93formulalt1's Projects Thread

[93formulalt1]

I doubt you'd have any problems without some sticky tires on there and even then I'd leave the 10 bolt.

Good to know, I'll probably just go with the locker and gears then. I don't plan on putting sticky tires on it, just the street tires. I don't take it to the strip, so I have no need for tires like that. I've never taken the Formula to the strip, might go once or twice, but I don't like beating on my car. The Monte Carlo, I'll probably just go ahead and replace the wheel bearings and fix the brakes, I'll never race that car. I'm too afraid I'll wreck it or blow something up. It wasn't built to race, it was built to just be an EXTREMELY impractical street car that gets less than 5mpg. Our little way of compensating for all of the douchebags driving around in Hybrids, trying to keep MY environment clean? Not if I have anything to say about it!

Thanks for the help, Jeff.

[DETROITMUSCLE]

not sure I care for the reasoning behind the monte carlo so much but whatever floats your boat.

[93formulalt1]

not sure I care for the reasoning behind the monte carlo so much but whatever floats your boat.

It was a joke. . . Dad just wanted a nice car to cruise around in, something that had some power under the hood. I think he got a little carried away when he built the motor, but it doesn't bother me any, because I still remember the smile on his face every time he started the car. Remember, when he started building the motor, gas prices were nowhere near as high as they are now. Between $.78 and $1.50/gallon during the year he bought the engine and started the build. He built the car exactly the way he wanted the car built. He just never got to drive it much.

[SoulTerror]

Sounds like we have similar goals for our Formula's. Just a nice street car, and maybe taking it to the strip a few times. Good luck.

[93formulalt1]

Sounds like we have similar goals for our Formula's. Just a nice street car, and maybe taking it to the strip a few times. Good luck.

That's exactly what I'm going for. 325-375hp after all's said and done, and overall, I just want a car that's still fun to drive, yet streetable enough to drive daily (weather permitting, of course) if I choose to.

[Gottork]

Spoke with my 1SG about it, he said I have very slim chances of getting a reassignment approved, because there are no Army installations near home that have an open slot for a 31B (MP), and I don't have enough rank to work in an administrative position at say a Recruiting Station or MEPS. The only place I could potentially be reassigned to back in the states is Ft. Knox, Kentucky, which is just short of 400 miles away. Not to mention, I would still be considered deployable. 1SG and my Commander both agreed, my best option is to submit a packet for a Hardship Discharge, go home for a couple years, take care of everything and do what needs to be done, finish my degree, and come back in as an Officer. That's assuming I decide to go back into the Army, I think if I go back in at all, I'll be going Air Force.

The Army doesn't suck because there's anything wrong with the Army, the Army sucks because of the people who run the Army. There's a combination of Officers who don't leave their desks long enough to realize that the regulations they are putting out are making it harder for us to do our jobs, or are just flat-out stupid, and NCO's that think they are the only competent people in the unit, and use their rank to belittle other people. It's ridiculous the bullshit that I, as a lower enlisted MP, have to deal with.

For example: My company is on "Dry Status", meaning nobody assigned to my unit is permitted to consume any alcoholic beverages. Who did I see at the bar last night? (I was on MP Town Patrol, where we walk around the village outside post keeping an eye on soldiers in the bars, making sure there's no fights or trouble) My Company Commander, the very same person who told us all less than 6 hours before, that we were not allowed to drink. What did the Staff Sergeant in charge of us do? He noticed who was sitting at the bar, told us to turn around, and explained to us outside that nobody saw anything.

I hate the Army. I'm proud of what I'm doing, serving my country and all, but I hate the BS we have to deal with. Unfortunately enough, I see the reasons behind most of the BS that goes on, and most of it is in place to help "guide" the less intelligent and/or undisciplined soldiers onto the "right path". People like me, who follow all the rules and do my job to the best of my ability, are simply hindered by the BS, and I'm constantly treated like one of the idiots that's always getting in trouble.

