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Mutt Jr. Is Home ... The Work Has Begun!!!


Mean Green z28

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Towed the new (well, old but new to me) car home from the shop after the drivetrains were swapped with the Camaro (Mutt Sr.). Didn't feel like sleeping last night, so took the interior apart with whatever hand tools I could find lying around the garage to get it ready for the manual trans. swap.

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Here, I just used some detailing products on just the d/s fender (refer to the thread I made about detailing, I believe it's a sticky) ... came out nice ... just need to wash the whole car and then do the whole thing now...

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Towed the new (well, old but new to me) car home from the shop after the drivetrains were swapped with the Camaro (Mutt Sr.). Didn't feel like sleeping last night, so took the interior apart with whatever hand tools I could find lying around the garage to get it ready for the manual trans. swap.

15119331828.jpg 15119322788.jpg

15119322818.jpg 1511940239.jpg

Here, I just used some detailing products on just the d/s fender (refer to the thread I made about detailing, I believe it's a sticky) ... came out nice ... just need to wash the whole car and then do the whole thing now...

15119322871.jpg 15119322866.jpg

15119322843.jpg 15119322883.jpg

Looking Great MeanGreen.... all the best for the remaining work, can you give us a rundown of what your plans for her are?

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Looking Great MeanGreen.... all the best for the remaining work, can you give us a rundown of what your plans for her are?
Well, like I mentioned earlier, the manual trans swap is a definite. I'm just waiting for my other car to be towed back so I can swap the pedals/etc. This is turning into a manual and the older car is turning into a auto (and gonna be sold). Need to cut a hole in the floorboard for the shifter and one in the firewall for the clutch master cylinder and everything can go back in after the pedals go in. I just don't have all my tools at home so things are gonna be a bit slow. As for the rest of the car, all the suspension components (Koni shocks, Ground Control adj. height spring setup, misc. control arms/etc.) and wheels/etc. off the old car are gonna be swapped. In essence, you can kinda say I just switched bodies ... lol

Ah, didn't notice she was a T-Top earlier. The LS1 is a Chevy motor, right? You can mount it in a Trans-am?
Well, the LS1 (or LS series 'cos there's LS1/2/3/6/7/A/etc.) is a GM motor and they put it in everything they can squeeze it in from the Corvette to pickup trucks. The TransAm and Camaro have always been built on the same platform (just different body and some int. pieces) so everything is interchangeable.

Mine isn't a true LS1 per say if we get technical, it's "LS1 based" ... block is an iron block version of the aluminum block LS1 which is called the LQ9 block which was installed in trucks (LQ9=6.0ltr, LS1=5.7ltr), heads are off a LS6 engine, intake is from a LS2 (Pontiac GTO engine) ... it's a true mutt!!!

Edited by Mean Green z28
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Really great! goodshow mate! any details about the total budget involved?

Good luck for the rest of the job!

MINIACE

Total budget was exceeded sometime when I started the project ... lol ... since I'm swapping most of the stuff from the Camaro, it's not a big expense right now ... and I can get some of it back when I sell the Camaro. I got this car for $1500 (can you say AWESOME DEAL?) 'cos it had a busted engine and some other misc. issues (nothing major), but I've spent close to about $10K (or a bit north of that) on the setup on the Camaro so, I guess we can factor that in. The suspension alone cost me $1500!!! Edited by Mean Green z28
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Total budget was exceeded sometime when I started the project ... lol ... since I'm swapping most of the stuff from the Camaro, it's not a big expense right now ... and I can get some of it back when I sell the Camaro. I got this car for $1500 (can you say AWESOME DEAL?) 'cos it had a busted engine and some other misc. issues (nothing major), but I've spent close to about $10K (or a bit north of that) on the setup on the Camaro so, I guess we can factor that in. The suspension alone cost me $1500!!!

MG

sorry if i've missed it but what made you shift to the trans-am? was it the age of the camaro or something technical?

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MG

sorry if i've missed it but what made you shift to the trans-am? was it the age of the camaro or something technical?

The main reason was the bi-yearly emissions inspection. The Camaro is a '94 model and requires a true tailpipe sniffer test and with my powertrain swap and modifications, it'll surely fail that test without any doubt. And it's a pain in the ass to try and get waivers (where you have to submit receipts totaling $350 trying to prove you tried to fix it) or in my case, find someone you can pay off and get it waived for the next 2 years. It just became a hassle. '97 and above requires only a plug in test 'cos it's OBD-II so as long as there's no codes showing in the PCM, you're good to go. And we have the software to turn the codes of so it's a breeze.

