[Lonnie P]

Nice choice on the UMI control arms. Totally worth it in my opinion. Do you have the lowers as well?

Yes, Uppers & Lowers.... still figuring out the height adjustment.



I had some fun with wheel fitment.... Note, these are not the wheels I intend to run but I had them on hand for test fitting.

I was attempting to check a set of 18" wheels for fitment on the front to see how much backspace I could run with the new suspension. I had a 18" x 8.5" front wheel with a 5.75 B.S & 255/45-18 tire. It actually cleared the suspension & only touched the upper control arm at full suspension droop... I have a ton more space to come outward which I will verify soon.

While I was at it, I could not resist throwing on the massive rear tires to see if they actually fit. These are 315/60-15 on an 11.33" wide wheel with 4.5" B.S. Tires measure in at 30" x 13.5".

They actually clear with about 1" from the leafs & 1/2" from the front edge of the ground effects. This is with the stock factory rear spring.

It is about 1/2" from the top of wheel opening.

Here is one compared to the factory 235/55-16.

Anyway, back to checking clearances on the fronts.

 

[dime-dozen]

something about those huge rear meats that just shouts SEX.

 

[Lonnie P]

The swap is in full swing now....

I started cleaning the frame & floor. It is remarkable how clean it is.
After using a lot of lacquer thinner & towels to remove the factory frame coating it is down to bare metal.

After final sanding it was ready for primer.

More to follow.

 

[Lonnie P]

Now with some fresh paint.

 

[jay27]

Nice work , that will be a nice truck.

 

[eshaw]

Looks nice, but that's a butt load of work to paint a frame. My hats off to you. No way I'd have that much gumption.

 

[Lonnie P]

I started having regrets half way through... It was supposed to be easy by painting the frame first then the floor, but the blue would attack the black over spray, so I had to paint the floor first then mask everything. It would have been easy to paint the frame first, then wrap it in plastic & paint the floor second. I really didn't want to remove the body. I'm glad I did it now.

 

[Lonnie P]

Progress is moving along slowly. My Firebird has given up it's engine

Engine is set in place & the fun of fitting the headers has begun.

 

[chevymec]

Wait, you stripped that Formula? I'm a 3rd gen guy. That is a sharp car.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Lonnie P]

Yes, it will get a new engine (I have a LS9 ZR1 engine I'm building) after this truck is finished.

 

[BigBlok]

Made some more progress today...


View attachment 338253


View attachment 338254

Ready to hang some suspension tomorrow

That looks like some shiny clean metal. Did you sandblast it? Powder coating?

 

[Lonnie P]

No I just removed the frame coating with lacquer thinner. The frame was near perfect.

I went over it with 80 grit on a sander before priming, but it was largely rust free.

Paint is POR15.

 

[BigBlok]

Progress is moving along slowly. My Firebird has given up it's engine

View attachment 341950

View attachment 341951
Engine is set in place & the fun of fitting the headers has begun.

View attachment 341949

Shit! now I have to Acquire a forklift too? When willst this madness end!?

 

[BigBlok]

No I just removed the frame coating with lacquer thinner. The frame was near perfect.

I went over it with 80 grit on a sander before priming, but it was largely rust free.

Paint is POR15.

I have an 01 fire red xtreme that i purched in 2018 bout this time gues its been two years already. Struggling with the random misfire but runs great, until she overheated a couple weeks ago :-/ Drove it home and the block didn't melt down LoL I think someone added 1 to many bottles of stop leak in the coolant which caused the old cap to fail and besides that the radiator is just full of gooey gunk which I figured theres no way to flush it out So I just got my new 3 row aluminum core a few days ago which got me thinking, supercharged 4.'3L or LS

 

[chevymec]

Yes, it will get a new engine (I have a LS9 ZR1 engine I'm building) after this truck is finished.

Sheew, ok that sounds like a plan! I don't think I have seen many green Formulas, let alone Firebirds at that.

Are you on TGO. org? Plan to make a build thread on that?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Lonnie P]

Yes there was a full build on TGO about 4-5 years ago. Do a search there for LS3/T56 in the LS swap section.
I'll have to update when the new engine starts going in.

 

[chevymec]

Good deal. I haven't been on in a long time since I sold my last 3rd gen.

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[Lonnie P]

I decided to get a T56 Magnum, after some uncertainty about modifying the shifter location... I didn't want to cut up the factory console. The middle shifter location on the Magnum is a perfect match for the factory 5 speed opening.

The price hurt, but I can recoup the majority of my money selling off the T-56. I'll also have a stronger trans as well. Figured that can't hurt since I tend to run my vehicles pretty hard.

 

[Lonnie P]

Well I can definitely say I had a stressful time putting the headers in.

Saying they are a tight fit is an understatement. Fitting them without scratching everything proved futile & caused some touch-up work to be needed.


Now for the bad news... anyone using these headers with a T-56 BEWARE.... they do not fit with the factory belle housing. I could not get the passenger one in until I removed the belle housing. Then of course it wouldn't go in. After a lot of measuring, cussing & cutting, it finally fit.

This is with about 1" removed now leaving 1/4" clearance.

Called both Stainless Works & Current Performance to let them know they should update their literature.
Would have saved me a lot of grief to know this ahead of time.

For those planning on installing these headers... be aware they are close to everything. I slotted the engine mounts, rolled the floor pinch weld... then I had to grind the frame & oil pan to get more clearance at the cross member.
I can say, they did an excellent job on fitment, but there is no room to spare.

 

[art]

They designed them on an s10 that had the 4l80e. 4l60e required cutting the starter shield off the bell housing. They were a pain in the *** to get in for me too.