[Greg Reid]

Question for you JUDGE3...where does one get those tall jack stands that you had the car on? I don't have a rotisserie either..LoL
Great work by the way!

[JUDGE3]

Thank you

Ha, yeh I carried on about no rotisserie didn't I.

the stands are sunnex 10 ton high height. got them from acme tools 5 years ago for $239 free shipping. get em about anywhere though. summit etc.

[JUDGE3]

the heat is effecting progress darn it. Have to enjoy it when I work on it and with the temps in triple digits or upper 90's its miserable.

so dorked around doing a few small things. fitted the danko rear flares and glued on the welting.

I used 3m plastic trim and emblem adhesive for the welting, really bonded great on my sail panel interior emblems and its clear so less worry about any sloppiness. but the way I glued it was on/under the interior side of the flare welting and did not even put any adhesive under the outside. did not want to risk slop and it doesn't even need it under the outside. its bonded great as I did it and certainly isn't going anywhere mounted on the car.

might have been easier with fiberglass danko flares, I was even able to curve the short area at the top and use small spring clamps from home depot while curing and it held the curve & bonded great.

not trying to beat the danko drum here but these fit so good i'm not going to drill any rust inducing holes for screws as they mount real solid and just dont need em. I will use nylon lock nuts backing up the non lock nuts just for my own overkill ways.

as I was fitting the flares, I was looking at the door handle and remembered my 1980 TransAm had "4 wheel disc" decals in the handles. I had bought ram air decals for another car and it hit me they would fit in the handles perfectly. I love decals anyway so on they went, I dig em! a nod to my 1980 and helps hide some of the original handle pitting. anyhoot I get a kick outta stuff like that. their a subtle touch at distance.

have this vintage cragar tag. just for pics. typed up the repop door vin decal. I know the gm placard is not the factory location but thats where I like it. funny thing....when I went to the tag office the inspection gal really kinda thru a fit the vin decal was not on the door. I said "50 year old car you really expect to see that"? plus I couldn't recall those vin decals and thought she was talkin baloney. she was right, so I put the thing on. the next owner won't have to deal with that ha.

[JUDGE3]

Going together pretty quick now.

I didn't realize the fun of seeing the car painted and the blue scoop against the white the first time since buying the car in 2015. big smile! the effort is really feeling worth it, i'm thrilled.

I sandblasted every bolt and shim before re assembly, got plenty of paint touch up to do on the bolts after assembly.

the open grill scoop with the blocker kit allows you to really hear the 1,000 cfm holley pullin in the air standing outside the car. I like that.

lotta posts about flares, the are many more pics of my danko flares in this thread, heres a pic of front fender flare with no welting. follows the fender perfectly.

time to order some cooper cobra white letter tires to replace the bfg brown letter tires.

[Tempest]

wow, looks amazing.

I like that you are adding 'personal' touches., if you like them, then do it.

Keep up the great work, and the pics, and thanks for sharing

[Greg Reid]

Just a word of warning... The last time I bought a set of Cooper Cobras they were brown within a month just sitting in my garage. Had two others that suffered tread separation and a ballooned sidewall.

[JUDGE3]

Thank you Tempest

Thank you Greg Reid on cooper cobra info. my other choice is hercules hp4000 tires. ugh, now i'm on the fence. wonder if others have a better choice or how was there luck with coopers.

rolled on today, supposed to be hot here so wanted to get to this point because I don't get out in the shop in this heat.

front is complete, however the front flares and spoiler are just the final temporary fit, no welting installed yet. do that inside this weekend out of the triple digits. installed the scoop and fender decals.

big stripe install coming up, nervous about that. my last "big" nervy thing to do as I have never installed any decal remotely that big. i'll take any advice from those who have installed one if your willing to share. would appreciate it.

[HWYSTR455]

You can use white letter tire paint, but 14s & 15s are becoming scarce regardless of brand, so will be a crap shoot anyway.

If it's a trailer queen, and you want to stay 100% OE look, then tire dates don't matter.

If you want to drive it, get 17 or 18" Bandit/Rally repops.

If you want to drive it, and show it, get a 2nd set of wheels & tires.

Once you drive on 17s or 18s, you will never go back.


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[JUDGE3]

I appreciate your view there for sure HWYSTR455. you build some very powerful Pontiacs with the top upgrades.

I actually like the look of my era car with the era sized wheels and tires. I love those new cast honeycombs and would have a set if they were available in 15".

the large wheels i'm sure along with the modern suspension upgrade would work great. iv'e read here the suspension change is a requirement and not an option.

its my age kickin in, for me the way they looked in living the period just floods back great memories. going to see how my cragars look with the knock offs. I have 3 different caps to have fun with.

