1946 Chevy Fleetmaster 2-door, meet "Betty"...

[te72]

Man, that Random guy has a badass engine setup... would definitely bust my budget though.

I've thought about the weight of the car, and frankly... I'm not so sure it's going to be quite as heavy as it looks like it would be. I initially expected 4500lbs+, but when I was tearing the front clip off a couple weeks ago, I was able to push it around the garage by myself easier than the Rx7 a buddy has. Even with the engine, interior, etc, I'd be surprised if she's much heavier than the Mk3.

 

[IJ.]

Man, that Random guy has a badass engine setup... would definitely bust my budget though.

I've thought about the weight of the car, and frankly... I'm not so sure it's going to be quite as heavy as it looks like it would be. I initially expected 4500lbs+, but when I was tearing the front clip off a couple weeks ago, I was able to push it around the garage by myself easier than the Rx7 a buddy has. Even with the engine, interior, etc, I'd be surprised if she's much heavier than the Mk3.

Yep mine is based very loosly on what he's done, I also don't have that sort of budget to work with!

Some say he's quite handsome as well but all we know is he's totally Random

 

[te72]

Found a VVTI 2j with auto trans and all the necessary goodies for $2500 shipped on ebay the other night... hmm.

MUST... FINISH... SUPRA... FIRST.

It's kinda hard to ignore this thing, and I have a bad habit of getting distracted and moving on to something else. It's my biggest shortcoming when it comes to "builds"...

 

[te72]

So, just a thought... might be fun to put the 1j that is in my current Supra into this Chevy, while the engine is in between Supras.

Start a few local legends... :naughty:

 

[cnewingham]

Now that is a full on project!! classics like these are SOOOO worth it when done

 

[te72]

That is certainly one way of putting it. I'm still undecided on what I want to do with this though. The less money I spend on this, the more money I can put toward something fun, like an NSX. I could get this thing running and driveable for around $2000 I figure, and that would (hopefully) avoid letting this snowball on me.

Riding around in my brother's Impala (1964 4-door, otherwise known as the six-fo) has taught me that you really don't need these cars to be fast, or even fun for that matter, that isn't the point. You won't feel cooler in anything faster.

 

[te72]

Minor update, just picked this up:



1993 Lexus LS400, 176k on it, runs like a champ so far. Drove it from ~220 miles away yesterday, nothing worth mentioning really.

The good:
-Runs pretty good from what I can tell
-28-30mpg highway, nice and quiet too...
-Nice as hell interior, aside from the couple tears on the seat bottoms
-AC works! Haven't had AC in a looooong time.
-Picked it up for $1100

The bad:
-Supposedly hit a deer. From what I've seen of deer accidents, I'm inclined to think it either hit, or was hit by, the rear end of a pickup truck at parking lot speeds. If it did hit a deer, it was either a baby, or this car is a T.A.N.K. (This Ain't No Klunker)
-Radio doesn't work... yet. Have yet to look at it.
-Took $1100 (well, more like $1300 once trip expenses accounted for) out of the Supra budget
-Cheap tint that will probably go purple on me? Dunno, really nitpicking at this point.
-Tach doesn't always work, but everything else seems to.
-Power steering seems to be disconnected

The plan? I could fix the dents, replace the headlight/sidemarker/foglights, and try and flip it, or (and the reason why this is posted in this thread), I could use this for a donor for the Chevy. Gonna clean out the Supra and clean out the LS after work, then measure the UZ versus the Chevy's engine bay.

Would be pretty badass to be able to subframe the Chevy using the guts from the Lexus, then use as much of the Lexus' interior (power EVERYTHING, seriously) in the Chevy as we can. Could be pretty sweet... Lot of work, and as my brother said, "your brain is always a better mechanic, no matter who you are."

We'll see where things go.

 

[T3rril79]

GM had a number of decent incline 6's in their yesteryears. 235 or a 292 I6 would be great for an old school type feel. My next thought would be toyota's I6 offerings

 

[te72]

I could get an old 235 from my brother, and they're so near bullet proof, that Toyota based the design of the old Landcruiser I6 on the Chevy 235 design.

However, for what I paid for the Lexus, I should be able (theoretically anyway) be able to get this car up and running over the winter if I can find the time. Subframe it, and see how much of the interior we can re-use from the Lexus. Basically just re-skinning a Lexus with an old Chevy, that's one way to look at it. Would be pretty awesome if we could get this thing fixed up (rusted out parts fixed, and windshield/back window replaced) and back on the road for less than $5000 total. So far, I'm ~$1700 into this project, which includes the price of the LS400.

