This re-born motor needed
some new lungs. A K&N air filter on top with the dual snorkel intake
should help get all the air in needed, but the exhaust needed some work.
A pair of torque breathing ceramic coated headers dumping into a 3"
collector was just the cure. The ceramic coating will keep the engine
compartment about 70% cooler, and eliminate the tin sound of painted
headers. Rather than hooking this up to a normal 2 1/2" pipe with a
pair of performance mufflers in the back I chose the chambered
path. I love the side exhaust 60's sound and that's what I get
along with free flowing performance! I have about 50 hours on the motor
tuning, tweaking, and breaking it in and these pipes sound better then I had
dreamed. I hope as good as my neighbors dreamed too since they will hear
me coming before they see me. Not redneck loud, but just enough
performance roar to let the folks know that I'm serious.
Here are some miscellaneous
pics of things that have been completed.
The headlight supports
were blasted, re-tapped, and painted with new boots
for the actuators and new correct hoses and filters all around. The
other pics are the AC condenser, heater core, and vent
controls. Both boxes got the cleaning and
re-finishing treatments including new hoses and foam
seals.
The Tranny was completely
rebuilt with a 2600 rpm stall converter for the "neck snapping"
effect during take off and a little shift kit that will allow the turbo 350 to
be manually controlled. The radiator housing had
only surface rust which was a relief. The seven
blade fan did get a new clutch with a heat sensor and
blasted and painted of course. New seals and
re-finishing of the master cylinder and booster will keep
me still at the red lights.
I didn't know a car could
have so many wiring harnesses! With the exception to the engine
harness, here are all of them rebuilt and of course still labeled from the
disassembly. (A process I can't mention strong enough!!) They all
have been metered and many new ends have been put on. After a good
cleaning and checking over again, new wire loom covers everything that the
factory said it should. The wiper assembly was
blasted, primed, and painted with new blades and grease
for the joints. New hoses for the wiper wash and a re-finished
wiper motor with new brushes complete part of the car that
hopefully will never get used. This thing will NEVER
see the rain!! My
neighbor's brother does nickel plating and did a great job
with my hood hardware. Won't be long before I can
start installing this!
Let's talk
T-Tops. When I took the old ones apart the
pressboard vinyl covered headliners were both
goners. And OUCH, the replacements are expensive
no matter where you go and you still have to deal with a
poorly designed Velcro attachment. I opted for the
aftermarket ABS plastic head liner that can be painted
to match your interior because of the price. I
then went to Wal Mart and bought $6.00 worth of
"Doeskin colored" vinyl (1 yard). One
more stop at Home Depot and bought some glue that I
can't believe they trust the public with, then headed
home for a learning experience. I wanted to add
the vinyl to the ABS to get the factory look, feel and
texture. After a couple of tries and having the
skin on several fingers come off on several others
I got the process down and love the results. These
are screwed directly to the post where the Velcro buttons were
and fit snug against the new weather stripping.
Doesn't the paint look great!! (That's my
new sofa in the background.) I don't know
what type of wheels this car sported originally, but my
guess is that since it didn't carry the power window
option (88% of 79's did) then the original owner didn't
spring for aluminum wheels either. I'm going with
the rally's and I love them..... really vette-ish
if you ask me.
I'm a rear
end guy, what can I say?? Here are some of my
favorite rear pics that show off results I'm
particularly proud of. The first pic has the
bumper cover on. This is by no means
permanent. I just needed to cut the holes for the
lights, emblem, tag, tag light and spare tire light
before Kevin at the body shop buffed it out. This
was a good idea because I also added a big groove in the
left tail light area with a big file and some paint will
have to be added....oops. The spare tire still has
the little rubber things sticking out all over the tread
and obviously has never been used. By the way, if
you know what those little rubber things are called,
please email me.
