The '80 XR-7... Reply #120 – December 28, 2006, 09:28:36 PM Well progress has been slowed by ALOT of things (weather, money, time), but I happened to stop over at the place where I have the 84TC stored and grabbed the 84 XR-7 steering column and brought it home. I got into it and as long as the '80 is the same, I can swap the shaft itself between the two columns so I can use the later steering wheel and not have any issues. I'll take a couple pics when I can get the other apart. I took the '84 column apart which really doesn't take too much.Also, I finally ordered one of the 12" Vette rotors to get the front brakes mocked up.The car is still sitting w/o a windshield in it as the weather got too cold on me to finish the repair work on the windshield, but the tarp is keeping things dry.Also, I was able to get the "old" exhaust off the silver car(getting a 3") and get it installed as well. I have a couple holes to touch up, but that shouldn't be that big of a deal...just need to get the car back up in the air.It's just a single 2-1/2" running through a Dynomax Race Magnum Welded ler (non-stainless UltraFlo), but it will suffice and is better than the 2" Midas special that was on it. I'm planning on building a new dual tip for the '83....so I wasn't too hurt by losing my "signature" dual tip for this car :hick:.Anyway, progress will depend on the weather mainly, so we'll see. Quote Selected
The '80 XR-7... Reply #121 – December 28, 2006, 11:08:46 PM atleast you can get to yours, Took me 10 mins to get the tire chains out of the back seat of the t-bird. I was going to fire up the stang but its buried even worse..Scott Quote Selected
The '80 XR-7... Reply #122 – December 28, 2006, 11:32:33 PM Yeah, we've had no snow here at all this year (just fine with me), but it's been chosing to rain on the weekends..... Quote Selected
The '80 XR-7... Reply #123 – December 29, 2006, 12:02:43 AM yeah man, its gettin freaky... late december and Im still running around in a hoodie up here in Ft. WayneIts insane. but im not complaining.That cat is gonna look amazing when you have it all situated the way you want. Quote Selected
The '80 XR-7... Reply #124 – December 29, 2006, 06:04:57 PM OK, well I took advantage of the nice weather today to tackle the steering column project.I was able to pull the upper steering column and switch assy out as a unit...so that was no biggie. But I ran into one issue that is a result of the differences between the column and non-column shift cars.That rectangular hole in the bottom column is a cut-out for the shifter selector. Also, you can see off to the left of that the ciruclar cutout that the ignition switch slider goes into. Well another difference is that rect hole forced the relocation of that cutout further down on the column....so the 84 ignition switch selector rod was too short to work.No worries... What I wound up doing was pulling the key tumbler and the ignition switch from both columns. Then at the base of the tumbler hole is a c-clip that holds the gear that moves the selector rod. So...I pull all that apart and swap the selector rod from the 80 column to the 84 column and put it all back together and now the pieces mate together like they should.I got it all back together and put on the new wheel on.It was alot of work just to use a certain steering wheel, but no biggie really. The original column surround is pretty brittle so I just dug up some other '83 pieces I had and swapped those on for the time being.I also took the time to order some new carpet since the original stuff is GROSS and I need to pull it all out anyway.Well, kind of a long-winded update, but I guess it was at least an update. The car is going to be kind of a mish-mash for a while as I find parts and get things pieced together, but oh well. Quote Selected
The '80 XR-7... Reply #125 – December 30, 2006, 09:28:35 PM Well today I took a little more time and welded up the couple holes (missed welds) on the exhaust and fired it up again. Ran alot better than before.I'm slowly getting the brake stuff together, so hopefully I can get that wrapped up soon. Quote Selected
The '80 XR-7... Reply #126 – December 30, 2006, 09:56:03 PM Holy ! Where the heck have I been??? That car is looking pretty sweet with those Cobra wheels. :DThat dog looks like he's got something against that rack tho. Are those the wheels off of your 83? If so, what are you going to run on that one? Quote Selected
The '80 XR-7... Reply #127 – December 30, 2006, 10:33:40 PM Those are an extra set of wheels I picked up. The '83 still has the same ones. I couldn't pass up the deal on these.The dog probably had no idea where he was :p He was pretty old (had to put him down last month)... He kept walking into the pic every time I tried to take it, so I just said hell with it. Quote Selected
The '80 XR-7... Reply #128 – December 30, 2006, 10:37:25 PM Here's a shot of the rear I like (taken before I put the exhaust on) Quote Selected
The '80 XR-7... Reply #129 – January 02, 2007, 11:08:00 PM , that thing looks very mean sitting on those wheels. I'd say if you have the room in the wells leave the 275's in the rear. Nothing like a nice meaty set of rubber in the rear. I never put the KB SFC's on the 87, if you want I'll send them to ya if you pay shipping, if they fit that is. Quote Selected
The '80 XR-7... Reply #130 – January 02, 2007, 11:15:28 PM Thanks.The 83-88 SFCs won't work. I'll just HAVE to make my own. You know how I hate doing things like that :hick:I have plenty of room in the rear for the 275's....we'll just see when I go to buy tires. 275's are a little wide for the 8" wheels though. Quote Selected
The '80 XR-7... Reply #131 – January 04, 2007, 12:52:38 AM widen the rims. If the money allows. that would look awsome dished in the back. Too bad money makes the world go 'round not bullshiznit cause id be rich Quote Selected
The '80 XR-7... Reply #132 – January 04, 2007, 02:30:05 AM Yes, yes, we wouldn't want you to have to FABRICATE something from SCRATCH, that's be aweful. Didn't realize the tires were only 8 inches wide, thought they were 9. Quote Selected
The '80 XR-7... Reply #133 – February 02, 2007, 05:54:47 PM Well, despite the arctic tundra conditions here the past week or so, I decided I'd had enough and messed with the car a little bit this evening after I got home from work.I finally drilled the spindle ears to accept the larger C4 caliper bracket hardware (14mm vs 12mm). I thought I had some extra pads sitting around, but I guess not, so the caliper is just sitting there in the pic. It took shaving a touch off the caliper bracket mounting ears and a small spacer behind the rotor to get things lined up, but everything is centered and hub-centric.Also, after I spent all that time a while back futzing with the steering column to keeop the column shifter on it and be able to use the steering wheel I wanted.....I've decided to stick a manual trans behind the 302 for the time being... I think I would have to stab myself in the eyes if I had to drive around in an automatic for too much longer....Anyway....I had to do something...just to spite the weather. Quote Selected
The '80 XR-7... Reply #134 – February 02, 2007, 06:13:43 PM Corvette brakes? Man you ARE nuts! Looking good! Now why don't you come help me with the head changeover? My snow melted Quote Selected
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