Introducing BISKWIK! 1961 Biscayne

[Cramer4918]

Hello Everyone. I’m finally getting around to starting my build thread. I am enjoying the pleasure of making this 1961 Biscayne road worthy once again. A little back story… I have been around and wrenched on this car for almost 30 years now. I became friends with the owner when I was 17. I met him when I had questions about my 1963 Corvair w/400 SBC in the front. Anyhow, he had sold and bought back this car numerous times. Each time it went to different hot rodders who were friends of his. Each person made changes, upgrades, downgrades, whatever to it. I believe he owned it a total of five times since I have known him. It had combinations ranging from a 350 SBC w/671 blower, to 502 BB w/Procharger and 150 shot of nitrous. It was mostly a street/strip car that he took to car shows. The last owner who had it before he bought it back put a 454 w/671 blower in it. He became ill and was not able to complete the car. My buddy bought it back with intentions of retiring it from the racing scene and make a cruiser out of it. A year and half into it, he lost interest and that’s where I come in!

The car has a full cage in it now but will be modified to accommodate easier entry to the back seat for my kids. The setup it had when I acquired it was a bone stock 6.0 LQ4 with 4L60E. He purchased a Vintage Air AC kit, power steering setup, and a few other goodies for it. The power steering setup was installed and the AC kit is still in the box. Me being who I am, I could not have this beautiful machine running around with a stock motor in it.. especially after the history it has in my area.

Project updates will be added in upcoming posts. In the meantime, here are some pics…

The first pic is from 1997 when it had the 502 in it. It was a respectable land yacht that ran mid-6's in the 1/8th. I took this pic when he let me drive it for the weekend. The others are of when he got it back with the 454 in it and of the interior.

[Cramer4918]

Picking up BISKWIK to bring it to its new home.


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It's resting place for a bit as I acquired parts...

[thumper877]

Cool project and story. Looks like the body is in great shape. Looking forward to updates

[Cramer4918]

Cool project and story. Looks like the body is in great shape. Looking forward to updates

Thank you! It is in good shape for sure. The previous owners did take good care of it.

It has definitely been slow going. I have had it for about a year now and do not get to work on it much. Between that and trying to do everything in my very used garage, it is a challenge at times. I will do my best to update the thread to its current state. Stay tuned!

[Cramer4918]

One of the biggest hurdles I will have to overcome is how to run the exhaust. The frame is braced as you can see in the pic. I think I may obtain some square tubing two weld in place between the bracing and frame to make a channel. I do like the idea of having the X-frame braced, I just don't know if I can make it work. I do not want to run the exhaust under the bracing as that will kill any ground clearance. Thoughts anyone?

[Cramer4918]

Goodies from CPP and Summit start to arrive…

CPP - Big brake upgrade and brake booster
SUMMIT - Stage 2 Pro LS Truck Cam Kit, Stainless fuel line, a few odds and ends, and a Holley Terminator X Max 4 months later.

[andrewb70]

Really cool history and neat project.

Since you have the Terminator X Max, I suggest using an intake with a 4 bolt flange and going with a stock 90mm LS3 DBW throttle body. Also, if you don't already have a radiator or cooling fan, I suggest using one of the modern brushless fans. The Terminator X can generate an appropriate signal for it and run it variable speed.

Also, Vintage Air offers kits to install a pressure sensor in the AC system. My suggestion is to wire that as an input to the Terminator X. Then we can use AC pressure to control the sped of the fan, regardless of engine temperature.

All of these things will make it work like a modern car. If I can help with any of this and the tuning, please keep me in mind.

Andrew

[Cramer4918]

Really cool history and neat project.

Since you have the Terminator X Max, I suggest using an intake with a 4 bolt flange and going with a stock 90mm LS3 DBW throttle body. Also, if you don't already have a radiator or cooling fan, I suggest using one of the modern brushless fans. The Terminator X can generate an appropriate signal for it and run it variable speed.

Also, Vintage Air offers kits to install a pressure sensor in the AC system. My suggestion is to wire that as an input to the Terminator X. Then we can use AC pressure to control the sped of the fan, regardless of engine temperature.

