Project LS1Bandit finally hits the road!

[LS1_78Bandit]

It's been 9 long years since my baby last cruised the highways. Today was her triumphant return.

Sorry I haven't posted in a really long time. Mostly things have just been progressing glacially slow. But we're almost at the finish line! The only 2 things left to be done are:

1) Get the speedometer working. I've been waiting for a part that's supposed to convert the electronic to mechanical from Terf for over 2 years now !?! He keeps telling me it'll be done in about 2 weeks. For 2 freaking years he's been telling me this. At this point I'm going to have to try and find another solution. I need a working speedo to get it passed by the CA ref. Right now it's still under PA registration.

2) Get a leather boot made for the shifter. That should be done on monday.

Anyway. I took her out on a stunning 90 mile drive today, through the mountains and up the coast. Here are a couple photos.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

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[oestek]

Congrats! Looks awesome!

[Swiftandswank]

do you have more info on the build? Are those forgeline wheels?

[cdoggy81]

I like!!! :)

[brownz]

CONGRATS must be nice to drive her again. looks great. iam going on 6 years not driving my camaro :banghead: so iam glad your having a good time. enjoy

[LS1_78Bandit]

do you have more info on the build? Are those forgeline wheels?
I have some info on my website:

http://www.ls1bandit.com/

However it's missing a lot of information. I really fell behind on updating it. I'm hoping to catch up on it sometime soon.

As for the wheels ... no, they're Work VS-XX.

[silverz28]

Cool! What's holding up the shaker??:dunno:

[LS1_78Bandit]

Cool! What's holding up the shaker??:dunno: It's a little custom mount. Basically just a couple pieces of metal welded together and then bolted to the engine. You can see it a little better here:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[LMDGUY]

congrats on getting her back on the road! that look like it was a great drive

[cdoggy81]

Cool shaker but ya gotta build one of these for it...... :)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[Steve1968LS2]

One of my dream cars... sigh...

To just cruise the highway with "East Bound and Down" blasting on the stereo...

Very cool ride!

[nitrovette]

very nice, i miss my 70 formula 400

[LS1_78Bandit]

Cool shaker but ya gotta build one of these for it....
Yeah, that was on the list of options I was considering. But it seemed like a lot of effort for very little gain, as well as causing the destruction of one of the few remaining original shakers, and having to deal with the "water issue".

I'm not ruling out doing it some time down the road. But for now I'm happy with the existing solution. It shakes like the original (actually, not quite - the LS1 doesn't seem to shake anywhere near as much as the old Pontiac 400 did).

[shortrack]

very cool.....but you left out a comment on the most important thing...the performance of the car through those mountain roads!

[maldo]

very nice like it

[LS1_78Bandit]

very cool.....but you left out a comment on the most important thing...the performance of the car through those mountain roads!
:) Well, on the first run through the mountains, I really couldn't get a good feel for the performance due to the traffic. But monday morning the roads were clear. :6gears:

It cornered like it was on rails, and held a very flat attitude in the corners. An incredible improvement over the original.

It's a pretty harsh ride now, though I pretty much expected that given the modifications I was making. My focus was definitely more towards performance than comfort.

I think I need to do some more sorting out in the suspension though. The most obvious problem is that with certain types of bumps, the front wheels hit the inside of the fender. It looks like if I roll the fender I might be able to avoid that. Also, with the right speed and a series of undulations in the road, I get a little bit of pogo'ing/rocking front to back.

I think some of it I can solve by dialing in the shocks properly (Global West QA1 shocks).

[Payton King]

Must be because I wanted one so badly in High School. Congrats on getting it on the road.

Not sure if they are still around, but there was a company called Jags that Run that had a conversion box. I think the site is
www.jtr.com (http://www.jtr.com)

[CarlC]

That car is sweet! I too would love to have one of these.

You can have your speedo converted to an electronic type that will use either the ECM or transmission output feed yet retain the stock face. Redline Gauge Works in Saugus, CA can do it, as can North Hollywood Speedometer and Clock. I'm currently doing this using an Ebay VDO gauge as a donor.

