solaris_vii

iTrader: (3)

lmao, i traded a car straight up for a truck 10 years newer, im satisfied with that (even if its not very manly =P)

King NothingSS

Sweet lol I'm pickin the 01 up this saturday

solaris_vii

iTrader: (3)

nice! man, i wish i had time or money (mostly money) to throw at this 87. im thinking of selling my 82 collectors edition vette, that should be enough to do this z up right. its only got 27000 miles, i dont like cars i cant work on anyways.... current plan is ly6 with a tremec 5 speed, precision red paint. but you know i change plans everyday between stock and sweet build....

King NothingSS

That is so true!! Same reason I'm selling the 2000 SS, so I can fund the 2001 SS lol it will have a magnum t-56 but I'm not sure about the engine but I know I'll be sticking with the 10 bolt but I'll build it up

King NothingSS

So any updates bud?

solaris_vii

iTrader: (3)

wellll, not really =( mostly parts hoarding at the moment. hope to have one in the next week or so! has any body here ever used sachs brand shocks? i just ordered some for the rear, should get them today. i wanted to do bilstein as thats what my vette has and my old iroc had, but man have they gone up. $99 a piece for the rear, and like $300 a piece for the front? no thanks! im hopeful these will be good, theyre gas charged like the bilsteins, and i have used sachs before i got a slave/master cylinder for my 95 from them and it was a real quality piece. heres hopin!

solaris_vii

iTrader: (3)

well quick update on the sachs shocks. total garbage. supposed to be german, made in mexico, the bushing was loose, the threads were rusty, and i could EASILY compress them by hand. were talking like no resistance here. just a warning for everyone else to stay away!

89chevysb

Of course you could always retrofit the shocks onto you're hood and there ya go brand new hood shocks.

91 zeee

fyi...i just bought a set of original GM factory shocks and struts for my car (the dealer still carries them). u might want to check them out..they were really inexpensive compared to bilstein, koni, etc.... i wanted to go aftermarket adjustable, but, honestly, these cars handle and ride good from the factory anyway. i can look up what i paid for them if u need me to.

cool build thread by the way...i like watching your progress. keep the updates coming...it motivates me to go out and work on mine

solaris_vii

iTrader: (3)

thanks for the support! i really wish i could get more work done, but time and weather arent really helping. and as for the hood shocks, i do need those, i might have to look into that lol

solaris_vii

iTrader: (3)

woo hoo! finally another update! again, nothing big. slow and steady wins ....somethin or other. first of all, finally got historical plates for the car, good bye buying new tags every year! also, changed all the pedal pads from the old worn out standard ones to new nice looking iroc ones. these were kinda hard to track down, seems dorman has discontinued the brake pedal pad so i had to do some hunting. sorry the after picture is awful, i didnt realize it until i uploaded it but you get the idea. thanks for lookin!

before:


after:


oh, also, kind of mangled up the gas pedal pin while taking it out. anybody out there have a spare? it works just fine, i just hate knowing its back there beat up. theres some on ebay for corvettes for like $2, might try one of those, they look the same and come on, how different would gm make them?

King NothingSS

Pics of plates? Pedals look good!!!

solaris_vii

iTrader: (3)

thanks, i really wish i had a better picture of it though. ill get a better one next time im out there (and yes pics of the plates too lol). the plates were old ones off of my 85 vette i sold, only had to pay $6 to get em transfered and theyre good for life! really been sticking it to the dmv with this car lol.

also, after much soul searching and thinking and planning, i know for sure what engine combo im going with. 355 lt1, lt4 hot cam, long tubes, gmmg exhaust, and a tko 500 5 speed, keeping the stock 9 bolt (rebuilding it). ive never seen anyone do an lt1 with a 5 speed, but i really want to keep one in the car and i know the t5 cant take it. im hoping since the tko 500 is based off the t5, i can reuse things such as my bellhousing, hydraulics, etc. im pretttty sure by 87 the small blocks were 1 piece rear main seal, and so is the lt1, so it should all work, right? i have more research to do, but i think itll be pretty unique. stay tuned for tax refund time, redoing the whole front end!

King NothingSS

LT1??? they are such a pain in the ***, go with a LS1!!!

solaris_vii

iTrader: (3)

well, my next build that im planning, is a 454 lsx 80s monte carlo...... that way i have a tpi, an lt1, and an lsx. just my plans tho =P

solaris_vii

iTrader: (3)

quickie update, got the struts out today but forgot the camera =( new front end stuff coming soon!

solaris_vii

iTrader: (3)

woo hoo! finally an update! got the new bilstein struts and umi strut mounts in today, next up is taking out the lower control arms for new springs, ball joints, and bushings and then new rotors calipers and pads after that. i have all the parts except calipers and pads, so its really just a question of time now not money. on to the pics.

heres what i started with, two lovely empty holes:



here is the strut mounts loosely installed. easiest way i found to assemble everything was to get the strut mounts about in place, attach the two lower strut bolts onto the spindle and then compress the strut and stab it through the strut mount then torque everything



ohhh, beautiful bilstein strut. i actually dropped this one and chipper off some of the yellow powder coat, pretty mad but i dont think you can see it



heres a close up of one of the strut mounts with the strut



and finally both sides done



couple side notes, honestly the things i had the hardest time with were the brake line clip and holder that bolts to the strut (learned to bolt these on strut FIRST), everything else was straight forward. i dont know how youre supposed to properly torque the strut nut, it says 50 ft lbs but you have to use an end wrench to tighten it, and finally the bolts for the strut mount are 12 point bolts so i couldnt get them tightened down just yet. took the car for a spin and it felt very good, but an alignment will definitely be needed soon. hope to have another update up next week!

King NothingSS

nice!!!!

'87IROCZOWNER69

iTrader: (1)

Updates?

solaris_vii

iTrader: (3)

should have posted here, had to sell the car to pay for school/family stuff =(