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I picked up this beauty from a friend who had parted out about 95% of it on E-Bay. Still, I felt it was worth saving, but missing so many original parts I decided to modernize it a bit. My goal is to build a Pro Touring(ish) car with a minimal amount of money. I plan to use an LT1/4L60E combo I have laying around to power the beast. I also want to build this with my 11 yr old son and when he is ready I will give it to him. So here is what I started with.
First step is to sand blast the entire car down to see how bad it really is. My buddy and I own a full size sand blasting setup so this has no real cost to my except gas and blast media. This is how it turned out.
Craigs list is a wonderful thing, I found a dash panel for 20 bucks and 3 of the 4 floor sections I will need for 40 dollars. So with some help from my friend Dave we set out to fix the rusted areas with the panels I picked up. Here are some pics.
There is still much finish grinding and a bit of mud to smooth it all out but it is strong and rust free. Right now both sides front and the drivers rear are finished, I need to save money so I can buy the rest of the sheet metal I will need for the entire car.
Ok, with more time then money, next up is the fitting of the LT1/4L60E combo. I want to keep the air compressor (cuz I'm a sissy) and I don't have the 700 or so for the fancy relocation kit, so after some thought here is what I came up with. I notched the cross member to allow the air compressor to rest and be clear from hitting anything. Next problem is the motor mount, I need to put it back in its original location and still allow me to attach the AC lines. Easy fix, I used the original motor mounts from the 69 and got rid of the clam shells on the LT1.
Last edited by Vikesman101; 11th-May-2011 at 12:43 PM.
Ok, with more time then money, next up is the fitting of the LT1?4L60E combo.
Good luck with the swap brotha, if you have questions just send me a PM. I've done the LT1 conversion, so you might enjoy taking a look at my build thread (link in sig).
I will tell you that you are about money even going with a LSx swap, and the aftermarket support for the LS is incredible.
What are your plans for a fuel system? Keeping it injected?
BLYOTH, yes I kept the CPU and there is a local guy who will do the mods to it for 50 bucks, cant beat that.
Mr 69LT1Nova I have read your thread front to back several times and gleaned some really good ideas from your efforts, thank you for that.
I am using your idea of keeping the original gas tank and have already started the fitting process. I will post pics on that tomorrow if I can. As for the LT1, I got it out of a 95 Caprice Classic and it is the true LT1 not an L99, I have 400 into the entire package so not a bad deal.
Last edited by Vikesman101; 3rd-June-2011 at 11:49 AM.
Saw-weet! Keep it low buck and you'll get some major kudos for you efforts.
Also interested to see what you do with the rest of the A/C install (plumbing and evaporator/condenser along with the controls). I took the easy route and just deleted it. Don't really need it here in the northwet.
As promised here is the picture of the dash all finished up.
This was much more tedious than it may look, there were a few small patches made to shore up a badly rusted dash. But, not really counting welding wire or gas I have only 20 bucks and some scrap metal into this repair. Now if only I had bothered to measure the location of the windshield clips so I could more easily install new ones... sigh.
Now back to the gas tank, following Mr 69LT1Nova's advice I kept the donor Caprice tank and lines to work with the LT1. First there is a big size difference as you can see by the picture.
So I began with fitting it under the car, first problem is that the forward tank perches must be removed to allow the tank to rest all the way up. I will fab up a new way to reattach them for the new tank later. Then I located the area that needed to be cut out of the trunk floor to allow the "pump hump" to pass through.
Then cut away the floor.
Last edited by Vikesman101; 3rd-June-2011 at 11:50 AM.
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Keep it low buck and you'll get some major kudos for you efforts. 
good luck with everything
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