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BUILD Quest for improved 4th gen Fbody drivability

Turbocharged400sbc

3800 > ALL
TCG Blue
Jun 16, 2007
31,142
12,564
hangover park IL
Laiiid back....with yer mind on yer money and your money under yer behind....

I love the corbeau in the tr.... It just takes a couple weeks of driving it before my ass cheeks mold to the seventeen inch width

At the dealership we used to clamp the headrest in the vise and bend the mount bars when customers requested changes.

It was a wrench with the twelve point teeth round out with a diagrinder that we used to gain leverage And not damage the chrome
 
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sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,908
6,611
Honestly the firebird seats are where it's at unless you wanna spend the money for high end. A couple washers underneath on the front mounting studs to lean the bottom part back a touch is all they really need.

You ever sat in one of the leather Camaro seats? They're terrible.
 

sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,908
6,611
Yeah, need a seat to fit a wide body.

I have the leather seats in my Camaro. Par for the course I guess.
If you decide to change that I've got some brackets I'd get rid of real cheap. I had seats on backorder during the new age plague that never showed so I just ended up buying a parts car for the ones I wanted.
 

Bru

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TCG Blue
May 24, 2007
40,240
9,236
$40 Goodwill amp arrived. Looks well-taken care of. Retails for $189 new, so 🤞

IMG_5146.jpeg


IMG_5147.jpeg


IMG_5145.jpeg
 

Bru

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TCG Blue
May 24, 2007
40,240
9,236
I dove into the headlight replacement, first starting to diagnose why the driver’s side headlights weren’t getting power.

IMG_5358.jpeg


For the second time, the 5-pin headlight harness connector was corroded and gunky. I replaced this connector about 7 years ago, and it was serviceable this time, but that wasn’t my only problem. I hacked it together the last time, using poorly sized connectors and wrapping everything in copious amounts of electrical tape. A couple of connections were also corroded and falling out of the splice.

IMG_5362.jpeg


I haven’t soldered anything before, so thought this was a good opportunity to learn. What a pain in the ass when there’s no slack and very little run from the harness to the end (also my doing, hacking it off too short last time).

IMG_5368.jpeg


Anyway, everything worked after cleaning the connector and soldering the wires so I installed the new replacement LMC Truck headlights with 9006/9005 bulbs instead of sealed beams. Against the garage wall, the new housing (left) is much more focused than the original (right). This was with the engine off.
IMG_5367.jpeg
IMG_5364.jpeg
IMG_5365.jpeg


After I get these lights in I need to align all the new hardware and then take it for a drive. I also plan to explore LED headlights but have some concerns with depth and the retracting headlights.
 

sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,908
6,611
I looked into LEDs really hard when I was driving my bird and have a couple sets laying around I could send if you want to experiment. The biggest thing is gonna be getting them to fit in the housings without it being janky iirc. Of course it's next to impossible to find a size that will just pop in.
 

Bru

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TCG Blue
May 24, 2007
40,240
9,236
I looked into LEDs really hard when I was driving my bird and have a couple sets laying around I could send if you want to experiment. The biggest thing is gonna be getting them to fit in the housings without it being janky iirc. Of course it's next to impossible to find a size that will just pop in.
Appreciate the offer. The GTR Lighting Ultra 2.0 appears compact and adjustable and is what I hope will work.

 
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Thirdgen89GTA

Aka "That Focus RS Guy"
Sep 19, 2010
17,840
12,367
Buffalo Grove
I dove into the headlight replacement, first starting to diagnose why the driver’s side headlights weren’t getting power.

View attachment 165406

For the second time, the 5-pin headlight harness connector was corroded and gunky. I replaced this connector about 7 years ago, and it was serviceable this time, but that wasn’t my only problem. I hacked it together the last time, using poorly sized connectors and wrapping everything in copious amounts of electrical tape. A couple of connections were also corroded and falling out of the splice.

View attachment 165405

I haven’t soldered anything before, so thought this was a good opportunity to learn. What a pain in the ass when there’s no slack and very little run from the harness to the end (also my doing, hacking it off too short last time).

View attachment 165407

Anyway, everything worked after cleaning the connector and soldering the wires so I installed the new replacement LMC Truck headlights with 9006/9005 bulbs instead of sealed beams. Against the garage wall, the new housing (left) is much more focused than the original (right). This was with the engine off.
View attachment 165410View attachment 165408View attachment 165409

After I get these lights in I need to align all the new hardware and then take it for a drive. I also plan to explore LED headlights but have some concerns with depth and the retracting headlights.
Soldering is great, and your job is already done.

But after the squirrels chewed the harness on the GTA and I had to fix nearly 25 PCM wires in a parking lot, dragging the soldering station out there and trying to solder int he engine bay just sounded a pain.

So I picked up these, and I love them. Just need a heat gun and wire stripper. The heat gun melts the metal solder insert so it wicks into the wire, and weather seals the connection at the same time. Strip wires, slide the end on, twist them together, and heat gun. Boom done.
 

Bru

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Staff member
Moderator
TCG Blue
May 24, 2007
40,240
9,236
So I picked up these, and I love them. Just need a heat gun and wire stripper. The heat gun melts the metal solder insert so it wicks into the wire, and weather seals the connection at the same time. Strip wires, slide the end on, twist them together, and heat gun. Boom done.
Season 3 Wall GIF by The Simpsons
 

Thirdgen89GTA

Aka "That Focus RS Guy"
Sep 19, 2010
17,840
12,367
Buffalo Grove
Well, I'm gonna bet that your soldered connections are better than these. But, for most connections I'd say they are good enough. I mean, if simply twisting the wires together is good enough, then this is 10x better. And your straight soldered connections are better still.

But the convenience is nice if its a pain to get a soldering iron into a tight spot.
 
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Mr_Roboto

Doing the jobs nobody wants to
TCG Blue
Feb 4, 2012
22,873
24,523
Nashotah, Wisconsin (AKA not Illinois)
Theoretically you're not supposed to use solder on car wiring because it can work harden and break off. Done it anyways admittedly, so take it for what it's worth.

That said, you really forgot the last step on the original repair. Those light blue connectors are heat shrink butt splice connectors. They're really nice and not cheap shit like the regular ones. If you had the wire stripped to a good length (not way over stripped like a few of those) and took the bic lighter to them after you probably wouldn't be touching it again.
 

Bru

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
TCG Blue
May 24, 2007
40,240
9,236
Theoretically you're not supposed to use solder on car wiring because it can work harden and break off. Done it anyways admittedly, so take it for what it's worth.

That said, you really forgot the last step on the original repair. Those light blue connectors are heat shrink butt splice connectors. They're really nice and not cheap shit like the regular ones. If you had the wire stripped to a good length (not way over stripped like a few of those) and took the bic lighter to them after you probably wouldn't be touching it again.
You can see the burn marks on the tubing. I tried :rofl:
 
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IDAFC21

WOW.
Staff member
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TCG Blue
May 23, 2007
53,421
19,048
40
Avondale, AZ
Soldering is great, and your job is already done.

But after the squirrels chewed the harness on the GTA and I had to fix nearly 25 PCM wires in a parking lot, dragging the soldering station out there and trying to solder int he engine bay just sounded a pain.

So I picked up these, and I love them. Just need a heat gun and wire stripper. The heat gun melts the metal solder insert so it wicks into the wire, and weather seals the connection at the same time. Strip wires, slide the end on, twist them together, and heat gun. Boom done.

Well I don't have any immediate need for these, but they are now saved in my amazon shopping list. so that if/when the day comes, I don't need to try and find this thread again :ROFLMAO: