Tampa33Build

[Tampa33Build]

Yes it is HOK Candy Brandywine. Really pops in the sun.

[wallace18]

Looking Great!

[HotrodMike]

HotRodMike,

It is a 1968 Camaro center console for a 4 speed manual transmission. It has been modified with a double DIN fiber glassed in.

https://www.oerparts.com/product/all...s/r316805.html

Thanks for the info, I will have to check it out. My kit doesn't arrive until June. Till then reading up and following builds yours is by far the most interesting and stellar one I have seen so far. Keep up the good work!

[Tampa33Build]

Body edged, ready to install trunk, hood, & doors then paint

20210223_123926206_iOS.jpg 20210223_123933292_iOS.jpg 20210223_123939489_iOS.jpg 20210223_123951097_iOS.jpg

[JOP33]

If you haven't already, may want to think about spraying some colorized rock guard all the way along the rocker panels. I have seen it done on another 33 & wished I had done it early on with mine - will definitely add to mine when time allows.

[Tampa33Build]

JOP33,

Followed the build school's advice and sprayed rubberized undercoating on them a while back. The RodShop will most likely respray them to match the inside of the side panels.

[Tampa33Build]

Starting paint process. Gold undercoat photo black spots were on painters lens not on the car.
20210320_104553739_iOS.jpg 20210320_104608797_iOS.jpg 20210320_104624316_iOS.jpg

Bottom color done, super smooth and straight
Top & bike fenders next week
20210319_230726865_iOS.jpg 20210319_230602159_iOS.jpg 20210319_230708703_iOS.jpg 20210319_230835144_iOS.jpg 20210319_213134450_iOS.jpg 20210319_230631645_iOS.jpg

[wallace18]

Looking Good!

[JimLev]

I even like that gold undercoat. I wonder how that would look with just clear sprayed on it.

[Tampa33Build]

JimLev,

The painter made the same comment "The HOK Gold would look great on a car"

[Tampa33Build]

After just over a year it is out of paint booth. 17 coats of base, paint & clear in total. Reassembly and interior next.
20210407_173724675_iOS.jpg 20210407_174037614_iOS.jpg

Pin striping done
20210407_173620892_iOS.jpg 20210407_173849164_iOS.jpg

Added touch to the glove box
20210407_173910213_iOS.jpg

[FF33rod]

Better than Viagra!

[wallace18]

Wow! Looks fantastic! I really like the colors and pinstripes.

[Tampa33Build]

Moved battery lower in trunk, cleaned up wiring, and modified luggage boxes to hide amp and wiring. Luggage boxes are held in place with super magnets and have fans for amp air flow. Carpeting is next.

Before
20200327_182933271_iOS.jpg

After
Trunk Final Wiring.jpg Trunk Wiring Cover.jpg

[jayguy]

Love the look of those boxes. Been thinking that a large old-school trunk in the bed of the truck would be great for a couple carry-on sized bags for a weekend trip.

[Salty Chief 35]

Love the color of the frame!!! Looks like you’ll be hitting the road soon.
Great work!
Jeremie

[Tampa33Build]

Trunk and battery cover carpeted
Trunk with batter cover.jpg

Interior carpet completed & center console wrapped. Had two sets of floor mats made with extra carpet.
interior with consol.jpg

Seat upholstery completed, need to dye the plastic to match and paint frame bottoms. Forgot to take pictures when they were in the car. Had to weld on some extensions to the front of the seat so the could bolt to the cross pieces front and back. Door panels, headliner, and waterfall wrapping should be completed this week.
seats with car.jpg Seats.jpg

[FF33rod]

Continued top notch work!!!

Steve

[wallace18]

Super Job!

[Tampa33Build]

Been a while since I updated the build.

