Building a 1964 Buick Special

[fast86gn]

I like that "merry Christmas to me" LoL

 

[Tim_D]

Happy New Year to me! (TE44 from Aggressive Auto)

 

[Tim_D]

Today I picked up a few parts from the powdercoater, including the new 9" axle housing and the fabbed brackets for the intercooler and grille support. Please see pics below. I'm really happy about how the intercooler mounting turned out!

 

[Pronto]

Looking good!

 

[dwall]

Well done!

 

[1986 Buick GX1]

Happy January twenty fifth to you! Lol
That does look good. When do you want me to bring my car over? Wink wink.

 

[KC87]

The Tim Man is what is called an artist.
However, I think you'd find this one much more comfortable.

https://www.harborfreight.com/pneumatic-adjustable-roller-seat-46319.html

 

[Tim_D]

The new front mount intercooler needed to be custom fit. I tried to use an off-the-shelf unit for a TR, but 2 issues presented themselves:

1. The intercooler was slightly too wide. The chassis for the early A-Bodies are marginally narrower than the G-Body, so the outlets for the IC would have interfered with the frame rails.
2. The 3" tubing that is supplied with all the TR FMIC's was too wide to fit between the sway bar and the core support.

Therefore, the intercooler I am using is narrower than the TR ones, but still wider and taller than a stocker. And the inlet/outlet sizes are 2 1/2", so I could built tubes to clear everything.

I finished fabbing the tubing today. Everything clears nicely, and the tubes actually are a little tighter to the vehicle underbody than the old scoop. I just need to have them welded, bead rolled, and powdercoated.

 

[Tim_D]

...Aaaand a couple more photos of the intercooler piping.

 

[1986 Buick GX1]

Hmm, it seems a sleeper theme was the original plan. That went out the window with the Hot Rod wheels, although you could still pull it off if you painted that massive intercooler black.
Meh, no one will see it anyway. All they’ll see is TAILLIGHTS!!

 

[Tim_D]

Well, COVID hit our household and has slowed progress. However, I've had more time to plan, and execute a thing or two as I've felt well.

With the added boost, I thought it would be wise to replace the simple VC breathers with a catch can. The can comes from Motion Raceworks, and packages nicely on the heater core box.

I decided to use simple push-lock hose to connect the valve covers to the catch can. In addition, since it's such a low pressure application, I'm trying out the Gates "heat-shrink style hose clamps". This is probably overkill, but they are cheap.

 

[1986 Buick GX1]

I’m glad you’re doing well. The catch can and hoses look really good.
I like how you dressed up the brake booster hose.

 

[Lockman]

Looks like a lot of attention to detail, Sir. Great Job .

 

[Tim_D]

Friday netted about 2 1/2 hours of good production. I was able to complete all the underhood wiring related to the Alky install.

First, the wiring for the pump and tank sending unit were run. I covered these in the same braided material I've used throughout the engine bay, and routed along the inner finder gutter (which previously had zero wires here). Having used the gutter on the driver's side for the factory headlight harness, it now looks nice and balanced.

The wiring for the MAP sensor was fairly straightforward. It's 3 wires (power tap from the TPS sensor, signal wire, and ground). I just routed them along the firewall, dumped the ground at the firewall to tie into an existing tap there, then fed the power/signal wires through the same firewall grommet.

Also visible here is the vacuum/boost line made from 1/4" brake tubing, and taking off from the unused stock EGR port. More on this on a later post.

 

[Pronto]

Looks good. You're going to like Alky.

 

[Tim_D]

Getting back to that MAP vacuum line... It needed some basic support. There was too much length between the EGR line and the MAP sensor, which made the line flop around a little.

The line itself it 1/4" brake tubing, custom bent to fit. I added bubble flares at each end for vacuum hose retention. I also welded a bracket about midway through the length, and will attach it to the unused EGR valve standoff from one of the intake bolts. It came out pretty good - just needs a coat of satin black paint.

 

[Rick the pool guy]

I've said it once and I'll say it again that's probably the best 3.8 swap I've ever seen

 

[Tim_D]

I've said it once and I'll say it again that's probably the best 3.8 swap I've ever seen

And I've said it before... That comment is highly appreciated.

I've put way more emphasis on the swap than I have on the car itself. This is why I've left the car in original, unrestored condition.

 

[Tim_D]

Over the course of the last couple of days, I was able to set the alky pump at height, and complete the plumbing mockup. In order to set the pump as low as possible (IE - as low relative to the tank outlet as possible), I had to cut an access hole on the inner fender/core support. I'll fab up a recessed cover to fill that hole - more on that later.

There were several obstacles, including figuring out how to mount the odd-shaped alky filter. I ended up fabbing a bracket out of heavy gauge sheet metal and mounting it to my fan shroud. The placement was chosen so I could use the TR pressure lines without modification.

The rest of the plumbing included changing out some of the fittings supplied with the TR kit to fit the placement of the pump. The feed and return lines will actually be mounted under the batter tray, so most of the plumbing will not be visible. @Razor, let me know what you think!

 

[Tim_D]

So the previous post showed the access hole in the inner fender skirt that I had to cut to mount the alky pump low. Tonight a fabbed up a cover plate that drops in the hole, and will be secured by a few perimeter bolts and j-nuts. Came out OK. And it will be hidden by the front bumper once everything is assembled.