[S Courter]

Thought I would post a couple pictures of my 64 tempest project. Being old school it took a lot of coaxing by my wife to do this swap. Yeah, she's a gearhead too. Anyway things are progressing nicely and it has been an enjoyable learning experience. I would not hesitate to do it again. Here are the particulars.

64 Tempest post car-bought off CL as a parts car.
Restored chassis from a 65 GT, Disc brakes, 3:23 posi (body was too far gone.)
2000 T/A ls1 and 4l60E (stock)
BRP Hot rods motor mounts
BRP Hot rods Hedman Headers to 2.5 inch duals
Dakota Digital VHX gauges
B&M Quicksilver shifter
New fuel tank with in tank pump and sender
Performance tuned PCM and reworked stock wiring harness
Vintage Air A/C and heat(wife says got to have it)
Cruise control
Plans are to install all new interior but leave body as is for now.
Working on getting everything wired up and am anxious to hear it run!!!!
Should be fun!!

[Marv]

Awesome project - I love the look of the 200S wheels. I want some for my '64 Bonne.

[3 Chiefs]

I like your project. Keep us posted on your progress.

Paul

[6 Grrrs]

Subscribed.

[Jack Blum]

I like your dash mods. I did a similar thing using Auto Meter and cut them open them mounted in the stock holes.

[rohrt]

What oil pan you using?

How do plane to run the Cruise control?

[S Courter]

Jack...No mods just bolted the Dakota Digital gauges in place as they were made for the 64 dash bezel.
rohrt...I used the GM Performance Parts oil pan kit #19212593. No problems. Have not addressed the cruise control issue yet but the Dakota Digital gauge control panel has provisions for it. Will work on that later.

[S Courter]

Got to do the HAPPY DANCE! today!!! Finished wiring engine and gauges yesterday and ran through a check list to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Today I put fuel in the tank, jumpered the fuel pump and ran it for 30 to 40 sec., checked everything for leaks, hooked the fuel pump back to relay and hit the key. VROOOOM it fired right up and sounds awesome. All gauges working. Took measurements so I can go have my driveshaft shortened. Now to install the Vintage Air A/C.

[S Courter]

Just an update. Vintage Air A/C installed with no big problems. Had a little problem getting the A/C unit up under the dash as it is pretty tight. Had to move the drier to the passenger fender well do to battery relocation to passenger side for LS engine. Hoses provided in kit allowed this. Had to find someone to crimp the hoses after everything was set. I opted for the low passenger side compressor mount and it works fine. Reinstalled front fenders. Drive shaft is at Drive Train Specialists getting shortened and a new yoke installed. Weather is improving here in Mi. so once driveshaft is installed I may get to drive it. Something to look forward too!!

[S Courter]

Picked up the new drive shaft Friday afternoon. Went to install it Saturday and it would only slide on tail shaft about to the seal. Thinking there might be a problem with the new yoke I pulled the drive shaft from my 98 Z28 and tried it. It would only go on the same. Further investigation revealed damaged splines on tail shaft just inside the seal. Must have happened when the donor car got hit. It was hit in the rear wheel area and the drive shaft must have been pulled out far enough to wobble on the tail shaft and cause the damage. Sunday morning I pulled the rear seal and carefully cleaned up the spline with a Dremel tool and a pointed stone. I reinstalled the old seal(will replace asap), installed the drive shaft easily and drove the car out of the shop under it's own power! Brakes need bleeding so did not go too far but it was very gratifying to take this step.
Need to get underside of hood cleaned and painted so it can go back on and then front and rear bumpers. Cruising is coming soon interior or no interior.

[S Courter]

The weather has gotten nicer here in Michigan so I decided to go for a short drive. Two problems became apparent right away. First the trans would not shift out of first. Could find second if I manually shifted it. After researching causes and since I also had no speedometer readout I removed the VSS from the rear of the trans and found it was broken in half. Must be a result of accident?? Installed a new one and went for a test drive. Now I have speedometer and trans shifts from first to second but not into third. Dakota Digital gauges show a CEL so I get the scan tool out and find it is throwing a P0785 shift solenoid B circuit electrical fault code. I research on the internet causes for this code and how to diagnose the problem. UGH! But there is mention of a transmission circuit fuse. So I go back to the car to erase the fault codes and looking over the PCM wiring I notice a blown fuse in the panel that was installed by the guy who did my wiring harness rework. HMMM! Let's hope this is the transmission circuit fuse. Replaced it and out for another test drive. Wow! That fixed it, shifts through all gears. Man was I happy.
The second problem I had was the 24560R15 tires I had on the car rubbed the front fender when I turned. Replaced them with some 205s that I had lying around until I can get some narrower rubber for the front. Maybe some 225S Have made a few more jaunts around the neighborhood and what a blast. You can break the tires loose a will, motor revs instantly and sounds awesome. Going to have some fun with this car for sure!!

[S Courter]

Updates...Picked up a pair of Corvette coil covers and they dress up the engine nicely. Got the hood reinstalled along with front bumper and side body trim. Looking better all the time.

[rohrt]

Looks like a pretty sweet build.

[Ron Landis]

Thanks for sharing! Seems we have similar tastes in cars in general.

[ponjohn]

Nice swap.

What did you pay for the car?

[S Courter]

ponjohn...Would you believe I paid $500 for it. It was a roller with a bad frame but a great find anyway.

[b-man]

Nice work, the car looks great.

Post more pictures when you get a chance, especially of the engine compartment.

This inspires me to get back to finishing my long-delayed LS3 Tempest project.

[S Courter]

b-man...Glad to hear you are going to get back to your build. I enjoyed reading the thread and wondered what happened. Sorry for your loss. Here are some more pictures of the engine compartment. Anything in particular you want to see. Car is not a high priority right now although I am getting a few things done. I am in need of a decent rear bumper.

[Colin Frolick]

Love it!! Nice work

[S Courter]

Took it to it's first car show in a town about 3 miles away. Drove great and had no problems. Got a lot of interest. Planning on interior installation over the winter.