PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

Good to know, I'll add it to my list

SUBD!!!!!!!

Wow, looks like you've made some nice progress. Hope to see it moving under its own power by the meet.

This is an awesome project! Can't wait to see the outcome, good luck!

Adam

Glad to see this project moving again!

I know Tim will be happy to see this.

Can't wait to be taken for a spin in this soon-to-be monster.

nos4blood70 wrote:Can't wait to be taken for a spin in this soon-to-be monster.

How did I miss this thread?

Now I know why this forum doesn't have a like button. Between you, and your brother, we would all break it!

Thanks Wes!

So I pulled the trigger on the clutch. I went with a Spec Stage 3+ clutch so hopefully it turns out pretty well.
Today I'm going to pick up an S10 transmission so I can swap the tailhousing over to my Camaro T5. I'm going to finish welding up the frame this weekend and hopefully get to painting the frame soon enough here.
Progress is happening!

That clutch is gunna be like a toggle switch. XD In a good way though. Exciting stuff, can't wait to see the progress.

Actually based on what I've heard, the 3+ isn't too bad. It's the 3, 4, and 5 that are all or nothing as far as the friction zone goes. This one should be pretty driveable so that's one of the main reasons why I went with it over the 5.

Got a lot done this weekend. I finally finished welding the frame FX kit together. This was actually my first welding project so a lot of it isn't very pretty, I feel like I've gotten the hang of it now though.
Boxing those c-channels seriously made a world of a difference! This thing is STRONG now!


I continued to add some bracing in the rear above the axle. I can't believe how much of a difference adding 4 small pipes has done. I am absolutely amazed!





I also picked up a transmission from an S10 so I can use the S10 tailhousing so the shifter is farther forward.


Turns out that this thing was kinda rusty inside so I've got the tailhousing and the top plate for the shifter sitting in vaporust right now. They should turn out just fine though.

I also finally got around to checking fitment of the engine, transmission, and driveshaft.
It looks like I can re-use my old driveshaft and I also won't have to move my transmission crossmember. However, I'll need to find a different route for engine mounts. The mounts I used for the L27 won't work since it appears the series 2 3800 is about 2 inches wider at the motor mounts.
I'm thinking of using something like the Camaro used where the bushing is in the frame mount and just making my own mount on the car. Perhaps another excuse to hone my welding skills.


Driver side bolted in with old mounts:


Passenger side has no room:


And finally we have the engine and transmission taken apart here:


The engine isn't getting anything special at this point. Just manifold gaskets and some PNP. The transmission is awaiting its new tail-housing and shifter.

These frames absolutely suck from the factory. You can put your weight on one of the rear frame horns and watch the frame twist at the c-channels and the front will barely move at all. The other rear frame horn won't even go down either.
This video says more than I could ever say about how bad these frames are from the factory

Boxing the frame made a world of a difference. There is absolutely zero twist from front to back now, and the frame actually feels like a solid piece of metal now.

Adding the braces in the rear also made a huge difference. Even with the frame boxed the rear frame horns don't really communicate well. Putting your weight on one will cause the other to just kinda twist. Now that the rear is braced like it is right now, both rear frame horns feel like they are the same piece. When one goes down the other goes down just as much.

It's a night and day difference!

So I got the transmission squared away today. Swapping over the tail-housing was actually pretty easy with all things considered.
The donor transmission was a little hard to shift; turns out it had some water in it so I had to clean up all of the corrosion. Now that that's done and everything's lubed up it shifts pretty nicely.



And the Camaro transmission with the S10 tail-housing installed:



The only thing I have to worry about with it now is getting the right connector for the S10 speed sensor and figuring out which short throw shifter I'll use.

Next steps are getting the frame and body ready for the POR-15 treatment. That means cleaning up the body and dropping the fuel tank.
Also going to work out my motor mount situation this weekend and hopefully reunite the body and the frame!

Love this project! Honestly, mostly just for the drive train though. I am not really a fan of the body. It is in great shape, and all, but not my cup of tea, no offense.

I am running the same rims on my Sonoma.

Was that tubing part of the frame kit? Would there be any point to welding the ends closed?

Honestly no offense taken. It's a body style that I had to warm up to really. Not really a big fan of the front end, but the side profile looks decent and it's definitely a unique car. Having something that's a little more unique and weird appeals to me.
The car is in great shape and it's been in the family for a while so I figured why not. It really had more to do with having the car already and realizing it would be a great platform to build a 3800 off of rather than continuing to waste money trying to make the Regal fast.

The tubing wasn't part of the kit. Me and Matt went to a local metal scrapping yard and grabbed a bunch of steel from there. I'm probably going to go back there to get some metal for the motor mounts I'm going to make for this on Saturday. The kit should have included some way to help square up that rear end if you ask me though. It made a world of a difference; I would definitely recommend it for other G-body owners.

It certainly couldn't hurt to weld them shut. I'm sure it would keep the moisture out and everything. Structurally though I can't imagine it would help much if at all. Right now it seems like more work than I want to put into it to be honest

Oh, I didn't realize it has family history. I totally get that. That is how I am with my olds. It has grown on me too, and I bet most people wouldn't understand why I still have it around, and care so much about it.

That's what I meant for the tubes, just to keep moisture out. Slap some paint on them, and I am sure they will last longer than the rest of the chassis either way.

For the headers, are you going the same route your brother did with the 93 and making them from scratch? Or will you be chopping up the Camaro, or aftermarket set?

There are aftermarket headers for 3800 Camaro's but they face the wrong way and will probably rub the frame on this car. The original manifolds from the camaro are cast iron so they're basically trash.

I have a set of stainless steel headers that I bought for the Regal that turned out to be absolute garbage. We're going to basically turn them into Power Logs and route them to the turbo. The jury is still out on whether they will both go to the same turbo though

The turbo plumbing will be an adventure in and of itself.

Not much progress to post about today. Spent the majority of my time cleaning up underneath the body getting ready for paint. Pulled the old fuel tank down too.
There's a couple body mounts that need work on the body; some of the bolts seized in the threads on the way out.

My clutch came in the mail today:



Also thought I'd show off the 1" Hellwig pro-touring rear sway bar and also the f-body 34mm that I'm putting on here:



I also have a set of kyb gr2 shocks that are going on here. Though I am considering switching out the rears for a set of air shocks to couple with a set of lowering springs. This way I can raise and lower it based on whether I'm at the track or if I'm just hauling a heavy load.

Should be nice and tight once it's done.

I find it annoying that your clutch came with the centering tool and mine did not.