1989 Corvette C4 6 Speed Manual
Discussion
Very nice....Nearly all the "fixes" you have made to yours, I have seen my friend do to his, especially the suspension. His latest thing was sorting out the brakes.
Finally found a picture of it on my computer, don't know why it took so long, it nearly lives in my garage.
It is a 1990 which has been converted to right hand drive.
Finally found a picture of it on my computer, don't know why it took so long, it nearly lives in my garage.
It is a 1990 which has been converted to right hand drive.
Edited by motomk on Sunday 5th May 04:51
Cheers guys!
Yes I'd like to refinish the centres to gunmetal, black maybe too much? Always loved the look of this ZR1. Will hopefully build my wheels to the same size
Hopefully going to fit a working radio tomorrow, ready for Spa in 2 weeks! Was a passenger with my friend in his LT1 on a Llandow trackday on Saturday, will have to put some photos up.
Yes I'd like to refinish the centres to gunmetal, black maybe too much? Always loved the look of this ZR1. Will hopefully build my wheels to the same size
Hopefully going to fit a working radio tomorrow, ready for Spa in 2 weeks! Was a passenger with my friend in his LT1 on a Llandow trackday on Saturday, will have to put some photos up.
I've had a busy month in the Corvette again, with another successful trip to Spa completed!
A friend with a supercharged MX5 asked me last year if I wanted to tag along to a larger Spa trip that was being organised and happily it fitted in with my week off shift work. There was a WhatsApp group setup and seeing everyone prep their cars, whether it was new cylinder heads or ceramic coating was a great motivator! I finally sorted out the stereo in my car first of all. The Bose system (called “Blose” Stateside) had never worked in my ownership. Until recently I just stuck a Bluetooth speaker in the cup holder or listened to that throbbing V8. However I'd seen a few people adapt the 1.5DIN opening to fit a 2DIN Android unit and it looked like an excellent way to consolidate music, sat nav, data logging etc. I bought some Pioneer speakers and ran all new wiring. The Bose system was vastly expensive in it's day, with each speaker having it's own amp in a housing. These speakers have a different impedance to standard ones and so I decided it was best to slightly trim the speaker housings to accept 4x4 and 6x4 speakers, leaving all the Bose stuff there should I ever sell the car and someone wants to reinstate it. I had to make a small cut in the centre of the dash to allow the double din unit to fit on top of the climate control but it wasn't anything drastic. I chose an Xtrons unit having seen the one in Geraint's Boxster S (an excellent thread on here) Someone was selling the exact model I wanted on eBay as an unwanted warranty replacement so I picked it up for £80! I was surprised how cheap car audio stuff is, the whole project owes me around £150. The sound quality isn't amazing but it's a 30 year old fibreglass car with a 5.7L V8. With the GPS antenna stuck out the way and using my phone as a hot spot, Google Maps & Waze work perfectly. I've got access to Amazon music too, so can just say “Alex play..” and it starts right up. Happily the power aerial works too! I haven't committed to cutting the centre console yet but I'm just waiting for a suitable double din fascia that will fit with the rest of the console.
My diff has a leak at the half shafts which I will need to address (diff out job ugh) but in the meantime I changed the oil with my friend Vesa, who has the LT1. There's no drain plug on the Dana 44 in my car so we used a Lidl oil pump which worked a treat. It was topped off with the correct fluid for the LSD. We toyed with the idea of taking a full size spare wheel in the carrier, but it looked hysterical! Space saver and tyre shop would be our preferred precaution for the Spa trip.
Checking header collector bolts first
Quick shakedown over the mountain
Lots of people I'd be travelling with had very shiny cars and Geraint kindly loaned me his dual action polisher, so that was the last bit of work to do before I went. When I bought the car the paint was almost perfect and the owner never drove it in the rain. Well I've gone on to park it in the centre of Cardiff, drift it around Oulton Park etc and so it's not what it used to be. I really am not interested in polishing instead of driving but it was satisfying to get it looking good again! I used some Meguairs compound, polish and wax. There's still a few deeper scratches and the scuffs from other people parallel parking against the bumpers. The whole process took me about 4 hours so I imagine it could look even better if you spent a whole day on it.
