Mikz86TA's Project Trans Am 1986 - Page 6

Mikz86TA · #51 10-13-08

Oh, Ill get a soundclip too. Cams nicely and sounds like a beast in heat!

Cameo_S10 · #52 10-13-08

Can't wait to hear it!

Mikz86TA · #53 10-14-08

Alrighty then, as promiced here are the pics and vid clip.

All the exhaust on and welded up :

What it looks like stepped back :

I like this shot of it all :

Straight from the back :

I think the drivers side is a tic lower than the passenger side. I got a hangar on the drivers side I can play with tho and set it up better.

Mikz86TA · #54 10-14-08

I also got the Spohn LCA Relocation Brackets welded in place as recomended by Spohn.
Just a few lines needed on the edges since they are also bolted in. They were pretty tight B4, but now are secured in place indefinately.

Also I had them weld on my Alston Sub Frame Connectors.
I have to relocate the front area brake line attachment bracket slightly in the next day or so. Also still need to paint over a few of the weld spots. But I need time and get the car back on the ramps to do that.

Drivers side :

Passenger side :

I cant wait to get the tranny going right. I want to take it out and do some off-line launches and fell how stiffer the body is without the flex and how harder the traction hooks up with the LCAs in the correct position. I may also adjust the LCAs lower to see if I can feel any difference there in the launch.
Driving it off of the exh shop bay ramp yesterday, it scrubbed a bit since the SFC's ground clearance is tighter. But on the uneven parking lot it felt stiffer.

Next on the wishlist is some good shocks and struts. The ones on it will do for now since they arent that old. But they are Gabriel Prem ProRyders and just regular ol shocks to me. Im thining in non-adjustables, either Bilsteins or KYB gas-A-Just. If adjustable, then probably KYB AGX. Everything else adjustable is out of my price range....even my dream price range. LOL

Mikz86TA · #55 10-14-08

Dangit, I forgot the video clip.

I did this today just on a whim. It was not fully warmed up yet, and there is some condensation that was spewing out.

What do you think?

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/1...lip_191843.htm

Mikz86TA · #56 10-20-08

Rag Joint Eliminator :

OK, so time for the next part upgrade in the list. With the exhaust and other stuff I have been waiting to put on already done, it was time to get back under the hood and do some more restoring.
I have a bunch of pics to share later on the underhood repainting. That was done last year but I never got to finish it. So Ill be posting those pics in a week or so and have hopefully some new ones of the future progress as well.
One area I have to paint is the drivers subframe and inner fender area. In the way is the steering shaft, so I have to remove that. My 1986 steering shaft has seen better days and has a bit of slop in it. The upper joint is lubed inside of a permanently sealed rubber boot. Age and the header heat had dryrotted and cracked the rubber boot years ago. In turn, the lube dried out.
A new shaft was pricey and I weighed my options of making one, getting a decent used one or new.
I decided for the time being to find a decent used one. I got one back in January from the salvage yard for $25. It was off of a low-mile, rear impact, 1992 Camaro. It was in great shape.
I cleaned it up and repainted it black.
I decided to try one of those rag joint eliminators (RJE we will call it from now on) from Unbalanced Engineering. Its a bolt-in aluminum disc and cost me around $40 shipped.
Link --- http://www.unbalancedengineering.com/Camaro/

Eliminates the factory rubber-fiber rag joint which can degrade and introduce steering slop. This is especially true on cars with the additional heat generated by headers. The kit includes a CNC machined coupler made from 6061-T6 aluminum which is then anodized black for corrosion resistance, and four grade 8 fasteners. A set of detailed installation instructions is also included.

Install was easy and the only PITA was getting the OEM rivits off.

INSTALL :

Remove shaft from vehicle : Make sure steering is straight (especially with airbags). Remove bolt/nut where the shaft meets the steering column near the firewall. Unbolt the lower part where the shaft and gear box meet. Push lower part of colapsable shaft toward the firewall. Remove.
Start off by marking one side of the shaft peices that are being seperated. There is the shaft and the splined coupler. You will want to reinstall the end and shaft in the same orientation.

My shaft apart :

Old rag joint and RJE:

I used the edge of my cutoff wheel to scribe a groove in the 2 peices. I painted my shaft, so a marker or chalk wasnt going to cut it. I highlighted it with chalk for the picture.

Alignment mark:

Then simply reassemble using the Grade8 bolts and nuts supplied with the kit. There was one shorter bolt for the splined side where the clamping bolt is.
The instructions said to install the RJE on the shaft side 1st and then on the splined side. They use 2 nuts on the shaft side. They act as 'jamb nuts' and you tighten them against one another after you tighten the 1st one to the bolt/assembly.
Also use RED threadlocker.

I had to figure it out since the illustratd pic in the instructions had the splined end bolt going through opposite of the way you see mine done in the picture below. But the way GM made the end of the shaft side, it would be impossible to get the bolt in that direction.
Also since the tolerances of the OEM holes arent as tight as the RJE holes, I had to slightly file out the holes in the shaft side of the OEM stamped and pressed part. The splined side is a cast iron part and was OK.
Assembeled and aligned :

The clamping bolt for the splined end is real close to the bolt UE provided. Test the clamping bolt in and out and asjust the hex on the RJE bolt as needed.
I havent got to put it on and test it out yet, but will make comments after I do.
I have heard all the positives and negatives about the RJE.

On the plus side :
Steering slop eliminated
More twitchy and responsive to low speed and high speed steering manuevers
no more worn joints especially with more load on the joint like wide tires and big wheels

On the neg side :
Too much road feel
slight binding
pops at the end lock position

Most recommend this if you are road coursing it or just an occasional fun driver. Most dont like it for their daily.
One guy complained since he had a quick ratio box and this, that the highway speed response was too much and he liked to one hand drive.
A few complained about the slight binding. Thats mainly due to the fact that the RJoint gives flexibility for slight OEM misalignments and the RJE exploits that. The fact is there are a number of things that will make this vary from car to car. The subframes on F-bodies flex...thats no new story. But over time they can flex out of shape a bit. And since the steering box is mounted to the LF subframe, it tends to get misaligned. Another factor is that the gearbox on every car off the assembly line isnt exact either. There are some things you can do to correct it tho. One guy used washers to 'space' the box inward a bit off the frame. Another used some of the column adjustments to get it aligned right.
The end-lock position pop is not bad. How many times will you go to end-lock? And that issue is just the feedback you get when the spindle hits the stop.
Some may not like the overly twitchy feeling either on a daily driver. Mines a occasional driver, and when Im driving the TA, Im focused on driving and usually having fun anyways. So I welcome the responsiveness.

I know that UE makes one for 3rd Gen and one for 4th Gen F-bodies. IDK if the RJoint on the S-series is the same size and it could be used on our trucks. But it would be cool to find out.
I traced this one B4 I installed it and I got a link on the TGO board from a guy who made his own. He posted the specs as well.

Hope this is helpful.