looking good !

are you going to paint the firewall black or the body color ?

 

Thank you.

Yes, this stuff can be a pain, but I actually enjoy it especially when I have friends and family helping too. I will be happy when it is finished though.

 

Thank you. I will be happy when my car is looking as far along as yours!

I was going to go black, but I have decided body color now since my buddy put all the hard work into getting my idea of straight to look so nice.

 

We finally got some final color shot on the firewall and cowl so I have an idea how this color will look on the car. Not sure if you can see in the pictures, but it has a LOT of flop to it. Bright blue in direct light, but almost purple at a slight angle. Looks awesome.

Also sold the factory front disc brake setup and ordered up some new Strange Pro Steel front disc brakes for the front and a new pair of forged drop spindles. Next we can spray the front frame and roll bar and I can get the front suspension and brakes installed.

And last but not least, ordered up the final piece for the rotating assembly. A forged stock stroke Eagle crank. Everything should be here this week, so I can also get the shortblock pieces to the machine shop for some balancing and machine work.

 

Dropped the block, pistons, rods, crank and cam off to the machine shop today. He is going to lightly blend the tops of the pistons, balance the assembly, file fit the rings, square up the deck surface, , line hone with main studs, hone the cylinders to fit pistons, clean block and install new cam bearings and set all bearing clearances. Also decided to upgrade to the tool steel wrist pins while it is there. He told me 3 weeks so I have a little time. They had 2 blown 450ci LSX engine builds and an LS2 build going right now so all the tooling is already set up for LS which should make things go faster.

As far as progress on the car itself, we got the front frame and roll bar sprayed Satin black. Looks awesome! The Global West control arms are chipped up and dull looking so I have to clean up and re-spray them then re-install the whole front suspension and new Strange brakes, brake lines, new polished aluminum master cylinder, brake bias control valve and bolt the rack in. I'm happy to see parts going back on for the LAST time finally instead of just for mock up and remove.

 

Got the front frame and cage painted in Hotrod satin black. Last weekend we also got the last steering rack bracket fabbed and welded in. This weekend I am going to try and get the front suspension back together with the new 2" drop spindles and Strange disc brakes so the car will roll again.

 

Very nice work you've done there. Going to be a nice ride when you get her all buttoned up.

 

Thank you. I can't wait to get it done and cruising.

 

That looks great! Is that black sprayed from a HVLP gun?

 

Thank you and yes it is. My buddy Chris sprayed it with Hot Rod satin black from Keystone. It doesn't smudge or leave fingerprints like a lot of flat or satin paints do and so far it seems fairly durable.

 

Started bolting the engine together this weekend. I had a hell a time just making the Moroso pan + pick up tube + windage tray combo fit. So much for bolt up and go!

First I noticed the pick up tube hit the windage tray, so I had to modify the tray in 2 places. After that was fixed I noticed the pan did not sit flush with the block. (hitting the tray on the drivers side) I trimmed about an inch off that whole side of the tray then I noticed the pan was about 1/4" pushed to one side from lining the pan bolts up. Found out the pick up tube was hitting the pan baffle so I modified that also. Finally got everything to fit properly after about 5 hours of mock up and small modifications.

 

Next my wife and I got the TFS 225 heads cleaned up, LS9 gaskets slid on and heads in place. I just posted up a thread to get some ideas on torque specs for the ARP studs and I can button them down!

 

Hopefully this weekend after I get the heads on for good I can get the Holley Hi-Ram and ATI balancer bolted on, then mock up the T&D rockers to measure for pushrods.

 

looking good, these things take time, sometimes too much, lol

 

Engine is coming together nicely! Looks like you made that valley cover, what material is made of? Are you running the later style knock sensors that go on the side of the block?

 

Thanks guys! Yes, sometimes things you expect to be easy bolt ons turn into customer fabrication. Lol

I was going to make a valley cover myself, but I found one cheap for sale on I bought off a member on here and it is aluminum. I scuffed it down and painted it black. Not sure what brand it is, but it didn't fit either! I had to open up 4 of the holes in the rear to make it fit.

I think I am going to run without knock sensors since the car has solid mounts and I expect there to be a lot of vibrations. I plan on running a very soft tune and let the Holley kit keep an eye on the AFR to make sure it doesn't go lean. Hopefully it all works.

 

Coming along nicely!

 

Thank you.

Interesting combo update in your sig. How far away are you from getting it back to the track?

 

Worked out in the garage with my oldest son today. Got the engine all buttoned up. Torqued the ARP studs to 90 lbs and small studs to 30 lbs. I just need to fins a set of valve covers I like now, tap the 2 hose fittings on the water pump and plug them, install the injectors and rails, make my coil brackets to mount them on the side of the block and drop it in the car!

 

Well, a LONG day today, but the car is in final paint from the firewall back! Started prepping the car at 7:26 am and sprayed final clear on at 5:49 pm! Car looks amazing and as flat and smooth as glass! HUGE thank you to my buddy Chris who laid on the Lesonol base/clear and also to Brian who let us use his new paint booth. Hoping to get this thing bolted back together like a car again and in 2 weeks we plan on spraying the nose. We couldn't fit all the panels in the booth at one time so we had to do it in stages.

Again..... big thank you to my buddy Chris who has worked all his available nights and weekends for the last 3 years to get the car laser straight and getting to this stage. I couldn't have done it without him.