[Bob Timmermans]

"With the GTO endura bumper, the added weight pushed the front springs over the top, and it's sitting too low, and springs are too soft. Ordered some springs from GW when I ordered the upper control arms, but the springs are backlogged to DEC/JAN. Dang. So I ordered some 1/2" pad spacers, which will not only get it off the ground, but also slightly increase the spring rate. I will use those temp until I get the new springs. "

I'm curious about what springrate you'll end up with.
I've got QA-1's up to 650 lbs./inch.
550's screwed all the way up to the end , just about broke the bumpstop loose 1/4"

I read that you're rebuilding the Moser build rear and I kinda agree with OCMDGTO on that.
These are purpose build rears and you pay for that.
They should last , especially with street rubber.

[HWYSTR455]

Well, GW doesn't reveal the spring rates, but I believe the ones I currently have are about 550. The next step up I believe is 620 or 650, but am kind of basing that on previous rates provided by tech support. It's more soft at the moment than I thought it would be, and it contacts the bump stop frequently. I'm tempted to step up 2 rates, but will try the 600s ones first, and if they are too soft, I will put them in the 442.

My 'bird has 720 springs in the front, and under hard driving, it too contacts the bump stops, but it' livable, since it only happens when I really push it.

Don't be afraid to try higher spring rates, even if many say 'it will ride like a truck', it's simply not true. And talk to Doug, let him know what you're experiencing, it will help him zero in on a spring that you will be happy with.

Yeah, '01, that's almost 20 years, stuff doesn't last forever. Like I said, I've had some serious power in front of it, most close to or more than 600hp. The one 400 I had was about 405hp, based on another build I followed, and I was spraying that with a 300hp shot for a while, and dialed it back to about a 250hp shot of N2O.

I get about 100-120k miles out of my engines before I swap them out or rebuild, so it's probably got about 500k miles on it. There was one engine in there, a 455 .060 over, where the crank broke, think that had about 45k miles on it.

I had about 90k on the 461 before I took it off the road for this 'version'. So that too was slightly less than 100k, but that still doesn't drop the potential mile estimate by much.

I had an OE 12 bolt housing for a while in the 90s in this car, that was a brute strength posi unit, and that was professionally built, using heavier springs and vintage NOS asbestos clutch plates. That lasted 10 years, and sold it, pretty sure the guy who bought it is still using it. But he's not making the power I am/was.

I will pull the cover, and look it over, but I'm pretty sure it's going to need a going-thru.

.

[perry]

Very nice car I finished mine in October 2010

[HWYSTR455]

Wow, I REALLY like that, I was sooo torn on the color, OO was the choice I was struggling with!

So hammering out the details, also trying to catch up on other, non-car related stuff too.

Couple things that are on the list:

* adjust all the glass
* Glove box light and Heater/AC panel light don't come on, pretty sure it's a ground
* Adjust headlights. Need to make sure the LED bulbs are installed facing the correct way too
* Adjust pinion angle, it's pointing down a little, thing the diff was 3.5 degrees when I last checked
* Recalibrate the fuel gauge, again. I get the empty set correctly, then when I go to do the full, seem to always hit the cal button in the wrong sequence. Doh.
* Want to redo the door opening welting, trimmed the one top part a little too much, pops out sometimes
* Rocker adjust. Have about 700 miles on it now, hear a couple that are a little louder than others
* My E-cable clips were a little too small, one fell off, have the correct ones now, need to toss those on

Have a little slop in the steering column lower bearing, will need to address that, once I figure out the best approach. It's a rebuilt/refurbed one, but heard rumors some of the replacement bearings are a little sloppy. Trying to do some homework on that.

Still have some tuning to do, need to take a little break from that, it can be frustrating at times. Pretty sure I need to play with the Injector End Angle settings, have to figure out the best approach there.

Still waiting for the upper control arms, there was a delay due to anodizing the cross shafts.

Anyway, stuff like that, and will have to do the rear once I save the bux for the parts.

.

[HWYSTR455]

Posting some A/C and heater line routing pics, some were asking about them...


.

[HWYSTR455]

Ok, couple updates.

Got the front coil springs swapped out, brought the front end up about 1-1.25", and it doesn't bottom out anymore, unless I hit a bad dip at speed. Much much better, and can love with it. Think I could have went to a slightly higher rate, but I will live with it. I may see if I can install a slightly higher bumper stop, will see.

My TrueTrac, ring & pinion, and install kit came in to rebuild the rear, just need to order some ARP ring gear bolts. The ones that come in the kit have a head where you need to use a thin wall socket, and still is a PITA, the ARP ones I'm told make it much easier. Should get this knocked out in next couple weeks.

Still not happy with the fuel sending unit, may have to go to a vertical float type, it just isn't accurate to my liking.

The Tanks, Inc efi tank isn't working as well as I had hoped, under a half a tank it can suck air, and as it reaches a 1/4 tank, it gets worse. I did at one time run it out of gas, had to restart twice to get it up to a pump to fill it, but going slow, it just about sucks the tank dry, was about 1.5-2 gal at most left in it, calculated by the amount it took to fill it back up. I may have to resort to getting a Rick's tank, the one with added baffling.

Still have some tuning to do, and am really starting to think the throttle body is too small. It's a CTS-V 90 or 92mm, forget which one, but believe it's giving up flow past say like 4500-5000 RPM. Think I'm going to look into a 102mm, see how that responds.

Friend took a short vid, figured I'd post it:

https://youtu.be/uIMgNqFaqLg

Still need to fix the exhaust, tailpipes are uneven and IMO too low, and they are about 1.5-2" too long, need to tuck them in some. That stuff drives me nuts.

My paint/body guy picked up my 'bird, it's in-process, and need to swap engine in 442, plus add the Vintage Air before the 'bird comes home. I'm swamped. Trying to fix up the house, I am dyeing to move, need more garage space, and sick of the area I live in....

.

[bulletpruf]

Looks great and sounds great, too! But I agree with you on the tailpipes - too low and too long.