1976 Trans Am Resto-Mod

[ryeguy2006a]

Just messing around last night and grabbed my stock bezel out of the car and threw the gauges into it. It actually doesn't look half bad, but not as good as it will look with the Carbon fiber look. I also wired them up breifly just to see what they look like, but didn't get a good picture of them.







Not too shabby.

[70Uglybird]

Did they fit snug in the stock bezel? Are you wrapping the bezel or making new one? If your wrapping the bezel what are you doing to do about the turn signals to fill in?

They look great BTW when you first started talked Orange I was on the fence but kudos to you for doing something different and hitting a home run!

Bobby

[ryeguy2006a]

Thanks Bobby, I appreciate the positive feedback. I will be making a new bezel and using the old one as a template. I am going to shave the turning signals and the HVAC with the intentions of running a Vintage Air controller in the future. Once all of my holes are cut, I am going to wrap the panel in 3D Carbon Fiber material from 3M. I think that it is going to look really good.

[ryeguy2006a]

Got a chance to get into the garage today. I was focusing on getting the firewall done so that I can get my engine in for a final fitment. I got all of the spot welds ground down and some filler put on to fill the imperfections. Not a whole lot to show for it, but was a lot of work. I still need to do a lot more finish sanding and then I can paint it. I am also going to finish the top of the cowl and fill in any dents and smooth everything out. I need to get my air compressor fixed so I can borrow some power sanding tools.



I feel like I am going backwards on this project sometimes...



I needed to get the stock ducting out from behind the dash, so I could better fit my components such as the LS1's computer. So, out goes the dash. Again. While it was out I took the liberty of modifying it for my other new 'mini' project... Delay wipers. Here is the motor I will be using.



One think that I never liked about the stock firewall was that huge wiper motor. So, I decided to do something about it. First I needed to decide how to I was going to control the wipers. I took the switch out of the stock 1999 Camaro column, and I am pretty sure that it is a common switch that is in many different models.





Once it was out I cut off the aluminum bracket that was attached as I will no longer use it.



Now, I needed to figure out how I was going to attach it near the stock position for the wiper switch. Not sure how it came to me, but this fits in there almost like it was made for it. Using the tab on the one end as a main anchor point, drill a small hole into the duct on the side near the stock location for the switch.



Once the hole is drilled, I also had to cut down the lower screw hole, and notch the one side of the opening for the switch to mount in there.



Once you have those small modifications done to your dash, the switch will fit in there very nicely.





This won't be my final mounting, but for temporary I used a zip tie, which actually works quite nicely.







Since I had a few extra wiper switches, I gutted one and used the steel shell as a template for a bracket that I will make in the future. I will also make a decal for the actual functions of the car.



I used the stock turning signal switch from the 99 Camaro and cut off the end to use as my new switch. I will attach the stock knob onto the switch when everything is all done.







Here is the switch at rest.



And here is the switch at high speed function. As you can see the knob spins and will function just the same as the stock switch on the 99 Z28. It is very similar to the switch that DSE has for their delay wiper upgrade.



Now, this isn't the final product. But as a first test fit with the bezel on it clearly needs to be raised up in order to look normal in the off position. But here it is with the bezel in and in the stock position.





The best part of this is that even if you wanted to do this swap and return your car to stock in the future you would be able to. Nothing that was modified will be able to be seen while the car is fully assembled. Everything that I have done on my car has been done with this thinking. Although my firewall was shaved, if the spot welds were drilled out the whole panel would come off and someone could put the stock heater box back on.

All for this weekend. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas.

Ryan

[ryeguy2006a]

Ok, I got a little more done yesterday. It isn't a very time consuming modification, but is a very visual modifcation. Plus I was able to do this work inside where it is nice and warm. I wanted to see what the stock bezel would look like with the vinyl wrap I got from 3M and see how it would cover. I did a test fit and it looked pretty good and decided that it looked good enough not to justify custom making my own bezel. Maybe at a later date I will get a real piece of carbon fiber and make a custom piece like the write up in one of the threads on this site. Anyway here are some pictures of my test panel to see what the turning signals would look like covered up with just the wrap.





I thought that it looked good enough to justify wrapping my bezel. So here we go.















I have been waiting for a long time to see what those gauges would look like against the carbon fiber and it was certainly worth the wait. I think that it looks great and I can't wait to see what it will look like with the dash back in the car. I just need to finish doing the wiring for the gauges while the dash is out, and then figure out centering my new wiper switch in the bezel and I think I will be good to put the dash pad back into the car and wrap my interior up.

I should be getting my headers today, but really depends on the weather. We got around a foot of snow last night so UPS will be a little behind today.

Cheers,
Ryan

[70Uglybird]

Ryan that looks great! Look forward to seeing the finished product. So can you tell the turn signals are behind there or is the film thick enough to hide it? I just got mine 3m film for christmas and ordered a piece of ABS but after seeing this I might try to do the same. Is the film easy to work with?

Thanks again for the update, really does look good!

[ryeguy2006a]

Sent you a pm

[ryeguy2006a]

Small update. I finally got my set of Dynatech headers. I ended up getting them from Speedway Motors, and they were absolutely great to work with. I am certainly going to work with this company again. The Headers were Garage Sale items, and they were at a nice discount and they were having a sale on their shipping for 7.99 flat rate shipping, so I got the headers for $377 shipped to my front door. And as garage sale items they said that the items may be dinged up or scratched, but they were in brand new condition. I am very happy with them. Here are some pictures.







And here they are installed.



The headers hang a little lower than I would have liked, but time will tell on how they actually ride. I think with 300 pounds off the front end of the car, the springs will react differently so I may be surprised. Many people have these headers and don't have any issues with the headers scraping.







