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    Results 21 to 40 of 808
    1. #21
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Got some time in the garage last night. Finished up the Passenger's side install of the floor pan and got it painted up. The paint was still a little wet, so it will get even more flat once it's dry.









      Making progress and crossing things off of my list!



      Ryan


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD


    2. #22
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      It's been a few weeks with little progress on the car. I haven been working to get the mounts made for the rotisserie. I decided to make my own mounts for the rear leaf springs for the rotisserie rather than purchasing them through the various other companies that sell them. Here is the car with the front end mounted to the rotisserie:





      Here is the rear mounts that I am working on. I would have finished, but ran out of MIG wire.





      Here is one of my better welds. Not perfect, but I have been working on the appearance of the welds as well as the quality.



      I also bought the materials for the recessed panel that I am making for the fuel pump and sending unit. I will be making a panel similar to the one that Rick's offers on their tanks. It may not look like much, but I think it will come together nicely when it's finished.



      All for now.

      Ryan


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    3. #23
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Well after a few weekends of working (only a few hours each weekend), I was finally able to get the mounts built and installed on the rotisserie. The body bolted up very nicely, and I was able to test out the rotation. I was debating whether or not to even put my car on it as I was mostly done with the welding on the floor pans, but what a difference it will make welding! I was very impressed with the ease of how it rotated with minimal effort. It is going to make welding on the bottom side of the car SO much easier. I am looking forward to getting back into the groove of burning in the floor pans for good!







      Now that the rear end is out and I can get the car in better light, I was pleasantly surprised with the condition of the rest of the under body. The only rust that I found additional (which I already knew about from crawling under the car) was the very end of the frame rails on the driver's side. I think it was mostly due to the trailer hitch that was mounted to the frame rails at some point during it's life. I bet it was a towing machine with that I6 haha.







      Just need to add this to the list of panels that I will need to replace. I hope to make more progress on the rust repair over the next few weeks.


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    4. #24
      Join Date
      Mar 2015
      Posts
      251
      Country Flag: United States
      Subbed. Curious to see how the 6 speed install is going to go

    5. #25
      Join Date
      Aug 2015
      Location
      NJ
      Posts
      282
      Country Flag: United States
      I wish I would have broken down and bought a rotisserie for my restoration - jack stands only go soo high

    6. #26
      Join Date
      Jan 2016
      Location
      Pennsylvania
      Posts
      31
      Country Flag: United States
      awesome build man, ill be watching your build as im doing pretty much the exact same build as you.

    7. #27
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Thanks for all the feedback guys. I am hoping that once the rust repair is done, the car should go together pretty quickly since I have been slowly gather parts. I was able to get into the garage a little last night, and weld most of the passenger's side rear floor pan in. No pictures from last night.


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    8. #28
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      I didn't take any pictures of the passenger side rear floor pan as it is just the same as the others. I am 85% finished with it, just have to finish some grinding and smoothing out of my welds. I got side tracked and decided to see what was going on with this passenger side rocker panel. I know that the previous owner added some "homemade" panels, but didn't think that they would be made of a very thin tin. I was able to easily bend it by hand...







      How not to repair rocker panels 101


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    9. #29
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      No updates for progress on the car this weekend. Instead, I went with my dad to Spring Carlisle like we do every year. I was able to score some nice pieces and negotiate some great prices. It was a nice break from welding and rust repair.

      Here are some of the parts that I picked up.

      Lightly used Right Stuff brake booster, with 1" bore master cylinder and brake clevis kit.





      And a picture to get an idea of how high it will tilt in relation to the firewall. I may opt for the DSE bracket with the lower angle. I also test fit the clutch bracket for the T56 hydraulics. It should all work together nicely.





      It is some forward thinking, but I found some of these Moser c-clip eliminator brackets at a vendor station, and it should be a good shim for the F-body LS1 rear brake swap.



      Universal fuel level sender for my tank project. Brand new.



      I had to buy them together, but got an LS6 valley cover and steam vent crossover. They look to be either new, or very lightly used.







      Lastly, I picked up some RS reverse lights, some 67 RS tail lights, and an extra pair of bezels. They aren't in perfect shape, but would be good enough to run. Especially if they are tinted, or blacked out.







      I know that some people will disagree that I shouldn't put the 67 tail lights on a 68, but I like the single 67 RS tail light look better than the double.

      All for now. Hope to get some more repairs done in the next week.

      Cheers,
      Ryan


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    10. #30
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      I am finally done with the floor pans, and as they say hind sight is 20/20. I definitely should have just opted for a full floor pan rather than messing around with butt welding 4 full floor pans. I would have been much further ahead time wise. Live and learn I suppose. Here is a shot of the floor with a quick coat of primer to prevent any surface rust in the short term. Eventually it will be stripped and coated.



      I got halfway done with stripping the floor pans of the undercoating and decided to change gears and work on the back half of the car. Next was to remove the trailer hitch mounts that someone very poorly welded to the frame. No surprise that upon removal I found more rust, but unfortunately it was a little more severe than I had originally anticipated. Shopping around for some replacement frame rail patches now.