Also, the Camaro was kinda showing its age 'cos the paint was starting to fade. A good paint job would cost me ~$3000 so I didn't wanna just bust up that amount of money. Also, the Camaro didn't have the T-tops that I've always wanted. So when I was given the opportunity to buy this T/A with everything I wanted (inc. leather interior), I jumped at it!

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Mmmm...atleast you have got some thing nice to do when you don't feel like sleeping....

Very interesting project bro. All the best....update us with the pictures and all.

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  • 10 months later...
thank god it wasn't me .. lol ... although my buddy did just wreck his one ... it was a rare color (Sunset Orange Metallic) and had low miles and was mint! :(

:sad-smiley-023: What on earth happened???

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thank god it wasn't me .. lol ... although my buddy did just wreck his one ... it was a rare color (Sunset Orange Metallic) and had low miles and was mint! :(

It doesn't look too bad, well at least the damage to the body work doesn't. Nothing a couple of side panels and a front facia from a cheapo donor car sourced from the wreckers can't set right. However the offset front wheels do look a bit ominous. What's the assessment? You guys going to fix it up?

Edited by Kavvz
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Unfortunately, we think the insurance company is gonna write it off. He slid in the rain and was sideways across the road, then t-boned by another car and then went spinning into the guardrail in the middle nose first, then spun around again (and this was the time he wasn't sure what the hell was happening) and he thinks he hit another truck (who left the scene, crazy!) and hit the guardrail again on the shoulder of the road. I'm glad he's okay. Although it looks okay, the frame's bent up/etc. If it's totalled, we may buy it back 'cos the engine/trans is good and his sister and her husband are gonna transplant the V8 into their Mazda Miata that they take autocrossing/roadracing ... lol ... and I want the interior 'cos it's rare BLACK!!! (mines Grey)

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Unfortunately, we think the insurance company is gonna write it off. He slid in the rain and was sideways across the road, then t-boned by another car and then went spinning into the guardrail in the middle nose first, then spun around again (and this was the time he wasn't sure what the hell was happening) and he thinks he hit another truck (who left the scene, crazy!) and hit the guardrail again on the shoulder of the road. I'm glad he's okay. Although it looks okay, the frame's bent up/etc. If it's totalled, we may buy it back 'cos the engine/trans is good and his sister and her husband are gonna transplant the V8 into their Mazda Miata that they take autocrossing/roadracing ... lol ... and I want the interior 'cos it's rare BLACK!!! (mines Grey)

WHAT??! A 5.7L V8 in a little Miata? HoOOLY! I'm a huge fan of the Miata and THIS I have to see!! That's hillarious man!! You've got to keep us updated. So they're swaping out the powertrain too? How is everything going to fit? Is this something that's common in your circles? That thing's going to be a monster: some sort of mutant cross between a nimble ballerina and a steriod popping pro-lifter...you ever driven one of these project cars before MeanGreen?

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WHAT??! A 5.7L V8 in a little Miata? HoOOLY! I'm a huge fan of the Miata and THIS I have to see!! That's hillarious man!! You've got to keep us updated. So they're swaping out the powertrain too? How is everything going to fit? Is this something that's common in your circles? That thing's going to be a monster: some sort of mutant cross between a nimble ballerina and a steriod popping pro-lifter...you ever driven one of these project cars before MeanGreen?
Not too uncommon, there's even a turbo LS1 Miata running around somewhere. Just search for LS1 Miata on the net and you'll find a lot of info on them ... Youtube too!

I've never driven a LS1 Miata but I have driven something crazier than that and quite frankly scared the shit out of me!!! It was a LS1 powered Original Lotus 7. I bet you know how light and small those damn things are and 425HP at the rear wheels just is just asking for trouble. Damn thing can lite up the tires and do burnouts while doing 50mph on the highway by just stomping on the gas!!! And the worst thing is unless you're wearing goggles or a full face helmet, your vision becomes blurry 'cos of the wind so it get really hard trying to wipe the tears off your eyes ... tears of joy or fear, you'll have to decide by driving such a beast! lol

Edited by Mean Green z28
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