tiny...aka 1958 lloyd
- Thread starter 69.5CUDA
- Start date
restoman
The paint fumes have cleared so I'm
Heavy, medium and fine in successive coats is an accepted way to spray it if you're looking for some deep-metal look... and the finer flake tends to take away some of the grittiness of the heavy flake.
Hell, it's worth a shot.
I've never used a colour-keyed flake...
Hell, it's worth a shot.
I've never used a colour-keyed flake...
thrashingcows
Drowning deep in my sea of loathing...so I'm
Came across this today over on FBBO....not sure it's what you are looking for but thought I'd pass it on.
Runner 68 said:
69.5CUDA
Blah Blah Blah
got pics?!?!?!?!..i need to see this
thrashingcows
Drowning deep in my sea of loathing...so I'm
Here is a link to the build thread....
68 RM23 Roadrunner, The rebuild of an old friend
And a couple pics...
68 RM23 Roadrunner, The rebuild of an old friend
And a couple pics...
Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
I have several jars of the Akzo-Nobel equivalent stuff from when my old store swapped paint lines. It's very hard to spray badly--I'm no painter and it gave me no issue on a 16-gallon steel drum. I have white, gold, silver, blue, red and green if memory serves. It was in the U-Tech line if I recall, but I haven't looked at it in years.
69.5CUDA
Blah Blah Blah
got a part number?
after a long chat with the paint reps (both retired custom guys) today we suspect the only true way im going to get what i want is likely a mix of blue silver and red/pink...what ratio tho? thats where i just blow paint and wing it till its right
what i want doesnt exist in an "off the shelf" any more and hasnt for decades
Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
I do not. That stuff has been packed in a box for about a decade and its current location is a secret--even to me. I literally forgot where they are. I believe U-Tech refers to them as "mica" but they're absolutely a pearl, where some manufacturers refer to many metallics as "mica" paint. Stretch's garbage can (the 16-gallon one I referenced above), is 1973 Dodge F1 Pale Green except exactly where the light souce is reflected. There it shows the "ghost" gold pearl in the clearcoat, much like the blue in that Road Runner. It's not as dramatic, but neither is the contrast between Pale Green and gold when compared to white and blue. I was also gunning for a more-subtle effect, since the green matching his car was most important.
Anyhow, the U-Tech ones come in a container similar in size to a 1lb Lawry's Seasoned Salt jar but weigh nowhere near that. I got mine when we switched out paint brands, but expect north of $150/jar if you can find it. U-Tech also has multiple colors of liquid pearls in their mix banks but I'm not sure about using them in clearcoat. If memory serves, U-Tech was a binder-based mix and the liquid pearls might not play well without binder. Or was Lesonal the binder base? I haven't mixed either one in 12 years, so it's a bit fuzzy now. Regardless, U-Tech had liquid pearls that were mostly clear. It was very cool stuff to look at while pouring it. Dazzling.
As far as mixing different-color pearls or flakes and getting consistent, repeatable results at home, that's tricky without the right equipment. I would not attempt it without access to a dedicated paint scale and a shaker. Accuracy demands measuring by weight, and paint scales are infuriatingly accurate ("Damn it, I went over by a drop!" is something I've said many times). If it doesn't say "Sartorius" on it and read to 0.1g, it's not accurate enough in my mind. There are some colors--GM's notorious WA382E Pewter comes to mind--that have multiple variances (depending on year/plant/make) where the mix-bank changes are measured in literally tenths of a gram, yet the difference in appearance is staggering after sprayout. I've literally mixed more of that color, often for 2nd/3rd/4th resprays, than probably every other color combined. I f__king hate that color, and it has nothing to do with its appearance.
Which brings me to another thought, which I may have already mentioned: When using high-effect paint, you do not want to look at the paint "straight on" (90° angle from the panel) because you rarely look at any surface of a car "straight on"; it's most-often at some kind of angle. I learned this exactly because of WA382E; when using the variance decks (samples of the different shades) the one that matched perfectly straight-on was always, and I mean always the wrong mix--usually by a long shot. You should be looking at your paint from an angle anywhere between 30-60° in direct sunlight to see if whichever effect you want is working.