All of these things will make it work like a modern car. If I can help with any of this and the tuning, please keep me in mind.

Andrew

Thank you for those tips, Andrew! I am using a DBC TB currently. What would the advantage be for going to DBW?

[Cramer4918]

Hello Everyone! I'm working on catching this thread up to present day....

First order of business, I wanted to rebuild the front end. It received new ball joints, bushings, tie rod ends, drag link, springs, and the brake upgrade. It already had a CPP Power Steering unit installed with a new Pitman arm, so that was good. I will install the front sway bar later once I figure out and fabricate the sway bar bolt mounts for the control arms.


I don’t know what springs were in it when I got it, but it looked like it was shooting for some good 60’s! Definitely had to fix that ASAP!

I'll update pics when I take more with all the new suspension/steering components in place.

[Cramer4918]

Wheels were ordered and received. BISKWIK will be sporting a set of Boyd Coddington Junkyard Dog to the tune of 20" REAR and 18" FRONT.

I will more than likely be dropping the front a little bit more. We shall see once I get a tire mounted.

I will be running 285/35/20 on the rear and 24/45/18 on the front.

[Cramer4918]

Out with old.... In with the new!



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I also added a LS2 style dampener with Melling adapter bracket and new timing chain set.

[Cramer4918]

While I had the oil pump off, I massaged the passages a little bit to improve flow and shimmed the spring. I figured since I improved flow and bumped up the pressure a little, I thought it would be a good idea to replace the barbell. I picked one up from SacCityCorvette.com.


I definitely love all the room in the engine compartment of these classics! I was able to reach all but the bottom two transmission bolts from the top! It’s great!

[Cramer4918]

And…. Slowly getting the motor back together. I picked up a set of 243 heads and massaged them a little bit. They probably didn’t need it since I’m not racing anymore, but I enjoy doing the work and I’m sure it won’t hurt it. I upgraded the rocker arm trunnions and installed them along with new springs. I also had to order a set of 7.425 pushrods to get the right lifter preload. I topped it all off with an LS6 intake.

[Cramer4918]

Going to start mocking up the Vintage Air and finding a good home for the Holley Terminator X Max along with addressing the wiring nightmare under the dash.


First order of business will be getting the ginormous bench seat out. I will them pull out the carpet so I can put some sound deadening material in, and Yes, I will be cutting the drop bars on the cage. As you can see, they are a hinderance for getting in and out. I am not getting any younger and I would also like to make it easier for my kids to get into the back.

[Cramer4918]

So much room for activities!!!

That was a chore for one person. WOW!

[Cramer4918]

I managed to finish removing the down braces for the roll cage. I will leave the rest of it and either repaint or get some sort of cover to “hide” the areas where I had to cut. These are rough cuts currently. I will remove whatever interior I can and tape up the rest so I can grind the rest down. At least now, it will be easier to get in and out of the front and my kids can actually sit in the back.

Blue tape applied to the cut areas so I don't filet myself open falling into and out of the car while I work on it.

So much MORE room for activities!!!

[Cramer4918]

Not a huge update, but just wanted to throw this out there.... BISKWIK has some new shoes and a much improved stance!!!

[68400BIRD]

Love the new stance. It's amazing what new shoes can do for a car. And, the tires and rims you took off will look great on another car.
Are you going to replace the door cards so you have arm rests again?? Keep the updates coming.

[Cramer4918]

Love the new stance. It's amazing what new shoes can do for a car. And, the tires and rims you took off will look great on another car.
Are you going to replace the door cards so you have arm rests again?? Keep the updates coming.

Thank you! Yes, wheels can make or break a ride, in my opinion. I will find a new home for the wheels I took off. They have 0 miles on them and even come with a matching spare.

I will come up with something to add armrests for the doors. I would really like to change the interior completely. That is a lot of white! It just isn't in the cards for me at the moment though.

[Cramer4918]

WOW! I have definitely been slacking on updating my thread here. I apologize about that everyone.

Well.. Here goes!

The floor pans are in good shape. I’ll deal with the wiring nightmare as I work on the Vintage Air.