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Well as for your 305 if I were in your shoes I’d have my eye out for local stuff like this. https://www.kijiji.ca/v-engines-and-...ationFlag=true
*This particular one requires a lengthy conversation and likely a few parts thrown at it beyond what could come off your 305, but you get my drift. Not particularly Christian but Id be comin in at 20% of the ask with a “nobody wants these- all LS these days- I can swing by tomorrow and take it off your hands” kinda thing.
There’s also a dude in Mississauga - “Hoefling Performance” - who bills his little shop as a “TPI specialty” place. https://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars...ationFlag=true
Haven’t checked him out for my own curiosity yet but as a man of meager skills I’d be doing a hard bargain L98 as above and then drop the car and the iron for a long timeline+low invoice swap at a place like this.
I considered a 350 swap but my car's a T5 and I don't want to grenade it before I know exactly what motor/trans combo I want to go with. Also I can't speak to his work, but I've contacted that Mississauga guy twice, both with no response. Do you know of a good shop in the city that you take your car to? Assuming you live in the west end! I work in Oakville and there's a small shop that I've used a few times as the owner's a TPI guy, but their attitude is a bit tiring some times and the mechanics don't seem to be firing on all cylinders so I've been on the hunt for a new place
As to your question, I had a great convo with this guy regarding my plans for the ‘roc as well as a dog of a ZR1 I foolishly was considering. http://www.kanesperformance.com/about.htm
C4 guy and has an old engine specialist who’s seen his fair share of 80s GM so that all sounded good. This would be a long timeline low as possible invoice kinda place. Can’t say I’ve dropped a car with him yet though. Not quite near Oakville either lol. (For amusement’s sake last week I noticed this albatross of a ZR1 had been improved a bit but ultimately exhausted its *second* owner https://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars...ationFlag=true)
”Vortech Automotive” (no website) on Toronto’s ghetto east side did my alternator while I was at work as well as a handy job on the R134 conversion- however the dude did more or less bail on doing the headers, TC and SFCs and all this other gear I’d left with him. Then again I did bring him the car way late in winter and he’d warned me to drop it earlier.
Finally for strictly engine stuff this place comes very highly recommended http://www.activeengines.com/
I’ve only had a friendly chat- for instance $3800 to fully rebuild an L98. Useful price comp data point for years from now.
I don't know why but those Vette's do nothing for me. I had one at work last summer and it moved around pretty well but didn't excite me for more than a 20 minute Tims run, mind you if that power plant had a third gen wrapped around it ...
I've heard of that Kane's place, so far nothing but good reviews! Maybe we could dump both our cars on him and get a package deal on some more performance aimed rebuilds
Really eh? I understand as a DOHC the LT5 is and isn’t the ultimo TPI at the same time...all in all though I think a 6spd C4 L98 or LT1 would be a helluva lot of fun and a looker to boot. Of course my iroc is auto so that probably has something to do with it.
Yeah Malcolm there is a really nice guy, $60/hr as I recall too and willing to cut a deal if ya just leave the car there all winter But TBH my reconnoiter continues! - have to check out a couple more places reco’d to me.
The thing about storing the car for the winter offsite of your house is ya really start to miss just seeing it. I’d failed to do a full photoshoot before storage(!)...but did come across this deece shot
...and in two years of ownership I had failed to check the door jamb to see when exactly it was made!
Well last part of VIN = KL123795
Aside from some general maintenance items like tires, serpentine belt or a sensor my ride remains entirely stock outside of the following additions/refreshes:
August 2017
• Magnaflow 16829 street series catback exhaust 3.5" tips
• 15% tints all around
• sand/paint various trim
Summer 2018
• R134 AC conversion
• New audio speakers, amp, removable sub
• New (reman) CS130 alternator
• emblems, lamps etc as exhaustively catalogued in the thread above lol
But….I *finally* dropped the car (and the majority of the goodies below) a few weeks ago at Kane’s Performance for its big refresh!
Below is what it will emerge with in June (which probably means July). You can see I tried to make the list idiot-proof so the dude can track all the gear and his attack accordingly, and also included some chickensh*t items I never got to which I probably coulda tackled myself this summer- but I just wanted my beauty clean and pristine and 100% ready to enjoy daily when it’s done.
