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Bringin' It Back From The Dead - 70 Catalina Convertible

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Hello,

OK, pictures of progress. Some of my ideas about engine mounts and transmission mounts did not survive contact with the experts but we did find solutions today. The measurements and angles left, right, forward and back, up and down are all good now and will be locked in tomorrow morning if not already tonight.

I will also be spending more money than I planned but that is usually the case with me and these cars. But it'll all be done correctly and solidly. I didn't think it would be necessary but the transmission crossmember mount perches at the frame rails had to be moved and re-fabricated a little and the middle of the crossmember needed work.

Edit: My transmission tunnel new metal work was all suitable and OK. No large hammers, torches, new metal or welding was required today to get the 4L60E to fit.

It also did not help today when I could not resist buying a ten bolt, A-body Positraction rear end with complete and nearly new disk brakes on both ends. This will be for my 70 El Camino that has a non-Posi rear end, drum brakes and 2.73 gears. This new rear end has 3.42 gears in it which will be a better match for the 4L60E overdrive transmission in my EC. Cost? $400.00 and it includes an all new emergency brake cable kit for these nearly new calipers. I'm also still running the original 1970 upper and lower rear control arms and bushings and this will prompt me to change those out when this Posi rear goes in.

We will get around to changing the Catalina door hinge pins and bushings tomorrow. And we can finally get an accurate measurement for the length of the new Catalina drive shaft that I need.

This is all progress for the Big Green Zucchini On Wheels!!

Rick

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  • B52bombardier1
    B52bombardier1

    Hello, All good news. As of yesterday, it is insured on a State Farm "Agreed Value" policy and plated. She is street legal. There are many little things that still need to be done to it and of c

  • B52bombardier1
    B52bombardier1

    Hello,    And the clear went on today.  Still need to paint the hood and the front / rear valance panels below each bumper.   Rick  

  • B52bombardier1
    B52bombardier1

    Hello,    And a drum roll please . . . the Large Zucchini On Wheels has done its time, paid its debt to society and has been paroled from paint jail.  I got it home on a flat bed earlier this eve

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Big beautiful GREEN deal? Makin progress now!

  • Author

Hello Again,

More pictures and the work is finished. The car will return home tomorrow morning. This was 16.5 labor hours at $150.00 USD per hour. Plus tax. The engine mounts are very solidly in and we decided to abandon the original Pontiac transmission crossmember and moved to an all new and fabricated crossmember. We just couldn't get the original crossmember stiff enough as it needed to be.

For the engine mounts, I have plenty of clearance from the steering center link at the oil pan. The angle towards the rear end pinion / u-joint is about one degree down at the output shaft of the 4L60E. My only slight worry is the engine now sits slightly higher than when the car sat on the shop floor here at home and I'm worried that the LS truck intake manifold won't have room under the hood. LS truck engine intakes are taller than a Camaro LS3 intake but we will soon know if I have a problem.

The original frame crossmember perches and their rubber vibration isolators were retained but the perches needed to be moved along the frame rail a little to best lash up with the back end of the 4L60E.

The door latches now operate perfectly and I will no longer worry about the doors being stuck closed.

And we forgot to do it but we will get a measurement tomorrow morning for the length of the new drive shaft that still needs to be built.

The new to me A-body Posi rear end with disk brakes for my El Camino will also come home with me tomorrow.

Rick

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Hello,

Some progress. The intake manifold is laid in and wiring connections are being made. The mass airflow sensor still needs to be connected with my air cleaner on the front - a fabricated bracket will be required.

The 130 amp alternator is also mounted but may sit too high for proper hood clearance. I have a smaller 105 amp alternator that would still be sufficient for the car's needs and I will swap to this smaller bodied alternator if needed. I have a few more wiring connections to make underneath the car at the transmission and the oxygen sensors.

My new Sanden AC compressor is also mounted into the ICT Billet bracket and the compressor appears to be plenty low enough to clear the hood when it goes on. The radiator is also laid in and there's plenty of clearance with the radiator fans and the K&N air cleaner. I will need to lengthen and re-route the hose from the steam vent line to the steam vent input port on the radiator.

And lastly, the new driveshaft will go into production, hopefully on Monday. It'll be 58.5 inches long and use a 1310 yoke at the back of the 4L60E transmission. Balanced at a 3000 RPM shaft spin speed. This is a picture of the pinion with a ruler to provide additional measurements.

