The Big Teardown

I finally got tired of the engine and underside of the car being greasy & grimy. There's a real problem when the underside of the daily driver Tahoe is cleaner than the Camaro. So I decided that it was time to tear it down and start this winter's restoration and mods. I figure I won't be driving it too much more this year anyway, and it gives me 6 months to get it done exactly the way I want. Unfortunately, it ended up taking 11 months! Any hot rodder knows how that story goes though! LOL

I took my time and bagged and labeled every bolt and nut. Everything came apart without hassle, no broken bolts or parts, which is good because all the parts I'm not going to put back on (AC, manifolds, etc.) are getting boxed up and stored in case I ever decide to restore the car back to stock again (I LOL'ed when I thought that'd happen though). First things first, the engine compartment got stripped.

Got this stuff torn out on Saturday 10/11

 Got this stuff torn out on Sunday 10/12

And here's what I ended up with

10/19/08 Progress

Did a little more but still didn't get the engine out. Found out the clutch was pretty toasty, so I added a RAM Powergrip HD clutch to the list.

10/19/08 parts pile

Found this also...OUCH! The clutch actuator rod was just waiting to strand me in the middle of nowhere:

Found some other interesting little things that I didn't know the car had. I love it when that happens.  Now I don't have to upgrade the ignition.

MSD Super HEI Module

MSD HEI Coil

Progress 10/26/08

Finally got the engine out!

 

Looks clean inside

 

My engine rebuild kit (spray bomb) LOL:

Before paint:

Primed:

"Rebuilt" Engine (LOL) in Cast Iron Grey

 

Comp Cams timing chain:

Block stamping:

Gaskets & cleaned up sensors:

Progress 11/9/08

Assembled the engine, still needs a new distributor cap, rotor & ignition wires though.

 

No chrome or flash, just the way I like it. Looks more stock-like...which it almost is. There was no reason to put a lot of money into this engine...it ran good, and it's gonna get replaced eventually anyway, so I just detailed it for a low cost. I went with cast iron grey for the block & heads, semi-flat black for the oil pan, timing cover & valve covers, the bolts were wire wheeled and clearcoated, and the sensors were just wire wheeled back to their original finish.

Progress 11/20/08

Finally got the fenderwells, AC suitcase out. Had to take the lower front valence off to remove the fenderwells, but I have to fix the front spoiler on that anyway, and it'll be easier with it off the car. Also took the master cylinder and brake booster out. Gonna clean & paint the booster, but it's getting a new master cylinder. Everything came out with ease, except for the damn brake line fittings...frikkin' rusted on. Liquid Wrench helped out with that though.

Got the front brakes, brake lines & brackets, and the front swaybar out.

 

Progress 12/14/08

Just about finished the disassembly process. Got the front & rear suspension out, the subframe connectors and the rest of the exhaust. 

Front suspension removal 

Rear suspension removal

Oh man, this mess doesn't look like it's gonna be fun. Gonna need a few beers to take care of this LOL!

 

Stock exhaust...how ya like those spiffy painted-over-rust tips huh? LOL

I de-coded the 12-bolt rearend, and found out it's a '70 Camaro unit with GM 3.55's and an Eaton posi. At one point I thought it was from a '69 Camaro or '70-'71 Nova. It's 61½" drum-to-drum. I'm told it's rare, so I'm NOT narrowing it. I'll have the axle tubes welded to the centersection and have the spring perches reinforced, but no cutting to this piece. The axles are in good shape, so I'm not replacing them right now. Another benefit of not narrowing is that it frees up $850 in parts & labor for other stuff the car actually NEEDS right now.

Rearend stamping & casting ID

Gears

Axles

Progress 12/30/08

Thought I was finished with the teardown, but I decided to take the subframe and radiator support out now that I'd gone this far. Had to take out all the bolts to replace the body bushings anyway. So, this mild "winter modifications" project turned into somewhat of a "frame-off" project. But this is actually restraint for me. It could have ended up like my original '77...a bare shell!

