CoupedUp

Hold on.... I just saw a brand new way of removing undercoating tonight! It's the slickest way I've seen yet. My buddy uses a Cordless Multi-tool w/ a Small putty knife attachment. Give it a try..... I think you'll agree, and if not, well.... Ya got a cool new tool.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Had a long night, but the drivers side is done and ready for the subframe connector! Got two coats of herculiner on it and it finally looks complete under the car! (on the drivers side at least, lol.) Gonna start scraping the pass side tomorrow and will hopefully have it undercoated so that I can install the subframe connectors Sunday.



That is pretty neat! Wish I knew about it when I statrted lol. At this point though it's probably be a waste of money for me since I'm about 75% done, but thanks for the cool idea!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Ordered a set of BMR weld in subframe connectors and got the drivers side in. Fit on them was excellent, as I've come to expect from BMR. Also got 1 coat of herculiner on the pass side floor pan. After one more coat, I'll be welding that side subframe connector in. Then, the underside of the car is officially done! Thank god, since I wouldn't even want my worst enemy to have to scrape undercoat.

Anyways, heres a few pics of the BMR subframe connector...



Closeup of the front where it meets the frame. I herculined the welds and whole bracket to keep it all from rusting.


Heres the rear control arm area. Did the same thing with the herculiner here as well.


And here's how I connected the subframe connector to the pinch rail on the car. BMR includes small squares of metal and they recommend using them for this if the car will see some track use or hard cornering. Because the car is making a good amount of HP, and I do plan on actually using my suspension, I thought it would be best to make it as sturdy as possible. BMR only mentioned using two per side, but I may add a 3rd on each side for extra rigidity.

TPI TERR

iTrader: (9)

How is that applied ? gun ? Brushed ?

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

The herculiner is meant to be brushed/rolled on. It covers really well though, even when brushing. After the first coat it looks a little patchy, and you can see the body color through it in areas, but then when you lay the 2nd coat on, it's like magic and it fills in nice and thick. I put a 3rd coat in my wheel wells, but didn't see the need on the floor pans.

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

Those subframe connectors look like something a good welder can do. How much did you pay for the kit?

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

The subframe connectors were $230 through summit racing. And honestly, for the amount of time it would take to fabricate these, I would prefer to pay the money to get them pre-made. Plus, the pass side has a bent piece that contours to the floor pan and there is no way I'd be able to make a bend like that in my garage. Plus, fit was awesome on them!

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

That looks great!!! I really wish I had the ambition to do that to my underbody. Mine has that waxy undercoating on it. Its EVERYWHERE. They even brushed it under the front lip of the hood. But...there is ZERO rust on my car. Well..might be now since Ive been messing with it haha.

Hmm...BMR didnt include pieces of metal when I bought my SFCs... I keep meaning to tie them in to the pinch seams. My Spohn bars on the last car were stitch welded all the way along the length of the bars. It felt VERY solid...and I can actually detect some flex in my body with the BMRs just welded front and back. Its still 100x better than without SFCs...but I really need to attach to the pinch seams. Maybe while its up with the motor out. Should be sitting pretty level and without the weight of the drive train things are pretty neutral anyway.

Seriously jealous of that car!!

J.

BMR Tech

Thanks for sharing the pics. The car looks amazing! We have shared it on our Facebook account as well.

http://www.facebook.com/BMRSuspensionInc

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

i liked it. thats an honor in my books. now its time to get that purdy lil thang into any or many GM mags!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Wow, I am honored. Thanks for the heads up!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Have some AWESOME news for you guys. Finished up the pass side subframe connector friday afternoon (sorry, no pics yet...I'll get some up soon) and just in time too, since I had a dyno tune scheduled for sat morning. I am still in disbelief with what the car made for HP. I'm only running it at 11 PSI currently too, and it will take 14 PSI no problem. The car is by a huge stretch the fastest thing I have ever driven. The rear 285 tires do not get any traction whatsoever even in 3rd gear unless it's nice and hot outside. I am so glad my years of research on this engine setup paid off...and your just going to have to watch the dyno vid to get the numbers...

I'll just say I'm about on par with what a corvette ZR1 makes at the flywheel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf3et...ature=youtu.be

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

CMON give us some exacts, and then when can i have a ride? =) just kidding im glad your amazed by your car, you should be youve put a ton of heart soul, time, money and dedication into this thing

Tehsocks

Amazing car, Amazing job, Amazing thread. Im sure we've all learned alot and been inspired by this thread.

Looks and sounds just sweet.

Cant wait to get my LS swap going.

