99StockGT

North end near 161. It's just been a whirlwind of issues lately with my neighbors/neighborhood lately, hopefully this is the last issue I have. Thank god I keep the other toys in garages or ... I'll post some photos of it later on, real nice damage to the door must have taken some serious effort. As for the insurance money pocketing I'm more looking to spend additional money to get something done right and keep the car tight. Plus making it look a bit more special/unique is never a bad thing. Yes 3/S doors are like slabs of iron, wonder what the hung weight is and if even an 80lb popper would handle them?

Got any extra flyers you can bring to event tonight? Will put some in the store

Seats look great for the car, doesn't destroy the stock look at all and shouldn't ad TOO much discomfort to the get in / get out versus a stock Vette experience. What size shot are you looking to run?

Having never owned a car with shaved handles what kind of body work costs are you typically looking at? What IS the backup plan to battery died issues? Someone with some experience school meh!

Honestly I just wish they had burnt it to the ground or completely destroyed the car versus what they did. The real great part of it is they took basically nothing out of the car, even left my sexy 2005 Kenwood head unit! All I had in the thing were cleaning/detailing chemicals so basically they did all this as a training exercise. Can you hear me growling through the screen?

The neighbor situation is a long story, let's just say the car was parked out in the street highly visible and there's a TON of traffic on my street. The amount of damage done to the door/windows it's hard to believe no one noticed but hey that's how things go.

People actually eat steak there? I'll be doing my please don't rain dance so the couple hours spent on detailing the Green Monster don't go to waste...if it does it will just look brilliant in the downpour. Got my box of goodies delivered to the store during my day off so I'll have some giveaway swag to donate as well as some $$$ to put in. Any idea on head count for this shin dig?

So, 3 years in storage in Akron...1 month in Columbus and my wonderful neighbors decided to punch the lock out on my Stealth along with destroy both window regulators, the passenger side window glass and all the tint. Also when punching in the lock they actual TORE the sheet metal so the entire door skin is going to need to be replaced and then we get to try and match the paint/stenciling. Aside from the sheer boiling rage:mad: that I have for whomever did this to my car, I wonder what the best option here is? Insurance is covering the repairs/replacement so I guess that's a good thing but lord only knows how the finish product will end up. So this got me thinking...what about just shaving and filling the door handles and doing some old school hotrod door poppers? As far as I'm concerned we could do the same with the trunk lid so there's liternally not a place other than the ignition to put a key. The lines of the car I think would look fantastic, not sure I recall ever seeing this done on a Stealth before. Is this kind of thing done much any more? Is it practical? What kind of costs am I looking at ballpark?

At least 2 of the Advance folk will be there tomorrow with a few of our cars. Bringing some swag as well.

Well the Mustang is basically done, short of some basic body/appearance stuff. The Stealth well...until that brakes something it's not getting touched again. The "other car" will be done in a couple weeks and once that's complete there's nothing else to do to it...so.... I certainly don't HAVE to do anything to it, I've just always used the "It's broke lets fix it, or upgrade it" thought so this would be that first chance I have. One of the other things bouncing around in my mind though is going to car shows as an origional is a much smaller group of competition versus moving into a modified classification against people who have MUCH deeper pockets than I.

If I'm going to do the front brakes, I'm going to do the rears. And if you are doing wheels/tires/brakes wouldn't you also want to do a little chassis stiffening so it goes around corners better not just stop? I've always tried to balance go/stop/turn mods on every car I've worked on, just not terribly excited about sinking 3-5k into this car in modifications in order to make it worse and ruin the feel.

If you knew me personally, the "While I have it apart..." is a HUGE part of my problem. I have no problem legitimizing part upgrades.. "Well I could fix it with the STOCK part for X, or I could upgrade for X+$100 or so...well I might as well upgrade" could be my theme song. Case in point, car bought as beater in spring, put 450 miles on it...took in to shop for minor exhaust leak and miss....now 3 months later its still getting worked on....

Certainly an option, that's why I came here to ask some opinions/assistance

The Trans is pretty healthy, not really worried about that. The car has a total of 59000 miles and was gone over pretty well when we were doing the body/paint/top work. Stopping this tank is all kind of fun with 4 wheel drums, you just have to plan ahead. Would LOVE to do a brake upgrade but the conversion won't fit under the stockers or anything similar to stock so that's kind of out if I'm wanting to stay stock"ish". Anyone out there built a Pontiac motor of this era beyond a few basic bolt ons? From the research I'm doing there doesn't seem to be a lot of love for the Pontiac 350, obviously versus the Chevy 350 or Ford 351 which are much more popular. But that's just one more thing that makes it unique right? :fuckyeah:

Don't really drive it a lot, I think the entire time I've had it which is ...6 years I've put no more than 8000 miles on it. Engine, I want to stay with the stock block to keep it as close to origional as possible. I'm not opposed to doing some bore to get a little much grunt out of her and the Pontiac block in this thing can go a LONG way. I REALLY want to keep the stock look of the car so external stuff I'm trying to keep to a minimum, the issue is when you upgrade go fast parts, you need to tie in some stop/turn fast parts too! She's a LeMans sport so came with power steering that works great, has the Rally II wheels from the factory also but 205/70/14s in old school radial design can only take SO much abuse...which is what took me down the slippery slope.

