[Doc-Z]

I really don't have the $$$, but getting it done was worth dipping into the savings a little. I just wanted it done. This would have taken me MONTHS and I don't have the right amount of space or the time to do it.. This has been a 3+ (coming up to almost 4) year project. I need to get this thing done so I can off load some extra parts. Problem is, I'm not sure which parts I'll need until I'm finished.

Well, I know I could sell the LSA blower and factory 18's now. The LSA will offset the cost of the mini-tub; but there's more that I'm not sure about.

 

[ALL ULL C]

LSA. Details as I’m kinda sorta looking for something but just not sure which blower.

 

[Doc-Z]

LSA. Details as I’m kinda sorta looking for something but just not sure which blower.

I'll PM you some info on the blower I have.


As of right now, this has been slow going. I was working on it a little this past weekend, but I didn't get nearly as much as I wanted to get done on it.

What I did do, is remove the spring base for the stock suspension, got the rear K-Member and suspension bits coated in Por-15 and sanded (for paint). I have to remove the stock rear sway and install the adjustable Whiteline one I got and had powder coated to match the brakes.

Everything is SO dirty. It would be easier if I could get this outside for a quick spray and wash...but I have to get the suspension back on first...which means, I have to get everything witht eh K-member and suspension sorted out, cleaned, coated and painted first. The LSA seams were a little rusty (under some Por-15 that I used on the car about 3 years ago). I did manage to get more of the underlying rust removed, as well as the spring bases. I could have ground off the welds, but I wanted to leave some of it as a reminder of what was all done to the car. You can also see the notch in the LCA as well.

Inside of the trunk looked like $#!t too. There was a rust issue under the fuel tank. I groudn out what I could, de-rustified it (Rustomeum Rust Dissolver) and then went over thecraters w/ Por-15. Afterward, I scuffed the Por-15, primed and painted it (for posterity). I can't even tell there was an issue anymore.

Then there was the rust issue on the K-Member. All thewelde seams had rust on it. It was pretty thick in some places, but it cleaned up better than I expected.


BEFORE:

👆 before I did anything
👇 after I used my dremel and ground out some of the heavy rust

Then I used Rustoleum Rust Dissolver on the remainder. The results were pretty good. I'd say, 99% of the rust was completely gone. WHatever was left.....

...got coated in Por-15. It has since been scuffed and repainted using Eastwood "Chassis Black".

There was some slight surface rust on the tubs...which I cleaned with the Rust Dissolver. I did use Por-15 on the metal and I'll finish this up using spray on bed liner. At this point, there is NO MORE exposed metal. The fuel tank should begoing in by the weeksn end and I'll be running the new PTFE fuel lines.

 

[ALL ULL C]

LOL, forgot about that post. You already helped me out my friend (Ported LS9) with the YouTube videos you made. Same username here as tech.

 

[Doc-Z]

Some of the latest things I've accomplished on the car.

I managed to clean everything again. I Por-15'd the tubson all sides (trunk, iunterior and wheel wells. I then coated everything (trunk and interior) with Rust encapsulator (in case I missed something, followed by primer and a ligt coat of Brazen Orange paint. I used some sound deadner in the interior of the car (wheel wells, under the back seat, under the carpet and inside of the rear quarter)

Then I test fit the rear seat. The bottom section went in nice. The top section was...well...at least the bottom section went in nice!!!

After I tried the top section, it was NOT going to go in without a fight. I had to remove the leather and then pull back the foam to see the wire frame. I ended up bending the side bolsters in about 2 to 3 inches per side. I then put it back together and testfit it....

WOO-HOO!!! It wnet RIGHT in place with a little bit of sungness on each side...

The leather is a little wrinkled, but I' sure that will reteact back on itself over time. Then it ame time to pull out the rear speaker panel. I forgot, I needed to address a scratch on the drivers side speaker grille (WHOOPS!! 🤦‍♂️).

There was a small dent (hardly noticable), but the scratch was like a sore thumb. I bought the car with the speaker grille scratch, and it ALWAYS drove me CRaZy. Every time I walked up to the car, I saw that eye sore EVERY TIME! Of cource, I had to wait until the 11th hour to fix the prolblem.

It wasn't difficult to address at all. The hardest part was removing the grille.

When I turned the grille over...well, there was a bigger problem (depending on how you look at it). RUST! Seriously?!? Rust on the bottom of the speaker grille....

I broke out the Rustoleum Rust Dissolver and within a few minutes, it went from:

To completely rust free!!!

With the slight dent removed and a fresh coat of paint, these things looks spectacular. There is a LOT for me to gloat about on this car, but this is one thing that ALWAYS drew my eye and detracted from the car in an acute way, but was always 🔩'd with my 🧠...like "Chinese Water Torture".

So glad that's gone!

Currently, I'm waiting for the acoustic foam sponge to arrive (tomorrow), so I can re-assemble this and get the back seat reinstalled. I should have taken pictures of the rear panels, but they were a LOT more difficult to 'massage' back into place.