It is very hot here and I wish I could make faster progress. I get up early to work because most evenings, its still too hot.

The actual feline cat being sitting on the fender of my Cat is the strong silent type offering little to no relevant, useful assistance.

Rick

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  • Author

Hello Again,

Work continues. The driveshaft finally got installed this morning but it was a struggle. The original driveshaft for this car was loose from the differential when I bought it and I had no way to know if it used U-bolts on that end or straps. Fifty-fifty shot and I guessed wrong. They don't make drive shaft U-bolts long enough to reach all the way through the pinion for nuts to go on. So late this past week, I switched to looking for straps and found a set locally but I still had to chase down long enough Grade 8 bolts to poke through the pinion holes with enough length for lock nuts. This job is now complete.

Finding a correct length six rib serpentine belt has also been challenging. I switched to the smaller bodied, 105 amp alternator before starting this chase and eventually wound up with a 97.5 inch circumference belt after initially trying a 98 inch belt.

The transmission has its initial fill of four quarts of fluid in the pan - the fluid pan is full and no more will fit for now. The power steering pump also has its initial fill of fluid. Both of these will need additional fluid very shortly after the engine starts up.

I noticed that the main battery cable to the starter got a little pinched and damaged during the engine mount operation. I can't simply buy another LS truck 5.3 liter replacement battery harness because the new route for this cable is a little longer and a stock harness cable will be too short. Thusly, I need to make a new wire assembly out of welding cable.

Yesterday, I noticed that the LS engine steam vent tube at the front and top area of the motor has cracked. This was probably due to too much abuse taking the motor in and out here trying to do my own motor mounts. A quick trip to the junk yard this morning before it got too hot let me find an undamaged replacement for cheap. Its only held on by two easily reachable 10 millimeter bolts.

I have also gotten the K&N air filter well attached to the throttle body but I will still make a bracket for it for best support. I'm confident that the Mass Airflow Sensor is also dependably attached.

I will soon set a battery into the car. My wire heat protection from Summit Racing arrived earlier today which will allow me to build that heavy starter wire and things are getting very close for this engine to make its first start inside the engine compartment. After that, I need to bend into shape and trim the Lokar Universal Shifter linkage to reach the 4L60E transmission.

And then, the she-Cat will move under her own power.

Rick

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Rick, what are your plans for the fuel system ? what regulator and pump are you going to use ?

  • Author

Hello Chris,

The car's EFI fuel system is complete already and fully functional with an all-new fuel line already laid in along the driver's side frame rail. I used it all while the engine was running on the stand sitting here on the shop floor and got maybe two hours of break in time.

This is an all new EFI fuel tank from the "Tanks, Inc" company - their twenty-two-gallon TM37C-T model. With new straps and rubber isolation. This tank has their internally mounted 190 liter per hour fuel pump and their armless / floatless fuel sending unit. This sending unit is merely a cylinder that appears to have no moving parts, and my guess is that it measures an electronic capacitance value to determine the fuel level - some obscure value in microfarads but who knows. I have no idea how accurate it is at anything above a quarter of a tank of fuel, but it appears to be very close to accuracy at a quarter of a tank.

Immediately out of the tank, I plumb my way into a Wix 33737 combined fuel filter and regulator. This is typically a Chevy C5 Corvette part, and it gives me precisely 60 PSI of fuel pressure at the fuel rail up front - needs to be 58 to 62 PSI. The fuel tank vent line terminates into a baffle at the top of the fuel filler pipe - very close to the fuel cap.

In the engine compartment, it is all original GM electronic fuel injection. Original Multek fuel injectors that came with the model year 2002 Chevy Silverado 1500 5.3-liter donor engine. I'm supporting it all with a forty-five-dollar, junk yard GM red/blue connector P01, 512k byte memory, Powertrain Control Module and a junk yard copy of the "12208322" operating system that I tuned myself using the free tuning tools - "Tuner Pro RT" and "PCM Hammer" - no "HP Tuners" credits required. These tools allowed me to defeat the donor vehicle's "VATS" - the Vehicle Anti-Theft System. And turn off the rear O2 sensors, the EVAP and EGR systems, catalyst overheat, fuel sensor and air injection systems. Without editing in these changes to the operating system, the Catalina would have a perpetual Check Engine Light illuminated. Or, with VATS still enabled, the car's engine would start and run for maybe 2-3 seconds and then immediately quit.