You can also see this is a helluva lotta stuff yet cam/heads/tune are omitted. Basically I wanted to give the stock L98 the best architecture possible- I still have a full SR sitting in the mancave for a possible phase II, but quality heads are expenssssive, especially for man low on time tools and skills so I may just sell it and leave the car as is, as below. Still love the stock mill!
Finally, I grabbed a lot of this gear pre-owned or NIB either locally or much of it here on TGO classifieds and just wanted to note that we have a great community here and I have yet to meet a member that it wasn’t a pleasure to deal with- not to mention all the great advice the veteran members freely share!
ENGINE BAY:
• Fan switch Buick GN model ACDelco 210/200 on/off
• Thermostat ACDelco 170
• SLP airfoil for throttle body
• TPiS throttle body engine coolant bypass
• Coolant overflow bottle
• Windshield washer fluid bottle
• Hood liner
• Hood struts
• Nippondenso high torque mini starter, Summit 820323
• Aluminum water pump, skip white
• New (pre-owned) fuel injectors
One on car now is leaking and the set provided are same 22# Bosch, low-mile, and flow-matched so probably switch all
• Solid Astro van intermediate driveshaft + bearing
Requires notching
• Remove baffles from air box
• Transmission oil cooler Tru-cool 4490
Guidance says mount the aftermarket cooler in in front of the A/C condenser and leave a small gap between the two.
➔ Check fuel vapor charcoal canister connections all good
➔ Check all wiring secure, esp. near firewall (looks like hack job)
➔ Repaint brake booster if possible
➔ Clean TPI plenum and runners
➔ Install new manifold gaskets
HEADS:
• 1.26” springs incl., cups, retainers TFS-31400413
• COMP Cams Pro Magnum Roller 1.6 Rocker Arms 1318-16
• Valve Stem Seals
o SS72877 Exhaust
o SS72527 Intake
IGNITION:
• MSD 8366 small cap distributor
• MSD 8226 coil
• MSD 6AL ignition box 6420
• MSD 8876 harness
• 8.8mm MSD wires, including coil to cap wire
EXHAUST:
• Hi-flow Cat Magnaflow 93441 3"
• 3” flange piece to connect catback to cat
• Hooker 2055 ceramic coated headers (one AIR tube requires a quick weld) + 3" Y-pipe
Includes short spark plugs and gaskets
• Three-wire heated 02 sensor + weather pack connector
TRANSMISSION:
• 700r4 Shift kit Probuilt Automatics
The Street/Strip Shift kit combines the TransGo 700-2-3 and the TransGo Junior for late 1987 thru 1993 transmissions and includes upgraded corvette servo.
• Torque converter Circle D 9¾” single disc 3000 rpm
• Hurst Dual/Gate II Shifter 292-0000
• Aluminum driveshaft 10085375 2.75”
FRONT SUSPENSION:
• Front sway bar bushings+endlinks 36mm poly ENS-3-5213R
• GW Del-a-Lum bushings for A-arms GLS-1022
• Transmission mount bushing ENS-3-1142R
• Tunnel Mounted Torque Arm UMI 2216
• Springs, Front Coil, OEM MOG-5662
• Struts Koni 8741-1030SPORT
STEERING LINKAGE:
• MK6249 Idler Arm
• MK6145T Lower Ball Joints
• MES2226RL Outer Tie Rods
• MES2227RL Inner Tie Rods
• MDS1049 Center Link
• UMI 2103HD Aluminum Tie Rods
REAR SUSPENSION:
• Founders lower control arm x2
• Founders non-adj. panhard bar
• Rear sway bar bushings+endlinks 24mm poly ENS-3-5147R
• Sub-frame connectors:
o Alston inner x2
o BMR outer x2
• Springs, Rear Coil, Cargo MOG-CC635
• Shocks Koni 8241-1140SPORT
Guidance says adjust steering box and do alignment after all suspension and steering linkage work
REAR DIFF:
• 3.45 rear gears + housing
• Gear kit for correct speedo reading
• TA Performance diff girdle + gasket
Guidance says add new rear diff fluid w GM posi additive after gear change
BRAKES:
• Front brakes 1993 C4 corvette dual piston 12” upgrade
o Hubs
o Brackets
o Spindles
o Rotors
o Calipers (already rebuilt)
• Stainless steel brake lines front and back
Check if rear calipers require a rebuild (doubtful)
Check all brake pads (should be fine)
INTERIOR:
• Stereo head unit
• Cigarette lighter housing needs rewiring/cleaning for lighter to function
• Express up/down windows kit
Best installed during Hurst dual/gate shifter and head unit install
If doesn’t fit without transmission interference forget it
• Window stop bumpers
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...p-bumpers.html
➔ While inside doors check window motors, grease regulators (p-side window slow as hell), generally try to derattle doors as much as possible
EXTERIOR:
• Nose badge
• Fixed radio antennae
• DS door handle
• DS mirror glass (already did PS)
• T-top new plastic rainguards x2
• Outer window sweeps – both doors
• Billet Aluminum Rear Hatch Hinges
Adjust back hatch roof hinges so spoiler flush with quarter panel spoiler sections (over time hatch arms push it out too far)
Last edited by SirReveller; 03-16-2019 at 06:19 PM.
