'73 Wagon for Dwight (bugdewde)

[cosworth0135]

aren't the camaro ones cocked to one side???

[73astregt]

aren't the camaro ones cocked to one side???

the v8 camaro bellhousing leans the trans over to bring the shifter closer to the driver but what i did was mount the trans to a monza bellhousing straight up,used a hurst billit plus shifter and reversed the stick in the shifter assembly making the shifter itself lean to the driver side. i then remade the trans crossmember so it had the angle on it so the mount would line up. ive had this setup in the car for a couple years now and have had no issues with it,ill give you the link to my project journal so you can see how i did it, my crossmember could also be braced and a mount for a three link torque arm could be added(one of the options im considering also) heres my link, viewtopic.php?f=20&t=26282&start=15 btw dwight is your trans a v6 or v8 trans, i believe there might be a difference in the input shaft length.

[bugdewde]

Thanks for the link, Fred. The crossmember/mount will be my toughest hurdle, as most of the other mods are bolt-ins.

According to seller it's an '86 V8 Camaro trans. Sticker # 13-52-157 from this website http://www.britishv8.org/Articles/Borg-Warner-T5-ID-Tags.htm shows it to have the 0.63 overdrive and the 2.95 first gear. I may be wrong, but I thought these ratios were V8 specific.

I confirmed the ratios by turning the input shaft 1 complete turn and got about 1/3 of a rotation of the output shaft while in 5th.
Also turned the output shaft one complete turn while in 1st gear and got almost 3 full turns of the input shaft, verifying the 2.95 first ratio.

Does anyone know the different input shaft lengths between the V6 and V8s? Hope I got the right one

[73astregt]

if your numbers are matching up to what it says on british v8 then you should be fine on the input shaft,i was thinking about nic(nixvegagt) but i believe he was using a t5 from a 90s camaro v6. might have been the spline count also between a saginaw and the t5 he had, or the trans to bellhousing bolt pattern was the ford pattern, i remember seeing something in his journal. carry on!

[Roccosvega]

I put one of those trannys in my car check it out.viewtopic.php?f=20&t=28305
You should have a nice car when done.

[bugdewde]

More parts gathering.... no wrench turning as of yet.
Car is at my buddy's place (60 miles away) and he works every other weekend, so wrenching opportunities are limited.



-LS Camaro ('98-02) Front Calipers (lightweight aluminum construction, dual piston)
-Caliper Brackets and High Performance Hawk pads
-Drilled/Slotted LS Camaro rotors (11 7/8" diameter)
-Flynbye adaptor brackets to fit LS Camaro calipers to S-10 spindles
-Overkill Racing Economy upper/lower control arms
-Energy Suspension Polyurethane Bushings
-Chopped Cosworth front coil springs from Dick(Hammerdown)

Still trying to figure out rear brakes..... already have rear LS Camaro rotors (12" diameter) that are drilled and slotted.... but no one makes an adaptor to fit the H-body rear housing. If I go that route, we gotta fab us some mounts.

[bugdewde]

Found a pic of the Green Doors on the Wagon....... what was left of the Ebay ad "under1981.com" spray-painded on the door:

[bugdewde]

Got a GT instrument cluster/dash assembly to swap in.



Hoping to send the tach off the Tim McCabe for his excellent V8 tach conversion and calibration.


Brakes, too.

Front:
2001 Camaro LS Twin Piston Aluminum body:


Rear:
2002 Camaro single piston calipers:

[bugdewde]

Overkill Economy Upper and lower Arms installed with Poly bushings.




No engine or trans in so the cut Cosworth springs are showing a bit high.... should be quite lower with the 320 lb engine in there.

[bugdewde]

Installed a spare 215 engine block to help mock up the transmission crossmember....... passenger side motor mount seperated while pulling the block over to the driver's side for bolt hole alignment. Block fell to the floor!

[bugdewde]

Can't get motor mounts to line up correctly. It appears the I forgot that in order to do a SBC conversion, they had to cut off one of the frame plates beneath the motor mounts..... isn't that correct?

If so, I gotta cut the frame plates off the parts car and weld back on the wagon for the 215 mounts to work..........
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
So I started working on the front brakes again today. Got one side mounted.... with lots of trial and error. (see my previous post titled..... I got to be the dumbest... mo#%#%- fu#$#&^).

Milling the hub assembly down to fit into the Camaro Rotor.


Rotor removed from S-10 hub assembly and slipped into the Camaro Slip-on Rotor.


Cut off the S-10 Caliper mounts and test fit the Fly-n-Bye caliper adapter bracket


Now, the S-10 spindle will have to be cut again to allow the caliper bolts to go through the bracket and into the caliper.

[bugdewde]

Top of spindle notched so the caliper bolt will go through the bracket and into the caliper:


Lower part of spindle cut to allow the caliper bolt to go through the bracket and into the caliper:


Caliper mounted:

[76Vega]

they seem to fit alot nicer when you put the front calipers on the front.

[bugdewde]

Never add up the costs of the build.
My plan was to cap this project at $3000 total including the price of the car.
Well, I still need a master cylinder and adjustable porportioning valve.... some fexible brake lines.... fabricate a trans crossmember, and mount a torque arm .... somewhere.....
Oh..... and exhaust.

These prices are estimates, as I don't have the book with all the receipts in it.

Vega Wagon - $700
215 V8 - $200
T-5 trans - $300
Doors - $200
Overkill upper/lower control arms - $350??? can't remember right off the top of my head right now.
7.5" rear - $10
3.42 gears, posi, 28 spline carrier, 28 spline axles, bearings/rebuild kit - $400
S-10 spindles - $40
Poly Bushings - $150
S-10 balljoints/bearings - $100
LS Camaro brake calipers (front and rear)- $160
LS Camaro drilled and slotted rotors(all 4) - $130
IROC wheels and roller tires - $300
GT dash, gauges, wiring harness - $75
GT tach modified to read V8 - $100

Approximately $3,200...... And a few other odds and ends needed.

Longer battery cables for the relocation to the rear.
Shortened driveshaft to fit the T-5.
Looks like there won't be any racing seats or sticky race tires right off the bat..... but I do need some good racing harnesses or decent stock belts.
Wouldn't mind having a less rusty rear hatch ....

[bugdewde]

Got another work day on the Wagon at my buddy's place.... 60 miles away!

Better shot of the cuts required to fit the caliper adapter bracket to the spindle ...... and the notches in the spindle for the through bolts that attach to the actual caliper. Did the passenger side yesterday.



______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Also swapped out the 6.5" rear and bolted up the 7.5" rear with one coil cut off the rear springs(assuming stock). The rear wheels will not fit well, so I'll have to space them out. They rub the inner fender brace. I even swapped out the front wheels back there (which have more offset outboard to clear the tie rod ends) .... better, but will need more room.
The rear was NOT centered very well, as the panhard/track bar wasn't attached.... and the C-clips were not holding the axles in place.


The front tire/wheel combo (205/40-16) moved to the rear, leaves a lot of room in the fender well..... even with one coil cut off the rear spring. Once the outboard spacing is corrected, then I'll try to get the fender well filled with more tire or cut more spring coils.....


Speaking of C-clips...... dropping one and having to fish it out of the front of the housing with the pinion gear in the way was a real pain in the rear. Took about 20 minutes of fiddling with a couple of long screw drivers before finding the little flexible "grabby-thingy tool" that I found in by buddy's garage (the one with extendable "fingers".... the one with the magnet on the end wouldn't go past the pinion gear). Got it on the 2nd attempt with the finger-type grabber.