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Project 'War Eagle" LS1 Trans Am build


Zeppelin

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Just an update. I just ordered the adapter brackets and braided front brake lines for the front calipers, 19 x 10 and 18 x 9.5 C6 Z06 Comp Grey spider wheel reproductions(with correct f-body offset) from 6 Litereater Designs, and 305/30/19 and 295/35/18 Nitto Invo tires. Still need to grab up the front hub spacers and longer lugs to get the front rims to fit. Decided to leave the nose alone for now. I'll get some pics of the brake swap up when I get into it.
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Alright. Picked up a 2002 Trans Am WS6 as a starter. Getting with IPS next week to get some specifics on what was done by the previous owner. One of the things on the top of my list was low miles and preferrably a stick. This 2002 has 23,000 miles and yes, is a 6 speed. Here are a few pics.

 

I'm loving that car. Nice find! Get that baby detailed on the outside with Todd C. and it will be perfect. He works magic on black cars.

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Ya, I definitely need to find the secret to black. Paint is in very good shape. I have always had black cars and to this day dont know the secret to keeping them scratch free.

 

Key is once you get them polished and swirl free is to was and dry them carefully and with quality products. I always use the sheeting action of the garden hose to get my car 80% dry. I then use the shop vac in reverse to blow the water off and out of the seems. I pretty can dry my car with a face towel. In fact I don't have any more large towels.

 

After that a nice clean microfiber close and detail mist. Avoid excessive buffing.

 

Last thing is, over time you will develop swirls or spiders, but if cared for properly, they will be so faint that you will only notice them if picky. I loved my Trailblazer, but it was a lot of black to keep pretty. I used to get comments that it looks wet it was so nice. I miss her at times.

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Well, the rims and tires came in. 19 x 10 rear rims were good. Front rims.......they sent 18 x 8.5 instead of 18 x 9.5, so I have to get that corrected. Had the rear Nittos mounted for now. Hope to get them on in the next week or so. Here's a few pics of the rears. They are a slight bit shorter than the drag radials, and a little wider. They should tuck under the fenders better too. I'm digging the tread pattern.

 

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/rear_tire.jpg

 

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/rear_tire2.jpg

 

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/rear_rim.jpg

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Are you going to keep the suspension as a drag setup, or go to a more stock/lowered street setup?

 

Its got HAL QA1 fully adjustable suspension in the front. I've already raised it up a bit and will probably have to adjust it a bit more once I see where the front sits with the 18s on. The rear has stock shocks. The main reason it sat so high in the rear was because the previous owner had the front SLAMMED on the ground and the suspension geometry just raised the rear. Now that I've raised the front a bit, the rear sits a bit closer to the tires than it did. I'll just have to see how it sits with the new rim/tire combo with the front adjusted and see if it looks like I need to lower the rear or not.

 

 

Brandon, I'll definitely keep the front wheel comment in mind if the convo pros dont fit the front with spacers, once the new brakes are on.

 

Thanks for the comments all. ;)

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Got the rears on today. Here are a few pics.

 

Before and After comparison. Drag Radials and Convo Pro rims Before, Nitto Invos and C6 Z06 rims After. This pic also shows how nice and tight the Kooks headers fit on these cars. No hanging down whatsoever. Us f-body owners with headers can appreciate all that clearance. And thats with this thing sitting as low as it is with the skinnys on the front. ;)

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/rear_tire3.jpg

 

A couple side by side comparisons

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/rear_tire4.jpg

 

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/rear_tire5.jpg

 

 

And the new look. Hopefully when the 18s get on the front it will shift the geometry a bit and sit the rear down a little. Might still need to lower it a bit.

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/rear_tire6.jpg

 

Working on getting the front spacer/stud kit from Jegs, and I'll be about ready to start the fronts.

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Got the fronts in and on today. Still need to lower the front a little and definitely lower the rear. Got some black chrome lugnuts coming next week from Jegs to finish the rims/tires off. Still waiting on the adapter brackets to get the Z06 brakes on.

 

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/new_rims.jpg

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Lowered the rear today. My first attempt was to see what the heater hose mod would accomplish. This entails replacing the spring perches with a 1 1/2' length of heater hose. I used 5/8" heater hose for the project.

 

Here is my starting height from the ground to the top of the fender wells. About 28 1/2"

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/loweringrear1.jpg

 

Got the car up on jackstands, removed the lower shock bolts, and let the rearend down all the way. Pulled the springs out. Here is the spring with the spring perch.

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/loweringrear2.jpg

 

Next I removed the spring perch and replaced it with the length of heater hose.

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/loweringrear3.jpg

 

Reinstalled the springs, re-attached the shocks, and let the car down. That got me here. About a 1/2" drop.

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/loweringrear4.jpg

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/loweringrear5.jpg

 

While allot better, I still wanted to go a bit further. So back up on jackstands the car went. I pulled the springs back out, removed the heater hose mod, and proceeded to cut a coil out of the rear springs with a Dremel and diamond wheel. Once cut, I re-installed the heater hose mod. I got another 1" drop cutting the coil out.

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/loweringrear6.jpg

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/loweringrear7.jpg

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/loweringrear8.jpg

 

So, with a total of about a 1 1/2" drop this is what I got. I'll leave the car settle a bit, and after driving it will take another measurement. Total cost: $3.79 :) Currently the passenger side sits about 1/4" higher than the driver. After settling I will re-measure and may end up taking a little more coil out of the passenger side. Here's the car after the drop.

http://www.zeppelinsreef.com/images/war_eagle/loweringrear9.jpg

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