Rear glove box is done, sliding doors painted to match dash and doors
20210925_170920473_iOS.jpg 20211016_205515768_iOS (2).jpg

Replaced FFR rear coilovers with AFCO 12" 250# dual adjustable. With the FFR coilovers maxed I had about 3/4" fender clearance. Curently have it set to 1.5" clearance and there is plenty of adjustment.
20210925_171408754_iOS.jpg 20210925_171036450_iOS.jpg 20210925_170937125_iOS.jpg

Front and rear windows installed

Interior almost completed, three point seat belts installed, need to install radio, front and rear camera. Also having issue with keeping headliner glued, should have sanded inside of top prior to gluing leather upholstered headline. A day in the sun and parts released. Glued wood slats to top first than glued headliner piece to the wooden slots with Loctite PL3X it stuck to the wood however did not stick to top. Stayed over a month in the shop however once in the sun it release from the fiberglass. Hopefully sanding and regluing will hold.

20211016_173336858_iOS.jpg 20211016_173400063_iOS.jpg 20211016_173633306_iOS.jpg

Had to remote the power seat electronics and lumbar controls to the center console. After installing carpet there was not enough room between the seat and door sill. Fortunately there was enough leather left to have the seats redone where the controls were.

Performed complete tuning of Holly Snipper today, vacuum checked AC system since it had been sitting for 18 months and all checked out. Did discover that I need to add a control to turn the fan on when AC is on, otherwise the head pressure goes too high and turns the compressor off. May have to add a relay since I have the Holly Snipper and infinity box system controlling the fan.

Bummer it now has to go back to body shop to have area where original rear light pockets were. I filled them in with duraglass three years ago and apparently it causes a temperature difference between body and pocket area. After a few hours in the sun the pocket area is very pronounced. The painting was completed many months ago and did not appear when in the sun after painting. Plan is to grind out area, removing the pockets, add new fiberglass and repaint. The owner of the body shop said he cannot have his name on it with a flaw like that.

[Salty Chief 35]

Wow, very nice!!! Well done
Respectfully
Jeremie

[wallace18]

Super Job!

[FF33rod]

Beautiful job!
You may know but the Sniper has an input to indicate the AC is on and when active will automatically turn the fan on if it's controlling it.

Steve

[Straversi]

Gorgeous! Great to see this come together.
-Steve

[Tampa33Build]

Steve, thanks, I was looking at Sniper's schematics yesterday.

Snipper and Infinity box both are controlling the fan. I have the Infinity box programmed to run fan for 3 minutes after ignition is off. Would be nice if they provided output/input requirements as well as what signals are inputs/outputs. Infinity box works by grounding controller inputs and requires a inverter (InvertMini) if signals are 12V vs. ground.

Neil

[Tampa33Build]

About three weeks ago pulled into a parking space and misjudged the parking block. Scraped the nose cone right under the grill. Removed the nose cone took it to the body shop to have it fixed and repainted. Also added a flat spot for a front camera. Hopefully last time I will misjudge parking. You have about 6 inches from red lines to camera.
20220116_152017323_iOS.jpg 20220117_193951693_iOS.jpg 20220117_174321717_iOS.jpg

Also had it aligned, drives much better, electric steering still takes some getting use to.
ScreenHunter 104.png ScreenHunter 105.png

Nice day today, went for a ride.
20220115_164007897_iOS.jpg

[RoadRacer]

Dang, it must have felt it was always turning with those old caster measurements. I bet it feels better now!

[Tampa33Build]

Yes, it did.

Have a technical question about the 700R4 transmission that hopefully someone can help with.

Today I discovered that if I’m going about 30MPH I can put the car in neutral and accelerate and the car acts like it is in gear and accelerates. All the gears shift correctly and when setting still in neutral I can rev the engine without it trying to move.
At 2000 RPM the car is going about 60MPH, which is probably about right for a 28000 RPM stall converter. I cannot find any info on what stall converter blueprint installed but I believe it was 2800.

I have about 250 miles on it now and do not want to continue driving it if there is a chance I can damage the transmission.

Any suggestions?

[33fromSD]

Yes, it did.

Have a technical question about the 700R4 transmission that hopefully someone can help with.

