Holy crap, PROGRESS!

so......I went full crazy today:



Full tubular BMR front suspension with QA1 adjustable coilovers, all for $700. I think I got a heck of a deal, considering all that stuff together is more than twice that much new, and considering how difficult that stuff is to find for a reasonable price otherwise. It's all in very, very good condition, just needs to be cleaned up a bit to look pristine.

I also did some more work putting the engine together tonight. I don't remember if I said it here already, but I installed the two new pistons a few weeks ago, so it's now a V8 again! We got started putting the heads on finally. Here's a look at how they came back from Livernois:



They seriously look pretty much brand friggin new. Got one on:



and I discovered that head gaskets don't come in sets so I've got another one ordered

 

the spencive ones do. great deal on the k

 

Lots of progress this weekend! My parents were in town, so my dad and I spent a lot of time working on the engine. I'd say the only things left are installing the power steering pump (still attached to the steering rack) and some vacuum connections.



Next will be ordering a new rack and pinion, swapping the Bilsteins into the new front suspension (/removing the QA1s so I can sell them), installing the spindles, then it will be time to put the engine and the k-member together and get this thing together!

 

Haven't updated this thread in a while. I've actually made progress!

Got the engine put all the way back together, mounted on the new tubular k-member, and mated up to the trans:



Did some painting in the engine bay:



And finally, on Sunday afternoon I got the engine back in!



The ambitious plan is to get this thing back on the road in time to take it to my friend's wedding in Wisconsin, which is on June 11th. Now that the engine's in, I can really get cranking on getting everything connected and whatnot, especially now that I have a good heater setup in my garage.

 

lookin good,,, you keeping the a/c?

 

Yup. Makes things messier under the hood for sure, but this is mostly a street car, and cruising around when it's 80+ degrees in a t-top car with leather seats is no bueno. It gets pretty toasty.

 

long time comeing on this ,I would be ready to drive the wheels off it ,hows the engine running ? or have you ran it yet ,still say it would have been better to do all the pistons,but hope it runs good for you

 

Hasn't run yet, I still have a bunch of stuff that needs to get hooked up first.

 

IT LIVES!!!

My parents came out for the holiday weekend, and my dad and I spent a lot of time putting things together. Needed a jump, but otherwise it fired right up! I'll see about uploading a video later.

Here's a list of what needs to be done before it's roadworthy:

install BMR torque arm (requires removing old bushings from brackets, which requires removal of rivets)
finish bolting in the new aluminum driveshaft (need new retainers)
bleed brakes
bleed power steering (got a new rack and pinion)
alignment (badly misaligned now)
install new solid LS1 steering knuckle
top off trans fluid level
weld exhaust (had to cut it)

once all that stuff is done, I can get it tuned. I plan to do a dyno tune, rather than a mail-order one. I'm a bit leery of the mail-order stuff because my heads are custom ported with oversize valves and my true duals are totally custom, so I don't think a mail-order tune would get it totally right.

 

kool, you can get the toe in pretty close with a tape measure. just measure using the same part of the tire tread. set it to 0 toe in, can toe in 1/16. front of tire measurement should be same as back of tire measurement. measure further up to center the better. cant get up to center but close enough. hows the oil pressure? sounds good eh