It's a struggle I can somewhat understand. A friend of mine who's arguably mixed more paint than I, has for years wanted to paint his truck "antifreeze"--literally the color of pure green coolant when it's being poured. Easy to picture, hard to execute. I don't know how one would do it, nor does he, and every mix-bank and spray-gun wizard he's questioned about it looked at him as if he asked for a lightly-grilled weasel in a bun with French fries.
Anyhow, the U-Tech ones come in a container similar in size to a 1lb Lawry's Seasoned Salt jar but weigh nowhere near that. I got mine when we switched out paint brands, but expect north of $150/jar if you can find it. U-Tech also has multiple colors of liquid pearls in their mix banks but I'm not sure about using them in clearcoat. If memory serves, U-Tech was a binder-based mix and the liquid pearls might not play well without binder. Or was Lesonal the binder base? I haven't mixed either one in 12 years, so it's a bit fuzzy now. Regardless, U-Tech had liquid pearls that were mostly clear. It was very cool stuff to look at while pouring it. Dazzling.
As far as mixing different-color pearls or flakes and getting consistent, repeatable results at home, that's tricky without the right equipment. I would not attempt it without access to a dedicated paint scale and a shaker. Accuracy demands measuring by weight, and paint scales are infuriatingly accurate ("Damn it, I went over by a drop!" is something I've said many times). If it doesn't say "Sartorius" on it and read to 0.1g, it's not accurate enough in my mind. There are some colors--GM's notorious WA382E Pewter comes to mind--that have multiple variances (depending on year/plant/make) where the mix-bank changes are measured in literally tenths of a gram, yet the difference in appearance is staggering after sprayout. I've literally mixed more of that color, often for 2nd/3rd/4th resprays, than probably every other color combined. I f__king hate that color, and it has nothing to do with its appearance.
Which brings me to another thought, which I may have already mentioned: When using high-effect paint, you do not want to look at the paint "straight on" (90° angle from the panel) because you rarely look at any surface of a car "straight on"; it's most-often at some kind of angle. I learned this exactly because of WA382E; when using the variance decks (samples of the different shades) the one that matched perfectly straight-on was always, and I mean always the wrong mix--usually by a long shot. You should be looking at your paint from an angle anywhere between 30-60° in direct sunlight to see if whichever effect you want is working.
It's a struggle I can somewhat understand. A friend of mine who's arguably mixed more paint than I, has for years wanted to paint his truck "antifreeze"--literally the color of pure green coolant when it's being poured. Easy to picture, hard to execute. I don't know how one would do it, nor does he, and every mix-bank and spray-gun wizard he's questioned about it looked at him as if he asked for a lightly-grilled weasel in a bun with French fries.
69.5CUDA
Blah Blah Blah
^^^^^ this...this is the sole reason i said fuck it and am using the ENTIRE hood as a test mule, anything else wasnt giving enough angles to verify if i was getting closer or further away
the only thing shooting "flat" panels really showed me was the need to go crazy with the flake
and while ive got 2 scales, 1 im using specificaly to get the paint mixed, the other goes to .001 of a gram...so i mix up the clear and then zero it out for the flake...its been at the very lest dependably acurate
and again..right now im just trying to find the right combo, amount, layers......ive yet to get to the roofs pearl white im just keeping my eyes open and feelers out for ANYTHING and everything that i can so that when i get to it im prepared...or...atleast have my options laid out in front of me better than i did with the flake that i ASSUMED id had right
even without part numbers youve atleast given me another example to look into and i thnk you for that
69.5CUDA
Blah Blah Blah
ive been getting stuff together to start pushing again, making lists updating links figuring out what i need to buy and where from
ive run into 2 major issues
first off the speedo cluster "dome" got shattered at some point..