Today I discovered that if I’m going about 30MPH I can put the car in neutral and accelerate and the car acts like it is in gear and accelerates. All the gears shift correctly and when setting still in neutral I can rev the engine without it trying to move.
At 2000 RPM the car is going about 60MPH, which is probably about right for a 28000 RPM stall converter. I cannot find any info on what stall converter blueprint installed but I believe it was 2800.

I have about 250 miles on it now and do not want to continue driving it if there is a chance I can damage the transmission.

Any suggestions?

I know you note all the gears shift correctly when sitting still but it could still be a simple linkage tweak. What shifter are running?

I have a Lokar shifter on my 55 F100 with a Ford AOD I'm working on currently and all the gears shift fine but I couldn't get it to start in park due to the neutral safety switch and when I started it in neutral the tranny would engage (I didn't have the drive shaft on but I had a yoke put in on the end of the tranny to see if there was any rotation).

I made a slight tweak to the linkage (minor tweak, like a half turn) and now there no more engagement in neutral at any rpm and it now starts in park.

Just a thought.

Jim

[Tampa33Build]

Jim,

Yes I'm leaning that is the issue. BluePrint technician came back with this interesting statement:

Either a solid linkage or cable operated needs adjusted properly. The slack needs adjusted while in gear NOT in Park or neutral. If you adjusted the slack while it was in P or N then it is too tight and when you are moving down the road and go from D to N while driving it is caught in between gears and not disengaging. When you stop there might not be enough force or “bind” on the linkage so it just slips into N. There should be some slack in the linkage when in P or N. Please confirm the proper adjustment has been made first. Otherwise if you do have some slack in the linkage when it is P o r N and it is tight when in D then there might be something internal in the transmission.

I believe I adjusted it in park and neutral since they had the indent lock on the shifter. I will have to put it on the lift and verify. Hopefully I will not have to pull seats and tunnel!
I have the Lokar CM700EMP - Lokar Case Mount Automatic Transmission Shifter
ScreenHunter 575.jpg

[33fromSD]

Jim,

Yes I'm leaning that is the issue. BluePrint technician came back with this interesting statement:

Either a solid linkage or cable operated needs adjusted properly. The slack needs adjusted while in gear NOT in Park or neutral. If you adjusted the slack while it was in P or N then it is too tight and when you are moving down the road and go from D to N while driving it is caught in between gears and not disengaging. When you stop there might not be enough force or “bind” on the linkage so it just slips into N. There should be some slack in the linkage when in P or N. Please confirm the proper adjustment has been made first. Otherwise if you do have some slack in the linkage when it is P o r N and it is tight when in D then there might be something internal in the transmission.

I believe I adjusted it in park and neutral since they had the indent lock on the shifter. I will have to put it on the lift and verify. Hopefully I will not have to pull seats and tunnel!
I have the Lokar CM700EMP - Lokar Case Mount Automatic Transmission Shifter
ScreenHunter 575.jpg

Similar shifter as mine, I too didn't realize how sensitive the linkage is. Hope it goes well for you.

Jim

[Tampa33Build]

After waiting two months for an opening to get the hot rod professionally tuned and dynode the shop asked why I had a Holley Sniper setup without EFI controlled timing and suggested I change it to EFI controlled timing prior to tuning. They said one of the main advantages of the EFI system is letting it control timing. So down a rabbit hole I went. After unsuccessfully trying to figure out the wiring changes to allow the Ready to Run distributor control timing, a call to a Holley technician confirmed my research that it is not capable of allowing EFI timing control.

Just upgraded distributor to a Holley Hyperspark distributor from the Blueprint supplied MSD Ready to Run distributor. Engine runs much better than the traditional vacuum advance system. Do not understand why BluePrint Engines supplies an engine ordered with a Holley Sniper EFI with a distributor not capable of supporting EFI timing. If Blueprint supplied a compatible distributor it would have saved me time and money.

Next step reschedule the tuning and dyno.

