The original Jade

Well folks, time I start a build thread....  I bought this car around 2008 or 2009 with 90K. Some may recognize it from my sig photo on ISSF.





I am the third owner.  Guy I got it from worked for the aviation company that bought it new.  It kept in an aircraft hanger for the first 14 years so the paint has held up (but has scratches and the bumper is peeling.





Interior is clean but dirty from kids.  the backseat is dirtier than the driver's but I have a fix for that


A bench Bonnie interior!





traded Pat a sedan nosed parts wagon for some SS rims....

Then later I traded him the hood for a set of F-body hood struts, Thanks Pat!

I then pushed it up the side yard, where the water pump then the fuel pump died.  It has sat for about 5 years now.
A feral cat had kittens under it, so out it comes into the driveway so I can start working on it.







It has no rear brakes (reservoir empty) and I had to hold the steering wheel at a 45 degree angle to go straight.   bad water and fuel pump.

I have the interior above, a t56 complete swap, headers, a 9c1 rear axle, ssr driveshaft, 4.10s and posi to go in the rear, and a butt load of other upgrades I've been amassing...Target is WF FL 16.

oh yeah I also broke the friggin windshield in a dumbass move

The improvements/mods begins!Bet you are driving yours before Ray drives his!

Flasheroo wrote:

The improvements/mods begins!Bet you are driving yours before Ray drives his!

Ouch,man...lol

Care to describe the dumbass move that ruined a non-sungate windshield?

This should be interesting.

stewzer55 wrote:

Care to describe the dumbass move that ruined a non-sungate windshield?

That was not nice Stewey!

I was curious!

stewzer55 wrote:

Care to describe the dumbass move that ruined a non-sungate windshield?

sure. I had a piece of wood on the hood to keep the car cover down. It slipped into the space between the hood and windshield and I raised the hood.

I did the same thing with my rear glass when I first got my wagon. Struts were toast so I put a piece of wood between the glass and roof. Forgot about it and tried to close the glass and it popped, Real good! Lol

Ouch!  I've seen people drive with much worse damage to their windshields.  Thankfully that's out of sight lines.

Good luck with the build. Would love to have some bonni seats for my box wagon.

Thank you for sharing the dumbass move.

I've made plenty of them.

lakeffect wrote:

Thank you for sharing the dumbass move.

Thought you had the corner on "dumbass"moves didn't you Dave?

No, not the corner. I'm up the street and down the alley. Next to the sheep shearing pens

And velcro gloves.

Bring antibiotics with you.

and here I thought I'd have lot's of posts about my project.....shoulda known better.

benn wrote:

Hilarious video,wonder how long before its found unsuitable and removed?

Needs an NSFW tag... Or just not embedded.

Really like the color and the mods will look great! Glad it got pulled out and it's getting some attention. Nice one!

-Mike

Well it's finally out of my driveway! Got it towed to Tim GaSSt's shop last night....
Spent the last two days prepping it for the move... (some pics on the B-Body wagon FB group - will get them here later).

Had to install a new hood release, bolt down the hood, install a battery tray (last one rusted away) empty out a bunch of stuff, put air in the tires, etc..

Replacement windshield cracked so that was a waste of about $60. Installed windshield spider cracked and the cracks are foggy now (DOH!)

In the process of making a list parts I have, and developing a plan to get her going again.... Stay tuned!

The last five years haven't been good as she's starting to rust at the top of the A-pillar and the bottom of the D-pillar....

As promised, some updated pics. You can't see how bad the windshield got but....


Interesting picture as it looks smaller than the '92 and the Caddy. Must be the phone warping the pic


Loaded up and ready to go to Tim's shop about 20 miles away.


Outside Tim's shop today. Wow she looks good here. Man she is looking rough up close

List of mods planned:

T-56, Bonnie 60/40 bench, overhead console, SSR driveshaft, 9c1 rear with 4.10 posi, 9C1 steering box, front end rebuild, new shocks, OCC front bumper, Sun Coast (semi-installed).

Going to be ALOT of work!

Just curious,why the bench?

Andebe wrote:

Just curious,why the bench?

It has a nice armrest....

Andebe wrote:

Just curious,why the bench?

Because old school, to be different, won't have to cut up seats, no one else has one. Take your pick :-D

I have one in my 9C1, blue cloth to boot. It's pretty much Bonne buckets but with a center section, and an armrest with storage compartment and flip out cupholders.

I get it...they look much better than the factory,fluff. Ive just always been a fan of the floor console.

Sprocket wrote:

Andebe wrote:

Just curious,why the bench?

Because old school, to be different, won't have to cut up seats, no one else has one.  Take your pick :-D

Um,....... you sure nobody has a T56 with a bench seat? ?

phantom 309 wrote:

Sprocket wrote:

Andebe wrote:

Just curious,why the bench?

Because old school, to be different, won't have to cut up seats, no one else has one.  Take your pick :-D

Um,....... you sure nobody has a T56 with a bench seat?   ?

Ok nobody in the United States :-P

Glad this is alive and moving!! WOOT!!

Is it coming to wagonfest next month? Ray thinks his red wagon will make it, but with all the wiring left to do, I'm not as sure as he is. Good luck by the way. Getting yours to Tim and his shop should speed up the process.

So both Tim and I have been pretty busy, but I got a couple of small things done.

Pulled off the nasty water pump and broke the drive spindle off at the block (sleeve was rusted on).
Went to the junkyard without a hub puller and couldn't get another one.

Aside from the balanced wheel on the crank, you have to pull the hub it screws onto....also I found out by peeking inside the timing cover that the drive mechanism is attached with torx head bolts, so I was SOL even if I got the timing cover off...(wasted hour and a half).

