quarterbooty

The DSE coil over bracket ties into the existing shock mount; the mount is not modified. I believe many of the aftermarket coil over setups are similar. The coil spring perches don’t have to be removed unless you want to clean things up.

Thanks. No mini tub. This is probably as big of a tire that you can run without trimming/rolling the wheel opening lip or mini tubbing it.

Last fall I incorporated two C6 fan modules for PMW control. Fan speed is coolant temperature dependent and AC discharge pressure dependent. This spring I swapped the factory gauge cluster for a set of Dakota Digital RTX gauges. I wanted to keep a factory appearance and finally get rid of the column mounted tach setup. The gauges integrate nicely with the Holley ECU without any new sending units. I mounted the control modules under the dash pad on top of the glovebox. Test ride before putting everything back together:

Thanks for replying. It's been awhile since I've dropped in and even longer since I've made an update. The car has been through a number of significant changes to the car since the last update. I had a cracked sleeve in the factory LS7 block and ended up redoing most of the engine. The short block was replaced with an ERL dry-sleeved LS2 block with a Callies crank and rods and Wiseco pistons. Heads are PRC LS7 265s with titanium intake valves and solid stainless steel exhaust valves. The compression ratio increased to 11.5:1, and displacement remains 427 ci. The intake was changed to a FAST LSXr 102.

Thanks, Bruce.

I have the deluxe (exploding) seat belts made by Robbins in my 72. As the name implies, the plastic retainer in the buckle tends to break and the guts fall out. It's a complete junk design. I've replaced several buckles already, and now i have another one that has cracked. Is there a drop in replacement for these? At a minimum something that works with all the current mount points (the shoulder and lap belts are separate in the front). Ideally, I would like to keep the belt retractors. Any help is appreciated. Nick

It should clear 600HP with 570 ft-lbs at the crank. Cam is a Katech Torquer LS7. Specs are 220°/244° @ .050, .615/.648 lift on a 110 LSA. Here are their published dyno results.

Thanks! It'll never be completely done, but this should hold me over for awhile.

It's been a long time since my last update. As I mentioned earlier, I bought an LS7 and managed to sell the 383 and TH200-4R. I've spent the past several months making changes to the engine (wet sump conversion, cam swap, rocker upgrade, etc.), getting it installed, doing all the ancillary work (wiring, plumbing, painting), and converting the car to a manual (LGT700). It's been a long road, but I finally got it running last week. I'm controlling everything with a Holley Dominator ECU, which is an impressive piece of hardware. I'm waiting on a driveshaft from The Driveshaft Shop to get it on the road. I'll post up more information and progress pics, but here are a couple of crappy cell phone pics in the meantime.

Last week I purchased an LS7 to swap into the Monte, so the 383 is for sale. See the sale listing for additional information. More details to follow on the LS swap...

Thanks. You can make a lot of improvements without breaking the bank. Start out with a good set of coil springs (Hotchkis, DSE) and monotube shocks (Bilstein, Koni). Next, I recommend addressing the front-end geometry with a tall spindle like the Speedtech ATS AFX or tall Howe ball joints from SC&C to get negative camber gain on bump. Sticky tires will add significant handling improvement as well. These are just a few suggestions to look into. There are tons of options out there, so do as much research and ask as many questions as you can before buying anything. As for my rear wheel and tire combo, it's an 19x10 wheel with 5.5" of backspace. The tire is a 285/35/19. I narrowed my rear end to reduce the backspace, which increases wheel lip. The rear end can't be narrowed much more without affecting the lower control arm mounting brackets. There are two hoop styles that you can go with that will affect appearance. A flat or smooth lip (also called reverse outer lip by some manufacturers) will tend to make the depth to the wheel center appear greater. You can see this type on the Rushforth wheels that I used to have. A stepped lip design is the other design and is what my Formula 43 wheels are built around. The stepped lip is a more performance oriented look, but may not appear as deep upon quick glance. Just something to consider when shopping for wheels. Nick

Quote: in this pic why is there a poly ring around the inside of only one of the bushings on the rear end.. I got these with my bushings but didnt know if I was supposed to use them??? Sorry for not replying sooner. I haven't been here in a while and wasn't subscribed to my own thread either! As for the polyurethane ring, it was removed before installation. I'm not sure what the purpose of the rings is. In any case, I replaced the polyurethane bushings I had in the housing with rubber bushings provided by DSE.

The connections are easy. There is a pigtail with an H4 connector that plugs right into the factory harness. No cutting or splicing required. They also fit into the headlamp buckets with out modification either. Nick

Looking good, Warren. I like all the tire that you're getting under there. Nick