Chevelle wagon progress pics
12-08-2009, 11:55 PM
#1
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Chevelle wagon progress pics Sorry about not posting pics in a while, I have been busier than a one legged man in a butt-kicking contest.
I finally found a 12 bolt housing for the car after a 2 month search. It was just a bare housing, but it was a completely perfect rust-free Southwest housing. I blasted it bare and sprayed it with DP90 epoxy primer followed by some gloss black PPG urethane. Put a new set of Moser axles in it and a new Eaton posi unit. finished up the rear with a set of 3.08 gears. since this is going to be a daily driver.
Pulled the engine apart and removed the AFM hardware and installed a new cam, lifters, pushrods and springs. I also changed the pump out to a stock LS2 style pump instead of the over sized AFM pump.
Pulled the 6l80 trans apart and converted the G8 style trans to a Caddy trans so it will now accept a yoke. It required a new output shaft and a new tail housing. The G8 did not use a yoke, but rather the fixed rubber drive, due it it's IRS.
The chassis is now done and all put together. Dropped the engine and trans in tonight. After putting the brakes together, I looked at those skimpy 7/16 wheel studs and decided to upgrade to 1/2" studs. The new Moser axles were easy as the flange just needed to be drilled out and new studs pressed in with the hydraulic press. The front hubs were a different matter, as they had to be counterbored to give the new,larger stud heads a flat place to sit. I had to make a new center pilot for my counterbore that fit the old stud holes. After that, it was a piece of cake to cut the new counterbores.
I used some of KORE3's brackets to adapt the C5 brakes to the Chevelle hubs, and their rear emergency brake setup for the 12 bolt. It is a beautifully machined mounting plate that accepts the C5 rear E brake components and just bolts to the 12 bolt housing. I took the Calipers all apart and rebuilt them after stripping and repainting the calipers with some Viper Red urethane
Lee industries built me a new quick ratio power steering box that is based on the Delphi 670 series box.
I fabricated the motor mounts and plated them in the zinc tank before installing them.
The front suspension is all SPC stuff with tall Howe ball joints. The change in the geometry is nothing short of amazing. The camber experiences almost no positive camber gain as the spindle is moved through it's entire range of movement. These cars were notorious for their camber gain on compression as well as bump steer. There is very slight change in the toe in throughout the entire range, but I don't think it is enough to make any noticeable bump steer. I can always add some extended tie rod studs to the steering arms in the future to completely eliminate bump steer if it is a problem, but it is so slight, that I doubt that I will ever mess with it. I kept the original Chevelle trans crossmember and just reworked the mount a little to mate up to the 6L80 trans.
I should see wheels and tires within the next couple of days and will start fabricating my fuel and brake lines as soon as my buddy that borrowed all my tube benders and flaring tools, brings them back.
All the metal work is done on the body and it is in primer and blocked. I am going to try and get it shot over the Christmas holidays, so I can get the body back on the chassis.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/339303/2115927
Regards, John McGraw
I finally found a 12 bolt housing for the car after a 2 month search. It was just a bare housing, but it was a completely perfect rust-free Southwest housing. I blasted it bare and sprayed it with DP90 epoxy primer followed by some gloss black PPG urethane. Put a new set of Moser axles in it and a new Eaton posi unit. finished up the rear with a set of 3.08 gears. since this is going to be a daily driver.
Pulled the engine apart and removed the AFM hardware and installed a new cam, lifters, pushrods and springs. I also changed the pump out to a stock LS2 style pump instead of the over sized AFM pump.
Pulled the 6l80 trans apart and converted the G8 style trans to a Caddy trans so it will now accept a yoke. It required a new output shaft and a new tail housing. The G8 did not use a yoke, but rather the fixed rubber drive, due it it's IRS.
The chassis is now done and all put together. Dropped the engine and trans in tonight. After putting the brakes together, I looked at those skimpy 7/16 wheel studs and decided to upgrade to 1/2" studs. The new Moser axles were easy as the flange just needed to be drilled out and new studs pressed in with the hydraulic press. The front hubs were a different matter, as they had to be counterbored to give the new,larger stud heads a flat place to sit. I had to make a new center pilot for my counterbore that fit the old stud holes. After that, it was a piece of cake to cut the new counterbores.