Off same JY car scored the brackets that bolt onto the hood to attach the hood struts too (the suncoast never had them, and didn't notice until the original hood was looooong gone to Pat's wagon.

Attached same brackets and installed hood struts so the hood doesn't fall on my head now....yay.

Hoping to get some time in on it tomorrow night as the rest of my week is booked out.

Sprocket wrote:

phantom 309 wrote:

Sprocket wrote:

Andebe wrote:

Just curious,why the bench?

Because old school, to be different, won't have to cut up seats, no one else has one.  Take your pick :-D

Um,....... you sure nobody has a T56 with a bench seat?   ?

Ok nobody in the United States :-P

Regular Car Reviews reviewed a T56 RMS that still had the bench. Was kinda a hacked together car tho.

They made me want a beater RMS...


Although, it wouldn't be a bad idea anyway.

So the one year later update, lol.
If you are on Facebook, there is a group T56 Wagons where I have been posting updates.

Life and work got in the way and the car pretty much sat at Tim's shop until September 2016 when we pushed it around to Tim's new bay and it went inside just before the hurricane.

Progress has been slow since then as it's a side project for Tim and I go over and wrench on it as well when I have the time.

As mentioned last year the water pump drive broke off. In order to replace it, you have to pull the timing cover, which means you have take off the oil pan, equals unbolt and lift motor....Well we got all that done, new plugs and wires, headers and new valve covers installed (stock ones that look new). Also dropped the fuel tank, new pump, sender, and fuel filter. New water pump and some hoses, and swapped in the brass Aux post just the other day.

She now has gas and oil in her and is ready to fire the motor for the first time in 6 or 7 years...Wanted to do it on Sunday but ran out of time as I had to leave to help tear down circus equipment (my wife keeps me busy)...

Next up is the 9C1 Rear. Have all the piecey parts and Tim hopes to get that done this week as once it starts, it'll be alot easier to move around lol.

Last weekend had high hopes of spending a good 10-12 hours on the car. Only my body had other ideas as I woke up Sat morning puking my guts up. Spent the whole weekend in bed.....

Anyway, got over to the shop last night and prepped the 9C1 rear. Pulled off the old Calipers ($40 ea core!) and the cut e-brake cable (what a PITA those are to remove). The Calipers came off alot easier than I thought they would as the rear sat outside on the side of my house for the past 6 years.

On a side note, I finally hunted up a good 9C1 e-brake cable and a hood spring as the Suncoast doesn't come with one...

Glad to see this one is still around. I can totally relate about how life can get in the way!

-Mike

Did you install one of those pump/sending unit combos? If so which one. I see that RA has a spectra and a Delphi with major price differences.

94Woody wrote:

Did you install one of those pump/sending unit combos? If so which one. I see that RA has a spectra and a Delphi with major price differences.

Yes, it was the whole shebang.  80 something bucks, it was the Spectra.  Tim says he has over 70K on his and no issues in his Fleetwood and he puts them in all his customer's cars with no reported failures.  Good enough for me....


UPDATE:   Got the rest of the 9C1 rear end tear down completed last night.  Out with the 3.08 posi, rotors off, brake lines off.
Ordered new stuff on Rock Auto this morning.   Tim said he should be able to get  the rear in the car and start rebuilding it by the weekend.  Next stop 4.10s

1996 CHEVROLET IMPALA 5.7L V8
CENTRIC 11007840 (110.07840) Parking Brake Shoe $ 14.29 $ 0.00 1 $ 14.29
BENDIX H5874 Disc Brake Hardware Kit
Wholesaler Closeout -- 30 Day Warranty $ 1.20 $ 0.00 1 $ 1.20
DORMAN H380409 Hydraulic Hose $ 8.90 $ 0.00 2 $ 17.80

Sprocket wrote:

 Next stop 4.10s

such a heavy car,.. you're gonna cry,.

Sprocket wrote:

94Woody wrote:

Did you install one of those pump/sending unit combos? If so which one. I see that RA has a spectra and a Delphi with major price differences.

Yes, it was the whole shebang.  80 something bucks, it was the Spectra.  Tim says he has over 70K on his and no issues in his Fleetwood and he puts them in all his customer's cars with no reported failures.  

Sounds good to me.

Wagon I just bought has a new pump but they left the sender alone and it is floating all over the place.

Extra gearing for the excessive weight?

Updates:

I thought I made some but don't see them?
I figured out how to link pics from FB!

SKipping to the now. Engine is all back in shape, just a couple odds and ends and it'll fire.
Yesterday pulled the rear in favor of the 9c1 unit, and 4.10 posi (sourced from Bewbs).

SOrry for the out of focus but my phone lens got grease on it....


Out with the old!


Buh-bye stock exhaust. Free to good home but cutting off front flanges.


New rear waiting to be lifted into position. Old 2.56 rear is giving up its axles to live again in the neighborhood naughty girl blue OCC.


OMG Texas Mike will freak at all the rust! New rear in position and partially mounted. Navy Lifer shock ubolts and Monroe SS shocks installed...


Two T56 wagons, one pic. Looks like mine is in the dominant position! Wonder what color the kids will be.....

And I thought that my BBC build was a PITA.

Actually laughed out loud,at your dominant wagon comment.

Once the bottom wagon gets out that dominance will end......

94Woody wrote:

Once the bottom wagon gets out that dominance will end......

Oh it will be the faster car for sure but he has to finish it first...Pretty sure mine will be on the road (albeit not complete), before it.

Over the weekend, finished rebuilding the rear end (just need brakes now) and wasn't surprised to find out that stock Impala rims rub on the inside of the wheel well on the 9C1 rim. I have a set of spacers until I get around to using the other rims I bought.

This week should be a flurry of activity as we still need to do the trans swap (most of it is unbolted already), rebuild the front end, and get a new windshield in place....