so im going to BEG...if anyone has any wreckers around with 50's fords i beg please look to be specific..its 54 ford CAR, theres a few on ebay but none with a dome in good shape...honestly if the price was right id take complete dome/speedo in shit shape IE cracked n crazed to mold and try my hand at vacume forming..that was the plan with mine ....
option B is to replace the unit with a 55? which is a "similar" unit just wider..and it very well may look better in the car..bonus it has guages other bonus is the back dome is re-popped on these...so if someone finds one of those and can get it to me cheep YELL at me!!!!
the only real reason id like to stick with the 54 is its more of the "oddball" but i picked it up decades ago..sometime between 91 and 94 and it sat as decoration forever...it just felt right to stick in the lloyd and has memorys attached to it.....but if a cheep 55 ford unit happened i couldnt argue with it..i know it will align and fit better with the overall theme..
second major issue...
i need something very 50s feeling yet "simple" heater controls, something i can integrate and look right..all knob style would be epic..but if anyones got ideas hit me with em i was kinda eyeballing some of the vette stuff..till i saw prices
the other lil hicup is i need some "end" side window dash vents and..my brain has me thinking i need 2 eyebrowed guagepods..somthing like the gugae units in a 60 impala..they are "close" to what im thinking both in size and style tho the brow is a tad sharp..except i need 2 singles not doubles.....i actualy have one of the double units and in theory i can make it work IF and only IF i had a second one as the area i need to cut will destroy the other half
ive run into 2 major issues
first off the speedo cluster "dome" got shattered at some point..
so im going to BEG...if anyone has any wreckers around with 50's fords i beg please look to be specific..its 54 ford CAR, theres a few on ebay but none with a dome in good shape...honestly if the price was right id take complete dome/speedo in shit shape IE cracked n crazed to mold and try my hand at vacume forming..that was the plan with mine ....
option B is to replace the unit with a 55? which is a "similar" unit just wider..and it very well may look better in the car..bonus it has guages other bonus is the back dome is re-popped on these...so if someone finds one of those and can get it to me cheep YELL at me!!!!
the only real reason id like to stick with the 54 is its more of the "oddball" but i picked it up decades ago..sometime between 91 and 94 and it sat as decoration forever...it just felt right to stick in the lloyd and has memorys attached to it.....but if a cheep 55 ford unit happened i couldnt argue with it..i know it will align and fit better with the overall theme..
second major issue...
i need something very 50s feeling yet "simple" heater controls, something i can integrate and look right..all knob style would be epic..but if anyones got ideas hit me with em i was kinda eyeballing some of the vette stuff..till i saw prices
the other lil hicup is i need some "end" side window dash vents and..my brain has me thinking i need 2 eyebrowed guagepods..somthing like the gugae units in a 60 impala..they are "close" to what im thinking both in size and style tho the brow is a tad sharp..except i need 2 singles not doubles.....i actualy have one of the double units and in theory i can make it work IF and only IF i had a second one as the area i need to cut will destroy the other half
thrashingcows
Drowning deep in my sea of loathing...so I'm
What about these?
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/iYYAAOSw9HNjimPl/s-l500.jpg
1940-1950-ish Dodge, Plymouth, Chrysler, Desoto....I might even have some in decent shape from when i was working on my 48 Desoto, either Desoto units or maybe from a 46 Dodge I parted out....would have to dig through some boxes to see if I still had them. I did sell a bunch of stuff before we moved north so they may have got sold.
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/iYYAAOSw9HNjimPl/s-l500.jpg
1940-1950-ish Dodge, Plymouth, Chrysler, Desoto....I might even have some in decent shape from when i was working on my 48 Desoto, either Desoto units or maybe from a 46 Dodge I parted out....would have to dig through some boxes to see if I still had them. I did sell a bunch of stuff before we moved north so they may have got sold.
