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Discussion starter · #481 ·
Today was the day that it hit me. . . I have a daily driver that I planned on building.

So, I was driving to work and it hit me. Since replacing the rocker arms earlier this summer, all the problems with performance and breaking rocker arms has resolved. I have completed several road trips and that includes several commutes to my out of town work location, two trips to Phoenix and two trips to vist my parents and some out of town car shows. On Wednesday I drove to Phoenix and it was 103 degrees and I had the AC on high and drove up the notorious hill that I died on several times on the last trip that kept blowing fuses. No blown fuses on this trip and lots of passing power even with AC on high. I was comfortable too, unlike the last time I made that journey.

I realized that a week ago I made my first oil change, per BluePrint instructions with a full synthetic. I used AmsOil 10-30w. I now have 2000 miles on the car since replacing the rocker arms and I have a total of 8000 since putting in the BluePrint motor. The car is running fantastic. I start it up, put it in gear and go. I rarely think I am going to break down and most of the little bugs are slowly going away. I also have a solution for the fuel tank filler. No more stinky garage. It is not perfect but much improved. I will post that update soon.

Overall, this car is the daily driver that I dreamed about! Looks good, drives great and reliable. I can drive it anywhere I want to and often feeling myself doing just that. 8000 miles in a year and 3 months proves it. With the last 2k mostly perfect miles.
 
Discussion starter · #482 ·
With winter coming I have some big plans for the next series of upgrades. I have also realized that this car is not really a show car. It is cool and gets lots of attention, but it is not a rotisserie restoration like some of the cars I compete against. I think the niche for this car is really the interior. It has a ton of unique features and modern touches that many people appreciate. So, I am going to focus on that for the winter and will see if I can win some best interior awards.


Here is the next series of upgrades:
Black-out Dapper headlights
Baer T4 12" Rear disc brakes
Baer master cylinder
Line Lock kit
NOS kit with MSD 6AL-2 Programmable ignition

Interior:
Rebuild seat mounts to raise 3" for better seating position.
Dynamat roof and sails
Headliner
Essex carpet kit
CTC center console vinyl wrapped with: Temp Gauges, custom switch and USB charging panel, PCS electric shifter, Alpine 9" or 11" floating screen stereo, Backup camera, arm rest with storage box
Rework the subwoofer and rear deck trim and then vinyl wrap those pieces to match everything else
 
Discussion starter · #484 ·
After playing around with vinyl smoke lens covers from Dapper, I decided that I loved the look of smoked lenses on the car. So, I pulled the headlamps and gave them three coats of VHT Nightshades. This looks way better than the vinyl covers because the VHT does not have any wrinkles.


Here is a photo with clear Dapper headlamps with Halos on.
Car Tire Vehicle Sky Wheel





Here is a look at three coats of VHT NightShades on the left and clear headlamp on the right.
Automotive parking light Tire Wheel Automotive lighting Automotive tire




Here is a look at the smoked headlamps installed. I really like this blackened look.
Vehicle registration plate Vehicle Grille Automotive lighting Car




Here the smoked headlamps with Halos on. Still lots of brightness.
Automotive parking light Vehicle Car Hood Grille
 
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Discussion starter · #486 ·
Been super busy with travel recently and no time to work on the car. It is in the garage and ready for some winter projects as the cold sets in. I noticed that I made the NECOA 2023 Southwest Region calendar for the month of June. That is pretty cool. No one even notified me that my car was selected. That was weird. I bought a bunch of calendars to share with the family.
 
Scott
The calendars were only completed in the last day or two. They have had folks on the 2023 NECOA Calendar Team looking for errors, prior to releasing them this morning.
 
Just got caught up on this after several months offline. Really happy to see you've got the car to a point you're able to use and enjoy it! Have really enjoyed following your work and you should be dead proud of all you've achieved
 
Discussion starter · #489 ·
Just got caught up on this after several months offline. Really happy to see you've got the car to a point you're able to use and enjoy it! Have really enjoyed following your work and you should be dead proud of all you've achieved
Haha, two months of reading. Cracks me up. It is a bit long. :)


Well, yesterday I fired up the Elky after sitting for the long cold winter. She was a little sleeping and did not like coming out of hibernation, but after a few nudges, she purred like a kitten. Went out for a test drive and all ran great. Clock was set and no loss of settings. I did use a trickle charger to keep the battery in good condition.