I forget how purposeful my car looks until I see a stock C4 on stilts with positive rear camber!
The eve of the channel tunnel crossing we all stayed at a Travelodge in Ashford. After meeting everyone and having a few beers I went to get my stuff out of the car. I thought I was done, so slid the lock closed and swung the door shut. At this point Vesa said “wait” and I went to stop the door with my hand. Well it only closed on my finger hard enough the lock caught. Thanks to the beer I was able to use my other hand to reach into my pocket, unlock the door and open it to free my finger. At the reception I was told where A&E was but went for the wrap it in plasters and look after the weekend option. It was a bit dire but somehow didn't cause too much grief and after a week pretty much healed up.
The next morning we got the tunnel to France. It's not since a school trip I'd been on there and I was impressed by the station, it was like a small airport! Still I prefer the ferry, it's nice to walk around for a couple of hours and chill out rather than be stuck in a train carriage for 30mins before driving again. The organiser had done a fantastic job (thanks if you're a reader Dave!) with routes planned and just simple reminders of “set your alarm for tomorrow now” that ensured we mostly stuck together. The group was large enough (about 20) that we could split up and do what we were more interested in. On the road we followed a couple of directions to ensure we stayed on the scenic route. Vesa had experience in his native Finland of navigating a rally car so was the perfect passenger, quite how he could read a map whilst I hammered it through the Ardennes I'm not sure! At one point one of my plug leads fell onto the header and cooked itself, something I was prepared for with a spare set. We changed the lead but had lost the pack, so took another route. It was almost deserted and we peeled back on the main route just behind the Esprit V8 twin turbo. Chasing them was a bit like playing Need For Speed 3 back in the day! There was a great selection of cars on the trip, from the Lotus to supercharged MX5, a stunning Porsche 924 Carrera GT evocation, Merc SL500 and so on. We all had a similar power to weight ratio so everyone was having a blast!
At Spa it was the Summer Classic event, with all the historics I enjoy and a strong Group C contingent. Some of us had track time booked, which was very haphazard. We got a sticker, put on our helmets and were called to pitlane. A marshall roughly divided us into two groups (slow & fast I think?) and then we were off! There were too many cars on track, too close together. We never really went more than 5/10 and before the first lap was up a Corvette C6 had binned it at the top of Eau Rouge behind us and it was red flagged. Subsequent track time was behind the medical car. Nevermind, it was a taster and I'd love to do a proper track day at Spa now!
On the second last day the heavens opened approaching France. The last time I saw rain like that was in Malaysia! Water drained off the adjacent fields and the inside two lanes became a river. It was so bad we pulled into the first services and waited it out for about an hour. Again I was quite impressed the car dealt with it no problems, it was like driving through a ford for a few miles!!
Rain starting to pick up
Last stop was to get some beer and then we made it back to Wales. Again, I feel like I've really got to know the car and it continues to impress. There's not many 30 year old cars you could drift around Oulton Park one month and then head towards Eau Rouge flat out before driving home again having just swapped a spark plug lead!
Quick plug lead check before heading home
Back home I met up with my friend Matt who I hadn't seen for a couple of years. Waaay back when I had my white 924 as a student he had helped me out. At the time he owned a W123 series Mercedes but now he was the proud owner of an American import too, a gorgeous W108.
On the weekend I revisited the Classic Motorhub in Bibury. I think this is one of the best regular events going, so it's great that I'm only 1 ½ hrs away. I was going to drive up with Mark in his big block Camaro but that's a bit lively at the best of times and rain was forecast, so I gave him a lift. It was funny letting him drive the C4, he couldn't believe how sharp it was! The 2 turns lock to lock makes the steering very reponsive and with new polybushes and shocks, it corners very flat. He said it was only when he went over catseyes did he realise how stiff it was, otherwise the car is nicely compliant. At the event I saw couple of ZR1's, the first time I've seen them. A very impressive engine and sometimes I wish I'd bought one. However I feel better putting the miles on my car and the basic nature of the 350 appealed. When I owned the 924 Turbo Carrera GT rep I realised a highly strung car with hard to find parts frustrated me. And besides, I'm just heads & cam away from trouncing a ZR1 when I put my new intake on.