I then decided, I needed to run the new fuel lines (to and fro) the tank. While I was working on that, I came across this lovely part. This is what your evap line, fuel line and brake lines are partially protected by. It's held in place by 2 10mm screws and 4 plastic 10mm bolts. The amount if rust on this was not bad, it was...just...encapsulated by the rust.

After sandblasting it....and eventually paint

...the last pic wont upload. :-(

Anyway, I got something accomplished on the car this weekend.

 

[Doc-Z]

Here's the pic that wouldn't load...

Last weekend, I managed to get a bunch more done on the car. The worst part to try to fit and modify were the plastic interior panels. Before I put it all back in, I stil had to fish the wire loom back into place, reinstall the speakers, fuel door release, brake lights and sensors. Once that was ll completed, I started by putting in the C-Pillar trim, followed by the rear interior panels.

I had to wait for the acoustic sponge foam stuff to get delivered. Once that expanded for a day I cut it the basic shape and reinstalled the grille over the opening. With the grille over the sponge, you can't see my bad hack job of cutting this stuff.

Here it is all installed. Once I put the foam over the opening for the speaker, it does eliminate the light reflecting around, under the grille and makes the speaker look a TON better. I'm not 100% sure what it does for the sound, but I don't care. The ding / dent and scratch are gone! I'm very happy with the way this turned out.

This concludes this part of the build. I'm looking for someone who can redo my headliner, because my material is sagging. So the A and B pillar panels are not going back in anytime soon. I also lost a screw-hole plug / cap for one side. The front seats, console and door skins / panels still need to get installed. This far, I have close to 25 hours invested in the back seat modifications for the mini-tub. It's been slow going, but I think the time I spent getting everything to line up and fit properly paid off in the end. My only gripe is with the wrinkles in the leather...but I think that should shrink up on itself in time.

My next major project (or what I'd like to get done) is to get the rear suspension back on and get the rear wheels / brakes back on. The I can pull the car outside, wash it w/ soapy water for the first time in almost 4 years. I'm also going to shampoo the carpets before I reinstall the front seats. This will be SO much simpler if I'm outside, than in the garage and limited by the walls and 💩 I have around the car.

Coming soon....the double fuel pump re-install / rewiring and measuring installation of the outgoing and return fuel lines.

👍

 

[Doc-Z]

It doesn't look like I did much this weekend, but everything took forever to get done. I decided to install the new / stronger ARP lug studs. Because I have the Bohnman Brembo brake upgrade, this was not an easy install. I had too remove the dust sheild spacers and e-brake show to get these on. What a friggin nightmare. I struggled with the e-brake shoe for almost an hour trying to get it off. Then, like MAGIC, it somehow twisted the right way and came off REALLY easy. I have no idea what I did, but I was able to get it back on with hardly any problem. Performiong this act on the other side was JUST as frustrating and magical...

Seriously, I have no idea how these shoes go on and off, but it was a complete P.I.T.A., until it slid on without any effort.

Before I swapped out the lug studs:

...and after:

From putting the coilover brackets on and struggling to get the spacers and bolt in, I wound up marring the spacer and bendingt he bracket (slightly). I had to file down the spacers, in order to allow them to go in easier. Using round sand paper discs (with one sticky side), Isanded off the finish to reveal some scratching and an impressions around the center hole, left by the coilover. I used a file to remove some of the material off the spacers. I didn't want to take off too much, because they are supposed t be a tight fit.

After sanding, but before filing:

After filing and giving the spacer a quick sanding on the disc:

...then I installed the brakes and brake lines:

At this point, the car was ready for a wash. It has been nearly 4 years since I last washed my GTO. A few of the neighbors stopped by and were asking about the car. Some of them hadn't seen it outside in a VERY long time. When I sentit out for the mini-tub, it gotcaught in the rain. I was going to try to wah it then, but I was running late. I did manage to use some spraywash to clean off some of the soot...but there was a LOT left on the car....

 

[Doc-Z]

Before I took the car outside, I wanted to see what sort of clearance I had with the notched LCA's. The best I can figure, it's around 7/8ths to 15/16ths of an inch. Thatshould be Plenty of room (for now). This is a 9.5" wheel with 295/35 19's mounted on them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Now that the car is cleaned and outside, I was able to start reinstalling the rest of the interior...but first, a little more cleaning...

My ex's little 💩 heads used to spill their drinks in the car (constantly). I swear I shampoo'd the carpet 2 times when I got the car because of them. Mind you, I got the car in July of '14 and it was spotless. I left her in December of '14 and she did ost of the driving...

I then managed to get the seats back in place. They are not bolted down all theway, because I still need to install the center console. I also need to get the headliner redone...which is why the B-Pillar trim is not installed yet. In case anyone is wondering, the seat covers are / were made by Wet Okole. These are their black Neoprene with copper pipping. The piping did fade and now looks PINK ... I also have the "GTO" logo custom embroidered with silver stitching on the outside edge and copper stitching on the interior of the logo.

Man...those are some decent size meats in the back!!! Note: the drivers door panel is not installed yet...

