Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Before I start this out, I'm going to tell a backstory. This car is somewhat popular around our local forums here in Lincoln, Ne, but not because it has ever been anything special. The reason it's well known is that nearly everyone around here has seen it sitting along side the road awaiting the dreaded flatbed to come rescue it from the devil known as "The Owner's Foot" plowing a hole in the side of the door. I'm the 3rd owner on a continuing build thread in our local forum, so some posts on here may come from me, and may have been from PO's, however, I'm all about saving time in these write-ups, so I'll give a brief summary with some quotes from the previous owners.

April, 2007. 2 owners ago- "Bought a 1985 Trans Am from a guy in Seward... this should have been enough deterration, but I'm stupid.



Mod list:
forged piston 406, RHS ported sportsman II heads, comp 268 cam, 700R4, 2600 stall.. again read on, borg warner 9-bolt rear with 3.70 gears, guldstrand panhard rod, spohn torque arm, unkown LCA's, alston SFC's, new yokohama tires on formula 16X8 wheels, formula spoiler, GTA hood, full eclipse system with rockford power series sub amp, 'dead head' eclipse deck, etc etc etc."

Transmission problems prompted him to rebuild the transmission, while electrical problems led him to re-wire much of the car, to his surprise, every wire in the car was red. He also couldn't keep the temp down, so a Griffin 3 core aluminum radiator found it's way into the car, reducing engine temps to a modest 220 degrees on a cold day. You'll read more about that later.

After some brief tuning, the car made 290WHP on a mustang dyno, then broke on the final pull. The reasoning behind breaking was a cracked block due to overheating. That wasn't all, it also had spun the #2 rod bearing, and the hydraulic roller cam was improperly spaced. The only thing salvageable were the pistons.

"Well I was a week past my 3 week arrangement at the garage it was in and without an engine. Made a few desperate calls with no luck. In a stressed out, nervous, half-drunken, 2:00am state, we turned to see this old junk 307 laying on the floor that was recently acquired by accident. Hell with it... it's a free engine."

This lead to an extensive cobble up build of the little 307. Parts list below.
307 bored .030" to 313 final c.i.
RHS mild ported sportsman II heads
JAHNS racecraft forged pistons
Speedway moly rings
ARP hardware throughout
Moroso windage tray
COMP xtreme energy solid roller *specs below*
Engine works solid roller lifters
COMP chromoly pushrods/guideplates
Procomp electronics shaft mount 1.5 rockers
Noah performance single-idler gear drive
weiand excelerator IMCA intake
holley 3310 750cfm carb
mallory HEI distributor
hedman long tube headers

cam specs:

2500-6500 RPM
Duration Advertised: 280° Intake / 286° Exhaust
Duration @ .050'' Lift: 242° Intake / 248° Exhaust
Valve Lift w/1.5 Rockers: .570'' Intake / .576'' Exhaust
Valve Setting: .016'' Intake / .018'' Exhaust
Lobe Separation Angle: 110°



With this large of a cam and only a 2500 stall, he described driving this as with boost. Dead out of the hole, but would blister the tires past 5500RPM.

Not too much worth adding with this owner past this point, so we'll move on to the next.

June 2010: Someone with smarts now owns this car, and decides to do it right.

Keeping it brief, the 307 was ready to self detonate, so he builds a NASTY 383 using the same cam as above, but it sure ran a lot better than that little 307 that could(n't).


He claimed to me as I was looking at the car that it dyno'd somewhere near 600 at the wheels, then snapped the input shaft out of the stock 700R4. He then found a stock 400 out of a 73 Chevy station wagon and threw it in the car along with yet another stock 700R4, and sold it to me August 16, 2012.

So if anybody is keeping track, that's 4 motors in the car from 2007-2012. More are yet to come.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Now that I own the car, it's picture time.








Problems with it after I acquired the car, tires were shot, rearend is improperly shimmed, headers welded straight to the exhaust (thrush welded turbo mufflers with an x-pipe), tranny slips in overdrive, AND it uses 2 quarts of oil a week. But, if there's a plus side, it sounded just like a 5.0 mustang. Kinda neat, but didn't like to go past 4K RPM.

