Current Reaper News:
08.15.03
The long awaited update to my website! Still more to do.. :-)
06.27.03
The varible thermostat for the electric fans decided to quit working so I'm installing a kit from Painless. I'm also swaping out the valve covers to some cast aluminum ones to see if I can get rid of that pesky oil leak. I still need to update this website also... :-) I've created some other pages for the interior work that I did last year as well as the electric fan installation.
12.25.02
Christmas day, and I got to go out and play in the garage.. :-) Last week I got caught in a pretty good rain storm and I kept feeling something hit the back of my neck and head. I looked behind me and sure enough I was getting sprinkled with water dropplets. I looked to the passanger side, and the rear of the window was also letting some rain droplets in.
Today I installed the roofrail window strip and also the door weatherstrip. I used Softseal P/N 5400 for the roofrail weatherstrip and Softseal P/N 5025 for the door weather strip. The install was a snap. I would've installed these a long time ago if I only knew that they were so easy to install. The hardest part of the installation was cleaning the old glue and the original weather strip remnents.
12.21.02
Installed Koni Adjustble Shocks 8040-1092 front, and 8040-1093 rear. The instructions were not to clear on how exactly the adjustments are to be made, therefore I didn't do any adjustments and installed them in the factory setting.
12.11.02
The Radiator sprung a leak so I order a new radiator and decided to go with electric fans. I got the Modine 3 row with heavy duty trans cooler P/N: 2512. I also got the Flex-a-lite dual 12" electric fan with adjustable thermostat P/N: 220. This electric fan fits the radiator like a glove, almost as if it was designed for it. It run much cooler now with the new setup.
I finally purchased a stereo system for the Reaper. I've had this car since 95' and I've finally decided to upgrade the system. Actually the front and rear speaker finally dry rotted so it was time! I purchased a late model Delco cassette (found in new Cadalliac Escalades) that has a remote 6 CD disc changer that I will be installing in the 85'SS console ash tray door. I wanted it to look factory, so I went with Delco. For speakers I have Infinity kappa series 3.5" front, and 6x9 rear. I wanted a little extra kick so I also got a Audiobahn 10" bandpass enclosure and an Audiobahn amp. I will hopefully get to installing it soon.
I also just purchased some Koni shocks for the front and rear.
09.11.02
I've been busy the last month and a half and I'm in the process of updating my web pages. As you see from the new picture on my Reaper home page, I have changed the wheels to the 17" Camaro SS wheels. Here's a run down of what I done.
I still need to install the SoftSeal weather door weather strips, rear blk seat beats (finally found them in the garage), and await the rear seating upholstery that will match the Recaros.
I took the Reaper to get smogged and my area just adopted the much stricter "SMOG II" testing which now is done with a smog dyno. The car is smogged under load to see what is coming out of the tailpipe in real world situations. The Reaper pass with flying colors even with the stricter smog testing.. :-)
I will be hyperlinking the bullets above as soon as I update the web pages.
12.09.01
Progess is slow, but steady. Projects around the house, my back tweaking out, and other distractions have been keeping me at bay... :-) I still need to order new plugs and wires. I also need to install the heat shield on to the ZZ4 intake manifold.
This weekend I also cleaned and painted a set of door hinges that I scored off of an 82 4-door Pontiac Bonneville. All the 2-door G-bodies that I looked at had thrashed hinges. This Bonneville was the only 4-door car in the yard with the correct hinges! I plan on installing at least the driver side hinges because the ones that are currently there are so bad that the door doesn't want to latch shut.. D'oh!...
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Heads removed, cylinder/head surface cleaned, threads chased, awaiting AFR transplant. |
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| Here's a pic of the freshly painted firewall. I scraped off most of the crud that the factory goops onto the firewall to seal the holes/grommets. I then scuffed with some 600 grit and some scotch brite pads. I used LOW GLOSS BLACK, VHT engine paint. Engine paint is self etching so no primer is needed. I really didn't even need to scuff up the fire wall, but did anyways in insure adhesion. |  |
| Here's a shot using the flash on the camera. |  |
11.19.01
I finally started the AFR head swap on the Reaper. I traded the Camaro SS for a 58 Chevy Apache and the Camaro was my daily commuter. Well, the Reaper needs to be re-commissioned as the commuter, so I'm back at it.. :-)
| Here's a pic of the AFR's and the ZZ4 intake awaiting the transplant |  |
| Here's the AC removed |  |
| This is a pic to remind me of how the brackets are supposed to go back |  |
| Another reminder shot with the PS removed |  |
| Radiator drained and ready for the dist, intake, and heads to be removed |  |
11.06.01
Moved site to www.dumpit.org
Reaper still sleeps. New AFR heads await the transplant along with the ZZ4 intake. I purchased a 2001 Camaro SS last yearand will be putting on the 10 spoke chrome 17x9 wheels from it onto the Reaper. The Camaro is up for sale by the way to fund the other project(s) madness.. :-)
The reason that I haven't done anything with the Reaper is that I got caught up in customizing Motorcycles (my Vstar 1100 Custom, my Roadstar-touring mode, and Roadstar-Solo mode) . I'll add links to both the bikes later, as well as the other additions to the stable. A 67 Chevy SWB pickup, and also a 56 Chevy Bel Air. Too many toys and not enough time to play!!!....
01.23.00
TH200-4R transmission installed. The TH200-4R was purchased from JET transmissions in So. California. It came with a 2200 stall converter.
POR-15'd the new Torque Tech 3" exhaust with SS tailpipes, and the Flowmaster 2-chamber Delta-Flow series mufflers. Exhaust installed. Tested with cat, it has a mellow, deep growl at idle and a distinct growl at WOT. Tested with a gutted Kitty and it's definately louder, and you can hear the cam lope more in this configuration. It also has a more racey, deep, loud sound with the gutted cat. The down side to the gutted cat is a hideous drone at cruise rpm's which is unacceptable to me. With the cat installed there isn't quite a noticable drone, but it's still there, and IMHO is unacceptable for a daily driver. I will be testing the the DynoMax Race series 3" muffler, and depending on available funds may also try out the 3" DynoMax SuperTrubo in the 14" case length (internal tubes are 2.5") which may help with exhaust velocity
Installed new one piece oil pan gasket. No leaks... Yeah!
The ZZ4 intake manifold still on the list of things-to-do. If the budget allows me to do so, I will also change the Goodyear Hi-Miler radiator hoses with the 'Cool-Flex' corrugated metal ones.
The bad news is that upon testing the tranny for WOT shift points, I mistakedly didn't keep my eyes on the tach. The R's raced up so fast and before I could look at the tach, I threw a belt. I didn't realize it was a belt until I noticed that the temps were almost at boiling point. I quickly shut her down. I either have a blown head gasket, or the Aluminum Trick Flow Twisted Wedge heads are now warped. I have a lot of condensation in the tailpipes after the car is warmed up (ie 30 minutes on the highway), the temps are way hotter than before, but not quite at boiling over point, and also there is a greenish tint on the sparkplugs. I'll get to the Reaper in the spring after I complete the brake and suspension upgrades to my 70'GMC pickup. If the damage to the heads will cost a pretty penny, I may have to go with the AFR heads... :-)