It's not that I have issues with the car as it is, I just wonder how much more fun it would be with a few things done. I was hoping someone who had taken something like this from stock to mild mods would weigh in so I'm not fishing in the dark. As far as putting the money into making something else faster, I've already done that For the most part other than the one still in the shop getting some treatment I'm pretty happy with the state of all the other cars. It just itches I guess. When you've got that big block rumble while cruising around and coming off a light there's always a want to have a bit more punch. Were I to open the can I guess this I what I'm looking at. * Mild Cam * Intake/4 Barrel Carb * Long Tube Headers * Overbore with supporting mods * 17x9 fronts 17x9 rears of "period correct" wheels * 4 Wheel Disc Brake Conversion * Full updated suspension So nothing too terribly over the top or unrealistic for something of that era. I'm definitely not looking for something that's going to go tubbed out and running 1/4 mile times

That's exactly what I'm afraid of and yes I already have other cars...I guess 3 current project cars if you want to call them that. It'll never be the fastest thing in the world, and that's fine. The feeling and reactions you get from old school stuff is completely different than modern and that's the appeal. I just find myself in need of tires...which makes me think why not go with a wider set...which means wheels...which mean brake upgrades and ........... OR I just get some basic keep it healthy stuff done, throw a new set of tires on her, and enjoy some old school big body GM goodness that doesn't like to turn stop or get good fuel economy. Butttttt.....it would be more fun with a cam/intake/headers/4 barrel....

I'll be the first to admit, a lot of times you'll find some crazy deals even far below what we big locations pay for our materials. And getting me to sell something below cost is never easy so I understand wanting to get the best deal possible. Just saying, the more and more revenue going into those types of stores and away from dedicated parts/support locations the more it hurts our entire segment.

/faceplam

Hmmm is that so? And would you say you get better service/support/warmcuddlefeeling from buying from a parts store versus just the "I'll buy it at the cheap place"? :gabe:

Alright I never figured I would open this can of worms but, well, I have no sense. Need to do a little work on the LeMans as the show season draws to a close and the long winter months are ahead. I seem to have an inability to leave things stock when "fixing things". So, at this point I'm doing new tires as I managed to explode a belt after 9000 miles on the current radials, need a little suspension work done to replace some 1971 worn out parts, have some engine freshening to do and fix a trans cooling issue. Do I stop there? Origional plans for this car were to leave it all stock but....I'm getting itchy. Does anyone have experience building old Pontiac power? And before anyone goes there, no I'm not doing an engine swap. Currently it's the 350 2 barrel and that same block will be staying in, I don't want to go nuts with this thing. Feedback? Judgements? Random flames? WWYD? P.S. Am I really wanting to start ANOTHER project car?

And I still won't step foot in that place. Support locals, support people who support the community...OR Walmart... I'm SURE you could find a person or two or parts store willing to help out on Oil costs if you poke around...never know where they are hiding.

Don't get me on the G8 kick, that's been a car on my "Must get" list for years now and I still beat myself up over the one I passed on a few weeks back. I'm sure its for the best as I don't REALLY need one, but that doesn't mean I don't WANT one. Powerplant wise for those of you who have done a swap what kind of costs are you looking at for engine and drivetrain components usually? Start with a junk yard motor and teardown/rebuild or start with a clean and deal with the extra cost?

That's actually a pretty attractive idea, had never even thought about it. Hmmmmm.... Syclone isn't going anywhere near hauling more than a few fat guys and some gas, ain't gonna happen. As for the mutually exclusive, by unique I mean the body. I would like that PARTS to be something we can easily get ahold of IE Chevy 350 / LSwhatever. I have had more than my share of hunting down parts that are across the country or across an ocean, not looking forward to that with a shop car. The old school pickup truck is the most logical choice just commonly done these days.

Wow this post has been busy while I was WORKING! So yes LS is probably a must, though an old carb'd 350 does hold a certain appeal. As some of you have mentioned, the incredible access to parts does make this an appealing idea however I think some of these are a bit off the wall and may be missing a little of the idea. Room is important, so as fun as an RX LS sounds...not a lot of transport room even with those "doors". Those of you going with the BMW again we are looking for something with some decen aftermarket support. BMWs are a nightmare to find parts for in the first place, let alone when you start sticking Chevy parts in them. Unless we ripped the body off and dropped it on a G8 I can only shudder at the complications. A Wagon IS interesting, as is I hate to admit the El Camino as it can actually have some utility. However, I don't remember the last person who stopped by and say.."Damn that's a nice El Camino.." well....ever.