y2k_ta

iTrader: (80)

That's a great look!

LS1Bandit

Definitely agree with you there! I finally found out what those wheels are: 3 piece Work VS-XX 9" x 18" front and 10" x 18" rear:

http://store.finalstageauto.net/workvsxx.html

Unfortunately, as I suspected, they're about the same price as the Fikse's - roughly $780 a piece. Too pricey for me right now. Maybe some day ...

y2k_ta

iTrader: (80)

Ouch! That price hurts I agree...it would be tough to pay that much for one wheel when you can get four of another.

I'm not much of a fan of large wheels, but those just look right on that car. Especially with the overall stance of the car. It's too bad they're so expensive

mcG

iTrader: (1)

those wheels on that car look awesome

biomedtech

One little thing about cheating the smog guy's I picked up. If you add about a 25% mixture of methanol (called M85 at the green gas stations) you will get pretty much any car to pass smog.

I had a friend when I was stationed in Colorado that had an oooold datsun that he couldn't get to pass. He threw 2 gallons of M85 into his tank with 6 gallons of premium go-go juice and that puppy blew cleaner than the pope's last breathalyzer test. And to top it off, he had punched out his catalytic converter about 6 months prior to this. M85 acts as an oxidizer during the combustion process significantly raising the O2 level during the combustion, resulting in almost NO emissions at all. The smog tester ran the test twice to make sure he had the correct results.

Travisimo

iTrader: (1)

Amazing car! I used to have a '78 black and gold very similar to yours. I think the car would look best with stock deep dish gold snowflakes, it would look ALOT classier and would be much less expensive than Fikse's...just my opinion. After all you spent all that time and energy restoring the car to an extremly clean stock look, might as well go all the way with stock wheels too. I wish I would have kept mine and put the LS1 T56 combo on it. Good choice and good luck with your wheel decision.

nasty99WS6

If you like that look, why not try some rims off of a late 80's early 90's GTA with the gold centers? Probably alot cheaper, if you could find some that is, and might not look bad. just a thought.

rocketrider93

hey thats a pretty cool tip. the only problem here in cali is that they aren't just going to sniff the pipe but they are going to check for every smog device that came on a 50 state motor. it's not just how clean she breaths but if she has her stuff also which is a stupid thing cause if she's clean he shouldn't have to worry about anything else.

LS1Bandit

Good idea, but too late! I ended up with the Works VS-XX's like the picture earlier in this thread. The problem was after I saw those wheels, I couldn't see any other wheel on there. And then I found a good deal on them.

Soooo... I'm the proud new owner of a set of Works VS-XX's. Unfortunately since they're custom-made in Japan, it's going to be 60-90 days before I get them.

Ateyate

iTrader: (4)

Congrats on the wheels, be sure to post some pics when you get them installed!!

LS1Bandit

By the way, in case anyone's curious ... the current status of the project is that the engine and transmission have been pulled. The chassis was a little uglier than I was expecting after a frame-off restoration (grr...) so now I need to figure out what to do about cleaning it up.

And, I'm also now looking at replacing pretty much all of the steering and suspension. My build plan is looking like:

SC&C stage 1 kit
- adjustable, tubular upper control arm with greasable race bushings
- tall lower ball joint for better geometry

pro-touringf-body:
- front&rear springs
- solid body bushings
- subframe connectors
- rear sway bar drop link

Moog:
- inner/outer tie rods
- center link
- upper ball joints
- pitman arm (maybe - I still haven't found it yet)

Global West:
- del-a-lum bushings for lower control arm
- tie-rod sleeves

Energy Suspension:
- poly bushings for front&rear sway bar

Edit: Forgot to mention QA1 adjustable shocks front&rear.

I'm probably replacing my steering box too. Right now I'm debating between the AGR, DSE and ATS boxes. All are about 12:1 ratio.

And new disc brake kits for front&rear from Precision Brakes.

My goal is to have a car that looks like a nice, stock restoration but is a helluva performer.

Phoenix 5.7

iTrader: (7)

very nice. if it wasn't for commiefornia smog, i was goin to say, do a victor jr. intake with a 90mm TB on top and keep it injected. no way for a MAF that way though. im thinkin about attempting to do a 70 T/A clone with LSX power and go that route. you might be able to make a bracket that bolts to the fuel rails, or fuel rail brackets, that could hold the shaker to the engine.

HPP

Cool conversion. Any ideas about the final weight and balance?

cooltc2004

iTrader: (1)

Wow this looks like its going to be nice !!!!

LS1Bandit

Excellent question. I've been trying to estimate that.

Unfortunately I didn't weigh it before I yanked the engine. The original specs say that it should weigh 3600lb. The only person I've talked to so far that has weighed his weighed in at 3800lb, but that was after putting in a larger motor. So I think 3600 is probably about right.

Best estimate from those that have done the LS1 conversion is that I should drop about 300lb compared to my old poncho 400. Then I'm ripping out a/c which is pretty close to 100lb (!!). I'm not entirely sure how much more I'm going to drop with all of the suspension/brake changes, but my guess is I might lose as much as 100lb more. So I might lose as much as 500lb.

That would bring the weight down to somewhere between 3100 and 3300lb.

With the lighter engine and ditched a/c, the weight is going to move back. Plus the mounts from ATS move the engine as far back and down as you can, which is good there.

The CG is going to drop a bit too, and I'm starting to worry it's going to drop too much (e.g., I'm going to be too low). It seems every choice I make drops the car even more, even though that's not exactly my intention.

So it really ought to be in pretty good shape to be a solid performer. Whether or not I'll be able to clear speed bumps is another question.

wvaboy

iTrader: (3)

was this ever finished?
looking to swap out engines in my fathers 81 t/a with a ls1. what kind of problems will i run into

Dave D

Here's a question- I had a 78 in High School (Alabama), and it had 400 Pontiac (Not the 403 Olds) in it. It was fully built by Gary Anders, and would haul a$$. Anyway, what made you decide on an LS-1? With the availability of parts for the 400 Pontiac, or building a 455, why did you decide to go LS-1??

JCS30TH

iTrader: (1)

I have never seen one of those in person. I got an old HPP or whatever the hell it was before they changed the name with an article on it.

As far as the car posted above, ******* bad ***.

Black FormulaLs1

iTrader: (10)

go w/ the gold TT2's 315/s out back ..that car is so damn sexxy if i wasnt married...anothe rthought is that you could do a carb set up or go to edelbrockintakes.com and check out that intake..maby ou coudl USE that pretty shaker?

rocketrider93

problem is he still has to deal with smog here in california. the only way he can keep this swap smog legal is to keep the set up fairly stock. yes he can use c.a.r.b. approved aftermarket air intakes and such but when swapping motors you have to use a motor that is newer than the car not older. you also have to smog the car using the guidelines of that newer car. since he is using the ls1, he has to use every smog device from the ls1 donor car. including cats and the stock injection set up.