L695speed

Didn't realize you could just buy the bushings for the pedals...add that to my list since they are out. Looks like its coming back together nicely for you. I didn't take my whole dash apart but I did pull my steering column out. So I might need to cheat a lil bit for the insulation on my car. I'm getting as much of that mat that soaks up water out as I can. Also will go over the seams once I get the old stuff off.

Camaro1185, I'm also using my third gen pedals with the T56. I'm working on getting the master cylinder rod to go on my clutch pedal, and will change the slave cylinder to eliminate the high engagement. There are ways to make it work. If you look around you'll see people using various ways to keep the original pedals.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Yea the bushings for the pedals def made a huge difference especially with all fresh grease and all. My clutch pedal had an ANNOYING squeek when it was pressed in before and it's gone now and feels solid! You can see the napa part number in my pic for the bushings. You'll need 2 kits since it's a "universal" pack. They're like 4$ a piece.

And I have to ask you...I have heard about the high clutch engagement when using the third gen pedals. Is it a bad feel? I'm just curious because if anything needs to be changed to correct it, I'd love to do it now while it's all apart.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

So I had a bit of bad luck today.......apparently when you try to remove the metal trim around the rear hatch glass on a 25 year old piece, it turns into this.....



I LUCKILY had the 91 glass from the TA that my spoiler came off of so I had to use it. I was so deadset on using my 86 glass because it had the high mount brake light which is unique to 86, but after the fact I'm almost glad this happened because the 91 glass is in WAY better shape, and it looks really clean with the hidden brake light. Here it is after I cleaned all the snow off of it.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

After my fit of rage and kicking over 2 garbage cans and punching multiple "harder than my fist" items, I cooled down and got the new glass on the back. I don't lose my temper much but that incident really got me going good. My poor brother and his girlfreind were staring right when it happened and they had this look on thier face like "ok, when is the rage going to start?" LOL.

Anyways, heres a few pics of the glass on the car. Trunklid should be on tomorrow!

Shadow Z

iTrader: (2)

That sucks man.

At least your bad experience will give members some insight: Don't remove the hatch glass trim.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

LOL, funny thing is, it came right off of the 91 glass so easy. Couple taps with a hammer and screwdriver and it popped off like nothing. Apparently they used more adhesive on the 86 glass though...

L695speed

Note to self: Save yourself the trouble and just mask off the glass and paint it that way. Thanks for the warning lol.

I couldn't tell you about the high engagement on the third gen pedals as I haven't experienced it personally. My car is less put together than yours. My guess is from reading elsewhere, is that it only engages in the first inch or so then the rest of it is there to just be there. Someone (I forget who) said instead of screwing with hack mods to make it work, just build the hydraulic system to work for you. Makes sense to me. He used an 86 Cavalier Z24 slave which bolted right onto the car. Said it was more progressive engagement with the full point closer to the floor. Has had no issues whatsoever since. Also from what I'm seeing, if you are using an LS1 spec T56 you can use T5 hydraulics easily. I'm using an LT1 spec T56 so I have the pull clutch. Hence needing to retain the LT1 system.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Got my trunklid onto the glass today and it came out great! Still need to play with it to align it perfectly but for the most part it's pretty close. Heres a few shots...



Heres where the weatherstrip crosses between the glass and trunklid. These nice little plastic pieces came on the 91 trunk. My 86 didn't have them, so I re-installed them and they came out great!

camaro1185

Looks great. I really can not wait to see it done. Not only that, it was a great day to work on the cars with this "heat wave" we have been having.

Keep it up!

Project 3.4 Camaro

Just curious about something, how does the rear hatch glass actually attach to the decklid? I will eventually put a lexan hatch in if I keep the car....

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

The weathers been awesome! I was working on the car all day yesterday and today in a Tshirt and jeans. Feels so nice!

In my first pic, that black sheetmetal piece that runs along the width of the trunklid holds it to the glass with 8 nuts. The Hatch glass's metal trim also attaches to the trunklid with 2 small screws on each side. Then there is a bead of glass adhesive that runs along the enire width of where the trunklid overlaps the glass. It's a huge PITA to seperate them to be completely honest with you, and even worse getting them back together. If I had to do it again, I would have just left it together and taped it off to paint it! Came out great though so I'm not complaining.

The_Maniac

iTrader: (2)

I love the project progress pics! Great work so far! Sorry to read about the glass problem, but sounds like it was not a big deal in the end.

Staged84

You've got an awesome looking car! Thanks for posting all the progress!

FueledSoul

iTrader: (18)

Why didn't you go with non-defrost glass? I ended up swapping in non - defrost glass it just looks so much cleaner with out the lines... I tried to sell and give away some frosted glass i ended up busting them up and throwing them away...

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

I actually really like having a defrost on the glass since this car will most likely be driven right up until it snows here in new england. I'd like to try to keep all the original factory power options on the car because I like that sense of being a "modern" car.

