Kiwibirdman Posted August 27, 2017 Author Share Posted August 27, 2017 A month since the last update, where the hell did that go???? Front brakes are almost done, HZ Calipers fit over the machined down HQ discs. I had to play musical brake parts, HZ calipers stolen off the Firebird. I had some HQ calipers that I had rebuilt a while ago. A small amount of grinding was required and some new bolts and the Firebird has new calipers. I did a list yesterday of the jobs that need to be done. There are a lot of things that will take 10 minutes to finish off, mainly welding jobs. I will take some photos and get them up. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted September 12, 2017 Author Share Posted September 12, 2017 Still no photos, must work out how to get them off the new flash phone. Replaced the rotten section of the trans tunnel over the weekend, a big chunk more of the rust done. I bought a length of 9/16 High tensile steel bar to replace the wooden intermediate steering shaft. I needed a 320mm length and the standard length was 3.7 meters. It did only cost $40. After 2 goes I got the the flats for the cotter pins in the universals in the right place. Steering shaft has been trial fitted and everything clears...........just. If anyone needs 9/16 round bar I have 3 meters looking for a home. I pulled the engine out last night to get some space to finish off the trans tunnel final rust by the gearbox and sort out the gear shift. New morse type cable and fitting are turning up at the end of the week. Also turned up is a Aliexpress cone type air filter. Getting dangerously close to sending the car off for some paint. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted September 26, 2017 Author Share Posted September 26, 2017 I called in to the painters to see how busy he is. They have 59 caddie, mid 60s VW, and a why would you bother rusty 57 Chev on top of a heap of Jucy rental vans. I'm booked in for 2 weeks away to bring the car in. Because mine is easy and I have money I get the jump on the others. Now I have a dead line to work to things will get done. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted October 4, 2017 Author Share Posted October 4, 2017 At the last monthly meeting I got told off for not putting up photos. Here are some updates. Section of the trans tunnel that looked like swiss cheese cut out New section welded in. Sounds really easy in 2 pictures but took about 4 hours to get right And some more swiss cheese gone as well as the big cut I put into the tunnel to make the trans fit welded up. Here is the steering shaft. With universals fitted. Amazingly enough nothing touches. The lip on the chassis rail will get removed beside the shaft as a precaution. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted October 4, 2017 Author Share Posted October 4, 2017 Here is another view of the steering shaft A photo of my extra length of 9/16 bar if anyone needs some. Engine is back on the stand waiting for wiring, sorting out fuel lines, dip stick......... First seatbelt mounts installed. The one by the door way and the hole in the trans tunnel are in the original places, The plate on the floor is for the centre belt. And the other side. I used bolts on the plates as per the lvvta manual and they pulled up nice and tight to the floor. The thing that looks like a a shark fin is the mount for the handbrake return spring. Originally it was a tab off the floor. I'm worried about drive shaft clearance to mad it longer Another job ticked of the list was welding the pad to the brake pedal. Comments and ideas welcome as always 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted October 12, 2017 Author Share Posted October 12, 2017 Over the weekend I pulled the front of the car apart. Front suspension is spread around to fallen over, front chassis/inner guards are up on saw horses. Tonight we finished off all the welding on the front section. Ready for paint over the next few days. I feel like real progress is being made, looking forward to painting stuff and final assembly. I went to see the painter and got the "realistically I can't do your car this side of Christmas". I not too bent out of shape, it gives me time to paint the underneath, engine bay etc and assemble the car to the point where it will be driveable. There are lots of small but time consuming jobs to do, like make a mount for the wiper motor and fix the linkages, sort out the handbrake cables. It is probably better the car has the engine in before painting so it is all good. If there is anyone out there who is familiar with injected Holden V8's especially the VT version, I have some questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted October 16, 2017 Author Share Posted October 16, 2017 Here are the photos. RH suspension. Back to the future. This was the view for so long, nothing forward of the firewall Front on saw horse ready for welding Gussets as suggested by @cletus And the other side, also with the rebate in the joint to clear the steering. Here is where some space was made for the exhaust. Still a touch with the grinder to knock off the high spots Got rid of the hole for the throttle linkage And the one for the choke cable 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted October 16, 2017 Author Share Posted October 16, 2017 I decided to finish work a bit early today and painted the floor. The tin of PA10 I had I think I bought in 1992. It only took about half an hour to mix in all the hard stuff from the bottom of the can. It feels good to have paint on something. I will clean up the rest of the floor and make it all nice and red. