77TA Resto Reboot - a long journey to an LS swap

[roadking77]

I def. need to take care of those things on my car. Squeaks horribly now I know what to do with it Thanks.
I didnt think it needed anything with rubber bushings.

[stros]

This week I hit the 500 mile mark on the new gears.  Took about 5 weeks to hit 500.  Not bad as I’ve had a few years where it hasn’t hit 500.  Changed the fluid and got to get it over 65 for the 1st time.  It’s a tad louder as expected but not bad.  It’ll definitely knock you back in the seat now too off the line if you get aggressive with the pedal. 

[stros]

Some smaller updates:

Got the flares professionally wrapped.  I tried to do it myself but I just don’t have the talent for this job.  The flares just looked horrible before with dozens of rock chips.  Nice and shiny now and they seem to be holding up well thru a couple hundred miles. 

I replaced my lower control arm bump stops.  A bit of an awkward removal that required my impact driver.  I went with a set of progressive stops from Belltech (part #4922) with a little more room for articulation (about 1 inch from the frame vs barely a 1/4 inch).  My original stops were old and cracked - I think I was hitting them a bit more often after lowering it too.  Seems to drive well so far with these ones.

I sprung a small leak from my coolant reservoir jar and tightened up the hose.  So far so good with that fix.  The diff also finally seems to be sealed properly after the recent gear change. 

I also decided to try to paint my under steering wheel panel a color that better matches the pinkish beige of my dash but that was a failure (I think it was camel tan before - tried saddle tan this time).  Trying to find a spray paint out there that actually matches still.  I do regret just not making the entire interior black.  This 50 shades of beige interior drives me nuts sometimes. 

[scarebird]

The interiors were that way from the factory.

That being said, black interiors are pretty boring.  I wish I redid mine in the 70-72 bright blue.

[ryeguy2006a]

Great choice on the gear ratio, 3.73 is about perfect with an overdrive transmission. Congrats on hitting 500 miles!

[N PRGRES]

What RPM are you turning at highway speeds?

[stros]

It’s about 1700 rpm at 65 mph.  Very happy with the 3.73s so far.