superdave84

Thank you! The current column in the car right now is the original 1965 Impala column (non-tilt), however I am fitting a 2005 GTO (tilt) column into the car because it is not comfortable to drive. When I am close enough to the pedals, I am too far from the wheel, etc. Using the GTO column lets me choose the distance and the angle, so I am working on that. I actually have several updates to post but I was waiting until I got more stuff done.

I am still having transmission issues. I have actually taken the car out on the real roads though, so even though it's not running right, it's "official". I did an LS swap.

superdave84

Well, I wanted to get more done before doing a real update, but I thought I would just throw some pics at you guys.

Here's the car getting the ride height set. Actually loos a little lower in person, which is good.



On my first "real" drive in it to the alignment shop



The beginning stages of some new fender emblems. This is wood I am carving by hand. Later a mold is made, and then they are cast in plastic and painted.




I decided to name the car Nemesis. We are mostly familiar with the word nemesis as being an enemy of relatively equal skill. Nemesis is actually the Greek goddess of revenge (more or less)



Take a look at this plastic trash B&M calls "leather"



I sewed my own boot up using ACTUAL leather



Lower portion of door panel




Aside from getting my transmission working properly, installing the GTO steering column is my next major project



But with a Corvette wheel



The GTO steering wheel is actually an Australian item, and the splines do not match anything GM makes. To get the Corvette wheel onto the GTO column, it is going to require a lot of work. This stuff is magnesium, and very dangerous to work with, as it is pyrophoric, and can catch fire with a simple spark. So all the cutting is done by hand, not machine.



this is the center section removed from the GTO wheel. I saw in another forum that someone had this machined to bolt to the Corvette wheel, but I definitely do not trust magnesium to thread into. It's a tough metal, but it can be filed easily, and threads would come out eventually in my opinion.



Me in my ummm "machine shop" modifying the Corvette wheel



The pieces fit together like this. They will be magnesium welded so that they are a solid unit



All the shrouds and fake airbag painted to match with a special vinyl dye



Custom emblem to replace the Corvette logo on the fake airbag. This is the beginnings of Nemesis, who is depicted with wings and a sword. This is clay, which is baked, then painted, and then used to make a mold and cast in plastic





And the finished emblem (although the pic was taken before I attached it to the black background piece...it's just sitting on the airbag)

nicke

Wow, Dave, your creativity never ceases to amaze me.
Really, nice work!

I look forward to you ironing out the tranny issues so you can start enjoying driving it!
-Nick

ls1nova71

iTrader: (4)

Wow! That is some truly crafty work right there! Great job. The air bag emblem and the lower door speaker enclosures are awesome!

brutalis

iTrader: (3)

I dig the emblem. Is that original artwork? If so, kudos... if not, kudos anyway for molding it so nicely haha

Aaronbang

Nice work, 65 is my favorite year of impala. You need to get ahold of a 3D printer for all your custom emblems

TypeSL2

iTrader: (2)

Seeing how this stuff is coming together is really making me want to fab up some stuff for my truck. Amazing man. This build is just plain awesome. I really want to see this thing painted.

James

superdave84

Thanks! I am looking forward to "moving forward" as well. Haha we'll see. I have terrible luck.

Thank you sir!

Thank you and yes it's all original

I looked into having it 3D printed but I couldn't find anything affordable. I would love to own my own....but again, I can't afford it. I have this stupid hotrod to pay for haha

Thank you sir. I am excited to see it painted too...but I still need both quarters, a hood, and a lot of bodywork before that can happen. I hop by next summer.

I tracked down at least part of my transmission issue today. I apparently had a very sneaky leak right at the dipstick that was giving me trouble, and I though it had been coming out of the vent on top. I fixed the leak and filled it back up to proper level. This time it climbed hills "fine". It certainly had more power than before, but it still felt funny to me. Also, I now notice a pretty obvious shudder/vibration under acceleration. Research leads me to believe this is from a faulty torque converter. I just bought the "ebay special" converter for like $200. I am thinking of dropping the $800 on a Vigilante by PI. I HOPE it's not a bad transmission...but if so, I guess I'll have a new transmission to go with my new converter. Good thing I don't have a wife and kids I guess.

blova00

Dave, can you tell me about your cooling system? I am installing an ls1 and 4l60e but an not sure if i can run withthe original 65' radiator or maybe mod dual fans and an aluminum radiator from an f body.

superdave84

Can't be sure about an F-body radiator as I don't have the measurements from one. I was able to fit the stock GTO radiator and fans into mine, on top of the frame rails. I had to do a little trimming at the frame, but it was nothing. I also had to make some simple metal brackets to hold the radiator in place....also easy. I used the stock GTO upper and lower hoses, and I ran a small hose from the radiator over to the overflow canister (the only non-stock cooling part on the car).

If you need measurements from the GTO radiator to check against other radiators, let me know and I will get them sometime tomorrow when the sun is out.

blova00

Sounds simple enough. What year was the GTO?

superdave84

2005. 2005 and 2006 are exactly the same, and have the top hose coming out of the center of the radiator, driver's side. The 2004 GTO radiator has the top hose coming out at the top of the driver's side. I chose the 2005/2006 one so that it would not interfere with my CAI.