 

[te72]

Cleaned up the car last couple days with the shop vac, clorox wipes come next (I know, exciting stuff), and I realized something:

Car CSI is not a field I think I would want to be a part of, even if I am pretty good at it. Some of the shit you find in cars that time (and previous owners) forgot... I don't even wanna know. :shudders:

Anyway, going to do some measuring to make sure the UZ will fit in the engine bay of the Chevy. Seems like it will form eyeballing it. Interestingly enough, the wheel base on both of these cars is quite similar... hmm.

 

[te72]

In the last couple weeks with the Lexus:

-have completely cleaned up the LS400 (as much as I am going to anyway)
-changed out the oil
-removed the two rear-most mufflers (the car has two cats, one resonators, and four mufflers), sounds like a (gasp) car now!
-inflated the tires to a uniform 32psi all around
-taken apart the Nakamichi amp, I guess they go bad from being overloaded a lot, can't see anything obviously wrong though
-drove the thing almost every day, since the initial post about it, last time I filled it up, was on August 26th. Still have about 1/3 tank left, and have probably traveled around 300 miles on that so far. I guess that is only averaging around 18-19mpg. Not too bad for a boat, right?
-Measured the wheelbases of both these cars, Lexus is 110", Chevy 116", so I'll need a new driveshaft made up.

Most notably, found out that at 1800rpm, on damp pavement, with tires that pre-date the DOT tire dating system, this car has enough gusto to do a pretty lazy/quiet burnout. :naughty:

 

[cnewingham]

lol!!
they run forever when maintained. wouldnt mind having one myself

 

[te72]

lol!!
they run forever when maintained. wouldnt mind having one myself

If you ever find yourself in need of a 5 seat large car, I can fully recommend one. Can't say I've ever worked on a car or owned one that was quite this well built/nice.

 

[te72]

Weekend update, I'll try to post pictures later.

Put the rear seats and passenger seat from the LS into the Chevy. Rear seat fits almost like it was built for the Chevy, and I'm pretty sure the front seats will work nicely too. Gonna have some interesting things to sort out to make this all work though.

My brother (after a few beers this evening) offered to give me the 250 I6 and 3 speed he has, as long as he can do the car up like he wants. As I'm presently unemployed, the offer is tempting, but there are a few reasons I went with the LS as a donor:

-Do not especially like carburetors.
-Do not like drum brakes
-Not a clue how much power (or what condition) the rear end in this car is good for.
-The suspension on the LS is nice and adjustable from what I gather.

Plus, is it not easier to make a car work when you have a COMPLETE car to work with, rather than piecing things together (albeit simple pieces) from other cars?

 

[te72]

Today!

Spent about 4 hours with a paint can lid opener, a flathead screwdriver, a dremel, and a 4" wire wheel, cleaning up the rear fenders. Good news is, not too many holes that will need fixed. A couple, but nothing terrible.

 

[Brent1]

Yes, it can. I would create sure you have constant wheels, and all your liquids are lead off, but it should do just excellent. I took my first big journey in a 47. Forced from Cleveland oh to Daytona california, only ceased a few periods for gas and grub, created it there in a little over 24 time. It did fantastic. Ahhh, recollections!

 

[te72]

Yes, it can. I would create sure you have constant wheels, and all your liquids are lead off, but it should do just excellent. I took my first big journey in a 47. Forced from Cleveland oh to Daytona california, only ceased a few periods for gas and grub, created it there in a little over 24 time. It did fantastic. Ahhh, recollections!

Uhhhhhh... huh? Have you been eating the asbestos and lead paint I've been scraping off my car?

 

[IJ.]

Uhhhhhh... huh? Have you been eating the asbestos and lead paint I've been scraping off my car?

"Life is like a box of Chocolates"

 

[BoostMonger]

I think update pictures are due

Sent From My HTC One S using Tapatalk 2

 

[te72]

I think update pictures are due

Sent From My HTC One S using Tapatalk 2

Anything in specific you're looking for? I need to get a few flapper wheels and face shield before I really start on the bodywork. Was just gonna leave it be, but I think I'll sand down the whole body and slab some decent paint on it down the road. It is dry as a bone here, so no worries about rust.

I did test fit the seats from the Lexus, and put the original interior back in for comparison, I'll get pics loaded next time I'm on, promise! I must say, I'm not tall by any means, but people were friggin SHORT back in the day. The stock seat is adjustable in about as many ways as a fundamentalist is religiously tolerant (zing! ), and I couldn't drive the thing comfortably. I feel like I imagine NBA players would feel trying to drive a Miata...

Anyway, shower time for me, long day of resurrecting the unicorn tomorrow.