And it begins....Body off

I am not worried about doing the work, but I would lie it balanced. Just figured if paying to get it shortened and balanced was similar price to just a balance I would just get it done.

T
 
Well found a few hours to play with my toy. Started stripping the body and interior. Hoping to fit some of the 1998 camaro donor interior parts in. Anyway here is some pics.

BEFORE:


AFTER:



Engine Bay Before:




Didn't get a good after pic. Will try again later.

Nose AFTER:


I will probably be pulling the front clip right off due to the sag and cracking. Also want to get a good look at the birdcage.

Up next: Continue stripping body to the rear. Mock up some interior part to see if they will fit.

Now just to find more free time!

T
 
T..
That's gettin' it done!!!!
I'll bet there are a lot of Zip-Lock bags full of parts laying around....
Great project.. Thanx for sharing.
Graham
 
I actually put up a huge amount of shelving on one wall specifically to hold parts. I should get a picture of that too!

T
 
Here is the shelving I put up to hold parts. It was wasted space anyway so why not have shelves.





I may not be gifted with time or money but I certainly am gifted with space.

T
 
Great work T! Looks like it's coming along! You'll have that Corvette done before I get my truck done I bet!
 
Hi Taylor,

I finally managed to find the time to finish reading this incredible journey. Man I thought I was taking on a big job with my frame off, but the fab work on the frame and the hours spent to make that motor fit.......... well dude you have this guy impressed!!! Wished I lived closer, I would love to come by and give you a hand.

Please keep the pics coming, as we are all following the progress. You do top notch work man, can't wait to see the finished project.

Jeff
 
Got a bit more work done. Pulled the trim off the windshield and yanked out the glass. Birdcage looks useable so far. Top corners will need a bit of TLC. Bottom corners are hard to tell with the front clip and firewall on so more on that to follow.

No wonder the water rushed in when it rained...the top of the windshield was barely attached. I used some 0.045 mig wire on wood handles to cut he glass free. It worked ok but I did break a few strands of wire in the process. Good thing the roof comes off or I couldn't have done it by myself.

Anyway....PICS!








More to come

T
 
Been finding some time here and there to work on the car. Pics tells all so here we go!


Got the back half stripped down. Almost cleaned off. Still need to get astro vent doors out. Left seats in for pedal fitting.



Pulled front clip off. Was easy on the drivers side due to improper bonding from a previous owner. looks like they just poured resin on the joint tot he firewall. no wonder it was sagging. Obviously needs some repairs.



The firewall looks decent. will need to repair flanges to reattach front clip. Also planning to modify to fit Climate controls out of 1998 camaro (cause i want A/C) and the pedals too.





Decided at this point to drop the body (or whats left of it) onto the chassis to see how much room there is for the AC condenser. Sorry didn't grab a pic. However the transmission is hitting in the tunnel somewhere :mad:. Need to find out why. Decided (after much internet reading) to verify my transmission angle and driveshaft angle. From others who have done this swap I determined that 3 Deg down should fit in the tunnel. Also need to match the pinion angle to this. Tranny shows 3.6 deg down


Pinion shows 2.3 deg down:


So it is appear ant that the pinion angle will need to be adjusted but that can be done later when the suspension has settled. The transmission seems to fall into the same spot as others have done. Will recheck where it is hitting in tunnel when I retest body fit.
 
I decided to try to fit in the camaro pedals. While mocking up i found that the stock gas pdeal will work better so I hacked off the Camaro one leaving just the brake and clutch. In an effort to preserve (and have a backup) the original brake pedal I decided to not change it at all or steal parts off of it. I used it to make a wood jig for the new pedals.



I manufactured some mount plates with the correct bolt patterns and bolted them in. I them tacked in some scab pieces to determine the best spot for the pedals


That looks good.

Now just manufacture some real brackets to hold the pedals to the mounts



Good enough for now. I had to relocate the brake booster clevis to fit my new pedals. in doing so i partially stripped the threads. I ran a die over them and they look ok so I will plan to use as is.



To keep pedal travel proper I had to make a offset for the brake booster rod. I am still contemplating the strength of it, but will run some tests before install.





Test fit before welding.




The last pic makes the pedals look shorter than stock but they are very close to the same.
 
Now I had a few days to think about what I had done and realized that the steering column was probably not going to clear past the brake pedal. Looking closer at it it was most certainly not going to clear. So after much deliberation i decided to modify the brake pedal.

First tacked it to bench


Next draw out new path for arm


Manufacture new piece


Cut to fit



The new path offset was measured from the stock pedal.

Cut tacks free and weld it up


Reassemble and put in car.





All good except now the clutch pedal hits the brake pedal. Looks like there is room to massage the brake pedal some more so that is the next plan.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading. Any advice on tunnel clearance (or anything else) is appreciated.

T
 
THAT IS GREAT Taylor! Very nice work with installing the pedal assembly and showing the progress and how things have to be modified.
How difficult was it pulling the front clip off on the passenger side? Does it unbolt and you have to cut the glue or separate the seem?
Once my truck is done, I really want to come out of have a look!

And one last suggestion, but you don't have to take it, I suggest a body lift to clear the transmission. :D
 
I found lots of areas to fix after sandblasting, although my frame was in rough shape. Keep and eye out for thin spots in the metal. It would suck to get it all painted up and then have it rust through or break!

I obviously have not been working on the car or else I would be posting pictures. I was rebuilding my boat all spring. I am pretty much done it now and can move back to other projects. Hopefully get some time on the car but fall and winter are the usual times i work on it.

T
 
So the car is back in the shop. I realized I haven't completely updated this thread on the pedal situation yet. I scraped the camaro pedals due to not being able to fit in the master cylinder where the pedal comes through the firewall. I switched back to the stock gas and brake and am building my own clutch (similar to what stock would be) from scratch. The pedal is done and the master cylinder is rough mounted, but I still need to check the stroke on it. I will try to dig out some pictures since this was done in February.

Anyway once the summer rush settles down I hope to get back to it full bore.

T
 

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