1987 pro-touring grand national, from the ground up

Well its official, I placed the order for the TCI 6x today and it should be here in 2-3 weeks which I translate to mean by Christmas ;p It will hopefully be a lot easier than I thought at first. I did have to get a tci adapter plate to mate up the Chevy bell housing to the BOP engine and get a cross member from gforce but that's about it. I was very worried about the VSS setup but apparently the 6x has an output for it in the newer models so no worrying about switching the tail housing like I previously though. The combo of not having to buy the tail housing or a custom bellhousing saves me about 1000 dollars!

I also got the paddle shifter setup. It will mainly be for "cool factor" but I think it looks awesome and it has the gear indicator lcd on it as well. This is the kit

271600P_6x_wPaddle.jpg

Now I do need some help with converter selection. Advice really. I'm new to the automatic scene and have no idea where to start on getting a converter or exactly what they do. Die hard manual transmission guy here haha. Any suggestions on what I should get for my setup? Remember this will be a daily driver first, a road race car second, and a street light hero/quarter mile car third.
 
I don't think I remember seeing it but if you haven't already post up your specs on your engine setup so we can post up and idea for a good converter. Or also try posting your setup in the transmission section to see more feedback there.
 
Dave, I assume you're going lock up right? I would get with Dusty Bradford on this board regardless. PTC is the way to go and he's awesome at getting a good match first try.
 
gnon18s said:
Well its official, Im completely jelous of your transmission set-up.
Click to expand...

Thanks, lets just hope it works hah.

Ok I went by the shop today and took some pictures for you guys. I'm so excited actually watching it come together, now is the fun part. All the real work is done and its down to assembly now. The front end was being assembled and I took pictures while they were installing the sway bar. Everything looks amazing to me!

So here is a side picture of the wheel/tire with the baer brakes behind it. I'm so happy it came out this well, I actually went with a smaller rotor so that the caliper wouldn't be hidden by the wheel and it worked out perfect. Now I have a black shotpeened wheel cap that matches the black wheels but it wont fit over the baer billet hubs. I'm kind of thinking I like the idea of the hub showing. It looks very "race car" like this and if its polished would match the hoops and lug nuts. What do you guys think? Its a sealed cap that bolts on so I could technically check and replace my wheel bearings with the rim on the car still haha
IMG_0469.jpg

The rest are all pictures of the frame and suspension setup, the hellwig sway bar matches my powder coat on the frame perfectly.
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IMG_0471.jpg

they have shims installed on the upper control arms, they are removed now.
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Where did you get the suspension parts on the front end? They are nice.

Nice choice on the trans, what will you be using for an ECM?
 
Reggie West said:
Where did you get the suspension parts on the front end? They are nice.

Nice choice on the trans, what will you be using for an ECM?
Click to expand...

Suspension all came from SC&C. Stock ecm with a turbo tweak chip. The transmission has its own stand alone computer. It also has a VSS output port to work with any vehicles VSS, sounds simple in theory lol
 
I haven't followed this thread for a few weeks, but everything looks great. However, I think you are going to have some serious issues with mounting the body to that frame. The shop did nice welds but they didn't use a chassis table and with all that welding it has now pulled itself ALL out of whack. Anytime you weld that much on a frame you MUST...........MUST jig the chassis. Just adding boxing to the frame rails pulls it way outta shape. I weld in cross bars or at a minimum clamp in cross bars to try and hold it in place. Let us know how much trouble the alignment is for the shop when they mount the body. They are mounting it so its up to them to put it on a frame rack and pull it back in shape. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, just giving you a heads up so they don't charge you for labor that they caused. Look into high end chassis shops and see what they use to build a chassis. Jerry Buckle, Haas, etc. All those welds have now pulled it in MANY different planes. You must at least plumb bhob the stock chassis and measure all body mounts in 3D. Real tough to keep it straight on Jack stands with that much welding. I seriously hope I am wrong though, because it looks so nice. Good luck. I look forward to being really wrong for your case. I really like what you are doing.
 
turbofabricator said:
I haven't followed this thread for a few weeks, but everything looks great. However, I think you are going to have some serious issues with mounting the body to that frame. The shop did nice welds but they didn't use a chassis table and with all that welding it has now pulled itself ALL out of whack. Anytime you weld that much on a frame you MUST...........MUST jig the chassis. Just adding boxing to the frame rails pulls it way outta shape. I weld in cross bars or at a minimum clamp in cross bars to try and hold it in place. Let us know how much trouble the alignment is for the shop when they mount the body. They are mounting it so its up to them to put it on a frame rack and pull it back in shape. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, just giving you a heads up so they don't charge you for labor that they caused. Look into high end chassis shops and see what they use to build a chassis. Jerry Buckle, Haas, etc. All those welds have now pulled it in MANY different planes. You must at least plumb bhob the stock chassis and measure all body mounts in 3D. Real tough to keep it straight on Jack stands with that much welding. I seriously hope I am wrong though, because it looks so nice. Good luck. I look forward to being really wrong for your case. I really like what you are doing.
Click to expand...

Nahhh ;) Measured it pre-welding and post powder coat. Same dimensions, still square etc. You mainly have to worry about that when you remove anything that is structural. Like if you were to notch the rear of the frame or back half it. I was more worried about the powder coat heat than the welds.

As for the budget and job questions. I have a budget just like anyone else, some are higher some are lower. I had to go with the stock spindles vs the ATS I wanted, CCW wheels vs some of the nicer options, the 4 piston brakes vs some nice 6, reuse the stock short block vs a forged bottom end or even a TA block etc. I found a great car as a foundation and saved money on that negotiation and am spending my money where I think I will get the best bang for the buck, I'm trading services for labor and parts off the original car for labor to save money. I have a great job that I've been at for 10 years but there is still financial considerations to consider. Hell alot of guys on here have 15k in just motor!
 
So Scott Atk sent me this picture the other day of the rjc glue/gasket combo being put on. Thankfully he was willing to give a hand since these guys had never seen a setup like that before. Thanks Scott!

IMG_0484.jpg


I swung by the shop today and the heads are on and bolted up waiting for him to swing back by and heat cycle the heads and do a final torque. I wanted to post the pictures though because the engine looks so cool! I love the black and silver combo. The valve covers are from gbodyparts and are crinkle powdercoated black with the logo machined out of it, they look great. I also powdercoated the intake, plenum and up/maf/intake pipe "aluminum". With the black engine and black rjc pulleys I think this is going to look great!
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I also have a nice shot of the H&R motor mounts, these things look like they could hold a jet engine in, really pleased with them
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Just so you guys know what I was going for... I saw this engine at SEMA and loved the color combo and wanted to copy it. Looks pretty close
engine.jpg
 
Id like to start out by saying this is one of the coolest builds ive seen with a GN :biggrin:. Definitely subscribing to this thread! How much lower will your ride height be from its original stance? Do you think you will have any rubbing issues? I know its hard to know if you havent finished, but im thinking bout the same tire/rim size combo, thanks for the inspiration!!.
 
Thanks for the compliment. Well the ride height is adjustable in the front with my setup so its the rear that will dictate how low it goes. I'm not really going for any specific drop but I want a slight rake. I doubt I would have rubbing issues, I have more room with the correct backspacing than I did with the old setup and scot on here has the exact same wheels without an issue.
 
You already had a nice car.... But it will be amazing when your done.. Thanks for sharing your build......
 
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