Meet...The BEAST. 1973 Trans Am turbo .... to feed my appetite for vettes/porsches

[ccm399]

I can tell you from my drag car days the fact that the bottom curves under is going to be one of the worst deals (followed closely by the curve of the front door edge). My '80 had a one piece front end (slide off) and we had to kind of spin it slightly to get one side past the edge of the tire then spin it back the other way to get the other side past the other tire. But like I said mine slid on.

How flexible is the nose behind the front tires? Mine was very flexible so this really helped us be able to get past the tires. Maybe you could make some kind of mechanism that would spread the lower edge of the fender "automatically" this would eliminate the need to move the nose forward I think... Maybe...

Anyway, food for thought.

[aronhk_md]

I've wondered about that flexibility Chris, and even wondered if I could put some sort of slider there, like thin teflon sheet.....similar to what boat trailers have on the bunks to make a boat slide on and off easily.

But realistically I might have to cut the sides of the cowl/firewall and straighten out that curve. Still wont help me with the shape of the back lower edge of the rear fender/door at the bottom though.

[LeighP]

Yeah, I think your best bet is to split the rear of the fender on the body line and perminently mount the lower section. A good side of doing that is you can then have somewhere to fit a pair of hood locks - one on each side to locate and lock the flip hood. Run a pair of cables inside, or cable shops can make a single to twin release cable for you.

[aronhk_md]

Yes Leigh, that might be what I have to do. Still...I'd like to figure out a way not to, and I havent given up hope yet. I have an idea, but have to wait until I have the thing here to see...

[aronhk_md]

Still trying to figure out how to make the tilt hinges from Mr Twister work for me.

The shortblock is assembled, and heads are assembled with only the outer springs for cam break in. Allpontiac valley pan is out getting shaved to fit under the intake. oil return holes are drilled and tapped in the heads and oil pan. Removed O-rings in the block and filled with copper wire.....cometic gaskets should be here by Fri. Final compression ratio looks like 8.5:1. Getting the timing cover water outlets cut off and screw on fittings welded in place. Better since I'll be running a 30 psi cap and system on the cooling.

In the pic I have the March Track serpentine belt setup mocked up. Once I pull it back off and before I button up the engine......the block, timing cover, water pump, valley pan and a few other items will get painted House of Kolors Galaxy Grey base and clear coat.....its a dark charcoal like metallic grey.

The vette brake products transverse composite leafspring front suspension is in place, so she is back to being a roller.

[ccm399]

Good work Aron

I wondered if everything was OK with you as you have been away for some time it seems.... but I see you have been working! Engine looks real nice.... Can't wait to see the block painted.

Chris

[aronhk_md]

Thanks Chris, all well here....just been busy. But yeah, making progress. Still hoping to finish the car pretty soon. This is going to be my first attempt at painting anything with real paint. How's the eye been?

[ccm399]

Doc says it is improving and is happy with the results so far. That said, I don't have much vision out of it just yet. It is still healing and it will be a long road yet. We are hopeful though. During the last visit during the refraction I could see pretty well in parts of my field of view but not all.

We just keep praying and staying positive.

Chris

[aronhk_md]

Glad to hear it Chris. You have been in my thoughts and prayers too.

[LeighP]

Engine is looking great!

[Doug1]

Sweet looking motor. What power steering pump and resevor are you running there?

I'll call you later to get an update on the other deal with Ron. Still nada on any word.

[aronhk_md]

Thanks guys! Doug....spoke with him today and I believe he is finishing them up now. He is training a guy to help him and insulating. No excuse.....but I believe he'll pull through for you quickly now.

[aronhk_md]

Not huge progress, but the turbo cold side is polished now....

[aronhk_md]

Visiting the thread for the first time in a few weeks. The set of hinges I got from one of the guys on Performance Years forum are interesting. They took me 5+ hrs of playing around with to figure out how they operate. They actually each attach to the subframe stub at the front. Then there are two separate attachment points to attach to the front end (or literally the frame I will be creating for it) and once attached the whole assembly pivots forward using a compressed gas strut to assist. While pivoting it rotates on a cam that raises the nose about 5.5 inches as it pivots.