[Ltngdrvr]

After waiting two months for an opening to get the hot rod professionally tuned and dynode the shop asked why I had a Holley Sniper setup without EFI controlled timing and suggested I change it to EFI controlled timing prior to tuning. They said one of the main advantages of the EFI system is letting it control timing. So down a rabbit hole I went. After unsuccessfully trying to figure out the wiring changes to allow the Ready to Run distributor control timing, a call to a Holley technician confirmed my research that it is not capable of allowing EFI timing control.

Just upgraded distributor to a Holley Hyperspark distributor from the Blueprint supplied MSD Ready to Run distributor. Engine runs much better than the traditional vacuum advance system. Do not understand why BluePrint Engines supplies an engine ordered with a Holley Sniper EFI with a distributor not capable of supporting EFI timing. If Blueprint supplied a compatible distributor it would have saved me time and money.

Next step reschedule the tuning and dyno.

Well, I'm sure they supply it that way for simplicity, as it, as you know, will run with the ready to run distributor without the computer controlled timing.

And, actually, you could have modified the MSD distributor to work with the timing control, but you have to lock out the vacuum and mechanical advance mechanisms, which might have meant you would have to do a little welding to achieve the lock out.

The next thing for you to do is download the Holley tuning software to your laptop and get the interface cable to connect to it.
Then you can do your own tuning, although you can do quite a bit just from the hand held unit that came with the sniper EFI unit.

[Tampa33Build]

I did lock the MSD Ready to Run distributor, there is a kit that you installed to lock it out. No matter what I tried I could not get the Snipper to work with it, timing would always stay at 15 degrees and not advance, hence no timing control. According to the Holley technician the MSD Ready to Run distributor cannot be setup to allow the Sniper to control timing. Should have called them first, it would have saved me a lot of frustration. Installing the HyperSpark was simple and allows a lot of tuning, still playing with it. however very happy so far.
Most likely it is much easier for BluePrint to perform the Dyno test without all the tuning requirements of an EFI controlled timing is why they use the Ready to Run distributor.

[Tampa33Build]

Brought home another trophy Yesterday. They had me move to the entrance to promote a 3 day show in October and ended up under a tree. Drove through a Florida downpour going to show, all the days previous work had to be redone after rains stopped. Other than that it was a great show with over 500 cars.
BayLife Show 2022.jpg BayLife show 2.jpg BayLife Show 3.jpg

[Tampa33Build]

Discovered a some transmission fluid under the hot rod last weekend. Ended up being the TCI TV cable to the 700R4 transmission. Spent the weekend removing seats, center console, stereo, and tunnel to replace it. When I built the hot rod I anticipated having to remove the tunnel so the carpet was installed to allow access to the 1/4x 20 bolts securing the tunnel as well as all electronics all are connector based for easy disassembly. I also used Butyl rubber sealant as a sealer for the tunnel making removal much easier than removing an RTV sealant . Replaced the TCI TV cable with a Lokar, a much better design as you can see from the photos, two O rings and metal hold down bracket.
TV Cable TCI.jpg TV Cable TCI Bottom.jpg TV Cable Lokar.jpg ScreenHunter 190.jpg

Changed the thermostat to a 160 degree Performance/High Flow Thermostat and replaced the coolant with SynMax Water Kooler Racing Coolant. Engine runs much cooler.

Update on changing the distributor to allow EFI controlled timing. Gas mileage went from 8 MPG to 12.6 MPG.

[TxMike64]

What seats are those?

I saw a pic of the dash in another thread - did you install a '33 dash panel?

---

Edit: I just realized I asked you this exact question almost 2 years ago... I'm an idiot... BUT, I am starting my build now, YEARS later.

[Tampa33Build]

Best in Class today at Lakeland Mirror Classics
20221015_182627506_iOS.jpg 20221015_122624234_iOS.jpg 20221015_124058503_iOS.jpg 20221015_175446294_iOS.jpg

[Salty Chief 35]

Congrats! I’m sure they’ll be many more trophys.
Respectfully
Jeremie

[Jeff33Ford]

Fantastic!! Congrats. That looks great. I like the trunk touch. Where did you get those from? They fit perfectly.