V8TEC's '77 Type LT

V8TEC · 10-12-2008, 09:04:23 PM

Been waiting to do this for a while!

I bought a bunch of parts not long after I bought this car in August '07, but had been waiting to install them so I could do some detailing, but the plan grew to include getting the car ready for more power (hopefully NEXT winter). The body and interior are in good shape, but the engine compartment, chassis & suspension are really greasy & grimy. Kinda glad I waited until now to start, since I moved to VA in December, I would have been in a rush to get it done when I lived in CT, and it probably wouldn't have turned out like I wanted. Now I have all winter to get it done, so this is gonna be kind of drawn out, because there's a lot to clean up and a lot of parts to add. Here's the plan for this winter:

Engine:
SMI Q-Jet rebuild
Eddy Performer intake (cleaned-up ebay piece)
New Comp Cams 980 valvesprings, new valve seals
Relocate oil filter (with parts from my first Camaro)
New NPD coolant recovery tank
Performance Distributors HEI Street/Strip coil kit & Dyna-Mod
MSD Super Conductor 8.5mm wires
Quick Start 105 amp 1-wire alternator conversion
New NPD engine wiring harness
New NPD headlight harness
Energy Suspension poly engine & trans mounts
CVR ProTorque starter #5323
Summit 1⅝" coated headers
Flowmaster #17149 dual exhaust
Perma-Cool or LT1 electric fans (haven't decided yet)

Trans & Rearend
SpeedDirect.com clutch linkage
Hurst Pit Pack (shifter bushings)
Narrow rearend, add Mark Williams Ford-style housing ends, weld axle tubes & reinforce spring perches
Mark Williams Master Line axles w/½" wheel studs
Brute Force U-joints

Suspension & Brakes
PTFB Stop Flex kit
GW Del-A-Lum front control arm bushings
Energy Suspension poly leaf spring pads
C-E aluminum front leaf spring bushings, NPD rubber rear bushings
Energy Suspension poly rear swaybar bushing & mount kit
Bilstein Shocks
Hurst Roll Control
Rebuilt stock brakes w/stainless lines, braided hoses, Hawks pads

Miscellaneous
American Grafitti AC Delete box
NPD heater core & blower motor
'69 Camaro "350" fender emblems (for the hood)
Wheel vintiques Corvette-style Ralley wheels, 15x7 front, 15x8 rear
BFG Radial T/A tires, P235/60SR15 front, P275/60SR15 rear

Here's what I started with:

Took this stuff out yesterday:

...and ended up with this:

Took this stuff out today:

...and ended up with this:

After taking all this stuff out, it raised the front of the car 1½" inches, and the engine isn't even out yet!

Everything looked OK (dirty, but OK), until I pulled the plugs:

#1 & #4 look a little crappy. #8 had some crusty stuff on it that seems to be flaking off the insulator. The car ran OK, but it did have an intermittent miss above 4800RPM. These plugs were in the car when I bought it, so as far as I know, they could be several years old. It didn't burn any oil (did leak plenty though).

Kind of confused about what I should do with all the AC wiring. I know I'll need some of it to work the heater, but I'm not sure what wires I can cut out...

I thought about putting a bigger cam in it. It's got a Comp 260H now, but it probably wouldn't be worth it unless I bought heads, which aren't in the cards for this engine.

Engine and trans should be out next weekend!

olstyle · 10-12-2008, 09:21:30 PM

Looks like a good solid project. Keep at it and keep us posted

Nice list of goodies too

ANOTHER BIG BUMPER CAR COMES BACK TO LIFE

KJZ28 · 10-12-2008, 09:39:21 PM

That car is VERY clean, those are the best looking stock manifolds I have seen, usually they look like crusty rusty!

Sounds like you have a good fun project ahead!! Good llucK!!

V8TEC · 10-12-2008, 10:27:34 PM

Thanks guys! It's gonna be a lot of work, but it'll be worth it. I've actually been looking forward to gettin' greasy again and do some resto work...it's been a long time.

The body and interior are really clean, there's no filler anywhere except the rear valence. All the panels have perfect gaps, which makes me nervous about taking the front sheet metal off to make it easier to refinish the radiator support & front subframe...I haven't yet decided if I'm gonna remove it or not, but I'm leaning towards not.

Thank KJ, but I gotta admit the pic is a little deceiving...they're actually pretty nasty, but I think all that Liquid Wrench I sprayed on 'em over the past week (once every day for 7 days) "hid" the crusty finish. It worked great though, the bolts all came out without no drama whatsoever! Even the manifold to headpipe bolts came out with ease. I had visions of busted bolts stuck in the head, followed by a lot of cussing.

A few pics of the underside...