The ZR1 is a 32v twin cam with 16 injectors...
6”2 in a Diablo, it's a nope! And ouch, that gearbox and clutch is horrible!
A friend with a supercharged MX5 asked me last year if I wanted to tag along to a larger Spa trip that was being organised and happily it fitted in with my week off shift work. There was a WhatsApp group setup and seeing everyone prep their cars, whether it was new cylinder heads or ceramic coating was a great motivator! I finally sorted out the stereo in my car first of all. The Bose system (called “Blose” Stateside) had never worked in my ownership. Until recently I just stuck a Bluetooth speaker in the cup holder or listened to that throbbing V8. However I'd seen a few people adapt the 1.5DIN opening to fit a 2DIN Android unit and it looked like an excellent way to consolidate music, sat nav, data logging etc. I bought some Pioneer speakers and ran all new wiring. The Bose system was vastly expensive in it's day, with each speaker having it's own amp in a housing. These speakers have a different impedance to standard ones and so I decided it was best to slightly trim the speaker housings to accept 4x4 and 6x4 speakers, leaving all the Bose stuff there should I ever sell the car and someone wants to reinstate it. I had to make a small cut in the centre of the dash to allow the double din unit to fit on top of the climate control but it wasn't anything drastic. I chose an Xtrons unit having seen the one in Geraint's Boxster S (an excellent thread on here) Someone was selling the exact model I wanted on eBay as an unwanted warranty replacement so I picked it up for £80! I was surprised how cheap car audio stuff is, the whole project owes me around £150. The sound quality isn't amazing but it's a 30 year old fibreglass car with a 5.7L V8. With the GPS antenna stuck out the way and using my phone as a hot spot, Google Maps & Waze work perfectly. I've got access to Amazon music too, so can just say “Alex play..” and it starts right up. Happily the power aerial works too! I haven't committed to cutting the centre console yet but I'm just waiting for a suitable double din fascia that will fit with the rest of the console.
My diff has a leak at the half shafts which I will need to address (diff out job ugh) but in the meantime I changed the oil with my friend Vesa, who has the LT1. There's no drain plug on the Dana 44 in my car so we used a Lidl oil pump which worked a treat. It was topped off with the correct fluid for the LSD. We toyed with the idea of taking a full size spare wheel in the carrier, but it looked hysterical! Space saver and tyre shop would be our preferred precaution for the Spa trip.
Checking header collector bolts first
Quick shakedown over the mountain
Lots of people I'd be travelling with had very shiny cars and Geraint kindly loaned me his dual action polisher, so that was the last bit of work to do before I went. When I bought the car the paint was almost perfect and the owner never drove it in the rain. Well I've gone on to park it in the centre of Cardiff, drift it around Oulton Park etc and so it's not what it used to be. I really am not interested in polishing instead of driving but it was satisfying to get it looking good again! I used some Meguairs compound, polish and wax. There's still a few deeper scratches and the scuffs from other people parallel parking against the bumpers. The whole process took me about 4 hours so I imagine it could look even better if you spent a whole day on it.
I forget how purposeful my car looks until I see a stock C4 on stilts with positive rear camber!
The eve of the channel tunnel crossing we all stayed at a Travelodge in Ashford. After meeting everyone and having a few beers I went to get my stuff out of the car. I thought I was done, so slid the lock closed and swung the door shut. At this point Vesa said “wait” and I went to stop the door with my hand. Well it only closed on my finger hard enough the lock caught. Thanks to the beer I was able to use my other hand to reach into my pocket, unlock the door and open it to free my finger. At the reception I was told where A&E was but went for the wrap it in plasters and look after the weekend option. It was a bit dire but somehow didn't cause too much grief and after a week pretty much healed up.