I remember in the 70's you could buy these white letter pencils to touch up the tires. i used to do that then on my "grand prix-super wide GT" white letter tires that were the cheapest white letter tire you could buy lol.

on the knock offs should anyone need the info, yes they block a lug nut, I learned way back in the 70s when a friend had them on a 68 or 69 plymouth road runner with cragars you simply tap them with a plastic hammer and being metal on metal it will spin out of the way for access in the event of a flat.

[Greg Reid]

Those spinners are pretty sharp.
As for the Coopers, in fairness, it's been 7 or 8 years ago. I do know of at least one person on this forum that bought a set after me and as far as I know he's happy with them.

[Tempest]

I just read on another forum that BFG will now guarantee that the letters will not turn brown. (lifetime)

I would see if I could get it in writing...

[HWYSTR455]

Originally Posted by JUDGE3

I appreciate your view there for sure HWYSTR455. you build some very powerful Pontiacs with the top upgrades.

I actually like the look of my era car with the era sized wheels and tires. I love those new cast honeycombs and would have a set if they were available in 15".

the large wheels i'm sure along with the modern suspension upgrade would work great. iv'e read here the suspension change is a requirement and not an option.

its my age kickin in, for me the way they looked in living the period just floods back great memories. going to see how my cragars look with the knock offs. I have 3 different caps to have fun with.

I remember in the 70's you could buy these white letter pencils to touch up the tires. i used to do that then on my "grand prix-super wide GT" white letter tires that were the cheapest white letter tire you could buy lol.

on the knock offs should anyone need the info, yes they block a lug nut, I learned way back in the 70s when a friend had them on a 68 or 69 plymouth road runner with cragars you simply tap them with a plastic hammer and being metal on metal it will spin out of the way for access in the event of a flat.

I totally understand the attraction to the look, I love Cragars, ETs, and even the original Centerline wheels. And the knock-offs you have look great! I even like the slapper traction bar look, and even laddar bars on the right cars. I lived next to a highway that had a stop light, and people would gather along the road and drag race almost every night. Would draw over 100 people some nights. That was early to mid-70s.

About the only suspension change for plus sizing wheels/tires is maybe shocks, though even that is not technically required. The 2nd gens as you recall had 'Radial Tuned Suspensions', and in the day many went to a shorter sidewall tire with no adverse effect.

Yes, touch up pencils for the letters, they are much better now, and you can paint the letters on any tire. They work well.

Tires are much better now, in some ways, all I'm saying is the wider 14s & 15s are neglected, since it's such a small market. I wouldn't trust them if you plan on doing any spirited driving, or even higher than speed limit speeds. I've seen many failures, it's not a theory.


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[JUDGE3]

good point on the smaller muscle car tires, never thought about the speed rating part. fortunately I am mostly into just melting the rubber these days. but I plan to race it a few times. should be in the 11.90 to 12.10 range.

I have all the flares and front spoiler welting bonded on now, nice inside in the ac with ice tea job. went real well, the 3m plastic trim adhesive is strong stuff. nice consistency and easy to use. still excited every time I realize i'm installing something permanent.

letting the welting dry overnite then on the hot day tomorrow I'll put the 3m clear urethane paint protection on them.

won't be running screws into the w/w's but i'll be dobbing some silicone adhesive where they would go to give em some vibration dampening.

[JUDGE3]

street/strip car so not a detail job in the outer wheel wells and such. undercoating mostly. all is new and solid though. mixed some base/clear and hand painted all the aluminum oxide blasted bolt heads. that was time consuming but looks nice.

stapled on new wheel well splash guards. installed the under hood bumper to core support cover. stock or not surprised more folks dont seem to use one, it looks a lot better closing that gap and probably helps force air thru the radiator.

up on jacks because I needed room to work and next time its down it will be on new tires and wheels. then just clear urethane paint protection film and the center stripe and done! going to put the clear film on first to practice prior to the decal stripe since its the same technique.

[JUDGE3]

posted a lot on the restoration so heres some drivetrain details:

455 now 472, aftermarket forged crankshaft non crossed drilled, engine is neutral balanced. forged h beam rods, forged pistons, canton oil pan, comp cams hyd roller, edelbrock round port ported heads from butler, edelbrock performer rpm with heat crossover removed. 1,000 cfm holley, oversized round port exhaust manifolds. cam specs are noted with 1.5 rockers but I am using scorpion 1.65 roller rocker arms so the lift is more. HEI/DUI performance distributor.