Sometime later that year, I got some corvette wheels, installed a new Pioneer stereo deck, and other things not worth noting.



March 2013, I shucked out the torque converter bolts. Perfect excuse to pull the engine.




New engine specs:
350 bored .030" over
Forged bottom end
flat top pistons
Comp 268H cam
World product S/R heads
1.6 Roller rockers
Edelbrock performer intake
650 Demon carb
Hooker shorty headers
Magnaflow catback/no cat
Transmission: "Beefed up" 700R4 (no idea what's inside), 2500 stall.
New engine in.


First drive=first breakdown


Wheel studs shore off, and I ran out of gas as my gauge fuse decided to pop, to add insult to injury, my spoiler fell off.


Fixed those, then the next drive my radiator developed a hole. Attempted to fix it with no success, and on top of that, my fan fuse relay went bad.

New stock radiator in place, along with a new relay, and everything works fine. Did some tuning, and this thing laid waste to those 275's for over a block....


....until I spun my #6 rod bearing a couple months later (note, the engine wasn't on a fresh rebuild, it had around 60K miles).

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Saved some money for a couple months, then ripped the engine back out and tore it down over my Christmas break at school (one whole week).



The damage:


Bored it another .010" over, ordered some new flat top pistons and ARP rod bolts, turned the crank, and went back together, but with a Comp XE274H cam this time. Everything else is the same.



Back in (again)



Fired it up late March 2014. No problems with the engine...yet..


Since then though, I've re-sealed the differential cover, and daily drove/had fun with the car. Until a couple days ago when my fans stopped working, and I found this (note: I reused one fuse block as my new relay only came with one)


That's what kind of hack job this car was. We have also previously found wires just twisted together.

Immediate plans are throwing in a MSD ready-to-run distributor as my timing is advancing too much as of right now, lowering the car, shimming the rear/installing a 4th gen rear, installing a new master cylinder as mine is leaking, and installing headliner.
Down the road plans are to build something that really runs. Maybe re-use that old 400 as a base, or I've been feeling like going LSx lately. Either way I go, however, I plan on N/A, high compression, and and a MANUAL transmission. The auto is my biggest gripe about the car.

Feel free to leave any suggestions for the car, as I'm always open to hear ideas.

RedLeader289

iTrader: (2)

So has it been a nightmare to you..or are all the kinks worked out at this point...?

*EDIT* just saw your second post

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

I'm getting closer and closer. Mechanically, everything is great. Cosmetically, not so much. Paint is chipping and peeling, dings everywhere, but there's no rust.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

This story may have been different if the car was babied, however, it is not. It is just simply too much fun TO baby this car.

RedLeader289

iTrader: (2)

no rust is a big deal and a good thing. and as to that fuse pic...just wow lol

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

That was the main reasoning behind me buying this car when I did. $1700 for a running Trans Am, no rust, in overall good shape, and with all the suspension upgrades that it had, I thought it was a golden find. Until I found out about the wiring.

I was also 16 at the time, so it wasn't like I had a major budget to work with. If I did, I would have bought a 4th gen WS6.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Nice looking car. I always liked the two-tone treatment.

As for the fuse......I'd have to keep that as a conversation piece, or to mount on a show board.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

That fuse was separated into multiple pieces ending up on the ground and the bottom of my shoe. I like it much better that way.

alex722607

iTrader: (3)

Damn, and I thought my car was possessed.

Seriously though, I would strip the interior and comb through the wiring. I had a similar problem in that my wiring was in **** poor shape. I ended up purchasing body wiring from a 4th gen and replacing whole individual wires. Takes time, but it will leave u You worry free. I actually dedicated my winter break from school to it. ( I also installed some nifty 4th gen components which modernized the electrical, yet kept the car stock looking.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

That would be the logically correct thing to do, however, I am young and impatient, and wiring takes too much of said patience. I really just want to have fun with the car right now. Later down the road, if the car stays with me long enough, the wiring will be re-worked, and I assume the engine/tranny will to (again).