I also used Tuner Pro to set a PCM operating system Catalina 28-inch tire height and 2.73 gears in the diff so that the 4L60E transmission would shift at the correct speed / RPM. And finally, I wanted 675 for an idle RPM. It is a drive-by-cable throttle body, not the slightly later model year drive-by-wire system.

Rick

Thanks Rick, so no return line from the fuel rail back to the tank ?

Edited by 64 kiwi boni

  • Author

Hello Chris,

Well, yes, there is a return line back to the tank for unused fuel, but it is a very short hose. The Wix combined fuel filter and regulator assembly is bolted about as close to the tank as possible and the regulator sends excess fuel back to a dedicated fuel return port in the top of the tank. This short piece of fuel return hose is maybe eighteen inches long.

I chose a "returnless" General Motors fuel rail at the junk yard rather than an engine vacuum modulated fuel regulator rail atop the intake manifold. This eliminated a second long fuel return line from the front of the vehicle all the way back to the tank. For me, this is one less source of a possible fuel leak in the Catalina. And I'm running the same Wix 33737 filter/ regulator assembly in my El Camino that has been very reliable for perhaps six years. This arrangement also keeps the pump from deadheading all the time for less wear and tear on it.

It is very hot here today and I make quick but relatively short trips out to the Catalina to work. I put the battery into the tray, and I have made my twelve-volt negative cable with heavy copper lugs from the alternator frame mounting bolt to the battery.

I will lash up the positive cable next but my space suit for protection from the heat needs an oxygen cylinder refill.

Rick

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Hello,

And a very vigorous drum roll please . . . the engine has started inside the Catalina engine compartment for the first time. The PCM and starter wiring are sprawled out all over the place and there is no radiator so I could only run the motor for about thirty seconds. This will be my wife's show car and she was there when it cranked up for the first time. With only short, twelve inch long pieces of metal tubing stuck onto the ends of the header pipes, she very quickly noted how loud this engine is.

This is the first time the motor has ran since last November and it quickly settled into that programmed 675 idle RPM. This engine operation is essentially no different than when it ran last November except the motor is off the shop floor and its wheeled engine stands that I used back then. It had an ugly but functional wiring setup back then on the shop floor and it is still an ugly but functional setup now inside the engine compartment and on the driver's side fender. But it runs and the lifters pumped up quickly with no looseness sounds or rod knock. I suppose this also means that I bolted the flex plate and the torque converter together correctly - no oddball sounds there. It'll be interesting to see if the fluid level in the transmission pan has lowered.

I need to set in a radiator and finish up the wiring more into its final position. And I will eventually do a quick You Tube video when the wiring and PCM are tucked away. But all in all, this is a very happy day for me.

Rick

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Hello,

Another week's worth of progress. I eventually got ten quarts of transmission fluid in after a few brief engine starts to circulate fluid out of the pan throughout the transmission. I'm at about mid way into the trans dipstick proper range of fluid but I'm certain there is more to get pumped throughout and I suspect two more quarts will need to go in. The fluid pan is also a deep pan.

After a few engine starts, my power steering hoses started to leak a little and a quick tightening ended that problem. I poured in maybe two quarts of power steering fluid and these brief thirty second engine runs allowed me to pull the steering wheel lock-to-lock a few times to purge air out of the system. There is no pump whine and the steering feels great. This is with a 1993-98 rebuilt junk yard Jeep Grand Cherokee steering gear box. Jeep bought Saginaw steering boxes from GM in those model years and they fit our A-body and B-body cars perfectly while also providing a 12.4-to-1 steering ratio and a heftier internal torsion bar force - for a very modern steering and road feel. The biggest change with this steering gear box is the need for a Dorman 31011 rag joint and some hose fitting adapters or custom hoses.

I have now added six gallons of no ethanol / no corn liquor fuel to the new Tanks, Inc. 22 gallon tank. It was a needles width below a quarter of a tank and is now showing a little below half a tank. Seems quite accurate.

I have also finished anchoring the new 2002 model year Silverado truck throttle cable to the firewall and to the top of the intake manifold. I've still got some attachment work to do at the throttle pedal but its a minor job. The tension pull on the throttle cable is normal.