The next morning we got the tunnel to France. It's not since a school trip I'd been on there and I was impressed by the station, it was like a small airport! Still I prefer the ferry, it's nice to walk around for a couple of hours and chill out rather than be stuck in a train carriage for 30mins before driving again. The organiser had done a fantastic job (thanks if you're a reader Dave!) with routes planned and just simple reminders of “set your alarm for tomorrow now” that ensured we mostly stuck together. The group was large enough (about 20) that we could split up and do what we were more interested in. On the road we followed a couple of directions to ensure we stayed on the scenic route. Vesa had experience in his native Finland of navigating a rally car so was the perfect passenger, quite how he could read a map whilst I hammered it through the Ardennes I'm not sure! At one point one of my plug leads fell onto the header and cooked itself, something I was prepared for with a spare set. We changed the lead but had lost the pack, so took another route. It was almost deserted and we peeled back on the main route just behind the Esprit V8 twin turbo. Chasing them was a bit like playing Need For Speed 3 back in the day! There was a great selection of cars on the trip, from the Lotus to supercharged MX5, a stunning Porsche 924 Carrera GT evocation, Merc SL500 and so on. We all had a similar power to weight ratio so everyone was having a blast!
At Spa it was the Summer Classic event, with all the historics I enjoy and a strong Group C contingent. Some of us had track time booked, which was very haphazard. We got a sticker, put on our helmets and were called to pitlane. A marshall roughly divided us into two groups (slow & fast I think?) and then we were off! There were too many cars on track, too close together. We never really went more than 5/10 and before the first lap was up a Corvette C6 had binned it at the top of Eau Rouge behind us and it was red flagged. Subsequent track time was behind the medical car. Nevermind, it was a taster and I'd love to do a proper track day at Spa now!
On the second last day the heavens opened approaching France. The last time I saw rain like that was in Malaysia! Water drained off the adjacent fields and the inside two lanes became a river. It was so bad we pulled into the first services and waited it out for about an hour. Again I was quite impressed the car dealt with it no problems, it was like driving through a ford for a few miles!!
Rain starting to pick up
Last stop was to get some beer and then we made it back to Wales. Again, I feel like I've really got to know the car and it continues to impress. There's not many 30 year old cars you could drift around Oulton Park one month and then head towards Eau Rouge flat out before driving home again having just swapped a spark plug lead!
Quick plug lead check before heading home
Back home I met up with my friend Matt who I hadn't seen for a couple of years. Waaay back when I had my white 924 as a student he had helped me out. At the time he owned a W123 series Mercedes but now he was the proud owner of an American import too, a gorgeous W108.
On the weekend I revisited the Classic Motorhub in Bibury. I think this is one of the best regular events going, so it's great that I'm only 1 ½ hrs away. I was going to drive up with Mark in his big block Camaro but that's a bit lively at the best of times and rain was forecast, so I gave him a lift. It was funny letting him drive the C4, he couldn't believe how sharp it was! The 2 turns lock to lock makes the steering very reponsive and with new polybushes and shocks, it corners very flat. He said it was only when he went over catseyes did he realise how stiff it was, otherwise the car is nicely compliant. At the event I saw couple of ZR1's, the first time I've seen them. A very impressive engine and sometimes I wish I'd bought one. However I feel better putting the miles on my car and the basic nature of the 350 appealed. When I owned the 924 Turbo Carrera GT rep I realised a highly strung car with hard to find parts frustrated me. And besides, I'm just heads & cam away from trouncing a ZR1 when I put my new intake on.
The ZR1 is a 32v twin cam with 16 injectors...
6”2 in a Diablo, it's a nope! And ouch, that gearbox and clutch is horrible!
Thanks both!
On the weekend I made a visit to Santa Pod to run the 1/4 mile. I was interested to see how my car would fare against Vesa's LT1, which has 300bhp and a 6k redline. By comparison mine had 250bhp stock and peak power is under 5k rpm. I've got long tube headers and a dual exhaust, plus a K&N filter with a cut air lid. The exhaust on my car was restrictive from the factory as they anticipated it being 5L not 5.7L My car has a 3.54 ratio diff and 6 speed manual, Vesa a 2.59 4 speed auto.
I was able to run consistently .3sec 2mph quicker than him and broke into the 13sec pass, which I was very happy with. My best 60ft was 2.1 with a 9 second dead 1/8th mile. That works out as 0-60 in 5.2 seconds. Not bad at all! I had some time left on the table, if I dropped my rear tyre pressures, had less fuel, less stuff in the boot etc I think I could knock a couple of tenths off. I didn't manage a launch without spinning my tyres which cost me time. Likewise it was 30c the hottest day of the year!