The saddest part is how many problems I've left out to shorten the build thread to this point. Some of those things are:

Breaking my B&M shifter (twice.)
Shearing off lug studs on the front of the car, resulting in a failed tow truck event leading eventually to a flatbed, (same time my spoiler fell off).
Multiple battery/alternator problems.
Radiators...UGH.
Radiator fan relays.
Radiator fan wiring catching on fire under the hood.
And a number of things not on the top of my head right now, and others due to my negligence.

dmccain

iTrader: (2)

Scary story. Thats why thank GOD ive been able to find some stock 3rd gens and buy em over the years. More times than i can count sum guy starts telling me all his performance upgrades trying to sell me a car and i leave them there talking. I got an LO3 Firebird Formula a few months ago and even though its definitely lacking in performance it runs pristine. Thanks to TGO there is so much knowledge and know how here to modify your own. So many folks here with vast knowledge and experience really saves people like me a lot of trial and error

maks10

amen to that!!! nice donut vid

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Earlier this week I replaced the fuse block and a section of burnt wiring thanks to the bypassed fuse. It was all good after that! Until last night..


Did I ever say anything about radiators before? Well, I had a fan flex too far and got into the radiator. Number 5 (I think) will be going in sometime this week after I start my new job.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Well, had yet another engine scare. During our annual city-wide cruise, it dropped below 20lbs oil pressure (it's ALWAYS pegged). Got it home to find a dry dipstick. For some reason I found a spark of hope. Changed the oil, fired it up, and all kinds of smoke comes out of the exhaust. Decided to unplug the PCV valve, and to my surprise it stopped smoking.

So after some bickering with the Advanced Auto Parts counter man who tried telling me a number of things ("this is fine""Your engine is garbage"), and me leaving while calling him a number of names which don't need to be repeated, I replaced the PCV valve and had to celebrate with a different kind of smoke.





Problem update: I can no longer get my ratchet shifter out of 1st gear when I bring it all the way down. Just doesn't go quite far enough to "click" into 2nd. Haven't spent any time on it yet, but I plan to.

Oh, and my new MSD pro-billet distributor and blaster 2 coil showed up.

That's all for now.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Nice catch (PCV). I bet that earned you a few grey hairs until you figured out.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Nope. They don't turn grey when you rip em out first.

Hal87

iTrader: (1)

Gotta respect a guy that can keep his sense of humor through all this!

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

BAM the nightmare strikes again. It's like a bad reoccurring dream.

The girl from work yells at me as I leave "Do a burnout!" Well, I don't want to be rude. (I just put new sumitomo 275/35/18s on the rear and they don't hook for anything). Drop the hammer in first and slide sideways, slap into second and it catches and roasts ONE tire off. May have finally destroyed that old 9 bolt. Then down the road it started popping, farting, spitting, misfiring, and any other word you'd think of using. I later found a broken intake valve spring on the number 4 cylinder.



This decided to happen the morning of the biggest street car show in the state. Which I'm getting used to. Two years ago I blew my intake gasket the night before, last year I lost a radiator. Oh well, fix it.


How am I fixing it this time? Well, you may just find out as soon as I quit being lazy and take a picture of some parts in the garage.

I also broke my shifter cable a month or so ago.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Threw some new valve springs in I had laying around, and no longer does it float the valves above 5500RPM.

Getting it on the rollers and 1/8th mile (If it doesn't break) this weekend to see what it does before I do some changes.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Didn't make it on the rollers, but I did make it down the 1/8th mile. Ran a best of 9.06 @ 76.8 with a 1.95 60' on a 70 degree day. Needs better tires and gears, most of the time I would cross the line at the top of second. After it cooled down I just couldn't hook worth anything.

Also raced a Vortech supercharged C7 Corvette, but am too embarrassed to reveal the outcome.

Best part is, it made the 60 mile trip there, 15+ passes, and the trip back home WITHOUT BREAKING ANYTHING. Looks like I won my hefty $1 bet to my co-worker.

