spindles here is a pic of my stock drum spindle with the CCP caliper bracket installed. several small mods had to be made. This kit is intended for a Nova, with rear facing steering arms. I simply put the spacer in the front instead of the rear. You WILL need to adjust the towing on your car after this upgrade! The next thing I needed was to grind a little material off the top bolt hole in the spindle (there is plenty to work with, so the bracket would fit over the boss. The special tapered top nuts included were 1/2", while my skylarks threads were 3/8". I called CCP and they sent me the bolts for there 1st gen Nova spindles, which fit perfectly.
A-frames Next I sand blasted all my suspension parts to prep them for the new Chassis black paint, and new PST suspension components.
steering box While all this was happening I finally settled on a steering box. My original had no lines on it, and spurted water/pwr steering fluid every time the wheels turned. Since I needed a new one, I started looking for an upgrade. The stock gear had a 16:1 ratio which translates to about 5.5 turns lock-to-lock. I finally settled on an 86 Monte Carlo SS box (with sport steering), which has a 12.7:1 ratio (about 2.75 turns lock-to-lock). I chose this box for several reasons. It has the same internal stops, so I won't lose turning radius. (the 2nd Gen camaro box stops are different.) The Monte box was easy to find, and I paid $100 shipped to me with a 6 month gaurantee. I had this gear sent with the steering shaft, to circumvent the need to adapt the rag joint. Install was a breeze, on the outside the box looks the same as my old skylark box and bolts up the same too. I removed the Monte's pitman arm, marking the direction it faced, and installed the Skylark pitman arm. (the Monte's Pitman was about 1" longer). Now, I'll be using the Monte's pwr steering pump also. If you choose to keep your old pwr steering pump, you will need to adapt your lines as the G-bodys have metric fittings.
engine fittment Since the firewall will be highly modified, I decided to fix a couple things that bother me. 1. I hate looking at those heater hoses draped over the passenger side valve cover. I am using CNC machined aluminum bulkheads (from Hot Rod Air) for both the heater hoses and air conditioning lines. In addition, I used a plasma cutter to remove the metal around the old heater box. I will post pics of the firewall tomarrow. 2. I want my air conditioning lines coming through the firewall where they are out of the way, but not to close to the headers. To do this I needed to mock up my 455, and mark my locations for the bulkheads. The heater hoses will come through in the V between the passenger side head and the intake, and will be done in 8AN braided line. The air cond. lines will come through on the right side of the header, and a couple inches lower than the heater hoses.
firewall here is another pic that shows the area I cut around the heater box. It's all welded up and nearly filled now, It should get painted tomarrow. I'll include a pic then.
firewall One more, notice the frame and firewall have all been nicely blasted. I found Silicon sand to be the best media, but wear a resperator!!!
On the schedule for tomarrow, finish up with the firewall and paint it, fit the Hot Rod Air evaporator under the dash and weld the brackets, start the work on the dashboard, and put my front suspension together. (not enough hours in the day!) Well, wish me luck.
Good luck Skyman, it's coming along nicely. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished car. :bglasses:
firewall OK, got the firewall done. First I cut panels to fit the holes where the old heater box and blower motor were. I also welded all the extra holes for the old regulator, fuse block, 350 accelerator cable, and a couple other oddball holes just for GP. After welding, I ground all my spot welds down, and wire wheeled the whole area. Next I placed and cut the holes for my CNC machined bulkheads from Hot Rod Air. I leveled everything with Evercoat Fiber filler, with a skin coat of evercoat filler to smooth it. Here are some pics
firewall finally.... What you see here is Etching primer from Dupont. This is supposed to prevent the metal from rusting in the future. Note the holes for my bulkheads.
firewall Here it is after the final spray in Chassis Black. I did get my suspension together, but didn't get a pic, will take some later.
steering box Here is a pic of the installed 85 Monte SS steering box. The large bolts sticking up are from the local hardware store, to plug the lines while I paint. Join me for the next chapter, sometime next month. Chris
It's a roller some more progress today, here is the front end, complete with wheels!!! All the new Polygraphite bushings installed, PST steering components, CCP disk brakes, and hotchkis solid tie rod adjusters
hotchkis adjusters Here is a close up of the steering linkage... Be sure to shop around for best prices. I ordered all the bushings and steering linkage from PST for $359. I checked with OPG and yearone for centerlinks... Both around $80, I wound up buying the same brand from Autozone for $32, so be sure to check the local parts houses for the high wear items. The Springs came from Summit, Eibach sport (1.5" drop) front and rears. The solid adjusters are supposed to make a big difference in the "feel" of the steering. We'll see.
