I bought a 91 Formula LB9 5.0 automatic 5 years ago and other than replacing a cracked head when I bought the car, have done little but replace an alternator and water pump. The car sat for 10 years before I got it. It had 124k miles then and now is at just under 160k. This is my daily driver when the weather is nice.

The car runs good but seems to run a little lean. Its really time for me to do a complete tune up and I also want to start replacing sensors/relays and anything else that is at the end of its life cycle. I will be keeping the motor stock but replacements don't have to be OEM. I plan on keeping this car until they pry it from my my cold dead hands so I just want the car to run good with the best parts for my needs. The only upgrades I plan in the future would be a performance chip, headers and a duel exhaust when the current exhaust is ready to replace.

I've been looking though several posts but see a lot of conflicting information. What I need are good recommendations for what maintenance replacements I should do and parts I should replace as well as what brand/kind I should replace them with. Please be specific as I will be collecting the parts I need over the next couple of months.

So far on my list is replacing injectors, oxygen sensor, plugs and wires but unsure what to replace them with. Thanks

 

Hey BJ
Stick with AC Delco where you can. If in need of injectors, I got mine from SouthBay. A great deal

 

Thanks. I've read good things about South Bay injectors.

The joy of being able to drive my Formula daily is something I want to continue long into the future. Taking care of a number of little things now will help make that happen. Any additions to my list?

 

ACDelco OE when possible. ACDelco "Professional" are not OEM parts but aftermarket equivalents.

I don't mind my SouthBay injectors, but I am looking for an alternative. They're too loud, and do not run the same as the original injectors (no matter how many times they try to say so, the car does not feel the same as a car with a good set of multitecs)

Want a list? Change every fluid and filter. (oil, fuel, transmission). Change rubber like your rad hoses, vacuum lines etc. Plugs and wires, dist cap and rotor.. replace your springs and shocks (your springs will be old and saggy, dropping ride height up to 2 inches from stock)

Do not buy a "performance chip," avoid that all together. The best thing yuou could do is get your chip tuned from somebody, but do not slap in a Hypertech and think it will be any good.

 

Thanks. Transmission has been serviced and worn suspension replaced, moving parts greased. Put new rubber on when head was replaced. I did replace fuel filter and I also flushed the coolant at that time.

I forgot to ad the Dist cap and rotor. I was also going to replace the coil as well.

 

There is a old saying, if it ain't broke..... That being said, I would replace (with GM/delco stuff) the 02, injs (if need be) fuel filter, pickup coil, ign module, fuel pump and may carry a extra ign coil. Don't forget to check the air filter.

 

I know about the old saying. I may be tempting fate.

However I also know everything has a timeline. Sooner or later they will need to be replaced. Some things may work now and function just enough to work, however not at optimum levels.

The cars performance just seems tired. I know the O2 sensor is failing, and think the car just needs to be refreshed.

 

When should I think about replacing the timing chain? I don't seem to have any timing issues now, but at what mileage would it be smart to replace it.

 

They last a long time, though, it couldn't hurt along with the water pump (since you're DDing it like I do mine - I'm at 154k, but my engine has been rebuilt 10k mi ago)

 

Don't worry about the timing chain.
I've run them past 300k in daily driver SBC's with no issues.
If you're going to start racing the car, spending time above 5k rpm, that's another matter. But there's no point in revving an LB9 like that

 

Thanks for the feedback. I replaced the timing chain in the 92 Camaro I had at 200K. Will probably do it again around the same mileage with this car. My current water pump should fail right around then.

I'm getting excited about working on the car again. I've had all my time and money caught up in my business for the last 2 years. This year I will have both to devote to the car. Big picture, the car runs OK. Little picture, I've been putting off things I would normally have already taken care of.

Today I'm getting new tires put on. I had a blow out of the right rear. The whole outside of the tire came apart. It left 2 inches of tire around the rim but the rest separated and began to beat the inside of the tub. I got it stopped and on the shoulder before any damage occurred. It also put a fire under me to get some things done!

 

Coil, o2 sensor, distributor cap+rotor, wires+plugs, livened mine up when I first got it for sure. Then replacing every shock, spring, strut, end-link bushings, trans mount, etc really helped the old Bird out. You gota nice ride there man I love the 91-92s and especially the TPI engine.

 

I obviously love them too. When I picked my car up yesterday from the tire shop, the shop manager and tire tech both came in to talk to me. They were impressed at how good the cars condition was and gave up there own 3rd gen stories. One of them has a modified 92 Camaro. They parked my car in a safe place in there parking lot away from all the other cars to keep it safe!

One more addition to my list I found last night while looking through threads is the battery cables. I've had a feeling for a while that I have a grounding problem. Lights are somewhat dim, Blinkers and windshield wipers are slow etc. Saw someone else had a similar problem and solved it this way. What a great resource of knowledge we have here!