I'll be interested to go next year when I change my intake manifold to a low rise one, this should give me another 1000 safe & useable rpm. But very pleased with my genuine 5.2sec sprint to 60 with no driver aids
On the weekend I made a visit to Santa Pod to run the 1/4 mile. I was interested to see how my car would fare against Vesa's LT1, which has 300bhp and a 6k redline. By comparison mine had 250bhp stock and peak power is under 5k rpm. I've got long tube headers and a dual exhaust, plus a K&N filter with a cut air lid. The exhaust on my car was restrictive from the factory as they anticipated it being 5L not 5.7L My car has a 3.54 ratio diff and 6 speed manual, Vesa a 2.59 4 speed auto.
I was able to run consistently .3sec 2mph quicker than him and broke into the 13sec pass, which I was very happy with. My best 60ft was 2.1 with a 9 second dead 1/8th mile. That works out as 0-60 in 5.2 seconds. Not bad at all! I had some time left on the table, if I dropped my rear tyre pressures, had less fuel, less stuff in the boot etc I think I could knock a couple of tenths off. I didn't manage a launch without spinning my tyres which cost me time. Likewise it was 30c the hottest day of the year!
I'll be interested to go next year when I change my intake manifold to a low rise one, this should give me another 1000 safe & useable rpm. But very pleased with my genuine 5.2sec sprint to 60 with no driver aids
It's been a while! I'll have to fill in the gaps from the summer, but in the meantime here's my new wheel setup. About a year ago I bought some 18” Speedline Alessio from Facebook marketplace with the unusual 5x120.65 PCD. A bit of research and I imagine they were originally from an Aston DB7 GTS. Anyway turned out one of the barrels was cracked and I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with them. Scouring eBay as you do I found some NOS wider barrels in Germany for a fair price. Coupled with some wider lips from a Porsche breaker in the UK I had everything I needed to put together a great set of wheels. I used a local specialist to powder coat the centres gunmetal grey. They also did the lips in chrome powder coat since I like driving more than polishing and the barrels gloss black. They're 18x11 rear on 315/30 and 18x9.5 275/35 fronts. Lots to look forward to this year, mainly a trip to Le Mans 24hr Classic with track time!
I do like those wheels! Reading all the replacement and service stuff you have done is still deja vu to me!
He recently changed rubber to Mickey Thompson Street comp tyres on the standard wheels, which are hard to find tyres for; or they are down here. From all accounts, they are way better than the hard Kumhos it had on it (Not the same Kumhos as yours, these were some old design). They are not drag tyres but they look more modern than all the old tyres he has had on there. Brakes are another he raves about and always says "I should have done them sooner". It has slotted on the front with Bendix Ultimate pads. (Quite dusty, but they do their job well) He replaced the master cylinder with a new one to.
He recently changed rubber to Mickey Thompson Street comp tyres on the standard wheels, which are hard to find tyres for; or they are down here. From all accounts, they are way better than the hard Kumhos it had on it (Not the same Kumhos as yours, these were some old design). They are not drag tyres but they look more modern than all the old tyres he has had on there. Brakes are another he raves about and always says "I should have done them sooner". It has slotted on the front with Bendix Ultimate pads. (Quite dusty, but they do their job well) He replaced the master cylinder with a new one to.
Thanks all!
Fishy Dave said:
Looking good!
Did you buy your AC Delco gear oil from the UK?
Dave I pinched it off Vesa, I think he maybe got it from Eurovettes? I was just going to use the equivilant in the UK, you can easily find the right gear oil with the LSD additive. I'll be revisiting it in the next couple of months as my diff is leaking and has to come out to change the yoke seals Did you buy your AC Delco gear oil from the UK?
So after I spent all my money on wheels my head gasket blew!
