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It’s as if my old Formy, after being totaled, was never actually junked but sent to a cursed auto cemetery only to return to me 30 years later as a monster😈.
Your assistance with all those extra parts would be greatly appreciated. Especially those flat pieces with the two holes at the end. I have no idea what those are.
Keep in mind that I’ve been doing track days for more than 10 years and my current 370Z makes 330 HP. I also instruct at Summit point Raceway and have sat in the right seat of some pretty impressive cars to include a dedicated Ferrari Modena race car.
Modern day high horsepower cars. Corvette’s, Mustang’s, Z’s, or even that Ferrari have a level of refinement. Their chassis’s are finely tuned and their electronica nannies keep everything in check. They are just as happy cruising along at 1500 RPM as they are screaming at 8000 RPM. Even if they don’t admit it they’re trying to make a car that is just as livable on the street as it is on the track (yes, even that Ferrari was made for ultra rich guys who wanted to race other ultra rich guys). In a nutshell they are street cars made for the track.
The car is a beast Unhappy with normal day-to-day street driving. Find yourself in stop and go traffic or navigating a parking lot and it expresses its displeasure by bucking. Starts from a stop are exercises in stalling or spinning the tires. Hard acceleration it’s all about managing wheel spin. So fun!
I finally got the car up on a jack and pulled off the rear wheel. Here are some pics. And what is that strange square stack of metal on the rear caliper?
The stack of steel plates are a mass used to help prevent vibration. I think I've read that the early factory discs were prone to moaning/vibrating when backing up, and this was the fix.
The stack of steel plates are a mass used to help prevent vibration. I think I've read that the early factory discs were prone to moaning/vibrating when backing up, and this was the fix.
Can anyone confirm that?
I don't know much about the 88 and older stuff but thinking the weights have to do with the Ebrake return setup. The 89-92 PBR brakes have a TSB about the backup moan.
The two rims in the picture above were the ones that were in fairly good shape. The other two are pretty beat up. So I stripped off the clearcoat with the intention of doing the progressive sanding...
Then I thought of all the meaningful things I could do with the time spent sanding the rims. Hell, with that much time I might cure cancer.
F@$k it. I just decided to spray paint them. I intend on getting a different set down the road anyways.
I have a huge soft spot for these cars, and I often asked Rick Sietz the where about of the Lethal Formula, your car. Great to see it back and can finally get updates.
Originally Posted by ResIpsa
Modern day high horsepower cars. Corvette’s, Mustang’s, Z’s, or even that Ferrari have a level of refinement. Their chassis’s are finely tuned and their electronica nannies keep everything in check. They are just as happy cruising along at 1500 RPM as they are screaming at 8000 RPM. Even if they don’t admit it they’re trying to make a car that is just as livable on the street as it is on the track (yes, even that Ferrari was made for ultra rich guys who wanted to race other ultra rich guys). In a nutshell they are street cars made for the track.
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I share the sentiment. A modified F-body hates being driven nice, but when you begin to push it, becomes a very different animal. Newer stuff is nothing like that. What I have a hard time explaining is, a well set up F-body handles really well but in a different way. Newer stuff sure handles better but that doesn't mean the old stuff handles bad just very different. Between my 1LE and F-bodies, the older stuff just such a forgotten mechanical feel in all regards
I have a huge soft spot for these cars, and I often asked Rick Sietz the where about of the Lethal Formula, your car. Great to see it back and can finally get updates
I am honored to be the current caretaker of Lethal Weapon. And when I finally brought her home my wife said there’s no way you’re having four cars. That was an easy choice, the civic had to go.
So she’s my current daily driver ( when I want to save on gas I take my V10 Excursion).
Besides the wrong wheels for 87, that’s exactly what I was looking for. I figured the eagle eyed members would spot that quick!
For some reason Hawks sent me the wrong hubcaps. Rather than return them I figured I’m painting my wheels anyway so I’ll just paint them to match at some point in the future.
I know a bunch of you guys seek out NOS tires. If you don’t already know, you can always use a durometer to test your tires. Here’s a good example with the tires that came on my Formula reading more than 90 (aka hockey pucks) And my new BF Goodrich comp 2’s that score a more reasonable (for a Street tire) 73.
I think it’s a good time to post a one-month update since getting my Formula. I will say I absolutely love this car.
Of course there have been some little issues one would expect with a 30-year-old car. But considering what some of you guys have to deal with with your projects I didn’t want to bother anyone in this thread.
However everyone I private messaged has been eager to help. Also a crash course in the FAST Engine management system really opened the doors to refining some of the rough edges of the car.
The most annoying was the propensity of the car to stall when coming to a stop. If I was under any heavy electrical load (air conditioner on) then a stall became a certainty. What started out as a cool lopey idle started to get really frustrating.
I probably should’ve just reached out to you guys in the forum for the answer but I was finally able to figure it out. First, I tried playing with the idle air fuel ratio. That seemed to help but nothing conclusive. Then I activated the idle advance to allow the ECU up to +/- 12° advance. That change did not fix the stalling issue but really smoothed the idle (albeit at the loss of some lope).
But the final and actual fix was adjusting the inlet air control parameters. Aka adjusting the throttle body idle screw. Problem solved!
The hardness of a tire. For example, every time a race tire is used on track we consider that a “heat cycle“. And a tire will get harder after every heat cycle. The harder the tire the less grip you have.
Racers don’t evaluate their tires by how much rubber is left. They want to know how hard the tire is.
Similarly, a street tire gets harder with age. But a lot of factors go into how a tire ages. For example, take two tires made on the same day. Store one in a trash bag in a climate controlled room in store another outside in your backyard. After a couple years they may look identical to the naked eye. That’s where you need a durameter.
I finally got around to installing that torque arm. The instructions seemed easy enough, just unbolt the stock arm and bushing and replace.
Because I have a T56 swap ( I know, don’t cry for me) the front bushing required dropping the driver side transmission cross member a little for clearance.
And now I’ve come to understand that when instructions say installation “may” require grinding or cutting they actually mean installation “WILL” require grinding or cutting.
In my case I had to grind down some of the differential housing to get everything to sit flush.
I will try and shoot some pictures of everything when I get her up in the air for post shakedown re-torquing of bolts.
I can say that there is a noticeable increase in grip with the new torque arm. The rear really sticks on acceleration!
watching along here did you notice much difference with the new upper strut mounts? years ago on my 87 Trans am I added the TDS weld in SFC's wonder bar and rear control arms and i was astonished what they did (I already thought the car was tight compares to the 2nd and 1st gens I owned but WOW it was a whole new car! I never considered a T/A or the strut mounts
And my QA1 subframe connectors are in paint as we speak. Can’t wait to see how those affect the car. And I got the angle grinder ready for install!
Currently I’m struggling with getting my air-conditioner working (The car came with a classic auto air system that was working fine until a couple days ago). But I won’t bore everybody...
I guess I am not used to driving such a (what is the opposite of stiff) flexible, loose, pliable, soft, supple, and/or pliant car. IMO the torque arm is allowing the rear tires to stick to the road better under acceleration. FYI I also replaced the factory torque arm bushing with an energy suspension piece.
My subframe connectors are back from paint! Time to pull out the old Mig 140 and try not to blow holes in the thin sheet metal of the factory subframe.
did you notice much difference with the new upper strut mounts? years ago on my 87 Trans am I added the TDS weld in SFC's wonder bar and rear control arms and i was astonished what they did (I already thought the car was tight compares to the 2nd and 1st gens I owned but WOW it was a whole new car! I never considered a T/A or the strut mounts 