I have determined that my best course of action for a top radiator hose is to cut two different hoses in half using a band saw and then use a splicer to join them. The water pump upper pipe is 1.25 inches outside diameter and the top radiator inlet pipe is 1 and 5/16ths of an inch - one hose simply can't be found. Cutting up two different hoses and then joining them solves the pipe size problem while also solving a hose twist / clocking problem. I will order the splicer tomorrow from the people at the "Jags That Run" web site and they have a very wide variety of LS swap problem solving items. This particular splicer will also have a barbed, brass, 1/4 inch pipe for use with my engine's steam venting outlet. The bottom hose for the radiator is exactly the same hose type that I use on my LS swapped El Camino.

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Once the splicer gets here, it'll be time to drop the radiator in and make final connections to the engine. This radiator has two large electric fans bolted to a tightly fitting fan shroud and they were running perfectly last fall. I will recheck their operation later this week and it is my intention to manage them with each their own Davies Craig Thermostatic adjustable fan controllers. Each fan will also have its own independent power source, fuse, and ground for cooling safety and redundancy.

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DC-0444 Davies Craig Digital Radiator Fans Controller Adj...

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Rick

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Author

Hello,

I have been out of town for a while visiting family until last night. But some progress has occurred last night, today and a few days before I departed.

I got the throttle pedal and cable completely laid in and connected all the way to the pedal. I also had to anchor the cable to the firewall where it passes though.

My radiator hose splicer arrived while I was out of town and the pictures are below. I have trimmed down two completely different Gates hoses with a band saw for best overall fit for height, no kinking and no oddball twisting of the hose. The splicer from "Jags That Run" was absolutely crucial in making this happen and I still need to add hose clamps and shorten the steam vent hose.

And as you can see, the hood is now back on. My oldest son and grandson helped me put it back on earlier tonight. I had bigtime worries about the top of the engine being too high for the hood to fully close but this was not much the case. I only had to loosen the Mass Airflow Sensor bracket and rotate its engine harness connector around to a lower point for nothing to touch the hood. Nevertheless, I don't believe that I will be able to bolt a plastic GM engine cover to the top of the motor and still close the hood but I will certainly give it a try.

I have purchased the L-bracket (from Home Depot, of all places) that will attach to the radiator fan shroud and support the skinny end of the K&N air filter. It will get one more clear coat of paint tonight and will be attached to the fan shroud tomorrow evening. After that, I fill up the radiator to start the engine and can run it and the transmission through to closed loop PCM operation to check for fault codes, etc. But I don't expect any - I had none back in November.

Once this process is complete in a day or two, I need to trim the Lokar column shifter linkage to fit the 4L60E shifter shaft and I will be ready to drive it.

Rick

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Hello,

A car show last weekend, a whole lotta’ yard work this week and me being laid up a little sick today on the couch has slowed Catalina work down.   But it has not stopped it.

The air cleaner bracket has been bolted to the radiator fan shroud and the air cleaner is now bound to the bracket with a large hose clamp. Got the radiator filled and all hoses clamped tightly.  Started the engine and got it to closed loop in a little over a minute and there were no DTC trouble codes.  The car then sprouted three different leaks – the low-pressure power steering return line at the steering gear box, the passenger side steam vent line at the top front of the motor and probably at the transmission cooler lines exit. At least this my thinking about the transmission leaks at the time.

The leak at the steering gear box hose fitting was a leaky connector that simply could not tighten to stop the leak. I went to my favorite local junk yard and got a used low pressure power steering gear box return hose from a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee (JGC) because no new hoses were available anywhere locally.  Cost? $6.00. I could have ordered a new hose locally for up to fifty bucks and a few days wait but the junk yard was easier, much less expensive, and simply, now.  I put a new O-ring onto the JGC hose connector, removed the old rubber hose and added a new, longer pressure hose and installed the ends onto the steering gear box and the power steering pump. The only portion of this JGC hose that I needed was the “S-shaped” metal tubing piece and it will never fail – its original 1997 JGC rubber hose was only attached with a hose clamp, no crimps. And I knew it would work because the Cat has a JGC steering gear box in it already – for a much more modern steering road feel.

Then I focused on the steam vent line leak. When I installed the steam vent line, I had left off the two small oval metal seals and I had to go back to the junk yard the other day and grab a few more.  The hardest part of fixing this problem is removing the alternator to get to the driver’s side port which was also missing its seal – not very hard at all.  A little Form-A-Gasket slow drying sealant is applied to these oval seals and a ten-millimeter bolt tightens it all down.

