Not shattering any new ground but figured the project was getting close enough to start posting up, picking brains and sharing my info and what I've learned so far.

The car is a 64 Skylark I bought almost exactly a year ago as a total creampuff and immediately set out to make it handle and stop properly along with getting a set of my wheels on it and driving it all summer.

Here's that whole story http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php4?t=21361

And here's the car doing what the brake and suspension upgrade made possible.


As you can see, the car goes like hell around corners but getting from one section to the next had the 2 barrel 300" V8's tongue hangin' out and not really getting us there in a big hurry so when I got the opportunity to snag a take-out from a GTO with a spun rod bearing from a friend last summer, I jumped all over it. Had it rebuilt over the winter and put in a Comp Cam and springs along with the AutoKraft pan, bitchin' billet motor mounts from Don Hardy Race Cars and an accessory drive from a CTS-V and it's just about ready to go in with a Keisler 6 speed behind it.

 

Where did you get those ugly wheels at? There absolutley sick looking. Welcome aboard many a-body guys on here.

 

welcome. Your ride looks sweet. ALOT better looking than the first chevelles IMO

 

There's one in every crowd! LOL Your LS powered A-Body is cool too! Looks like you did the reverse order of my project.

Thanks Jimbo! I totally agree and love the fact that since it was a more premium car, GM spent a lot more money on it than they did on Chevelles and they're rarer and cheaper than Chevelles. Win, win!

My UPS driver has been a busy boy so I'll be adding much more compelling updates very soon. The stock motor is on craigslist which will hopefully be enough money to buy my friends pizza and beer during the swap process!

 

J you might have to cut those front springs again after you get that
light weight ls2 installed.

 

After seeing your 64Skylark, I think I am going to have to add it to the list of rides I'd like to build before I die.

 

Jimbo no accuses to get started. Here it is

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/1704234949.html

 

cool car. I wouldn't mind a metallic mint green 64 skylark convertible.

 

Clean A-Body. welcome and keep the thread going. !

Like Rocky said. I was originally building my 71 for a sbc, used 1 1/2" drop spring and B-Body Spindles.. I shuold have been down 2 1/2" to 3".. but after it was running, it was at stock height ! LOL. and I had to cut a 1/2 coil off...

 

LOL. thanks dude. I need to get my 70 Camaro RS LY6 swap at least running first. LOL.

Looks like a decent ride

 

I used 2 inch drop spindles and I think I may have netted 1.25 inches after the swap.

 

The swap is off and running so here's the latest and it's getting close to turning the key.


Last year right about this same time, I started the original thread for the Rushforth Wheels company car shortly after I bought the bone stock cream puff and compiled the parts list that was to become my somewhat unlikely pro-touring machine. If you aren't familiar with the first phase of this project, I think it's worth a read for anyone who appreciates a cool car with a good story, especially a somewhat unusual car. Read all about it here: http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php4?t=21361

I cruised, showed, ran errands, and autocrossed that car right up until the weather was just too wet to drive a car like this on a regular basis. I don't treat it like a sugar cube but surviving 45 years in the NW is a feat in and of itself so I'm going to baby it a little more from here on out.

The car's only shortcoming was the 2 barrel, aluminum headed 300" V8 and Powerglide. Although the car ran like a top and you never had to shift out of first on even the biggest autocross course, the go did not match the whoa provided by the Baer brakes and the Powerglide didn't exactly have long legs when trying to get down the road in the fast lane. I knew from day one that I would be addressing this issue and it all came together this year.

My good friend Chris Holstrom, had a take out LS2 from an 05 GTO that he passed along to me for a song so I had it rebuilt and stuck a little bigger Comp Cam in it to help it breathe. Behind it is a complete Keisler Magnum kit and I do mean complete! They provide everything with the kit from the shifter ball, to new clutch and brake pedals and even a custom made driveshaft built to my car's specs.