69.5CUDA
Blah Blah Blah
those may very well work, kinda wish they were black. but honestly thats something that can be fixed. hell the knobs could be milled out of aluminum and stamped and shot for that matter
id love to see how the heat/defrost ones work, if they are simple pull slides i suspect they are id need 1 or 2 extras. i dont need the mount just the units themselves
temp, def, floor, face, fan
id love to see how the heat/defrost ones work, if they are simple pull slides i suspect they are id need 1 or 2 extras. i dont need the mount just the units themselves
temp, def, floor, face, fan
69.5CUDA
Blah Blah Blah
SCREW YOU....or atleast thats been my HUGE issue for a while, so the roof is held together by some 50 screws, into, as you would expect steel clips...but they are NOT threads id ever seen, hell its taken me years to even know what they were and its only in the past year that ive figured out the type, count and pitch
sometim e last year a guy ID'd my bolts as "acme" thread but that was all i had, and he thought that maybe a volov used one(amazons and 128s)......with some extra holiday money and an itch to get moving...ive been running around hitting hardware wholesalers and such with little luck, mind you id found what i thought might be a source for...atleast the volvo version of the bolt online, but not having any luck finding a volvo in which i could remove a bolt and genuinely check it to verify.....i wasnt about to spend 100$ on non refundable bolts
found a local shop who restores OLD volvos in fact..its just 1 guy....and he wasnt but 45 mins or so away from here so i called aand then shot out there, sure enough the volvo bolts are the same thread, pitch, size, they are just a tad long so ill have to mod...they are also hex/bolt head vs philips but i dont care...to be honest what i have is unobtainable, even the shops that make bolts wont make em even if i order enough to make it worth their time due to the size of the screw/bolt
however that run to his lil shop in the country paid off in spades..seems the volvos use a handfull of other lil things that i need for not just the modded lloyd but the stockers too!!!..some of the window seals, door seals and other things are as close to a dead ringer as ive seen hell even the wing windows are almost exact//in fact the seats even could have been swaped for a stock lloyd and only someone who knew a lloyd REALLY well would even notice, some of the trim is also similar enough that i could replace some on the lloyds with volvo
in the end tho it was all about the screw/bolt and its a close as im going to get, even the clips are neerly identical so i have 110% verification
i also took my flywheel along with me to what will be my new machinist..an old "retired" guy that everyone in town sends the stuff they cant/dont/wont do...in fact the guy ive used since the 90s retired and told me to goto him....seriously old school, and walking in seeing a pair of carbs the size of 5gal buckets and a big ole polish supercharger just laying on the floor helped LOL
had a nice chat with him about re-balancing my flywheel to go from "traditional trans" to "transaxle"(ie clutch from the front moved to the back), even he agree's i shouldnt take the crank out of such a sweet engine with neerly zero miles on it but said if i can find even a stock crank or similar crank he can "mock"weight back onto the mock crank to zero out with the flywheel and balancer, then swap the flywheel and re-balance the flywheel....so i have a solve
part of me is askin..can i pull the crank out the belly of the block without pulling the heads or slugs just so he is starting off "closer" ..i mean...its a stroker ..ive got questions in on the alfa bb
ive fired off an order for some gaskets, the bolts, and a few other bits
doc if you poke your nose in here....im having issues finding a upper and lower pan gasket for a v6 alfa 1980-87 gtv6, 85-92 milano/75/alfetta sedan......and im 90% positive the lower gasket is the same on the 4bangers down into 1970 but cant seem to verify it upper might be too
..my normal sources both have 1 or the other ..mr fiat, and vic's 1 has the upper 1 has the lower neither have both..shipping hurts
sometim e last year a guy ID'd my bolts as "acme" thread but that was all i had, and he thought that maybe a volov used one(amazons and 128s)......with some extra holiday money and an itch to get moving...ive been running around hitting hardware wholesalers and such with little luck, mind you id found what i thought might be a source for...atleast the volvo version of the bolt online, but not having any luck finding a volvo in which i could remove a bolt and genuinely check it to verify.....i wasnt about to spend 100$ on non refundable bolts
