The Snot Rocket: Green '73 fastback

[giantpune]

I got another screw to replace the one I lost to hold the voltage converted on the back of my gauges. So that unblocked me to start putting the gauges back in my car.

The tach conversion adds 3 wires. Rather than hardwiring it, I added a trailer wiring harness to it can be unplugged in the future.

Other than that, I painted some more of the bottom of the car. Figured I may as well get the under side of the transmission tunnel while there's no transmission in the way. And then I got the shock tower braces back on. I'm leaning towards deleting the power steering cooler. Without the AC compressor there anymore, I don't see a great way to mount this that doesn't look out of place.

 

[giantpune]

Cluster is back in the car. I ran a few wires out to the engine bay to hook up the new tach conversion.
I also took a hint from @71fast about adding a pin to the connector on the back of the cluster. That let me get a wire with 6v to run over to the center of the dash to add a set of gauges. I'm currently plotting out how exactly I want to wire those in. Specifically, the illumination bulb sockets. If possible, I would like to avoid cutting the wiring harness I have. It would be cool if those sockets were available somewhere. Then I used the existing pigtail as a donor for parts. I made a harness that goes inline with the heater illumination to break out to illuminate the gauges. So no cutting into the car's wiring harness and no loss of any existing functionality.

I pulled off the aftermarket 1980s mono tape deck, the HVAC controls, center dash trim, and the last of the parts for the automatic transmission on the hump. If anybody has any suggestions for a replacement radio (with bluetooth), I may be looking for one after I get this thing back on the road.

Back in the engine bay, I took out the power steering cooler. The hoses seemed pretty hardened. I may have a new set of those in my future. In fact, the steering gear is leaking bad. So there may be a power steering revamp coming up.

 

[giantpune]

UPS man showed up with a bunch of boxes from moderndriveline. I started working on swapping over to the TKX.

They make a big fuss about having the transmission perfectly aligned with the crank. I guess the TKX is more sensitive to that than the old 70s stuff. So I spent the extra time to clean the rear mating surface on the engine down to bare metal. The lip on the oil pan sticks back further than the block and main cap. That prevents the separator plate from sitting flat on the block. I used a mallet to smack the lip on the oil pan so it mostly doesn't stick out proud of the block.

Then I got the pilot bearing, separator plate, and flywheel installed without too much fuss. And the next step I think is trying to get the bell housing trued up. I've got a test indicator on a magnetic arm stuck to the flywheel and manually rotating the engine over. I made it up to the point where I need some offset dowel pins before I can go any further under the car.

 

[giantpune]

While I'm blocked from working under the car, I switched to working up top today.

I got the malwood clutch pedal and hydraulics installed. That meant cutting down the brake pedal. That wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be.

They don't give you a bracket for the reservoir nor much hose to run to it. I did a little bit of CAD (cardboard aided design) work. I came up with a bit of sheet metal and some nutserts to mount on the studs for the brake master cylinder. So no new holes in the car.

And while I was at it, I swapped the speedometer cable. The TKX kit came with a longer one. With that, I think I'm done with everything I needed to do in the dash. So now the cluster can go back in and the steering column back up.

 

[rio1856]

Great job brother!!!!

 

[giantpune]

Yesterday evening's project was to (almost) get the transmission in. My 0.007" offset dowel pins came in. I went with the summit brand ones. They have handy hex holes in them and can be rotated while installed. By using the dial indicator while rotating the dowel pins, I was able to get the hole in the bell housing to within 0.002" of being centered over the flywheel. When you cut that in half, because thats measuring both halves of the circle, it becomes 1/1000 of an inch that the input shaft is offset from the crankshaft.

