Taking the plunge: LS3 into '64 Tempest. Need help with shopping list. by b-man

3 minute(s) of a 224 minute read

Spent some time today doing most of the initial cleaning and scraping on the floor pans so I can begin to apply the POR-15 rust preventive paint. You can use the POR-15 along with small pieces of fiberglass cloth to fill small holes, the silver POR-15 works best because it's full of ground-up aluminum so it fills and builds better than the other colors. I did the trunk floor on this car when I first bought it, this stuff is truly a lifesaver.

It dries extremely strong and will actually help strengthen thin rusted metal. I've also used the black semi-gloss POR-15 on the core support, the frame from the firewall forward and all of the suspension components on this car. It's almost like powdercoating in can and goes on and flows out smoothly with a decent paint brush, the fumes are much too evil to even consider spraying this stuff.

Driver's side floor, taken using flash, not too bad looking.



Driver's side floor again, no flash, you can see light coming through the holes in the footwell.



Passenger side, using flash, in worse shape than the driver's side.



Passenger side again, no flash.



Now, something a little more fun.

I spent some time doing a little deburring and test-fitting together the new 3" PYPES X-pipe system with 3" Race Pro mufflers and 2-1/2" tailpipes. The quality on this system looks top-notch, the welds are all nicely done and the mandrel bends all look good.
After doing a little filing here and there I slid it all together and laid it out on my driveway to get a look at it.



The only modification I'll make to this system will be a set of turned-down tailpipe tips, so I can hide the exhaust exits behind the rear bumper.





The 2-1/2" tailpipes were already expanded to fit the 3" mufflers right out of the box.



The 3" Race Pro mufflers are pretty compact compared to other mufflers with the same straight-through design, this should help to offer some additional ground clearance on lowered cars.



In a couple of days the new LS3 should arrive.