I used some of KORE3's brackets to adapt the C5 brakes to the Chevelle hubs, and their rear emergency brake setup for the 12 bolt. It is a beautifully machined mounting plate that accepts the C5 rear E brake components and just bolts to the 12 bolt housing. I took the Calipers all apart and rebuilt them after stripping and repainting the calipers with some Viper Red urethane
Lee industries built me a new quick ratio power steering box that is based on the Delphi 670 series box.
I fabricated the motor mounts and plated them in the zinc tank before installing them.
The front suspension is all SPC stuff with tall Howe ball joints. The change in the geometry is nothing short of amazing. The camber experiences almost no positive camber gain as the spindle is moved through it's entire range of movement. These cars were notorious for their camber gain on compression as well as bump steer. There is very slight change in the toe in throughout the entire range, but I don't think it is enough to make any noticeable bump steer. I can always add some extended tie rod studs to the steering arms in the future to completely eliminate bump steer if it is a problem, but it is so slight, that I doubt that I will ever mess with it. I kept the original Chevelle trans crossmember and just reworked the mount a little to mate up to the 6L80 trans.
I should see wheels and tires within the next couple of days and will start fabricating my fuel and brake lines as soon as my buddy that borrowed all my tube benders and flaring tools, brings them back.
All the metal work is done on the body and it is in primer and blocked. I am going to try and get it shot over the Christmas holidays, so I can get the body back on the chassis.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/339303/2115927
Regards, John McGraw
12-09-2009, 08:25 PM
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John,
Outstanding work and problem solving as usual. Wish I had your talent and energy.
Did I understand correctly that you plan on campaigning the car as well as use it to haul parts?
Outstanding work and problem solving as usual. Wish I had your talent and energy.
Did I understand correctly that you plan on campaigning the car as well as use it to haul parts?
12-09-2009, 10:32 PM
#4
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Jere,
I plan on autocrossing the car as well as the occasional trips to the drags, but it is going to mainly be a road car to haul friends and parts to and from car shows.
I have been watching your project as well as the inevitable scope creep associated with it. I have been doing my best to avoid that on this car. I actually lowered the specs on the car after some thought about it's intended use. I was going to have Mike at SRIII build me a chassis for the car along with C5 suspension parts like the other two cars. After thinking about the reason that I was building the car, I decided to keep the stock chassis.
I got carried away with the last 2 cars, and I am determined to not be quite so "over the top" with this car!
Regards, John McGraw
12-10-2009, 04:10 PM
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12-10-2009, 10:27 PM
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Rocky,
You know it is!
Makes it so much easier when everything in my garage is painted the same color. Touch-ups are so easy when I only have to keep one paint in stock!
Actually, I just have never found a color I like better.
Regards, John McGraw
You know it is!
Makes it so much easier when everything in my garage is painted the same color. Touch-ups are so easy when I only have to keep one paint in stock!
Actually, I just have never found a color I like better.
Regards, John McGraw
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12-10-2009, 10:35 PM
#8
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It is really quite simple. The output shaft and the tail housing have to be changed out and these two cost about $200 if you shop around a little.
You are basically changing it over to a Cadillac trans. The tough part of the retrofit is finding someone who has the special snap ring pliers necessary to get the
center support snap ring out and back in. I had a friend who runs a trans shop who helped me out so I did not have to go out an pay $125 for the snap ring pliers. It was only about a 1.5-2 hour job, so it may just be cheaper to find a trans shop to do it for you. You have to pull the entire center assembly out of the trans to replace the output shaft, but it really is not that bad a job.
Regards, John McGraw
You are basically changing it over to a Cadillac trans. The tough part of the retrofit is finding someone who has the special snap ring pliers necessary to get the
center support snap ring out and back in. I had a friend who runs a trans shop who helped me out so I did not have to go out an pay $125 for the snap ring pliers. It was only about a 1.5-2 hour job, so it may just be cheaper to find a trans shop to do it for you. You have to pull the entire center assembly out of the trans to replace the output shaft, but it really is not that bad a job.
Regards, John McGraw
12-20-2009, 09:14 PM
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Got home Friday evening and the weather was pretty nice, so I got the body painted. I had it all masked up waiting good weather and it didn't take long to get it shot. I just removed all the masking and it looks pretty good! I will color-sand it in the morning and shave off a couple of runs, and start polishing it in the next few days. It sure is red!
It won't be ready for Santa to use this year, so he will have to stick with the old, outdated sleigh!
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/339303/2118660
Regards, John McGraw
It won't be ready for Santa to use this year, so he will have to stick with the old, outdated sleigh!
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/339303/2118660
Regards, John McGraw
