beerb8ammoGRITS

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I've had a build thread going on pro-touring for some time, but more and more I find myself coming over here to get answers to questions, coupled with I am starting to get deep into the engine install, I figured it was a good time to start the build thread here and get some of ya'lls advice/criticisms.

Quick back story, my wife got my this car back in 09, it was completely gutted but had just about all of the original parts minus the engine. Unfortunately, the Army had me in Korea for two years and then straight to Afghanistan for a year when I got back to the states so it has just been since this last Spring that I've been able to get some work but it's making progress.
Quick rundown of car and parts I currently have:
Engine: LS2 from 05 Corvette
-Harrop HTV1900 Supercharger
-LS3 Heads
-Forged rods and pistons, stock crank
-LS9 Cam
-Origionally had Hooker headers and mounts but after getting the blower it became apparent I would need to run my AC compressor low on passenger side so I sold those and have a set of Dirty Dingo plates and Kooks stainless headers on the way.
-Ricks Vaporworks tank with CTSV fuel pump

Transmission: T56 from 01 Camaro
-Stage 3 build from the guys at Texas Drivetrain Performance (Absolutely excellent guys to work with! Highly recommend!!)
-Diamond Stage 2 clutch
-MGW shifter
-ATS trans Crossmember

Suspensnion/Brakes:
-Full Ridetech Coilover system (upper and lower CA's, spindles, tru-turn and rear 4 link
-Moser 9" rear
-Willwood 6 piston front, 4 rear, with 12" rotors all around
-Hydroboost

Body:
-Mini Tubs
-Smooth firewall
-floorpans
-upper cowl panel

....and about a thousand other miscelaneous parts to make it all work

How it sat the first time I saw it after getting back from Korea.

beerb8ammoGRITS

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The first thing I tackled were the floors, they were pretty rotted out and I needed more body structural integrity before I hacked out the tubs.


Bad Floors Out:


New floors in:

beerb8ammoGRITS

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Then I moved on to the mini tubs: Much easier than I expected
Tubs cut out:


Stereotypical comparison shot of old vs new:


Both sides in and the rubbers fit:


I just had to say "rubbers"

beerb8ammoGRITS

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Right when I finished the rear tubs, I found a killer deal on a Vette LS2 (2005) So a quick 3 hour drive to Dallas and I had this:


But.... It had problems....



Luckily I was able to get the siezed pistons out and there wasn't any damage done to the cylinders other than just a tad bit of staining which cleaned up with the .005 hone for the Diamond forged pistons.

beerb8ammoGRITS

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I never liked the side marker lights on the 68... You can tell GM slapped them on there as an afterthought with the new Government regulations so I wanted them gone.




Markers Gone:

beerb8ammoGRITS

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Now, the upper dash/cowl area had some rust... At first I thought a little patch would take care of it. But the more I peeled back the more I found so I ended up having to cut it all out and put in new metal.


First, I just tried a patch, then realized I needed to replace the bottom strip all the way across...



But I ended up cutting the whole thing out, keeping the VIN plate intact. Epoxy primed all bare metal left and went over weld areas with weldthrough primer. I used 2 part seam sealer instead of the rope seal like what the factory used. Hopefully this is fine, I didn't want to wait on parts and I figured a good quality seam sealer may even be better.

beerb8ammoGRITS

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I did finish the rust repair in the upper cowl, but I didn't get a picture before I had to gather up my whole shop and move to GA. I'm getting stationed at Fort Gordon for a while to take a course. At least it gives me a lot of time to work on the car (honey do list should be less with my wife still in TX) lol
Moving shots: I was lucky enough to have my best helper on the job


All packed up, ready to hit the road... Yes, she was riding shotgun all 1200 miles

beerb8ammoGRITS

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It took me a couple weeks to get my shop set up here but I got the firewall complete... well, I still may tweak it a bit...
Mocking up... measure, template, cut, grind, tweak, repeat...


Epoxy primed bare metal areas where panels would meet. I used tape to mask off weld areas and covered this area with rattle can weld through primer.



Don't have a completed shot, but this was the night before I finished, just needed to finish perimeter welds. again, my dog helping... couldn't do it without her.

beerb8ammoGRITS

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This past week, I worked on mocking up the motor with the low mount AC brackets and compressor that just arrived from S&P. The brackets are great but I did not expect the Hooker plates to allow enough room, and sure enough they did not. I bought the Hooker plates and headers well before I got the great deal on the blower.
Shot of mockup, even with an area of the subframe cut out for the compressor, it just couldn't go back far enough. I need about half an inch to give enough room between the Compressor and engine stands. The NEW Dirty dingo DD plates are on the way along with a set of Kooks headers and I'll try this again Tuesday when the plates arrive.

