1968 Firebird...Project Childhood.

[Josue]

Had a pretty good day! Another parts store run, stopped by Lowe's to get some bolts for the rear caliper brackets, and over 6hrs of wrenching. It's nice to be knocking stuff off the list, feels like real progress!

Got the steering all wrapped up, just need to add fluid and pray for no leaks. lol




Guy at Napa had one of the Lee's style adapters laying around that he gave me to try, but it was too small, so I had to cut the original fitting off the new pressure hose and reflare it with a 3/8 fitting.






Got the axles drilled, all the studs pressed in on them and the other front hub, and tack welded all of them on the back side. Rear end is back together, and rear brakes done.

BRP Hot Rods rear disc brake adapter plates...








Fronts are all done too!










I'll get the rear end bolted down once my leaf spring pads come tomorrow, then that will probably be it for the week. Also going to order the stainless lines from Kore3, get those coming since they take 2-3 weeks to make.

[Gil]

Very nice !
I needed motivation to go cleaning in the garage before starting the brakes swap.
- you should really consider a bigger front sway bar like Hotchkis stuff, handling improvement is really noticiable -
(Even if it's kind of a pita to put in place !)
Thanks
Gil.

[Josue]

I had my eye on the new ridetech streetgrip package that came out a few months ago, but I'm already WAY over whatever budget I thought I was going to stick to with all this, so another $2500 isn't in the cards this year. haha

Unless I come across a few pieces here and there in the classified section(s), and buy them as I go. I'm always looking!

[Josue]

Little by little...

Got the conversion u-joint installed in the drive shaft. Napa #372 worked for me and this swap. 1 1/16" pinion side, 3 1/4" wide, 1 1/8" drive shaft side, 3 5/8" wide.



Got the leaf spring pads in, and I also ordered a 5pc set of stainless steel hoses from Kore3, all 4 corners, and the axle drop hose. Rear end is finished, minus filling it up with fluid, and bolting the shocks on.



I bent the hose brackets up a bit to follow the contour of the axle, and bolted them under the u-bolts.





Old hard line fitting got all jacked up removing it, so I put a new 7/16X24 fitting on and reflared the line...

[Josue]

Question though....

The leaf spring pads were WAY too big for some reason? They were too wide, and also the circle "pegs" that go up into the rear end and down over the bolt that holds all the leafs together to center the rear end were way too big too.

So, I had to shave a bit off to get them to fit, and basically just cut off the pegs all together. I did my best to line everything up on the old marks on the leaf springs, but I'm worried that the rear end isn't centered, or square? The passenger side looks like it sits centered in the wheel opening, but the driver side looks like it might be too far forward.

What's the fix for this? Just use a measuring tape off the same points on the body and rear end and call it a day? I'd hate for that thing to be crooked back there and chew up my brand new tires or something...

[Gil]

I would do kind of a diagonal check with a plumb bob and a tape measure.
Like I did for my front SF, maybe take the holes close to the front spring perch pockets & another like one of the rear-end U-bolt holes then mesure in diagonal so you'll see if squared ?

[Josue]

I figured it would just take some measuring, i'll see what I can come up with.

Maybe a 4 wheel alignment would help as well?

[Josue]

Set out today to install the new converter, put the header back on, drive shaft, exhaust, drive gear on the tailshaft to correct for the new gear set, and fill up the rear end. 5 out of 6 ain't bad! Got it all done minus filling up the rear end, but I decided that while I had access to the trans, I'd put a new filter and pan gasket on since the trans has been saturated since I installed it! So that took up the rest of my time.

Also took apart the shifter shaft? Linkage rod? Whatever it's called. haha There was a drip coming from there too, so I threw a new seal at it.






The speedometer cable housing needs replaced too, it has a leak coming from the end where the cable screws in. Looks like there's a chunk missing on the end of the threads.




There's nothing left but to install the new master cylinder/booster, so hopefully I can knock that out next week. Then just fill all these fluids up, and work out any bugs!

[Josue]

Just about ready for a test drive!

