Lime Green 71OLDS 442 convertible

I should mention the real reason for this change was the update to put the FiTech hand held hidden in the ash tray as mentioned/shown in a previous post:
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../rytpWgc-1.jpg
Also several of the gauges I had below the dash were "shown" on the hand held so they were redundant. We swapped out the Volts gauge for oil pressure beside the speedo and I'm left with all the gauge read outs I want/need but a more stock look. Here are current pics:
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../r2gBI2y-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../TZji1t6-1.jpg

of course nothing ever goes as planned. 8 track is looking sweet but on the mock up of my current stereo going behind it, it's the Magnum 6 speed that is the show stopper. Of course the tunnel around the 6 speed is several inches taller then the stock tunnel that was around the M20 and then the Richmond 5 speed.....so the stereo can only go "back" about 4 or 5 inches before it hits the tunnel. My current Sony stereo is about 7" in depth. Did some research and they actually make shorter depth stereo's that are called "mechless" which just means they don't have CD functionality meaning they don't have to be as long for the CD to go in. Also apparently marine stereos are shorter too. Checking those out or may go glove box with my current stereo - we'll see.
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../nCGTbD7-1.jpg

Update on the stereo - decided to go with this one:
https://www.classiccarstereos.com/19...html?rrec=true

​​​​​​​https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../PmrTN2S-1.jpg

It's obviously not 100% stock appearing but it fits in the stock holes and still gives the old school look that will go well with the 8 track. It has 5 channel RCA pre-outs, an external mic for hands free talking, and a USB port for charging my phone. I'm able to use my 5 x 500 amp for all 5 speakers including the 12" sub (and can adjust sub up or down) so hoping end result will have zero drop off if sound or functionality from my current aftermarket radio. Will update if that's the case once its in.

I have the cd-less version in my 51 F1. It's bluetooth, etc. Now that we have flashdrives and bluetooth, the only time I use a cd is in my house. :)

I'm with you on that. Haven't used a CD for years. I won't miss that at all.

I haven’t been on here in a while, so I am catching up on your progress. Mark Savitske is a genius. I spent some time learning from him before finishing my suspension setup. Thanks for sharing your wheels & tires learnings. I currently have an 18x8 square setup but there is so much wheel well in these cars!

Obviously I'm with you about Mark. So far everything he suggested/recommended has been spot on. You could definitely upgrade to 18x10s in the rear with our huge wheel wells but of course the 18x8s won't hurt you. I finally pulled the trigger on all new rubber. Will show some pics when everything is mounted.

New rubber is on - as a reminder from above it's 18x8 fronts with 245/45/18 Michelin Pilot 4S and 18x10 rear with Nitto 555r drag radials 305/40/18. Biggest difference is the rear tires are 1" shorter then former (305/45/18s) and of course no raised white letters glued on yet:
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../shlTLwr-1.jpg
The top of the front rim looks slightly closer to the trim ring to me now then the rear so may put a 1/2" spacer under the front springs but want to put some miles on the car first to make sure the height front to rear stays the same.

The process for trying to put back the factory original stereo holes has begun. Dash had to come out and I bought the 68/69 Olds radio bezel so the depth of the holes match and then bought the factory original woodgrain with the metal backing on it to use as a template to make sure everything goes back in the right spot:
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../8bomN3q-1.jpg

-Joe

Looks great!

Thanks Andrew!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 71OLDS

Thanks Andrew!

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How tall is the 305/40? About 27.5"?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andrewb70

How tall is the 305/40? About 27.5"?