  After making a small transmission fluid mess on the shop floor with a few more engine runs, that leaky flow of fluid dropped off significantly but not completely. At this point, I accidentally started the engine with the 4L60E in a gear.  The neutral safety switch was in the Park position but I had left the shifter shaft at the side of the transmission in a forward drive gear. This was not an electrical problem but a stupidity problem on my part.  The car was and still is up on jack stands and nothing got hurt, including me.  I was lucky but the driver’s side rear wheel did spin and nothing in the car made any oddball sounds. I have had an OBD2 code reader running for all of these recent engine starts and this inadvertent use of the 4L60E and there have been zero Check Engine Light illuminations, zero DTC trouble codes of any kind.

 A crawl under the car revealed no leaks at the side of the transmission near either of the transmission cooler lines and the leak was much further to the back.   I have now concluded that even with me only pouring in ten and a half quarts of transmission fluid, I have somehow over-serviced it with fluid and the excess fluid is coming out of the vent tube on the top of the transmission case.  Or possibly, that excess pan fluid did not get adequately pumped around the transmission because I was unable to run the 4L60E through any drive gear until that accidental gear change and rear wheel spin. A look at the trans dipstick now reveals plenty of fluid and plenty all through this leak odyssey. 

I am also in the process of methodically cutting down the length of the Lokar universal shifter rod.  Cutting this rod too short must be avoided or the column shifter won’t go into some of the lower gears.  Leaving it too long won’t let the transmission go into Park.  I have made quite a few trips under the car mounting and demounting the rod after using the Death Wheel to cut off short lengths.  The correct rod length must be “sneaked up” on to get it right and I’m almost there but there is some Heim joint mechanical adjustability at each end.  Getting the bends in the rod to correctly follow the curvature of the firewall down and towards the 4L60E shifter shaft is also important.

Rick

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  • Author

Hello,

Progress forward mostly, some backwards. I finished trimming, installing, adjusting and bending the shifter linkage rod with perhaps ten trips under the car but it shifts the 4L60E easily now using the Lokar shifter kit. Laying across the engine to bolt up the shifter lever arm coming out of the steering column was no fun at all and I had to do this quite a few times to get the linkage to fit correctly. This job was so much easier on my El Camino when the front fenders were removed.

I have rationalized the underhood wiring by shortening and looming it a little. I have added fuses where necessary and bolted the Powertrain Control Control (PCM) module to the driver's front inner fender using a bracket from the Dirty Dingo people. The PSI Conversions engine harness relay / fuse block assembly also got bolted to the inner fender.

Additional PCM wires for a future electronic tachometer, speedometer, Check Engine Lamp and control of the 4L60E torque converter clutch (TCC) got loomed and passed through the firewall to the passenger compartment. The wire for the TCC has been connected to the modern multi-pole brake switch (also a PSI Conversions part, about $25.00 USD) that I installed months ago in place of the original 1970 part. This wire with this new switch allows the PCM to disengage the lockup of the torque converter clutch whenever the brake is applied. Otherwise, the vehicle is unsafe and harder to bring to a stop at any speed. With the TCC disengaged by this method, it is completely the PCM's decision on when to lockup the TCC again once suitable vehicle speeds and conditions permit.

And now this with the brake master cylinder - the pedal went to the floor yesterday during engine and transmission testing on jack stands. The front cup is virtually empty and this dictates that the master cylinder will need to be removed for another bench bleeding. There is not a drop of brake fluid on the shop floor or any overtly damp areas on the front two brake backing plates. I have not looked at the back wheel brakes but that fluid went somewhere. I have bought more fluid and the investigation continues.

Rick

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Hello,

Note today’s date – IT MOVED OUT OF THE MAN CAVE for the first time and this is its first move anywhere since 1993 under its own power.  This was a quick three-minute trip around the pasture back yard and then back into the shop.  It was a bouncy ride and the shocks feel completely worn out but the Check Engine Light did not illuminate for anything. The neutral safety switch needs a little adjustment because the backup lights turned on.  

The dry rotted, pre-1993 bias ply tires from the Maypop Tire Company did not pop on this short trip but they won’t last much longer. The car needs to go back up on jack stands probably tomorrow for a leaks, nuts and bolts inspection but it will first head out onto a short length of the rural, lightly travelled road that we live on maybe tomorrow depending on the weather. A quick trip on a smooth road will let me better know how the transmission shifts. 

