UPS guy delivered an interior
Takes just a couple boxes, but here it is – just about everything needed for the interior. Only pieces not here are the rear seat frames which I kept (and powdercoated) and the front seats, which will be lightweight race seats.
Unboxed everything tonight, parts seem of good quality, most are even GM authorized as official replacement parts.
The bummer – UPS says the packages weighed a combined 133 pounds! Ugg. Oh well, that’s just one of the differences between an STX and CP car.
Rear brakes and subframe connectors
Initial progress over the holiday weekend. Rear brakes (rotors and calipers) and subframe connectors got installed.
Before getting started on the connectors, decided to wax the underside of the car. Not that this is something I plan to do often (or perhaps, ever again), but it should help keep the underside clean, easy to wipe off any dirt and grime that lands there. With it all bare, this presented the last good opportunity for this extra protection before the car’s underside starts to get “busy” with plumbing and other equipment.
View from the rear-
And from the front-
And here, post-installation:
Can see they were painted the same light gray used elsewhere…figured they’d stick out if kept their original color:
From the side:
And the back:
And the brakes. I bought these a while back. Decided to stay with a modestly sized rotor (12.19″) as it allows for use of 15″ wheels for the real vintage look, if the situation ever warrants. For autocross, these are probably overkill, while being a little small for track duty. Thinking I would like to run the car at the track a little bit some day, Laguna Seca and maybe Streets of Willow. With its autocross geared rear end, it’ll only be good for about 115 in 4th gear, not enough for most tracks.
Compare to how things looked a year ago:
Another good thing about this kit, is there are several different Wilwood calipers that can mount in place with no other changes. Because we don’t have the ability to use proportioning valves in ST, changing calipers is a coarse way of adjusting bias. These calipers are 4-piston, but one of the larger 4-piston units; if there’s too much rear bias, I can go to a smaller 4-piston; if there’s too little, I can step up to a 6 piston.
Made some big orders over the weekend, a complete interior is on its way, along with a few race goodies. Particularly excited about the battery; wish this one had been out for the last couple ST cars I built!
Back home at last! Phase 3 complete
Pat brought the car back home last night. Looks fantastic! Can’t believe I’ve owned this thing almost a whole year now. I am extremely pleased with the work Pat did, and the timeline he was able to keep. The body and paint portion of this project was the one I feared the most. Heard so many stories of people getting their cars locked in “paint jail” for years, with bills piling up in the tens of thousands. Not here! He got the car done in 4 months, for the originally quoted price, which was about half of what some of the other big-name shops wanted.
The foundation is established, it’s now up to me to get this thing put together over the fall and winter. Need to do all the wiring, install and plumb the brakes, the fuel system, install the driveline, cooling system, and interior. Tons of little odds and ends. I figure it’s about 75% done at this point.
As for aesthetics, wasn’t really trying to reinvent the wheel here. The one place I tried to get creative (the door handles) was really a mess-up. The brushed aluminum Fesler door handles are really nice looking, but they don’t go with the stock chrome trim elsewhere-
Looks ok by itself, but alongside the other trim, not as much. Will probably just get a set of normal chromed pot metal handles.
Some more outside…since it may not see daylight for several months, tried to get a few with it in the driveway-
Here’s a few inside the garage, its new home for a while-
“FEED ME A 302” I can hear it calling… 🙂
Compare to where it was a year ago:
Come a long way, still a long way to go…hope I can remember how it all goes back together! 🙂
Almost done with body and paint
Car should be coming home tomorrow, took a last trip to check things out today. Pat and team have done a really great job, in a really reasonable amount of time.
Great quality on the work. Paint looks fantastic, and the body lines are straight, with the gaps nice and consistent.
Fancy door handles installed
Engine bay minus the engine…
Still need to put on the spoilers – rear is going on tomorrow, front will go on later.
Glass back in
Checked on the car today, really getting close now, confident I’ll have it back on my hands to start putting things together over labor day weekend next week.
Fellow came by to install the new windshield and rear glass. This way the paint could be touched up easily if anything went wrong at install, fortunately it all went great.
Here’s a view into the engine bay, with the front end of the car about 2/3 assembled.
Rear glass and window trim installed
View down the side, begging to see how things will look
More progress on paint, getting close now
Been a long time since an update. Pat lost one of his key employees while expanding his shop, so he hasn’t been progressing as quickly as he’d like. Plus this phase had a lot of grueling work – fixing all the tiny imperfections in every body panel.
A couple weeks ago the ancillary panels got painted (these are all cell phone pics, sorry for the quality)
Fenders looking good-
Lots of wet sanding and buffing on all these parts. This week they started on hanging some panels. The fenders hadn’t been on the car since I took it apart, almost a year ago. They’re starting to get re-acquainted…
The hood was one of the more time consuming parts. It’s a huge piece, and Pat wanted to be sure it was perfect. The underside got painted first, in the same gray used elsewhere. Any leaks or splatter will be immediately obvious in this car!!
Could be as little as another week or two until it’s done and back in the garage.
Shades of things to come
The past several weeks, the car has been undergoing the bulk of the hard work that goes into a good body/paint job. Weeks of guide coats, sanding with increasingly fine grit sandpaper…Lining up body panels to ensure the gaps are even, lines straight. Then, take it all apart again for prime and paint…
What do you guys think of my chosen color?
Looks pretty tough eh?
Ok ok, maybe “murdered out” isn’t the way to go on this project.
The cars and trucks I’ve owned have been black (CRX), red (Integra), red (944), red (S2000), black (RX7), black (F150), black (Ram 3500), red (240sx), black (another 240sx), black (Viper), red (Tundra) – heck even the Camaro was red when I bought it. So the color choice should come as no surprise…;)
…
Right?
…
Nahhh…
Duhhh, it’s a Penske/Donohue Sunoco clone after all. Here are some more:
Always thought the first-gen Camaro’s flow from the C pillar into the quarterpanel was one of the nicest ever executed.
Looks a bit light here because of how bright it is in the booth. Should be a bit darker in person.
Still need to paint the remaining parts, then there’s a few weeks of assembly, wet sanding, and buffing. With some luck I’ll have it back by the end of the month.
Back on the ground
Got the body reacquainted with the front subframe and rearend today.
It all went pretty well, we made some good markers to help with subframe alignment so it could be brought right back where it needed to be.
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Aren’t those wheels cool? Ha! The wheel/tire combo is actually about the right diameter overall, though I don’t think I’ll be going with 14’s. Lots of guys fixing up these cars are running brake rotors as big as those wheels!
Will be time to get the real rolling stock soon. I think I’ve decided on the wheels, and also the tires. Problem with ST is the stuff I buy today could be outdated for next season. Oh well…
Getting an idea of the underbody and interior color yet? 🙂
Inside…
Firewall same color-
Trunk too
Tomorrow the doors, front end, and trunklid will get re-attached. Then the “real” body work can begin, fixing all the highs and lows, and straightening/evening all the gaps.
Can’t believe how quickly this thing is coming along!!!
Front subframe
Still don’t have the correct outer steering arms, and no pitman arm, but this is a glimpse of where things are going.
Nothing all that exciting really. Can’t seam weld the subframe, as lots of people do. No Guldstrand mod (where the upper control arm mount points are re-drilled lower), steering is all stock stuff. Steering box is a rebuilt original 800 series, not the smaller and lighter 670 series most guys run. It’s heavy! Power steering adds almost 30 pounds to the car, all on the nose where it’s least desired…but I think with the big caster values I have planned, it’ll be necessary. The color looks almost white in these pics, though it’s actually a very light gray, custom blended. Perfect!