Got the bumpers, bumper fillers, fuel & brake lines, front body pieces and hardware removed. Didn't even scratch the paint once during the entire disassembly.

 

As it sits...

On to the next phase...cleaning the chassis & all the parts I took off. Then, it all goes back together! The plan of attack is to wire wheel the underside, clean up the parts, then assemble things in an order: rear suspension, rearend, front suspension, AC delete box, fuel tank, all hard lines (brakes & fuel), brakes, engine, transmission, then all the bolt-on parts and the wiring in the engine compartment. Lastly, the wheels & tires will go on and she'll be ready to roll!

I think I changed my mind on the wheels though. I was gonna do Ralley wheels originally. I thought about all the weight I'm taking off the car (AC, manifolds, cast iron master cylinder, bumper supports), and I got to thinking that it doesn't make a lot of sense to take out all that weight, and then add heavier wheels (as unsprung weight, of all places!). So I think I'm gonna go with Weld Racing Draglites now, with the same size BFG Radial T/A's. I'd be real surprised if I don't take at least 250-300lbs off the car this winter (assuming I go with a 'glass L88 hood). It was 3680lbs in the as-purchased condition. Then if I do the L33/LM4 all-aluminum 5.3 swap, that'll take another 150-200lbs off over the all-cast iron Gen 1 SBC. It'd get up 'n go real well without all that extra weight, it'll handlle better, get better mileage, and be more reliable. Hmmm...

Progress 1/2/09

Finally started the unenviable task of wire wheeling the underside. WHAT A MESS!! Someone in the past laid the undercoating on REAL thick. No rust found, just some cheese on the rear valence panel, but I knew it had some there. It's not bubbling or anything, so I'll just sand the paint, hit some places with spot putty, then prime, paint & clear it. I'll do it over completely when I paint the car a few years down the road.

Put 4 hours at this point, had 10 hours of wire wheeling left.

Progress 1/10/09

After slacking off last Sunday, I got my ass back in gear and finished up stripping the undercarriage, and got the first coat of paint on (Rustoleum Rust Tough Semi-Flat Black). I'll lay on a 2nd coat tomorrow, and the undercarrage will be ready for reassembly. Woo Hoo!!

Got the subframe out, which made cleaning ALL of the floorpans much easier. The body bushing bolts came out with ease, but they were replaced previously (they're usually a pain in the ass). The poly body bushings were in great shape, but I'm still replacing 'em with Pro-Touring F-Body solid bushings (part of their Stop-Flex Kit).

Progress 1/17/09

Sent the rearend to ASW in Halifax, got it back in one day. Stripped & painted it today, took 5 hours. There were 3 coats of paint and one coat of primer! Painted it with Dupli-Color Cast Iron Grey enging paint. I was gonna do Hammertone Grey, but I had this stuff laying around, and no further use for it...it was just good economic sense to use it! I'm real happy with the way it came out.

Progress 1-23-09

Nothin' like takin' the day off from work just to work on the car. Fininshed stripping the firewall, stripped the radiator support, and got them both painted. Also cleaned up the T/A cover, it was looking kinda nasty.

Progress 1/24/09

Got the yoke painted, and I stripped the subframe & trans crossmember. They still look rusty, but that's just dust from wire wheeling. Tomorrow it gets wiped down & painted.

Kind of experimented a little bit with the yoke...Rustoleum Special Metallic Gold & Brilliant Metal Finish Antique Bronze I got at Home Depot.

Clearcoated the T/A cover today too

Old body & leaf spring bushings - junk!

Progress 1/25/09

Got the subframe cleaned up & painted today, WooHoo!! I did a little experiment since I couldn't get at some of the tight spots with the wire wheel (control arm mounts, middle body mount perches). I doused those spots 3 times with Liquid Wrench last night, then this morning I hit 'em with a small wire brush on my die grinder, then gave it a bath in Brakleen. Then I wiped down the entire subframe & trans crossmember with rags and more Brakleen, then shot it with Krylon Rust Tough semi-flat black (I'm addicted to that stuff!). Came out AWESOME!!