This is the great quality fitment.



And from the front, seeing those massive 1 7/8 primary tube headers.



Overall I am very happy with the fitment and quality of these headers. Would recommend them to anyone.

Thanks,
Ryan

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Spent most of the day reading through this thread nice job..

[72blackbird]

Ryan,
As usual your work is top notch- have a Happy New Year and keep the pics coming.

Geno

[srh3trinity]

The headers fit nice. Remind me if your engine plates have any setback. I am wondering how they are going to fit with my custom subframe. I may want to raise my motor up a half inch to an inch to get better clearance.
Side note, I love the wiper idea. I may have to try that. I am sure I can get all of the parts out of the boneyard pretty easily.

[reedld]

Ryan, looking great! How are you planning to connect all of the gauges? I made a wiring harness that allows me to simply unplug all of the gauges with one plug. I used a late model GM stereo harness from a junk yard...connected that to all the 12v, ground, sources, etc. I then bought a stereo wiring harness (used when installing an aftermarket radio), connected all the gauges to that...worked nice for me.

[ryeguy2006a]

The headers fit nice. Remind me if your engine plates have any setback. I am wondering how they are going to fit with my custom subframe. I may want to raise my motor up a half inch to an inch to get better clearance.
Side note, I love the wiper idea. I may have to try that. I am sure I can get all of the parts out of the boneyard pretty easily.

It is hard to say whether or not the engine is set back, or by how much. I have adjustable engine mounts and I repositioned the subframe mounts. I would say that the engine is set back around 1" but there isn't a real good way to tell.

Ryan, looking great! How are you planning to connect all of the gauges? I made a wiring harness that allows me to simply unplug all of the gauges with one plug. I used a late model GM stereo harness from a junk yard...connected that to all the 12v, ground, sources, etc. I then bought a stereo wiring harness (used when installing an aftermarket radio), connected all the gauges to that...worked nice for me.

Leon, that is a great idea. I just so happen to have a 99 parts car that has that exact wiring. I will probably use that idea. I was planning on using some sort of harness that would allow me to remove the gauges simply with a plug.

[ryeguy2006a]

I got a little bit further on getting my firewall done. I have to admit, I am getting sick of body work. It isn't something that I do very often so I am quite slow at it, but I am slowly progressing. It is tough to get everything straight and looking good. I think, I am about 80% done with the firewall. I just need to do some more finish sanding, and it will be ready for final coats of paint. Anyway, here are a few pictures.





And now for the interesting part. After quite a bit of research and going back and forth with my A/C options, I have decided to utilize the factory A/C compressor as it sits down low and won't be a eye sore in the engine compartment. So, in order for me to use the stock A/C compressor I needed to notch the frame. I will post up more on what I will have to do in order to use the factory A/C compressor. In a nutshell, the factory compressor is a variable load, and I need to convert it over to fixed in order to work properly with Vintage Air.

Please excuse the compressor and bracket being filthy. I didn't have time to









It ended up being much easier than I thought and I am so thankful that I bought adjustable engine mounts. I have changed the motors position at least a dozen times for different things. Now the motor is in its final position. Once I finish the firewall the motor will be put in for good, and not to come out for a long time. (Hopefully)

Here is a perspective picture of how quickly my garage filled up once I started stripping out two cars.



That is all for now.

[srh3trinity]

I have garage envy. Mine is filled up with an old bed, a friends furniture while he gets back on his feet, baby toys, etc. Car is looking good!

[batstang]

I have enjoyed, very much, this build! Awesome!

[Ravenworks]

Looking great! I love the wiper-switch idea and the gauges! What kind of car did the wiper-motor come from?

[ryeguy2006a]

Thanks for all of the compliments. I am working really hard to get it finished and back together by the end of March.

Looking great! I love the wiper-switch idea and the gauges! What kind of car did the wiper-motor come from?

Wiper motor and switch both came out of a 1999 Camaro. It was a Z28, but I don't think that matters much.

[ryeguy2006a]

Ok, so I am sick of not making progress on my car due to lack of motivation. I have said it before, but I don't like doing body work. I am going to get it done this Friday no matter how long it takes me. *:-D

Here is what I will start with tomorrow, and some materials to get the job done.





I bought some more parts for my car, so here is a sneak preview of what's to come. I am going to redo, my bezel, and I am going to use a woodgrain so I can weld and finish the underside to reapply some of the carbon fiber wrap again.



Lokar throttle cable.



Stainless Steel Dynatech Musclemaxx reducers



And a new Spectra gas tank in order to modify for my 4th gen fuel assembly. More on that to come.



By the end of tomorrow I will have my firewall done and the engine in for final placement.

More to come, Ryan.

[ryeguy2006a]

Ok, well after a long night and some time today, I was finally able to get that firewall done. :-x After a difficult battle getting my garage from 30* to around 50 in order to paint, I was finally able to get some matte black paint on my firewall. Since it was in the single digits outside it was such an uphill battle. I had to have my kerosene heater running as well as my wood stove roaring at full boar. I was finally able to get to 55 and able to spray some paint.

It is a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders having this job done. It isn't perfect, but it is good enough for me. Overall I am happy with the way that it turned out. I still need to make a bracket for my new wiper motor to mount to the firewall, but there isn't any hurry for that. It doesn't look like a big update, but there are many hours into getting the firewall straight and filling in little imperfections.











Now that I am done painting the firewall, I need to clean everything up from all the sanding dust!





When I get done with my sub-frame clean up I will bolt in the engine and transmission for good. Can't wait. One more step closer to hearing the car come to life again.

All for now.