Here's the wheels & tires that require the rearend to be narrowed (only 1½" each side). The rears are 28x11.5x15 Hoosier QTP's on 15"x8.5" Convo Pros w/3⅜" backspace, fronts are 26x7.5x15LT M/T Sportsmans on 15"x4" Convo Pros w/1¾" backspace. Since I want to add the MW axles and Ford-style housing ends to get rid of the c-clips (I don't want to use c-clip eliminators), it only made sense to have the rearend narrowed instead of buying new wheels with Camaro-friendly backspacing. I originally had them on my Grand National, but kept 'em when I sold the car because I thought they'd look killer on a 2nd gen.

I mounted them on the car at one point, but they just didn't fit in the rear wheelwells:

It doesn't need them right now, but hopefully next winter I'll be building an engine that'll put 'em to the test.

A vid of the stock exhaust...Z28-style split duals w/resonators, single aftermarket cat:

Ls1smlblck · 10-12-2008, 11:55:55 PM

nice work!

David Hartley · 10-13-2008, 09:16:39 PM

Nice big bumper camaro!

2000Z14X2 · 10-13-2008, 10:21:39 PM

Niceness....

V8TEC · 10-13-2008, 10:59:35 PM

Thanks gents.

I think some night this week, I'll yank the trans & driveshaft out so I'll be ready to pull the engine on Saturday morning and get it on the stand, then start cleaning it up. I'm debating if I should replace the clutch or not...it feels good, and didn't slip at all, but it's one of those things that make me think "while I'm there...".

I guess I'll wait and see what it looks like when I get it out.

V8TEC · 10-19-2008, 09:12:13 PM

Got the trans, clutch, driveshaft, fuel tank and the front 1/2 of the exhaust out today. Batting 1000 so far...not even one broken bolt yet!

Couldn't get the back 1/2 of the exhaust off since my compressor isn't hooked up yet, gotta wire a 220v outlet into the garage.

I thought this car had a Ram clutch in it, but looking at it, I'm not so sure now. It "looks" like a stock replacement. The flywheel has an odd looking pattern worn into it. Take a look at the flywheel/clutch pics and let me know what you think. Burnt? Probably should just replace it..."while I'm there". The budget expands LOL!

Flywheel closeup:

Another closeup:

Clutch closeup:

Disc:

Don't laugh at the rubber gloves...I just had 'em on to keep my filthy hands from getting oil on the disc

V8TEC · 10-19-2008, 09:13:08 PM

Today's parts pile:

I guess it's a good thing I took the car off the road now...the clutch fork actuator rod was just waiting to strand me in the middle of nowhere. Kind of a sobering thought when I think of the powershifts I did with this:

Couldn't get a cherry picker this weekend, but I have one lined up for next weekend, so the engine has to wait until Saturday morning to come out. Bought an engine stand today to hold the greasy chunk of cast iron after I take it out.

Also looking at a complete standard bore 509-casting 400 long block thats for sale nearby. VERY tempting...

Marks71BB · 10-19-2008, 09:36:42 PM

The flywheel don't look bad at all.
The clutch rod on the other hand...I would replace it with a spherical rod end. Thats typical wear for an original.
Good progress bein made!!

spoonLT1355 · 10-19-2008, 09:43:00 PM

That does appear to be a stock replacement clutch, as for the flywheel, that is the machining marks that you see. The flywheel was cut down.

You are burning that clutch slightly though, I would get a heavy duty one like you said.

Thats a lot of work for one week-end. Keep up with it.

RICARDO1969 · 10-19-2008, 09:45:09 PM

nice work i like how you keep everything organized

V8TEC · 10-19-2008, 11:14:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spoonLT1355

That does appear to be a stock replacement clutch, as for the flywheel, that is the machining marks that you see. The flywheel was cut down.

You are burning that clutch slightly though, I would get a heavy duty one like you said.

I did notice the machining marks from when it was turned previously. I was worried about these...almost looks like a grainy/spotty finish. Is that what you meant by burning? I'm a rookie at clutch analysis...

What about all that anti-seize in the splines? Is that normal practice? I'd be worried it'd get thrown outward from centrifigal force and ruin the disc. Looks like it did get thrown, at least a little bit.

Definitely getting the spherical rod end clutch linkage. Might get the Hurst Pit Pack with the steel bushings for the shifter rods instead of the nylon ones.

Yeah I go overboard with the organization of parts. Every bolt is bagged & labeled, I tagged all the shifter rods and took pics of the linkage so I can reassemble it correctly. I learned a hard lesson when I worked on my first Camaro..."Hey, why do I have all these extra bolts?"

Not really looking forward scraping and wire wheeling the underside. Gonna get some plastic sheeting, cover all the painted surfaces and tape it off before I do it. I don't want to mess up the paint.

maxpsi · 10-20-2008, 12:26:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by V8TEC

I guess it's a good thing I took the car off the road now...the clutch fork actuator rod was just waiting to strand me in the middle of nowhere. Kind of a sobering thought when I think of the powershifts I did with this:

Bah! Rev match. lol

You're making good progress. Keep it up!