DURATION @ .050 INTAKE 242 ROCKER ARM RATIO 1.50 (installed 1.65)
DURATION @ .050 EXHAUST 248
VALVE LIFT INTAKE .540
VALVE LIFT EXHAUST .562 LOBE SEPARATION 110.0
INTAKE C/L 106.0

Transmission is from TCI, high performance version, 9" neil chance street stall converter.

moser engineering 12 bolt with 3.73 gears, eaton posi, 1350 series yoke, upgraded axels. forged sonax transmission yoke, 1350 series front to back.

and a pretty posed pic of those cragars prior to install. made in the USA right on.

[Greg Reid]

Wow, that car is going to be a monster.

[HWYSTR455]

My experience with the TCI transmissions is you have to flush the heck out of them to remove all the build debris. Follow the same oil change intervals as a new engine, or more changes.

I would do a fluid dump and fill after initial warm up, at 100 miles, 500 miles, and a fluid & filter change at 1000. You will be happy if that's followed by a long life trans. (And shocked what comes out of it).


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[JUDGE3]

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

My experience with the TCI transmissions is you have to flush the heck out of them to remove all the build debris. Follow the same oil change intervals as a new engine, or more changes.

I would do a fluid dump and fill after initial warm up, at 100 miles, 500 miles, and a fluid & filter change at 1000. You will be happy if that's followed by a long life trans. (And shocked what comes out of it).


.

Good thing to do with any new trans or differential, thanks. I know moser recommends change the fluid at first 500 miles. i'm already an engine oil change fanatic. I have 269 miles on the drivetrain right now having done the shakedown drive way back when the car was primered black. only issue I had was the front stabilizer bar bushings were cheap & poor fitting allowing the bar to move and clunk on the frame. fixed that with new greaseable global west bushings.

I want to adjust the doors some more, have not touched them with the fenders on yet but decided to again drive it some and let everything really settle in and do that on a bad weather day.

What do you think of this moroso transmission cooler? I have used the stacked ones and the finned ones before but I like the clean design of this one and the AN fitting install. it also has a removable filter inside. its only 3" diameter and 12" long and I like the way and place to mount it.

[HWYSTR455]

I don't believe those work very well, the surface area is just not enough. Stack plate coolers are the most effective, strong, and extremely compact.

Earl's are pretty much the staple of what to buy. There are better ones, like the ones used on F1 cars and the like, but after a certain point they are not cost effective. I know they have one of the lowest psi drop of any out there.

I got a deal on a few Derale ones, they are 'good', but aren't as good as the Earl's. Not sure they would take a rock shot like an Earl's, but time will tell. Going forward, I won't buy anything but an Earl's.

Fittings make a big difference too, low psi drop ones are not cheap, Aeromotive I believe are the best, they are internally radiused. Most are O-ring type, the NTP ones need to be more narrow (internally) because of strength requirements.

Critical applications, like engine oil, are ones you should opt for the Aeromotive ones for sure.

I mounted power steering and trans coolers in the lower valance. They are at a little bit of an angle, and was thinking I might add some deflectors to force more air thru the fins, but will need to revisit that later. There's ample room to run lines low thru the core support, with little or no mods. If you use sections of steel line, definitely can run them without any cutting.


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[JUDGE3]

Originally Posted by Tempest

I just read on another forum that BFG will now guarantee that the letters will not turn brown. (lifetime)

I would see if I could get it in writing...

Thank you Tempest, your response prompted me to contact BF Goodrich.

BF Goodrich worked with me, customer service exists! hope this in turn helps others. I went to the Bf goodrich site and replied on their customer issue form. they gave me a case number and said to take the tires to an approved dealer for evaluation. (I was surprised it got that far).

back up a bit why I am so pleased: the tires are 2018 date, I originally bought from summit racing. 245/60/15 on the fronts, 255/60/15 rears. I drove on them (told them right up front I did) a total of 269 miles. I burned rubber and live off a sand gravel road so the tires were not pretty either. rubber burn irrelevant because they measure the tread with there fancy laser tool. rears had less but were still easily within tolerance to work with the dealer said.

so with tread proration deduction (very minimal), inflation price the same tire sells for today, They ordered me a brand new set that the dealer said they use a new compound now that does not turn brown, mount and balance out the door I only pay $223!!!!! I am elated!!!! I was going to just buy new coopers and eat the BFG's hoping to use them on some other car or have em around for spares so talkin a darn near $1,600 swing here.

not to mention restores my business with BFG. I went with BFG in the first place because I had this exact same tire on my 1980 Trans Am when I was 21 years old.

anyhoot, sadly the elation is because customer service and a business actually working with you is just so rare these days. terrific day! supposed to get the new tires tomorrow so I will ask if they are guranteed not to turn brown, I was so happy I forgot to ask that. in my case i'm sure they will beings I just brought back a set for that.

don't like pics in the shade but its so hot and bright out the camara glares to much but heres pic of my car the last time I see the brown letters and ralley 2's. yeha!!!!