Mid Life Crisis - 2010 SS M6
 

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I bought this car as a mid life crisis gift to myself. I just turned 47, so it's my turn to relive my youth, but this time with more resources and better insurance! :thumbsup:

The car was mostly stock when I bought it, with the exception of the Flomaster American Thunder 3" cat back exhaust. I wanted a clean slate so to speak, so this car was perfect for me, although it has a few more miles than I hoped at 63K. My plan is to make this into a strong street/strip car that I can enjoy driving to work.

Hadda get some vanity plates for it:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/ffdb61b1...y9no1_1280.jpg

The first few things I did was StopTech Z23 brakes, a cold air intake and LT headers with cats and downstream o2 sensors because of emission laws here.

I knew the car needed a clutch when I bought it, but I drove it around for a while and it never really slipped until I tried to show my son a 2nd gear burnout. I already had the McCleod ready to install, so I wasn't too concerned with all of the clutch smoke that I smelled when I should have smelled tire smoke. I pulled it in the garage and tore it apart the next day:

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I had a nice big pile of parts to install:

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The first night I got the transmission out and exposed the stock clutch:

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I didn't get very many pictures of the clutch install because I was busy measuring and calculating to determine release bearing to clutch finger clearance and slave cylinder travel. Here is a picture of the slave cylinder installed on the trans:

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A picture of the flywheel, bottom disk and intermediate plate. I had it on a glass sheet so I knew it was flat and level for measuring:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/c5750b84...sy9no9_250.jpg

I didn't get any pictures of the clutch installed on the engine, so here is a photo of it complete in the box:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/61c43086...y9no5_1280.jpg

I ended up pinching a couple of wires between the block and transmission when I put it back together, but I didn't know until after I finished with the rear suspension upgrades. Other than that, The clutch install went great. The coolest part of the install is the hydraulic adjuster. It was worth every penny:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/8fa2441e...y9no1_1280.jpg

I also installed a remote slave bleeder to make life easy in the future.

The last piece of this puzzle is the MGW shifter. Easy install and a very well built product:

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I didn't even take the car off the jack-stands after the clutch install because I had a bunch of BMR stuff to upgrade the rear suspension. Here is a comparison of the toe rods, trailing arms and upper control arm bushing from BMR vs factory:

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Getting the old cradle bushings out was easy with the heat and jack method, but getting the BMR bushings back into the cradle was a bitch. I struggled with them for a while and eventually got them installed, along with the trailing arms and toe rods:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/a3f19017...y9no2_1280.jpg

Getting the old differential bushings out was also a chore. First you have to cut the centers out with a hole saw, which is much easier said than done. Use lots of lube and plan on using a knife to get them completely freed:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/921cf59a...y9no3_1280.jpg

Then you go after the steel shells. I used an air hammer to cut them out. After that, I installed the new bushings, put everything back together and install the sub-frame brace that conveniently arrived that day:

https://66.media.tumblr.com/4fccca9a...y9no3_1280.jpg

For this phase of the build, I logged 54 hours in the garage. All of this under the car work is hard on an old man, so I wanted to get most of it done in one project.

I've been driving the car like this for the last week. I still have a couple of hundred miles to go to break in the clutch, so no hot-rodding yet.

I'm already planning the next mod. I ordered 4.10s and some other goodies today so I will update this thread soon.

Amen to that!

But, worth every minute when you do it yourself...

-Don

You got that right! I'm proud of the work I've accomplished, and glad to know that I won't be back under it soon. I'm taking it to s shop to install the gears. That's something I don't want to muddle through myself. I've only set up 2 differentials, and it was years ago. I'm fine paying for some things with regard to labor, but most of it I want to do myself. That's hot-rodding to me!!

Awesome build so far! :)

Thanks!!!:thumb:

Some shiny new parts arrived yesterday. I'm still waiting on my diff cover to show up. As soon as it does, I'll be taking it all to a local shop to be installed. One of the few things that I will pay someone else to do for me.

https://66.media.tumblr.com/a88f1a98...sy9no1_540.jpg

This is a pretty BA build if I say so myself. I was going to pay a shop to do some (most) of my mods for me when I get back from my remote tour, but you have given me the drive to do them myself again. I will continue to follow your build.

Thanks!! Good luck on the build. Let me know if you have any questions. :thumb:

Looks good especially that shiny new Coors Light.