Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

bowtie wrote:

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You're not really retired yet, the true retired guys would have put all the same colors in the same groupings.

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 I was rather surprised by that too, with his tendency towards perfection. I'd really like to see a closeup of where the clamps touch the metal. I'm betting there's a paint mark on each one for having been double checked....

 

Kevin, I don't know if it makes any difference to you, but the 68+ seatbelt anchors use 1/2" - 13 (course thread) bolts, and earlier cars used 7/16" - 20 (fine thread) bolts.
If you change the anchors, I have an extra set of later bolts you can have.
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Derek Kiefer - Mantorville, MN

The Buick does not have seatbelts or anchors for them in the rear. Id like to install them but have not been able to find just the reinforcement piece for the bolt, my floor is solid; I was hoping it would be a simple process.

If the bolt sizes are different, that is good to know, as I wanted to find and use the same seatbelts that are in the front. I really need to get something for belts in the back seat; I am uncomfortable having people back there without them. Even something temporary would be ok; I can have Maaco install them.

I just measured the front seat bolts, your correct the threads are 7/16 fine the collars are ½ and the seatbelt clevis hole is 9/16. I checked a new set of belts I have and the clevis opening is 5/8.

So, if I could get a set of reinforcement pads from Stan’s project or just fabricate them that’s what I’ll try to do; so I might just use your bolts.

He'll need 4 of them. :)

dashboard wrote:

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Thanks Stan, I think there should be four of them.

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 How's that for timing.

Well mitch, that takes me back to where I started. I have not seen new mounts.

Kevin

That looks awesome. You sure do nice work. I can't wait to see this car when it is done.

dashboard wrote:

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The engine is ready to come off the test cell but I cannot bring myself to pull it off, I just enjoy walking out to the garage firing it up and playing with it to much.

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Kevin, did you open up the garage door this morning at -12 degrees, let the engine cold soak, then fire it up?  Then you know it will work fine for any early spring/fall cruises.   

SShink wrote:

Kevin, did you open up the garage door this morning at -12 degrees, let the engine cold soak, then fire it up?  Then you know it will work fine for any early spring/fall cruises.   

 

Every once and a while my neighbor to the north will play his music loudly at 2AM, one of these mornings at oh-dark-thirty, I may just pop the mufflers off and roll the stand under his bedroom window for some early GM revelry.

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Today the interior came out as planed and was put away in storage. No new plans here other than maybe run some wiring under the carpet for future rear speakers. We had the interior out last summer; we cleaned up and painted the floor then.

We received some good news Friday. When we dropped the bumpers off at Keystone they where not sure if the rear bumper could be re-chromed, there was damage in the bracket mounting area from a long ago bump. They called Friday to say they can repair it by cutting out the damaged area and replacing it with new steel.

dashboard wrote:

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Almost ready for Macco not much left to do; I unpacked the trunk pan kit to make sure it’s all there. Still have parts inbound but no show stoppers door, window, trunk, top seals and a hand full of other items.

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 Did you order seat belt pads to have welded in too ??

Hey Kevin, are you going back to steel rims?  Wondering if there is a 6 stamped next to the valve stem on the green rim?

If they have a 6 and are 14x6 I would be interested in buying them.

67ss wrote:

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jim larson wrote:

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If they have a 6 and are 14x6 I would be interested in buying them.

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 Jim those are the original rims off my 66. I borrowed them to kevin to use while his car is at the body shop. But I have no interest in selling them, I want to keep them with my car in case I ever decide to put it back to stock.

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 thinking stock rims were 14x5

Still moving along here,  engine and trany have been installed for fitting and mockup work.  I wanted to use the truck intake but it was ½” too tall for this hood, and the owner said where not cruising around without a hood on my car.

Several parts arrived this week, so many in fact our UPS guy asked “what ya building in there?”  Mocking up the accessories tonight; using Holley’s accessory drive brackets,  they look more factory than the others and GM accessories bolt right on.  Also arriving this week was an LS6 intake to go with the 799 heads and a 2010 Camaro water pump (thanks Bryan) which moves the water return to the driver’s side and allows clearance for the TB.

The 4L60E case on loan from Master Transmission fits well, in fact the 48 year old factory shifting linkage on the frame lines up perfectly and will bolt right to the 4L60.

