I read this thread 10 times. I went and bought an LS for my 74 this past week. Giddy Up!!

 

Im gonna be using Cathedral port heads with the gm single plain hopefully that will give me enough clearance. i would hate to have to buy a new hood, i'll try a low rise carb hat! did you ever run into issue's with the 28x11.5's in the back with the leaf clearance or lip?

 

Thanks guys! Good luck with both of your builds. Be sure to document them and post up build threads.

 

I rolled my wheel lips and used a small stack of very thin (1/16th in or so) custom spacers (shims really) to space them out away from the leaf springs. I also pounded the seat belt humps in just a tiny bit. I get just the slightest bit of contact on the leaf springs during really sharp turns (like turning into my neighborhood), but its very minimal. I could probably space them out just a little more and elimiate it, but it really doesn't bother me enough to mess with it. Maybe I will when I swap on a fresh set of tires.

 

I will post my build. My car is finished, but changing to an ls motor. Can't wait. I have a 91mm single turbo sbc build in an 86 Camaro almost done, and want this for the street.

 

Just a quick update on what I’ve been up to. This weekend I got my modified seats back from the upholsterer and also had a chance to install my new FAST dual sensor wideband. I’ll start out with the wideband since there are less pics and less to tell about. Here’s a pic of the wideband display unit and the actual sensors. Sorry for the cell phone pics, but it’s just more convenient lately.



The wideband install was pretty straight forward since I had already installed the bungs in my exhaust, which is arguably the most involved part of the install. Funny thing though, was that the FAST wideband kit actually included new bungs and plugs, so I guess I wouldn’t have needed to buy the bungs and plugs separately…..oh well. Anyway, I installed the sensors in the exhaust bungs and routed the wiring through the factory shifter cable hole. This is where I had already routed the wiring for my transbrake and transmission temp sensor so all that was needed was to add another hole and grommet to the rubber piece I used to close off the hole. This floor position allows the wideband cabling to exit the carpeting on the side of the trans tunnel where my two-piece carpet overlaps. The unit simply plugs into the cigarette lighter for its power and ground, so it’s a very clean install.



Once the carpet and seats were back in place, it was simple to conceal most of the cabling next to the driver’s seat and leave the wideband display between the seats right behind the shifter. That will give me quick reference to it from the driver’s seat and leave plenty of spare cable to place it on the dash when tuning the idle AFR under the hood. In fact, I already messed with my idle tune a little bit. It was idling warm around 12.8:1, so I messed with it and got it pretty close to 14.7:1 now. You’ll see where the display resides in a following picture of my seats.

So speaking of my seats……I got them back Friday evening…..three days after the promised date. I guess that was my mistake for paying in full up front. I have to say that functionally they are exactly what I was looking for. But aesthetically, they left a little to be desired. He did a pretty good job on the actual seat belt slots and lining them with black vinyl. My complaint here is that when he reinstalled the covers I don’t feel like he pulled the material as tight as he could have. This left the material around the holes a little “puckered”, which looked pretty bad. I’ve been working with them though, stretching here and tugging there, and have them almost to my liking. Here is how they look now. I only have a harness in the driver’s side for now, so you’ll notice the empty slot on the passenger side. You’ll also see the wideband between the two seats in the second pic.




Like I said…..functionally they are great. My harness fits 100% better now. The only think I still need to do to make them perfect is have the belt tabs on the cross bar relocated outboard by about an inch or so. This will center them perfectly on the seat backs. Some of you may remember that these were improperly positioned when the cage was built…….man, it’s always something.

My real heartburn with this seat job was what he did with the plastic seat backs. I told him he could leave them off and I would take care of cutting the slots in them and trimming it out nicely. But he insisted that he had some “really nice” trim pieces for the plastic and that doing that was already part of the price he quoted for the whole job. So, I told him to go ahead and impress me then. Well, when I got them back, this is what they looked like.




