general restoration tips and help

[rookie_LC2]

HI, i haven't posted in a long while, I was hoping to get some guidance from anyone on the board who is willing to read and respond to long meaningless posts...
three of us own the car, the oldest being my cousin at 23. so we're all rookies. (this post will be LOOONG)

OK basically we have a stout running '87 T. Its a repaint (bad one at that), body in great shape no hits solid floors, with little rust in doors and a small hole in pass. side wheel well into trunk. Otherwise everything is original and factory.

we're aiming to build a nice street/strip vehicle that looks good devoid of flash, capable of running safe and consistent 120mph traps with a functional interior and A/C. We've been planning and slowly amassing parts for the best of 8 months now, its gonna be warm soon high time to get to it. the front end has been dropped, currently installing PST bushings, and boxed A arms off of a caprice wagon with spindles for 12" discs. Caliper choice unknown, open to suggestions. Farily new bilsteins were on the car when we got it.

The transmission needs work. We have a functional 700-4R out of an '89 Z28, but leaning more on building the 200. Again, open to suggestions. Either will definitely be sent out to a shop who advertises here.

My cousin (1/3 owner of car) found a ford 9" with discs, and 4.11s. If it fits, great. if it dont, its for sale......

The car has T-tops, and this has been a topic of debate. Talking to a few folks, some have suggested X-ing the frame (?), others said the cage should add sufficient rigitidy (sp??), and another said chop the roof off a regal and dump the tops (..uhhh...???). Help? we got a ttop car, none of us have ever used them for longer than 8 miles...but we'd hate to totally piss on #s matching and white out THAT rpo... ummm...help?


that should be a good start. There have been a LOT of good searches to be had on this site (which RULES...btw...best out there).
motor, induction, electrical...paint....later. need....money....bad....
Time to get our hands dirty, hope to see yall marylanders up at 75-80 or capitol raceway by the end of this summer.

 

[quicker6]

For 120 MPH trap speeds (which is in the high to mid 10 sec. area), the 200R4 should fare well especially with one thats completely built. As far as the car being a t-top, with a cage it will be quite rigid. I have a friend that has the same and the car has seen 120 MPH trap speeds with no problems. I wouldnt be too worried about it. Oh yeah, if the rear doesnt fit than make it fit!! Good luck!!
Derek
P.S. Or you can just buy the race ready rolling chassis listed in the cars for sale section for $7,000.

 

[quicker6]

Heres the link. Appears to be in Maryland too which is perfect for you. If it were in Hawaii, Id definitely buy it!!!
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=146571
Its got all the goodies!! Youd spend way more than that to get yours transformed over. You could sell the T now while your still early into the game.
Derek

 

[charlloots]

with trap speeds in the 120,s you will want to do the bottom end .
main caps or a girdle.stick with the origanal 200 tranny. 3200-3500 stall . i would stay with the 3.42 gears and a 28 in slick for the track. jmo

 

[rookie_LC2]

thanks for the responses guys.

Man, quicker6, if i were looking to go fast in a hurry i would definitely talk to the other guys about picking that roller up...but i think we're gonna stick with what we got. Theres no rush to run 120 traps, im in it for the build process.

collective finances will most likely be strained once the aforementioned stuff is taken care of, but we were definitely talking about building a motor. Weather its this motor, another LC2, or plunking down the big bucks on an aluminum block, all up in the air.

Thats probably the ONE saving grace of having 3 owners of the car, spread the financial burden a bit. but who gets to drive it might get ugly........before we did the front end, i would cringe after filling the tank, and having my bro take it out for a few hours. Just to come back with 1/2 a tank and less than 60 miles on the ODO.