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8 minute(s) of a 111 minute read
5-10-2013
Now we're at March 6, 2013 and IPD announces their $25,000 Build Off. Essentially 5 winners will get $5000.00 for their build. I'm in! I hired two guys to make the videos and we started filming the first weekend we had available. Here was the premise: Make a video that makes fun of reality television, mostly MTV and most importantly have fun. The first video was a success. The second and third videos were great too. We didn't win but we had a blast. The guys at IPD had their team names based on the employees names that would help with the build.
We had to come up with a team name that was cheesy and came up with Team Extreme. The reason we came up with the name is because of the nature of the build. We had the idea of restoring everything and not having to worry about it for years. Build this 1800 extremely well!
Here are the videos:
5-12-2013
I also made some space in the garage by getting the car on the body dolly. Here are some key points you might want to remember when making one 1. Use heavy duty casters. I'm talking the biggest you can find. If the car is being rolled and stops because the wheel catches, the car wants to come off the dolly. 2. Strap the car down to the dolly. 3. Make sure you add horizontal supports on the front and sides. I had them running one direction and got inside the car. If I wiggled front to back the car didn't move. Side to side felt like it could fall over. I added two 4 dollar two by fours and 16 screws. It is now as solid as you could imagine. 4. Don't build it too high or too low. It sounds crazy but if you have to stretch your arms out and can't reach the car, you will hurt the next day! 5. Take as much weight off the car before putting it on the dolly i.e. Engine , Axle, Transmission etc. Good luck!
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I also started purchasing lots of parts. I'm going to be Raptor Lining the bottom of the car instead of putting on more undercoatinng. This will stay gloss black, not collect dirt and dust and wipe down easier for car shows. This along with powdercoating should keep everything looking good for many years. My loving wife also bought me ployurethane bushings from IPD for my birthday in December. I also bought IPD upper and lower ball joints, stainless steel brake lines (awesome quality!), steering coupler, pinion seal, fuel sending unit and more.
Why powdercaoting instead of just covering it in paint and undercoating like factory? I live in the great Northwest where it rains....pretty much everyday. I didn't want this thing to ever rust and look great. Here's a picture I took off the web of a cars powdercoated parts. Mine will be gloss black, but it gives you an idea why I would spend the money and time on this. I also included a guys cross member that has been powdercoated like I'm going to do.
My hat's off to the man who built this cross member! Check out the reinforcement plates on the top shock towers. Absolutely Beautiful!
Here's a picture of what I'm going after for the front and back of the car.
It looks simple, but there are a number or hours and hundreds spent to get your car looking like this. Well worth it though!
I found this guy John in Beavercreek OR who owns 7 1800's and drives an 1800e daily. He sold me an extra intake manifold. The idea was to polish it, but I thought there has to be an easier way to keep it clean. I decided to flatten all the orange peel and either powdercoat it or anodize dip it. Thoughts. Here's the top sanded down to give you an idea of what it will look like flat.
I decided it was time to clean up the axle. I cleaned it to a shine and followed the directions with the ol' POR-15. It came out looking amazing...but one problem. I've decided to change out the gears.
I need your feedback on gear selection. I believe I have a Dana 30 with 4.30 gears stock. Remember it's a 71' 1800e. I want to drive this thing a lot on the freeway and want gears that are goiing to be easier on the engine RPMs at 65 mph. What do you guys suggest. Oh, I still want it fast off the line too. I'll be running a stock height tire too. This is about 25 inches top to bottom. I know one of you would ask tire size! Beat you to it!!!! Has anyone done this with any luck. Also, I'm thinking a Tru-Track posi-traction system. What do you guys think?
Here's the axle:
I also pulled the interior out and realized the mold smell was in the carpet. Oh my gosh it was really bad! I decided I'm going to Raptor Liner the inside of the car too so I needed to get it ready. This first thing I did was grab 10 pounds of dry ice. I pulled everything out and got it down to the sound deadener. Let me start by saying there is more sound deadener on the car than you think. I set the dry ice on the pieces and let them sit for about 10 minutes. I than smacked it with a hammer until it broke up in nice flat chunks. I hated to wait to I grabbed my trusty heat gun and scraper on another piece. Here's the crazy thing, thhe heat gun is faster. If you have a respirator and gloves, use the heat gun. I tore through it until it went from this:
To this:
to this! Looks bettern than new and I haven't even started with paint, Fatmat and Raptor Liner! I'm stoked!
