I did not do a proper intro when I jumped in asking for some info earlier today. So here goes....
I was looking for a G-Body Wagon to use as a daily driver. I need to haul my two boys to their sports practices and games. Often this also includes their friends. We also take Buddy, our two-year old Golden Retriever with us as much as possible.
The car was found on Craigslist last August but I didn't jump on it. I really had only just started looking. But I knew it would be a good buy for someone.
The body came from California and had a V6 originally. During it's trip to Ohio, the V6 blew up. The owner was just going to scrap the whole car when his friend intervened. The friend bought it for a song and dance with the plan to turn it into a hot rod for his 18 year old son.
The had an early 80s Chevy 350 rebuilt for it along with a fresh turbo 400 trans. They swapped in a limited slip 8.5 rear. They had a custom bent dual exhaust system, x-pipe, and Flowmaster mufflers installed. They half installed a pair of bucket seats and cut a hole in the floor for a floor shifter.
The car ran and drove but not very well at all. The son decided that he didn't want to go to school, nor get a job, so the father washed his hands of the project and wanted it gone.
Weeks after it vanished off CL, I gave him a call to see if it was still available. It never sold but he decided that he wanted to keep it for himself. But when I got to talking to him about it, he agreed to let me come and look at it. I called him two days later to do just that and he changed his mind again... wanting to keep it. I told him to keep my number.
He called me again a month later just as I was about to head out of town on a business trip. He agreed to wait one more week until I returned. That was Thanksgiving week, I went and looked at it and made the deal.
Most of what I've done since then was reverse many things that he had done.... poorly. But the way I saw it, it was basically rust free, and he already had all the hard and expensive work done.
I cleaned up all the wiring in the engine bay, re-ran all the underhood plumbing, swapped to an extra Edelbrock carb I had since the Q-Jet was beyond rebuildable, remounted the radiator and shroud... correctly, swapped to a clutch fan and added an external trans cooler. I also went through the shocks and brakes and fuel system.
I picked up a split bench seat to replace the half mounted buckets and also because I could use the extra seating position. I'm going to reconfigure the floor shifter, clean up the terribly dirty interior, add some aftermarket gauges, and a decent stereo system.
The Camaro wheels on it don't fit right even with the spacers. They'll get replaced with one of two other sets that I have. The previous owner included the missing bumper fillers, new door locks, and a tilt steering column.
The body has more minor dents than a golf ball, but no real rust. Just some spots where the paint blistered. The roof rack was missing and the holes sealed shut with silicone. I have another rack that I'll put back in place. It will also get a trailer hitch as this will be a true utility vehicle. The rest of the body will just get a good cleaning up and a cut and buff.
It's going to end up with a bit of a weathered look and I'm just fine with that. I have a shop full of cars (4) that I have to "worry about" every time I take them out. This one will be a fun driver that will get used... A LOT, and I won't be worrying about it.
The pics are as I got it. The work I've done so far is mostly unseen. But I'll post more when I get it the way I want it. Thanks for reading.
I was looking for a G-Body Wagon to use as a daily driver. I need to haul my two boys to their sports practices and games. Often this also includes their friends. We also take Buddy, our two-year old Golden Retriever with us as much as possible.
The car was found on Craigslist last August but I didn't jump on it. I really had only just started looking. But I knew it would be a good buy for someone.
The body came from California and had a V6 originally. During it's trip to Ohio, the V6 blew up. The owner was just going to scrap the whole car when his friend intervened. The friend bought it for a song and dance with the plan to turn it into a hot rod for his 18 year old son.
The had an early 80s Chevy 350 rebuilt for it along with a fresh turbo 400 trans. They swapped in a limited slip 8.5 rear. They had a custom bent dual exhaust system, x-pipe, and Flowmaster mufflers installed. They half installed a pair of bucket seats and cut a hole in the floor for a floor shifter.
The car ran and drove but not very well at all. The son decided that he didn't want to go to school, nor get a job, so the father washed his hands of the project and wanted it gone.
Weeks after it vanished off CL, I gave him a call to see if it was still available. It never sold but he decided that he wanted to keep it for himself. But when I got to talking to him about it, he agreed to let me come and look at it. I called him two days later to do just that and he changed his mind again... wanting to keep it. I told him to keep my number.
He called me again a month later just as I was about to head out of town on a business trip. He agreed to wait one more week until I returned. That was Thanksgiving week, I went and looked at it and made the deal.
Most of what I've done since then was reverse many things that he had done.... poorly. But the way I saw it, it was basically rust free, and he already had all the hard and expensive work done.
I cleaned up all the wiring in the engine bay, re-ran all the underhood plumbing, swapped to an extra Edelbrock carb I had since the Q-Jet was beyond rebuildable, remounted the radiator and shroud... correctly, swapped to a clutch fan and added an external trans cooler. I also went through the shocks and brakes and fuel system.
I picked up a split bench seat to replace the half mounted buckets and also because I could use the extra seating position. I'm going to reconfigure the floor shifter, clean up the terribly dirty interior, add some aftermarket gauges, and a decent stereo system.
The Camaro wheels on it don't fit right even with the spacers. They'll get replaced with one of two other sets that I have. The previous owner included the missing bumper fillers, new door locks, and a tilt steering column.
The body has more minor dents than a golf ball, but no real rust. Just some spots where the paint blistered. The roof rack was missing and the holes sealed shut with silicone. I have another rack that I'll put back in place. It will also get a trailer hitch as this will be a true utility vehicle. The rest of the body will just get a good cleaning up and a cut and buff.
It's going to end up with a bit of a weathered look and I'm just fine with that. I have a shop full of cars (4) that I have to "worry about" every time I take them out. This one will be a fun driver that will get used... A LOT, and I won't be worrying about it.
The pics are as I got it. The work I've done so far is mostly unseen. But I'll post more when I get it the way I want it. Thanks for reading.
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