[critter]

I want one. Nice work.

[spartazoo]

Engine painted with SD valve covers...

[spartazoo]

A couple more...

[spartazoo]

Car blasted and sealed with primer/sealer...

[spartazoo]

Engine bay painted to match car color of silvermist...

[spartazoo]

Engine going in to go to chassis shop....Car will be there for three weeks.

[tom s]

do you have spacers under the valve covers?I did not need any with the thick gasket!Tom

[66geeto]

updates? this is my fav build it took me like an hour to find this thread again, so it's getting bookmarked for easier reference. that's the first engine i have ever been sad to see the butler v/c's on, then on the next page you went back to the original style valve covers wooowhoo! you work is superclean spartazoo and we're all needing an update.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by spartazoo

Another update or should I say warning...

Since this delema is now over, I am going to give everyone a big heads up.

Wheels can be a major issue when building these cars. Building a SD clone requires plain steel narrow wheels on the front and wider plain steel wheels on the back. So instead of searching high and low for wheels that would fit I called Stockton Wheel in California and ordered custom backspaced 8x15x4.5 for the back and 5x15x4.5 for the fronts. I set my rearend in place and did a wheel mockup to get the back spacing right. Every thing is cool right...Wrong.

I receive the 8" wheels first and attempted to put them on the car. They will not fit. So I measure the lug spacing and it is 4.75x5. My order ticket that came with them is correct. So I call.

I get this guy on the phone that is not sure what happened and is as surprised as I am, so he puts me on hold. This older gentlemen picks up the phone and as soon as he does starts yelling at me. "I changed that order in the shop, NO Pontiac Tempest ever came with 4.5" bolt patterns"..."You ordered wrong or you are trying to pull a fast one"..." I owned one brand new and it had a corvair bolt pattern" I literally got into a verbal altercation with this guy about the wheels that I had ordered. He refused to fix the problem saying that "I must have changed something to have a 4.5" bolt pattern"

Finally after emailing this AHOLE multiple links from the web outlining the bolt pattern, he agreed to make what I ordered. He did not admit fault but made me new wheels.

The intial order for the wheels was placed on Nov 7th of 2005. I received the last two wheels two weeks ago.

If you have to order from Stockton Wheel be prepared for mistakes, rude service, run arounds, and plain lies!

Consider yourself warned.

Heh, heh....good thing you didn't have to get into the whole "LH lug nut" thing...

Beautiful car. Can you shoot me an email at keith.seymore@gm.com at your convenience?

Thanks -

K

[4spdT37]

Hey Kip, how's the car coming?

Dad & I are wanting to take a ride over by your place to check it out in person.
PM me and let me know when your going to be around the Barn.

[27jalopy]

VERY nice. I like what you are doing!

[triathlonx13]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Heh, heh....good thing you didn't have to get into the whole "LH lug nut" thing...

Beautiful car. Can you shoot me an email at keith.seymore@gm.com at your convenience?

Thanks -

K

HaHa !! Yup - I learned first hand of the left hand threads on the driver side... I broke two lugs before I "realized" I was missing something

[spartazoo]

More updates. I have not had much time lately but over the past few months have made some progress.

These photos are of final mockup before going for paint and finish. The car runs and I have driven it around the yard. So electrical, brakes, fuel, and trans cooler are all functional. I hope to have it in for final paint by 2/15. I have quite a few photos so bare with me.

Heres hoping for a late April test and tune...

[spartazoo]

Engine, exhaust and fuel cell install photos in final mockup...

[spartazoo]

Some chassis photos (pardon the dust during our reconstruction efforts).

Some parts of gotten a little surface rust sitting and waiting for the body man.

[spartazoo]

The dash and the hood scoop.

I am praying that this car is painted by April 1, 2008. Doors and trunk lid are done with final primer waiting on the rest of the car.

[triathlonx13]

Nice Job ! What color are you going to paint it?

Hey...Hey.... wait a minute - did I see toilet in your garage?! Geeeze some guys have their chit together !

[FT LB]

Looks excellent, Kip. Great work.

Gonna PM you.

Tim

[66geeto]

HORRAY UPDATE! i missed out on a 63 lemans on ebay 50 miles from me it went for 500 bucks. I just didn't check on it. o well didn't have room for it anyways. Are you going to make the interior as close to original as possible? guages?

[Silver Judge]

This car is going to be wicked ! Looks great ~!
Let us know how the primer and paint phases go