Update: work’s underway but taking longer than estimated, as I expected from the start really. The weather sucks ***** right now anyway so not too PO’d about this (yet) - Id rather drive the ‘hoe during four consecutive days of grey rain than the ‘roc.
In the meantime I threw a pretty common low-$ “upgrade” not already on the list into the mix.. https://www.southbayfuelinjectors.co...ator-diaphragm
..with TGO discount tg11 after reading this article which speaks to the loss of low end torque a headers/exhaust-*only* upgrade can create on the L98.
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hppp...ns-am-exhaust/ ...true to Bruce Hawkins’ prophecy, we had gained 14 peak horsepower but lost almost 14 lb-ft of torque, and the power below 4,400 rpm, where this car normally does all it’s best work, dropped off substantially. From idle to 4,300 rpm, the horsepower and torque were both well below baseline, but we were also running quite lean, which makes sense with the reduction in back pressure realized by the new exhaust system. The car feels faster, as without any bottom-end power, the spike at 4,400 rpm feels like the car is coming alive, especially with the roar of the new headers and exhaust, but unfortunately, this is all happening while bicyclists are casually passing us.
Looks like this is a job for our Holley AFPR, so we reached under the manifold and gave it a quarter turn, although at this juncture, we weren’t trusting our gauge anymore to give us the real fuel pressure. It was just what the doctor ordered, and after a few more pulls, our GTA’s torque jumped 26 lb-ft over the previous lean pull, while at the same time, the torque peak went from 4,400 rpm down to 3,550. We tried even higher pressure, but power dropped off.
The SouthBay AFPR seems to be the only game in town where it actually comes with the diaphragm vs Holley, TPiS- plus they’re so supportive of the site here I was happy to throw them the biz.
With the stock fuel pump still in there I don’t have a ton of room past 43psi but I figure better to have the ability to get’er setup right as per the article than not. Have a racetronix FL98 sitting here as well- the harness looks really nicely made (and the pump is the Walbro 255lph too which is great) buuut ultimately decided to just hang on to this until the stocker fuel pump dies to avoid that big tank out operation... lest I don’t get the car out til Halloween
Well she’s back!
And not a moment too soon as it’s been a beautiful long weekend so far.