found a local shop who restores OLD volvos in fact..its just 1 guy....and he wasnt but 45 mins or so away from here so i called aand then shot out there, sure enough the volvo bolts are the same thread, pitch, size, they are just a tad long so ill have to mod...they are also hex/bolt head vs philips but i dont care...to be honest what i have is unobtainable, even the shops that make bolts wont make em even if i order enough to make it worth their time due to the size of the screw/bolt
however that run to his lil shop in the country paid off in spades..seems the volvos use a handfull of other lil things that i need for not just the modded lloyd but the stockers too!!!..some of the window seals, door seals and other things are as close to a dead ringer as ive seen hell even the wing windows are almost exact//in fact the seats even could have been swaped for a stock lloyd and only someone who knew a lloyd REALLY well would even notice, some of the trim is also similar enough that i could replace some on the lloyds with volvo
in the end tho it was all about the screw/bolt and its a close as im going to get, even the clips are neerly identical so i have 110% verification
i also took my flywheel along with me to what will be my new machinist..an old "retired" guy that everyone in town sends the stuff they cant/dont/wont do...in fact the guy ive used since the 90s retired and told me to goto him....seriously old school, and walking in seeing a pair of carbs the size of 5gal buckets and a big ole polish supercharger just laying on the floor helped LOL
had a nice chat with him about re-balancing my flywheel to go from "traditional trans" to "transaxle"(ie clutch from the front moved to the back), even he agree's i shouldnt take the crank out of such a sweet engine with neerly zero miles on it but said if i can find even a stock crank or similar crank he can "mock"weight back onto the mock crank to zero out with the flywheel and balancer, then swap the flywheel and re-balance the flywheel....so i have a solve
part of me is askin..can i pull the crank out the belly of the block without pulling the heads or slugs just so he is starting off "closer" ..i mean...its a stroker ..ive got questions in on the alfa bb
ive fired off an order for some gaskets, the bolts, and a few other bits
doc if you poke your nose in here....im having issues finding a upper and lower pan gasket for a v6 alfa 1980-87 gtv6, 85-92 milano/75/alfetta sedan......and im 90% positive the lower gasket is the same on the 4bangers down into 1970 but cant seem to verify it upper might be too
..my normal sources both have 1 or the other ..mr fiat, and vic's 1 has the upper 1 has the lower neither have both..shipping hurts
69.5CUDA
Blah Blah Blah
bolts are stopping me from finishing the cage..which halts everything body related
flywheel is stopping me from everything engine and engine bay related
ive litteraly built myself into a corner..but hey..i managed to get this far on PENNYS..like i dont even have 1500$ wrapped up in the car and thats including the brand new tires under it all the welding wire and used parts
of course its all the little things that kill ya right?
flywheel is stopping me from everything engine and engine bay related
ive litteraly built myself into a corner..but hey..i managed to get this far on PENNYS..like i dont even have 1500$ wrapped up in the car and thats including the brand new tires under it all the welding wire and used parts
of course its all the little things that kill ya right?
69.5CUDA
Blah Blah Blah
i could use some further input on a few things from anyone willing to click links and give input.
first up..radiator
space is limited..this is the MAXIMUM amount of radiator i can fit, price hurts, and wondering if theres a "good" alternative, honestly tho i want quality first price be damned really the BIG bonus to me is no fill neck that i dont have space for anyway..maybe there is an "off the shelf" alternative?
www.speedwaymotors.com
exhaust..do i go 2 or 2.25 or 2.5?..its a heavy breathing 3.8 that will be true dual all the way to the tail...no X or H..no space....why do i ask, cause i have a bender, why not just buy the die and bend it myself? with the amount of bends i calculated it to be almost the same price, the differance is i can re-use the die indefinatly..the only advantage i could see is that pre made bends can be bought "tighter"
while on the subject of exhaust..anyone know of a "good" electric cutout?...i intend to build the pipes with 3 noise levels...1 full flow thru including ferarri muffler, 2 bypass of muffler still thru the tips, 3 front or rear wheelwell cutout
tail light bulbs....and this may intrest most of you
ive been eyeballing what the couger guys have been coming up with for the past decade and these seem to be a smart grab as they are designed to work with OE reflectors and such...yeah they have a price tag....