Got my booster brackets from Summit today, so I finished the firewall stuff up...

Had to re-thread both the rod (obviously) and the bracket as well. Not sure if the threads are deep enough, I'm kind of wondering if I'll strip it right out pushing the pedal too hard in a panic stop or something? haha Once I get it all dialed in and working 100%, I'll throw some tack welds at it to keep everything in place.




Used some bolts to shim it down a bit. Sits pretty level, just as I wanted. Also used the original master cylinder grommet to fill the hole back up.




Had to man-handle the bends in the lines, I wasn't too good with a tubing bender. haha Maybe I'll take another run at these 2 lines someday.



Side note, I can't believe how solid this prop valve is mounted even just being suspended there by the brake lines! Thing ain't going anywhere!

[/URL]


Now all that's left to do, is get a bung for my intake manifold so I can hook the booster up, see if I have enough vacuum to make a difference in pedal pressure.

I also want to try re-bleeding the rear brakes, the driver side caliper gave me some problems that I'm concerned about. I'm not sure if a bleeder screw can go bad, but the thing was acting weird. It was VERY hard to break loose, so I ran it in and out a few times when I did get it going, to clean it out. Then during bleeding, I'd tighten it down, but fluid would still come pouring out if it? I'd loosen it up, then the fluid would stop. Loosen it up more, then the fluid would come out again! I finally damn near stood on the wrench to tighten it, and it seems to be sealed up now, no leaks, but we'll see what happens overnight.

[Josue]

Maiden voyage!






I know, I know....needs lowered. haha

[Josue]

So far, the kinks are as follows...

Steering - It did ok on the first drive, but it developed an intermittent binding, clunking noise after that, so I'll have to track that down.

Performance wise, it feels much like manual steering? I'm not sure if that's just the nature of the beast with these quicker ratio boxes, or if there's a problem somewhere? I LOVE the response of it now, but I wish it was a little easier to turn. Maybe some more miles will reveal the answer...

Brakes - I had hoped I'd throw all this on and voila, modern braking feel and performance just like that, but I knew it was a stretch. haha As I expected, little to no improvement on pedal feel due to my low vacuum levels, so I'll need to see if I can throw a better tune on it, and/or get a vacuum canister.

I couldn't even lock the brakes up at all though, so I'm not sure if the addition of a working booster will help with that, or if there's still air in the lines or some other issue preventing instant braking performance like that?

Axle - I can definitely feel the difference with the 3.08's, so I'm pretty happy there! I thought I had the axle centered in the wheel arches, while being squared up off the front hubs, but after getting the wheels on and having it sit on it's suspension, the driver side wheel looks like it's sitting back a bit....weird.

While cleaning up the barn though, I found an old set of original leaf spring pads from the used rear end. I'm going to clean them up and throw them in on top of the leafs....should allow the rear end to sit exactly where it needs to now.

Torque converter - The new stall speed is spot on with the car now, MUCH better than the 2600-3000 that was in there last season!


Overall, pretty happy with the results. Could be better, but could be a LOT worse too! At least I don't have any leaks anywhere...everything is sealed up as it should be. Just gotta get some miles on it, and work things out as I go...

[68Formula]

I know, I know....needs lowered. haha

Kill two birds. Remove the isolators top and borrom, and install just a 1.5" aluminum lowering block between the leaf and housing bracket to drop it slightly, and to more firmly connect the axle to the leafs.

[Josue]

I always used lowering blocks on my trucks over the years, I guess I never thought about using them on old cars like this?

Could be an inexpensive, short term fix. It would force me to address the front at the same time, but I'm always seeing people getting rid of lowering springs cheap. 4 new shocks, and that would probably hold me over for a few years while I address the aging motor...

[Josue]

Got about 30 miles on the car now, only glaring issue has been the tune, and now an issue with my booster...

The brakes were applying themselves the other day for some reason? They weren't locked up completely, but they were definitely dragging. There was little to no travel in the pedal too, like something in the booster was preventing me from depressing the pedal. Happened driving the 4 miles to my parents house on Sunday, it took just about all the car had to keep moving!! I was getting worried I would glaze over my rotors/pads or blow the engine up! Parked it there, and came back a half hour later, and it was fine again.

