Gary49 building my first hot rod
- Thread starter Gary49
- Start date
tfeverfred
Well-Known Member
Man, that color is REALLY nice! Looks great!
Gary49
Active Member
Thank you sir. I'm kind of pleasantly surprised myself at the way it turned out.
Lake Modified
Active Member
Looks awesome so far....
SM
SM
Gary49
Active Member
Yes, I got the LS1 harness from Painless Performance complete with the computer. They pre-programmed it for my rear tire diameter and gear ratio. Also the temperature for the fan to turn on and off among other things. They also turn off a lot of the pollution crap too.
I figured I may as well utilize the benefits of the LS engine.Another hurdle was how to use the mass air flow and incoming air temperature sensors without the factory air cleaner box. I saw a unit on the Spectre Performance web site. It goes up and over the intake. That gives me room for all the sensors and a big conical air filter. They wanted over $300.00 just for that plenum so I welded my own from aluminum that I already had. They had a dimensioned drawing on their site that came in handy. All I need now is an alternator bracket.
tfeverfred
Well-Known Member
Nice job at adapting to the situation.
View attachment 14269 I can't wait to get my front brake setup so I can put tires on it. On second thought, I might get the sport deck first and use my floor jack to move it.
Just don't do what I did . . . I assembled the front end "dry" with wheels and tires to check out the stance, and forgot to go back and grease the wheel bearings!
So.o.o. . . on my first venture out, the right front wheel seized at about 50 MPH! Luckily I was in the right lane and turned into a hospital driveway without further incident. Flat spotted the right front tire bad, and destroyed the bearing, but the rest of the hub assembly was OK. This little stunt earned me the St Louis Chapter's "Bone Head" award - well deserved!
Gary49
Active Member
Just don't do what I did . . . I assembled the front end "dry" with wheels and tires to check out the stance, and forgot to go back and grease the wheel bearings!
That sounds like something I would do.
Gary49
Active Member
I've want to go with bucket seats and have been scouring the salvage yards around hear measuring seats. Even the seats in a Miata, Fiesta and Fiat Spyder are too wide. I looked at the ones from all of the mail order places and it seems like boat seats are looking better all the time. They are narrow enough at least.
tfeverfred
Well-Known Member
I tried boat seats for about an hour. It seems being drunk in a boat would be the only way they'd be comfortable. Seat was too small and the back offered little support. But, that was me. May be what you can live with. I'd find the ones I liked and go to a marine supply and try them out. good luck.
fletcherson
Well-Known Member
Good luck finding buckets that fit, look good, and are comfortable. Bombers seem to be about right if they suit you. I don't know how you are built, but I had to go with a bench seat to meet the perameters. There are kits that allow you to make seats however wide you like, they are basically side bracket kits. I opted to modify a minivan seat and am pleased with the result so far. I need to have it upholstered, but that's down the road a bit... I'm on hold at the moment.
Gary49
Active Member
I see they have their name on a bomber seat that's 18" wide for $150.00. It looks just like a Kirkey. That might be better than a boat seat.
I used the bases from a 1993 Miata and added Rotten Leonard's sides to them. They are now 16 1/2" wide, and even with sliders the seat bottom is only 1/4" off the bottom of the car because I needed to keep them low. It would be easy to build a platform under them to raise them up if necessary.
Similar threads
