She sings

Looks great!

Ordered the bell tech streets today. I'll pick them up at summit tomorrow. Can't wait to get them on.

That looks really good lowered!

I'm so pissed at summit racing right now. I'd say I've had it and won't go back but dammit sometimes they are the only place that has the small things. When I ordered the wheels they said they had them so I paid for them and got them. They were short one and had to ship it. When I bought the tires, same thing. I went to get the front shocks today, after ordering them and paying for them online guess what? Yep, they only had one even though they showed they had both. They tried to get me to get the nitro drop 2 shocks but after talking with belltech, those are a entry level shock. So, I came home, installed the sway bar bushing and one shock on drivers side and now have to wait 4 days to get the other one. They really need to do a better job with inventory on the net. I would have bought the damn things straight from belltech if I knew they didn't have them. The bounce test feels a little more firm but I'll have to wait until next week to road test it when I get back in town. So frustrating.

Wow, that's weird. You'd think for the things that are typically used in pairs they'd make sure to at least have an even number of them. Who orders just one shock?

One would also think that you shouldn't be able to buy something that is not in stock.

Got the belltech street performance shocks in. Night and day going in and out of the garage and down the road.

Like the stance!!!!

The stance looks perfect. I used belltechs on the front and rear of my Laguna. It dropped it about 2 inches all the way around like I hoped. The fronts are a little soft but the rears ride just right. How does yours handle?

Front Stock Springs Vs. Belltech 2 Inch Drop Springs


Rear Heavy Duty Moog Springs Vs. Belltech 2 Inch Drop Springs

It rides pretty good, still leans a little too much for me in turns but a bigger sway bar will solve that problem. The rear on mine rides just how I want it too. I think once I upgrade the front sway bar I can call the suspension part done for now. The biggest difference to me was the shocks. I had KYB's on it first and didn't like it. So I went to a little stronger Monroe shock and it was better. But once the new springs went on it was like I was not running a shock at all. I had one street performance shock in and one KYB. I pulled the car out to turn it around the the drivers side was firm and the passenger side was like a marshmallow. Once I got the other shock in it tightened it up nice. It didn't even scrub the factory exhaust going into the garage. I think I'll be fine on the bottoming out now that those shocks are in.

Were you using the KYB Gas-A-Just or the Excel-G shocks? Big difference between the two as far as performance and handling.

You're going to love the way it handles once you go to the bigger front sway bar. mine was like driving a big old pillow before I did my swap. It corners SO much better now.

So I had some time being off all week to get caught up on some things so I spent a little time making the rear spoiler for my 75.

The metal came from a customer (metal superstore in Marietta, GA). I got a scrap piece of 1/8in 30 gauge aluminum. I have been chatting back and forth with Aaron Jaques (big burgundy laguna on facebook) that has the bad A$$ Hawaiian Tropic 75 Laguna and he gave me the specs on his. I was going to do the bank robber special 69 Camaro rear spoiler but since I copied the wheels and stance I thought I'd be a little different. Another car that got my attention was the PHR car and its rear spoiler but in the end that was not the look I wanted. So after checking out Aaron's car I knew that is what I wanted. So I marked and cut the aluminum with my jigsaw. It cut real easy and quick. I then went to the local fab shop here in town and he put a 90 degree bend in it for me. After marking and drilling the holes in the spoiler and making a relief cut in the middle of it for the contour of the trunk I then marked the trunk lid. Kind of nerve racking but what the hell, you only live once. I used rivet nuts in the trunk lid for the strength and the fact that most of the holes I drilled were not accessible without drilling further holes to secure nuts on the backside. I also like the rivet nuts cause it keeps the spoiler off the body and will allow water not to build up on top of the spoiler. After spending $35 on chrome fasteners it bolted right up. Looking at it I may have to pull it off and trim it a little but I will wait to see if it grows on me. I have to take it back to the fab shop and let them weld up the relief cut to smooth it out and then I'll paint it. It will go satin black like the front chin spoiler so it ties in with the that the wheels and the tail panel. It's coming along slowly but surely. After I get my utv sold I'll get the exhaust done and take it down and have the roof put in epoxy. I'm hoping to get the 4bbl swap done before cruising the coast but if not then it can wait. The car runs super good right now with the 2bbl. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Your car is looking sweet Damon. It's came a long ways since you decided not to sell it. Keep up the great work.