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the 305/40/18s are 27.72" the 305/45/18s I replaced were 28.78"

Getting the stock radio holes back turned into a huge project. Dash had to come out. Props to the wood grain from Jeff at H&H with the metal backing:

http://www.hhclassicauto.com/

Really high end product. Makes it much harder to cut and glue to the dash but the finished product is so much nicer. Here are some pics:

https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../zOFOKyD-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../PcxTIju-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../e7H5eEy-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../Yv8vjwS-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../wRsPcZg-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../RWWrkZA-1.jpg

Here's some pics with everything back together. Still need to line up the glove box perfectly and do some glue clean up and detailing but really happy with the end result and getting things much closer to factory appearing. Will update if there's any drop off in sound or functionality with this stereo but hoping that's not the case. Really love the old school factory original 8 track player without all the added weight. Also remember I have the FiTech hand held unit with all my #s hidden in the ash tray. May go back to the factory black rubber mats eventually too.

https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../umptnGF-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../1gyh96L-1.jpg

Here's a "before" pic for reference with the aftermarket stereo, different wood grains, and gauges below the dash in the "8 track like" housing. I still have all the details from those gauges on the FiTech hand held unit in the ash tray.
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../HKMRuH0-1.jpg

Been a while since my last update - been chasing a vibration only in 6th gear (with 4.10 rear) for a while and of course everything slowed to a screeching halt with this new normal we are all in. Will be ordering a new driveshaft soon but really excited to see how far we can go with a new rim and tire combo I've been wanting to do for a while. Just ordered one front and rear tire only to test fit and hopefully start all the mods required using the back space tool and no rim. Going really wide for autocross and hoping we can find a way to make these fit w/o having to go with “flares” but we'll see how it goes. Front is a 305/30/19 Hankook RS4 and rear is a 345/30/19 Michelin Pilot SS. The Hankook’s would be my autocross tire (combined w/a 335/30/19 Nitto NTO5 in the rear for all 200TW autocross setup) and the Michelin's would be my street tire (combined with a high end but street/rain friendly 305/30/19 Mich Pilot 4S) in the front. I went with the widest tire option for both for the mods to be "built" around. There are multiple Chevelles running 315/30/18s on 18x11s (same width as my 305 will be since the Hankook’s run wide) and other 68-72 GM A bodies running 345/30/19s so I know it can be done, but we'll see how bad it's going to be. To be clear right now I don't have wheel tubs in the rear but my current 305/40/18s fit with a little room to the outside. Will probably start to see if we can somehow gain at least another ½” to the inside via mods to the inner wheel wells and 3” tail pipes. Really don’t want to have to notch the frame or anything crazy like that. I’m afraid we may still need to “bulge” the quarters out a little to make it work. Fronts will be crazy too. May have to have a custom sway bar made for the front (for full lock to lock turn in) and definitely will have to mod all the inner wheel well area, take the fender wells out and mod them, and do fiberglass mods on the inside of my glass fenders. Wheels will be 19x11 fronts and 19x12 rears and guessing the BS will be around 5.75 to 6 for the front and 6.5 to 6.75 rear. The wheels will be Schott Magnums and will look exactly like the wheels I have now (except being 19s and wider) which resemble the classic Olds SSIs/Magnum 500s etc. So let the journey begin on my dream wheel and tire setup. Hopefully it's not an epic fail. I'll be posting pics and hopefully mods along the way.

Ordered my new driveshaft today. When running a 6 speed with double overdrive and 4.10 gears, everything has to be absolutely perfect to prevent any vibration when you put it in 6th gear on the highway (at 70 mph+). The drive train angles are NOT the same as a 4 speed or 5 speed and the driveshaft must be balanced to 10,000 RPM. For reference a standard driveshaft is balanced to 3,000 RPM but that balance is meaningless in 6th gear with a numerically high rear end. I had never heard of this 10,000 RPM “high speed” driveshaft balance but I’ve never had a 6 speed either. For anyone else considering the upgrade just throwing it out there. Hoping for some glassy smooth highway cruising soon – we’ll see what happens.

