PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

I can't wait to see it at that event, the looks it'll get!

So this means the project will resume October 1, 2015 for a final thrash? lol

The trick right now is figuring out how much we've actually spent... which could be anywhere between $700 and $1800 depending on how we tally the numbers... does the parts car count against the budget? if we sell the parts car's leftovers does that money go back into the budget? How much does a free car cost? Things like that...

Not a huge update but there was a small amount of progress today... I took a trip to LKQ and scored a W-body trans dipstick for the headers.

Monday i'll be headed back to the car to chase off some bees and hopefully get her running. (i seriously doubt she'll be running on monday.)

Weather and wealth have conspired to keep us from the car, but I've made another trip to try and get what we can do done. We edge ever closer to firing the motor but we are not there yet.

This past weekend was occupied by hooking up sensors and repairing the fuel line by splicing in parts from the parts car. This would keep us from dying in an expanding fireball, so it made it's way onto the "nessesary repair" list.


With that situated it was time to fit the Headers. We started at the back using a ratchet strap to hold the header in place while we feed the bolts home.


Then the crossover pipe was wrapped with the fiberglass insulation positioned. We weren't able to do a proper test fit with the motor on the stand so this was the first time we would know if the bends were proper or not. everything looked ok.


Disaster! When fitting the front header we discovered that it wanted to pass through space currently occupied by the transmission mount. On the upside the mount was shot and would have needed to be replaced anyway. We figured an early style mount without the shock absorber would clear the pipes and we started to call around.


due to a quirk in the rules we could not (or rather did not want to) buy the parts online. The cost of shipping goes against the car's budget. We eventually found one local for around $12 bucks and the build was back on.

Here is the new mount on the left and the old mount on the right. The new mount is lighter and allows for more clearance, but is weaker. Let's hope it holds up.


We swapped the mount (which in hindsight we should have done before swapping the motor in but what are you gonna do?) and fitted the front manifold into place. Success! Everything fell right into place.


and what a thing of beauty.


Tomorrow i head back and we'll attempt to connect the downpipe to the rest of the exhaust. We're rapidly closing in on the point where we need an experienced welder.

Nice work! - BC

Coming along nicely. Thanks for the Friday night entertainment.

Love what you're doing with the car,but the new motor mount needs to be modified to last undrer racing conditions. Drill a 3/8 hole top to bottom.install a 3/8 grade 8 bolt, flat washer top and bottom and a locking nut.it's still going to break but not as often. good luck looking forward to the first race.

It just has to last 1 weekend.

mhfromphila wrote:Love what you're doing with the car,but the new motor mount needs to be modified to last undrer racing conditions. Drill a 3/8 hole top to bottom.install a 3/8 grade 8 bolt, flat washer top and bottom and a locking nut.it's still going to break but not as often. good luck looking forward to the first race.

^^ What he said.

I modified a shock mount for a similar solution. Having the bolt farther out like this should help it last as it puts the bolt in tension only, not torsion:

We did consider using the polys like matt did there, but we were mid-install and my drill press is not at the same shop as the car. We slapped the mount on and finished the job we were about.

As the event is extremely budget limited (Strict $2015 total outlay) I may eventually build one using the leftover poly from the rear links after the event, but for now the stock unmodified mount will have to do

Project is currently on hold as I may be moving cross country. If this happens it will either be sold as-is to somebody who would like to finish the project, or the motor transferred to Don's '95 and the shell scrapped. Not really thrilled about abandoning this but the opportunity in the PNW is too great to ignore.

Life happens sometimes. Good luck either way.

It's still early, but I could be on the west coast in as little as 6 weeks. The current best plan is relocating this motor to Don's red '95 and scraping the shell. Watch this space for updates.

Where abouts on the left coast?

I bet it's Seattle they're booming right now

Tacoma Actually. I've got friends there. About an hour south of Seattle.

They have rally racing there. Real in-the-woods up-the-mountain rally racing.

If you move to the Tacoma area and have not been to Mt. Rainier, you should really go to see it. - BC

The Car has been sold, the motor will be transferred into Don's '95

The Buick Is currently up for sale.

http://orlando.craigslist.org/cto/5042614286.html