I guess it's time to start my winter work. Last winter I swapped about 16lbs out of my driveline and the car responded with much smoother transitions on/off throttle. This winter I am looking to shed some of the extra static weight I have been hauling around. I deleted my ABS, PRC, foglights, cornering lamps, EVAP and other emissions equipment when I originally assembled the car, but all that wiring is still in place! There has got to be at least 40lbs of wiring throughout this car that is merely along for the ride.
I have also been crutchin along with the stock engine management. At the Thundercat Day this past spring, the car managed to squeeze out 260rwhp with large injectors as the only change to the engine management. Its high time for that to change as well. I have purchased PMAS HPX MAF sensor and associated components to convert from VAM to a slot style MAF(thanks Shawn!). I'm figuring on an easy 40hp available thru ditching the VAM restriction in front of the turbo and better fuel/timing mapping with a custom tune.
These are my two major goals, if I get enough done, I may dig into my headlight swap as well....
While I have the interior apart to strip down all the wiring, I am gonna fix my headliner issue, and swap out this horribly cracked dash.
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/d14f0dc6.jpg)
Many thanks to Claude who harvested this beautiful raven dash for me
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/e4b150df.jpg)
The dash harness alone weighs 16lbs. The frame and pad of the dash are surprisingly light once gutted....
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/9721d5dc.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/ed92794c.jpg)
I've got vaseline smeared all over the new dash right now. Gonna let that soak in for a few days while I am out of town. Hopefully it will work some magic on the vinyl to soften things up a bit.
You car, with all the extra stuff you're not using, is still probably lighter than mine:hick:.
That's a guaranteed fact! :shakeass:
Last time it was on scales(three summers ago) it was 3199lbs, half tank of fuel, no driver. This included the IRS, thru-floor subframe connectors, and a bolt-in 6pt roll bar.
I need to get it back on scales again. my end goal is 3000lbs while retaining at least a "full" appearing interior, i.e not gutted
Is the vaseline to keep the dash from drying, ie cracking? If so, I'm going to slather some on mine...it's getting a few tiny cracks around the speaker grille areas...
Yeah, I've read a few places online that claim vaseline will help re-moisturize dry vinyl.
I took a bunch of wiring out of the 83 when I was putting it back together, but I still haven't yanked the dash out to mess with that. Not sure if I should though...because if I do, my cage might grow A-pillar bars and a halo...
Wow, finding an original crack-free dash is not an easy c these days. That one looks to be in great shape.
Not gonna lie, all the pics Ive seen behind peoples dashes while doin heater core replacements has me slightly apprehensive cleanin up all this wiring...gonna be spendin alot of time with my EVTM.
Oh how I know this is true.
Vaseline FTW!
before
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/e4b150df.jpg)
after
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/4940fe0d.jpg)
This dash is gonna make the rest of my car look like ass!
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/9ffbe4b0.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/121ad4dd.jpg)
I always had the fear that if i ever found a crack free dash that i'd never be able to get it out and installed without cracking it. I hope that trick works! Do you have a cardomain or something on the car? About all i really know about it is the IRS.
the trick is to bake the vasoline in the sun, that will soften the vinyl. it really does work, all my cars have perfect dashes in then.
Shame, I hear ya. I was scared to even touch this dash for a long time! No cardomain, but everything I have done to the car is documented on this forum. Do a search for the threads I have started, should cover all of it. Also the photobucket link in my profile hosts ~340 or so pics of the car...
hcor, thats the plan, as soon as the sun comes back with any real heat.
So, I have had the better part of a week ALONE and off work. This is what i have to show for myself.....
gutted interior, first time the dash has been out of the car in my possession
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/275a1920.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/3c72948a.jpg)
12lbs of PRC/ABS wiring in a box
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/0e1e0eea.jpg)
5lbs of dash wiring on the floor
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/c5dd48aa.jpg)
stripped and re-wrapped dash harness laced into the new dash
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/531d42d9.jpg)
There is a bit more wiring in the body harness that needs to come out before I call this done, but I am not gonna hit the 40lbs of projected wiring....it takes alot of wire to make 1lb! I will have 20lbs in a box before I put everything back together and a couple pounds left throughout the car that I am just not gonna mess with right now.
recovered headliner
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/938911fe.jpg)
I am gonna try to get the headliner re-installed tomorrow, and get the new dash out of the dining room before the family gets home.....someone needs to clean this house too....
Wow, lookin' good! You're right though, you better get some of those car parts out of the house before the boss gets back. If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.
Headliner is back in, the flash really shows all my flaws! First time headliner recover....guess next time I'll do a better job of gettin all the old foam off
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/9a6d2e52.jpg)
Dash is back in, and after removing 20+ lbs of wiring, the car still starts!! windows, mirrors, turn signals, wipers all still work too. The headlights, OTOH I knew werent gonna work....still ciphering on that.
