An attempt at subtlety in a crowd of buffoons

[Motoman325]

This place is for slow moving low cars,
take your cool muscle car somewhere else lol

But really i was hooked from the first engine bay shot

Wha kind of torque are you running to lift that front end?
Or would you blame it on the old front end?

[xAHx]

This thing is too rad. Totally dig it.

[gunchsta]

I have nothing against people taking their time- I do take issue with people being unmotivated and passing it off as difficult so others don't make them look bad.

Anyhow, welding class!


My old front end had very limited space for headers, so the ones I bought were definitely optimized for that set up. Well, now I had all kinds of room, but oddly enough the new intermediate shaft for the steering interfered with my old headers. They were a craigslist score to begin with, so I didn't feel too bad when I did this.


This process was extremely time consuming, and very rewarding. This falls under the category of stuff that people tell you you "can't" do. I grant you, the welds aren't pretty, and the headers have lots of 'cheated' bends where tubes don't flow, but they fit in the car, cost me nothing, and were a solution to a problem- one I didn't fix with just money. I could've ordered a set of $600 engine-swap headers, but I'm glad I didn't. I learned a lot about welding, and will build a better looking set next time. Plus I have the satisfaction of doing something I never thought I could do. The bonus is that they don't leak a bit! I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Keep in mind I estimated I had 30 hours when all was said and done into welding, cutting, test fitting, re designing, and painting these, so go easy with the criticism.











More to come tomorrow!

[DER E30]

So many old timers take 5 years to bolt a carbureted engine in their Chevy with some chrome doo-dads and then talk about it as if it was the greatest hardship they ever encountered when they had to re-route a fuel line. Yup, seen that too! One of my friends I still make fun of for taking 3 months to bolt a 350 where a 305 used to sit! Just bolt it in dude!!!

I simply had to take some time, look at the issue from a few angles, and start piecing things together. This is how it happens!!

I'm only saying all of this because I see so often on forums and in real life that someone had a 'hard time' with a build and they talk about it to less-experienced enthusiasts as if it were this great travesty and that the new kid shouldn't even try.

[gunchsta]

Problems has such a negative connotation- Lets say I encountered some 'opportunities for fabrication'. So many old timers take 5 years to bolt a carbureted engine in their Chevy with some chrome doo-dads and then talk about it as if it was the greatest hardship they ever encountered when they had to re-route a fuel line. This stage of the build was not like that. I ran into things that didn't quite work, and I built a way out of the dilemma. It wasn't horrible, it wasn't hard, everything wasn't working against me, I didn't have to sacrifice a goat to the car-gods in order for things to function. I simply had to take some time, look at the issue from a few angles, and start piecing things together.

I'm only saying all of this because I see so often on forums and in real life that someone had a 'hard time' with a build and they talk about it to less-experienced enthusiasts as if it were this great travesty and that the new kid shouldn't even try. I myself fell prey to this mentality for a number of years with this very car, and I wish I hadn't. Not to sound preachy, just want people to have as much fun and learn as much as I did once I was willing to experiment. Also, always be prepared to do something twice- it's easier the second time anyhow.


Anyway, off my high horse and onto pictures!

The first thing I needed to make 'custom' was a firewall mount for my new steering column. The new front end came with rack and pinion steering (ooooh technology!) which necessitated a new column. So I needed a mount on the firewall for the new, shorter, column. This is what I came up with. Not perfect but it works flawlessly.





I was happy with these welds, far from professional but I'm learning


mounted and painted


first issue resolved! success!

Now that the car could steer, it was time to test fit some more stuff and see where we were at for the rest of the progress.

Needed a shot of ride height, to appease my brain and make sure the front wheels were still in the right spot Very happy with how this looked! everything lined up square and nice.



Put the inner fenders in, needed to see how much more room the new front end was going to afford me. It looked great! I had concerns about clearance of the steering shaft and headers however...





Thanks for looking at my blurry pictures and reading my old coot style rants! In the next chapter I get a lot more experience welding!

[Azrial89]

#GMWisdom

Why does the first gen CTSV have 245 tires on the back with 400hp LS? #GMWISDOM That's why!

Just dumb. Thank god for the aftermarket and people who have a clue!

[DER E30]

Problems are problematic...

[gunchsta]

Dusty painted pieces, and my borrowed work bench



Gotta test fit the new stuff right?


Cleaned up and painted the firewall as about 35% more of it showed now with the new subframe


re-painted the throttle linkage that hangs on the firewall as well as the wiper motor. You can also see my un-painted engine/trans lurking in the background




Subframe on, control arms on, firewall cleaned and painted.


Brakes and coil overs on


Test fit!


Up next, watch me encounter problems!

[DER E30]

Ugh isn't that the truth! I still can not understand why their fastest production car of the 80's (The Grand National) had rear drums?!

#GMWisdom

Why does the first gen CTSV have 245 tires on the back with 400hp LS? #GMWISDOM That's why!

[Azrial89]

This is one of my favorite Pizza places ever, they have great pasta too, and the drive is beautiful around lake Minnetonka getting there. Anyone in Minnesota should check out Joey Nova's.


cruising around the lake

I absolutely love that drive! Except when you get stuck behind some old couple enjoying the scenery haha. Never been to Joey Nova's, im going to have to check it out next time im home!

Thanks GM, for offering horrible brakes

Ugh isn't that the truth! I still can not understand why their fastest production car of the 80's (The Grand National) had rear drums?!

[j3wman]

I'll keep my lips shut at the Rice Lot. *zips lips*

[gunchsta]

Oh hello there!

shhh... now you know all my secrets. Hi.

Those valve covers are as amazing as this build should be! Keep it up!

Thanks for the kind words! more assembly to come, even some fabrication

[RedGalant2k1]

Those valve covers are as amazing as this build should be! Keep it up!

[j3wman]

Oh hello there!

[gunchsta]

Like I said before, it seems that as you go on a project the most recent thing you do always seems like the first, and this massive purchase I just made probably should have been the first- I spent plenty of time and money trying to improve the stock front end, but despite my best efforts couldn't church up the horribly cheap engineering GM had in mind when they put this car together. It was a throw away car, and the suspension was designed to be cheap and easy for them to assemble, which they did a good job at, but that didn't translate to a long lasting durable front end.

It flexed, it groaned, it swayed, it was removable?


Yes. disconnect the engine and trans, unplug wiring, disconnect steering column from gearbox, and remove the 12 or 14 bolts holding the front clip to the firewall, and it comes off in one unit.


At this point I was living in a 1 bedroom apartment with a garage that I could only use for parking, so I was fortunate enough to rent/borrow a garage stall from a generous friend. This wasn't initially something I was comfortable with, but it was my only option at the time. It ended up working out spectacularly, and I think we both helped motivate each other. We worked different shifts so we didn't work together that often, but we'd come to the garage and the other one would have made some measurable progress, so it would be a game to see who could surprise who with work completed.


Stepping back a bit, Remember that big pallet of parts? Here are it's contents. I un-wrapped everything to take inventory of what I had and send pieces off to paint. The decision to have someone else paint parts for my happened before I had a garage space to work in, had I known that I would've painted them myself- I wasn't 100% happy with the results for the price I paid, but that would later give me motivation to tackle things on my own before sending them off to someone else and writing checks.

Anyhow, here's some 'fresh out the box' pictures of bits and pieces

Subframe


Motor mount detail


Box of control arms


Stopping power!


Stainless brake hoses and fittings


Control arms, Coilovers, subframe bracing rods


Fancy schmancy billet goodies