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

Not gonna lie, it's amazing how "bipolar" this car feels. And that's a good thing! It's just silly how it feels like a ***** cat (albeit a loud one) when you're light on the gas around town but once you're on it... well... hold onto your privates ladies and gentlemen. You definitely expect some surge of power, but the way it pushes you into your seat and boils the tires at 50 mph in 2nd gear just blows your mind. By far the fastest car I've ridden in. For the 62nd time, congrats dude!

edit: I'm surprised that TGO blocked out the p-word in front of "cat" lol

91 Droptop

Wow, great numbers congrats on an amazing build and the work truely paid off, just an amazing car all around, Bravo.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Not much of an update, but I finished a few things that were kind of pending with my PCV/catch can setup. Also got an air filter on the turbo which makes me feel a lot safer driving it now lol. Here's a few pics.

Made this baby using the stock oil cap for about $15. The oil caps with breathers for an LS motor go for between $40-$75 online! I couldn't fathom paying that when all it is is a stock cap with a filter lol. Picked the small filter up at advance auto and used a 3/8 brass fitting threaded into the cap and viola. This is part of how my catch can setup works.


The catch can itself is a rev extreme vacuum assisted catch can. It basically uses check valves that only allow vacuum to pull the engine fumes out. When driving out of boost, it uses the intake manifold vac to suck the fumes out of the rear of the drivers side valve cover. When the engine sees boost, the intake manifold check valve closes and the one on the turbo's air intake opens, using the suction from the turbo spooling to continue pulling out the fumes, and vice versa. It's a very effective setup and after just 400 miles of driving I already had a small amount of watery gunk in the catch can!


Heres where the bung and fitting were welded to the air intake.


And theres where I crammed the air filter in lol. Tight fit but it fits good!

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

Looks like you have a lot of room under that hood. Did you do a ac delete?

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Yes, the car has no A/C but the heat works great! There would have been absolutely no way to run A/C with this setup unfortunately.

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

BS... if there's a will, there's a way.

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

lozantius82

iTrader: (1)

LMAO!!!!!!

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

BAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA

lozantius82

iTrader: (1)

Those are some serious numbers your pushing there!!! At 14 psi you will be pushing over 600 rwhp easily!!! I want to see you smash on a KB 03-04 cobra and the new 2013 gt500 pig!!! Third gens get no respect especially from the ford guys but im sure that won't be your case lol Burn rubber not your soul!!!

91 Droptop

Car looks amazing, you need to be commended for the attention to detail you put into this project, great job brother

ipaq3115

Just for kicks, have you driven this beast enough to get some idea of gas mileage? Curious to know how good/bad this 5.3/turbo combo is.

RJMcEachern

Amazing, simply amazing! Congratulations on a car well done.

RJMcEachern

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

So far I've been averaging 13 mpg, but there has never been a tank that I haven't beat on it a few times, and when you go full throttle, it sucks some gas lol. The tune is also still rich on the highway and at a few points while cruising around town. When the tune is perfect, I can easily see 17 mpg around town without beating on it.

Thank you! Good name too. I'm an RJ

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Heres a shot of the car from this past weekend. Had it out cruising around a bit and met up with a few car buddies.



Even had one of my buddies with his 2012 Boss 302 mustang try to race me

dctrouant1995

nicee!! put that mustang where it belongs!

BADNBLK

iTrader: (11)

Awesome!

sailtexas186548

iTrader: (2)

any update on how bad the motor is hurt?

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Shhhhhh, now everyone will know! LOL, jk man. I was going to post up soon about it. It's not bad at all. Need two pistons to slap in and it'll be golden. The entire bottom end is in perfect shape except for the two pistons that lost the ringlands, but it didn't touch the cylinder walls so I'm searching for some take out pistons now. Problem is the 5.3 I have is a 2005 and I need 05+ pistons which are harder to find. If I don't have any luck, I'll just get 2 new GM pistons but they're $90 a piece so I'd rather not. Expecting it to be back up and running in about 2-3 weeks. It was something that should not have happened at the power I was at, but the tune was slightly off and you can't make a mistake with the tune on an engine like this.

Speedfreak391

iTrader: (1)

How did you hurt it? Detonation?

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Yea, I'm like 99% sure it was detonation. My tune was just too aggressive for the setup. Too much timing. But the cylinder walls are still perfect and with only 35K on the motor, I'm just gonna throw 2 new pistons in and call it a day. We'll play with the tune a bit and make it a little more safe and have at it. I did 4 back to back runs at the time I hurt it and I think the cylinders just built up too much heat during it.

