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Finally got some time on Sunday to finally mount the CME valance. Came out great, will be bringing the car to the exhaust shop to get the tip mounted.
So in case anyone has been wondering we are in the process of redoing the rear suspension on the Trans Am. We are replacing the founders lca and phb with Midwest Chassis Strip Adj. lca and phb with roto joints. We also got a set of Viking rear double adj coil overs for the rear.
Since the TA is a 3ch abs we had to remove the axles to put new extended studs in. While we had it apart we decided to replace the bearings and seals for the axles. The pinion seal was also leaking so it was replaced as well. Took some time to clean all the oil off the housing and wire brush the rust off and repaint the whole housing. Also added a Perfect Launch girdle cover.
So hopefully the TA will start going back together this coming weekend. Still have a few things to order such as short adj torque arm and a drag bar. When does the spending stop????? hahaha
The shop actually did a really nice job. They did one piece on either side the CME and I'm guessing mandrel bent it to fit. Came out looking really good. I also had them clamp it to the muffler and CME so in case I want to pull the tip off to polish or something its easy instead of dealing with welds.
I couldn't stop looking at it........
Another thing I noticed is that the CME tip seemed to change the tone of the exhaust. Before with the large magnaflow tips it kind of had a hollow sound if that makes sense? Its gone now though.
So I have some updates. Got the rear end back in the TA with all the new suspension. The torque arm is on order with MWC currently so once that is in we should be able to start adjusting the ride height and put the car back on the ground. Will also be getting a MWC anti roll bar too.
All the parts went together perfectly and look badass.
Also have some pics from our cruise to cars and coffee this past weekend. Enjoy.
Well I have an update........ since my last post I have ended up selling the drag pack and the stock 35th anniversary wheel that were on the car
I figured since my car was pretty much stock besides bolt on there was no need for a drag pack and the anniversary wheels weren't in the best of shape.
I finally got everything I need to do the suspension on my car and the TA was back on the ground so in the garage my car went.
Decided to take some before shots of all the suspension so I can have a cool transformation picture.
Will end up cleaning up the under carriage a bunch while its up in the air. Anyways, I disassembled the front suspension and ran into an issue with the rear bolt on both lower control arms being frozen within the sleeve..... fml right???? I did some research on here and everything I read said it was about as bad as motor mounts on these cars (which I will be doing as well). Every thread said the bolt had to be cut at the top and bottom to get the control arm out and the bolts were special....... so I searched online and found a random website that had the bolts in stock so I ordered them and went on to removing the rear suspension. My rear end had a terrible pinion leak and coated the underside with gear oil so I decided to take the time to clean up the housing, replace the seals, and paint it before reinstalling it. I also picked up a TA girdle off a member on here and will be installing it for ***** an giggles.
Finally got the replacement front bolts in so I went to Home desperate and picked up some extra heavy duty extra thick metal cutting blades for my sawzal. I was ready to spend hours on them to replace my lower control arms...... got to cutting and it took roughly 30 minutes to cut through the bolt above the control arm and to my luck I was able to maneuver the control arm out of the socket went on the other side and the same thing, 30 minutes and it was out. No where near as bad as the threads I read, granted most were using a cutoff wheel which would seem difficult to get close with but with a sawzal it was a breeze.
Just a picture I took of the control arm removed. The following ones are with the new ones installed.
I'm getting ready to graduate at the beginning of May and I'm finishing up a huge proposal for a Navy Patrol Boat so my time is very limited and probably won't have the car finished till mid May
I guess I never posted what I'm doing to the suspension hahaha....... I am installing Koni STR.T front and rear with BMR lowering springs. Every piece of the suspension will be new, new control arms (upper and lower), shock mounts, spring perches, adjustable panhard (MWC), and I have a Hellwig rear sway bar that we couldn't use from the TA due to the Viking Coilovers.
Thanks buddy! Ready for the car to be back on the ground....... I will probably be moving as well beginning to mid may and I'm looking for apartments and I'm more worried about whether it has a garage than washer and dryer lmao.
Well got the front suspension back together, just got to tighten stuff down and grease it all. Just gotta find time to mess with the rear an the car will be back on the road.
FINALLY!!!! I knew I would eventually find a steal of a deal and here it is!
Pretty sure its a 2000 LS1 pullout with roughly 80k. Gotta start getting all of the parts together now. Just planning for a mild h/c/i build to make it a little more fun to drive on the weekend.
01-31-2017, 10:55 AM
went on the other side and the same thing, 30 minutes and it was out. No where near as bad as the threads I read, granted most were using a cutoff wheel which would seem difficult to get close with but with a sawzal it was a breeze.
