We are on the home stretch with Project Grandma. In fact, we can almost smell the Mickey Thompson tires going up in smoke coming out of the burnout box… This last week Mike Ryan has been working on some of the smaller details of the build, before taking on the major tasks like mounting the Currie F9 rear end and putting the fenders back on. Check out how far we’ve come this week below!

Things started off in the interior of our Malibu. Many series require that cars have a passenger seat mounted in them, so Mike installed a second Kirkey seat on the other side in the similar fashion as the driver’s seat. Since it won’t be load bearing other than “eventually” holding our intercooler, a minimum of tubing was needed.

Mike welded in a simple cross-brace for the seat to bolt to, and then installed the seat so he could begin building a mounting tube for the rear.

This was the easiest and quickest way to mount the passenger seat and make it quickly removable. A back brace here, along with a single cross mount below, would allow removal (if necessary).

What’s this box welded to the floor? That’s our shifter mount. Many people simply mount their shifters to the floor, regardless of whether that is the most comfortable and natural area for driving comfort. Mike made this shifter mount elevated about 2.5 inches, and it was slightly tricky since the floorpan is curved downward at that point. We simply trimmed the mount to make sure it was level and square, and then MIG’d it to the floorpan. First, we welded nuts on the underside so the shifter would quickly bolt-in and out.

While there are many choices for shifter, for this project we choose to use a TCI Outlaw shifter. We picked the TCI Outlaw for Powerglide w/Cover, part number #611323. This will be used with our TCI Pro-X Powerglide.

The TCI Outlaw got the call because it looks good, is billet aluminum (face it-we are Billet lovers) and has a wicked operational shifter button available on the handle. You’ll see that shortly in the next blog!

Of course, it has a NHRA-legal reverse lock out as outlined in both NHRA/IHRA regulations. TCI offers this shifter with or without a transbrake button for 2 speed transmissions like our Powerglide based Pro-X, or a variety of 3 speed transmission.

Next up was the job of mounting the Chassis Engineering parachute handle and C/E running the cable to the rear of the car. We used their Parachute Release Cable Kit to make this job a snap. You can check out their website for more info on the kit.

The first thing Mike did was mount the supplied bracket to one of the bars in the interior of the car. James got in the car, and they picked a place that positioned the handle within comfortable reach. From there, the rest of the kit just bolted together and Mike made some nice cable holders that direct the cable to the rear of the car.

It’s brake time. Sure, 700 naturally aspirated horsepower like to accelerate, but we need to find a way to slow this old Grandma down just the same.

You may recall we used Aerospace Components brakes on the front and plan to also for the rear on the Currie 9-inch. We liked their master cylinder as well and adapter plate, and that is what we went with. Mike installed the Aeropspace adapter plate to the firewall. It’s a simple bolt-in affair.

Made from durable lightweight aluminum with a large capacity plastic reservoir and dual outlet boxes, the Aerospace master cylinder utilizes O.E.M. internal components. It uses the standard factory mounting bolt holes, which can be adapted to racing pedal assemblies with an optional mounting adapter bracket.

Next up was routing some brake lines, starting with those on the front. We also decided to mount a TCI Line Lock for the front tires so doing those monster he-man burnouts would be nice and easy.

Mike custom bent some fresh new tubing to the correct shape and contour required to snake it below the engine and up to the line lock and master cylinder. We used some Russell stainless steel braided brake lines running to the calipers to ensure there would be no brakes or tears by using rubber hoses causing the system to fail. No brakes = no good. He has the front lines run and we should have the other lines run later next week.

Install of the Rollstop was easy. Essentually all a Line Lock does is hold the front brake pressure, however the TCI Roll Stop has a cool feature – a one way valve that puts additional pressure through even once it’s been activated.

Next week is going to be a good week for Granny, here is a sneak peak of what’s to come: a Currie Fabricated “F9” Rear end, along with Billet Specialties 15 x 10 Street Lite rear wheels and Mickey Thompson 295/65 Tires! We’re just a little excited, it’s bad ass.

This thing is built to handle power. The guys at Currie really did a nice job designing this rearend. The best news is, they are ready to ship, check out Currie’s website for more info and order yours.