Burton5251

After much delay I am finally at a place in my life where I can begin the restoration/ LSA swap of my 1984 Z/28 that has played a large role in my life. This is something I have wanted to do for years but as many of you know "life" happens and these projects get put on the back burner. I fully admit when I get wrapped up in a project I never take the time to capture progress pictures and document how things unfolded. I decided that making a thread documenting the restoration/swap would be a great way to hold my self accountable, document the process and hopefully help other members in the future.

A little back history on the car... This was my father's first and only new car and it was purchased from Auerbach Chevrolet in Burlington New Jersey the week after I was born in March of 1985. This car was a staple of my childhood, all of the best memories I have as a kid with my father include this car in one way or another. Needless to say I became a "car guy" at a very young age.



My story begins in 2001 after passing my drivers exam and after many years of begging/pleading my father gifted me the car under the condition that I could afford my own insurance policy, afford all maintenance/repairs and stayed out of trouble. Needless to say this was short lived as the vehicle was stolen eleven months later as I was taking an SAT prep course. I was completely devastated and to add insult to injury it was a week before my senior year in HS when you were first able to drive to school. Nothing like taking the bus the first day of your senior year. After a couple of months of searching for the car, driving anywhere and everywhere looking for the car I pretty much lost all hope. Then one day in January of 2003 I received a phone call that my car was found abandoned...only to be followed by it caught on fire and was taken to a salvage yard. My father and I went went down the next day to survey the damage and see if it was fixable (I will be sure to update with photos later this evening).

As it turned out the car was only driven <50 miles from where it was stolen to where it was found. It appeared the car was driven and parked in high brush causing the cat. to ignite the grass and catch the car on fire. Luckily the damage was isolated to the fender, ecu and harness and we determined it was worth a shot to get this car back on the road. After six months of working with my father every free second I had we were able to get the car running and road worthy again. Unfortunately, I only got to drive it for a few months before I was off to college and the car was back to sitting...

Burton5251

In 2018, several years after graduating college I finally had a place with a garage that allowed me to work on the car and get it back on the road. The first step was to get the car to my place (my father was more than pleased as it has been at his house since 2003) and evaluate its current condition. It was evident that car needed a full restoration to bring it back to its former self and of course an LS swap while I was at it....

Burton5251

The teardown begins...

Burton5251

I began the teardown at this point in time and was able to get the whole car stripped down to the shell to start the restoration. This was fine with me considering I was at a good point in my life and did not anticipate moving in the near future so having the car on jack stands with no mode of movement was fine for a bit wile I stripped the undercarriage.

Well wouldn't you know it, two weeks after the car was completely stripped I purchased a house and had less than a month to move. This brought up one problem, how the hell was I going to move the car (or shell at this point)?!?!. After many "I told you so's" my father and I built a body cart, mounted the shell and I had it towed to my new home.

goldandblue

Following.

Burton5251

As new home ownership would have it the last two summers would be spent making improvements around the house. Last weekend I realized all of my house projects were completed (as money permitted) so it was time to get back to the car. While I have a one car garage it was built in the 1900's and very lacking to say the least. I purchased a Shelter Logic "garage in a box" to store my ZL1 as I didn't want risk any mice etc getting into the vehicle in the garage when I wasn't driving it when I moved in. Believe it or not this was a much better environment to work then the garage so the Zl1 got kicked to the curb (literally) for the time being.

So here we are as of last weekend 7/3/21. Step 1 was to start getting the engine bay prepped. So i have begun to weld all the holes in the firewall and frame rails that will no longer be used. On a side note this was the first time I have ever welded in my life so please excuse the learning curve. I was able to make decent progress the first weekend. I was able fill the bolt holes are the top of the firewall that will no longer be utilized and also the holes on the frame rail (I just realized I do not have any photos of it completed, will update with photos).

ShiftyCapone

iTrader: (7)

Your story is so similar to many others here. Best of luck and keep us updated. What are your plans for the car, besides an LSA? Any thoughts on your goals for the rest of your car? Get familiar with wiring now. It may be too late but take 40 trillion pictures as you'll need them come reassembly.

camarorsssss

iTrader: (2)

Yes I second that, takes lots of pictures as you go because when it comes time to put it back together i can guarantee you will be scratching your head at some point. Thankfully there are some many pictures online and forums to help you along.

Burton5251

Thank you, I certainly will. Fortunately, I did take a ton of pictures they are just on my old PC that I need to dig out.

The plans for the car are to use it mostly as a road course car to attend track days. Of course there were will also be driving around town and car shows. I am building this car to be driven in one capacity or another. I am sure there will be some changes down the road but a rough guideline for the car is follows...