My pro got stuck on a project April (which I expected) and then was in the hospital most of May (which I didn’t). I don’t wanna dump the guy’s business all over the interweb but suffice to say he was a little less than forthcoming about his health. By early June I was like “dude- forget the upgrades: summer is here. Outta time. Give her a shakedown and release her!” So a laughably small part of the gear I’d assembled was installed. Since this thread was all about lists here was the extensive tune up:
Flush coolant (Valvoline Max Life)
Knock sensor
New radiator cap
Thermostat ACDelco 170 + DeRale adj. fanswitch (set 180)
Bleed brakes and check master cylinder to tighten up brakes
Oil pressure switch (“oil sending unit”)
Oil change (synthetic)
MSD coil
Fuel filter
Hood struts
Remove baffles from air box
SLP airfoil for throttle body
TPiS throttle body engine coolant bypass
Skip white aluminum water pump
Hatch struts
Battery (optima yellow top)
Battery boots + stereo connection
NKG g-force platinum spark plugs + 90deg. MSD spark plug wires (+ heat sleeves)
Align back license plate
Align back tailpipes
Bleed power steering fluid
Power steering hose
Weld Cat AIR connection
Serpentine tensioner pulley
Grease front steering linkage
Torque converter plastic housing/shield
Crankcase ventilation (PCV) hose
The guy at least did prove himself the veteran tech Id hired him for as the last dozen items were all on his walkthrough and areas three other mechanics missed.
You’d think I’d be PO’d having all that cool sh*t still in the basement of the guy’s shop waiting til it’s cold out again but the car is out runnin cooler, with stable voltage and idling and revving far better than I ever remembered so I’m all grins.
One more stock summer!
BT we’re gonna have to walk back that “good state of tune” lol: Way back in September 2017 when I’d only had the car a few weeks I had it get a walkaround at a garage near work I quite liked. I’d noted to the guy “How’s the injectors- pretty strong fuel smell comin off this baby” and he goes “Oh they look new- one looks to be leakin a bit. Expensive fix so unless it’s reaaaally bugging you.” Somehow I got it in my head he’d also noted orange Bosch IIIs we’re in there (my fault) so with only one questionable injector amongst a set of newish ones (to my mind) new replacements ranked way down on the ol’ to-do list. Well all this time farting around on the exterior with cosmetic items and I finally go look myself given the fuel smell- these are the ancient Multecs! “Like new??” I can only imagine how gummed up these relics are by now. IIRC they were pretty crappy out of the box! I’ll be ordering a set of Delphis from SouthBay immediately.
Secondly as for my beautiful tune up this June my “veteran” didn’t run the heat sleeves far enough and/or plain old didn’t route the plug wires optimally and we got some wire plastic cover burnin off against the AIR tubes!
Talk about an argument for wrenching on your own car good lord- I could make mistakes like this for free! Man do I ever need a place where I don’t park blocking the wife in...
Ill get these issues sorted- still pretty stoked to simply have the car out.
We're on year 2 and I still haven't seen your car in person .. not impressed It looks great though and I'm glad you have it back finally! Looking at yours with the tops off really makes me wish I still had a ttop
Well now that we’re Back in Black ‘89ers pencil in Sat Jul 20th at the Queensway CanTire! (If that works)
You should go out this weekend! With my new hood struts and stuff, I think I'll actually take my car out to it this time. It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend too so there will be tons of cars
What times it runs again? 6/7-10? May be jammed up with family sh*t this weekend but def free the 20th!
Yep usually really gets going around 6 till about 9. I try to go every Saturday night, but lately I've been taking cars from work so I haven't had my ROC there yet, but I'll hopefully bring it on the 20th! This weekend is family s***, 20th is Third Gen family s***
Clamps ordered. In the meantime I resumed the neverending pursuit of cosmetic perfection...
These are pretty nice repros next to the originals http://www.hawksmotorsports.com/85-9...-reproduction/
although the adjustment bolt is incorrect and far more glaringly the upper bit is bare metal for some reason.
So
Before
After
Betimes scrolling the classifieds I am reminded why this seemingly stupid painting step was worth it.