Wiped down & ready for paint

Painted!

Painted the pulleys a while back, here they are mounted on the engine

Gonna pick up some ARP wheel studs, since 3 of them in the axles now appear to have been replaced once, 'cuz they're different length than the others. The ARP's will be cheap insurance. I'll re-assemble the rearend one night this week. I think I'm gonna keep on going with cleaning parts...that way I'll have them all ready to go when it's time to assemble.

Progress 2/8/09

Got the engine mounts painted & installed, put the rearend back together, put the fuel & evap lines back in the car, put the starter on the engine, cleaned up the leaf spring shackles & front eye brackets, and got some new parts in!

New parts

Engine mounts painted & installed

Old mount biscuits vs. new Energy Suspension Poly

 Rear leafs, shackles & front eye brackets

I decided that I'm gonna re-use the poly bushings that were in the car instead of spending $210 on the Global West rear shackle kit. They're in perfect shape, and it didn't make a lot of sense to put $210 bushings into used leaf springs (even if they are still good).

 Rearend Assembled w/new spider gear washers (one of the originals was cracked clean through!)

CVR Mini-Starter & ARP stainless bolts

Some "bling" for the engine LOL

Fuel & evap lines cleaned up and ready to go

New stainless steel front-to-rear brake line from NPD

Fuel & evap lines installed

Side marker light retainers & nuts cleaned up & clearcoated

Axles ready for ARP wheel studs (stock 7/16-20 thread)

Gonna continue cleaning & painting parts this coming weekend, then install the front subframe & PTFB Stop-Flex kit, which I'm buying this week!

Progress 2/15/09

Got a decent amount of work done this weekend. Got the bushings mounted in the leaf springs, got the headers mounted and the starter clocked to the right position, got the rear suspension parts cleaned up & primed (waiting to paint), and FINALLY got the rearend assembled. I had purchased some ARP wheel studs, but they have a .481" knurl, which would have required the axle stud holes to be drilled/reamed out. Didn't feel like screwing with that and taking the risk of drilling them off-center, so I bought some new stock wheel studs from Advance Auto (Pik-A-Nut brand, MADE IN USA!!). Effortless installation. I had some time between spraying coats of primer on the suspension parts, so I finished the side marker lights. They were misted with undercoating, but they're almost like-new now!

Leafs w/poly bushings

Engine w/headers mounted, starter clocked

Backing plates & suspension parts

Axles w/new studs

Rearend buttoned up...just gotta put the adjuster jamnuts, drain & fill plugs in

Cleaned up side marker lights

Progress 2/20/09

Got my PTFB Stop-Flex Plus kit today! WOO HOO!! Front subframe goes in TOMORROW!!

Progress 2/21/09

Painted the swaybar, brackets and shackles last night. Got the subframe installed today, gotta tweak the mounting to make sure it's squared to the chassis.

Friday evening painting session. They're painted Dupli-Color Gunmetal Grey. I clearcoated 'em this afternoon.

Subframe mounted!!

I test-fitted the SFC's from PTFB, and it looks like they'll fit like a glove. They'll get bolted in for now, until I can get it to a welder to weld the rear section to the rear frame rails.

Progress 2/22/09

Got the rearend in today! Still gotta install the rear swaybar...gotta press the upper bushings into the links to the frame, and hog out the bushing enclosures for the ½" Competition Engineering U-Bolts.

Used this to drill out the shock mount plates to accommodate the bigger U-Bolts...now THAT'S a DRILL!!

Progress 2/23/09

Got the backing plate bolts in from DMP Fasteners, and bolted them up to the rearend.

Next up...the rear bumper assembly, then the fuel tank. It would be a real pain in the ass to get that in if the fuel tank were installed first, so I'm gonna disassemble the rear bumper, clean & paint the guts, and do the mod to suck it in closer to the body. Then I'll clean, paint & install the fuel tank. It's in good shape, and I might put a cell in it later on down the road, so there's no sense in spending $150 on a new tank right now.