Now the restoration focus can move more towards getting the dual exhaust system made and installed, the upholstery done and the convertible top material replaced. I can't decide on Magnaflow or Flowmaster mufflers.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Fa8KJcZ5USk

https://youtube.com/shorts/59pQ3ZJlkfY

https://youtube.com/shorts/skR3MfcjrX0

https://youtube.com/shorts/3EZ2Py7ICNo

Today was a good day.

Rick

Well done Rick !!!!!!!!!

You made me smile !!!! Your like a kid with a new bike !!!!!! So so cool cheers

You have done soooo much in such a small span of time !!!! bowdown

  • 4 weeks later...
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Hello,

It has been a while but the big news is that the seats head to the upholstery shop tomorrow. Our material choice is attached below and this plaid will be in the center of each seat surrounded by a dark green. The door panels are also a dark green. We are not sure yet if the car will have green or black carpet.

The new-to-me '59 Apache truck has kept me busy. I put door mirrors on it today, in fact. I am chasing an engine misfire during acceleration with that 350 cubic inch motor and my suspicion is a distributor problem.

The Catalina will soon head back for some minor work on the exterior paint and the exhaust system shop is two doors down from the paint shop.

Rick

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Author

Hello,

The Catalina heads off for an exhaust system today and then down the street from the exhaust place maybe Monday for paint corrections.

And my upholstery guy has my seats and five hundred bucks of my money as a deposit. But . . . he has stopped answering the phone, won't answer text messages and nobody is at his shop.

I have no idea what is going on here but I'm worried. The five hundred bucks might be gone, who knows. But my buddy Larry's parts car over in Texas has a set of seats I could get if this really goes bad.

Rick

I wish you luck.

Anecdotally, I know of someone who paid $40k to have his engine rebuilt and then it broke. The engine builder dude has simply disappeared.

Let's hope your scenario has a happy ending.

We all love a happy ending...

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Hello,

Some parts of this resto continue to go well. The car is now up on the rack getting a dual exhaust set of 2.5 inch pipes to dual Magnaflow mufflers and the car should be finished by tomorrow. Jason, the proprietor, is a great guy and will get it all done for $700.00 USD plus a generous tip from me. My stainless, eBay-acquired, Chevy S-10 LS-swap engine headers that I used here on the Catalina are already flanged at the collectors and with bungs for the oxygen sensors and Jason will not need to supply any of that. Saved me a hundred bucks. At less than eighty bucks with free shipping, I am over-the-top happy with these eBay headers - please see below. A steel . . . steal, I think.

eBay
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for LS Swap S10 Conversion Headers fit Chevy LS1 LS2 LS3...

CNC machine flanges with TIG and MIG welded construction. With bolt-on design easy to replace the original headers. These exhaust headers feature a lightweight design. Two exhaust headers with gaskets

My original paint place is right next door and will have space to store the Catalina until Monday when the painter gets going on a few paint correction places on the car. Hopefully, by next Wednesday, it'll be back here and I can start putting the car back together. Finally!!

No news from my upholstery guy. Still incommunicado.

Rick

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sorry ! did you say you paid 80 usd for those headers Rick ?????

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Hello Chris,

Well, no not quite. Almost. LOL. I only paid $79.19 USD and free shipping. You can see the price on the eBay link above and it is an unbelievable price but true.

I paid almost that much for a set of ARP Racing exhaust system bolts to mount these headers to the engine heads. No faulty, prone-to-heat contraction and expansion breakage GM bolts on this engine.

After today, this will be a MUCH quieter car and at times, I will miss how loud it has been up til now.

Rick

8 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

Hello Chris,

Well, no not quite. Almost. LOL. I only paid $79.19 USD and free shipping. You can see the price on the eBay link above and it is an unbelievable price but true.

I paid almost that much for a set of ARP Racing exhaust system bolts to mount these headers to the engine heads. No faulty, prone-to-heat contraction and expansion breakage GM bolts on this engine.

After today, this will be a MUCH quieter car and at times, I will miss how loud it has been up til now.

Rick

look how much those very same headers are here!!!

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/car-parts-accessories/performance/exhaust/listing/5602318792

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  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.