[Nicks67GTO]

I ordered up a Moser 9" housing and 31 spline axles. WOW they build these rears thick!!

[Nicks67GTO]

I picked up a Youkon center section, pinion support and setup kit from Quick Performance. I found the Moser Yoke on here for a good price. I also found a 31 spline detroit locker on ebay for a real good price. A buddy of mine set it up. Thanks Dave!

[Nicks67GTO]

After that came my brakes. I wanted the car to stop very well but i wanted parts accessibility in a crunch. I ordered up a Right Stuff 4 wheel power disc kit. To make a long story short i originally ordered standard rotors but they sent me the backs drilled and slotted so i ended up with drilled and slotted on all 4 corners for a good deal. I also got powder coated calipers, pre bent lines, and braided flex hoses. I went with this kit so that in a pinch i could go to the store and get parts. The right stuff guys are great and i would definitely do business with them again. This kit is pretty much a bolt in deal but i did have a little bit of fab work to do. Very basic fab work and anyone with a hack saw, bench grinder and a vice could tackle in an hour.

[Nicks67GTO]

Ive recently picked this grimy old 455 up on the CHEAP! Its a 73' 455, 6x-4 heads, performer intake, HEI, Q jet. It supposedly has 20K miles on it and needed a rear main seal. It came with all the accessory drives, starter, waterpump, everything. I got it for $800 bucks. I figured even if it was junk that's still cheaper than what some of the guys here want for an old core. I got it home, it turns nice, the insides looked good. It makes good compression. I'm going to use this for the summer then pull it and rebuild it with forged rods, ported heads, hydro roller etc next fall if time permits. I just wanted something so I can go this spring.

[Nicks67GTO]

I ran into some snags, busted my ring knuckle down to the bone, replaced the rear main with the help of Wade from BOP. Tossed a 1 piece pan gasket on there. Added a tomahawk HEI Christmas special. Found out napa sells cast impeller water pumps on the cheap, fixed a few little things i could see being a problem down the line. A little elbow grease, some purple super clean, a LOT of time and energy and a couple cans of brake cleaner, 500* primer and some pretty pontiac metallic blue later it looks like this....

[Nicks67GTO]

11" Discs look pretty good behind the 15" wheels!!!!

[kate`s67gto]

Very nice work. Doing the rear control arms this spring also. Your dad is a smart man and now you appreciate the car more. Congrats and hope to see more up dates soon.

[Nicks67GTO]

I'm also doing the Jeep GC power steering box swap. I started a thread about it in the street section. The link is here. It basically gives you 12.7 steering on the cheap. Ill easily have less than $150 in this and have some tight modern steering in the end. Bolt in deal.

Here's a link to the thread.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=685111

[Nicks67GTO]

Well I got my Lakewood scattersheild fit up. I got this on EBAY for pretty darn cheap and I now see why. The fit of the back plate was pretty bad. Horrible really. I had to take material out all the way around the crankshaft hole just to get it to go on, then a little bit out of the dowel holes to make it work. Its a good thing the back plate dosen't need to be a precision fit. This took a while and was pretty frustrating. I also had to remove overhang from the rear cam plug and take a bit out of the oil pan rail to get the stupid MF'er to work. The good news is that the bellhousing portion went in without a problem and everything seems ok with it. I had it blasted by a buddy and I painted it a satin black. I think the Lakewood red is obnoxious.

[Nicks67GTO]

I also found a NIB Centerforce SFI flywheel with the factory balance in it on EBAY a while back. I mated it up to the crank with some ARP bolts i got on here from a PY member. I ended up not using the spacers that come with the bolts. They were just thick enough it almost created a small interference with the clutch disc. It was very close. My clutch guy didn't care for it so he checked a couple things and gave me some star washers and it turned out perfect.

Speaking of my clutch i went with a dual friction unit from a local guy. I ran this clutch with a different style disc behind my last car and it worked great for 8 years taking some serious abuse. This one is a step up from the last unit i had.

I also chose to go with a B.O.P. pilot bearing. It went in easy and seems to be a perfect fit. Wade from B.O.P. is a great guy to deal with.

[Nicks67GTO]

Here are a couple shots of the Richmond 5 speed mounted up. I'm going to drop the engine in and then mount the bellhousing and tranny underneath the car. I just had it all together to check, double check and triple check a bunch of little things so i snapped some shots.

[Nicks67GTO]

Here she is awaiting her 455/5speed transplant tomorrow!

[fyrffytr1]

DANG!!

[ERIC AULL]

She's a beautiful package...can't wait for my car (next week) and engine (2-3 weeks) to come "home".....I gotta put eeeeevry thing together!!! Eric

[Wade Congdon]

Nick,

Totally enjoyed this thread including the "surprise distration". Got one of those of my own and it is the best thing ever. Your project is like so many I have done your pictures put me right in your garage! People don't realize the amount of time spent leaning, fabbing , and painting stuff! Keep up the good work!

All the best,

Wade

[klunker]

What rear gears are you using?
Does your Richmond 5 speed have a 1:1 5th and something like a 3.27:1 1st?
Why a locker? I thought you were doing this as a "street driven" car?

[Nicks67GTO]

Originally Posted by Wade Congdon

Nick,

Totally enjoyed this thread including the "surprise distration". Got one of those of my own and it is the best thing ever. Your project is like so many I have done your pictures put me right in your garage! People don't realize the amount of time spent leaning, fabbing , and painting stuff! Keep up the good work!

All the best,

Wade

Thanks Wade! You've been a big help with a lot of this. You're very right about the time and energy put into this stuff. I'm blessed to have a very understanding wife. She saw me take my last car, a Nova, from a rolling pile of junk to an 11 second street car when I was 19 so she knows it will get done, its just that 10 years later we have a kid, real jobs and a lot more responsibility. Here's a vid of the Nova and a shot of the little one that killed my GTO budget! Shes 16 months now and the Nova is long gone!

[Nicks67GTO]

Originally Posted by klunker

What rear gears are you using?
Does your Richmond 5 speed have a 1:1 5th and something like a 3.27:1 1st?
Why a locker? I thought you were doing this as a "street driven" car?

Yeah the Richmond has the 3.27 first and 1:1 fifth. Im running a 3.0 rear gear so it will give me a 9.81 first gear, a 3.72 4th gear and a 3.0 fifth for the good interstate cruising.

I ran a Detroit soft locker in the 7500 RPM 500 hp Nova that I posted a video of below. I ran it for 8 years all over the place. In town, at the track, on the interstate, for 10 mile drives 1/4 mile blasts and 300 mile cruises. I never had an issue other than an occasional clunk around the corners. I beat the hell out of that Locker, it survived 5500 RPM clutch side steps with 11.5" hoosier QTP's. An exploded 9" center section with sheared gears and broken caps and all out abuse. I decided that ill take a little clunk here and there to not have to worry about blowing something up or ruining clutches in a posi type rear. I thought about getting a truetrac but i found this cheap so i figured id try it.

[Nicks67GTO]

Got the engine and tranny in today. I'm fighting the MF'ing headers though. They are Hooker super comps. They literally fall into place but the bolts are a bitch to get to. I had to buy some wrenches and mod the heck out of them to get a couple of the bolts tight. I understand now why a lot of guys dont bother with them and go with the RARE HO manifolds. Anyhow i'm hoping to get my headers tight and get my X pipe exhaust in tomorrow. Maybe get to some more odds and ends as well.

[Nicks67GTO]

Originally Posted by ERIC AULL

She's a beautiful package...can't wait for my car (next week) and engine (2-3 weeks) to come "home".....I gotta put eeeeevry thing together!!! Eric

Start a project thread!