WOW.. had no clue man..

good luck in whatever happens with it.

[93formulalt1]

WOW.. had no clue man..

good luck in whatever happens with it.

Thanks. I'll be finding some more information out on my packet's status today, hopefully. I'll try to keep everyone updated, but I'm not going to post up a thread about it, if you know what I mean. I feel really bad that I have to get out, I'm proud of what I'm doing, but at the same time, I feel worse that my family is struggling since Dad's death, and I can't be there to help them.

[93formulalt1]

Well, I picked up a couple more parts, they should be delivered this week, just a couple of little things I needed to get the car running better. Can't wait until I get back to install everything!

[Gottork]

your going to have quite alot of things to do when you get home, which is always like xmas all over..

[93formulalt1]

your going to have quite alot of things to do when you get home, which is always like xmas all over..

Yep. Christmas sucked for me last year, I got a package from Mom and Dad, but other than that, it was just another day in Korea. I ate Hot Pockets for Christmas Dinner, and we were on "dry status", so we weren't even allowed to drink. When I get back, however, I'm going to have a ton of parts to install, and I'm probably not even going to know where to start. lol

My rims have arrived at home, I got everything I ordered from Jegs, and a couple of other parts have been delivered. Some of you know already, I have a set of Pacesetter Long Tubes and ORY waiting at home, and I bought a 3" electric cutout from one of the guys on here. That alone is going to improve the performance of my mostly stock car quite a bit, but the other stuff I bought is going to make it more fun. I'm hoping to take it to Milan once this summer, maybe get it on a dyno.

I'm still looking to do some body work to it, so I'm going to buy some primer shortly. The (tentative) plan is to repair the car one body panel at a time, then rock a primer-grey Firebird until I get the whole car done to my standards, and repaint the whole car. I have a couple of other plans also, such as shaving the antenna, maybe shaving the door locks, I was even thinking of shaving the door handles, but I don't know how good that would look. There's a few other things I want to do as well, like get the door latches and hinges adjusted, adjust the windows so they roll up all the way without getting caught up at the weatherstrip, maybe retrofit an auto pull-down from a buick or something onto the back hatch, that would be pretty cool. Definitely going to get a new alarm, remove the back hatch lock, and install a back-up camera there (my Pioneer in-dash has the hookups, might as well use it, right?). I think my current alarm wouldn't be so bad if I figured out why it doesn't work right. . . I think it's because I couldn't figure out which wire went to the dome light. . . I'll get that wired up when I get home, that should fix my issue with opening the back hatch as well.

[Gottork]

well we need pics when you get home..and a Monte Carlo thread..

[93formulalt1]

well we need pics when you get home..and a Monte Carlo thread..

I'll probably keep both vehicles' progress in this one thread, it's just easier for me to write it all up at once, and post pictures here, that way when I look back in a couple years, I can see the progress I made on both cars in one place. I definitely plan on taking the cars out for a photoshoot once they are painted and reassembled. Probably won't be this year, but it doesn't bother me too much. I remember the times I spent with Dad working on his car, and I think it's more fun doing the work anyway, getting to see the progress. It's really pretty cool to watch a car start out as one thing and transform into something completely different, all at your own hand. Sure, I'll get some strange looks driving my primer-grey Firebird to work, or taking the half-finished Monte Carlo out for a drive, but that's all part of the fun. People look at it and think it's a complete POS, and I get to sit back and laugh, knowing the potential and being able to see past the primer, realizing completely that once the paint is done, it's going to look much better.

Another cool thing about primer- I can work the body panels until I'm satisfied, then spray a coat of sealer over it, and move on to the next panel. No reason to do it all at once and rush things, I can take my time and do it right. Primer is pretty forgiving. When I am ready to paint, all I will need to do is clean it off, go over it with a green scotch-brite pad, hit it with wax and grease remover and a cheese cloth, and start spraying my base coat. The prep work is what takes the longest, as long as that's all done right, the base and clear should go on pretty smoothly. That's why so many people have trouble the first time they try painting a car, they don't spend nearly enough time prepping the car properly for paint, and something underneath screws up the finish.

