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Hello, I've got family in town over the next few days so I'm not sure how much serious time on the Cat I will get. But it doesn't stop me from thinking about my next steps. I have decided that I'm not gonna' cut up and shorten the dangling 1/4 inch steel mount plates provided in the mount kit right away. I've got some 1/4 inch by two inch bar stock steel that I'm gonna' cut up into temporary fitment pieces of various, two inch and three inch long trial lengths with holes drilled to experiment with - a plasma cutter would be VERY handy here. Once I'm happy with how these experimental pieces might work to lower the motor - and clear the oil pan from the steering gear and establish a good driveline angle to the differential - I will cut up the frame stands from the ICT Billet kit to the same length and weld those in. Rick

Slowly stated on the paint,cleaned up the inside of the before I put on the hood. Removed the funny looking beltline moulding that someone had installed and plugged up the rivet holes with bondo and touch up paint. Got a hold of these little washer nuts for the heater cables, could have gotten them from Ames or OPGI for a small fortune but found the generic model at McMastercarr instead and they worked good. Probably won't get much done this weekend because we're going to Bakersfield for street rod Nationals tomorrow morning but maybe Sunday. Ohh yeah bought this Poppy's patina stuff I'm going to try for the paint, we'll have to see how that works out.

What a trip, awesome,have no idea what kind of jetlag you get out of one of those trips, the longest o have done is 9hr difference. You coming back through LA? Saturday's at the Donut shop in Huntington Beach is a must if you're in the area. Safe travels

Samples of my airbrush work…. Yes 69 Bird is my favourite subject.. lol Visit Instagram.com/airbrush_garage_ti IMG_1681.mov IMG_1816.mov IMG_1681.mov IMG_1681.mov IMG_1647.mov

Intially he had a SBC when I bought him… Put in the 468/Turbo 400… woke that car right up!! So much fun!!!

But some body has to do it! Cheers mate!

It’s a big job !!!

"Dear wife, I am off to NZ to help a buddy with a very important project."

Give the Louvre my regards Mon amie! If you need help drinking the Heineken, you know who to call, right? For us, that would technically be a "beer run"! Happy to help a bloke who has too much beer on his hands!

Pfft , one problem at a time frosty , I have to get it home first ! Bonjour Paris , kiwi is in town

To piggy back onto what 31pontiac stated, I was also eager to watch this show. However, it highlighted for me how I can probably never afford one of their cars. They are awesome re-designs of the Camaro while still paying tribute to Pontiac's past. I need about $200k in the bank to afford a new Trans Am or a proper restoration. Makes the pool of customers extremely narrow. LS or LT conversions are nice. They've become the SBC conversion of the last 20 years. They are not the be all/ end all conversion though. Swapping out a 326 or 350 for a 455 makes a lot of sense with a lot less cost and the need for specialty parts like custom motor mounts, headers and a new oil pan.

I am sooooo happy for you and your duty free gift, I could just cry mate! Does the missus know you are getting another lorry as yard art once the beer is gone? Asking for a friend.

Dude! Where the hell have you been?!? The wife clearly got way too much honey do time out of you!!!! You need to come back to us and be evil and talk about cars with your buds!

Aww look 👀 my Heineken gift has been loaded onto a truck for our departure

Last Dutch breakfast !!! 😢😢😢😢😢😢 and we are off !!! On with the road trip !!!

Great pictures !!! , there looks to be heaps of room from that steeering box , will be interesting to see how much room you have with the head in and try a manifold on that side 👍

Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything. I finally had to install a new optima battery after 8 years. Getting ready to load it up and take it to the new garage. In the past year I have been going thru every inch of the car checking and replacing stuff from years of hard racing. I re-engineered and machined new arms for the rear suspension from my last design making it better and yet more stronger. I’ve been installing all the new body panels I made to improve aerodynamics and drop drag coefficients while leaving enough to suck to the track and stick. Although, I did remake some parts to improve on fitment. So, next on the list is final paint and finally getting it inspected so, it’ll be street legal again probably by the end of may it’ll be back on the streets and on the track again creating havoc !!

Thankyou!

Nice!

Hello, This is my first attempt at putting the LS 5.3 motor down into the engine bay of the Cat. Plainly, the engine needs to be and can be lowered somewhat and the Holley 302-5 oil pan will still clear the steering track rod. This "Builders Mount Kit" from the ICT Billet company provides a lot of front to rear adjustability and the two dangling steel plates will be trimmed down by me to lower the engine. I will likely cut these plates down in quarter inch or maybe half inch increments to sneak up on a proper fit. And as you might notice, the rear plate on the passenger side of the engine appears to need some notching to clear a brake line. This engine is not the engine that will be used to propel the Catalina. This one is merely a testing and fitment mule. However, once I'm satisfied with the placement and driveline angle of the engine and transmission, these dangling steel plates get welded to the front frame crossmember and the large bolt in each stand gets removed to allow the engine / trans to be lifted out. I'm also now very curious if the original LS engine exhaust manifolds can fit between the frame rails and still bolt up to the heads. Setting a head onto each side of the motor will be my next activity to see if the manifolds will fit. Rick

This shows you everything you might need. https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/v-2008-pontiac-solstice--gxp--2-0l-l4-gas/body--bumper-and-components-front This might help you find the entire part. Good luck https://www.qualityautoparts.com/pontiac/solstice/front-bumper

What year? What color? (might get lucky) do you also need the bumper brackets? A pic might be helpful...we do like pic's...even sad ones.