So progress is slow but we are progressing.

 

I saw those Holley brackets in a magazine the other day.  I wish they would have had them when I did mine.  Can I ask what they cost?

Kevin, those frame mount brackets look to be BBC brackets as opposed to SBC brackets.

Good eyes Jim, they are 65-67 Chevelle BB pads, I tried both BB and SB pads, SB pads have a conflict with the engine block castings. Denny at ACC was great he handed me both sets and said send back the ones you don’t need, what a time saver. In that same photo I set one of the original Buick V6 (also V8) engine mounting pads on top of the new driver’s side mount pad, you can see how far forward the new one moves the engine mount. I also shimmed the pads and mounts up about 3/8” for additional oil pan clearance.

In the same photo you can see a string hanging down on the engine/ Tran’s center line, it represents the point where I wanted the engine bell housing joint to be, I came within ¼”.

Now comes the big decision, after mock up the engine will come back out then it’s time to decide on a paint color, I’m not a fan of the black intake with the tarnished aluminum look. There will eventually be fuel rail and intake covers of some of yet to be determined type.

What color should they be painted?

Hats Off to the "LSx" conversion guys... Got an education at Dashboard's on Wednesday.

Seems that GM has taken the "KISS" principle with the LS series engines and tossed it right out the window.... Oh, it's easy to do, if you have $500+ laying around for each facet of the conversion... intake & injector swap $$$$, accessory drive change $$$, water pump change $$$, oil pan change $$$, engine mount adapters $$$, and on & on.

I may be 15 years "behind the times" but my conversion BOLTED IN with no monkey-business and cost me less than $300 to do it. (OK, $1800 if I didn't sell & swap some stuff, but the $1800 INCLUDES a full brake-job and new battery).

Starting phase two or is it three I can’t remember, but it’s at Maaco now, I’ll be there tomorrow to work out the details when we can get it on their lift.

 I picked up a LS intake manifold with rails and injectors off ebay, it’s always a good idea to do a thorough acceptance inspection.  That’s a cap off an aerosol can and it’s been in there for a while, the cap shows evidence that the engine was run with it in the manifold; I had it half way out when I took the picture.

As always, still waiting on parts or AWP.

Lost in the 60s wrote:

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That's a new one. Wonder how it got jammed in the runner ?? Bet that cylinder ran lean.

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 I think it would have been richer.

So I stopped over to Maaco in Burnsville to talk about paint for the vert, and I see this lonely looking ragtop with some nasty looking rims and tires that someone took a marker to and marked up the areas of concern making it look like a hollywood housewife before going under the knife of a cosmetic surgeon.  Then it dawns on me I KNOW this car! 

The guys at Maaco made some comment about a really picky customer, then I knew for sure it was the Buick ragtop we all know and love. 

Some things are actually getting done.

After swapping out the intake manifold for the LS6 style the engine gets a new look. it’s a 2010 Camaro engine cover, I cut Chevrolet off both sides and replaced it with pieces of brushed aluminum and Buick emblems to try to capture the 60s look of Buick script on the valve covers.

Trunk is in and looks great, Matt’s working on the front fenders now, then the front clip and doors come off. When he pulled the trim off from around the windshield we where amazed to see only dust, looks like the day it was put together.

I need to make new taillight gaskets to go between the taillight fixture and the body. Just can’t get them for the Special so I’m going to build them from a Skylark set. I had to find an adhesive to bond the foam together once I get the shape, sure is nice to have a neighbor that works at 3M, he’s been bringing me goodie bags all week.

Picked up some parts from Blast Master today so I’ll be painting tomorrow and Sunday.

And I spent the better part of today doing some skylight repair.

 

dashboard wrote:

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Scrap and paint for now, I need to draw the line somewhere for both time and money. Might give me something to do next year unless we move and I have a shop with space, then I’d like to do an early 442 or GTO.

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 LeRoy mentioned $250 to sandblast frame and $200 to powder coat.  Do it now, so you don't have to take it off the frame later.

 

The rest of the stuff can be done anytime. With the car on the frame and the engine in and ready to drive.

-- Edited by jim larson on Saturday 9th of March 2013 03:05:19 PM