Topic: Romans 81 SE T/A

[hada76]

i can see the size here, but wondered if you got new tires. i bought those wheels for my camaro and was hoping to go a bit wider on rears. 16" selection is limited

[Roman]

i can see the size here, but wondered if you got new tires. i bought those wheels for my camaro and was hoping to go a bit wider on rears. 16" selection is limited

Check out the bf Goodrich g-force sport tires. They come in 245 and 255 for 16" wheels.

[Roman]

Hey Guys!,
Been a while since my last update but I have been quite busy!
Here are some pics of my recent work,
LED gauges and tach mounted.



I redid my brake system with new calipers pads and rotors.



Painted my shaker

[Roman]

Currently I am having transmission problems. I got the car running for about a day and the transmission started slipping and dumping fluid on the ground... so I decided to ditch the automatic and I picked up an M-20 from a 74 TA. I got all the linkages and brackets except for the ball stud on the block. Anyone know where I can get one? I'm having fun cleaning it up but I have a few concerns... how is the reverse operated? I can only seem to find 1-4. Also is the input shaft supposed to have a little play in it?

[pancho400cid]

Hey Roman - The car is looking Great!

Sorry I don't have any useful input about the transmission.....

[Roman]

Hey Roman - The car is looking Great!

Sorry I don't have any useful input about the transmission.....

Thank you!

Its all good I will get everything figured out one way or the other 

[hada76]

nice work on the 4sp swap, did you have a donor car or piece it together

[Roman]

nice work on the 4sp swap, did you have a donor car or piece it together

The whole set up is from a 74 T/A, the whole car was not available but I did get most everything I need. I found the z bar engine ball stud online and I got it ordered up. I got my hump welded in today and I'm going to start with the pedals tomorrow... I need to figure out where/how I'm going to drill the hole for the clutch linkage.

[hada76]

I know a lot of guys here talk about doing the swap, good luck and let us know how it goes

[Roman]

Made progress today!

Here is a pic of the hole I drilled in the firewall for the clutch rod.





The whole process was actually quite easy!
In case anyone wants to do this in the future I am going to go through it step by step.
1. Remove drivers side inner fender (not easy to do with the fender on... but I did it)
2. Remove 4 15mm bolts behind brake booster for pedal assembly (also not the easiest thing)
3. Remove the bolt and stud for the steering column
Now its time to go inside the car
4. Remove drivers side hush panel
5. Remove plastic kick plate
6. Remove trim piece under steering column with a flat screwdriver or a quarter
7. Remove thin metal brace underneath trim piece
8. Remove 4 10mm bolts at base of steering column
9. Remove 2 large bolts and drop the column
10. Disconnect all electric components and remove column
11. Remove the brake rod clip from pedal assembly
12. Remove 2 press washer things from the pedal bracket and remove pedal assembly
Now you should have a pretty good look at the firewall
13. Peel back jute padding just to the right of the fusebox
Now! Get a good flashlight and check out the firewall, there should be 3 dimples in a row (think Orion's belt)
This is where you are going to drill your hole (middle one)
I got a 2" hole saw that connects to a drill with a pilot bit in the middle.
I will post a pic later.
14. Drill a small pilot hole directly on the middle dimple.
15. Drill the 2" hole with the hole saw.
16. Drill 2 small holes where the other 2 dimples are for the boot
Installing the new pedals should be reverse of the removal procedure.
I think that about covers it... this is my first write up so I probably missed a few things.
More to come...

[RainMan]

Wow your going hard at it , very impressive

[Roman]

Wow your going hard at it , very impressive

  I just love working on Pontiacs 

I got my flywheel, pilot BEARING, clutch disk, pressure plate, bell housing, clutch fork and throwout in place.
I put the tranny on my chest and lifted her up in there just like the good ol' days!
The swap is mostly done now but I have a few problems to sort out.
It seems my clutch pedal is hitting the fusebox when its depressed... it works for now but I don't want to leave it that way as I fear the fusebox will break one day. Not sure how I'm going to fix it as of now. Another problem I'm having is I'm not sure where to put my fork return spring... it seems my headers are in the way no matter where I put it. Anyway, I'm going to get back at it.

[Chuckles]

You know, they make really nice hydraulic clutch assemblies for these cars that eliminate the issues you're having.

[Roman]

You know, they make really nice hydraulic clutch assemblies for these cars that eliminate the issues you're having.

I would LOVE to run a hydraulic clutch set up but that's a little too far out of this 18yr olds budget   
Some day I would like to do a t56 swap but that is far in the future.
Anyhow I think the bushing for the clutch pedal is worn out as there is quite a bit of "wiggle". I'm going to start there and see if that alleviates the problem. For the return spring... shouldn't a hose clamp on one of the header tubes work for now? I'm thinking up a more long term solution but I would like to take the car out for a few test runs. I also ran into a new problem, I'm currently running a gear reduction mini starter and when I get it all bolted up the battery terminal is probably about an 1/8th of an inch away from my header tubes. I tried clocking it a few different ways but it will only fit in the pocket in one position. I'm not sure how I'm going to solve this one... I am considering running a remote ford solenoid and trimming the BAT terminal down another 1/8th of an inch... but I would still only be 1/4 inch away...AND I would have the shame of having a ford part on my Pontiac 
Any advice on this one?

[Roman]

Took the car for its maiden voyage with the 4 speed today! Everything works pretty good! The clutch pedal is still giving me problems... I can't get it to stop hitting the plastic connector on the side of the fusebox.... its really starting to get frustrating.