Talking to a GM tech friend of mine, turns out the booster is bad. All this time, it's had a massive vacuum leak under the dash, coming from around the rod. Like, a LOUD sucking noise! One of 2 things had to happen; since I got it from a salvage dealer, maybe it got messed up when the person got into the accident from their foot being on the brakes? Or, I spun the rod around too much, and damaged something inside the booster. I didn't know you weren't supposed to do that, so I guess it's a lesson learned. lol That's why I'm not going back to the yard to ask for a different one, it might have been my fault, and at this point, I'd rather go new than used.

Maybe that's why the car was running so differently too? I'm sure a big vacuum leak like that isn't good. Rock Auto has a AC Delco reman for $99 plus a $10 core charge. I'm waiting for my friend at O'Reilly's to give me player pricing on their brand before picking one. Weather is going to get crappy later this week anyway, so I won't get to this until next week. Gives me time to go buy a new timing light too!

[rohrt]

With your steering a few thoughts come to mind. If its hard to steer that could be the early flow control valve in the steering pump. The early pumps before 1970 only put out 900psi after 1970 they put out 1200psi. Or it could be just getting used to a larger torsion bar in the box itself. The original boxes had very light steering due to small torsion bars. Or it could be a miss adjusted setting of that Allen bolt screw setup on top of the steering box that takes the slop out of the steering. If its too tight it will bind on the gears. May also want to check the steering while up on jacks and and make sure the linkage is not catching on something. Last I assume you blead out the PS lines by turning it lock to lock a few times to get all the air out?

I look forward to hearing your results with the new booster.

[Josue]

Before the swap, I was reading up on what to do with the pump if certain situations arise, the main one being a tight-loose-tight-loose type issue when turning. Something about removing a spring or something inside the pump to increase pressure? I might do that anyway, probably wouldn't hurt to have more pressure.

I did turn it back and forth dozens of times while it was still on jack stands, then again when it was on all 4's since it still needed bled. I'll just have to get more miles on her, see what happens.

[Gil]

Just a thought, did you put back the high pressure control valve in your steering pump ?

[Josue]

I'm not sure what that is? I never took the pump apart...just replaced the lines and box.

It's really not too bad, just an observation I had and wanted to throw out there for whoever might find this thread in the future. Some people I've talked to even think it's just the nature of the beast when going with a tighter box. I've never driven another car with a swap like this though, so it's all news to me.

[Gil]

From Pete's write up, you'll find the drawing. Hope will help...
https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...1st-Gen-Camaro

Power Steering Pump Valve (Junk yard). While at the junkyard it’s important that you get the valve from the high pressure line that comes out of the back of the pump, preferably from the same IROC Camaro that you got the steering box. The IROC steering boxes run at higher pressures than the original 60’s Camaro boxes, approximately 1400 psi vs. 950 psi. The IROC box will need this higher pressure to operate correctly.

To get the stuff you need remove the high-pressure hose from the back of the power steering pump (It’s the one with the big fitting). Then remove the fitting by unscrewing it. If you stick your finder in the hole you will feel the valve but it’s hard to get out. There are 3 ways to remove: 1) use a skinny magnet and pull it out, 2) push it in all the way (compressing the spring) and release quickly and hope that it flies out, 3) remove the pump from the car and tilt it over so it falls out. Obviously the magnet is the easiest more reliable way to go. Here are the parts you need to remove: (See Figure #3).
(you need #5, #6, #23, #24 on the attached image)

This valve assembly will directly bolt in to your original first gen Camaro power steering pump! (Nice to know GM used the same steering technology for well over 20 years, way to go GM!!…no wonder they’ve lost so much market share in that time, hey, our stupid customers won’t notice the 20 year old technology in our cars so let’s not bother changing it… but that’s another story, anyway…)

[Josue]

Gotcha, thanks! I'll look into that.