secure.cougarpartscatalog.com
with these being another option as i KNOW morimotos quality is outstanding
the last thing im having issues with right now is finding "quality" trumpets for a reworked ITB setup...its low on the priority list but somehting ive been trying to find for a few years with no luck
first up..radiator
space is limited..this is the MAXIMUM amount of radiator i can fit, price hurts, and wondering if theres a "good" alternative, honestly tho i want quality first price be damned really the BIG bonus to me is no fill neck that i dont have space for anyway..maybe there is an "off the shelf" alternative?
AFCO 80122N Asphalt Modified Radiator 15 X 27 Inch
100% Pressure Tested Optimum fin per inch ratio for maximum cooling Bleeder and drain included 1" NPT inlet, 1-3/4" outlet Mounting flanges provided for mounting fans TIG welded - No epoxy
exhaust..do i go 2 or 2.25 or 2.5?..its a heavy breathing 3.8 that will be true dual all the way to the tail...no X or H..no space....why do i ask, cause i have a bender, why not just buy the die and bend it myself? with the amount of bends i calculated it to be almost the same price, the differance is i can re-use the die indefinatly..the only advantage i could see is that pre made bends can be bought "tighter"
while on the subject of exhaust..anyone know of a "good" electric cutout?...i intend to build the pipes with 3 noise levels...1 full flow thru including ferarri muffler, 2 bypass of muffler still thru the tips, 3 front or rear wheelwell cutout
tail light bulbs....and this may intrest most of you
ive been eyeballing what the couger guys have been coming up with for the past decade and these seem to be a smart grab as they are designed to work with OE reflectors and such...yeah they have a price tag....
Plasma LED - 1157 Bulb - RED - 6 Pack - New ~ 1967 - 1973 Mercury Cougar / 1967 - 1973 Ford Mustang
These bulbs work with Cougar factory spec turn signal flashers, but they may not work with all aftermarket flashers, especially if they claim to 'exceed' the factory specs. Because of this, you may want to order our turn signal flasher...
secure.cougarpartscatalog.com
with these being another option as i KNOW morimotos quality is outstanding
the last thing im having issues with right now is finding "quality" trumpets for a reworked ITB setup...its low on the priority list but somehting ive been trying to find for a few years with no luck
Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
We have an "Import Parts Specialists" division that's actually quite good. I'm gonna ruin their day tomorrow, just like I did when I had a customer looking for a master cylinder or even a kit for a '67 Toyota Corona police package (yeah, it was a real thing outside the U.S.). It was the only year the Corona was built with a single-chamber master, and if memory serves the car was imported by the current owner from Panama. The IPS guys are not miracle workers though, and both they and I struck out on that one. It was not for lack of trying. I ordered multiple "looks right, measures right" kits, none of which worked. It took the owner three more years to find a kit, NOS, from some overseas place. For a paltry $350. Read that again--we're talking about a master-cylinder kit, not a whole master... for $350.
I would've converted the thing simply because I don't trust single-pot masters. It's not like there's anyone in the US that was going to look under the hood of a 56-year-old Central American squad car and definitively say, "That's the wrong master cylinder." It was distinctively odd, though.
Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
On the radiator:
I think I'd be scouring junkyards to find a suitable core. That's actually a pretty large piece--bigger than what's in my Valiant, and that car stays cool. Can't clear the cap? Zip it off flush and solder/weld on a patch (or have a shop do it). Then use either a later-model overflow/recovery tank with a pressure cap (these are getting pretty common) or use an inline pressure cap adapter like this one. Or, if you want to roll the dice a bit, eBay is full of 'em in various hose diameters (even stepped) and styles.
