1dirtyZ's Conversion by 1dirtyZ

12 minute(s) of a 304 minute read

thanks for the intrest 

man its been a while since i updated this !

not much going on since the last update , i did manage to swap the rear brakes to discs . i used the ssbc kit (or at least thats what i think i used )and it went pretty smoothly. the kit comes with all that you need to do the swap , including a new master cylinder. some randome pics ( these are the brackets that came with the kit) :

you will have to mess around with the rear brake lines to make them fit if i recall correctly , but its nothing to difficult to do . 

here is how the end product looks like :

i also redid the lines coming out of the master cylinder and installed a new adjustable proportioning valve. sorry no pics of that . 

i also (finally) got around to swapping the hood !!! i had this "new" fiberglass hood for almost three years now and i finally decided to install it 

this thing is super light and is an exact replica of the stock hood but weighs about 5 lbs if not less 

luckily this thing barely fit , the intake elbow rubs against it slightly and i had to cut the bracing and hood latch on the front of the hood to clear the radiator and core support i made . and in contrast to the old one this hood is hinged in the rear and uses hood pins up front .

i like how i can actually see the road now

currently the car is waiting for its trans to be rebuilt , as soon as that is done i'll stab it back under it and go "test" it .

so whats next ? 

now that i think of it , i have to go back and check if i ever put in any diff oil and additive in there after the brake install ( i really hope i did ).

i also want to take the car to a body shop and have it resprayed so the car looks semi decent 

in the works too is gutting the interior and redoing the carpet, dash area and wiring under the dash. kinda not feeling it right now .

and i decided to start looking for a 4L80E trans to swap in instead of the good 'ol th400 . reason is because i want to drive the car more instead of trailering it to the races, and you know what they say about trailered street race cars (actually i don't know, but i'm sure they do say something )

and the last tidbit of info is there ,,,,,,,,,, or you know what i'll just keep you thinking what it is untill the next update

2/26/12

so i finally decided on painting the thing 

i just dropped it off to get painted last night ,its going to get the same color just a different hue , more metalic too . 

i'll post pics as soon as i get them 

i also got a intake tube testing machine ( some have called it a driveshaft pretzel maker ) 

just need to rebuild it and assemble it and it would be ready to drop right in

3/13/12

a quick update :

i got some parts on the way to assemble the short block including some new slugs to lower the compression a bit .

and the car finally rolled into the paint booth today 

its been primered and sanded and all it needs now is paint :

and a freind of mine thinks he found me a suitable 4l80 , i should be getting it pretty soon

5/4/12

well i guess its time to update 

the paint was done a while back , but i still didn't get a chance to take it out in the sun to take a good picture, so here's the next best thing (excuse the dust everywhere )

the car looks real decent now , which is a good thing i guess 

i also started building a new battery tray/hold down cause i didn't like how th eold one was . this is what i came up with so far , i just need to get it powder coated then mount it in there :

i also started assembeling the short block , started with hanging the new lower compression weisco pistons on the rods ( don't mind the bearings , those are the old ones ) :

after that i did the rings, checked all clearances , and dropped the crank in there and torqued everything down. here is wher i'm at so far :

the new cam should be here any day now from texas speed ( texas giant 248/254 .615"/.622" - 144 ) , and as soon as that is in there along with the chain and lifters i can time it , and slap on the oil pump and call the shortblock done.

switching to another subject , the car recently started developing a miss , and some lugs would just be soaked when i pulled them out ( i'm sure the rings are shot and oil is runing past them ) but recently the miss got worse - to the point the car would not start unless i put in a new set of plugs - and even then it would foul them after a few minutes . now tha last time i took out the plugs there were two plugs(#4and 5 ) that were super clean on the outer ring but sooty where the porcalin (sp) is . 

this might be an electrical issue , or could be worse , so i 'll be doing a compression test to see what i get . and in case it is bad i guess getting the other engine done just got a whole lot more important

5/23/12

small update, 

i did a compression test an it seems fine ( the lowest reading i got was 125 and the higest was 145) , so i decided to put a fresh set of plugs in and swap out the coils. after starting the car again it idled ok and i verified that all header primaries where scorching hot, which leads me to beleive that the miss is fixed. i still need to take it out for a spin to verify , and just to be safe i'll pull the plugs and see how they look now.

but incase the miss is still there , i have to then look at the injectors/connectors and fuel filter and probably the tune maybe?

either way it still has some more stuff to get done , one of which is the new trans cooler that i've been wanting to install since the last ice age , a new radiator puke tank, and swapping out the front springs to somethink a bit softer and lower. i also have to weld the stupid battery tray to the trunk floor.

as for the engine, well i buttoned up the short block last night , i just need to time the camshaft to verify everything is ok. i also should have the heads installed any day now ( waiting for head gasket) after i swapped out the springs with a new set to replace the wimpy ones it had before. 

so next up on the list is:

- fix the ebrake cable thas rubbing against the tire 

- test drive to make sure the miss is gone

- puke tank

- wire in air temp sensor

- weld in the batt tray 

- trans cooler

- hood pin scuff plates

8/8/12

guess its been long enough since the last update 

since the last update i have fixed the ebrake cable rubbing , the miss is still there but i have been driving the car around for a while and flogging it and it fouls the plugs at a slower rate now i still need to change the plugs pretty often , but i'm not complaining since the engine will be comin out soon .

i also did wire the IAT sensor but still didn't plug it in - waiting on the tuner . and also put the hood pin scuff plates. i also redid the trans cooler , now it looks better and has a fan to help cool it, also installed a new catchcan for the oil breather - no pics of that :

i also got the new battery tray in :

i also started working on the rear suspension of the car : i ordered a UPR antiroll bar and coilover conversion kit for the rear shocks. the anti roll bar is now welded in place and am in the process of installing the coilover conversion right now:

i'm planning on leaving the original sway bar on there and using a quick release pin on the anti roll bar so i can just unhook it when i drive on the street.

and did i mention that the short block now is a long block

i just need to get the coolant stem hoses that go under the intake manifold ( the x type , anyone got a part number for those? )

and one last pic of the car after paint under better lighting :

further more , i bought a new fiberglass hood ( 2 inch cowl) and a trunk lid , i just need to get them painted so i can slap them on the car. i also ordered a new chromoly cage thats on the way ( the one on the car is locally made out of mild steel and weighs as much as the car ) 

so next up i guess is :

- remove the old relay panel that holds all the nitrous stuff 

- clean up the wiring under the dash 

- swap rear slicks 

- paint new hood and trunk

- change blower belt ( might just leave that untill i swap engines) 

- swap front lakewood shocks to strange adjustable shocks

- wire transbrake

8/15/12

you mean more like third and fourth hand parts 

i finally decided on swapping the old ( 2006 ) goodyear slicks with a new set of hoosiers , but now i have to trim the inner lip on the rear fenders ( old slicks were 10.0 wide and these are 10.5 ) 

i also have the coilover conversion in the rear finished . car looks killer but it feels too stiff !

it already has 125 lbs springs in the rear , so i ordered a set of 110 lbs to try out .

and here is a pic of the oil catch can installed :

i also dropped the front end as much as i can but the front end still sits high. so i snooped around a few boards and found out that i need a set of 14" 130 Lbs front springs to cure the high stance and stiff front, so they were ordered 

so i guess the priorities have changed a bit now , now i have to clearance the fenders ( trim the inner lip) before i can do anything. and after i get the front springs in i have to install the new strange struts and get the car scaled and get the corner wheights right .