19f0rmula88

any updates. this is very motivational!! i look forward to coming home everyday and looking to see if theres updates man. you inspired me to start a restoration on my 88 formula. ill try to get some pics up of mine

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Glad to be an inspiration to people! And I am actually just coming out of a nasty cold that had me down for three or so days. I hope to start working on the car again in the next day or two so keep watching and I should have some updates when I feel better!

19f0rmula88

are you dead? wheres the updates !!! i was hoping to see it come together more and more. i hope that when i do see updates its a lot of them

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

I know I know.....I'm sorry. I have been Real lazy lately because we have had a freezing cold streak for the past week or so here in CT, and it has taken away all motivation. I'm having winter blues and am getting pretty sick of the cold weather.

For the good news though, I have a freind of mine coming today to install the front windshield and I will def post pics of that. I am also going to try to get the dash skeleton back in and do some more dynamat. Hopefully I'll have some new pics for ya this afternoon!

camaro1185

Its suppose to be in the 50's the next 2 days, I expect to see the car completed by the end of the weekend

J/k keep it up, I cant wait to see it done!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Believe me I would love nothing more than for it to be done this weekend haha. Unfortunatly I can't do magic.

I DID however get a new windshield installed today and put my interior heater box back in. Didn't get a pic of the heater box since my digi cam died after 2 pics but heres the windshield lol. Thanks to my freind Jose who works for safelite for hooking me up on a sidejob!!





I'm really going to try to get off my lazy butt and get some work done this weekend so check back and hopefully I'll have some pics for you guys.

hairysox33

iTrader: (4)

I was looking at this page for about an hour before I realized I zoned out and couldnt stop drooling....

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Got a little bit of work done today....not much but it's something. The fact that the trunk didn't latch yet was driving me crazy so I cleaned up the hatch pull down motor and got that all bolted up along with the striker and trim on the hatch itself. Also took a shot of the interior heater box back in the car.







And the heater box.....hopefully the dash will be in in the next day or so and then.........wiring starts

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

My brother also had his newly purchased addition out in the driveway today and had just got it all cleaned up so I snapped a few pics. Some of you may recognize it as another members old car...

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

You're missing a screw on your hatch trim!

Terrible build! Hackjob!!

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

so whats next on the to do list? and which members car was it?

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Damn good eye!! Hahaha I'm surprised you saw that! It only had 5 screws on it when I took it apart since one of the holes was worn out and the screw must have fallen out at some point. I want to see if I can find a slightly larger thread size but with a similiar sized head since that wasn't the only screw hole that seemed worn out.

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

The only reason I noticed is because mine has a few little cracks forming around the screw holes, and the screws are a nightmare to get in straight...would love to find a new piece with all the screw holes intact.

That black bird is gorgeous...

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

He hasn't really been posting on here much in the past year or so but his user name was fb305svs. He owned the car for close to 10 years I think and put his time and effort into it. I've known him for a long time so when we caught wind of him selling it, we had to give it a good home!

And as far as whats next, my clutch will be here Thursday so I plan on having the entire engine and trans in the car in the next week or so, then the wiring nightmare begins!

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

Out of curiosity, what made you decide to paint the T-Top bar?

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

The T-top bar is not actually back on yet if it's the piece I'm thinking of. I plan on keeping it black when it goes on as well. I love a bit of contrast on a car. Mine's a little beat up though so I was CONSIDERING dishing out the cash and getting the hawks one, although something about it doesn't seem like it should be worth almost 300$.... Unless I can find a very nice used one.

L695speed

I've got one question for you...and only one for now. HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET YOUR HATCH LINED UP SO GOOD!?!?!?! Mine is off center and one side is lower than the other, its all screwed up. Nice progress updates though.

quickkris2006

iTrader: (2)

Looking good man

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Lots of time and patience. Just have to keep playing with it and adjusting different parts here and there. It helped to get the glass on first and THEN put the trunklid onto the glass and get it as close as I could that way. Then I just played with the glass hinges until I got it where it is. It's still not 100% perfect but then again these cars weren't ever designed perfect so for as close as I got it, I'm happy!

Plus once the wrap around spoiler is on, it hides a lot of the slight missalignment areas.

19f0rmula88

sweet finally got something posted i was pretty excited to see it. POST A PIC OF THE SPOILER ON THE CAR PLEASE?!! i have to see how that looks because i think you said you got a 91-92 ta spoiler? i would love to see how that looks on an 86 ta

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

I will definately get pics of the spoiler up for ya as soon as the painter gets it done. He had to repair it since the 2 halfs were starting to seperate in a few spots. No big deal, just had to split it apart and re-glue it. I told him to take his time but pics will be up when I have it back....and yes it was a 91-92 TA spoiler.

I was also bored today so I got my dash back into the car. I thought about it for a while if I wanted to do the wiring first or put the dash in and I decided to do the dash first. I am almost positive I should be able to run the wiring around the dash without it being in the way. If need be I'll just take it back out, but I will be ordering the painless chassis harness this week sometime. After the wiring, the entire interior will be going back in, woo hoo!! It's starting to look more and more like a car every day!

