Here are some mods I am planning for April:

- installing some MAC SFCs (anyone recommend any shops in the KW area to install ? I was going to use Rudy Held).

- do a proper job on the cold air, eg: 3 inch ducting to the fender well. Been wondering if there isn't a way I can take advantage of that open power bulge on my hood ?

- get a Jacobs Ignition kit.

- maybe some roller rockers, sure don't like the idea of having to replace those springs !

- braided brakeline hose to the front calipers, upgraded rotors, carbon fiber pads.

- of course an aluminum driveshaft (takes the 'massage' out of the hiway drive).

I have been toying with the idea of some Torque Thrust II 17x9s with 275/45s as well (wow $$$ !!). This one would be particularily hard to get past the wife. She is bound to notice those new shiny things attached to the four corners of the car -- then I'll be in for it ! Maybe if I bought her that new sofa & chair first ???...

At the very least I expect to do the SFCs and the aluminum shaft. How about you guys ? Any late winter mods being done ?

RP.

 

man, who cares what the wife thinks....get those torque thrusts...they look amazing. i wanted some but i couldn't afford them so i went with Outlaw II wheels (also by American racing). they turned out to look real good. as for mods, i built myself a dual snorkel air cleaner a couple of weeks ago and i am currently learning how to tune my quadrajet carb for better performance. i also plan on replacing the wiper motor and i have a new door and hatch look set on order. other than that i cant do anything till schools out at the end of april and i start working. once i have some cash i will hopefully be able to afford to put full dual exhaust on.

 

Pardon me while I grin -- you remind me of myself wayyyy back when. That was before I got married, had kids, mortgages, and all that.

Trust me -- it matters what the wife thinks. Depending on how you do things you can have new toys with GRIEF or without GRIEF. I prefer the latter and YES I do love the Torque Thrust IIs as well. Trust me on this too - when you are married you can still mod your car-- it just happens at a slower pace which in the end is ok by me.

Can you post a pic of your car ? I would like to see how it looks with the wheel upgrade.

RP.

 

hahhaha....i guess toys without grief would good. hahaha

unfortunately i dont have a photo of my car with the wheels...but hopefully soon i will. my buddy has a digital camera and as soon as i see him, we will get some pics of my car. i went with the 15x7 Outlaws cause 16" rims and tires are too expensive for me.

i will work on getting those photos.

later

 

I'm planning on getting the steel braided flex hoses and a aluminum DS in the early spring. If you get any of those on before me, make sure you post the results.

 

what does an aluminum drive shaft cost here in canada? how much for the the one from the dealer and how much for an aftermarket one?

 

I have a connection who may be able to source the lines at a reasonable cost. The DS, SFCs and brake upgrade are numero uno on my list so yes, I'll keep you posted.

RP.

 

The DS new from GM is about $550-600 CDN. Ouch. I will be looking for a used unit for about $250 CDN.

RP.

 

I spoke with a tech a Baer for about an hour last year. He told me braided lines are no better than new high quality rubber lines. The braided lines do show improvements over older rubber lines though. As for the Jacobs ignition.....that's what I would have bought had I had the $$$. They are the best, bar-none. My Accel 300+ box sounds like it's producing some kind of nuclear energy Would you be able to use a modified Camaro SS induction setup to make your "power bulge" hood funtional?

 

I agree - I did the Jacobs thing on my '88 Formula and have been WOWED by their product ever since. Best all around bang for the performance buck I EVER spent. Torque went up significantly on my '88 and I am expecting atleast a 25-30 ft-lb gain with the package on my '91. Best part was my fuel mileage increased about 10% and part throttle wayyy improved. Can't say enough about it other than it costs $800 CDN (ouch).

About the braided lines -- I have no opinion other than what I've been told. My connection can get me lines for about $80 so that is cheaper than the GM OEM rubber. I figured I'd give it a try ?

What is the scoop (pun intended) on the SS induction setup ? I have never seen the innards of one. Can you point me to a page that shows this in detail ? I would REALLY be interested in checking it out.

RP.

 

I'll post a pic later tonight. I'm not sure if it would clear the hood or not. If that does not work you vcould fab an intake using a '91-96 'Vette filter tray and some ducting.

 

wow 600 bucks...i guess the olde steel drive shaft will have to say for awhile. i havent seen 600 bucks since i started school. *** damn western...i swear they are a bunch of thieves..all they do is take my money.

that would sweet if you could get the scoop on your car working. my carbed TA has a scoop like that, except its functional....it opened when you floored it....i fixed that by unhooking the vacuum/electric switch thing and then just pulled the rod that operates the flap on the scoop so that is was open and then i tied it open with some wire. now its sucks fresh air in all the time. (i know this is a real poor mans way to do things, but what can i say, i am poor).

good luck with you making your scoop work for your tpi. if you fab something up, take some pics

 

You can get a used DS for about $250 CDN which is still too much when you are in school. Don't sweat it -- how do you think I got to the point where I can afford my toys ? I spent alot of time in school toughing it out just as you are now.

Also, I love that scoop on the '84 T/As. I retro-fitted one on a TBI powered '88 Formula some years back. With some minor mods it worked like a charm and really woke up the motor.

Hey have you installed a distributor advance kit yet ?

RP.

 

palric: Email me at work...I wanna talk to you about the brake lines. christopher.vagg@rbc.com

 

no i havent put an advance kit in yet. in terms of ignition mods, all i have is an MSD HEI in cap coil and accel 8.8 wires. i would like to get a kit for my vacuum advance HEI and i also want to get the MSD module and goes with the coil. are the advance kits and the HEI module hard to install? i dont know too much much about ignition stuff...i dont even know how to set the timing (the fact that i dont have a timing light compounds the problem). coil was easy to put in, but all i had to do was un dont the dust cover, take out the old one and put a new one in.

 

The parts are really easy to install, probably want to check the cap and rotors while you are at it. This is pretty hacky but I just played with my distributor till it stopped pinging (with the new advance kit installed). I think I ended up with the lightest weight spring but that was 12 years ago so memory may be off ? Any shop can dial in the initial timing for you.

RP.