Then.......this whole assembly is attached to a heavy ball bearing slide....so the whole front end can then slide forward about 16 inches. I had to play with the placement of the attachment points and it had 4 of us scratching our heads. At first the whole thing would bind up as you attempted to pivot forward. Then it would tilt forward, but only lift the nose 2 inches. Finally got it to tilt forward and raise 5.5 inches. Yessssss!!!

I am making templates of the hinge parts as I take them apart for cleaning. That way if I ever decide I'd like to make another set...

Also had to modify and reverse the pieces inside the slides.....I wont get into why. Just wouldnt fit otherwise. There went another several hours. Not to mention glass beading, some extra welding, and of course painting and re-assembling.......sigh. By the time all is said and done I'll probably have a full week of work just in the hinges. But I cant complain....I believe they will do everything I need them to!

Painted the shortblock, oil pan, valley cover (allpontiac cast), water pump, and valve cover spacers yesterday in House of Kolor Galaxy Grey. Its a really nice charcoal grey metallic. So it went like this...

Beer.....etching primer.....beer.....white HOK sealer.....beer.....freak out cause its getting darker and colder outside (inside too) and the jet propane heater just died. Thinking I am out of fuel cause it feels kind of light, so while my friend Aaron mixes color (he paints for a living), I run as fast as I can to the Lowes 7 miles away in town. 20 min round trip, and when I get back he has put down the first coat of color, but its getting quite chilly even inside. Hook the new tank.....still wont fire. igniter is working, but it just puffs and goes out. Unscrewed the cover on top to look underneat and it fires right up...................so we left the cover off. LOL. Warmed back up in about 5 minutes with 85,000 BTU's helping out.

So...........another beer.....another coat of color. This stuff covered VERY well, so we only put two coats. Time to mix up the clear, and away we go.....damn that clear is shiny on those parts! Beer. Final coat of clear...........and time to sit back and admire the beauty of it, and check out all the dust in it. lol. Oh who cares right? We were going to name any bugs, but we didnt get even 1.

I untaped it all today, and have to admit it looks a LOT better in person than in photos. Its the color itself. Very monochromatic in pics, but very alive in person. Something I'm going to keep in mind because soon the car is getting painted too, so I may go with the Tangerine instead. In fact, as soon as the tilt front end is installed the car gets paint, which is still going to take time...a lot needs to be done to secure the front end to the car besides just the hinges.

But the engine will look very industrial with the grey and polished aluminum.

[aronhk_md]

Ugghhh.....10 hrs of smoothing out all the ugly casting bumps and irregularities on the top, and sides of the timing cover, and I dont even get a picture of it! LOL. Oh well, thats the part people will see when the front end is tilted. Oh, and check out how I smoothed all the casting crap on the front of the block! Its like glass there. That also took about 3 hrs. How many people do you think will notice it behind the March serpentine setup? LMAO...boy am I stupid.

[LeighP]

Looks great....I ground a lot of casting flash off on the block...along edges etc, and across the front face...probably no one will notice except me, lol. I feel your pain....
Yours looks way smoother than mine across the front of the block...nice job!

[ccm399]

Love the engine color Aron Nice work on the front of the block. I know what you mean about the timing cover, the fronts are cast pretty nice but the area by the around the water pump is a bit rough.

Can't wait to see the front end.

Chris

[aronhk_md]

Finally making progress on the beast again. I went through many more prototypes for hinge design on the tilt front end. All worked...but each had its own issues specific to my application. The front end is finally on though and working, but still need to add the linear actuators and replace the wood with steel then glass it in.

Also the turbo is now mounted in its new home recessed in the firewall. Working on hot side piping now.

[ryeguy2006a]

Looks really great!! But I have to ask, why did you take all the time to polish the turbo housing if it was going to be hidden in the firewall?

[NOT A TA]

It's coming out really nice! Engine looks awesome.