Engine: LSA (w/JRE road race cam)
Trans: Magnum-F
Rear: Strange 3.73
ECU: Holley Terminator X
Fuel: Dual 340 LPH return style in 3rd gen tank with flex sensor.
Suspension: UMI RR K-Member, coilovers, SFC etc.
Brakes: Gen 5 Camaro Brembo Set-up.
Body: Can't decide if I want to stay with 82-84 ground effects or go to the 85-90 style. Tracspec louvers & 5" rear spoiler.
Exhaust: Ideally true duals but we will see what space permits.
AC/Heat: Vintage Air

Burton5251

I recently picked up a lightly used Redline rotisserie for a good price which will certainly make things easier when I make my way back to the undercarriage.

ShiftyCapone

iTrader: (7)

Very cool. What is the JRE cam you speak of?

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

Like everything I'm seeing! Your going to love the term X system (I have 2) and it truly is a simple nice system. I also ran the Fitech and the Term X is better especially if your boosted. I would however rethink those rear gears with a LSA blower. I have 3.55s and with a single turbo 5.3 and a built 2004R and drag radials the 1st and 2nd gear are mostly useless on anything more than 3/4 throttle. You would probably do better with a 3.08-3.27 gear to help with traction as you will have more than enough low end to get the car up to speed and any unnecessary mechanical leverage will make traction a bigger problem for you. If your running E85 (hence the flex fuel sensor) Your pumps should be fine, if your planning on pump 93 and possibly some E85 (depending on your predicted power goals) your prob better going with a single 450 or hellcat 525 pump. I always prefer single over dual pumps as its safer. If one pump starts to go or dies your 1/2 the fuel volume and in boost thats a melted piston. dual pumps have no warning and the working pump will mask the others issues. At least with a large single pump when it dies or starts to die you can see it easily. I've pushed my single 450 to 750 crank HP on 93 an no signs of flow issues but on pump I think they are good for 1k+ and a 525 will do more than that. Also the Aeromotive 340s don't like pressure and drop like a rock at anything over 70psi (the body is only capable of holding 90psi or something). I'm also not fan of coil overs on our cars, I would suggest weight Jacks over coil overs all day/any day. It keeps the components in the area they are designed to bear the weight of the vehicle and operate correctly.

FWIW My firebird was also stolen 3 months after I finished doing a 383 HSR and new built 700r4. I wasn't as lucky as you and in a few days I got a call that it was found... however they took the drivetrain, cooling system and PCM among other things like the radio, sound system, headlights and other things and left it abandoned. I know what it feels like!

Burton5251

JRE is Jannetty Racing Enterprises in CT. They are very popular in the 5th gen scene and many other platforms for that matter. Ted is the owner and is very knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with. His road race cam is a custom spec cam designed to live most its life in the high RPM range and designed to not be as harsh on the valvetrain as some other popular cams. I have a few friends that run that spec cam in their ZL1's and have had great success with it.

Burton5251

I completely agree with you on the gearing, I need to look into that more thoroughly. To be honest I didn't put much thought into the gearing at this point and just went with what I have in my ZL1 which does fairly decent at the track.

Again I also agree with you on the risk of dual pumps. I really wanted to run a single as it is much safer as you mentioned. However, I want the ability to run pump E85 and I think it would be close to maxing out the 525lph. However, to be honest I will most likely just go with the 525lph pump as e85 is few and far between around the Philadelphia area. Plus I usually always tend to be more conservative and do not like to risk things especially when it comes to fueling.

Sorry to hear about your firebird. As you know it literally is the worst feeling in the world. Thanks for all your suggestions you certainly made some great points!

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

i would think that your ZL1 is a bit porkyer than your 3rd gen. That added weight does help with traction

what’s your expected HP output? I don’t see you needing E85 and your probably better running 93 and spraying some water meth to give you some cushion and safety. I run wiper fluid and I’m pretty aggressive on my timing on a stock compression custom cam and ported head 5.3. I’ve been up to 16psi on 93 and spraying the wiper fluid never had an issue. I also prefer 93 pump over E85 bc of the corrosiveness and how quickly the fuel turns.

I’m with u on the E85, I lived in NJ my whole life until 3 years ago and moved to CT. I’ve never seen a E85 pump in either state in my whole Life lol. My first son was born at CHOP in Philly in 2016 so I spent a few weeks down there and commuting back and forth.

PS make sure you get the term X with the USB cable vs the one with the handheld. It’s very easy to flash and fire up but you get all the benefits of the software for boost as long as you have a laptop and transferring over learned fuel values To zero it in is easy as pie on the laptop. You can do it with the handheld but it’s a process and you have to pull the SD card out and plug that into the computer. Or get the kit with the handheld and buy the cable for $60. The kit with the cable is over $100 cheaper than the handheld kit.