Progress 2/28/09

Got the rear bumper guts disassembled. I doused every bolt three times over a one day period with Liquid Wrench, and they were STILL a pain in the ass to get out, especially the ones that go through the bumper itself (steel bolts vs. aluminum = corrosion). Gonna clean the brackets up today, hopefully get them primed too. Gonna do some "bumper mods" - taking one leaf out of each side, and two spacers out of each bracket that mounts to the body. That should tuck the bumper up to the body real well, shave off a couple pounds, and not sacrifice too much strength. Since the fuel tank is back there, I don't want to gut the reinforcements completely. The front bumper will get GUTTED in comparison. 

DISCLAIMER: I think it's safe to say that any kind of bumper modification will compromise crash protection, and potentially result in lawsuit(s) in the event of an accident. So, if you copy these modifications or modify your bumpers to immitate these modifications in any way, shape of form, you're on your own! I have no control over what you do to your car, or how you drive, so you are responsible for ANY damage, ANY injury or ANY liability that are, or even could be a result of these "bumper mods".

Progress 3/1/09

Got the rear swaybar installed after work on Friday, just needs shocks to be finished

 Squared up the subframe on Saturday and installed the radiator support. Took a bit of jockeying around to get everything to line up, but I finally got everything to bolt up nice

Was gonna wire wheel the rear bumper guts today, but it was too cold to open the garage door...so I wire wheeled and clearcoated some screws & bolts instead

The AC Delete cover, after I drilled the mounting holes and spot puttied some spots

Went out after dinner and painted some more parts

Wiper Drives

Rear brake line bracket

Oil filter relocation adapter

Progress 3/7/09

Got the wiper drives installed, refinished the wiper motor from my first '77 and installed it (no windshield washer pump on the motor, won't need washers anyway!), finished the AC Delete box and installed that. Also cleaned the rear bumper guts and hit them with some Dupli-Color Rust Fix, fabbed up some screen for the cowl vent, and cleaned up & painted the steering box.

Wiper drives

Wiper motor & adapter plate

 

AC Delete box installed

Engine compartment as of 3/7/09

Cowl vent screen installed

Rear bumper guts (stripped)

Rear bumper guts w/Rust-Fix

Steering box cleaned up

Progress 3/15/09

Got the rear bumper assembly all cleaned up, painted and ready for reassembly. Had to hit some spots on the bumper itself and the rub strip with a fine wire wheel to remove the traces of double-sided tape the previous owner used to help hold the rub strip in place...the tape seemed to have held water and corroded some of the aluminum, and also stuck like dried-on glue to the rub strip.

Bumper guts painted

Removed one leaf from each side of the structure

All the bolts for the rear bumper - cleaned & clearcoated

Cleaned up the bumper filler panel reinforcements

Bumper filler panels installed

Also got the steering box installed

Progress 3/18/09

Got the rear bumper assembled & installed! Still needs some alignment work though, gotta get the tilt out of it, and move it a hair towards the passenger side. The removal of one leaf worked out great, it tucked it in just the right amount...it's about ���" from the filler panels. Installing it wasn't the pain in the ass I thought it would be. It would have been difficult balancing it on a floor jack, so I sat on a 5 gallon bucket, put the bumper assembly on my knees, and used my knees as "jacks" to get it in place. I mounted the body brackets to the car first, then slid the bumper over the large steel "pins" that locate the assembly.

Assembled (no leafs yet)

Installed & adjusted

Progress 3/22/09

Got the fuel tank refinished (painted Dupli-Color silver & clearcoated), brake booster refinished (gold & clearcoated), and both of them installed

Progress 3/29/09

Got the trans, bellhousing and clutch linkage done this weekend. I was gonna leave the trans & bellhousing in their natural state, since after I stripped 'em they looked OK, no major staining or anything...but I couldn't resist, I painted them in aluminum. They would have looked out-of-place with everything else under the car detailed. In hindsight, the aluminum paint is TOO shiny IMO. If I was going to do it again, I'd paint it in plain old silver.

