BUILD THREAD Project Diesel No More/Teen Dreams Realized
- Thread starter dgmeadows
- Start date
It's been a very busy & hectic year for work, plus moving my two college aged daughters around, plus it's archery competition season, so haven't made it to any car events. I wanted to do Hot Rod power tour, but the Atanta date was a Monday or Tuesday, and I had work commitments. Planned to go to a couple charity events, but the summertime "chance of rain every day" pattern discouraged me from going.
One of the things I put off last year due to time and an already blown budget was installing a posi-traction unit. Off the line acceleration is good, but hurt by the right rear tire lighting up. I was trying to test 0-60 with the timer built into the Dakota Digital gauges. When I stopped and it showed 1.9, I just laughed. That may be how fast the rear wheel is getting to 60, but I'm not moving that fast. So, I finally ordered a Detroit TrueTrac for the rear end. It will probably be a few more weeks before I can get around installing it.
One of the things I put off last year due to time and an already blown budget was installing a posi-traction unit. Off the line acceleration is good, but hurt by the right rear tire lighting up. I was trying to test 0-60 with the timer built into the Dakota Digital gauges. When I stopped and it showed 1.9, I just laughed. That may be how fast the rear wheel is getting to 60, but I'm not moving that fast. So, I finally ordered a Detroit TrueTrac for the rear end. It will probably be a few more weeks before I can get around installing it.
My archery competition season ended in August, so I've been able to go to a few car shows and do a little tweaking on my car. I've been very surprised at the positive reception. My car has been chosen for awards at shows with some really nice cars in attendance.
As for tweaking, my T-Top weatherstrips were good, except the rattle stopper strips on top were cracked & showing lint from cleaning with paper towels. i replaced those and painted the front liners satin black, and replaced the screws with satin black ones. That area looks new now, so I've had the tops out for the last few events. There was a bracket on the AC that was rusty and just stood out, so I pulled that, soaked it in rust remover and painted it "chrome". Also removed hood insulation and painted the underside of the hood & hinges satin black to eliminate some ugly spots with mild surface rust. It took longer to tape everything up than it took to paint.
I know a lot of guys remove chrome trim and emblems from their cars, but I really like the Olds rocket, Cutlass script and Calais crests. Because my car was originally a diesel, it didn't have the small rocket logo on the right side of the trunk lid left of the Oldsmobile script; mine had a diesel script on the right side. I removed the diesel script when we did the engine swap, and had been looking for the small rocket. I finally found one on Ebay a few months ago. The red was faded out, but a little Testor's model paint and careful work with a detail brush took care of that.
As for tweaking, my T-Top weatherstrips were good, except the rattle stopper strips on top were cracked & showing lint from cleaning with paper towels. i replaced those and painted the front liners satin black, and replaced the screws with satin black ones. That area looks new now, so I've had the tops out for the last few events. There was a bracket on the AC that was rusty and just stood out, so I pulled that, soaked it in rust remover and painted it "chrome". Also removed hood insulation and painted the underside of the hood & hinges satin black to eliminate some ugly spots with mild surface rust. It took longer to tape everything up than it took to paint.
I know a lot of guys remove chrome trim and emblems from their cars, but I really like the Olds rocket, Cutlass script and Calais crests. Because my car was originally a diesel, it didn't have the small rocket logo on the right side of the trunk lid left of the Oldsmobile script; mine had a diesel script on the right side. I removed the diesel script when we did the engine swap, and had been looking for the small rocket. I finally found one on Ebay a few months ago. The red was faded out, but a little Testor's model paint and careful work with a detail brush took care of that.
Up next will be replacing the carpet. The original carpet is not in bad shape, visually. A little bit of wear in driver foot well, and some slightly faded spots if you look really closely. The nagging issue is the smell. I have sprayed Fabreze in it numerous times, but the diesel smell keeps returning, so hopefully replacing the carpet will help, and look a bit sharper, too.