Man you want to talk about PISSED! I asked him if this is what he considers “really nice” trim pieces, and he said……oh yeah…I couldn’t make those work, so I trimmed the holes in leather for you. WHAT?!? This looks like some red neck grade school BS to me. I would be embarrassed as an amateur hobbyist to do that kind of work for free, let alone as a professional being paid for it! Are you kidding me??? All the chipped black with the tan showing through in the 2nd pic isn’t his fault though. That seat back had been very poorly re-dyed before I bought the seats and needs to be redone. But look how rough cut and crooked the holes are. I think he used a warm butter knife and a blindfold! Secondly, look how high the hole is in the second picture compared to the first! It’s waaay off. Thirdly……wrapped in leather? What kind of BS is that with all the gaps on the corners and look at the glue spread all of over the place!!!! OK…..I’m done ranting. So here’s what I’m doing to fix it. Yesterday I tore off his leather and cleaned up his cuts with my Dremel……not because they’ll be seen once I put trim around them……but just because they really bothered me. Then I made a cardboard template for some trim pieces that I’ll have cut out of aluminum or stainless to go around the holes and really clean up the look. The problem is, I’ll have to make the trim pieces larger than I would have liked, just to cover up how high he cut the one hole. I’ll re-dye the seat backs, affix my new trim plates with either screws or epoxy, and call it done! More pics of this to come once completed.

Something else I did while the seats were out was to put a barrier between the bottom seat foam and the springs. This is because the foam (especially in the driver’s seat) is deteriorating on the bottom. This always leaves little foam crumbs on my carpet in the back seat foot area. This really bugs me. So I took some left over chepo black carpet that I lined my package tray with and put it between the foam and springs to catch any foam as it falls apart. It didn’t have to be neat since it will never be seen….just functional. Here is the passenger seat bottom before and after.




I actually want to do this to my 99 Trans Am seats too. They also seem to poop foam crumbs all over my carpet .

 

Lol!!! You are crazy!!! I want you to know I have laughed my *** off for the past few minutes about the seats. Sorry about the upholstery fellow! He must be one of those mentally challenged fellas trying to make it in the real world. I agree, if your gonna charge, you better get it right the first time. You would have been better off buying aftermarket seats and sliders rather than taking the seats to him. I am with you on the seat foam crumbs!!! I am soooooo looking forward to putting the 02 Camaro seats in my 69. Almost done with the outside projects and ready to get back to my one and only love, ol' blue!! Your seats look fine, damn its a drag car!!! Noone will care how straight your seat holes are if your running in the 9's!!!

 

LOL......yeah, I know....but I'm turning into a fussy old bastard. There's just no excuse for things to look that assed up....LOL. Oh, and bite your tounge.....this is a STREET car....LOL...cage and all!

I hear ya on getting back to working on the car. Here's how my weekend started......shot this dude with my bow on Saturday. It's a javelina (collared peccari). This basically calls an end to all of my serious hunting in AZ this year, unless I do some predator/mt lion hunting. So I should be able to focus on the car again too.

 

Congrats on the kill!!! First time I saw a Javelina was today. Do they have tusks like a warthog? Can you eat them? For fun I would have him mounted and hang an AMC emblem on a chain around his neck. Do you remember "Cooter" from "The Dukes of Hazzard"? He has a farm/ranch here in North Carolina that has all kinds of game to shoot. I know my Dad has killed a Corsican Ram and some ugly thing called a Dollie Llahma or something like that at Cooters.

 

Thanks man! It was one of those things I really wanted to bag before leaving AZ, because in the US they are only native in AZ, NM, and parts of south and west TX. Other than that, they're found in Mexico and thru Central and South America. So it's one of those things you can't just hunt anywhere. They don't really have tusks but just really big sharp canine teeth that grow inside their mouth. You can definately eat them, but some people shy away from it because they are kind of a smelly little thing. But that's because they have a scent gland on their back that they use to release a musk when they're threatened. If you skin them properly it doesn't have any affect on the meat at all. I made some really good sausage-like hot sticks out of some of it on Sunday and they turned out great!

I'm having an open mouth shoulder mount done with it. Google "Javelina mounts" and click on "Images" at the top of the page.....you'll get a good idea for what it will look like and how big their teeth are. They are ferocious little critters. I thought this one was gonna tear me apart .

Oh yeah.....I remember Cooter very well. In fact, about 7 or 8 years ago a few buddies and I got saused up and went into to the D.C. Auto Show where he was making a celebrity appearance with "The" General Lee (as if there's only one). It was alot of fun seeing him there after growing up watching him on TV for so many years......especially in our "state of mind". That's cool that your dad has hunted on his game ranch. I'm gonna have to google it and see what all he has to hunt there. I didn't know he ran something like that....pretty cool.

So last night I got my trim pieces for my seat backs cut but I'm still not sure I'm 100% happy. Since they have to be somewhat thick (1/8th inch so they don't cut the belts), I really wanted them made out of aluminum so they'd be light. But they guy that did them for me only had steel on hand. I really can't complain because this guy has hooked me up with some good really stuff, and it's usually for free or for a six pack or something. Beggars can't be choosers, but I would have rather paid for aluminum than to have gotten steel for free....ya know? I'll make them work for now but I'll save the pattern and maybe sometime find someone that can cut them out of aluminum for me. He programed them in the machine in like three minutes while I sat there and BS'd with him so they aren't a complicated cut with the right equipment.