I now have a rear end from a 99 Trans Am on the way. 4.11 gears, locker, and Strange axles. Coming with is a proportioning valve/master cylinder/brake booster off the same Trans Am.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Here's a couple pictures from last night at the track. Yes, I did beat both of the Mustangs.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Swapped the 4th gen rear in(no pictures, sorry!), and didn't even bother swapping the master, booster, or proportioning valve. Already stops better than it did before, and there is no more mysterious noises coming from the rear of the car. Had to bend up some new brake lines but that was about it.

Traction is even more of an issue now than it was before, which says a lot.


Also noticed something rather odd while I was under there. One black shock, one blue shock. Upon further inspection, I realized that one was a Monroe sensatrac, while the other was a Monroe Gasmatic PLUS.

maks10

Nice updates!!!! Nice kill at the track!!!

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Something REALLY cool happened with this thing tonight! It's really easy to find neutral now!



If you don't follow, transmission go boom. No forward/reverse gears. Have a lead on a T56 and will see what happens.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

The boss let me use the shop at work, so I got the transmission out, and degreased the whole underside of the car.





We've decided it's probably the torque converter or front pump that went bad, as the converter didn't spin free.

I'll also be changing up the setup over winter. Just bought some heads today. Dart Iron Eagle 200s with a full port job. They now have 210cc intake runners and 2.05 1.6 valves, and new studs/guides installed. Picked these up without springs for $450.

On that note, I'll need a different cam to go along with those large intake runners. Decided it would be best to keep it running with the same cam that the previous owners used (Comp XR280R). Haven't decided on an intake yet, but that'll come soon.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Earlier this week I drove about an hour away to pick up the Transmission. Turns out the front pump failed which our builder said he's only seen with my old brand of torque converter. Here's the damage. Those are supposed to be complete circles.


Since I wasn't going anywhere for Thanksgiving, we decided to get it back on the road. RevMax 3200-3400 Stall converter installed, along with a far too long Lokar stainless braided steel transmission dipstick tube (was in a hurry and Speedway Motors was out of 26" tubes).


Now that I left my signature on the shop floor, it was about time to throw it in the car.


After a few hours, magic happened and the car now moves under its own power. So I grabbed my new front racestars thanks to NufNuffZ28 and tossed them on. 17X7s with 225/50/17s. I'll order rears along with tires before too long.

Daytime pictures with the new front racestars will come soon. I know, it's dirty. That's what happens when it sits by the mill for a month.


The front end also needs to come down a couple inches. I'll post some daytime pictures after I wash the car tomorrow.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Glad you're back on the road!

[quote=Skinny Neb;5847498]Now that I left my signature on the shop floor, it was about time to throw it in the car.


Thanks for that. Always nice to know I'm not the only one who does this sort of thing.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

If you aren't leaving puddles on the floor, you aren't doing it right!

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Took a couple more pictures of the new racestars on the front.




Then I put my freshly rebuilt transmission and 3200-3400 stall through some testing. As of now, I'm fairly pleased. Here are a couple clips from my weekend long testing session.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

I finally installed my rear racestars, and bought a friend supper for polishing my fronts.

Took it out on the street to break in the new tires (you know what I mean), drove two blocks, popped it into second, and my fantastic B&M shifter goes limp (didn't shift into second either). Looks like I broke a second cable within a couple thousand miles. Great product!

These friendships are starting to pay off pretty good.

Eric-86sc

iTrader: (18)

Very nice, those wheels look awesome.

PAFORM350

Any plans to paint? nice car btw

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Thank you for the compliments.

Paint has been in the plan since I bought it a couple years ago, but the funds haven't been there. It will be the same colors or similar, but nobody knows when that's really going to happen.


A couple updates, I replaced the shifter cable (again, this is the third time in 4 years for this car). Upon removal of my shifter plate on the center console, it developed a crack that I was unaware of, and broke in two pieces when I picked it back up. So I grabbed my 4th gen console that I was going to install anyway. Note, the manual shift plate does NOT fit over a B&M megashifter. Running with no shift plate as of now, but have plans to try out an auto shift plate. (door panel is off for repairing the clips)


Picked up these nearly new 26x10.5x16 Mickey Thompson ET streets on Camaro wheels for dirt cheap ($250), I'll try these out on the improvised track as soon as possible.


