That looks proper good! Ignore the purists, whose car is it anyway? 
Just enjoy it!
Just enjoy it!
My 1978 Z28 Camaro (I Know Not A Firebird)
- Thread starter 70formula
- Start date
Well forward and backward progress. I picked up a polished intake as the edlebrock one that's been on the motor had a casting problem and it had a thin spot. While I had drilled it out, tapped it and put a plug in, wasn't sure if I wanted to trust it so I was wanting to put a good intake on. Well, new intake didn't remotely line up correctly, so put the edlebrock back on. seems though I screwed it up and have an intake manifold leak now, so gotta take it back apart and try again.
In forward news...I got the brackets figured out and installed for the bumpers and got them installed. Also got one side headlight in.
In forward news...I got the brackets figured out and installed for the bumpers and got them installed. Also got one side headlight in.
I didn't take any photos, but the intake came back off, and I cleaned the crap out of the gasket surface area and this time used an air scuff pad to damn near polish it. I got her back together and the leak issue is solved. my timing light took a crap, but I got the timing close enough that she starts and runs. Brother in law is bringing his timing light and we will get it set properly.
Glad u got the Intake gasket leak issue sorted
Often a problem on older engines especially when u don’t know their history.
Buy yourself some different weight timing advance springs & have a bash at recurving your distributor.
It’s an interesting project to learn on & gives good results.
Often a problem on older engines especially when u don’t know their history.
Buy yourself some different weight timing advance springs & have a bash at recurving your distributor.
It’s an interesting project to learn on & gives good results.
more pieces to the puzzle to create the car of my dreams. Still cant believe I found someone cutting up an early camaro in order to score oem quarter ends, but got em. gonna get these grafted onto the camaro soon...
My legendary auto order arrived today. Definitely a long wait, but well worth it. Crazy to think these costed more then the entire body costed me lol.
couldnt find a single flaw to complain about gonna take the car up a notch for sure.
couldnt find a single flaw to complain about gonna take the car up a notch for sure.
Not much to report this week. Got my DMV appointment coming up on Tuesday. I have to trailer the car in for its vin inspection. Shouldn't be any issues, and assuming theres not, After I get registration, Ill drop the car off at Les Schwab to get an alignment job. Once its aligned, Im going to finally drop it off at my house instead of it being at my in laws. which means Ill be able to start putting some miles on, and working out bugs / dialing it in. The big car show I wanted to take her to is coming up in the 31st...not sure yet if will make it. Hopefully dmv and alignment go right, and then can see. Cant register for the show without a license plate number lol. I also talked to the guy doing my seat cover install and hes a bit backed up, so will have to take it to the show with the fubar seats...was hoping to have the seats done before but doesn't look like thats happening
Well, huge milestone has officially happened. She is road legal! Dmv handled. While I did manage to do the mechanics lien process to secure paperwork since I bought shell with no title, I definitely don't recommend it. Talk about a series of headaches. But, its done.
I had to trailer it in for its vin inspection, and then after that, I got her dropped back at my in-laws. I wired tied the hood shut, and took her on the open road for the first time. First visit to the gas station. the big block will definitely keep me going back lol. Then, took her to les Schwab for an alignment. She was really far out which considering it was all new, not shocker. The one thing that was surprising though, and Im going to have to research...
The tech couldnt get the caster adjusted. its -1.5 left and -1.2 right. Tech had no idea why, or what to suggest.
Also got the other headlight in.
I had to trailer it in for its vin inspection, and then after that, I got her dropped back at my in-laws. I wired tied the hood shut, and took her on the open road for the first time. First visit to the gas station. the big block will definitely keep me going back lol. Then, took her to les Schwab for an alignment. She was really far out which considering it was all new, not shocker. The one thing that was surprising though, and Im going to have to research...
The tech couldnt get the caster adjusted. its -1.5 left and -1.2 right. Tech had no idea why, or what to suggest.
Also got the other headlight in.
Knightrider189
Well-known member
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Outstanding!! Awesome job you have done on this car. Congratulations!!
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one the best milestone today. Took the tops off, set my wife in the passenger seat, and took our first summer cruise in the beast.
Traded my 78 fenders and 78 urethane nose for a set of clean magnafluxed ready to assemble LS7 990 Heads. Pretty happy to get the storage space back,and to source one of the harder things to find.
Backseat looking so much better and sounding quieter to. I got kilmat laid on all the insides. I gave the plastic panels a nice sand, cleaned with mineral spirits, hit them with a plastic adhesion agent, and then coated with sem trim black paint. Then got all the plastics mounted back inside. Once I get the front seats recovered...this interior is going to be looking so nice.