GPSkinzhut

iTrader: (2)

*coff* 6.0 *coff*

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

You should seriously consider alcohol injection.

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

Is that the Dunkin Donuts parking lot?

Jake88maro

haha man it was like he was standing still! this build is extremely impressive! great job man!

t_raven

Car looks great!

As far as AC goes, I'm planning to turbo my 89 and if I can't figure out a way to route everything to keep factory AC then I'm going to look at using a universal Vintage Air unit. I put their Gen IV set up in my 67. The fan is a little noisier than I'd like but it's compact and does the job. I think keeping the 4th gen compressor in place should be easy enough but trying to get a down pipe routed without taking out the evaporator will probably be the hard part. If you ever want to add a/c you could look into a Vintage Air unit and a universal compressor that would mount above the dp.

severedsanity

Awesome machine!!! Any pics of the completed interior?

79tagio

Dude what camera do you use? looks good! Too bad i havent deen it this season lol.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Yes sir, sure is! Came out perfect with the leaves changing in the background. They match my car!! LOL.

Hmm, I will definitely keep that unit in mind. I have seen a bunch of muscle cars with the vintage air setups and they seem pretty compact. Maybe in a few years when I start getting old, lol.

Thanks! And unfortunately, the interior is not done (no door panels yet), so I don't have any completed interior pics. Hopefully soon!

I use a plain jane Sony 12 mega pixel digital camera lol. The trick is holding it as steady as you possibly can while taking the pic. I've noticed that when doing that, my pics come out crystal clear, but if I move it, even slightly, they have some blur to them.

severedsanity

Will you be going with the GTA door panels? I'm wondering how well the sound deadening worked for you with the dyno mat and neoprene padding. Is it worth the effort to strip everything out and install? I'm sure door panels will quiet it down some more but do you think it's as quiet as the luxury cars that boast about the quiet passenger area?
Thanks and I look forward to seeing the pics of it completed.
Again that is a great looking TA and an inspiration to all of us

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

I'll be using just factory 86 style trans am door panels since I want to keep the interior mostly how I've always remembered it. As far as the dynamat and neoprene, it's tough to say at the moment because without the door panels on, I get rattling from the lock rods and handles. I also have a small amount of wind noise coming from the pass side window since it needs a bit of adjustment. I can honestly say though that NONE of the interior noise is coming from anywhere on the floorboards, and even with the few rattles I currently have due to the door panels, it is still very quiet inside. I wouldn't compare my personal car to a luxury car in terms of interior noise because with my rough suspension and engine, the car will always have some noise inside. But as far as better than stock? I would definitely say so.

Thanks for the good words on the car too!

Jason E

Finally got a chance to check in on this thread (buying a Duramax, so I've been all over Duramax forums for the past month)...

I had the privlege of meeting the OP, along with his brother, about a month ago in CT. I pulled into a Dunkin Donuts parking lot, and saw this pretty orange TA that stuck out like a sore thumb, in a good way A mutual friend was able to introduce us, and I spent the next 2-3 hours boring the crap out of him and his brother about third gens

The thing I kept saying both out loud and to myself, over and over, is that THIS is how a third gen should be modded. THIS is the attention to detail so many "restorations" lack on this website. THIS is a car that stands proud when compared to other cars at a car show.

For those who haven't seen this car in person (which is obviously the vast majority of you), I can tell you its even more amazing in person. My only regret that night was that I had my SS out, and not my IROC. It would've been nice to FINALLY park my IROC next to another third gen on a Saturday night that looked like this, and not look like a DD or beater...

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Thanks a lot for the kind words man. It was great to finally run into you and meet. Funny how small of a world it is, with us both knowing some of the same people, but never meeting each other lol. I'll take what you said as a great compliment being someone that has owned more than a few tasteful and very clean 3rd gens himself. At some point I would LOVE to see that IROC of yours as well!

Oh and btw, didn't bore me one bit. I'm one of the few people that actually enjoys BSing about 3rd gens for a few hours!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Just wanted to remind all of you to be sure to check out the November COTM thread and vote! Lots of respectable cars to choose from, and mine is a candidate as well this month! Heres the link to the thread:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/auto...ml#post5412571

iansane

iTrader: (1)

I had voted for your car because it looked really slick and I love turbo LSx cars and then I read all the way through your build thread. Wow. Amazing job, dude. I'm glad I voted for you. You should be insanely proud to say the least.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Thanks a lot man, really appreciate the kind words! It makes the whole build worth it to hear things like that from people. And in all honesty, your bird has always been one of my favorite converts by a long shot!