The bottom of the radiator split and it cooked itself very quickly. Initially I thought I got away with it and fitted a triple row aluminium radiator I bought for a bargain price after someone bought the wrong model. My 1989 car has a radiator fill cap but from 1990 onwards it's on the expansion tank, so someone elses loss and my gain. I also changed the water pump and all the coolant hoses. Unfortunately after a couple of journeys I was still using coolant. I went to do a compression test and when I removed plug #8, the closest to the firewall on the drivers side, the favourite to go and coolant poured out of the hole. That'll be my problem then! With the lock down in place I took my time to figure out which option to take. It would be the biggest job I've done on a car but I decided I'd have a go at stripping it down and putting it back together. There's a great little Instagram group of C4 owners with a group chat and they were a fantastic resource of help and knowledge, along with some Facebook pages.
New radiator squeezed in:
And waterpump. Luckily I'd already removed the smog pump, it's still a bit of a faff to get down to it.
Ruh-oh
The bottom of the radiator split and it cooked itself very quickly. Initially I thought I got away with it and fitted a triple row aluminium radiator I bought for a bargain price after someone bought the wrong model. My 1989 car has a radiator fill cap but from 1990 onwards it's on the expansion tank, so someone elses loss and my gain. I also changed the water pump and all the coolant hoses. Unfortunately after a couple of journeys I was still using coolant. I went to do a compression test and when I removed plug #8, the closest to the firewall on the drivers side, the favourite to go and coolant poured out of the hole. That'll be my problem then! With the lock down in place I took my time to figure out which option to take. It would be the biggest job I've done on a car but I decided I'd have a go at stripping it down and putting it back together. There's a great little Instagram group of C4 owners with a group chat and they were a fantastic resource of help and knowledge, along with some Facebook pages.
New radiator squeezed in:
And waterpump. Luckily I'd already removed the smog pump, it's still a bit of a faff to get down to it.
Ruh-oh
I had the high revving Miniram intake manifold in my shed and some very nice Air Flow Research CNC heads. However these would need to be milled down from 73cc combustion chambers to something more like 58cc and all the machine shops were closed. Likewise I'd like to do a complete engine build with them in the future so that would limit my options down the line. One other item of preventative maintenance I did was to change the fuel pump and sender unit. This is an easy job on the C4, the petrol filler door lifts off after 4 bolts, then it's just a case of the 10mm bolts on the sender and the whole assembly lifts out. I was able to swap in my new one with the new pump in a few minutes. The new pump is much quieter than the old one and the connections aren't rusted so the fuel smell has gone too.
When I removed my heads I was surprised to find the engine had already been rebuilt and bored .030in over, making it a 355/5.8L When this was done I'm not sure, I didn't have any paperwork to show but it's the original numbers matching block and I bought the car on 86k (now 125!)
Stripping down old intake:
Heads off:
When I removed my heads I was surprised to find the engine had already been rebuilt and bored .030in over, making it a 355/5.8L When this was done I'm not sure, I didn't have any paperwork to show but it's the original numbers matching block and I bought the car on 86k (now 125!)
Stripping down old intake:
Heads off:
I got lucky and found some factory aluminium heads the same as mine with Comp roller tip rockers for £600. I bought these and sold my old ones as spares for £300, unsure if they were cracked or warped. I then hit a snag when I found one of the valve springs was missing and I'd sent my old heads to a friend of a friend in Stockholm already! The seller was kind enough to refund me £40 and I put it towards some new Comp springs. Perhaps a worthwhile change anyway since I wasn't sure of the mileage the old ones had and I would be revving the car higher than before. This deepened my work to lapping the valves, changing the seals and fitting the springs. So much for just plonking a set of heads on. I was going a bit crazy wondering how clean the deck and heads had to be or what I could clean them with, similar to when you ask Google about a medical problem. In the end I thought it's good enough, I'll just go for it! Excuse the "garden" I was planning for it to be my main project before my car had other plans!
Fitting the heads was a work out, with 34 bolts to torque in order to 70ft lbs in 4 sequences! For the intake I bought 12 new cap head bolts and it was a breeze to fit compared to the factory intake, which is 4 pieces and a medley of 36 torx bolts varying in size. The distributor dropped in and now it was a case of routing the electrical wires and vac lines. I relocated the manifold air temperature sensor to the intake, removed the EGR solenoid and vacuum lines (no provision with new intake) and got rid of the non-functioning cruise control. This got rid of a huge amount of electrical connectors and vac hoses. The air con wasn't working either (I replaced the seals to no success, only the expensive bits were left to change) and since I'd never had it, that was removed too. I kept the bracket since the belt tensioner mounts to it and used the space to fit a catch can.