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/e6f832e2.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/963b3267.jpg)
All the wiring in the engine bay is re-loomed and repositioned, need to get some more zip-ties and that will be all finished. Once I get a couple interior parts I am waiting on I can reinstall the center console and seats. After thats done I can move onto stage2 which will be the MAF installation.
pics of my helpers today:
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/e3376e44.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/Carly/981705b2.jpg)
Shaping up nicely! I bet you're really glad the dash is in, even if the headlights aren't working.... yet. Every piece of progress is like completing a milestone. Congrats. :bowdown:
Regarding the helpers, enjoy the help from the first one because it won't be too long and you'll be helping him on his car! Also, I am wondering what that second one is helping with, keeping the carpet from flying out of the car? :rollin:
Man, putting the dash in solo is a PITA. I had my reservations about pullin it, but that was the easy part and I knew that goin in. Actually gettin the dash completely back in wasnt even close to the milestone I felt when the car refired on the first try. At that point, I knew for sure I wasnt gonna hafta pull the dash BACK OUT to find whatever I had messed up :rollin:
Yeah, the dog is a great placeholder!
Broke down a pair of wheels tonight. These were the front pair.
The rears have been moved to the front, and these will become the new rears. Originally 7.5" wide, I am swappin the 1" lips out for a 2.5" set to make them 9" wide.
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/62a8f91e.jpg)
40 bolts per wheel, Im glad I didnt hafta do all four
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/11f442a5.jpg)
It took my 1/2 impact to break the nuts loose on these suckers. You should never hafta use a 1/2" impact on 8mm bolts; its just scary!! Fortunately I didnt break any cause they are difficult to find and relatively expensive. If I had broken any I would be extremely tempted to replace them all with 5/16" titanium .....I do not wanna see the invoice on 160 Ti fasteners :punchballs:
Here is a lil teaser shot. I moved the 8.5's to the front today.
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/96e508bc.jpg)
These are 17x8.5" +42mm offset. Its just about all the wheel I can get up front w/o hackin the fenders I think. I am less than a finger from the fender lip, and a full finger from the coil over sleeve on the inside. The rears will be 17x9 +23mm offset as soon as I get a reply email from the guy with the lips I am trying to buy. Front lips are 1.5" Rears will be 2.5"
For this summer, I am gonna finish off this pair of 245/45's on front, and I picked up a used set of 275/40's for the rear. The next set of tires I buy will be a 255/275 combo.
Wow, I had no idea there were wheels that the lips could be swapped! Probably cheaper than sending them off to Weldcraft...
That is one of the reasons I went with 3pc wheels; I can never make up my mind! Used lips can be found for ~$90 usually in decent enough shape that a good polishing will clean em up nicely. Barrels are a lil bit higher, so if you need to change both it can get a bit expensive, BUT Weldcraft wont touch the ouside portion of a wheel at all, nor will they do any wheels on a steering axle....
Since my suspension setup requires funky offsets to fit the way I want them and finding companies that build the same wheel in both FWD and RWD offsets really limits wheel choices, building my own wheels is the best way to go.
Also, these wheels in particular use similar lip and barrel dimensions as Kinesis and HRE wheels. That means if I get a wild hair to step up to 18's later on, I can get different lips and barrels that will allow me to do so while reusing my same centers.
example, different centers than mine but same idea
17"
(http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/vwoah/supercups015.jpg)
18"
(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x228/speedwaremotorsports/porsche_day039.jpg)
I was completely clueless on this! Good to know though. There will be a point in the future when I put real brakes on the car and the door swings pretty wide with 5 lug wheel options. I'll probably be picking your brain in about a year...
I've had Weldcraft do two pair of wheels (both rears). I've been impressed with what they can do. Guess my stuff was run of the mill for them because there was no mention of what they wouldn't do.
Fairly un-pic worthy update, still waiting on my wheel lips to show up......
I pulled the header panel off to get the IC out, cleaned the inside of the core, and reinstalled. It was still coated with old oil from a previous turbo implosion.
I did move the BOV to the opposite pipe to make room for this though:
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/3312b507.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/473698c0.jpg)
maybe I can get the header panel back on with the new headlights, and the IC pipes back on the car this week still. Hopefully my wheel parts will show up soon too!
I'm not real sure how it can be true that I know I want to have the car together for the 27th, and yet I still am not motivated to get out and work on it....
I was hoping that today was gonna fix this cause I have been tracking the delivery of my wheel parts. I was excited to get home from work and have the package on the porch!
Too bad the freakin parts are WRONG!
Beautiful, but still wrong....
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/f748bc86.jpg)
The ID is too small for my centers. I gave the guy the measurements, so I'm not sure WTF is goin on here. Phone calls and emails came shortly after the slew of curse words faded off.
Looking good, looking good, gumby! Now, how are you going to make up for being two cylinders down? :punchballs:
more boost! I'll take 4 cylinders over 6. You can fool people into thinking you have a 5.0 with a 4cyl and cant with a v6,lol.