Exhaust: The muffler is your restriction. There's no need to make the pipe any larger than the muffler's smallest nipple. That being said, if you're doing crush bends rather than mandrel, I'd go up at least one pipe size. The pipe's cross-sectional area is much smaller in the bend area on non-mandrel bends. I can't help you with the cutouts; it's not something for which I've shopped, nor have I ever sold any. For the Valiant I made dump pipes terminated with V-band caps. Manual, but fast to remove. Good electric ones are expensive, cheap non-electric ones are cheap (and usually made of cast iron, for some reason).
LED bulbs: I had those exact "Cougar" LEDs in my Dakota. They were about $9/pair on Amazon at the time. I also had the 1156 version for the backup lights, which were ridiculously bright--think about how small the backup light is on an '80s Dodge pickup or Dakota through '96 (same taillight). They were nearly rear-facing fog lamps. I had no issue with quality; they worked well. That Cougar site is stroking people.
Other than known vendors of ITB or stack injection, I wouldn't know where to point you for trumpets. I'll just remind you that the length directly and noticeably affects your powerband. The longer the pipe, the lower the RPM range. While I'm on that subject, and I'm sure we've discussed it previously, there's no truly good way to do speed-density tuning on ITBs. You're essentially limited to Alpha/N tuning (RPM v throttle position), unless you want to drill a vacuum port on each runner below the throttle blade, run a hose to a large common vacuum chamber, and read MAP off that. Even that solution is a bit sketchy; ITBs are notoriously "noisy" due to the constant pulsing between vacuum, reversion and ambient air pressure as the intake valve opens and closes. Alpha (Alfa?)/N is a lot of work to properly implement, but the throttle response of ITBs can't be beat. There is literally no adaptive ("self-learning"--HA!) algorithm that will work decently with stack injection.
I think I'd be scouring junkyards to find a suitable core. That's actually a pretty large piece--bigger than what's in my Valiant, and that car stays cool. Can't clear the cap? Zip it off flush and solder/weld on a patch (or have a shop do it). Then use either a later-model overflow/recovery tank with a pressure cap (these are getting pretty common) or use an inline pressure cap adapter like this one. Or, if you want to roll the dice a bit, eBay is full of 'em in various hose diameters (even stepped) and styles.
Exhaust: The muffler is your restriction. There's no need to make the pipe any larger than the muffler's smallest nipple. That being said, if you're doing crush bends rather than mandrel, I'd go up at least one pipe size. The pipe's cross-sectional area is much smaller in the bend area on non-mandrel bends. I can't help you with the cutouts; it's not something for which I've shopped, nor have I ever sold any. For the Valiant I made dump pipes terminated with V-band caps. Manual, but fast to remove. Good electric ones are expensive, cheap non-electric ones are cheap (and usually made of cast iron, for some reason).
LED bulbs: I had those exact "Cougar" LEDs in my Dakota. They were about $9/pair on Amazon at the time. I also had the 1156 version for the backup lights, which were ridiculously bright--think about how small the backup light is on an '80s Dodge pickup or Dakota through '96 (same taillight). They were nearly rear-facing fog lamps. I had no issue with quality; they worked well. That Cougar site is stroking people.
Other than known vendors of ITB or stack injection, I wouldn't know where to point you for trumpets. I'll just remind you that the length directly and noticeably affects your powerband. The longer the pipe, the lower the RPM range. While I'm on that subject, and I'm sure we've discussed it previously, there's no truly good way to do speed-density tuning on ITBs. You're essentially limited to Alpha/N tuning (RPM v throttle position), unless you want to drill a vacuum port on each runner below the throttle blade, run a hose to a large common vacuum chamber, and read MAP off that. Even that solution is a bit sketchy; ITBs are notoriously "noisy" due to the constant pulsing between vacuum, reversion and ambient air pressure as the intake valve opens and closes. Alpha (Alfa?)/N is a lot of work to properly implement, but the throttle response of ITBs can't be beat. There is literally no adaptive ("self-learning"--HA!) algorithm that will work decently with stack injection.