Replacement build thread. 1999 firebird.

[zeeman]

New dash is in! So is the carpet! Whooo hooo. That was a long day. Im going to wait to put the upper in ntil after the windshield is fixed....dont want any accidents. Anyway the carpet came out really nice. I spot cleaned it before installing , came fairly clean. so im going to be finishing the interior so Ill at least have that done. I need to do some exhaust work before I can do the rest of the rearend installation. Feels good to be getting things done.

[NastyZ]

So you trying to sale those spare panels that you found at the pick and pull?
I am still searching off and on. Haven't found anything just yet.

[zeeman]

Ill send you a pm.

[zeeman]

Ahhhhhhhhh...... So, today my new glass guy came over and installed a windshield into the bird. While the glass was out I took the opportunity to install the upper dash pad. Wow, that's the easiest install ever on an upper dash pad.


20150925_175835.jpg

All done
20150925_183757.jpg

[zeeman]

Tomorrow I am taking the hatch and wing to the painter. After that gets put on the car I can finish the interior. Then it'll be time to clean the garage and get ready for winter.

I still need to clean and paint the brake calipers, complete the rear axel installation. clean and install front brake lines too.

step by step, closer and closer

[birdie2000]

Getting close! Looks really good. Wish I had as much motivation as you.

[zeeman]

Thanks, Its easy. I just set a reasonable goal for the week and try to make that happen. Take today,I removed the wing from the hatch and wet sanded and blocked out the wing. Loaded it into my buddys truck and he will deliver it to the painter on monday. Im having dinner right now but when I get home I might spend some time installing and sorting interior parts. Little here, little there. It all adds up. My biggest problem right now is I dont want to clean and paint the brake parts, Im just sick of it. But it has to get done. So one piece at a time. Its actually better now that Im putting things back on the car. Feels like progress.

[zeeman]

Ok so the front subframe and suspension is back together. Brake lines are cleaned ,painted and installed. Today I cleaned the brake calipers. I did a little.science project. I first knocked all the loose junk off. Then I blocked all the openings. I sprayed everything with oven cleaner. Now I know you arent supposed to use it on aluminum, but stay with me. I.scrubbed them with a stainless steel brush and reapplied cleaner and let them sit for.an hour. Scrubbed them again and rinsed them. Of course they turned black. Its what happens when you use sodium hydroxide on aluminum. The next step is to use a toilet bowl cleaner on them. Scrub them real good again. This removes the rest of the gunk and the black stuff the oven cleaner left behind. They are fantastically clean and ready for paint now. Pics coming soon.

[DanDalessandro]

I have some bolt on subframe Connectors that could make the car even better

[zeeman]

Here are the calipers before cleaning.
20151012_164527.jpg
20151012_164505.jpg
Heres after
20151012_164543.jpg
I also had the rotors blasted and I painted them silver.

[zeeman]

The calipers are painted red now and are drying. I hope to install everything tomorrow.

[Blue04ss]

Man I'm liking your progress!! Keep up the good work!!

[birdie2000]

Those came out great! Did you leave the pistons/seals in while cleaning? Also, does it matter what toilet cleaner to use?

[zeeman]

Thanks, I was pretty happy with them. The instructions on both products say to use rubber gloves so I based it on that. I tested on one and everything seemed ok so I went for it. No ill effects and I dont expect any.
As brand names go, I used the cheapest stuff at Big Lots I could find. The oven cleaner is no name the toilet bowl cleaner is The Works brand. Its whats in it that counts. Every oven cleaner I know of uses Sodium hydroxide as its active ingredient. The bowl cleaner uses an acid but the exact one escapes me at the moment.

[zeeman]

Ok, so I have something of a delima. I have some surface rust under the rear of the car,nothing bad,but Its enough that I would rather fix it now rather than later. So the guy that does my sand blasting gave me a price that is too cheap to say no to. To sand blast and epoxy prime. The problem is I just finished installing everything in the rear of the car. In order to take advantage of his offer I would need to remove the rear end,exhaust fuel tank and fuel lines. Then reinstall the rear end. And then install the front suspension and brakes steering etc. To get it to him. Then while its with him,I would need to pull the rear suspension. Let him do his thing ,reinstall the axel . Bring it home.. drop the axel. Reinstall the tank, lines, exhaust, rearend and suspension.
Lot of work.... Lot of repeated work... Im really stuck on this one.
Thoughts?