      Once I got both sides removed, I moved on to poorly patched trunk pan. Same deal with the floor pans, they crudely cut out the rusted panels and simply trimmed the panel, lap welded a few spot welds and called it a day... it took me 15 mins to cut the whole panel out. A few of the "spot welds" weren't even attached to the car!





      Doesn't seem like a lot of progress, but I am glad to finally be done with the floor pans. I feel like I am now on the downside of the rust repairs.

      All for now.

      Ryan


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    11. #31
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      No progress on the car this weekend, but I did get a lot of parts that I needed. Since discovering the rear frame rails needed some attention, I decided to wait to install the trunk pan until after the new rails are installed. I was scouring the internet, and came across an ad on eBay for a set of new/used frame rails. They are new and never installed, but have been sitting on a shelf for a long time. I picked the repair panels for $125 shipped. They should be here for next weekend.



      I have been looking for a solid 12 bolt, and got a call from a friend who was able to pick one up. Now it was just a matter of negotiating a price. He offered it to me at a price that I couldn't turn down, so I now have my complete drivetrain. The rear is complete, but has the lazy wheel 2.43 gear ratio. I will likely swap that out before the car is on the road again, but having a functional rear end is better than not.









      My dad recently upgraded to rear disk brakes on his 71 Chevelle, so he gave me the complete rear drums. I will eventually upgrade to the LS1 rear brakes, but until then, these will get me by.



      He also upgraded his exhaust, and was getting rid of that too. I know that it's for a Chevelle, but I will be getting an X-Pipe kit and will use the rest of the exhaust to run together.



      I did quite a bit of running around this weekend, but it's all for the greater good. I also realized that since I discovered the need for frame rail patches, that will delay my goal of a rust free shell by May 31st. I still think that I can have it all done early June, but time will tell.

      Thanks for looking,

      Ryan


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    12. #32
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Another small update. I was able to get out in the garage for a few hours on both Friday and Saturday nights. No surprise, I found more rust. I decided that the best way to get to the rust around these braces, would be to remove the braces, patch the floor underneath, and then re-weld. It is time consuming, but much cheaper than replacement panels.

      Here is the trunk after I cleaned up all of the welding slag from the previous bad repair.



      Before I can start refitting the trunk patch panel, I had to address these rust pockets under the bumper braces. I had to go through the time consuming process of drilling spot welds, and salvaging this brace so that I could re-use it.





      Maybe it was being sleep deprived or that I am just crazy, but after I drilled out these spot welds it kinda looks like the shape of Homer Simpson. Doh!



      I cleaned up the bracket, but realized that I should wait to weld these until after I install the sections of rear frame. So I moved, on.



      Here is the driver's side, with the same rust... I was a little more impatient with this side and got a little more excited with the air chisel.



      Now, I am no professional fabricator by any stretch of the imaginination, but I was pretty impressed with how I shapped the patch panels on both sides to replicate the original. I used only a ball peen hammer and a 1" piece of flat steel that I have on my bench. That pocket is needed as the bumper bracket dips down into that area.



      Just like the other side, I am just tacking the patch in place to wait for the replacement rails to be installed.





      The replacement frame rail sections should be here today, so that will be on my agenda for next weekend. is getting both of those replaced so that I can continue moving forward. Looks like with the recent discoveries of the additional trunk panel rust and frame rail sections, my May 31st deadline will be far exceeded. Maybe by the end of summer, I will have the body into epoxy primer.

      Ryan


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    13. #33
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      So for the next stage of this rust repair, I had to make some changes to my set-up. With the complexity of the rear frame rail repair, I didn't feel that the car would be best suited to stay on the rotisserie. I decided the best route would be to removed the rear rotisserie mounts, and prop up the rear of the car and support it on the solid parts of the frame rails. I wanted to get as close as I could to the solid portions of the frame, while also leaving some room for myself to work. I made sure to get the car as level as I possibly could, and I got it within .01 degrees.

      It worked out great, now the hard part. Removing and replacing the rear frame rail sections...

      I will take the picture later*

      I didn't get any good pictures of what the frame rail looked like before, but here is the passenger's side for reference. The driver's side was in slightly better shape, but still Swiss cheese and needed replacing.



      Now, I have been somewhat intimidated by this next repair, as I have never done anything like this before. I have had a lot of time to think about it, and watched what others have done in the past. My first thought was making sure that I was starting with a car that was square and true. After searching around the internet, I came across several schematics of what the measurements should be for my car. I used these to carefully measure and verify that everything was square. I then used this as a guide for when I welded in the new pieces.



      My 4 1/2 grinder with cut off disks made quick work of this section of frame rail. To my surprise, it was even more rusted on the inside of the panel as well! I am now very glad that I took this step and replaced these rails. Here is what is left of the carnage.



      One of the best tips that I picked up on while researching the best methods for this repair, was people would drill out the factory spot welds all the way through the trunk floor. What that does is acts as a guide template for the replacement rail. It worked great, as I was within a 1/4 inch on the first trial fit.



      I only wanted to replace the sections that were bad, so that required cutting the rails in about half.



      Here is one of the intial panel fitments. It fit great, and only required minor trimming to fit correctly.



