The new seats are in! Alas, I don't have any photos right now...but I'll get them up shortly. Next stop is next carpet and stereo work. I hope to have the car fully finished and show worthy by the end of the summer.

What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been. To make a long story short, after having the alternator replaced the car died again, this time in Greensboro about 30 miles from home. Luckily it was within a few blocks of my parents house, so it was taken there and there it sat while I figured out what the problem was. After many puzzled looks and scratches of the noggin, I located a piece of tape in the simplest of places, the main wire leading from the alternator to the positive battery terminal...I removed the tape and found that the wire underneath it was completely severed. Now why on earth the folks that replaced the alternator didn't see this I have no clue, but needless to say I believe this was the source of the problem. I cut the old positive terminal off and replaced this wire with a somewhat beefier 4 gauge cable, then wired it to the side post terminal. I also replaced the top post terminal with a cleaner one and got the other wires cleaned up and connected better there. Now the car starts right up and stays running with the proper voltage running constantly.

Next project on the line is getting the A/C fully functional, but it may have to wait a few weeks until funding presents itself...

Solved the buzzing relay problem...turned out the alternator was in fact not working at all. It's been replaced and things are working the way they should now. Yay! Not a lot of time or money to work on the car this month, but more updates should be coming in July when I hope to finish up the interior color conversion.

Good and Bad, good and bad. They always come together.

Went out this morning to start the car and there was a loud buzzing coming from under the dash. I traced it to the Choke Heater Relay, but right now I'm having problems troubleshooting it. It could be anything from a bad relay, a messed up choke heater, or a screwed up alternator. Arghh.

But, I did get the necessary kit to change over the A/C from R12 to R134a and a friend is going to do the conversion next Saturday if everything goes well. I also replaced the hood supports, so now the hood opens and closes much easier, and best of all it stays open on its own...no need for my ghetto stick method to keep my head safe.

I'm going to have the alternator tested soon, hope that's the problem...

We've taken our first step into a larger...well, grayer, world. I installed the newly salvaged door panels in the car today. These mark the first of the new 'soft' goods in the gray/black color scheme to go into the car. Next up will be the purchase and installation of a new black headliner and new black carpet, along with black sun visors. Then the gray seats will go in last. I'm also on the lookout for a set of black front seat belts with the plastic trim, since before long the tan ones will have to go.

But, back to the door panels. I salvaged these off a wrecked car and they were in pretty good shape overall. They had the typical torn retaining holes along the top from where they were hastily removed at some point in the past, and the cardboard backing was water damaged and torn in places. But they were flat and the upholstery was in great shape so they were worth saving. I started out by reinforcing the backs with aluminum tape and then adding some sound deadening material to cut down on road noise. I reinforced the retaining holes at the top and installed the top rails from the car on them. I then gave them a good bath and vacuum, and got them installed. While I was in the doors I tightened some loose screws and fixed the moisture barrier.

All in all I think they look darn good. I did determine that we need a new driver side arm rest, as the vinyl is coming up along the back edge of our current one...I usually see these in good shape in the salvage yards so getting one should be too hard or expensive.

Before:

After:

The sunlight really washes them out in the photo, the bottoms are truly black, not gray and the stripes along the top material are black too.

Ladies and gentlemen, the A/C Works! After much diagnosis, vacuum line tracing, splicing and gerry-rigging, I got the system functioning the way it's meant to. The air is not cold, rather cool-ish...I think it needs a flush and recharge, hopefully I can accomplish that sometime in the next few weeks. But I am rather pleased with myself at this point.

I also picked up a 14" Edelbrock Air Cleaner this morning. It took some effort to get it set up correctly, as it is so large it hangs over the throttle body...so a little 1/2 inch spacer to get the clearance I needed and I am all set. I do want to get a flat topped nut for it, since the wings on the wing nut stick up a little high...it clears the hood, but just barely.

Before:

After:

Air flow is so much better now...performance should increase quite a bit now that it's not struggling for air. More to come, but probably not for a few weeks.

Big changes in Camaro-land! Yesterday I located a really nice set of seats out of a 93 Firebird...the only problem is they are ebony (aka grey-black). So, after consulting with my wife we've determined that the colors inside the car will be changing completely. Say goodbye to the beige/camel interior...it's going the way of the dodo. We'll be swapping out the carpet for black, the headliner for black, the door panels for black and charcoal grey, and the seats will be the grey-black. I'll probably find a way to bring a sliver of red in there for her, probably in some form of accent or trim, since that is her favorite camaro interior.

I also consulted with an engine expert I work with and he pointed out a few areas for improvement on the 350...I'll be looking for a larger air cleaner and a dual spring for the accelerator, and replacing a few hoses with larger dimensions to help improve performance. He also pointed out the proper way to reconnect the vacuum line for the a/c vent system. I'm hoping to have time today to hit the auto-store to start on a few of these things...particularly the a/c hookup. I think that will be a huge tipping point for me in the progress of this car, making something that didn't work at all into something that works exactly the way it should. Everything else I've done up to this point has been largely cosmetic or improving performance...I haven't "fixed" a darn thing. Hopefully that will change shortly.