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 I am giving myself a kick in the backside for not updating this thread, 4 months is way too long. There has been much work done on the car as well as a job, kids, wife, holidays and all the other stuff that gets in the way. After putting most things together the car got pulled apart again for lots of painting. The floor got every seam sealed then painted with 2 coats of a water proof product from a crowd called Duram. This was then covered by underseal from a bunch of rattle cans. I'm pretty happy the way it has turned out. The front has been painted and all put together, front suspension installed. I had a pair of springs that have been sitting in the garage for a very long time. Not sure what they came out of but the dimension is GM and they went in. They are fairly low so hopefully will work out OK. I fitted the hand brake cables yesterday, The EJ rear cable got put into the HZ drums all appears to be good. I now a brakes that work on the back wheels. Engine should be going back in this week then let the wiring begin. I want to get the car mobile before painting and get the OK from @cletus . Photos to follow. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 Here is some proof that work has been done. Front suspension together, HZ Calipers on HQ disc's milled down 12 mm Front back on the car and painted Strong back added to engine mount adapter plates on the advice of @cletus. New boots on the steering rack. I will clean up and paint with the same black that everything else is getting. The inside of the rack looked to be in pretty good condition. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Kiwibirdman Posted February 20, 2018 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 20, 2018 Last weekend I got some decent time in the garage. The rear suspension got put together completely. I had bought a new set of shocks and finished painting the floor over the diff before they went in. The shocks are KYB so they should be OK. I didn't take any photos along the way, her is the car on the floor, there is 135kg sitting above the diff to simulate the weight of the interior, windows, fuel tank etc. I added the weight and had the wheels sitting on ramps before I did all the bolts up tight. I did jump up and down on the tail gate opening to help it settle. Once it was back on the floor after everything was done up I tried sitting in the tailgate opening. the back of the car drops 10mm with my 100kgs sitting in the back. I'm pretty happy with how stiff it is. Spent some time tonight sorting out the brake lines and making sure that the front hoses didn't hit the tires on full lock. The brake line to the back of the car is in and distribution block with proportioning valve mounted. Monthly meet tomorrow so engine will go back in Thursday. I cant wait to see how low the front sits. The springs are a pair that I have had sitting round in the garage for a long time and don't know where they came from. They are fairly short and didn't drop far when 2 of us, about 190 kg stood on the front of the car. Time will tell. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share Posted March 7, 2018 Monthly meet was 2 weeks ago and engine is still on the stand. I started the brake lines in the engine bay. It was a good move as it took all the space I had to get them routed around all thr obstacles. I only stopped tonight beacause I ran out of P clamps. I'll buy some more tomorrow and finish it off Friday. As long as the wife lets me get on with it engine in this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 Engine went in on Saturday. I attached the wiring loom to the trans and draped the rest of it over the motor. The engine went in ok. I was using an engine crane and really needed an extra set of hands. Rang a few people but no one wad around. Decided to go for it and all went well. After fitting the engine i decided that the drivers side exhaust should go on. Used a block of wood on the jack to lift the engine. The jack decided to move which kicked the block of wood out. That jammed my ring finger against the chassis and mage a nice mess of my finger. Many bad words yelled and blood on the floor. I have photos that i will put up once my pc has finished updating. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 Here are the photos Engine ready to go in Hole for engine Engine in Hole Stance of car, should be about right. And another one just to be sure. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 I put the drivers side header in Wednesday night. I put the front back up on stands to get a bit of height and used my trusty length of 4x4 on the jack to lift the motor. All good this time, no more busted fingers. One issue....... I have decided that this needs to be called the twice done car with the number of things that have been done and then redone. The left hand pipe goes to the drivers side brake so this can be moved away a bit, the other one goes around the front of the motor so it will get rerouted up in front of the exhaust. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted March 20, 2018 Author Share Posted March 20, 2018 Since it is the Auckland monthly meet tomorrow I thought that a bit of progress is in order. I have been distracted with doing wood working on the house, spending time with the family and having to earn a dollar or two. The plan was to have a look at the passengers exhaust manifold and make sure everything clears, fit the drive shaft and possibly the drive shaft loop. I'm tryng to clear as much stuff as possible from the garage floor and put it on the car. First off I couldn't get the manifold in. Turns out the car has to be jacked well clear of the floor. The brake lines are almost OK, 50mm clearance as according to the book except for the last bit. Easy fixed by cutting the end off the pipe and flaring again. The big issue was the wiring loom for the engine came out where the exhaust is at the back of the motor. No way of pulling the loom up, only 10mm of gap to the firewall and about 30mm of loom. Engine will have to come forward which means taking it off the mounts and making space. Not hard but will chew up a fair bit of time and swearing. Drive shaft and loop are still on the floor. On a positive note my brother in law is printing off a copy of the wiring loom and plug pin outs I got off the interweb. Let the fun begin over Easter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted April 2, 2018 Author Share Posted April 2, 2018 Easter has almost been and gone. The problem with having a wife,kids, house, other cars and a life is things get in the way. I got the Silverado cleaned and wheels swapped end to end(good bye 4 hours all up) painted a ceder wall on the house ( 2 coats and look amazing but day gone) as well as 2 dinners out and 20 people round for Easter Sunday brunch. A good weekend but not much on the car. I did get the wiring loom out without having to pull the engine. I spend a lot of time with the wiring diagram and the spaghetti that passes for a loom. The loom is in 3 main parts that I need. The power train loom pretty much all remains. I'm going to tidy it up and a few things get moved around. The knock sensor has been moved to the other side of the motor and I'm shifting the ignition module to the fire wall so that part of the loom will be about a metre shorter. Some careful work with a soldering iron and heat shrink will be good here. The loom that has the main power ( battery, feed to the starter and alternator) will also remain with a couple of fuses that have to be mounted. The Main Wiring Harness only has a few bits that I need, mainly the relays for the fuel pump, EFI and Engine fan. So most of this loom can go and the more I think about it using the feeds off the original loom for the car I can switch the relays using the original ignition switch. What I really need to do is write another list and just start knocking things off. Once all the big stuff is mounted in the engine bay (radiator, air intake) then the smaller stuff (ignition Module, relays, fuses) can be mounted. . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted April 3, 2018 Author Share Posted April 3, 2018 After posting last night I found a guy on trade me who does wiring loom modifications. I spoke to him this morning and the more I think about it the better the idea is. The looms he does will have the relays and fuses mounted under the dashboard which gets some stuff out from the engine bay. Time for a bit more thinking and checking the piggy bank. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted April 10, 2018 Author Share Posted April 10, 2018 Finally some time in the garage. Drive shaft is in and started playing round with the driveshaft loop. Here it is bolted together on the bench The box it came in must be something special or I got ripped off, $100 from STA parts. There is a flat area on the floor that will let me mount the loop just behind the UJ. I have cut the mounting parts down by about 2/3 and drilled new holes. I still need to make the backing plate out of some 3 ml plate, tomorrows job. I ordered an ignition module to replace the one that never came with the motor, that turned up a couple of days ago. Lastly had a good talk with the guy who does the loom mods. Turns out he is a member here @vk327 , NZ is truly a small place. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwibirdman Posted July 7, 2018 Author Share Posted July 7, 2018 Well overdue for an update. Been side tracked with giving the 2 bedroom flat in our basement a full birthday, repainted everything, new carpet and lino, new toilet, vanity etc etc. All finished now and new tenants moving in next week end. Work has been mad busy as well and to be honest going down into the garage when its cold and the fire is on has lost its appeal. Anyway enough there has been progress. I pulled the new alloy Gemini radiator I bought a while ago out of its box and sat it in place. should be all good once the hole in the support panel is trimmed back 10mm on each side. I had the top panel blasted and painted, it just needs a quick blast of rattle can black to match the rest of the engine bay. I went to bolt it in place and found that all the captured nuts are full of paint and crap. I went to the local bolt shop and bought replacement bolts for the guards and front panels. About 45 1/4 UNF bolts with flat washers and spring washers and a tap to clean up the threads. There are a few 5/16 bolts as well. Even though each item is cheap all together it starts to add up. I have had the modified wring loom from @vk327 in the garage for a while. Still in the box that he sent it back to me in, I haven't even opened it up to have a look. I'm heading off for a week tomorrow, family holiday for the school holidays. The following week the wife and kids are away skiing (I wonder why I have no money) so should be able to get some serious garage time in. Promise photos in the next update. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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