      The only real complaint I had about the panels was the rails were about 1/8" wider at the bottom than the factory rails. I bought them second hand on eBay so I am unsure of the brand. I also got them at half price, so I can't really complain either. After giving it some thought, I found a simple solution. I cut a small pie shaped section out of the bottom side rail and pinched it together. Once tacked with a spot weld, it fit just as it should.



      I didn't get pictures as I was busy working away, but I used a small section of the rails that I cut off and put plates on the inside of the rails so I had a good guide and also made the repair a little stonger. I plug welded the plates to the factory rail and the replacement piece. Sorry for the picture, I didn't have the flash on.







      Now that the frame rail was welded in, I could reinstall the rear bumper brace.



      The driver's side rail was done enough for now. Once I reinstall the rotisserie, I can roll it over on the side so that I can get a flat weld on the sides of the frame rail. It is so much easier to weld on a flat surface that on your back!

      Moving on to the passenger's side. Again, didn't get any pictures of the before, but you get the idea. Here is the picture with the rusted rail removed. I used the same technique to drill out the factory spot welds and use them as a guide for re-installation.





      That was as far as I got this weekend. I was able to get out into the garage two nights as we had a long weekend with Memorial Day. With everything else in life being so busy, the only real time that I can sneak into the garage is after everyone else is sleeping. And when you are awake from 5am -9pm, then work in the garage from 9pm - 2am-ish, the next morning is rough when your toddler is waking you up at 5am. I can only do that once a week usually but with the long weekend I pushed for two days. Once the rust repairs are done it will be totally worth it. Until then, my weekends are fueled by coffee haha.

      Thanks,
      Ryan


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    14. #34
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Not as much progress as last week, but still progressing forward. I finished the frame rails and am now working on installing the trunk

      Here is what I didn't get a picture of when I installed the other rail. I added a reinforcement plate to the inside of the frame rail and plug welded on both pieces of the rails as well as butt welded it down the center. It helped tremendously on lining up the rails as well. They both fit in there very nicely, with minimal trimming. Very pleased with the install.



      Shots of the rail being installed.





      And the rail finished up. I still need to smooth out the side of the rail with a flap disk, but otherwise it is a very clean install. Very pleased with it and it has stiffened up the rear of the car more than I expected. Now that it's done, I am glad that I opted to replace rather than patch. As long as you take your time, the job really wasn't too bad, just a lot of measuring to make sure the fitment is spot on. My measurements were dead on both sides when I was done according to the diagrams I had.

      I starting fitment on the trunk pan next. I am getting the hang of marking and trimming these panels now, so I am getting much quicker. You can see that I drilled out all of the holes for the braces to be spot welded to the fuel tank support rails. It was tedious, but well worth a quality repair.



      And this is as far as I got at 2:30am.



      Luckily our baby slept in until almost 7am, so that was a much better sleep than I was anticipating. He's usually up by 5am. All for now.

      Cheers,
      Ryan


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    15. #35
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Just purchased an LS2 throttle body yesterday! Now the conversion to DBW starts.


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    16. #36
      Join Date
      Sep 2015
      Posts
      5
      Country Flag: United States
      I'm surprised I'm the first to bring this up but earlier model 6.0's had longer cranks, I believe it was that way for 99-01. Does the crank sit nearly flush with the rear main seal or stick out past it by about half an inch. If this is the case the crank will need to be swapped out. 5.3/5.7/6.0 cranks share the same stroke so they are interchangable. Post a picture of the back of the block with out the flex plate in the way

    17. #37
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by greenmachine72 View Post
      I'm surprised I'm the first to bring this up but earlier model 6.0's had longer cranks, I believe it was that way for 99-01. Does the crank sit nearly flush with the rear main seal or stick out past it by about half an inch. If this is the case the crank will need to be swapped out. 5.3/5.7/6.0 cranks share the same stroke so they are interchangable. Post a picture of the back of the block with out the flex plate in the way
      greenmachine72, thanks for the reply. You are correct that the earlier model 6.0's had the longer cranks, but those were the iron head 317 6.0's and they were from 99-00. My 6.0 is an 01 and came with the crank spacer at the rear and the aluminum 317 heads My crank sits almost flush with the rear seal, but I appreciate the concern though.

      - - - Updated - - -

      I was actually able to sell the crank spacer and bolts to a member for doing a conversion to a turbo 350.


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    18. #38
      Join Date
      Sep 2015
      Posts
      5
      Country Flag: United States
      Just something I came across looking for a 6.0 for my 72 Monte. The first 6.0 I got my hands on was like that. (Cylinder walls were cracked so it didn't matter). Took it back, got a 5.3 for free. Now I have a 2003 6.0/4L80e setup

    19. #39
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Sounds like everything worked out, but too bad the block was cracked...


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

    20. #40
      Join Date
      Sep 2009
      Posts
      2,695
      Country Flag: United States
      Duplicate post


      1955 Nomad project LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes, Vision wheels
      1968 Camaro 6.2 w/ LSA, TR6060-Magnum hybrid and etc SOLD
      1976 T/A LS1 6 Speed, and etc. SOLD

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