[phoenix_rising]

You said it buddy. I can't wait to have you back in the states. I got my battery back yesterday and picked up my car today. I got my shiny new brakes and gave them a quick comparison. They look like they should work and are going to look and perform real nice.

When you get back we will tackle that body work, however your car is actually a lot cleaner than one one would expect for a michigan car. Basically some rocker panel and fender work and the car should be solid. We can defnitely shave that antenna since you have sirius anyway. I would not shave the door handles if you are looking to ever take the car to the track since they will not allow you to run without them. There might be another solution if you are looking for something unique though.

You need to hurry up and get your behind back home. We've got a lot of work to do and a lot of noise to make.

[93formulalt1]

You said it buddy. I can't wait to have you back in the states. I got my battery back yesterday and picked up my car today. I got my shiny new brakes and gave them a quick comparison. They look like they should work and are going to look and perform real nice.

When you get back we will tackle that body work, however your car is actually a lot cleaner than one one would expect for a michigan car. Basically some rocker panel and fender work and the car should be solid. We can defnitely shave that antenna since you have sirius anyway. I would not shave the door handles if you are looking to ever take the car to the track since they will not allow you to run without them. There might be another solution if you are looking for something unique though.

You need to hurry up and get your behind back home. We've got a lot of work to do and a lot of noise to make.

Good point about the door handles. . . Maybe just shave the locks, and we can find something else as far as door handles goes. . . Maybe Corvette handles would be different. . .

I don't use Sirius anymore, but I have my entire music collection in my car all the time anyway, between my ipod and my laptop, so I don't really think I'll need an antenna. Maybe I'll get one that mounts inside the car or something, if I do decide I need one.

The only real concerns as far as body work goes is the right rear quarter panel, right at the bottom, in front of the back tire, there's a pretty big dent there. There are a bunch of scratches and chips in the paint, and I believe there is a chip in the plastic on the rear spoiler that I'm going to have to repair as well. There are also a couple of dents in the rocker panels, on top of the strut towers, and I think there is some rust in one (or both) of the rear wheelwells, I'll tackle that as well. I'm planning on getting under the car at some point and cleaning the undercarriage up some. I just wish I had a lift, that would make that project a LOT easier. lol I was thinking of pulling the engine and trans to clean them up and paint them, as well as to gain a little more room to work on cleaning up the engine bay, but I think that may be too much work.

[phoenix_rising]

I would love to paint my engine bay to match my new paint and install a blower, but I am not going to do so until for one I can park my car for an extended period of time and leave plenty of time to troubleshoot any problems. Meaning if it takes 6 months to put back together a car that took 6 days to take apart that is just fine. So most likely next winter look to see Scarlett's pretty new blower and engine bay revamp.

Also, I would not reprimer the car, at least not all of it. Just the areas that we repair. We can scotchbrite the whole car leaving the original paint / factory sealer and then we can blend / respray just the outside to match. maybe I will have Jenkins shoot a paint card for you with the GM red with the orange pearl shot in the clear. I think it would look very custom and good, all the while being not so over the top. I think it would be an easy transition and you and I could accomplish it at home.

If you wanted a full color change it would take much longer than you would want. I'm forecasting with work schedules for us both your car would not be completed paintwise until fall if you wanted a full color change, just judging by the pace we painted my car the first time. Where as if we just prep, respray, and apply a pearl and clear coat it won't take nearly as long.

Also, that way we could spend more time doing the finishing work instead. I think I would rather spend time wet sanding your car to perfection in say a month's time and then you being able to drive the car all the while rather than taking the car apart and you not having it to drive.

As far as the corvette door handles that is a possibility, the hard part is modifying the fiberglass doors to house the mechanisms and to shave the stock equipment cleanly all the while not having the fiberglass cracking where the door handles used to be.