Jared's '79 5.3 244 Project: The Qwikbrik

[propav8r]

Guess I could update the first post after 8 years, huh?

It's got a V8 now. Does skids. Makes cool noises. Causes great confusion among the appalachian car boomer population that only knows a Holley Double Pumper on a TreeohFive in a Chevelle.

2000something LM7 5.3 (iron block)
706 Heads
SS2 cam
Stock PCM/HPTuners
Camaro T56
Ford 8.8 Rear
400lb springs/Koni Race inserts in the front
250lb springs/Chevy Suburban shocks in the rear (blech)
Kerplunky v.0.0.0.1 camber plates
DIY adjustable endlinks
STS machining Delrin front control arm bushings
25mm IPD bar in the front, stock in the back
Wootbar^TM strut brace
Falken AZENIS RT615K+, 225/45-17 front, 255/40-17 rear.
17x8.5 et30 with 32mm adapter in the front, 17x10 et20 in the back

Current Shot






Circa 2011:



I'm just getting going good on my project, so I figured that this would be a good time to start a project thread to help keep track of things. First off, the back story.

About 20 years ago, my family had a '74 BMW 2002. The car was my dad's daily and never ceased to be troublesome. When it came time to axe that car, it was driven to Atlanta and sold for like $1,500, which at the time was a king's ransom for a barely running 2002. In exchange, my mom and dad bought this '79 244. It had been found by my uncle, who was given the car by his mechanic. My uncle then put approximately $1,000 into it getting it running good again. Then, the owner showed up at the shop demanding his car back...the car had been sitting for 2+ years because of unpaid shop fees, and had legally become the property of the shop who had given it to my uncle. My uncle then found and contacted the original owner, who had believed he was doing a good thing by giving the second owner the car as cheap transportation. After weeks of angry phone calls, my uncle and the original owner convinced the second owner that giving his clothes out of the trunk (that had been in there for 2+ years as well) would be a suitable substitute for the car itself. After all this, my mom drove the car back to Charlotte, where it lived for the next few years.

We used the car for awhile as a spare and occasional daily, and when I turned 16, it became my car. I started to mess with it a little; fixing nagging issues, sprucing up the interior, etc. I drove it through high school stocky stock until a friend of mine rolled a stop sign behind me and cracked the passenger side taillight and pushed in the rear valance. A friendly insurance adjuster gave us $1200 for the car, and totaled it. We kept the car.

The insurance money purchased another Volvo, our '97 855. For about a year, the '79 sat at my grandfather's house in Huntersville. I would go over there occasionally and start the car and drive it a little just to keep things in working order. Christmas of 2010, my dad took the car to a local independent Volvo mechanic, and he got it running again. At last I was back with my car.

I drove the car for about a year until April 2011, when the K-jetz finally bit the dust. A faulty ECT sensor caused the car to run like complete crap in closed-loop mode, but like a bat out of hell in open loop. Instead of throwing more money at a 30 year old system, I decided that it was high time to start my project.

Parts started being accumulated, and plans laid out. The ultimate goal for this car is to have a fun, streetable weekend car that will suprise 5.0 fords and F-bodies on the road. Huge power isn't my ultimate goal. A fun, solid, well handling, quick car is.

The base of the build is below:

'93 B230F block (got it)
Ported/polished 530 head, possibly with larger valves. I haven't made that decision yet. (Have head, needs to be assembled)
RSI Stage II Turbo cam (still need. I hate I missed the sale)
Megasquirt MS3X (almost saved up)
90+ Manifold (have)
15G (have)
Ford WC T5 (Purchasing from Vince/TerribleOne. Deposit sent)
Modded G80 rear (have gears, need to mod)
Billys all the way around (still need)
IPD SS brake flex lines (have)
Yoshifab DSM CAS adapter (have)
And a bunch of other stuff I've probably forgotten.

As far as a timeline, I'd love to have the car driveable by SE-X, but if not, it's not a big deal, It'll just have to wait another year to be heebed.

Anyway, on to the pics.

Spring break, the garage in my grandmother's basement was cleared as much as possible, and the car moved in. Below are some pictures of the limited progress. I've only been home from school since Sunday. Planning on yanking the B21+M46 this Sat/Sun. Stay tuned for K-jet selloff.

Car in the basement. Fvuck that support post.




Ewww dirty block






Several hours later...mostly clean. Still some touch up to do.






Everything was cool til this...took out the drain petcock to mount my 93+ oil cooler, and the port was clogged.


Parts shelf


GM coil came today! Yay!


Boo...


And that's all for now folks. I'm pulling the oil pan tomorrow to examine the innards and weld a drain bung in the pan.

[CalvinM]

Saw this today and he's got the building blocks for a nice clean build. You just need to piece it together Jared. I want pics if you take the b21F out.

[alexm963]

Front end setup looks baller. And the white with red stripe looks good too.

[mavawreck]

Ive seen this car in person and it is going to be a really clean build when he is done. Glad you are getting to do it.

[propav8r]

Originally Posted by CalvinM

Saw this today and he's got the building blocks for a nice clean build. You just need to piece it together Jared. I want pics if you take the b21F out.

Will do. I'm pulling it today-just gotta go by Pull-a-part and cut out some seatbelts to lift it with. Should've done that yesterday, but I forgot.

Originally Posted by alexm963

Front end setup looks baller. And the white with red stripe looks good too.