So, I hope to find some time this summer to complete the interior modz. This weekend I finshed the rear camera install and tucked all the wires away. It worked great on the test drive. Camera can come on automatically when placed n reverse with muting of stereo and I can trigger the camera on while driving at anytime I choose. I had to configure a switch to bypass the reverse trigger. This took me quite some time to get dialed in, but the result is worth it.

I also rigged the head unit to play Roku TV while driving, but I have not tested that yet. Not sure it will work with the GPS and speed sensors in play, but I like to make things do what they are not supposed to do. So I wanted to ry. :sneaky: Hopefully it will work. Not that I want to drive and watch movies, but it would be nice to show off the car and play movies on a 4k Roku stick at car shows.
 
Here are a few photos of the Elky.

View attachment 129960

This is the replacement Dakota Digital VHX gauge set. It has blue backlight and a retro black/white face. A little modern touch and big improvement over the sweep gauges.
View attachment 129961

Under the hood you can see the deco plate, FiTech EFI body, MSD ignition and more.
View attachment 129962

Here is a look at the custom built sub enclosure that fits into the smugglers box. The amp rack fits on top. Note that all the covers are off and all the electronics are exposed. I am in the middle up upgrading speakers and rewiring the amps. So, more photots and details to come.
View attachment 129963
Where did you get the plate under the hood that has 70 el Camino on it?
 
Discussion starter · #491 ·
it is made by undercover innovations. jegs and ss396 sell them. maybe summit racing too. they were hard to find when i bought mine, but much more popular now. pretty cheap to for a nice dress up piece.
 
Discussion starter · #493 ·
Well, out for another drive last weekend and this time I wanted to test the Roku while driving. With all the GPS sensors and saftey elements I figured it would not work. :geek: Suprise, suprise, suprise! It worked like a charm. I can't even remmeber how I did this, but essentially I wired in a switch on a ground circuit and I just flip the switch back and forth one time after starting the car and this tricks the head unit into thinking the car is in park with the emergency brake on. Viola!

I have so many other projects happening in my life right now, that I am not sure when I will have the time to work on the center console project. For now, I added a temporary carbon fiber plate to the stereo dash location and mounted the PCS electronic shifter display here. So, the car is drivable with the head unit in the center console. The next phase is to start working up teh center console to mount a series of switches, electric panels and LED lighted cup holders. I also need to mount the arm rest box, and cut out the center console to drop in the cubby box under the arm rest. Arm rest has two movable compartments like a modern console.

I will try to shoot some pics over the weekend to show the current state of things. I am loving the head unit and the vision for this console build.
 
Discussion starter · #494 ·
Car Show this weekend. I did not get very far on the center console this year, but I am not going to let that stop me from attending a heat wave car show.

Here is some of the progress. I have it roughed in and i am happy with the layout. I need to finish mounting the box with fiberglass and install the piano hinges, then I can have it vinyl wrapped or at leasat painted for the interim.

Here is a photo journey.



This was one of the more challenging pieces. If I cut holes flat I cannot see the gauges very well. So, I am using a plate, but the angle is still not quite right. When this piece is done, I will add another 1/2 lift on the back, then I will use glass and bondo to smooth the edges and then it can be wrapped. More on that much later on.
Light Gadget Audio equipment Gas Font




Rough holes cut.
Audio equipment Gas Electrical wiring Machine Wire








Also adding some controls to the console box area.

Automotive tire Bumper Gas Font Rim



Rough insert.

Automotive tire Gas Automotive exterior Electrical wiring Auto part




Now the console box hole is cut and all parts are rough installed. The console box will have the HDMI connector so I can attach the ROKU and power for the Roku.
Motor vehicle Hood Bumper Automotive tire Automotive design




Time for wiring.
Wood Table Cabinetry Machine Engineering




Roughed in and powered up.
Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Window Steering wheel




The lid is on top of the console box. This is a two stage console box.
Automotive design Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Steering wheel




Console lid is more obvious now. Lift lid for small box stoage and then lift full lid for deep box storage.
Purple Automotive lighting Automotive design Gadget Audio equipment




Deep box. With Roku and HDMI port which you cant really see.
Hand Purple Automotive design Input device Gesture




That is it for now. I am using blue tape on the back of the console lid as a hinge. It actually works okay. I need to glass and bondo the inner deep box then I can install the metal piano hinges.
 
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A friend of mine has gauges about middle dash on his Chevelle.
He used bezels that tilt the gauge toward the driver.
They were made for boats.
 
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