Some more updates on the rim & tire upgrades – I’ve gathered some more research from others that are already successfully running a similar setup (with a 68-72 GM A bodies) so I thought I’d share some info and pics that will hopefully help with my car and maybe others that try to do this too. First the plan for the rear is a mini-tub. I’m really hoping not to have touch the outside body panels at all and for the 345’s in the rear, I don’t think there is any other way to do that. The BS may be even more than I originally thought (as much as 7” or even 7.25”). Will most likely have to move the 3” tail pipes. Hoping the frame won’t have to be notched but we’ll see.
This GTO is running 345/305s - Thanks to Tom (968ls1 on this site) for the details/info he provided - here is his car for reference:
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../hJooGvZ-1.jpg

For the fronts I’ve now found 4 or 5 guys successfully running either 315s on 11s (on a 18” wheel) or 305s on 11s (in a 19” wheel). It’s the same mods/setup for all of them:

1. 6” BS

2. Find a sway bar that allows full turn in (not all of them do).

3. The rear of the fenders at the bottom have to be cut back and blended to gain tire clearance.

4. Then the Inner fenders have to reshaped to fit those fender mods.

5. For some using button head (flat head) bolts for extra clearance at the top of the wheel well works, other have to trim/mod even more here (beyond just flat head bolts).

Bottom line is lots of mods. Here’s some pics I found of Chevelles with 315s on the front. Look at the size of the tire and then you’ll understand why it takes sooooo much work to make it fit. Also shown in one pic below is the work on the inner fenders but it’s kind of hard to see exactly what was done.

https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../OxA5NFJ-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../rZY5dxY-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../yNOq9hQ-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image...e7imdU-1.jpg?1
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../PbtJ65g-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../PlnU9qX-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../wCh2G5e-1.jpg

One other issue I’m concerned about for my setup is my Lee 800 steering box with built in stops. I’m afraid I may need to pull the steering box and send it off to have those stops removed or changed for more turn in with a 6” BS and these massive meats so I can still do a U-turn at a typical intersection when street driving.

For reference - here's some more really nice pics of these bad ass cars:
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../BbG9rdX-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../9l4yntn-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../Ygx3nwC-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../07cDUmN-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../7as6M8B-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../X7HQ28c-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../SNi2JmL-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../UT2Rq1T-1.jpg
​​​​​​​https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../N1epCR8-1.jpg


-Joe

tires arrived today. Going to start the mock up soon. Also ordered a different sway bar that will hopefully provide more clearance for full turn in.

-Joe

https://static1.pt-content.com/image...D8OO2v-1.jpg?1

Mock up started:

345 30 19 - pretty much fills every inch of the wheel well as expected:
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../9JrfHca-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../1tGCoCe-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../O7iZCcs-1.jpg
305 30 19 - same thing on the fronts:
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../QoJT9Sm-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../UT16pIi-1.jpg

A few updates. For starters I made the decision to not move forward with the 345/30/19s rears. The bottom line is it can be done but not without a full frame notch something like this:

https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../zOqkeTJ-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../cIwoWHD-1.jpg

These are pics of a Buick I found online I believe running 335s in the rear. If you are going to go this route it would be ideal to do it with the frame separated like the frame in these pics. Also for me my down bars for the roll bar are almost against the wheel wells meaning to move the wheel wells in, the down bars would have to be relocated inward too. That was the end of going this route for me:

https://static1.pt-content.com/image...7L19hL-1.jpg?1

Still hoping for 325s or 315s in the rear but we'll see how that goes next.

Lots of challenges on the front too.

https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../CPJNMC0-1.jpg

Tires hit the already modified Hotchkis sway bar at full turn in:

https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../LbJmfCD-1.jpg

We tried using the Helwig bar and it was the same result. 6" BS seems to be the best location on everything but the sway bar turn in.

https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../b9Qzl6S-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../ysLWMwB-1.jpg

5.75" BS was a no go. It clears the sway bar at full turn in but would need fender flares to make it work to the outside:

https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../ShnGRBZ-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/image.../29PFxR0-1.jpg

So considering a few other options. I may try to swap this tire for another tire brand that is still a 305/30/19 but is .3" skinnier like the Michelin Pilot 4S. Hard to believe .3" would matter with only .15" on each side but that's how close we are. The other option is switching to a splined sway bar but I think we will try the slightly thinner tire at the 6" BS first and then recheck everything. Not giving up on the fronts yet.

-Joe