Cascade Crew

chevymad · Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 5:54 pm Post subject: 2nd gen parts nirvana :)

Got some tax money this year, so I've bought a few parts to fix up the ole 74 formie. Of course that requires a pic post. Smile

Right now they're just piled in my computer room but i'll be starting to install them this weekend. Couple more things to arrive monday. Mainly a set of Hawks HPS pads.

Here we go!

Brand new US made Metro brand weatherstripping. Doors, roof rails, trunk and window scrapers! I was getting tired of a wet backside from the roof rails not touching the side glass.

A 750 holley all kitted up and ready to install. Just need a throttle bracket(monday) I got the Qjet dialed in for idle and part throttle really well, but the secondary bog comes and goes. I think I may have the answer for that problem, but figured it out after allready recieving the new carb. Hell.. it aint a "performance" car til you have a holley on it anyway right?

Now here's where things start getting more fun.. Very Happy

The lower pair of bars are Jegster lift bars. Think traction bars but no snubber, they bolt tight to the front of the spring instead. Basically make the front of the leaf spring solid like a short ladder bar. By changing shims you can also change the pinion angle.

The rear pair of bars are Competition Engineering bolt in sfc's. I got the bolt in because all the weld in require cutting a slot in the floor and having the sfc's stick up through it.

Hmm. whats this? This is an almost 12" diameter 3d gen 1LE rotor. Got these through work and got really lucky. They're older stock so one is made in canada and the other is USA. NO CHINA!!!

Now this is what allows you to use a 1le 3d gen rotor on a 2nd gen firebird. A pair of brand new GMparts direct 80s caprice spindles. They're supposedly a direct bolt on only the caliper mount is moved out for 12" brakes.

And lookie here.. the 2 go together. Very Happy

Plans are still in the works for putting 12" s10/trailblazer rear discs on the rear of the car. But I need to find one 2wd and one 4wd s10 or blazer in the junkyard with rear discs because I have staggered shocks.

Whiskeychick · Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 6:18 pm Post subject:

Still jealous Razz

chevymad · Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 8:04 pm Post subject:

I bet your 78 will look purty sooner then my 74 though. Very Happy

algershick · Member Joined: 05 Jan 2012 Posts: 69 Location: Kent, WA

Very nice, I've got to start showing my '79 some love too. It's been neglected quite a bit over the past year.

izcain · Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 8:33 pm Post subject:

Did someone on here have a second gen T-Top car?

chevymad · Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 6:13 pm Post subject:

izcain · Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:33 pm Post subject:

I was just wondering since I have a set of t-tops for a second gen in my stash of stuff... I have no clue how I got them.

chevymad · Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:43 pm Post subject:

There's several different manufacturers too. They're different size and dont interchange.

izcain · Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:45 pm Post subject:

of course why not! Maybe I will ebay them or use them for ski's next time it snows lol

chevymad · Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:52 pm Post subject:

Ttop info http://www.78ta.com/ttops.php

algershick · Member Joined: 05 Jan 2012 Posts: 69 Location: Kent, WA

Mine is a hardtop as well, last summer I stripped the firewall down and sandblasted the subframe. Both were painted, and I installed a set of solid subframe bushings. And... that's as far as I got. Laughing

Nice project you've got there!

chevymad · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:06 pm Post subject:

Tonights project was installing the liftbars. Installation was fairly easy. One thing I liked was that these get rid of the lower poly spring cushion. I never liked how that thing fit or held the rear centered.

Something I didnt like is that these required the deletion of my rear ws6 sway bar. But then I got to thinking about it, and basically these things make the whole rear end into a gigantic sway bar. So that teensy little stock bar wouldnt be doing anything anyway. I don't thing there's any way that the car can lean now. I'd think it should be a bit tail happy in a corner, though it allready is with the locker installed. Looks like full speed dead ahead! Don't turn the wheel it wont do anything anyway! Laughing

And here's a few pics.

This last one.. car looks high.. thats cause the front end is still on jack stands.

aaron_sK · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:28 pm Post subject:

Who needs ground clearance anyway? Razz

chevymad · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:37 pm Post subject:

I like how the front of the bars are open so I can take core samples! Laughing

chevymad · Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:51 pm Post subject:

Onward to the front brakes tonight. I can't believe how easy this is to change to larger brakes. I'd have at least one side done tonight except that I need to take the rotors back to work and finish pressing in the new wheel studs. I was afraid of stripping the threads trying to pull them in with a nut and the hammer/drift/anvil method wasnt working for me either.

Here we go.

Old spindle out allready. Yes, I did leave the a-arm sitting on the jackstand, holding the car up and compressing the spring.

New spindle vs old spindle. It's a direct drop in. Even the dust shield fits.

Size comparison of the old rotors vs the new 1LE size rotors.

All mounted up and the dust shield transferred over.

Drilling out the stud holes so I can switch the studs from the 3d gen metric size to the old school 7/16s. The 7/16s studs actually have a bigger shoulder.

redlava · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:53 am Post subject:

I used my vice and a deep socket to press in the wheel studs. You could give that a try. Keep up the good work.

chevymad · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 5:31 pm Post subject:

These were a bit tight for that. Took them to work and finished them off in the press. Might as well do it right eh?

Twilightoptics · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 6:10 pm Post subject:

I've had third gen hubs crack when putting ARP replacement studs in because the knurl is bigger. Have to drill them out with a 12.5mm first.

chevymad · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 8:10 pm Post subject:

Ya, this is a proven conversion though with part #s and drill size all figured out. Seems this same front conversion works for both f & g bodies.

Anyway, this is tonights episode of how the rotor turns..

Got the rotor mounted up and the hawk HPS pads installed. This conversion uses the same caliper I was using before. Bolts right in place. Check out how the dust cover is exactly the right size too. With the stock rotor on there it appeared way oversize. This rotor/spindle even use the exact same bearings as the 79 fbody stuff I was using.

Here's the drivers side too. Whats better then a BFH? How bout a homemade BFH??? Well... not really, whoever made that thing wasnt thinking about handle shock at all!

Lookie here. TONS of room with the stock 15" rallyII wheels. I hear the 15" honeycombs will barely clear a stock caliper with this setup, and won't clear an aftermarket caliper.

That finished up the brake conversion, but I wasnt able to test drive it yet because the toe appears to be way off. So I need to toe it out a bit before going on a run.

Wasnt done working on the car though, been fighting a bog when opening the secondaries on my qjet. I had a book for tuning them and i've got the idle and primary side working great, just this secondary issue. So fed up I bought a holley for it. But then after that came I see someone who tried the same modifications as I did and they found that after modifying the secondary flaps with a cutout like the performance carbs used to come with they had a bog you couldnt tune around. So before taking this carb off I figured I'd change to a stock set of flaps and see if it helps. If it works maybe I'll use this carb on the truck as its a 795cfm vs the 600 I have on there now.

Here's a shot of a stock flap and the mod I made. It's actually supposed to decrease the bog by allowing air to pull the secondary pumpshot in faster.

So stock parts are installed again and I'm just waiting to get the toe close to try some of this stuff out. Very Happy

iansane · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:29 pm Post subject:

I love me a brake swap! Very Happy