Stage 12

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Feb 11, 2008

Well, I haven't been able to get much done as I would like. 

I was going to keep the granny speedo and go with Autometer gauges in a A Pillar gauge pod. My buddy though said I should try to find a 120 speedo gauge cluster to make everything look factory. He mentioned that after everything else I have done to the car, leaving that granny speedo would make it look unfinished. I wanted to do that to begin with, but the price I thought was prohibitive. Then after my buddies prompting, I looked at what I was going to have into the autometer gauges and tach, and realized that I would have more into those than going the gauge cluster route w/120mph speedo. 

I kept an eye on ebay for a while, checking prices and found a used 120 gauge cluster from a 87 442 that was being parted out. Price? 250.00. And it didnt look that great, so I didnt get it. 

A day later I found a perfect gauge cluster with 85mph speedo for 70.00 and a NOS 120mph speedo with 0 miles on it. Paid more than I wanted to for it, but it was still sealed in the box from GM. Seeing as how my car has been rebuilt from the ground up, starting again with a zero mile speedo  is appropriate I think. 

So after all is said and done, I purchased both. Here you can see that I took apart the gauge cluster, cleaned it inside and out, and mounted the new 120 speedo into the gauge cluster. 

Here you can see the finished product. I now have to redo the wire connectors in the dash to go from the granny pack to the gauge cluster.

Here it is installed in the car.  

During this time, I have also gotten the front clip mostly on the car. Rad core support is in, inner/outer fenders are on and everything is squared and lined up. The wiring in the engine compartment is pretty much done, I have test fired the engine and man, it sounds great. COMPLETELY stoked about running it the first time. Grin from ear to ear. 

The A/C is hooked up (gotta have A/C going down the road) but not charged. 

I havent put the front header panel on yet, as I need to mount the tranny cooler first, and run the lines for it. Then I can put the hood on, header panel and bumper cover. I also still have to put the bucket seats in, wire up the B&M torque converter lockup switch and mount it, fix a few wiring gremlins that have shown up, put an exhaust system on it, bleed the brakes, alignment and inspection. That should be all I have left to do. But as has been the case with this, new ideas and projects will probably show up unannounced. 

March 29th 2008. Today was warm here, 45* out. Took the car out into the driveway and washed it. First time it has moved under its own power. Here it is before washing it...

Here it is all nice and clean again. Yes, you can still see how much snow we have as well. Brrrr...

Still have lots to do. Most of the interior is done. Rebuilt the Qjet tonight as well. Took it for a spin around the block. My best friend Tom was with me. Engine still needs some fine tuning, but the it drove ok. 

I have the new Torque Tech exhaust on its way (ordered last week) and also my new MT Drag radials. The gray wheels and tires on the back now will be put on the front, and I have a set of matching wheels that will get the drag radials for the rear.

I also have to get new red stripes for it. I peeled some of it away as it was peeling so I am just going to redo it for now until I can repaint the car come fall.  

At this point, with so many little things going on with it, money is going faster than I would like, but the big spring push has commenced. Hopefully in the next month everything will be done and I will be driving it at last. 

Stay tuned.....

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