Nick's "lvndpst" Restoration (and Slight Modification) Thread

Man I tell ya, shopping local is getting more and more frustrating. Had I ordered POR15 online, I would have saved $5 per can, as well as had it by now. Yesterday I go to pick up the POR15 from my local Arnold Motor Supply only to find out its not in yet. Was supposed to be here Wed, the Thursday, now they arent even sure about today because "it should have been here Wednesday, Im not sure where it is." So much for getting the trans tunnel painted within a week of cleaning it up.

What I did manage to do was change out my flywheel friction surface plate. Had to do that in the kitchen to be able to watch my kids as my wife prepared for the bday this weekend. She is the type to go way over the top...

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These little bastards called for 5 ft lbs... To me that means red loctite and snug with a small ratchet. The heads of the screws are phillips, so you clearly arent meant to be able to over torque them anyway.

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you have ketchup on your left arm.

And quit chewing your fingernails....
 
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@CarMichael Angelo , have I never posted my Rocky tattoo? My childhood was filled with watching and worshipping Rocky Balboa. I saw someone with a Jackie Chan tattoo in this fashion, and had to adapt it to me. Judge me all you want!

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Lol. It's funny how we create pictures of what we think each other looks like. I would have never imagined a tattoo like that on you, but I have to admit it got me laughing. It's pretty creative.

As for the friction plate, mine was a spec piece and came with blue loctite already on the threads.

Joe
 
Lol. It's funny how we create pictures of what we think each other looks like. I would have never imagined a tattoo like that on you, but I have to admit it got me laughing. It's pretty creative.

As for the friction plate, mine was a spec piece and came with blue loctite already on the threads.

Joe

I know man, that is true. I have a half sleeve of all auto themed work on my upper left arm. The Rocky tattoo was supposed to be the gateway to my full sleeve, but life has taken priority, so I havent finished it. A friend of mine has done all but my first two, and its kind of a get what you pay for type deal. Its getting pretty faded these days and needs a good going over, but I like it all. The Rocky tattoo is by far the biggest conversation starter out of them all.

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And back to car stuff, I squeezed some time to apply the POR15 that finally came in today before our family arrived for this weekend's festivities. Its looked so shtty that I gave it a quick cover coat of high temp VHT silver that I bought for my exhaust welds. I still have a long ways to go under the car, but the tunnel is done. Two coats of POR15 brushed on, one coat of sprayed top coat.

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Well @Mustang5L5 , I just had to cave and sand my powder coated intake and paint it cast aluminum. Ive loved your intake since you painted it. I am going to fab a cover for it as well, I like it much more with one.

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Hopefully tomorrow I will get the clutch and possibly trans back in the car as well.
 
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The wife had other plans for us today. We got about 8 inches of snow Friday night, so of course we had to go sledding one more time today after the family left. I also took an opportunity to nap with my daughter for an hour and a half as well, so needless to say the transmission is not yet back in the car.

What I did manage to do was paint my IAC, EGR , and give the used Accufab TB and spacer a spit shine. I dont care that its not polished to look new, because its not new, and neither is the rest of the car. I ordered an aftermarket intake cover that is plain. I will paint it to match the intake, and possibly put my own decal or emblem on it. There is a big part of me that wants to paint the TB and spacer and see how long it holds up...

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On the possible intake plate decal subject, here is what I had in mind. Back four or five years ago, my youngest son named my black '11 GT "Rocket" after his favorite cartoon at the time. I found some letters online and recreated the SHELBY trunk lettering to say ROCKET.

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Im considering the same letters, only painted the same dark gray as my valve covers, and spelling LVNDPST on top of my intake cover plate. Goes with the license plates... Thoughts?
 
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I took this afternoon off because it was supposed to be sunny and 55 degrees, which is basically T shirt and shorts weather for me right now. I had 4 hours to myself to get the transmission back in the car, and the exhaust hung. Guess how far I got?

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Yup, the flywheel and clutch set up installed. It started off like anything I do. I got the flywheel on and torqued, and realized I forgot the engine plate. Off came the flywheel again.

Then when it came time to torque to the pressure plate bolts, I snugged them with loctite, and when I went to torque the first one to 25 ft lbs, it just spun. Fuggin stripped! Second one, same thing. I had flames coming out of my ears! Instead of pulling it all back off and throwing :poo: everywhere, I stopped and pondered. I was reusing the bolts that came with the engine, and they were 3/4 inch length with lock washers on them. I noticed they were maybe turning half way into the flywheel. I made a trip to home dept and get 1-1/4 inch versions, and boom, they torqued to 25 ft lbs with no problems thank the being that may or may not exist that shall remain nameless (see what I did there @CarMichael Angelo?)!!! I was gonna flip if I had to buy a new flywheel after just installing the friction surface(which cost $60 already). The 1-1/4" bolts barely peek out the backside of the flywheel.

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Lastly, the final cause for not getting as far along as I wanted. My ebay tubular intake cover showed up while I was under the car. I shifted focus to scuffing and painting it.

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Its not a perfect fit, but pretty nice for a fraction of the cost of the OEM ones listed. Plus, Im not a huge fan of the 5.0 HO emblems that are on the OEM pieces. Its good enough for my not so perfect car. Thats all for today. Transmission install is next, hanging my newly welded up exhaust, and reinstalling the intake. Then I am going to have my custom tail pipes done up! Might be driving this bisch when Spring decides to actually be here for real.
 
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