Project BubbaZ: Introduction

[Andrew @ PlanetLSX]

BubbaZ itself, no.

Been working on getting the GTO stripped down. The interior is completely gutted, the only things left are the door panels, headliner, a couple of pillar trim pieces, and the wiring harness. I finally got the trunk open a couple of days ago (the rear seat trunk release was broken; I was relying on it to get in to the trunk). I had to find the proper wire in the body harness, drag a 12V battery up in to the car (the GTO is on the lift 6' up in the air; BubbaZ is parked underneath with the front end disconnected), and get the trunk popped. Finally got it though. This allowed me to remove the Wilwood brakes from the GTO (stock rotors were in the trunk, and the rotors are necessary to put the wheels back on).

Sure was fun hauling a GTO front seat down a ladder from 6' up on a lift.

Aside from stripping the GTO, I've been trying to clean up my shop some so that I can store all of these parts. I'm about to head out there and clean up some more.

[WILWAXU]

Sounds like time for a yard sale

[Andrew @ PlanetLSX]

I have enough parts for my own swap meet.

Good parts have started hitting the trash can - going out in today's trash. I can't even give some of my good second gen parts away for the cost of shipping. I need the space though, and I've made some progress with that. Need to clear room to store GTO parts, before I cut up the GTO with a torch.

[tones2SS]

Very cool.
Will those Wilwood brakes work with the 2nd gen? Those are some killer brakes.

[Andrew @ PlanetLSX]

Would love to, but they cost close to $3k (and I doubt Kris would give them to me ). Part of the arrangement that I had with Kris when I bought the car was that he was keeping (or selling) the Wilwood brakes, the carbon fiber driveshaft, and the stereo equipment (very nice stuff!). They were not part of my "purchase" (I've been boxing up the stereo equipment for storage, etc). I did get the original GTO brakes from Kris - the GTO calipers are the same as the C6 calipers (at least on the front) - so I can use a KORE3 conversion kit and I do plan to use at least the front GTO calipers. I'll look at the rears when it gets closer. I can climb in to the front discs for around $500 (with a billet hub adapter, a mounting bracket, and the rotor). Compare that to the asking price of $1500 for the Wilwoods.

[Andrew @ PlanetLSX]

Well I'm still working on getting my shop in order, and finding nooks and crannies to stuff GTO parts in to.

I ordered the GM / Holden dash cowl panel today ($289 shipped). I'm going to cut out the Camaro firewall and the lower cowl, and graft this 'new' piece in. It should also have the steering column support as well. Basically, this cowl piece goes from pillar to pillar, and includes the firewall, the wiper mechanism channel, internal air duct, etc. I'm going to try to preserve the upper cowl panel on the Camaro, but change everything else to this GTO piece. The A/C box, steering column, clutch cylinder, pedals, etc - will all bolt right up to this firewall. And since the A/C box is on the inside of the cabin, it'll be cleaner than having the stock Camaro A/C box sitting there.

I'm also going to make part of it - where the wiring harness goes - removable. So that I can install / remove the wiring harness. It takes about a 1 foot hole to pass the wiring harness through.

I'm still hung up on the passengers' side turbo. It's not looking so good there. Not sure what I'm going to do about that. That's broken a bit of my momentum as well.

[STiG]

Can't wait to see this thing done.

Subscribing.

[tones2SS]

Very cool. Sounds like it'll work just right. So, you're saying the firewall be a lot cleaner looking? That's always a plus when showing the car at car shows! (I like a clean looking engine bay myself.)
Keep us posted bud.

[Andrew @ PlanetLSX]

Take a look at this picture. See the ugly A/C box mounted to the firewall? Nothing like that on the GTO firewall. It's all inside the cabin. There's just a few hose connections passing through the firewall.

[WILWAXU]

Good stuff! The dash will be a lot of work, but the final product should be cool.