Trans & bellhousing stripped, before paint

 

After paint

Clutch Z-bar & frame bracket (painted gunmetal grey)

Parts 4/2/09

Woohoo!! Got some parts in on Friday. Ram Powergrip clutch, ARP flywheel & pressure plate bolts and a Hurst Pit Pack w/steel bushings from Summit for the Competition Plus shifter. They even threw in a Ram baseball cap. Got some parts from NPD too - Z-bar pivot ball, upper clutch rod boot, clutch fork boot and a clutch return spring.

Got the flywheel resurfaced at NAPA of Clarksville, VA

The BIG thing I'm excited about (even though I can't use it right away) is that I picked up a virgin -511 casting, 4 bolt main 400 block and a stock crank. Once I get the car back on the road, I'll send it out for cleaning, magnaflux and sonic testing so I'll know that I'm starting with a good foundation. It looks good to the naked eye (no cracks in the deck, bores check out at stock size, no blackening of the main or crank journals from spun bearings), but it needs professional inspection.

Progress 4/4/09

The engine is in! Finally got the 350 off the stand, and into the car. Now the 400 sits on the stand, waiting patiently until the car is back on the road so I can start work working on it.

350 free from the stand!

In the car

Headers on

400 sitting on the stand

4/8/09

Ordered a new clutch today, this time the right part number...RAM 98761. My SpeedDirect.com clutch linkage was waiting on my porch when I got home from work...

Progress 4/14/09

Picked up a 'glass L88 hood on my way back from CT for Easter. Its already painted gunmetal grey, which doesn't look out-of-place on my white car. Still gotta work on the gaps, but I expected that since it was already fitted to at least one car. I am really diggin' it!

 

Got the marker lights in

Progress 4/16/09

Got the new Ram Powergrip #98761 clutch right before I left for CT for Easter, but the disc & pressure plate weren't matched. The disc was 11" and the pressure plate was 10½". Had to send it back, but got the correct one today. Big kudos for Summit Racing on the fast turnaround.

Progress 4/18/09

Got the clutch and trans installed! Got the clutch linkage installed last night, had some trouble getting the trans to bolt in though. On some advice from a saavy NastyZ28.com member, one push of the clutch pedal let it slip the rest of the way in.

Clutch disc, pressure plate, fork & bellhousing installed

Trans in!

 

Clutch linkage w/SpeedDirect.com rods...NICE stuff!

Progress 4/19/09

Got the shifter & rods, power steering hoses, backdrive linkage cleaned and clearcoated today. Also got the clutch dust cover put back on the car.

Shifter before cleaning, disassembled

Finished parts

Shifter finished

Backdrive frame bracket

Progress 5/14/09

In the past few weekends, I've gotten some things done.

Got the shifter, pinion snubber, rubber fuel lines and backdrive linkage installed

 Got the air cleaner painted semi-flat black, got the brake booster line cleaned & installed, as well as the rear brake line bracket

Got the front control arm bushings pressed out, used an Autozone rental ball joint press on the lowers, and an air hammer on the uppers. They came out easy! I found that the tie rod ends and ball joints were all replaced (they all matched the receipts from the previous owner's resto job). They're all nice and tight, so I'll flush 'em out with Brakleen and relube them, and they'll be good to go. No sense in replacing parts that are good as new. The U-joints were a BITCH to remove, even after melting the stock plastic retaining goo out of them.

Got my Energy Suspension poly front control arm bushings and swaybar links & bushings, and pulled the U-joints out of my stash. They were originally for my GN, but after checking the part numbers, I thought they'd work on my car. Unfortunately, the rear one doesn't fit. It needs a 1310 to 1330 conversion joint w/big Ford cups and internal C-clips on the driveshaft trunion, and no clips on the rearend yoke trunion. Got one on order from www.theujointstore.com.

