glueguy
glueguy Dork
12/10/18 8:35 a.m.

In reply to Lof8 :

The forum AI software senses when something awesome is about to happen and automatically changes fonts.  #Truestory

 

russ_mill
russ_mill Reader
12/10/18 9:30 a.m.

In reply to Lof8 :

Dude - awesome! Glad you got the pulley thing sorted out (and again, sorry for misinformation!), and sorted all those other problems. This thing is going to be sweet!

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
12/10/18 9:35 a.m.

In reply to russ_mill :

No worries Russ!  It was only a minor setback. 

Petrolburner
Petrolburner Dork
12/10/18 6:05 p.m.
Lof8 said:

 

i don’t know why all of my posts seem to be in bold now. It’s not set to bold. 

 

 

It's cause you're doing all this stuff so boldly!

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
12/10/18 6:53 p.m.

LOL!!

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
12/11/18 8:45 p.m.

Good news: got home a bit early and hooked up the battery in prep for a test fire. All of the wiring kept it’s smoke inside. 

Bad news: couldn’t get any crank

more good news: after some research, I think I just need to jumper a couple of wires at the plug that used to hook to the automatic shifter. This should let the car know it’s in “park” and allow it to crank. 

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
12/13/18 6:56 a.m.

I got the car fired up last night!  

But it was squeaking horribly :( seems I did not shim the starter correctly and it stayed engaged with the flywheel. I think I might have toasted the starter. Doesn’t want to crank now. 

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
12/14/18 8:45 p.m.

While waiting for another starter to show up, I got the style 32s sandblasted and a set of 255 Hankook RS4s showed up too. Wheels will get painted to match the roll bar. 

I’m in the process of selling my old house that should give me a nice chunk of cash. I’m trying to decide between building a 40x40 steel garage that I’ve always dreamed of (the cash will not cover this completely) or get a Cayman and keep saving for the garage. Checking out this Cayman on Sunday. 

This years Woodsman Cup motorcycle race is tomorrow. I’m all packed and ready to go. A couple of my friends are friends with Bill Caswell, the e30 Baja and WRC guy. They tell me he is supposed to be there!  He’s one of my automotive heroes. I’m excited!

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
12/15/18 9:07 a.m.

spin_out
spin_out HalfDork
12/16/18 9:32 a.m.

I vote Cayman and PCA membership.

 

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
12/16/18 3:54 p.m.
spin_out said:

I vote Cayman and PCA membership.

 

I checked out the Cayman today and man is it nice!  I’m going to buy it pending a successful inspection by a Porsche specialist. I’m already a PCA member, have been for many years!  

 

And we have a successful first fire on the LS1!!

LS1 first successful fire!

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
12/16/18 4:01 p.m.

Woodsman Cup #8 was awesome!  Met Caswell and had a blast.  My class had 4 flat track Harley racers in it this time. I came in 2nd in the first heat but took a spill in the second heat. I’m tired and will be going to bed early tonight :)

Petrolburner
Petrolburner Dork
12/17/18 1:18 p.m.

40x40 shop would be a "smarter" use of the money.  I'm thinking of selling my Corvette to put a big down payment on a big shed at my place.  Tough decision.  

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
12/17/18 3:01 p.m.
Petrolburner said:

40x40 shop would be a "smarter" use of the money.  I'm thinking of selling my Corvette to put a big down payment on a big shed at my place.  Tough decision.  

Yeah, that's the better decision for long term.  The Cayman I was looking at got sold before the owner could get it in for an inspection.  He was really trying to get me to commit to the purchase without an inspection and it didn't give me a good feeling.  I'm going to tell myself I dodged a bullet.  But a Cayman is definitely "on the list" to own one day. 

russ_mill
russ_mill Reader
12/17/18 4:55 p.m.

In reply to Lof8 :

Yeah, there’s plenty out there whose owners will be much more receptive to an inspection, I’d assume you lucked out too! 

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
12/18/18 1:45 p.m.

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
12/18/18 8:55 p.m.

My job involves a lot of driving (225k miles in 4 years to be exact) but that comes with the perk that my employer gives me a free vehicle to use with basically unlimited personal miles as well.  The Ram got to 225k this year and boss man decided it was time for a new one. It’s a pretty basic V6 F150, but a set of 20” 100-mile takeoffs from a Platinum edition really spruce it up nicely. I got the truck yesterday. $500 20”s with tires were picked up and installed today!  Debating if I should install some 2” leveling spacers on the front struts. 

Before:

After:

AxeHealey
AxeHealey Reader
12/19/18 8:05 a.m.

It's amazing how normal a 20" wheel looks these days. I like the color combo.

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
12/19/18 9:05 a.m.

20s look normal and 17s look sadly undersized. 

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
12/21/18 7:10 p.m.

 

Reassembly is pretty fun!  Wiring is tucked back into the bmw casing and the front structure/radiator support is back in place. Seems I chucked a few rubber bits still attached to the old radiator, so I had to order them. I’m sure the holidays will delay delivery a bit. 

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
12/26/18 3:08 p.m.

I’ve got what appears to be a small leak from the rear seal on the LS1. Pretty disappointed about that since the whole rear cover and seal is new. After googling it seems pretty common and there’s even a $300 tool for aligning the seal perfectly. Seems pretty hard to get wrong when there are like 10 bolts holding the rear cover on that has the seal already in place. Not sure yet if I’m going to pull the Trans and re-try or just live with it for now. 

Got the style 32s painted 

russ_mill
russ_mill Reader
12/26/18 5:00 p.m.

In reply to Lof8 :

Oh gosh, not to put you in the wrong direction again, but for the front main seal there was a ~$30 tool to align everything, and had I not used it it would have definitely been off-there’s just too much slop in the they holes. Anyways, I think there was a $30 tool for the rear too (just cnc lathed uhmw). Or maybe the $300 was a typo! And again, this is all c5 ls6 stuff so I don’t know about your firebird ls1 for sure. 

Good luck with whatever you choose! 

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
1/5/19 4:18 p.m.

I seem to have made a significant difference on the oil leak by adding a little more torque on the rear oil pan bolts. Only one tiny drop in the last 4 days and I’ve run it a few times in that window also. So, onward I go!

the upper radiator and air intake plumbing did not fall in place perfectly as I had envisioned, so I’m stuck waiting on some more silicone elbows and aluminum piping. I ordered a bead roller tool to let me do some custom lengths. I think I’m also going to have to downsize from 4” to 3.5” for the air intake pipe for clearance. 

In the mean time, I’ve been reassembling the front end. Very simple and spacious up front now!

Lof8
Lof8 Dork
1/7/19 7:45 a.m.

Made a trip to the junkyard Sunday and picked up some cleaner headlights, better fitting corner lights, a plastic upper radiator shroud trim piece and a chassis X-brace from a convertible. 

Sunday evening, a buddy and I went to the local kart track, Andersen, and did a 1 hour enduro. (An hour is a looong time in a kart!). Came in 3rd, had a blast!  

captainawesome
captainawesome Reader
1/7/19 8:45 a.m.

When I grow up, I want to have half as much fun as you.

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