BBR's 83GT - 552 BBF version 3.0 (at least)

[Beagle]

excellent!

[BBR]

Last night I raised the engine 0.5" and drilled the bolt holes for the motor plate. I discovered that my 1/2" drill exceeds the torque capacity of a HFT right angle adapter by a significant margin...... lol. The 0.5" lift was because the rack was just touching the pan. No biggie. I also wrestled the steering shaft into it. That was not easy. I had to do a lot of prying, banging and coercing to get it in, but it is done. There are still many small things to get wrapped up before I turn the key. Cleaning up some wiring, water pump wiring, carb, O2 wiring routing, hook up shifter cable, flexplate nuts, starter, mufflers, etc.

[Beagle]

first time I've seen the hood in it's place on the car?

[BBR]

It's been on it before, but this is the first time that there's not an empty hole beneath it!

[TheSilverBuick]

I'm jealous. Looking good James.

[BBR]

I picked up a new 90° drill adapter from Lowe's yesterday. Hopefully this one will last longer than the HFT version!

Judd (my 11 y/o) has been chomping at the bit to work on this car with me. So, last night we put the starter in, ran the header evac hoses, adjusted and connected the shifter cable (which he was a BIG help doing), installed the fan, and started relocating my fan, fuel pump and water pump relays to where the battery once resided.

I still need to make a bracket so I can tension the alternator belt. This motor plate setup is completely different than the old setup in that regard.

[Deaf Bob]

I have a "TIMBERWOLF" drill.. Strong.. Clutch and clutchless, 2 speeds.. Looks like an angle grinder.. The big one.. When I needed it, it was sure nice!

[BBR]

My helper, Judd.



The "to do" list is getting shorter and honestly it would be even shorter because I can typically do something faster than I can tell someone else how to do it. But Judd has been having a blast working on the car with me and it's fun to have him grabbing the wrenches and saying "let me do it, Dad".

We drilled out the motor mount holes to 3/8" with the new right-angle adapter. Worked very well. We made a bracket to tension the alternator belt, installed it and we finished up the fan/water pump/fuel pump relay rewire. They look 100% better and are much more easily serviced now.

To do:
converter bolts
exhaust
carb & cable & fuel lines
lower rad hose (because the new pump has a smaller hose inlet adapter)
water pump plug
distributor and wires

Now..... my other son. (14) Jake and Judd are completely different. Judd wants to do what I am doing, Jake wants me to do what he is doing. lol When Judd and I started working on the car, Jake decided to build a bow. lol His first attempt was good, but the 'wings' (part of an old wooden crutch) proved too weak and cracked. This spawned an internet search and ultimately, version 2.0. It is still a little rough, but he plans to work on it more today.



lol I knew the old K2 Hawks would come in handy some day, just never guessed they would become a bow.

[RideTech_Ryan]

Its always awesome to see guys teaching they're sons about cars! Like ive heard before "Raise your kids with a car problem and they wont have enough money to have a drug problem". Plus it always teaches them the value of hard work.

[TheSilverBuick]

The "to do" list is getting shorter and honestly it would be even shorter because I can typically do something faster than I can tell someone else how to do it. But Judd has been having a blast working on the car with me and it's fun to have him grabbing the wrenches and saying "let me do it, Dad".

Good stuff. I have the same issue come up from time to time. Like when I had my younger brother over and we did the disc brake swap on the Firebird or tear down on the Skylark's engine. It took probably 25% more time, but why not? I'm positive he got something from helping out.

[CDMBill]

Passing on the knowledge, passion and busted knuckles to the next generation is as good as it gets. That bow will throw an arrow though a cinder block if he can draw it.

[BBR]

Wonder of wonders, the bow actually works pretty good.

The list is very short now! Pretty much just distributor and lower rad hose. Add oil, trans fluid and water and let it rip. We tested the electrical things I rewired and everything seems to be a go.

Fingers crossed!!

[BBR]

Whoo hoo! It's alive! Had a couple of little things to work through, but we got it running.

First problem was that I wired the relay for the ignition to a place on the fuse box that does not have power when cranking. Lol. That makes it a little difficult to start the engine. Haha. Another prob was that the wire that triggers the starter relay kept popping off the starter. Fuel pressure reg was stuck and needed and couple of taps to fix. One of the front bolts on the water pump that should have been tightened by Mezierre was loose and leaked for a minute. Once I trusted the marks for the distributor I made when taking it apart, it lit right off. Haha. Oh yeah, the trans works and the battery disconnect kills the car just like it should. Overall a great day.

[CDMBill]

Awesome news! Not too late to go to DW!

[BBR]

Thanks for everything Bill. I wouldn't be at this point without your help. I really appreciate it.

As for DW, it or RMRW are just not in the cards this year. I sure wish it was different, but that's life sometimes.