Ah my bad man. Horrible day driving around arguing with the wife (looking for a new house) then noticed my fenders were bowed out from improper jacking courtesy my “pro” that very afternoon. Had a window to buzz over that evening but the car was filthy and I was in a rotten mood. ...On the bright side fixed the fenders last night and also recently popped in a new iroc-z center cap (to replace one that apparently was defective as the lettering washed away to an inky blob), put in those seatbelt sleeves and managed to get my antennae fully retracted. Long story short my car is ready for a wash and shine and ready to go this Saturday! Let’s PM the Sat AM on the weather forecast cuz if the sun is out I’m there
Ah my bad man. Horrible day driving around arguing with the wife (looking for a new house) then noticed my fenders were bowed out from improper jacking courtesy my “pro” that very afternoon. Had a window to buzz over that evening but the car was filthy and I was in a rotten mood. ...On the bright side fixed the fenders last night and also recently popped in a new iroc-z center cap (to replace one that apparently was defective as the lettering washed away to an inky blob), put in those seatbelt sleeves and managed to get my antennae fully retracted. Long story short my car is ready for a wash and shine and ready to go this Saturday! Let’s PM the Sat AM on the weather forecast cuz if the sun is out I’m there
That sounds like a perfect recipe for a grumpy Saturday, I guess I'm lucky I avoided your presence haha. I took a big lime green Mercedes G Squared to the show anyways because I was too lazy to re-wash my car, so you didn't miss much anyways. I picked up a new nose the other day and I'd really like to at least have the new GFX on my car by this weekend so I can feel a little more comfortable having it on display haha.
Ah - well now I don’t feel so bad! Lol Forecast looks good- bring the ‘roc this Saturday and leave the old nose for now: mine has plenty of chips- they’ll look better parked beside one another!
Ah - well now I don’t feel so bad! Lol Forecast looks good- bring the ‘roc this Saturday and leave the old nose for now: mine has plenty of chips- they’ll look better parked beside one another!
I will see you there. At least your damage was caused by stones, and not another vehicle ..
I better get to actually see this car in person this year! I've been aggressively hunting for a new third gen but everything I look at is garbage for gold. There's a blue 89' iroc on Kijiji for 5000ish right now with a bit of damage on the nose that I was going to buy on Friday as it was supposedly safety ready and 100% rust free with only 150xxxkm. I wouldn't even buy that car for 1500. The floor had been tin snipped out with a chunk of sheet metal tucked under the carpet, all of the metal along the ttop lip was rotten, wheel wells were rotten, nothing worked or was bi-passed, and that's only what I feel like typing. It was a basket case
related: used a highly rated joint around since ‘85- but they were used to stock rebuilds on 700r4s, saying folks they’d installed shift kits for almost always regretted it. Were very reticent to put in the probuilt street/strip kit I sent along....I said “just do it- call Dana if you need more color.” A few hours later ...”we called...that guy is a genius.”
Talk about an endorsement! https://probuiltautomatics.com/
She’s back! I’ll try to be brief and run through my impressions of the main changes made:
Springs - well she sits 28” and change floor to fender...I shoulda measured my sagging 31 year old springs but probably around 26.5” or 27”. I honestly don’t care if she settles or not- sleek and aggressive is great but I also get a kick out of the as-it-was off the factory floor look. Also in Toronto the roads are kinda like Beirut so no need to be slamming the nose on crappy grades at speed more than ya have to.
Astro shaft w/bearing, all new steering linkage, rebuilt steering box - points like a Sauer rifle vs the river barge turns I was use to before (tho that wasn’t without its own charm tbh). Killer.
12” vette front brakes - love’em; not quite “stand it in its nose” and probably shoulda done 13”Hd or ls1 brakes for the cost but vastly improved. Mostly they look ever so slightly larger than the rears through the wheels. A small detail few would notice but I love that. Dual piston dual piston, of the era.
Koni yellows - way more planted. (Full soft- 35psi up front 33psi back on pretty fresh BF sport comp ii’s). Probably not as sensational so far as made out to be but yeah way better than monroe as everyone says. Tho that caddy compression rate is more comfortable on potholes the konis are way more fun anywhere the road is decent and sensational on the highway.
700r4 rebuild with circle d 3000 stall and Dana’s street/strip kit - awesome. I’d describe before stock as
most/something/nothing and now it flashes up when you get on it and is something/most/nothing (tpi always ends at nothing haha)
3.45 gears - great; chirp the tires way more easily. Floor it with the above flashing and she runs like a scalded dog. A new level of care is required when executing deliberate fishtail turns to entertain passengers. 2800 rpm on the highway at 90mph. Perfect.
Delphi injectors - well way less rich smelling, tho tbh I did kinda enjoy the obligatory-gas huffing cabin. Mostly it’s nice to not care where you get your 91 octane as only one of our four or five major gas stations sells the good stuff without ethanol (shell). I can even go back to the sunoco 94 with ethanol when I’m around that one. Better flow rate etc. Most importantly whichever multec was leaking is sayonara. Also supposedly the bosch iii’s tick loudly or require a tune some say so no problems there.
