The All About My 1980 Pontiac LeMans Station Wagon Thread...

[motorhead]

Thanks gents!

[motorhead]

Gauge holder for my MTX-L wideband...

[motorhead]

Looks like I found a good deal on an 8.5" posi out of a Turbo Buick... more to follow.

[motorhead]

Looks like I found a good deal on an 8.5" posi out of a Turbo Buick... more to follow.

Yup.  I did.

[motorhead]

Finally got the shifter mounted painted (about 2 months ago), all assembled and mounted up, and installed yesterday.  Wired up the WB02 too (the loose yellow wire is the lead from the gauge to the HP Tuners interface for datalogging/tuning).  I am pretty pleased with the way this project turned out.  Our 19 month-old daughter was having a blast slapping the shifter between gears: 1-2-1-2-1-2-1... heh.

[v6sleeper]

Dash and gauges look great!!

[TexasT]

When will the rear end go in? Stock gears? Posi freshen, or going to give it a whirl as is came?

[motorhead]

Dash and gauges look great!!

Thanks! I am really looking forward to them being run by something other than my imagination.

[motorhead]

When will the rear end go in? Stock gears? Posi freshen, or going to give it a whirl as is came?

I am not sure yet?  If you look closely you can see that it has FUBAR tooth on the ring gear and rust from sitting.  I still have to price out a set of 3.73 gears, a full rebuild kit (and possible some new posi clutches), and a set of axles; and if that number (plus the aggravation of doing the work) is greater than or near equal too the cost of buying an S60 I will go that route instead.  Black Friday sales on S60s are on now.

[motorhead]

The quotes on the S60s are coming in... it is very tempting.

I also pulled off the majority of the front suspension today for modification, and to start chopping up the K-member/engine cradle to fit the LS motor.

And... from talking to Natasha we may just end up boosting a stockish LS motor vice building a more "rowdy" LS1. Uh-oh.

[good2win22]

S60,  hadn't thought about that route....

[TexasT]

How much power do you intend to make? Slicks? Lots of track? Hard street miles?
Gears, posi, rebuild could get you to a grand real fast. If it went that way I'd go to 30 spline and get a new posi and axles to go with the new gears, bearings and seals. But if you are going for more than 600hp I think the s60 is money ahead.

[motorhead]

How much power do you intend to make? Slicks? Lots of track? Hard street miles?
Gears, posi, rebuild could get you to a grand real fast. If it went that way I'd go to 30 spline and get a new posi and axles to go with the new gears, bearings and seals. But if you are going for more than 600hp I think the s60 is money ahead.

http://www.strangeengineering.net/high-performance-street/complete-rear-end-assemblies/s60/s60-rear-end-g-body-trac-lock-35-s-t-axles-coil-spring-mounts.html

Yes, All of that. Remember this thing is being fitted for a 450+hp LS1 plus nitrous; and if I do a turbo 5.3L that is 500-600rwhp all day long.  The fact that this thing is getting that kind of power justifies not sinking good money into an old questionable differential.

[TexasT]

I wouldnt call an 8.5 10bolt questionable, but it has its limits. If it were me I wouldnt goof with it at your intended hp level. I also think if you go ls you need 6.0 liters but I'm not bankrolling it either. One of our locals has an orange mustang(nick named orange juice) running one with a n 88 turbo, big front mount and a powerglide running deep in the 5s (eighth mile) while driving it to/from track.

Keep up the good work.

[motorhead]

Well the S60 was ordered with 3.73s and LS1 housing ends (for LS1 brakes) in a stock width - we got an amazing deal.  So the 8.5" and 7.625" are up for sale.

In other news we are LS-ready!  10" x 2" oil pan notch is done with two 1" x 1" x 1/8" square tubes stacked; and the A/C compressor notch is about 1.5" deep into the pocket, you can see how much the PS motor mount is modified compared to the DS unit.