5/C6 than anything on the road. I'm duplicating this setup on my son's 87 GN when we get the build started, hopefully sometime this summer. He's not quite 13, so we have a little time to get it done. If someone were so inclined, the C6 Z06 or ZR1 brakes could be duplicated just as easily, using the same spindles and hubs.

If all goes well we should be bolting in the LS3 and transmission tomorrow!

Right now we're getting the steering box and steering linkage cleaned up, and I just ordered the rear brake setup from Hawk's. We'll be using late 4th gen F-body rear discs (98-02 Camaro/Firebird). I spoke to Tobin at KORE3 about the brake system, and he advised that while we could go C5/C6, we would be giving up the parking brake to work with our existing rearend, due to the offest of the rear Vette rotors. If we used 9" Torino style housing ends, it could all be bolted up and made to work, but thats more fab/time than we want to spend for what would be a marginal improvement. The F-body rear rotors are 11.93 inches, so the stopping power will be very good, and we'll still retain the parking brake (which to me is vital for a street car). We'll get some replacement rotors that are drilled to match the fronts, and detail paint them to look more like the front discs. We'll use the original master cylinder, and a Wilwood combination valve. I'll be fabbing all the brake lines.

BTW, I'd like to thank Tobin at KORE3 for all his help in setting up the brake system. He is a wealth of information, and I'd recommend him and his products to anyone looking to do a brake upgrade.

 

[JBreu]

Sweet looking wagon!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome to GBF!!! 8)

 

[Bumpin1ohmSS]

SWEEEEET!! Thanks for all the up close detailed pics and info on the build. Man this is nice!!!!

Elco Warren 8)

 

[BulldawgMusclecars]

Thanks guys, glad you like it! This is one of the most fun builds I have ever done.

Some of the goodies we got in today:

The Supermatic 4L70E Transmission