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BradM · 03-01-2013, 04:05 PM

Got the frame back from the powder coater. Looks awesome!

Body is out for media blasting so I started tearing apart a 455 I bought

5C's in need of some cleanup

Bluesugar · 03-01-2013, 06:41 PM

Wow!!,..yep, that does look good,...

Kokamo · 03-02-2013, 01:57 AM

Looks good Brad! That frame looks great in person :-)

What rods are those in the 455? They look like Callies....def not stockers from the looks. Plans for the motor?

BradM · 03-03-2013, 12:23 PM

Hey Joe

Dave mentioned you said hi when he dropped the frame off!

I just took one of the rods out and don't see any markings on them other that a 34?

As long as everything coming out is reusable, I think I'm just going to clean everything up and reassemble.

I'm going to move the intake and tripower setup from my 389 over to this motor. Cam is a Lunati bracket master.

6567GTO · 03-03-2013, 03:24 PM

Awesome project! How did I miss this?

Subscribed!

Kokamo · 03-04-2013, 01:48 AM

Those are H beam rods and what looks like ARP 2000 rod bolts.....definitely not stock, but I can't say for sure what brand they are. I remember when I bought a new set Carrillo (that's what I meant earlier) rods for a small block Chevy (race motor) I was building, they cost a little over $1700. When I got them, they had ZERO markings on them for whatever reason. Still don't know today. Anyway, you also have a nice set of forged SRP pistons....they are good. You should not have any problem with the bottom end. Boy that Tri0-Power is gonna look great on there! Just remember that you are putting a low RPM intake manifold on a high RPM cam. They won't agree and you won't get the full benefit out of either one. I say change the cam to something a little less aggressive.....but that's me...you do have a 455 ya know

Looking good man! Keep up the good work!

~Joe

BradM · 03-15-2013, 01:26 AM

Went to the local car show last weekend with mini me. Out of all the cars there, her favorite was a Pontiac! The one with the bird daddy.... She could have picked one of the Aston Martins, Corvettes, Porsches...

Untitled by bradmuellergto, on Flickr

Went to the blaster to pick up my rear end and a few other parts. Rear end cleaned up nice

Untitled by bradmuellergto, on Flickr

They had started blasting the body with plastic. When they hit bondo, they slow down and photograph it. Passenger quarter is caked. Wonder how deep, and what lurks under the filler?

Untitled by bradmuellergto, on Flickr

Trunk has some pin holes

Untitled by bradmuellergto, on Flickr

Untitled by bradmuellergto, on Flickr

Floors looks good

Untitled by bradmuellergto, on Flickr

Untitled by bradmuellergto, on Flickr

Little holes in the base of the windshield

Untitled by bradmuellergto, on Flickr

Got my big order from inline tube, so hopefully be able to get brake and fuel lines run this weekend and start bolting on front suspension.

Take it easy guys. Adios!

BradM · 03-31-2013, 10:40 PM

So my cross town resto rival is putting me to shame

Kokomo is racing towards the finish line, and I'm just inching along. Have a lot of parts farmed out right now: heads, short block, rear end...

Managed to get the front suspension bolted up this weekend. Luckily had family in to visit, so I had plenty of big guys (and my mother in law) to sit on the frame whilst jacking under the lower control arm!

QUESTION: cleaning up a lot of the suspension hardware. Giving nuts and bolts a bath in rust remover and then a few hours in the vibratory tumbler. What color are you guys spraying your restored nuts and bolts?

Found a great deal on a Global West coil over setup, so lightly resto mod I go.

Kokamo · 03-31-2013, 11:02 PM

Wow Brad! Looks great! Somehow I missed your last post. The pinholes in the trunk...I remember seeing something here on PY about how to address that. Looks like you have an excellent start on floors.

Wish my frame was as clean as that, but I was in a hurry. The 1/4 panel...that could be ugly man. Your never gonna know until it's off man, so go to town with some 32 grit and a D/A sander. That's what i did. Bondo is very difficult to blast and keep the panel cool at the same time....uses a ton of material.

Keep up the good work man! Sorry I had to blast out a big progress report

BradM · 03-31-2013, 11:07 PM

Maybe that's why JT hasn't called me in 2 weeks! Heading up that way this week to pick up core support, trans cross member and driveshaft. We'll see if they made any more progress.

Keith Seymore · 04-01-2013, 07:09 AM

Brad - can you tell me which assembly plant the car was built in?

Just making a mental list of the various shifter cutouts vs final assembly plant.

K

BradM · 04-01-2013, 09:21 AM

Hey Keith,

It's a Fremont car.

Regards,
Brad

Keith Seymore · 04-01-2013, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradM

Hey Keith,

It's a Fremont car.

Regards,
Brad

Noted -

The cutout is pretty clean compared to a Pontiac car. Pontiac built 4 speeds look like the opening was chewed out by a rodent of unusual size.

Thanks -

K

BradM · 03-16-2015, 10:37 PM

I can't beleive it's been almost 2 years since I updated my progress on this build! I also can't beleive how little I've accomplished in the last 2 years. Kids, life, work.. I didn't think that was going to be me. No, I was going to power through this restoration and get it done inside a year

Ha!

So today was a big milestone. The chasis is complete, exhaust hung, and cam broken in. I've included a link at the bottom to a couple of youtube videos of the break in.

I can't thank Kevin Crocie enough for all the great work he's done assembling the motor. He is truly a perfectionist, and a great guy to have a beer with to boot!

Kevin took my hodge podge of engine parts and built a great sounding 455. Not only that, but he painted it, stuffed it in my chasis, installed the clutch and muncie, driveshaft, hung the exhaust, and in general, fixed up all my ameture mistakes.

Motor specs in case anyone cares:
455 .030 over with 4 bolt mains
5C heads milled with fresh valve job. Think it's 9.25:1
Crower 60243 cam with rhodes lifters
Original tri-power carbs restored by Mike's tripowers
pypes 2.5" exhaust with street pro's

https://youtu.be/bpu7C_iyLRo
https://youtu.be/42R37MJZGNs
https://youtu.be/uWEJacQAspk

If you're in central Texas and need a motor built or tweaked, I would highly recommend Kevin. His shop is machinehead rpm.

Donovan · 03-16-2015, 10:56 PM

Great update!

rontiac · 03-17-2015, 09:34 AM

Sounds great and looks even better!

Keep on keepin' on!

6567GTO · 03-17-2015, 09:45 AM

Cool, Congrats on the progress. Don't make it another 2 years b4 you post again! lol

CROCIE JR · 03-27-2015, 11:28 AM

Yep, gonna be a cool ride. Brad is doing it right. Machinehead Powersports. 909-240-9330
Thanks for the promo!

BradM · 03-27-2015, 11:50 AM

Brought the body up to Kevin this week and we reunited it with the completed chasis. I say we because I manned the button on the lift.....

Going into a little bit of a holding pattern as I wait for the body shop to free up and I squirrel away the $$$ to pay for body and paint. Guess I'll work on trim and dash restoration in the mean time.

Little bummed that I no longer have a good excuse to blow afternoons hanging out at the Machinehead shop..

BradM · 12-28-2019, 08:24 PM

So, after 4 and a half years, I'm back at it. Well, I'm on the sidelines while Chris from Blanco Valley Performance and Kevin from Machinehead are working hard on my 65!

Lot of new metal to hang and a million spot welds to drill

Glad to get this girl out of storage and moving forward agin.

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