Hooker 2055 shorties and MF 93441 3” cat to finish off the MF 16829 3” catback with straight through muffler that was on at purchase- goddamn she sounds like the Molson Indy 500 is on when you get your foot in it. Which is awesome but unfortunately at idle or cruising it’s a tossup between ups truck with rusted out exhaust or wow neato a “real race car” ... entirely subjective. Ultimately any note that has a mom with stroller glaring but the homeless guy in Pink Floyd T-shirt cheering you know you’ve made the correct choice.
Poly bushings all over - this one I knew going in there’s a solid regret factor among many daily or Sunday drivers vs the autocross guys. I’m not quite there yet. On a terrible road yes pretty lousy NVH vs rubber ...but taking a ramp from one highway to another at extreme speed with (comparatively) 0 body roll- freakin awesome
Founders and UMI tubular red whatever - looks awesome on a hoist - probably helping incrementally with launches or aforementioned hard fast high speed turns. Most of all I like that the torque arm is off the tranny tailhousing. Probably overkill but pretty cool overall and isn’t that what red tubular whatever is mostly about ?
comp 1.6 rockers with trickflow springs - lifted the 049 cam profile a bit and made idle a touch meaner - doing it’s part with the scalded dog effect at wot I’m sure.. Didn’t wanna get into cam$ alum head$ and tune$ so pleased as punch to know their doing their thing.
Other little things like alum DS and three wire 02 sensor all probably playing their part too. Same with more general maintenance items caught during this big refresh like leaking rivet to brake booster or PCV hose. Really pleased my recipe after endless reading of all your guys’ different builds came together so nicely. Rock on!
Last edited by SirReveller; 07-31-2020 at 10:25 PM.
She’s back! I’ll try to be brief and run through my impressions of the main changes made:
Springs - well she sits 28” and change floor to fender...I shoulda measured my sagging 31 year old springs but probably around 26.5” or 27”. I honestly don’t care if she settles or not- sleek and aggressive is great but I also get a kick out of the as-it-was off the factory floor look. Also in Toronto the roads are kinda like Beirut so no need to be slamming the nose on crappy grades at speed more than ya have to.
Astro shaft w/bearing, all new steering linkage, rebuilt steering box - points like a Sauer rifle vs the river barge turns I was use to before (tho that wasn’t without its own charm tbh). Killer.
12” vette front brakes - love’em; not quite “stand it in its nose” and probably shoulda done 13”Hd or ls1 brakes for the cost but vastly improved. Mostly they look ever so slightly larger than the rears through the wheels. A small detail few would notice but I love that. Dual piston dual piston, of the era.
Koni yellows - way more planted. (Full soft- 35psi up front 33psi back on pretty fresh BF sport comp ii’s). Probably not as sensational so far as made out to be but yeah way better than monroe as everyone says. Tho that caddy compression rate is more comfortable on potholes the konis are way more fun anywhere the road is decent and sensational on the highway.
700r4 rebuild with circle d 3000 stall and Dana’s street/strip kit - awesome. I’d describe before stock as
most/something/nothing and now it flashes up when you get on it and is something/most/nothing (tpi always ends at nothing haha)
3.45 gears - great; chirp the tires way more easily. Floor it with the above flashing and she runs like a scalded dog. A new level of care is required when executing deliberate fishtail turns to entertain passengers. 2800 rpm on the highway at 90mph. Perfect.
Delphi injectors - well way less rich smelling, tho tbh I did kinda enjoy the obligatory-gas huffing cabin. Mostly it’s nice to not care where you get your 91 octane as only one of our four or five major gas stations sells the good stuff without ethanol (shell). I can even go back to the sunoco 94 with ethanol when I’m around that one. Better flow rate etc. Most importantly whichever multec was leaking is sayonara. Also supposedly the bosch iii’s tick loudly or require a tune some say so no problems there.