I'm curious how they turn out. I talked with one of the guys over there for a pretty long time on Friday and he turned me on to these, they are powdercoated steel unlike the current DD's which are aluminum you see and they also have 4 hole configurations instead of 3. Supposedly, the sliders do not work with low mount AC because the compressor will actually come into contact with them.

beerb8ammoGRITS

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A pic just cause it's beautiful...

19736.o

Nice build .

kpeterson

Keep the pictures comming. It looks great.

Aston Tibs

iTrader: (3)

I am doing the same thing with the compressor, but with the Art Morrison Subframe the compressor sits real nice in low position. It's a lot of money, but you get the big brakes, Vette suspension and rack and pinion.

c6matt

iTrader: (1)

Very nice!

beerb8ammoGRITS

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I love the am Subframe. That is the route I really wanted to go. 3 years ago I even tried to make a deal with my wife that if she got it for me for Christmas it would count as Xmas and bday presents for 5 years but she wouldn't go for it. So she got me all the bolt ons over the 3 years we were out of the country for holidays. It ends up being just a little cheaper over the long run but does require a little fab work and difficulties when retrofitting the LS motor. I really wish I could of gone with the AM but this will more than give me everything I need.

beerb8ammoGRITS

iTrader: (1)

Apologies for such a long overdue update. With the holidays and a new puppy I haven't been keeping up with the updates, but progress is once again progressing.
Got the subframe notch for the AC finished and the motor fits!!! I did have to sell the original Holley swap pan and go for their new one with the shorter front area but didn't take too heavy of a loss on it since they are actually cheaper than the original.

In case anyone needs to know how to safely and efficiently widen a lower crossmember opening to the proper width that had been gone a bit out of wack (luckly this was the only measurement on the subframe that didn't come out within spec)

I finished up welding up most of the subframe seams as well as adding strength to the stress areas and got it powdercoated semigloss black. Unfortunately, it's been sitting in my storage shed for about a month so is already collecting dust.

beerb8ammoGRITS

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But while it's been collecting dust I've been working to get the underbody of the car done. Got all the old gunk and undercoating crap off and of course found a few other small rust areas that needed addressing but all in all it cleaned up well. I've been waiting for warmer weather to paint the epoxy and got lucky tonight that I was able to keep the shop temp over 75 degress. I got two coats of epoxy on and as long as the temp holds out I plan to spray SPI bedliner on Friday.

I meant to take pics after I finished prepping the underbody but completely forgot so these are the best I got. I had to remove the pinion snubber in order for the Ridetech suspension to fit as well as "gently massage" the ribbed area of the floorpan to clearance the upper bar.

http://images2.snapfish.com/23232323...57%3C259ot1lsi

beerb8ammoGRITS

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and now it black SPI epoxy primer... I can see why people just leave the underbody in black epoxy... it actually looks pretty good. But I like the idea of the little bit more of sound deadening the bedliner will provide

beerb8ammoGRITS

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The bottom end of the LS2 should be ready for pickup next week.... but that is also V-Day.... So I'll let you know who wins out... hint, it won't be me...

I've got to make it a good Vday cause the wife hooked me up pretty good for Xmas, check out the new welder. I made the mistake of telling her if I had this from the beginning the car would have been done by now (not even really much of an exaggeration... I was amazed at how much better this machine is. I REALLY wish I had it when I was doing the subframe.... My 15 year old Licoln 110V was blowing the fuse every few seconds.... Really missing my old shop with the updated electrics... But no more worries with the new machine.


Sweet cart huh?? lol, I'm gonna use that as another excuse why I am not further along since the last update... But I actually love it and moves around much better than the cheapy harbor freight cart I was using before.

beerb8ammoGRITS

iTrader: (1)

With any luck I'll have the engine and tranny in by early March... That is if I can make up my mind on what color to paint them....

My two thoughts right now are either a silvery metallic (brushed aluminum looking) or black??? (with SC painted to match) I've been looking over the LSX **** thread religiously trying to get inspiration but just can't make up my mind.

Any opinions? Ideas are very welcome... The car will be Corvette electron Blue Metallic