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

3.73 is a nice ratio with T56. Manual trans needs more gear than auto because clutch doesn't slip like a converter.

vorteciroc

I ran a 4.30:1 ratio Ring and Pinion Set in a Third-Gen that had 27" tall tires...
and a T56 Transmission that had a 0.50:1 ratio 6th-Gear.

The car would cruise on the Expressway in 6th-Gear...
as if the car had an old 4-Speed (1.00:1 High-Gear ratio) and a 2.42:1 ratio Ring and Pinion Set.

I absolutely loved being able to have the 4.30:1 Gears for amazing acceleration; but going down the Expressway as if only using a 2.42:1 Gear Set!!!

Burton5251

Well I certainly did not get off to the smooth start that I would have hoped for. Unfortunately, the 84' lost it spot in the garage tent so I spent the last several months (when time permitted) making a very neglected garage into a usable space to resume work. I had a couple of hours on Saturday to remove the surface rust off the holes I welded shut and an temporally prime them until I go back and epoxy prime the whole engine bay. Its not much but at least the project is moving forward again.

One issue that I am running into is that some of the metal is very thin (firewall & wheel wells) and when welding the holes closed it is blowing through even on the lowest setting that is allowing me to get adequate penetration, leaving me with pinholes as seen in the last photo.

Burton5251

Made some more progress with filling holes in the firewall that will no longer be used. I still have to grind my welds down. All that's left on the firewall is to finish welding in the C100 patch and where the cruise control plug (car did not originally have cruise control) use to be. I was able to also remove the stud that was used to hold the park lock cable and fill that as well. I also picked up a set of original manual pedals for $100 (which I thought was a good score) to mock up in order to cut the hole for the CMC and make the doubler plate.

I also cleaned up the old battery tray area and removed the EVAP canister tray as well. I fabricated some replacement tray's out of 16 gauge sheet but still have to clean/fit them up a bit.

I cleaned out all of the old seam sealer where the wheel wells meet the firewall. Typical rust spot on these cars so my next step will be to sandblast these areas and make patch panels. Unfortunately the passenger side is going to take some work as after the fire the seam sealer melted which made the area rust more than normal.

Burton5251

Had a bit of time to get the C100 patch put in. Hopefully I will have time this weekend to get all the welds blended.

vorteciroc

Not going to use the Hood Latch Release-Cable either?

Saxondale

iTrader: (2)

is that advice or ridicule?

Burton5251

Not sure either but I will be running a custom body harness and hood pins.

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

Neither. I think he just noticed the hole is getting welded up.

vorteciroc

The Location for the Cable to pass through the Fire-Wall was welded closed...
I did not want it to be a surprise that the Hood Release Cable could not be reinstalled.

Burton5251

A little more progress on the firewall...

Burton5251

I removed the battery & canister tray and replaced (spot welded) w/16 gauge sheet.

Burton5251

I mocked up the 3rd gen pedals to cut the CMC hole in the firewall. I also made a doubler plate so there is no flex in the firewall.

Burton5251

I started cutting out the rust on the driver's side firewall/wheel well. I purchased patch panels for theses sections from a donor car due to their irregular shape and tough location to access. I decided to welded the patch in as two pieces.

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

Looking good. I would tell you now to swap to a hydroboost setup, you gain so much room is not even funny! Been running one for years on my 87 and it's fantastic.

Burton5251

Thanks.
I actually just started looking into them recently. This kit was recommended to me...
http://www.hydratechbraking.com/GM_3rdgenF_Body.html

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

Oof, thats $$$! When I got mine they didn't have kits so I was dealing with a guy who was starting to make kits and think I paid $421 or so...but I guess inflation. For the hoses I used Steel hydra boost low profile fittings and hydraulic hose/fittings from a equipment supplier which is a cloth braided hose with steel fittings found on large equipment and its cheaper than the braided AN stuff and I think looks better.

jus1975

following

soloc4

Sourced mine from an Astro van. They are more compact than the truck units that some people have used.

vorteciroc

The Only difference is in the size of the Accumulator Cylinder...
...(essentially reserve Fluid/ Pressure to push the Brake pedal when the Engine/ Power Steering Pump is not turning).

The Gold-Anodized Component of the Hydro-Boost Assembly in the Image below:

vorteciroc

I have been installing these things in Third-Gens (and all kinds of GM Vehicle and Race-Cars actually) for the last 20+ years.
A clean Rebuild, some polishing, and some -AN Hoses, make a really nice install!





I love them!


They are great!!!
Suoercharged and Turbocharged configurations really do well with these to maintain excellent Power-Brakes on the street.