Nerve racking indeed drilling holes into a nice deck lid huh? lol

I love the front spoiler; also watching the rear spoiler development with some interest as I will probably need one soon.

The rear of the car starts moving around a bit as you approach 140 mph.

K

Damon23 wrote:Hmmmm. I thought for sure it was the factory top I pulled off the car. Started stripping the roof and found filler/fiberglass in the top of the sail panel and where the roof meets the sail panel towards the rear. I'm pretty sure their is supposed to be lead in there. I'm still considering myself lucky. Got half the roof done when I got home.

Question. For non vinyl roof cars, what did they use in the A pillar? I had a metal piece that was on there that I removed. Check out the picture of what was underneath. And it was not a smooth transition from the roof to that piece. Would that have been leaded as well?

Doubling back to this post: on full size pickup trucks ('73 to '87) that area was brazed, and then ground smooth. I can't say with authority what was done on passenger cars with vinyl tops but if it was my design I'd leave it untreated (since it is going to get covered up anyway).

Relative to bondo: that could be factory. My car must have been hit in the assembly plant because the first time we stripped the front clip down to paint it we discovered bondo in the front fender, behind the wheel opening.

K

I'm not going back with a vinyl roof so I'll let a professional figure out how to make it right.

I got the mirrors on Friday. I don't have any paint to match the car so I painted them black for now. When I removed the door panels to bolt the mirrors down I found my build sheet on the passenger side upper panel. It is in perfect shape but I cannot remove it due to it being brittle up top. So I took a couple pictures and put a little tape at the bottom so it does not fall down into the door later on. I was able to find a 1.25in  78 Trans Am WS6 front sway bar. That will be next weekends project, that and hopefully get these hooker aerochamber mufflers and duals put on.

Very cool find there Damon.
The mirrors are a nice touch and you'll love how the car handles
after you get the new sway bar on. My grandson drove mine home
from the Street Machine Nationals yesterday and even he made the
comment about how much nicer it handles.

In regard to the sway bars, I installed a rear stock bar on my '75 Elco, and the difference was much better in regard to the cornering "lean" I had the tires howling, on the verge of a drift, and the body stayed flat, which is what is what I wanted. The front bar is still the stock 7/8" bar, but I don't think I'll need to go bigger on that one...

I think my front one is bad. Even after the rear bar and front shock upgrade I get a lean in corners. I did notice that the end link on the drivers side does not stay straight up and down. It leans outward. More on the drivers side than the passenger. The new bar should be here by this weekend so I van get the exhaust and that knocked out.

Finally got the exhaust done. Hooker Aerochamber mufflers. Sounds really good. Especially at 2k rpm. But, it has to go back in the morning. Something happened and now the drivers side section has dropped down. So much that it caught pulling into the garage. Oh well, some things don't always go as planned. On the other hand the front sway bar will be here tomorrow so I can work on that Saturday!!!!!!! I've driven it about 60 miles over the last couple days and it is handling like a dream. The belltech shocks with that huge rear bar is making it nice. Can't wait to get the front bar in, then I can take it down the curvy road.

I'm so glad that you kept this car Damon. It would have been a shame to sell it like you had thought about last year and not seen how far you've brought it in the last year. Keep up the great work sir.

Damon23 wrote:I've driven it about 60 miles over the last couple days and it is handling like a dream. The belltech shocks with that huge rear bar is making it nice. Can't wait to get the front bar in, then I can take it down the curvy road.

Glad to hear the Belltech's worked out -- did you get the fronts too, or just the back ones?

I got both. Feels like the right front tire is out of balance. Exhaust was redone today so I'm going to pick it up soon. Sway bar is here so that will be tomorrow's project.


Well, I have a video and pics of the exhaust and front sway bar swap but it looks like I can no longer post pictures from my photobucket account.