Well 2007 came to an end a few weeks ago and the GS still wasn't on the road. A lot of the delay I can blame on parts suppliers. I ordered just about everything I needed to finish the car off. Everyone I ordered from told me my parts were back ordered 4-6 weeks. The parts finally started trickling in recently so the completion date is actually approaching!
January 18, 2008
I dropped the front and back bumper off at the chrome shop the first of December. I just picked up the back bumper yesterday. Installed it today. The front bumper is supposed to be ready for pick up this coming week. I bough a repro bumper taillight harness. This was a nice piece, all the retainers lined up perfectly. Started working on the headliner installation as well this weekend, in between watching the Barrett-Jackson car auction on TV!
January 28, 2008
I picked up an installed the front bumper today.
February 10, 2008
Safelite installed the front and rear glass last Monday. This weekend I finished up the wiring. Got the interior lights to all work when they're supposed to work! I was going to try and recover the front buckets myself, but I'm running out of time to get this done by the end of the month. So I dropped the old buckets with new covers and foam off to a proffesional. I still have to do the final tie back of the wires under the dash, but wanted to get the carpet in first. Started with a layer of Dynamat to keep things cooler and quieter, then the carpet and finally set belts and shifter.
February 17, 2008
The car is officially back on the road! Still have some minor adjustments and work to get done, but we took the car down the street for a short ride. Click here for a short video. Dial up users beware, it is still 11 meg.
February 25, 2008
The rear was set up for crusing with 3.08 gears, but I really needed a little more punch without sacrificing the ability to run on the freeways at least at about 65 mph. So I ordered a set of 3.55 gears and then pulled the rear out of the car. I'm not ready to tackle a rear end set up, so this will be one of the things I'll pay a pro to set up! It's probably good thing I pulled the rear, the bolts for the upper control arms and the No-Hop Bars were loose.
March 16, 2008
I kept seeing tell fluid on the floor of the garage by the rear drivers side tire. I tightened up the c-clip eliminator to no avail. A call to Strange Engineering revealed the style c-clip kit I had isn't made anymore, and now they don't recommend using it with stock axles. So if I want to continue using this rear end, I'll need to buy a new set of aftermarket axles and the new style c-clip eliminator kit. Order time is a few weeks. I really wanted to go to the track this coming Friday to wind it up legally, even if only on street tires. So, what other options were there? The GS clone out back has a standard 12-bolt with 4.10 gears in it. I yanked that rear out, cleaned in up, swapped all the brake harware and the No-Hop Bars and we're back in business. But man, what a difference the 4.10's make compared to the 3.55.s Traction will definately be limited, or practically non-existent on street tires. But it should be fun anyway.