[FirstGenZq8]

wow that's a real nice job. heartfelt congrats man!

where did you buy the work wheels from? what are their sizes F/R? also, did you happen to weigh them before you mounted tires?

[LS1_78Bandit]

That car is sweet! I too would love to have one of these.

You can have your speedo converted to an electronic type that will use either the ECM or transmission output feed yet retain the stock face. Redline Gauge Works in Saugus, CA can do it, as can North Hollywood Speedometer and Clock. I'm currently doing this using an Ebay VDO gauge as a donor.
Hmmm..that's very interesting. I was just about to buy the Cable X box:

http://www.abbott-tach.com/cablex.htm

[LS1_78Bandit]

where did you buy the work wheels from? what are their sizes F/R? also, did you happen to weigh them before you mounted tires? Bought the wheels from:

http://www.autornd.com/

Sorry, I didn't weigh them. As for size,


17x10.5" with 5.75" backspacing for rear
17x9.5" with 5.65" backspacing for front

[PonchoJohn]

That's a nice looking bird.
Bummer about all the issues you had to go through to get it to this point...

[customshop]

Great ride. I am trying to get one of my customer to get this style of wheels for a TA we built for him. Here is a few pics of a TA we finished this summer for a customer. It is all painted on bird and stripes, in Copper instead of gold, 2006 GTO seats black and copper, original motor with polished heads and intake. flip foward hood. hope you like it. https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/10/Picture694-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/10/Picture680-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/10/Picture684-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/10/Picture679-1.jpg

[Takid455]

very nice, i miss my 70 formula 400

I have a 70 bird available if your interested. its a project that I am not going to get to for a while. 1500

I asked a few people about converting the stock speedo to electric and retain the original face. I was told by a few sources that it would not be possible. it would have a different face. I am going to use Cable X for my t/a. this looks like a 79 trev did a while back. I always thought those wheel looked shape. awesome car. one day i'll be able to drive mine. been 3 years since I started the project. car has run since 1993.

[CarlC]

That's a big-ass box. Likely for that kind of money you could convert the tailhousing to a JTR and use a full mechanical system

But.....

Having an electronic speedometer that feeds off the the 4000 ppm signal from the ECM is ideal. No cables, no jumping needles, easy reprogramming, etc.

[PonchoJohn]

Customshop-
That's a bad @ss T/A dude!! You should post a full thread w/ pix on it.
I like the copper effect on the hood bird, although I think it would've been cool to have the Firebird fully on fire- it's obvious that the painter has the skills to do it.

[PonchoJohn]

LS1-78Bandit-
How you gonna smog this thing? If you go off the engine, it's gonna have to have all the smog parts for an LS1 vehicle. It sucks 'cause I'm sure it pollutes a lot less than the original, smog laden engine, but that's California's laws for ya...

[GeoffP]

The Abbott CableX is a great solution to drive a mechanical speedo from a VSS. I used one in my first LT1/T56 conversion back in the mid 90's. It worked well and was easy to setup. (No affiliation). Hope this helps somebody out!

[TEXAS PAUL]

THE CAR LOOKS GREAT!!!!! I want to put a LS engine in mine someday, I may drop you a line to get some advice and compare notes. Again, that is a beautiful car.

Enjoy the drive!!! Sounds like you have earned it big time.

[LS1_78Bandit]

LS1-78Bandit-
How you gonna smog this thing?
Very carefully. :)


If you go off the engine, it's gonna have to have all the smog parts for an LS1 vehicle.

Yup, that's how you have to do it for an engine conversion. It's based on the engine year, not the body year. When I first started the project, I assumed I wasn't going to have to worry about smog because of the rolling 30 year exemption. However thanks to Arnold, that got repealed a couple years ago, so now everything post '75 needs to pass smog. :(

I've done everything I could to keep the original LS1 smog parts in tact. It's got the cats and O2 sensors, and the original exhaust manifold, etc. And the '01s don't have the AIR requirement due to a change in cams.

The one thing it doesn't have, and still has me stumped is the EVAP system. I got a Rick's HotRod gas tank with the in-tank pump, however it doesn't have any EVAP hookups.