A couple weeks ago, the car pulled into my friend, Chris' shop; Chris Holstrom Concepts where he is in the process of building a killer 68 Camaro for a client but the meat and potatoes of his business model is doing things exactly like my car where client's cars will only spend between 1 and 4 weeks or so doing things like LS swaps, brake and suspension upgrades and even general automotive repair for hot rods so a guy who might not have the time, skill, tools to do something like a brake job or a computer diagnosis to his hot rod but he doesn't want to leave it with an ex-convict at the local lube shop and have Ferris Bueller's Day Off reenacted on his pride and joy, he can take it to Chris and have it treated right and repaired properly with peace of mind. Personally, I think it's a brilliant business model so if you live in the NW and don't want to tackle that complete LS swap install or Baer brake upgrade, aftermarket suspension install etc, Chris is your man.

Out of the rain and into the shop


Good bye little 300 and Godspeed on your 2nd life in a rat rod thanks to craigslist!


Out with the old while the motor was still hot.


Awaiting it's new home on Night 1


Awesome Autokraft pan and motor mounts from Don Hardy


Dropping in!

 

We ran into a little hiccup that RockyTopper predicted and I should have seen coming but didn't have the motor and the car in the same room for a few months. Fortunately, it was resolved by an awesome vendor. In the picture, you can see the killer CTS-V accessory drive system that keeps everything in close and mounts the alternator way down low on the driver's side..... Right on top of my Lee steering box. The car and the motor were never in the same room until the swap started and bonehead me immediately went for the cool looking drive never thinking about side effects so I called Pace Performance to see if just by chance they might have a relocation bracket to save me from having to replace a $500 drive and they simply said to pack it back up and we'll swap you straight across for a Corvette drive! I'm so grateful so that is why there's no drive in some of these pics but that will get fixed very shortly.




The Powerglide crossmember actually works with the new 6 speed with a couple slight modifications including cutting a tiny notch in the dead center and scooting it rearward a few inches.




Yes, I'm going to paint those framerails but getting running is first priority!

 

We've been slamming away on the Buick and it's looking great. I took a few days off to do our Rushforth Wheels booth at Columbus and within 12 hours from getting home last night, we were back at it.

Where the hell do guys building Camaros and Mustangs keep all their parts??



Check out the clean little removable cover Jared Hancock made for the 6 speed. There's a 67 Camaro console to go over it but it needs a little love and restoration so I'll be rocking it this summer just covered in carpet.




Since stance is an emphasis on this project and the LS2 makes enough HP to put the BF/G KDWs up in smoke at will, I bought Edelbrock shorty headers to keep the collectors way up off the ground and route the exhaust as clean as possible.



The only rub is that the o2 sensor bung aims right at the crossmember. Well, even an allen bolt plug stuck out too far, so I took a cut off wheel to it and gooped up the threads with exhaust adhesive that becomes cement when heated up. We'll put the actual bungs in just a couple inches downstream out of the way.

 

For fuel delivery, I decided to go clean and simple. This was a real relief to find because it's a bone stock factory spec galvanized tank with a built in electric pump straight from Spectra.



A big shiny galvanized tank shining from under the car isn't my idea of style so a careful application of semi gloss black will make it go away like a good fuel tank should.

Speaking of clean and simple, my friend Brett has a complete Dorman DIY fuel line kit that makes perfect factory style pressure fittings and we were able to do all of the fuel lines for under $50, and an obligatory pizza.



Look at this guy just sitting in the engine compartment with a 6' long wiring harness that would make most men tremble. If not for Chris, I'd be going carbed!



While waiting on the backordered accessory drive from Pace to replace the CTS-V drive that didn't fit, we went ahead and bolted on the new tall spindles from L&H Kustoms. These things are BEEFY and correct a lot of factory geometry flaws but unlike trying to just bolt in B-Body spindles to an A-Body, these are properly engineered to correct bumpsteer.

You can see how much taller it is than the factory unit and how about how much beefier it is? That's reassuring but you have to give props to the GM engineers who came up with the original unit that held up all these years.



Those are the new upper control arms from Hotchkis to go with the newly revised geometry the spindles provide. Everyone knows about the snowball effect and when you replace spindles, you have to replace caliper brackets and since I installed the Baer Track Plus system, Baer came out with their super sick new T4 calipers and since I had to unbolt it all anyways and buy caliper brackets, why not add in some T4s, right?





Nice!

 

As I said on Pro-touring, and lateral-g, car looks awesome! Good luck w/ the engine swap!