Got the rear bumper disassembled. I sprayed every bolt with Liquid Wrench multiple times over 2 days. All but 2 bolts came out easy. Two of the carriage bolts that go through the bottom lip of the bumper spun and I had to grind them out. NBD. I'm gonna leave out the leafs and the brackets that attach them to the bumper fascia, which will remove a decent amount of weight...I'm thinking around 40-50lbs. Gonna weigh the parts this weekend.

Got the lower A-arms stripped, shot 'em with Dupli-Color Rust-Fix, then semi-flat black, and pressed in the bushings with the ball joint tool.

One stripped, one soaking in Liquid Wrench to loosen up the undercoating

Painted

 

Got the driveshaft stripped & painted, and put in the U-joints. Also stripped & painted the UCA control arm shafts, front swaybar, and wire wheeled & clearcoated the driveshaft yoke straps & bolts and A-arm washers & nuts. The U-joints are Neapco Brute Force units.

Driveshaft installed

Oops...not quite installed. This is the unfortunate moment where I figured out I needed the conversion U-joint.

I drank quite a few beers after finding this out. Oh well. I'll have the new, correct U-joint on Monday the 18th. Ordered it on Wednesday, a greasable Neapco unit. The front joint is a Neapco Brute Force solid unit. For the current power level, a greasable one will be strong enough in the rear, but I'll replace it with a solid once I add serious power.

This weekend I'll get the front bumper & guts (the parts I'm using at least), UCA's, spindles and coil springs cleaned & painted, and install the bushings in the UCA's. If I get a good enough head start Friday night, I might get the front suspension installed this weekend!

Progress 5/16

Got the front & rear jounce bumpers done. I just scrubbed 'em with soap & water, wire wheeled the metal parts, then painted 'em in gunmetal grey. The rubber part of them with silicone spray.

Got the rubber evap line connectors on too

 Then I ran into a problem (what, another one?!). Two of the UCA bushings are waaaay too loose in the bores...���" play. Turs out the car has later model ('80-'81) UCA's on it. Hmmm...kinda made me wonder WHY. Oh well. I had to talk with Energy Suspension, and ordered the new ones from Summit.

Progress 5/17/09

Got a bunch of parts lined up to be wire wheeled...

Got most of 'em cleaned

Progress 5/19/09

Got my new U-joing in the mail

Shot the rear drums & front spindles with Rust-Fix

NEW PARTS 5/20/09!!

Got a SHITLOAD of parts today from Buster's Performance Center of South Boston VA, including my new Weld Wheels & Radial T/A's, mounted & ready to GO!! They're good folks. This was the biggest purchase yet. They matched Summit's prices, but I did have to pay VA sales tax. It was still worth it to support the local speed shop & local economy.

Front: 15x7 w/3½" BS, P235/60SR15's. Rear: 15x8 w/4½" BS, P275/60SR15's.

On top of that, my Alan Grove Components alternator & power steering brackets were on my doorstep when I got home!!

Progress 5/21/09

It's like Christmas in May never ends...got parts from Summit the next day! Equus Timing Light, Hawks Ferro-Carbon brake pads, GM EOS (gotta have it for an engine with a flat tappet cam), stainless hood pins & lanyards, and lug nuts for the Convo-Pro's.

Progress 5/22/09

Got the rear shocks & jounce bumpers installed, rear brakes installed (along with the new hardlines), and fit the rear wheels & tires on. PERFECT FIT!!

Had to try and remember how all this crap went together...

iPod to the rescue LOL

Rear shocks & jounce bumpers, rear axle hardline installed

Front brake hardline

Rear tires test fit. Meaty! Still plenty of clearance though.

 

Page 1: The Story
Page 2: Mods & Plans
Page 3: Pics w/Convo Pros & Hoosiers
Page 4: The Inspiration – Why I sold my GN and am building this car
Page 5: Restification Progress Reports - Page 1
Page 6: Restification Progress Reports - Page 2
Page 7: My '05 Z71 Tahoe 4x4 & Miscellaneous Stuff