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

Curious, what do you do for a living?

Lookin' great as always, can't wait to see more.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

I'm unemployed

But before that I worked for a company called Hamilton Sundstrand....part of UTC. They designed and build the space suit, various parts of the shuttle and space station, and have a navy and flight section as well that builds a lot of parts for jet planes. I was there for 2 years but they are KNOWN for layoffs and I was a lucky one chosen recently.

To be completely honest though I am actually enjoying being layed off because I have been putting so much more time into the car and I feel like it's actually going to be finished this summer now. Working there also made me realize that I'm not a huge fan of an office type job so now I know what to lean more towards when I go to find another job. I will miss the money though...

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

Hey, nothing wrong with being unemployed for a little while. Gives you time to do what you want, relax, sleep, and live generally stress free as long as you were prudent enough to put cash in the bank when you were working.

Nothin' wrong with that at all, especially when you've got that project to keep you busy on these long winter days.

What's your target ETA for finishing completely?

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Yea it def is nice once in a while to just relax for a few months stress free. I sold my shelby mustang just before the layoff since I caught wind of it coming and it worked out nicely since that was really my only payment. I have a little 1990 beater honda that gets GREAT gas mileage and costs me nothing on insurance so I can sink as much as I need to into the TA.

As far as an ETA, I'm thinking by June it should be pretty much wrapped up. Possibly before that but I like to give myself a realistic timeframe based on whats left to do. Guess we'll see how it works out!

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

So what's the order of what's left? Wiring-->Interior-->Engine/Drivetrain-->Final Assembly?

L695speed

Looking good. I know I said I wasn't going to go as far as you did. But I yanked my dash and heater box to get at the mouse food/nest material that they love behind it. Also my AC is mostly busted, so I'm gonna just yank that for now and maybe put an AC delete box on. (Or I'll put it in at a later date. The box was all broken and all.) But its not going in right away because of the T tops. Where are you finding the little stuff like the clips for the neoprene and etc. I'm gonna replace a whole bunch of it as its breaking when it comes off or its rotted and no sense in not replacing it.

I'm not going to go into my wiring though. Its in really good shape and other than a couple hacks for an alarm and trailer hitch theres nothing wrong. I'm gonna try to keep as much of it hooked up as I can.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Right now it's looking more like Engine/drivetrain going in first, then Int wiring---->Int assembly----->Engine wiring------>Final assembly. I need to buy a welder at some point now that the motor is going in soon since there will be lots of fab work for the turbo pipe. Not a really big deal, just one thing I need to keep in mind for finances!

Sometimes I miss my AC but having T-tops makes it a lot less worse. I was honestly going to try to fit AC back into the car with this build but with having a turbo added to the engine bay and the room needed for a downpipe, it would have never fit. I still do enjoy the clean look without it though. Guess it's a tradeoff you have to make lol.

And the new clips and little peices like that are between autozone and ebay. Autozone/advance auto has some in stock and the ones that are harder to find you can ussually do a little searching and find them in bulk packs on ebay. I know I have seen the clips for the neoprene pad on ebay.....but they list them as the hood insulation clips (same exact thing). Let me know if you need help finding something.

quickkris2006

iTrader: (2)

Looking good man I'm hoping to have my dash in this week and get most of my interior back in and buttoned up

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

I received a very expensive present in the mail today...





Expect to see the drivetrain mostly in by the end of this weekend. I will have pics of for sure as well!! Been waiting to get to this point!

Sparkytfl

I like the dice hanging over the t top bar.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Made some good progress Sat! Motor is in the car and I'm just waiting for my clutch linkage assy to get the tranny on and I'll have a drivetrain. I made a bet with a freind that if the car isnt finished by July 1st I owe him dinner but if I do finish it, I get free dinner so I have to move my butt lol.

Anyways heres the clutch after I got it all torqued down friday night



The two TA's side by side (and me taking the wiper motor back off for clearence haha)



Getting close!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

And the beautiful sight I've been waiting for....LSx power in my car FINALLY!



Ride height dropped about 2 inches as well so the car sits level now, but still high.

Project 3.4 Camaro

Don't worry, it will drop more once you start bolting on the accessories, intake manifolds, and all the other engine bay stuff, mainly in the front, I'm assuming you got new springs since you are replacing just about everything, but hopefully you accounted for the lsx being lighter than an iron v8, at any rate I envy your car even more now....would LOVE to have an ls1 or an ls3 in my car.....

Jason E

Wow...its coming along great! I was wondering how you would have the time to get that car done for Spring/Summer! I've had to sub out sooo much work on my RS because I just wanna drive the thing, and don't have time to work on it.

We should definitely get a pike thread started soon...I'd love to meet some of you guys down at BK, too! I live about 45 minutes from the Pike...I've always wanted a reason to go down more often...never went down last year