Space City 1982 GP Build

[Texas82GP]

I have the elite model as well except mine are not coated and they sit higher than yours, the header is about an 1 1/2" below the slave cylinder for the clutch. The collector flanges are the 14 gauge and I'm going to upgrade mine to 1/4" this spring. As far as the headers this will be my 5th season coming up and no complaints other than what I mentioned.

I think the headers are going to work out but they weren't my first choice. I really wanted stainless steel but options are limited on headers that fit our chassis and will work with mechanical clutch linkage. I wonder why your headers sit higher than mine? Maybe they are a different part number? I think my header flanges are already 1/4" thick but I'll measure them the next time I'm under the car if I can remember. That's an open question because I'm clearly losing my mind. 🙂

For what it's worth, I really like the red. Makes it pop.

Thanks man. Like I said it was far from my first choice but it's where I ended up. In the end the paint is not as tough as advertised because I've been able to beat it up on the passenger side slipping the header in and out 20 times.

I completely understand the time/money issue. I’m am in the same boat.

You are doing great work, I read through your whole thread the other night and you have managed to overcome a lot of tough pitfalls. Until you fit up the exhaust to see how it lines up you won’t really know what work needs to be done. At worst you can do the fitting and tack it up for a shop to finish it for you. I don’t feel like this will slow you down when you are this close to being done.

Thanks for the kind words and thanks for taking the time to read the whole thread. I humbled. I hope at least parts of it were entertaining. On \the exhaust, I think I'm going to get our little welder over to the storage, buy some stainless wire, some tri-mix and teach myself how to weld stainless exhaust the same way I taught myself how to weld sheet metal when we replaced the rockers and quarters on my brother's car. I already have the capability to make the cuts and my brother is awesome at measure, mark, cut so I know we'll be able to get it done. I think I'm going to put converters on this car, though my brother is bucking pretty hard against that notion.

Should have got a storage instead of getting married and getting a house to play in the garage lol that's awesome! Congrats..

Thanks man. Being single has it's trade-offs just like being married must. I'm just too set in my ways to get hitched up. I'm going to come and go as I please and spend my money as I please and I'm just not willing to compromise, so here I am, a bachelor at 42. I am enjoying the new shop. I wish it was mine but I'm grateful for what I have rather than unhappy about what I don't have.

Once again, I agree with Northernregal. You're doing great work Jared. Keep it up, and keep up with the updates. I really enjoy them.

Thanks Jeff. I appreciate the kind words. I'm just trying to do a good job so I'm not disappointed in the end. I'll keep the updates coming, especially if some of you guys are enjoying them.

Jared, the problem you have is you have shown us the level of perfection in the work you do with the Camaro and your dad's Ford so it's your fault that we all expect the same with it comes to your GP.....😀

Steve, as always, thanks for following along and posting to my thread. I enjoy having you in here. My problem is I am a perfectionist. I'll be honest, I'm not going anywhere near as far in depth on this car as we went with Sean and Dad's cars. They both came off the frame and went all the way to bare metal. I am trying to put some attention to detail in it though so that it will be good looking cruiser when it's back on the road. Hopefully the attention to detail will make up for some of it's shortcomings.

Jared,
It's coming along nicely. It's good to see your continued stages of progress. Like everyone else, I'll be tuned in as well. You have kept us compelled with Sean and Dad's builds. It's finally good to see you making strides on your own ride.

Thanks Jack. It's been great making progress on my car. My plan was to do all of this last year but I got sick and I had to have the colon surgery. It's been great realizing all the progress that I planned to make last year. It also just feels great to see the car going back together and to see the fresh work. It's also been great having my brother over there helping me. I'm the Tortoise and he is the Hare. We compliment each other, but stuff gets done when he's on the project. He just moves it along and I really value it. By May it will be getting too hot over at the storage and I'll plan on getting in Dad's air conditioned garage and pushing him along. Also, Sean and I are planning a one-week thrash on the Camaro at the end of March to work on the punch-list on it, so I haven't forgotten about either of their cars.

Looking real good Jared! Haven't been around much lately...you've made some nice progress!

Kevin, thanks for the kind words and thanks for following along. It's good having you in here. The progress this winter has been very rewarding.

Update coming guys...

