83 caprice wagon wheelie build (hopefully)

[Roert42]

Turn it into a sleeper and make the entitled generation to start having trust issues.

Take it easy on them Gen X’ers/ Boomer’s, Most of em are getting pretty old, don’t want to go around giving pensioners heart attacks.

 

[Blmpkn]

Turn it into a sleeper and make the entitled generation to start having trust issues.

This is the plan. Besides wearing big fat drag radials in the rear I don't want the car to give anyone any hints.

I'm really hoping I don't need to cut a hole in the hood for my carb hat.

 

[dvdswan]

Take it easy on them Gen X’ers/ Boomer’s, Most of em are getting pretty old, don’t want to go around giving pensioners heart attacks.

Why?! I want to make sure I've got my social security available to me when I retire after all those years of paying into it. lol

 

[bobbywalter]

I fell in love with wagons while owning a turbo subaru outback. I fell in love with big v8 rear drive American cars while owning a crown vic..

So when it was time to purchase a weekend cruiser.... I combined my loves and bought a big one.

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1983 chevy caprice classic Station wagon. Fully loaded. Dismal 305/700r4 combo. 2.72 rear gears. 15.6 seconds to 60. Wouldn't spin a tire. It DID get 21ish mpg though.

Drove it for the summer, decided it would be more fun if it was fast.. and started amassing sbc turbo parts.

When I learned about how much easier it was going to be to make big power with an LS.. I sold off my sbc parts and jumped on the bandwagon.

Now... 4ish years later... after acquiring a bank breaking amount of parts... I've finally got the car from where it had been hibernating to my house where I can finally start the swap.


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Hopefully next weekend will bring the removal of the old motor & tranny.

All said and done.. the car will have an e-carbed 4.8 twin turbo LS, an FTI level 4 transbrake th400, a ford 9" rear end, big sticky tires, and hopefully still look like a complete bucket.

Making the interior safe to sit In after years of mice inhabitation will probably be more work than all the mechanical crap..
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Being this close to driving the car again has me super excited and motivated.

At first all I wanted was a neat old turbo car that could actually do a burnout.. but considering my potential power output has gone through the roof going from a gen1 to a gen3 motor my ultimate goal now is to get it to pull at least one front tire off the ground when I let off the transbrake.

If farm truck was a car.....it would want to be this.

 

[onequerl]

Good luck on this build. Will be definitely checking this thread constantly for updates. I remember our family having a Caprice wagon as a kid.

 

[Blmpkn]

Good luck on this build. Will be definitely checking this thread constantly for updates. I remember our family having a Caprice wagon as a kid.

Thanks! It's gonna be some work but it'll be worth it. Not too many b-body cars left running around these parts anymore.. I should definitely have the fastest in the state all said and done.

 

[89Twincharge]

I don't believe the th400 was put in a g-body from the factory, but I could be wrong. I think it being a th350 Is more likely.

The th350 pan would be square with a corner "cut off" a th400 pan is weirdly shaped.

This is some custom built car built for turning dubs like 24s I think on it now

 

[Blmpkn]

This is some custom built car built for turning dubs like 24s I think on it now

DUUUUUUBS! Extra points if they're spinners, extra extra points if they're floaters.

 

[Blmpkn]

Sometimes, solenoids make for great fun. This is one of those times.

Poor ol girl covered in overspray..

 

[Blmpkn]

Got the old garbage out today, and made a huge mess of the driveway.

Ordered a pair of these for the front. 15x4. Gonna wrap it with a 28 or 29x6 tire.

 

[Uncle Gump]

You sure do make a mess...

Nothing about those wheels say "sleeper"

 

[Uncle Gump]

And your wife is gonna be mad when she finds out you used her hair towel to wipe your greasy hands...

 

[Blmpkn]

I'm probably going to have the wheels powdercoated, so they look rusty. There's a powdercoat place super close to where I live conveniently.

I originally wanted these..

Buuuut.. the size I wanted for the fronts is sold out everywhere, and I want to make immideate progress. Oh well. Having a lighter wheel will be nice.

*science everybody knows time*

1 lb unsprung weight, depending who you ask, equates to anywhere from 5 to 7 pounds sprung weight.

This means that the 28lb savings on my wheels by using aluminum instead of the steelies I wanted is almost the equivalent of removing 140-196 lbs from the interior of the car.. and if ET's were super important.. that weight savings would make me anywhere from .14 to .19 faster down the drag strip! Weeeoooooooo!

 

[Blmpkn]

Oh, and they're old towels. They got relegated to garage duty a while ago lol.

 

[sgtsandman]

It looks like the old engine changed it’s own oil regularly.