cam79pro
03-22-2008, 01:48:17 AM
Well, I had my 79 Berlinetta for about 3 years. I mistook it for being in decent shape until recently when I became a lube rack technician and learned to be concerned about the condition of vehicles. The car started out with a recently rebuilt 305, a TH350, and ratty interior. Before I had the car six months the rear shocks were replaced with air shocks (never again will I use those engineering failures), as of yet I still need to replace the front suspension and get rid of the two pairs of coil spring spacers. I continued to goof by eliminating the stock shifter with a Hurst Pro-Matic II.
This all gave way to a 4-speed saginaw that was also rebuilt. An aluminum flywheel, blow proof bell housing and of course the manual pedal assembly. In short order, the opportunity to acquire a 350 presented itself and was a massive error in judgement do to the amount of blow by that was present. So with determination in my eyes and bull headness as my guide I proceeded to forget the neccessities and lunge full force at bigger and better. I swapped out old smoky for a decently fresh .030 over 350 with a "better than GM pink" rods, cast flat top pistons, and a 10 and 10 under crank.
With this as my base, I stuck a new bump stick in that had a lift of .458" with 1.5 ratio rockers, bolted on a pair of 200cc Dart Iron Eagle heads with 1.6 full roller rockers and decided this was just the start of more power. I continued with a Holley Street Dominator intake and topped it off with an Edelbrock 600 cfm carb.
This was all done and proceeded to work until the damage that lack of concentration and focus took its toll. The 2.41 gear ratio in the rear axle finally found the weak link and cashed the manual gear box. So now I am attempting to return to a slush box that is built to handle the engine (good ole reliable TH350) and I also am focused on deepening the gear ratio to a 3.42 setup. Thanks to tax returns I have replaced the broken rear leaf springs (thank you air shocks) with a pair of 6-leaf stacks from NPD. I also figured that this would be an excellent opportunity to replace all the old rubber in the rear. No polyurethane yet but in time this is my goal. The car now has brand new trans cooler lines, trans cooler, B&M Quicksilver console shifter, and shift cable.
The next question that I pose is one that torments me daily. Do I continue with the updating and replacement of drivetrain components until all are refreshed? Or do I replace the body panels that are quickly rusting away?
This all gave way to a 4-speed saginaw that was also rebuilt. An aluminum flywheel, blow proof bell housing and of course the manual pedal assembly. In short order, the opportunity to acquire a 350 presented itself and was a massive error in judgement do to the amount of blow by that was present. So with determination in my eyes and bull headness as my guide I proceeded to forget the neccessities and lunge full force at bigger and better. I swapped out old smoky for a decently fresh .030 over 350 with a "better than GM pink" rods, cast flat top pistons, and a 10 and 10 under crank.
With this as my base, I stuck a new bump stick in that had a lift of .458" with 1.5 ratio rockers, bolted on a pair of 200cc Dart Iron Eagle heads with 1.6 full roller rockers and decided this was just the start of more power. I continued with a Holley Street Dominator intake and topped it off with an Edelbrock 600 cfm carb.
This was all done and proceeded to work until the damage that lack of concentration and focus took its toll. The 2.41 gear ratio in the rear axle finally found the weak link and cashed the manual gear box. So now I am attempting to return to a slush box that is built to handle the engine (good ole reliable TH350) and I also am focused on deepening the gear ratio to a 3.42 setup. Thanks to tax returns I have replaced the broken rear leaf springs (thank you air shocks) with a pair of 6-leaf stacks from NPD. I also figured that this would be an excellent opportunity to replace all the old rubber in the rear. No polyurethane yet but in time this is my goal. The car now has brand new trans cooler lines, trans cooler, B&M Quicksilver console shifter, and shift cable.
The next question that I pose is one that torments me daily. Do I continue with the updating and replacement of drivetrain components until all are refreshed? Or do I replace the body panels that are quickly rusting away?