...then...

I etched out an idea for a new emblem for the trunk. I mean, it's no longer a 6.0. This is what I call a "Late Night" project. What I mean by this is, after working on the ar and instead of getting under the car at 8pm at night, this is a project I can work on for an hour and not have too much cleanup to do. I used a pencil to get an impression of the 6. emblem and....

This is a crude start. At this poingt, I only cut out the "6.9" out of paper and taped it onto the stainless steel. I still have to cut this out. I was going to start by taking off the bulk under the emblem with a hack saw. Eventually, I'll put this on the drill press and punch some holes inside of the ovals. It's going to take some drilling, some cutting and a LOT of file work to get these looking right.

 

[Doc-Z]

This is as far as I got with the emblem on Saturday night (after taking a shower). It's literall, just a paper cutout, that I put on some stainless steel and sprayed black paint over to give me a guide.

On Sunday, my back was getting sore. I took it easy and tried to polish out the headlights. I am VERY unhappy with them, as there was something dripped onto the lens. It took around 6 hours of sanding to try to get...whatever was spilled on them, off. Upon polishing them, the polishing wheels were contaminated and left scratches int he lenses...

I didn't get to finish them. Instead of trying to polish them better, I went back over the lenses with a series of sand paper grits, starting with 1000, then 1200, 1500 and 2000. I ran out of paper...so this is when I called it quits for the weekend. I was going to stop at the store and get more 1500 and 2000 grit paper, as I used up the last of what I had...but there is a LOT of crazing in the lenses. There is also a leak somewhere on the passenger side that I need to locate.

Yesterday I ordered new polishing compound (the stuff I had was almost 7 years old) and new buffing pads. However, because of all the crazing, I'm not completely sure of what I want to do. I don't think I can sand it all out, because the lens will be too thin. I was thinking of trying some sort of clear coat and a polish, followed by clear Headlight Armor...but not 100% sure what to do at this point.

I did see some stuff that diies perfectly clear, that they use for cell phone glass repair. I'm not sold that it will even last, but the liquid looks thin enough to penetrate into the crazing (I hope). I have 2 other sets of headlights, which ALL need some sort of work done to them. I may just put these on the side and use a different (cruddier) set for now. I have a lot of mechanical stuff to do to the car still and don't want to spend several weekends screwing with headlights.

I did read you cannot fix the crazing...but there has to be something we can do. Almost $2K for headlights is NUTS!!!

 

[Sacrifice]

I have the wet okole covers also. Only thing i dont like about them is it makes the seat not stay forward when trying to get in the back.

 

[Doc-Z]

I didn't get much done on the GTO this weekend. There were some issues my mother was having with the landscapers, where I feel they were trying to take advantage of her. After deal with them, all I managed to do was sand the 💩 out of the headlights (again) and buff them out. I started with 400 grit and went to 500, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500 and 2000 grits; to get the marks out of the polycarbonate lenses. I should have taken pictures of the "before", but I was kind of beside myself when I saw them all marked up. I was more upset because these were stored away in a plastic bin in the garage. They were wrapped in fairly dense bubble type wrap, with cardboard under and wrapped around all the tabs, to keep them safe. When I opened the bin, these were BOTH unwrapped / disturbed.

I don't have any kids and this project is in my parents garage (though my father passed last October). They have a large garage and were letting me work on the car in my "spare" time. At times, my father has 'issues' and would do random things; because in his head, they made sense. My mother doesn't touch the car stuff, because she doesn't now much about them-other than a LOT of the parts are expensive, hard to get, etc.. I DO believe my father unwrapped them...simply because of the way they were in the bin. I definitely DO NOT think he damaged them. He was probably looking for something and looked inside of the bin. He probably saw them and put it "away". I cannot explain the drips. There wasn't anything (NOTHING) on the wrapping. To damage them, they would have HAD to have been unwrapped completely, had something drip onto them - DRIED - and then repacked away.

Knowing my father and how he stored things, he couldn't / wouldn't have put the headlights back into the bin. His idea of filing consisted of piles of stuff on top of other stuff. Because they were sorta neatly placed in there, it couldn't have been him. Plus, he had Dimentia, due to occasional oxygen deprivation (he wouldn't wear his O2 tubes). If he wanted or TRIED, he wouldn't have been able to take the lights out and walk across the garage...

Anyway, I'm at a loss as to what happened to them

I used some arrows to help point out the blemishes. The ones that are yellow with a red border have a blemish between the two (and even extends further along the bottom, past the smaller of the two arrows). The red arrows with yellow borders show some spots that were on the lenses.

After an initial buff, there were still marks in the headlight on the left (U.S. passenger side). I was NOT too happy about this, as these were (at one point) really nice headlights. NOW, there are ghost-like blemishes in the lenses from something being dripped onto them.

This is after a third and final polishing. It's hard to see, but there are still blemishes on the lenses. When I put these things away, they were fairly nice. When I went to take them out to do do a good polishing on them, the top tabs were either cracked or broken.