Oh My ***!!!

put a set of slp 1 3/4" headers on my l03 '89 formula.

couldn't reuse the wires that were on the car, as i now need all 90 degree ends on the wires to clear the headers.

decided to do it right, ordered a set of "live wires" from performance distributors on monday. agreed to pay 20.00 overnight shipping so i could have them in time to get the car running and tuned for the last track session of the year tomorrow.

also ordered a set of made for you wire looms. had to get the 10mm size because of the sleeving on the live wires.

the looms got here on time, but the wires didn't. called performance distributors and talked to the guy who'd taken my order and had promised they'd be here on time. they hadn't even been shipped yet. he was such a jerk i told him to keep his wires.

looked at my online banking and found they'd charged me 30.00 shipping, not 20.00. crooks! complained to bank and they removed the entire charge.

called local performance warehouse. asked for recommendation for good-high temp wires with 90 degree ends. he suggested accell extreme 9000 wires, which he said he had in stock.

went there on lunch hour. waited 20 minutes for them to come up from the warehouse only to find they were msd non-heat protected wires. said i needed the accels. waited another 20 minutes only to have them bring out a set of regular accel wires, not the extreme 9000s. they finally told me they didn't have them in stock and that it'd take a week to get them. gave me the part number (9033) and suggested i call pep boys.

called pep boys, went through the usual being put on hold for 10 minutes, having the phone picked up by someone by mistake then hanging up, calling back, being put on hold again for 15 minutes, calling back again and being told they only sell extreme 9000s on their website.

called summit racing, had the wires shipped here overnight. arrived by 10 am just as fed ex promises, opened the box and they're not all 90 degree wires.

arrrrrgggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

how can it be so hard to get a set of spark plug wires?

anyone have any suggestions that don't involve burning the car or killing someone?

 

update:

called performance distributors on friday, spoke to the manager and explained how i'd been treated.

he apologized, said there was no excuse for their not meeting their promise to me and even less for treating me rudely and offered to overnight the wires to me for free and knocked 10% off the price.

got them on yesterday. they fit great ... all were cut to the exact size for the car. it runs great.

the part number for our cars is: c9063

the link to these wires on their site is:

http://www.performancedistributors.com/livewire.htm

 

It makes you feel good when a company admits their mistakes and corrects them. It also goes a long way to encourage others that they will be treated fairly and get good service as well. Glad to see you got everything straightened out. How well do the 1 3/4" headers work on you LO3, did you lose much low end? Are you planning on a 350 in the future?

Steve

 

yes, it does make me feel a lot better about them.

as far as the headers, i plan on wringing everything i can out of the 305 till it goes south, then going with a 400 or 383. i didn't want to do the exhaust twice, so i went big all the way ... 1 3/4" headers, dual cats, mandrel bent 3" all the way back.

i was prepared to give up torque with the l03. i'm not so sure i did.

it took a day or so for the car to settle down. it ran pretty rough at first. i'd read on here that the computer had to "relearn" after making big exhaust changes, so i just drove it for a day. now, it idles smoothly at 700 rpm (just like before) and runs much better.

i wondered about the torque loss the first few times i punched it ... wheelspin seems to be worse than before. i'm launching at 1,500-2,000 rpm and spinnning much worse than before, when i'd launch at 2,500. if it was down on low-end torque, i'd think it would have had less wheelspin, not more.

i just made a series of runs on my gtech and was pretty blown away. i'm going to put it on the dyno thursday night and hopefully make it to the test and tune friday night ... i don't want to say anything till then. however, if the g-tech is telling the truth, accepted thinking on l03 exhaust could need some rethinking.