 

Just an update to the "seat saga". Like I said above, I got some trim plates made for the seat backs to clean up the look of the rough cut holes. They are thicker and heavier than I wanted, but they'll do the trick. Here they are after I drilled some countersunk mounting holes in them and filed all of the edges smooth. Later I sanded and painted them.



Then I cleaned my seat backs really well with rubbing alcohol in preparation for re-dying them. For the one seat back, that meant stripping most of the old stuff off of it that never stuck very well. This was probably a combination of poor prep and not applying the dye in light dry coats.



And finally, here is what they look like after the trim pieces were painted and the plastics re-dyed. Tonight I need to pick up some screws to mount the plates to the seatbacks and everthing can be reassembled in the car.

 

Seats are looking great! I never had a doubt you could fix them right up. I got the call yesterday, my 408 short block is complete!!! Guess whats gonna happen now, I finally get to post some updates once I get it in my posession. I am gonna try my best to do the swap over in one weekend. With enough liquid inspiration I may try it in one night. Now if you were here on the east coast where you belong I know it could happen.

 

Thanks! Man, that's GREAT news about the 408 being done! Man.....you know we'd pull an all-nighter and get that baby in there and fired! Has your weather been holding up so you'll be able to drive it right away (after a tune, of course)?

 

NICE RIDE!
Hey, when you used the carshop 1" setback plates, where you still able to use the stock driveshaft? Also, do you know if T350's and T400's are the same length? I was using a T350. What pully system did you use up front. I have a similar project, thanks!

 

Thanks man!

Yeah, the carshop 1" setback plates put my transmission in the exact stock location. I tried it with both the TH350 (for mock up only) and the TH400 (with the correct crossmember, of course). Both dropped right in like factory.

If I remember correctly, the TH400 is like something 11/16ths longer overall than the TH350. So I expected to need my driveshaft shortened by close to an inch. But, I guess I got lucky because my TH350 shaft worked just fine with the TH400, with only a slip yolk change. I'm not sure why this worked out in my favor. If you research swapping a TH400 into a TH350 car, most will tell you the driveshaft needs cut. Hope this helps.

EDIT: Forgot to answer your pulley question. I am using 98-02 Fbody front drive accessories. However, I slightly modified the factory alternator bracket and relocated it up to to avoid interference with the pitman arm. It was a pretty simple mod....just a little clearancing on the back side of the bracket to allow for a stablizing brace to swing behind it.

 

Thanks, I was planning on using a T350 anyways so I should be all set!

 

I know we could make it happen! I was tossing the idea around with the neighbor yesterday. May have to do a sequence of photos time stamped on the progress. Also to keep count of the beers consumed in the process!

Alvin is going to flash my PCM while I am down to pick up the engine. I just need a decent tune to get the engine broke in and then the car can go back for the full dyno session.

The weather has been in the upper 60's and low 70's for most of the week. We have had some rain but short spurts here and there! I may get the ol'gal out today and stretch her legs some.

 

About your seat back rant... I had a very similar thing happen to me on my build. two things actually. First was I thought I would leave my glass install to a pro... He sank my windshield in too deep into the sealant so my trim has a gap underneath it. The second was my headliner. The upholstery guy put a hole between my visors for my rear view mirror to be mounted. ( our rearview mirrors attatch to the windshield!) This was after I was very clear about what went where. It seems to me that it really is true about if you want something done right, do it yourself.

 

LOL.....yeah.....some people never fail to disappoint me. I mean....everyone makes mistakes....it's all about how they go about correcting them. But when others pass that kind of work off as "good"....that makes me wonder how they stay in business.

I have done as much as I possibly can on this project myself, but there are just some things that I don't have the equipment or background to do. At the end of the day I have to say I'm satisified pretty much with the upholstery work this guy did. I just wish he would have kept his fingers off the seat backs. But oh well.....they're fixed now and will rarely be seen. Not much reason to fold the seats forward when there's a cage closing in the back seats.....LOL.

 

Awesome thread!!!! I read every page, took me a week... Yea.. had to pay attention to my girlfriend.

How did you remove the vinyl off the door panels without damaging the cardboard backing? Did you use the same paint for the vinyl and the plastic pieces, I'm oblivious to all this lol, but my interior is blue and I want it to be black.

Thanks