If you look closely you can see the brackets I made to mount it in these pictures:




This one shows the temporary setup I had with another radiator (I forget what car it was from). But you can see how the higher hose port interferes with the CAI intake tube



Here are some aluminum options for GTO radiators along with some measurements and stats. I went the cheaper route and used the Spectra one

http://www.mishimoto.com/pontiac-gto...tor-05-06.html
http://www.kollarracingproducts.com/...ORS/Categories

Length: 26.5
Width: 2.22
Height: 17.62

Ron Davis
Length: 31
Width: 2.5
Height: 17


Mishimoto

Width: 26.55"
Width: 1.97"
Height: 17"

If you need the Spectra measurements I can get them for you sometimes today

blova00

Awesome! Thanks for being so helpful!

oldgoat69

I am really interested in the door panel project. That is one of my next major undertakings. I am too cheap to pony up $1500 per pair for similar units commercially available, besides they wont fit the drop top.

superdave84

Wow $1500???? Highway robbery.

I will take more pictures as I make the rest of the door panels to show how I do it. It's really not all that hard, it just takes me forever. I really need to focus on getting the car running properly, but shortly after that, I will make the rest of the door panel parts. If you want to try it yourself, I am more than happy to walk you through any difficulties you run into.

bonecrrusher

iTrader: (1)

How do you cast your projects into plastic?

I am familiar with metal casting with sand casting - but plastic is new to me.

superdave84

Well I start by making a part from wood or clay something easy to work with. When it's reasonably close to perfect, I glue the piece down to a flat surface (like a piece of wood). Then I build some walls out of cardboard, and tape them well at all the seams.

Next I mix up some silicone rubber compound. I use OOMOO from Smooth-On Inc. Mix the parts in equal amounts, and then pour onto your part. Typically you will not need a mold release agent unless your parts are REALLY complex.

After about 6 hours, the silicone cures, and you can remove the cardboard walls, and then pull the rubber mold from the part.

Flip it over so that you can pour into it, and mix up some resin. I also use Smooth-On brand resin but any plastic resin will work fine. The Smooth-On stuff is easier to mix though, as it's 1:1. After mixing, pour the resin, and while it's still wet, run a straight piece of cardboard or something across the mold (kind of like what you would do with body filler doing bodywork on a car). This leaves you with a flat surface at the back of the part instead of a surface that is kind of rounded and "bubbled out".

For parts that are more intricate than emblems and stuff like that (for instance, a small statue), you might need to make a multi-part mold. There are methods for doing this, but I have never had to do it so I am no expert.

Here's a video I found that explains it better than I can:


Here is the part where they cast the part...however they don't skim the back to make it flat like I do.

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Dude...

Your work is really amazing. Can you elaborate on how you did the door speaker pods? I've been debating about moving the speakers from my kick panels into the doors. Any thoughts on what actually might sound better?

Andrew

superdave84

Thank you! I have absolutely no idea which way sounds better, so I can't help you there.

I don't have any real pics of the speaker pod process but I still need to build the other one and I will take pics and put them up after it's done. I can try to explain though....

First I had to cut a hole in the door. Had to be very careful about where to make the cut since there's window parts, etc that can be in the way.

I purchased some MDF speaker trim rings for like $12 on Ebay. They allowed me to recess the speaker very slightly into the finished panel. I placed the speaker in the trim ring, and then screwed it onto the door temporarily. This gave me correct hole placement later on.

I removed the trim ring and speaker, and traced them out onto 1/8" hardboard (hardboard, not cardboard). Then using the measurements from the door, I drew out the shape I wanted.

After cutting out the piece of hardboard, I took it over to the door and taped it in place. I then attached the trim ring to the hardboard in the correct place, and found my original holes I had screwed the trim ring into previously. I glued the trim ring to the hardboard with wood glue, and then screwed it to the door.

Next I drilled three larger holes in the hardboard, and straight into the door. These will be used for bolts later, and will provide perfect alignment.

After the glue dried, I removed the panel and started to add a ridge running down the center (kinda like a spine going horizontally). I made this out of 1/4" MDF, which I sharpened a but with a sander to give me a nice sharp edge. I glued the piece onto the center of the hardboard. I had one really long one, and one short one in front of the speaker. The holes I had drilled for bolts were right in line with the spine pieces. In all three locations, I cut away a but of the spine so that it would sit flush. Once the glue dried on the spine, I added fiberglass body filler over the bolts. Once that cured, it locked the bolts in place and locked into the spine as well.

Then I took the whole thing and sprayed contact adhesive on it, and also a piece of fleece. Then i laid the fleece over the part and pulled it all tight. I stapled it from the rear so that it could not come free from the panel.

Then I put it back in the car and bolted/screwed it in place. This is because I did not want it to warp at all when applying the resin. I mixed up some fiberglass resin and brushed it onto the fleece while secured to the car. I let this sit overnight.



All of my interior parts are made in the same way:





The next step is to pull the part out of the car and do a little sanding and bodywork to make sure the surface is flat. It does not have to be anywhere NEAR as flat as exterior bodywork though.

Then it's just a matter of wrapping the part in vinyl. I use 3M interior adhesive, and just pull it all tight. Then I staple everything from the rear like I did with the fleece. Cut openings for the holes and staple that stuff from the rear as well. Now it's ready to bolt to the car.



I know it sounds complicated, and it is, I guess.....but I did this in just a few hours. In the end it will be worth all the time I spent on it.

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Dave,

That makes perfect sense. It seems similar to the process that I have seen for making fiberglass subwoofer enclosures. Well done!!!

I also love the custom molded plastic. You're an artist.

Andrew