Hooker 2055 shorties and MF 93441 3” cat to finish off the MF 16829 3” catback with straight through muffler that was on at purchase- goddamn she sounds like the Molson Indy 500 is on when you get your foot in it. Which is awesome but unfortunately at idle or cruising it’s a tossup between ups truck with rusted out exhaust or wow neato a “real race car” ... entirely subjective. Ultimately any note that has a mom with stroller glaring but the homeless guy in Pink Floyd T-shirt cheering you know you’ve made the correct choice.
Poly bushings all over - this one I knew going in there’s a solid regret factor among many daily or Sunday drivers vs the autocross guys. I’m not quite there yet. On a terrible road yes pretty lousy NVH vs rubber ...but taking a ramp from one highway to another at extreme speed with (comparatively) 0 body roll- freakin awesome
Founders and UMI tubular red whatever - looks awesome on a hoist - probably helping incrementally with launches or aforementioned hard fast high speed turns. Most of all I like that the torque arm is off the tranny tailhousing. Probably overkill but pretty cool overall and isn’t that what red tubular whatever is mostly about ?
comp 1.6 rockers with trickflow springs - lifted the 049 cam profile a bit and made idle a touch meaner - doing it’s part with the scalded dog effect at wot I’m sure.. Didn’t wanna get into cam$ alum head$ and tune$ so pleased as punch to know their doing their thing.
Other little things like alum DS and three wire 02 sensor all probably playing their part too. Same with more general maintenance items caught during this big refresh like leaking rivet to brake booster or PCV hose. Really pleased my recipe after endless reading of all your guys’ different builds came together so nicely. Rock on!
The thing about storing the car for the winter offsite of your house is ya really start to miss just seeing it. I’d failed to do a full photoshoot before storage(!)...but did come across this deece shot
...and in two years of ownership I had failed to check the door jamb to see when exactly it was made!
Well last part of VIN = KL123795
Oct-88!
Cool. No wonder no N10.
If this data is correct, my '89 is the third to last car built in May. I new it was a last week in May car, now I can figure it's the last day of May car.
Thanks Chaz- the trans/chassis/suspension was probably overbuilt for a mostly stock motor tbh. But that was kinda my interest- how does a refreshed and barely changed l98 really do? The answer is awesome, butt dyno of course, but an undeniable major difference flying down the road. One could also say some porting of the plenum or runners, 52mm throttle body or aftermarket runners would aid the race exhaust out back but from all my reading grumpy’s extremely technical reviews that identified the MAF as the major constriction led me to leave the intake alone (other than gutted air baffles, tb coolant bypass and, of course, the +27hp airfoil lol).
One last change I left out was the msd 6425 box, 8336 distributor and I can’t recall blaster coil. This was another area of overkill I kinda got sucked into after picking up a used box on a whim while buying other stuff. It’s nice to know the 530 volts has the plugs firing a bizzilion times for full detonation but reviews on reliability are mixed at best.
Got an alignment of course after doing the steering but I noticed a bad shudder/bind at full lock left or right (ie spinning into a tight parking spot) that was nicely mitigated by the street specs here which I handed to an alignment place. TGO saves the day once more.
Well why do one and leave the other. Gotta have symmetry. So replaced the driver’s side with the repro as well. Looks pretty nice:
I guess the lack of housing is more an issue for the show car/investment grade guys. I’m just fussing on a stock 100k mile summer daily in my back yard while the kids are asleep lol
The Phoenix’s also aren’t too shabby in the housings as the alternate way of doing it though you could dig in your nail and gouge it (eg road debris on the highway etc) since again; at the end of the day it’s just a really good sticker.
I’ll hang on to these as backups.
Well now that the pro shop and professionals are done I can return to “mods” more my speed lol
Maybe 3-4 months of daily sun and the GM licensed repros (with their beautiful blue presentation box and all) revealed themselves to be the cheap Chinese crap they are. Full plastic clouding. What a deterioration from new (top pic).
Not impressed. Slapped on the Phoenix stickers in the original housings:
12-31-2018, 02:08 PM
“Like new??” I can only imagine how gummed up these relics are by now. IIRC they were pretty crappy out of the box! I’ll be ordering a set of Delphis from SouthBay immediately.
