Nick_R_23

I'll start by saying that I bought this car at the beginning of summer, pretty much only a few months before I bought my house. That ended up taking most of my time so I haven't been able to make a whole lot of progress until now.

I found it on Craigslist for $6000, and took it home for $5000. It was an original 1967 327/Powerglide/Console car, with an interior package I believe. The ad was very vague and had terrible pictures, but the clean title and very solid body (especially for Alaska!) when I saw it in person had me sold. This is the first time the car had seen the light of day since before I was born. This is extracting the car from the garage.









And up onto the trailer!



When I got it home I did some looking over. The car had been changed a lot since new, it now sported a 77-79 350 4 bolt block with a 1962 Corvette T10 4 speed. Somewhere along the line, it also received a 12 bolt posi rear axle, a 1967 SS hood, and a 1968 decklid for a spoiler.



Holed away in the garage...I really liked this shot



This is when I had a realization. Since it had quite a few SS parts installed on it, I couldn't actually remember what type of fuel cap the car had.

Apparently, none at all!



Luckily, whoever performed this awesome 'mod', only lightly brazed in the filler panel here, so I was able to knock it out and mostly clean up the braze from the panel. I still have more cleaning to do, but it's now usable.



I also started on some of the other body work. I started knocking out the bondo behind the door pillar on the driver's side, and found a pretty decent sized amount of damage here. It sucks, but I planned on replacing this quarter panel anyway, so no major setback. I have it mostly straightened out here.

Nick_R_23

Got the dents in both quarter panels and fender majorly worked out as well.





As you can see, I also scored a set of Corvette Rally wheels for a good price. They won't be permanent, but I wanted something decent to roll around on.





Back on the ground, but not for long!





The brakes, wheel cylinders, lines, wheel bearings, and one of the rear axle shafts were completely worn out. Went for new all around, mostly just to make it run, drive, and stop under it's own power when I need to move it.







And also, a new master cylinder.



Now that it could stop, I then ordered a few things to aid in getting it running.







Also changed the oil, installed new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, points and condensor, and new hoses.



And one sexy Holley 670 Street Avenger to replace the greatly worn Economaster.



Oh, can't forget the cool gas cap!

Nick_R_23

And she's ready for a test fire!



Not too bad after 25+ years!

After a little carb and timing tweaking, she sounded pretty good.



Heh, I trimmed down a Chevy K1500 fan shroud to fit over the radiator temporarily.





And after a few test drives around the neighborhood with open headers, I got a wild hair in my *** and decided to make it street legal. So I fixed the taillights, installed a new turn signal stalk, rigged up some front turn signals, and put permanent registration on her, and I drove it to work several nice days this summer. I thought I would get pulled over for sure, but I passed by two cops at different times and neither seemed to care!



She was nicknamed 'Porcupine' at work, as I was too anxious and excited to get it on the road to finish pulling the quarter panel, so I simply primered over my studs for the time being.



Not too bad for a fresh barn find!

Nick_R_23

And this is where most of my progress halted. Winter was setting in so I parked the car.

And then I bought a house. The Camaro's new home!



And then nearly immediately after I got settled in, I found a deal on a 2014 Mustang that I couldn't pass up. 305HP V6/6MT/Black on black with 21,700 miles for $10k. The seller needed money for medical bills pretty bad, and I've always wanted one of these, so I bit the bullet and brought her home!



I couldn't park this one either without driving it at least once!



I bet you've never seen a Ford and a Chevy share a space so nicely before!





So now that I had the Mustang to cruise around with in the summer, I decided the Camaro needed a slight powerplant upgrade from the worn 350 and gear-grinding T10. I had this old 4.8L I figured I would do a quick teardown and refresh, until I could save up for something better. Most of the 'Good' engines command a high premium here, as they are very uncommon still.



It was not meant to be though, since as soon as I tore it down, I found rust in the cylinders, probably from sitting. I knew I could find a better engine for cheaper than what it would cost to refresh this one, so I put it aside and held out, and instead decided to buy some supporting pieces as the deals arose.

I did manage to luck out and SCORE a pair of 243 heads with low miles for $100. One has a slightly bent valve, perfect condition otherwise.