Heads on:
Intake on and snazzy new valve covers mocked up:
Fitting the heads was a work out, with 34 bolts to torque in order to 70ft lbs in 4 sequences! For the intake I bought 12 new cap head bolts and it was a breeze to fit compared to the factory intake, which is 4 pieces and a medley of 36 torx bolts varying in size. The distributor dropped in and now it was a case of routing the electrical wires and vac lines. I relocated the manifold air temperature sensor to the intake, removed the EGR solenoid and vacuum lines (no provision with new intake) and got rid of the non-functioning cruise control. This got rid of a huge amount of electrical connectors and vac hoses. The air con wasn't working either (I replaced the seals to no success, only the expensive bits were left to change) and since I'd never had it, that was removed too. I kept the bracket since the belt tensioner mounts to it and used the space to fit a catch can.
Heads on:
Intake on and snazzy new valve covers mocked up:
Almost complete apart from braided hoses for PCV and catch can and plug wire routing
I chased a couple of dumb problems initially, an intermittent injector clip/pigtail and a loose pcv connection. A couple of essential food shops and I'm confident enough to drive it to work. The intake has transformed the car for sure. The low peaky torque is gone, but it doesn't fall off a cliff at a little over 4000rpm now. My safe rev limit is going to be 6000rpm but it pulls well to 5600 with the stock cam and heads. Now you can leave it in 3rd gear and it will pull like a train. Without that crazy 370ftlbs low in the rev range it's much more forgiving to get on the throttle in a turn and power out of it.
My next step is to datalog and then burn a new chip for it. A chap in the states is going to look at my datalogs and send me the maps, then I can use the chip burner I bought to apply the changes. Taking into account the long tube headers and other tweaks I've made, I'd estimate the power to be around 320bhp/350ft, which is somewhere between the LT1 and LS1. With my new found confidence I'd like to change the cam in the winter if I haven't blown it up by then! Should I fit my nice heads with a suitable cam I'll easily pass 400bhp at the crank which is a fun prospect!
Now my next question, should I fit these NOS Grand Sport arch flares? I could run a more neutal camber with them or sell them for a good price to fund new seat upholstery, which lets the car down a bit at the moment.
Without:
With:
I chased a couple of dumb problems initially, an intermittent injector clip/pigtail and a loose pcv connection. A couple of essential food shops and I'm confident enough to drive it to work. The intake has transformed the car for sure. The low peaky torque is gone, but it doesn't fall off a cliff at a little over 4000rpm now. My safe rev limit is going to be 6000rpm but it pulls well to 5600 with the stock cam and heads. Now you can leave it in 3rd gear and it will pull like a train. Without that crazy 370ftlbs low in the rev range it's much more forgiving to get on the throttle in a turn and power out of it.
My next step is to datalog and then burn a new chip for it. A chap in the states is going to look at my datalogs and send me the maps, then I can use the chip burner I bought to apply the changes. Taking into account the long tube headers and other tweaks I've made, I'd estimate the power to be around 320bhp/350ft, which is somewhere between the LT1 and LS1. With my new found confidence I'd like to change the cam in the winter if I haven't blown it up by then! Should I fit my nice heads with a suitable cam I'll easily pass 400bhp at the crank which is a fun prospect!
Now my next question, should I fit these NOS Grand Sport arch flares? I could run a more neutal camber with them or sell them for a good price to fund new seat upholstery, which lets the car down a bit at the moment.
Without:
With:
Top effort - thank goodness for the good weather for working outdoors!
I'd sell the arches and fund upholstery. The space you inhabit makes such a difference to the feeling of the car, IMO. Personally, I think the car's shape doesn't lend itself to add-ons like the arches, plus if you really wanted some extensions, I'd bet there are non-OEM solutions, unless you're all about the purity.
I'd sell the arches and fund upholstery. The space you inhabit makes such a difference to the feeling of the car, IMO. Personally, I think the car's shape doesn't lend itself to add-ons like the arches, plus if you really wanted some extensions, I'd bet there are non-OEM solutions, unless you're all about the purity.
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