Just make certain to actually inspect and Maintain your Power-Steering System
Most people pretend that it does not exist for about 100,000 Miles, LOL!

They are plentiful in the Scrap-Yards...
Plus they are very cheap an easy to rebuild.

Reman Units sell for crazy prices sometimes...
Rebuild a Core for less than $40 and sell it for $200!
Nice and easy Pay-Day!

vorteciroc

I almost forgot!!!

The MOST IMPORTANT part of the Swap, is modifying the Linkage for a "Threaded Rodend" in order to have some needed adjustment of the Linkage.

Burton5251

I didn't get much accomplished with weekend as my daily needed a new condenser and CV axle. I was able to complete half of the first firewall patch and tack the second piece into place. Disregard the flash rust on the underside, I completely forgot to prime it when I sprayed the top. I will clean it up when I finish the patch (hopefully this weekend).

fuchs

Looks like a big project! I sure wish you the best of luck. I'm a bit surprised to see this hydro-boost brake system. Didn't know it exists. Inspiring, it's very small indeed.

Burton5251

I was able to finish the driver's side firewall patch this weekend. All the patches should look much better when I add a skim coat of filler after the epoxy primer. I also finished prepping the CMC double plate. I just need to plug weld that in which shouldn't be to bad.

The next step is to sand blast the rust on the passenger side firewall, front floor pan and corner to see how bad the rust really is. This will be the worst part since this is where the fire originated and the inside of the cowl was never resealed causing all the rust issues in this location.

ShiftyCapone

iTrader: (7)

I would stitch the OEM seems on the firewall. Add a few tack welds to support the small spot welds. This is important when "smoothing" the firewall on these cars. Also, if you are going to have any form of bulkhead (for wiring and or HVAC, ETC) beef up the firewall by adding thickness to it. It becomes pretty flimsy.

vorteciroc

Very True!

Once I have shaved and smoothed the entire Fire-Wall.
I create and Install a 1/8" Sheet of 6061 Aluminum.
Once bolted on with Aluminum Bolts... weld over the Heads and sand smooth like they were never there.
It goes from the Passenger Side all the way across to the area just below the Windshield Wiper Motor.
(Since that area of the Fire-Wall is far from flat).
I make 3 smaller Sheets to be installed on the Driver Side of the Fire-Wall.

Night and Day difference in strength... Plus it looks just as delicious as a freshly shaved Pu$$.

Burton5251

I started to tackle the rust on passenger side floor pan/cowl/wheel well areas. First step was to remove the seam sealer then sandblast to see how bad the area actually was. To my surprise it was not as bad as I anticipated. I cut out the rusted areas and will begin making patch panels to seal it back up. Then I will make one more pass with the sandblaster for any of the rust in the pits I did not get out the first time around.

Burton5251

Finished up the patch panels on the passenger side. Took a bit of work to get them how I wanted.

Burton5251

I was able to repair the rust on the A-pillar, remove the old seam sealer inside the cowl and interior and get 90% of the sand blasting completed on the interior. I was also able to epoxy primer the cowl both inside and out. I still need to go inside the cowl and primer some parts I could not reach with the gun. The whole car will be seam sealed after if gets a coat of high build primer.

3.1EyeCandy

iTrader: (3)

Hats off to you sir. Most folks when finding that level of rust would have thrown the car away. Seeing your pictures and progress, it's what I imagine most restorations of other classic cars with fewer numbers are more like. Give thirdgens another 5-10 years and I wouldn't be surprised to see more projects like yours. Nice job!

xnightflyerx

Following. Great work enjoying the thread.

Burton5251

I was able to weld up the HVAC hole on the firewall and finish sandblasting the interior. Next up will be to build a make shift spray booth in my garage and shoot the SPI epoxy primer on the interior. Once that is complete I can mock up the RestoMod Air case on the firewall. Of course Vintage Air is releasing a Third Gen kit in the coming weeks now that I have everything all welded up. Hopefully you will be able to purchase the duct adaptors separately.

ShiftyCapone

iTrader: (7)

Great progress. Since the car is bare I would add a few tack welds to the OEM seems on the firewall. That will make sure they don't move on you once it is nice and painted. Also, if you plan on bolting anything to the firewall, I would strongly recommend welding in reinforcements to the backside of the firewall. The OEM firewall is pretty flimsy once smoothed out.

Burton5251

Thanks for the suggestions, I plan on reinforcing the firewall with 1" square tubing and also use it as a mounting system for the evaporator case, similar to the picture below. I will also add additional plug welds where the seams overlap on the exterior of the firewall. I was going to tack the whole seam and smooth it but I like visual appearance of the seam running across the firewall.