I also picked up a complete TBSS intake from a very nice board member here. It should compliment these heads nicely. Picked up some swap plates as well, although I won't be needing them now.

Nick_R_23

Finally, we get to the good part! I posted the Camaro's old 350 and T10, along with a spare Super T10, on Craigslist for $1500. I sold it a few weeks later to a nice gentleman who was going to install it into his 30's Plymouth.



Annnnnnd turned around and bought this immediately after. It's a 2007 Chevy Express box van with a LQ4/4L80E (2WD) with 40-50K miles. I scored it for $1650. Definitely not a bad trade out! It's also a great step ahead from the 4.8L, as I now have a starter, alternator, harness, as well as the ECMs. I'm still planning on using the 243 heads and TBSS intake for a bump in compression and a little better flow. I'm going to have the van delivered probably Monday or Tuesday, and will be tearing it apart then.



The last piece for tonight, I ordered the full Holley swap kit. This is an incredibly well build setup and the quality definitely shows. I feel like I certainly got my money's worth here! I screwed up and will have to exchange the crossmember for a 4L80E one, as I mistakenly thought I was going to need a 4L60E one with my former plan.



More to come!

Nick_R_23

So now I have the van home and have been tearing into it. This beast *barely* cleared the garage door!



I tore all of the sheet metal, damaged parts, and some accessories off of the van. I deleted the oil lines, looped the transmission lines, and hooked up a battery. 41,000 miles and it fired right up! Now to have the engine and transmission pulled.

Nick_R_23

The engine is now all stripped down and nearly ready to pull.



Honey, it's a.....6.0L!!!



Nice and clean! Hopefully no moisture got in from sitting and the cylinders look just as good.

Nick_R_23

I worked today at getting the transmission out. I read somewhere that stated the 4L80E weighs 275(?) lbs, it sure feels like every bit of it. No way I'll be bench pressing this one back into place!





With this new garage, things get a little tight sometimes. I pulled the engine out at the front of the garage, but I need to get the engine to the back, and there was no way to get the engine lift between the van and the Camaro. Took a little shuffling but I got it back there!

Shimmied the lift and block on the LH side along the wall. Barely enough room!



The hoist barely fits as is



Hooked back on!



And we're there!



Should be spending tomorrow pulling the final pieces I need from the van, and this engine will be trading places on the engine stand with the 4.8L. Then I'll pull the heads and get it cleaned up.

Alwhite00

iTrader: (1)

subscribed

Jimbo1367

You seem to be finding great deals a lot. Should be a great build

Motown 454

iTrader: (15)

Great project and nice score on the parts truck.

Nick_R_23

Thank you both! I live on places like Craigslist and I'm ready to snag deals as soon as they pop up.

Some progress for today, I got the block mounted up on the engine stand and removed the heads and timing cover. Cylinders looked good with just some minor carbon/residue buildup which cleaned off pretty easily. I gently cleaned the pistons with a wire brush and they came out like new!

First piston



All finished!

Nick_R_23

I posted the remainder of the van on Craigslist and had it sold in less than 24 hours.

Paid $1650
Sold for $900 after pulling what I needed
= $750 for complete 41,000 mile 6.0L/4L80E with all accessories, harness, and PCM. I could probably net a few hundred dollars more, as I will be selling off the camshaft, heads, intake, and likely PCM/harness once I'm done.



Also picked up a brand new Eaton TruTrac for the 12 bolt for $380. Should help a little on getting that power to the ground.



I bought a set of wheels that I've been wanting to try out as well. I'll post these up once I get them in and have an idea on how they'll fit. I'll give out a hint though, 18x9.5 rears. Hopefully they'll work out!

EdyJun

Nice going!

Nick_R_23

Thanks!

Man I could've sworn I'd updated here but I guess I forgot. Anyway, I've made some progress (also building a C10 stepside with a 4/6 drop on the side), not so much on the car but parts are coming in!

Picked up a brand new cowl hood for the car locally. I like the SS hood, but I'd really like to run stripes, which go so much better on a cowl hood.



A beautiful set of Straub trunion bushings



Holley Terminator EFI with DBW and 4L80e control!



And BTR Platinum .660 springs



...installed on freshly surfaced and built LS6 heads