Thanks. The stripe is actually painted on, like an old handpainted sign. It's coming off and will be redone. The passenger side is ratty. I've got some old style single round surrounds, but I really think I'm going to be sticking with the quad rounds.

Originally Posted by mavawreck

Ive seen this car in person and it is going to be a really clean build when he is done. Glad you are getting to do it.

Thanks man. I'm stoked too. I've been wanting to do something to it for awhile, and now I finally have the ability to.

[Manbeard]

im excited to see this car come apart knowing how awesome it will be when you're done! i think you should keep the quad rounds..your car is one of two cars that look badass with them. not saying that because i think they're awesome means you should keep them haha, i think they just go with the whole look of the car. i love it.

[propav8r]

Haha thanks Stephen. I know your real opinion of quad rounds

I think I'll be putting hydras on it at first just to gain some tire. Eventually, I'd really like to find a set of Arrakis wheels, but that's farther down the road at the moment. Another grand I don't have right now.

[propav8r]

Well, my dad and I got the motor pulled today.





Time to buy stock in Purple Power.

[WillettRun?]

Graaaaaaaaaaaaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze!

[RMB]

Wow, nice car.
Was the body damage ever fixed? Would you happen to have any more photos of the entire car? Looks ridiculously clean, and the red stripe is quite fetching. Looks like a fun project!

[slow240]

glad to see you diving into this project so hard, i cant wait to see it done, i loved seeing it in IPDs newsletter, i showed it to all my friend and told them i knew you

ps, im sorry i still havent had a chance to mail off that console, i just got laid off
ill get you an estimate asap (seeing as ill have a whole lot more time on my hands )

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!

[propav8r]

Originally Posted by RMB

Wow, nice car.
Was the body damage ever fixed? Would you happen to have any more photos of the entire car? Looks ridiculously clean, and the red stripe is quite fetching. Looks like a fun project!

No, body damage isn't fixed yet. Hopefully, it will be soon. The camera is kind...what you don't see is the messed up passenger side stripe from a bradford pear tree falling on it 4 years ago in an ice storm (there's pictures of that around here somewhere), the dent in the passenger rear door from where the shop in Atlanta lost the keys and took to moving the car with a forklift, the rust spots at the rear fender/buttcheek seam, and a few other imperfections. Also annoying is the fact that somewhere along the line, the hood, roof, trunk, and passenger rear fender were repainted with a non-matching color. It's just a couple of shades off, but it doesn't wax nearly as well and bugs me to no end. The car has it's rough spots, but is largely rust free. The floors and rocker panels are solid, and the car hasn't been in a serious wreck.

The stripe is actually two tone...red on top and like a purplish-red on the bottom. Kinda cool. Defiantly sets the car apart.

Thanks for the kind words though

Originally Posted by slow240

glad to see you diving into this project so hard, i cant wait to see it done, i loved seeing it in IPDs newsletter, i showed it to all my friend and told them i knew you

ps, im sorry i still havent had a chance to mail off that console, i just got laid off
ill get you an estimate asap (seeing as ill have a whole lot more time on my hands )

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!

Hey, no worries man. I totally understand. Life comes first. If you moved down to Charlotte, you could probably have a job in a day at the same company I'm working at this summer.

[Dirk242]

Will follow this one. Always liked your car!

[propav8r]

Originally Posted by Dirk242

Will follow this one. Always liked your car!

Thanks. You have no idea how close I've come to spraybombing my car brown.

Pulled the trans off the motor today. Pilot bearing and throwout bearing were in almost new shape, and the clutch disk had plenty of life left. Pressure plate wasn't cracked. After so many miles, I was surprised to say the least. Flywheel is out, and will be headed to the machine shop soon.

[Sir Psycho]

Just found your thread, nice work so far!

Let me know if you ever need an extra hand in there.

[propav8r]

Originally Posted by Sir Psycho

Just found your thread, nice work so far!

Let me know if you ever need an extra hand in there.

Thanks. I'll probably host some sort of cookout in a couple months or so. Grill n chill deal.

[Sir Psycho]

Sounds good. You know I'm game for a meet ASAP.

[olov]

is that the same one you drove to the meets/SE/etc last year? looks like a different car, much better

kinda want to throw quad rounds on my wagon.....

[propav8r]

Yup. Same car.

[Volv-what-o]

I am so ready for the car to be done. I miss the sunroof.

[propav8r]

Originally Posted by Volv-what-o

I am so ready for the car to be done.

Lol. It'll never be "done," always a work in progress.

[propav8r]

I finally did something about lighting in my shop. Much more better now.


Apparently, once upon a time, my car used an external voltage regualtor. Who knew?


Also, in cleaning and prepping the oil pan for paint, I found these things in several places. Rock hits? Metal fatigue? Anybody ever seen this before?

[Duder]

Those are rust "spiders" that form when the paint is chipped off in a small area, probably from rocks as you said. The freshly exposed metal rusts quickly, but then the rust continues to spread outwards underneath the good paint around the chip. I guess that's why they call it the tin worm. I found a whole bunch of 'em when I stripped the paint off the front end of my '66 VW.

Use a flap wheel or wire wheel and clean them up; I think you'll find there isn't any real damage to the pan. You can treat them with some type of rust killer if you don't want them coming back (ospho, phosphoric acid, POR-15 "metal ready" for example).

[propav8r]

Heh-learn something every day. Thanks!

[Poik]

Originally Posted by propav8r

Africa? Looks like this will be a great project, keep it up.