Also found a home for the C6 wheels on my good friend's 99 Sonoma which he is in the process of putting a 4.8 in. Oh, he also did all of the fab work and wiring himself, AND he's still in highschool (funded by himself too, not by his parents).

alex722607

iTrader: (3)

If the manual shift plate won't work, don't even bother with the auto. I tried the auto and it left me with two choices, modify the plate or the the car. The plate got modified and honestly it doesn't look that great.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Hmm, thanks for the input and saving me a trip and some money. I guess I'll have to man up and order that TKO 600 now.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

We got lucky enough here in Nebraska to have a couple days above 45 degrees, so I took advantage by bolting up the ET Streets and testing them out after I got finished up putting some new pads on the rear. Turns out my valve stem for the tube rubs on my caliper, nothing a thin wheel shim didn't fix.



Since everyone loves watching 30 year old F bodies whoop up on Mustangs anyway, here's a video of some highly scientific testing.

maks10

Nice vid!!! Specs on mustang???

Bullydawg

iTrader: (7)

Way to keep at it! I wish I had kept my build thread more updated with all the stuff I have broken. My bird has 90k miles on it, on it's 3rd engine, 3 trans, and about to put the 3rd rear in...

I actually rebuilt the 9 bolt when I was 17 and have over 150 passes on it! Haven't been able to kill it. After I put the T56 in, I built a 9" I need to install...

I love the stock paint on it! Keep at it! It's a good looking ride!

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

2008 GT 5 speed, mainly stock with exhaust. It gets after it a little harder than most that I've seen, got him by 3.5 with the ET streets, and we're even when I'm on street tires.

Thanks! My 9 bolt took some abuse from me and the previous owners, I wasn't even going to try to build it (if anybody wants it, I'll let it go cheap). Believe me, I tried to kill it, poor thing held in there.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

Well, I was planning on driving the car today. It had other plans. (yes, that is a purple sbc in the s10.)




Drove in to the driveway perfect last night, dad fired it up this morning to warm up so I could take him to work (he's blind, he can't drive himself). And it wouldn't move.

This car decides to break at the worst moments it can find. It's been a hellish week so far and this doesn't make it any better. I'll update when I find out what went wrong.

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

Lincoln is a great spot for cool cars - Steve Schappaugh over at Musclecar Memories is a good friend of mine.

To the cars credit you are a bit rough on it and everything has a breaking point - as you have found!

Keep up the good work!

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

A bit rough is an understatement! I'm constantly punishing this car for breaking on me, which isn't paying back quite the way I'd like it to.

Update on the car, someone reached under the nose overnight and cut the transmission hoses from the lines to the cooler, then urinated on my bumper (I'm not joking). Couple new hoses, $100 in ATF, and a car wash and we'll be good to go.

Some city workers stopped to fill a pothole in front of my house, half way through they all gathered in my driveway with horrified looks on their faces staring down the bloodbath of a driveway.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Well that sucks. I'm glad it was nothing worse.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

I am too. It's just more annoying than anything, and even more reason why I want a garage so things like this can stop happening.

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

My dad decided to do me a favor and fixed the trans lines while I was at work, just for the car to start knocking and hammering a couple blocks down the road (I was even babying it, guess I learned my lesson, always beat the **** out of the car). Pulled off the valve cover to find one rocker loose, so I tightened it down. Fired it up and it was 10 times worse. Pulled it back off to find a broken valve spring, bent pushrod, and another pushrod that looked like this.


So to fix that, I bought this Holley 750.


And some Hooker Longtubes.


Got my replacement valvespring today along with a couple pushrods, those will be on for a month at maximum before I rip the top end off to upgrade with some 64cc, 2.05, 1.6, Dart 200 Iron Eagles that have been worked over to 210cc intake runners and gasket matched, a weiend intake, and a solid roller comp cam. Hopefully will be around the 380whp mark. I'm shooting for 12s at the track.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Yikes!

So.....what caused that one pushrod to break into 3 pieces? I've never seen that happen before.

PAFORM350

Skinny Neb

iTrader: (2)

I think the springs were weakened from when the rocker came loose, as the spring broke it put unusual pressure on the pushrod and busted it.