Got another little accomplishment done. My new hood latch and bracket assembly arrived from classic, so got them installed. I had been using bailing wire to keep the hood closed while driving. After getting the latch in, I started fighting the gaps...I know Im a newbie, but these are as close as I can currently get. Thinking I need to buy more shims and possibly modify both the hinge and the nose of the hood...thoughts?
Ignore the horrible rattle can black paint...it reacted horribly over the etching primer and came out the can terribly but at least have the metal somewhat protected for the summer. This winter car is getting stripped down to bare metal.
drivers side gaps..
.
assenger side hood gap looks close...to bring it closer to the nose will have to slot the hood hinges I think.
Gap gets big esp at the peak of the hood nose...not sure what thats gonna need to get right other then slowly adding metal weld to the nose of the hood.
Ignore the horrible rattle can black paint...it reacted horribly over the etching primer and came out the can terribly but at least have the metal somewhat protected for the summer. This winter car is getting stripped down to bare metal.
drivers side gaps..
.
assenger side hood gap looks close...to bring it closer to the nose will have to slot the hood hinges I think.
Gap gets big esp at the peak of the hood nose...not sure what thats gonna need to get right other then slowly adding metal weld to the nose of the hood.
Attachments
Took a trip over to the town over for a fathers day car show. Was a good time, and a few other late 70s and 1 split bumper camaro. of all of them, current owners biggest change was adding a stereo...mine looked the roughest for sure, but something so much more special to me about having built this one from nothing. Someday it will look just as sexy...but its nice to enjoy her.
Not really much to update as forward progress, as I've been very stumped / frustrated lately. I finally got the Tach and speedometer wired in and working, and was working to correct my extremely high fuel pressure issue.
I got the fuel pressure regulator all setup, which brought fuel pressure down from 15 (+15 likely as 15 was the max the gauge read, and the mechanical pump was definitely pushing atleast that) down to 6 psi. I got the PCV valve hooked up so its pulling gas fumes out and not letting them settle into the oil. I retarded the timing a bit as once the fuel pressure was right, it seemed way to advanced. I reset carb mixes to baseline, then ended up needing to let them out a bit more. Ive always heard you loosen mix screws until it stops increasing the RPMs, then back them in a quarter. Did that. All said and done, thought I fixed the issues, but now It will not idle under 1k rpms, and even that, its not really sounding right, but I can't seem to get it tuned in right. missed all the shows so far this year and its pissing me off lol.
I got the fuel pressure regulator all setup, which brought fuel pressure down from 15 (+15 likely as 15 was the max the gauge read, and the mechanical pump was definitely pushing atleast that) down to 6 psi. I got the PCV valve hooked up so its pulling gas fumes out and not letting them settle into the oil. I retarded the timing a bit as once the fuel pressure was right, it seemed way to advanced. I reset carb mixes to baseline, then ended up needing to let them out a bit more. Ive always heard you loosen mix screws until it stops increasing the RPMs, then back them in a quarter. Did that. All said and done, thought I fixed the issues, but now It will not idle under 1k rpms, and even that, its not really sounding right, but I can't seem to get it tuned in right. missed all the shows so far this year and its pissing me off lol.
Well, I think I found my problems. It kept not wanting to idle, and adjustments didnt seem to help. So sat and thought about it a while and decided to see if maybe there was a vacuum leak. Sprayed carb cleaner at all the vacuum fittings and low and behold, the carb baseplate and the new pcv grommet were both leaking. So going to redo the gasket and rtv in the grommet and see if I can get things sealed. Since the carb has to come off anyway, I pulled it and then pulled apart the carb. The excess fuel pressure seems to have moved the float as the inlet side float was way off. So bent that back into spec, and gave the bowls a cleaning while I was in there. Hopefully I can get things right and get some miles racking up over the rest of summer...
Took her on the freeway...we have a huge on ramp that's some nice pavement...really opened her up for truly the first time. When I was on the freeway last she wasn't running right so I babied it. This time I gunned it, and she definitely is a torque monster that can destroy traction without issue. Pulled hard all the way up to 5k. Felt pretty fucking awesome to row some gears and really see what the 454 will do. Speedometer decided to quit (GPS chip seems to be iffy at best) Was in 4th gear at 3200 RPM cruising right with traffic. Will be able to pass anything but a gas station. She definitely is fun - but I can still feel the heart strings tug for the LS-7 under the hood, so ill enjoy it but am planning on building another motor.