After all that, the bellhousing comes back off to install all the stuff that goes inside it. The bell housing needs minor surgery. To use the MDL external slave cylinder, they have you drill a couple mounting holes for a bracket. And then there's a tab on the front left that is very close to my headers I will probably cut off. Inside the bell is a 157 tooth flywheel and bell housing, 10.4" clutch and bearings, and arp hardware. The transmission is the TKX 3.27 1st gear, 0.72 5th gear. I chose those based on my current rear end being a 2.75:1 open diff. It needs rebuilt and I may go up to a 3.25:1.

So the transmission does fit in the tunnel like they claimed. In order to complete the install, I will need to do a bit of grinding. Like another member here who had the TKX, the shifter is wanting to hit on the right side of the shifter hole.

 

[Cleveland Crush]

Yesterday evening's project was to (almost) get the transmission in. My 0.007" offset dowel pins came in. I went with the summit brand ones. They have handy hex holes in them and can be rotated while installed. By using the dial indicator while rotating the dowel pins, I was able to get the hole in the bell housing to within 0.002" of being centered over the flywheel. When you cut that in half, because thats measuring both halves of the circle, it becomes 1/1000 of an inch that the input shaft is offset from the crankshaft.

After all that, the bellhousing comes back off to install all the stuff that goes inside it. The bell housing needs minor surgery. To use the MDL external slave cylinder, they have you drill a couple mounting holes for a bracket. And then there's a tab on the front left that is very close to my headers I will probably cut off. Inside the bell is a 157 tooth flywheel and bell housing, 10.4" clutch and bearings, and arp hardware. The transmission is the TKX 3.27 1st gear, 0.72 5th gear. I chose those based on my current rear end being a 2.75:1 open diff. It needs rebuilt and I may go up to a 3.25:1.

So the transmission does fit in the tunnel like they claimed. In order to complete the install, I will need to do a bit of grinding. Like another member here who had the TKX, the shifter is wanting to hit on the right side of the shifter hole.
View attachment 80822


View attachment 80823


View attachment 80824


View attachment 80825

By the way giantpune, the factory speedometer cable worked perfectly on my top loader to tko600 swap. Did not need MDL's included longer cable.

 

[giantpune]

By the way giantpune, the factory speedometer cable worked perfectly on my top loader to tko600 swap. Did not need MDL's included longer cable.

They sent their longer cable and I installed it. I was already in the dash running wires for the new tach and center gauges. I recall thinking I probably didn't need it, but I already had it and it was easy to install.

 

[giantpune]

I believe I have the transmission in now. At least, it looks like its in correctly. I'm not adventurous enough crank it up with no driveshaft in it.

Starter is in.
Slave cylinder is installed.
The kit comes with a pigtail for the reverse lights. I made up a little wiring harness to plug it into the factory plug.
Up top, the shifter handle and boot are on.
After everything was all bolted in and sitting back on its wheels, pinion angle is 0.90°.

 

[Cleveland Crush]

Let us know what the tranny yoke angle is when the shaft is installed (vs the pinion)

 

[giantpune]

A buddy told me about a local shop that builds driveshafts. I dropped my original one off along with a measurement for the new length. 2 hours later he had a new one ready to pick up with new U joints already installed and greased up.

Getting the driveshaft in was just those 2 U bolts and 4 nuts.
Then I filled the transmission up with fluid. They say you can use some cheaper stuff for the 500 mile break in.
I bled the clutch about as good as I could on my own. It seems to work fine, but I wouldnt be surprised if there was still a little bit of air in it.
My parking brake cable is an absolute pain in the butt. I fussed with it for 15 mins trying to get it pulled back around the hooks. The threaded adjuster things are rusted so bad I can't loosen them any more. I just have to fight and pull it to get enough slack to go around the hook. I know it can be done, cause I was able to disconnect it. Anyways, I gave up on that for the time being.

I was too excited to hop in the car and make it drive. Then maiden voyage was a success. I made it through the neighborhood stop and go, and I made it out into rush hour traffic and up through all the gears and into reverse.

It drives fine for the most part. There is a backfire when I give it gas up to around 3000 rpm and then let off without pushing in the clutch.