 

[Texas82GP]

Ok guys. I didn't make it over to the storage Thursday or Friday night but Sean and I got over there Saturday morning. When I left Wednesday night, the passenger header was bolted in place and snugged down. I got another look at it Saturday morning and decided there was just a little more trimming needed, which is the conclusion I had come to Wednesday night. I needed to trim the front portion of the lower control arm where it bolts into the rear mount. Otherwise the clearance looked good. I got under the car and made one more cut and did a little more smoothing with the grinding stone on the rotary tool. The header went back in, for the 79th time but I was happy with how it was looking...

I had made substantial progress on relocating the passenger front brake line from the back of the cross member to the top of it on Wednesday night, but the work wasn't finished yet. When I left Wednesday night, the line was on top of the engine crossmember but it was hiked up a little bit. I already had one of the original clips on the line where the crossmember meets the passenger frame rail but it wasn't enough. I felt like we could use one of the unused motor mount bolt holes to locate another clip, but a new hole would need to be drilled for the self-tapping bolt. The problem was that the engine was in the car. I had brought a 90 degree attachment for my drill that I got from my grandpa years ago hoping it would fit between the crossmember and the block. No dice. I ended up pulling the motor mount cross bolts and we jacked the engine back up off the mounts with the hoist to make room and miraculously were able to drill the needed hole. This extra clip really got the brake line to lay down. It is the lower of the two clips in this picture.....

We also needed to pull the portion of the line over the frame rail, under the upper control arm mounts, over further to the passenger side, to get it over the frame rail and farther away from the header tube with the logo on it. Sean backed up the clip at the corner where the crossmember meets the frame and I got hold of the line with a hook shaped pick tool from the wheel well and pulled it over. This made the last needed adjustment to the brake line. The header went back in for another look and I was satisfied with it. Next, Sean started taping stuff up to touch up the roughed up paint on the frame and where I had done the trimming on the control arms. This is the beauty of the Rustoleaum. You can touch it up any time....

Sean also touched up/painted over the patch on the tunnel...

Next, we got under the car and coated the floorboards, from approximately the end of the transmission to the back of the back seat pans with undercoating. You will see a lot of blue tape. Sean did all of it. I know it seems like I didn't do any of this work but I assure you I was keeping busy. It's just hard to keep up with Sean. We had cleaned this portion of the bottom of the car a week or two ago...

That was our Saturday.

This morning we had our usual chores around the house but we got over to the storage around 10. We went right in with the passenger header for the last time. While I torqued it, I got Sean going on fitting my new package shelf and trimming it for my NOS 3rd brake light. Two weeks ago I bought an abs plastic package shelf from Dixie Restoration Depot during their 10% off sale. It is carpeted black. The quality and fit are quite good. Sean went about laying out the cut in the new package shelf for the 3rd brake light based on the instructions that came with the NOS brake light. His cut did not coincide with the outline of the recommended cut on the back side of the new package shelf. I was glad he followed the instructions and used the templates included in the brake light kit. Here's a look at the factory insulation on top of the steel package shelf trimmed back and the holes drilled for the mounting bracket and the wiring harness...

Here's a look at the package shelf in the car with the mounting bracket for the 3rd brake light installed....

Here's a look at the 3rd brake light installed from the inside...

That's 10 pics so I'm going to post this but I've got a pic or two and sentence or two left in me. Stand by...

 

[Texas82GP]

Here's a couple of shots of the 3rd brake light from the outside...

We got the wiring harness routed from the front driver's side footwell all the way to the taillight harness ground in the trunk and tidied up some wiring in the trunk while we were at it. All that's left is to hook it up at the brake light switch.

It was a great weekend. Thanks for tuning in guys. I'll update you as progress warrants. Until then....

Best,

 

[Clutch]

Once again your work is impeccable and so is your attention to detail can't say much else great job

 

[pagrunt]

Nice work getting everything to fit. For your third brake light kit, how does it wire in? Direct to the brake pedal switch? (Assume it's a add on kit for pre '86 cars.) I have an original used one with harness that I'm thinking about using in my '81.

 

[axisg]

looks great. If I may suggest you might want to move the vacuum canister that hangs off the hvac box either up a little, to the fender or make a heat shield for it. I have melted 2 with the heat off the headers thus far.

Looks great and every little bit is progress !

 

[HAFROD]

Cars looking great Jared. So when do you think it will be driveable?

 

[clean8485]

Excellent work Jared! Sean does awesome masking and taping. The closeup photos are great. Keep up the good work.

 

[liquidh8]

Jared, looks great man! Your moving right along!

 

[pontiacgp]

I don't know if it was mentioned before but I like the wheel dollys you have. What brand are they?