My next steps I think are finish wiring up the ignition. I put the pertronix guts in my distributor and got their coil. I need to install a relay+fuse and whatnot for that. Then double check that I'm happy with all the gauges in the dash, and put my dash back together. And sort out the emergency brake cable.

I also have an AFR gauge and a tuning kit for the edelbrock carb. At some point, I will get to drill a hole in the exhaust for the O2 sensor and try to get the carb dialed in. I was waiting till after the transmission was in so I'd know where I can and cannot put it. The TKX has a ton of room on the passenger side compared to the C6.

 

[Cleveland Crush]

Congratulations on the maiden voyage.

 

[giantpune]

Today I took the car around running errands and seeing how it rode. It was backfiring a lot at part throttle.

I drilled a hole in the exhaust and got the O2 sensor installed and crimped some connectors on some wires so I could use the power from the radio to run an AFR gauge. I was a little rich at idle and then as RPMs went on up, it was leaning out. I dropped in the next smaller size of metering rods and leaned out my idle. That seems to have taken it a big step in the right direction.

 

[giantpune]

I got a green console in. So mostly done converting/upgrading the interior. I do have a plan for cup holders. Then next on the list I think are 3pt seatbelts, steering gear, and the rear end.

Here's a quick video proving that it does exist outside of my garage, and it does, in fact, run.

 

[vintageman]

Sounds great brother. I really enjoyed the ride the other day, I reached out to modern driveline for an estimate for the same setup that you installed. More to follow on that though.

Tom

 

[Sheriff41]

Great job! Now to get out there and log some miles!

 

[tpj71mach]

I got a green console in. So mostly done converting/upgrading the interior. I do have a plan for cup holders. Then next on the list I think are 3pt seatbelts, steering gear, and the rear end.

Here's a quick video proving that it does exist outside of my garage, and it does, in fact, run.

Looks and sound great! That 5-speed will be a blast to drive!

 

[giantpune]

Looks and sound great! That 5-speed will be a blast to drive!

It definitely is. I'm glad I held off on putting the C6 auto back in it for this.

Its really making me want to stick a TKX in some of my other cars now.

Great job! Now to get out there and log some miles!

I topped off the tank yesterday. And since I topped it off right when I got it back running, I can do some calculations. First 10 gallons of gas through it, I averaged 9.35mpg. Thats mostly driving short trips where the engine barely gets warm. Also includes a couple doughnuts and a couple burnouts, and me uncorking it a little bit.

The engine and transmission both have a 500 mile break in. 400 more miles and I can change the fluids over to their forever oils.

 

[giantpune]

Earlier this week I had the car out flogging on it a bit. Then when I got it on the expressway, I noticed it had a weird sensation to it. It felt like the car was bouncing both forward and back, but also left to right. From the back left to the front right as it went over bumps in the highway. When the car is parked, i can basically dribble the back end of it like a basket ball.

Knowing what the shocks looked like under there, I figured it was time to replace them. When I laid the back seat down and pulled the plugs to remove the old rear shocks, this is what I found. I guess one of the doughnuts I did had the car lean far enough to strip the threads on the old driver's side rear shock. So that explains exactly what I was feeling while driving down the highway.

My replacement ones are supposedly out for delivery. Finger's crossed they aren't too much trouble to get installed.

 

[giantpune]

New QA1 shocks are installed. That wasn't too painful at all. All I really had to do was pull down the back seat to get at the rear ones. And just take out the 3 nuts at the top of the shock tower to pull out the front ones. Didn't even have to take off the wheels.

These have a little knob to adjust the firmness from 0-18. I left them on 0 to make installing easier. Then cranked them to 6 and hit the road. I do like that they are adjustable without having to uninstall them. That means you can play around with them and try out different settings. Below are the ones I pulled out. The back were some "Big D" Delcos. I can't make out the writing on the front ones. Bonus points if anybody recognizes these relics and knows what vintage they are.