Those are pretty, gumby. Too bad they are wrong:(
Good???? really???
They sure would look good if they fit!
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/fd92ce6d.jpg)
Too bad its more like this
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/b1a0f5eb.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/672dc367.jpg)
Not gonna matter how many more cylinders you got if I dont have wheels.....
Tee minus 2wks until my next event! Better get my To Do list up here.
First though, so pretty with new headlights...I thought I did a decent job polishing out the old ones, pshaw! these things are gorgeous.
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/54473e38.jpg)
IC and plumbing is re-installed, re-ran one of my crank case vent lines to make it look better, tied up my wiring bundles both in the bay and under the car.
Wheels, yeah about that. I have received a complete refund on the incorrect parts, but the proper pieces are a lil over a month out. I am meeting up with a guy tomorrow and trading a set of tri-bars for a pair of FR500's. The FR500's are 9" wide and will be my planB to get the 275's under the rear of the car until my new wheel parts arrive.
Other things that need done in the next two weeks:
- Finish inner tie rod install
- Have 275's mounted on FR500's
- Install new ign switch and pigtail
- Reinstall center console, and passenger front seat
- Get car aligned
After the car is back on the road, I will build and install the jumper harness for the MAF sensor and aquire the silicone and hard pipe parts I need to eliminate the VAM.
Then a tune! :burnout:
Gumby glad to see the progress! Bout time you got that dash in! Found a perfect gray/black two tone yesterday but it cracked when jim only touched it so we were sad :(
And I am glad to see that you have been semi-regularly checkin in on the board recently, and gettin active with these cars again!
I'm going to have to fit a trip to indy in this spring and check it out! Maybe I'll be able to drive the slougar if I get the transmission fixed.
If by "fixed" you mean T5 swapped, DO IT!!!!!
And you should make sure its an autoX weekend when you come out, see the car in action :D
She went for the first drive of the year tonight! After I finished up the inner tie rods, put on the wheels, and took it down off jack stands, I couldnt help myself....tightened the bolts on the drivers seat, slapped the ign. switch in it and pulled it out of the garage :hick:
brake check, yup
steering check, yup
cruise around the block, of course!
light the tires up in a second gear roll?
HELL YES! mid 50's temps are very kind to turbo cars :burnout:
I was gonna get a pic of the car with the rear 275's/FR500's, but it got a bit dark before I got everything cleaned up. I'm not a fan b/c of the lack of lip on FR500's, but they are the same offset as what my Desmonds will be once I get the proper pieces, so I know how my wheel/tire combo will fit at least. They will get me thru...
grabbed a couple pics just now.
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/5326ba27.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/35d5dbb1.jpg)
I am super happy with the new rear offset, ride height is unchanged, but overall stance is a bit tougher with the extra width out back. I just do not like black wheels....I cannot wait for the correct wheel parts to get here!
Oh, I brought home a pair of toe plates from work too. Toe was way out after replacing the inners, and since my alignment appointment isn't till the 26th, I wanted to get it at least close enough to drive around.
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/4924c08c.jpg)
Tomorrow I'll bring home a set of scales and scale the car. Hasn't been done in nearly three years now. I have removed/relocated weight and changed wheels/widths, multiple times, so I need to at least check my cross weights again.
Looking very good...man that baby is low. I agree with you on black wheels, not my thing. I do really like the look of the FR500's though!
I've been looking at that picture (front/side) trying to figure out WHY it looked like you had some skinny little tire on the back and just now figured out it was your exhause pipe and not your driveway that I was seeing, ROFL
You're not the only one; Shawn asked me the same thing!
Moment of Tr00f!!!!
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/bb3e8125.jpg)
Last time this car was on scales was right after I got it together in 2008. It was 3199 w/half tank of fuel and no driver. 51.8%F/48.2%R and after a minor adjustment, 50/50 cross weight.
Today the car has a full tank of fuel and weighs.........[SIZE="3"]3199lbs!!![/SIZE][/B] :rollin:
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/2a1568f8.jpg)
I was a lil surprised to see the exact same number again, but using 6.25lbs/gal for gasoline shows I have taken ~56lbs out of the car in the last three years. What I really did like to see was that not only did I remove weight, but I managed to get it out of the proper end of the car. The car now has 50/50 distribution both front to rear, AND cross weight! w00t!
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/d1057f30.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/bdc444e9.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/c8cae8c6.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/42f9f344.jpg)
gumby, that car's looking awesome. Just think how awesome it's going to look when it crosses the line behind my '97 :evilgrin:
*edit - that's cool that the car schematic on the scales looks like an 87/8 t-bird, too!
gumby, I really like your car.
It is amazing that your car is balanced front to back. What exactly have you done to remove weight from the front of the car?
What do you think a stock TC front/rear balance is?
Tubular Kmember, control arms, and coilovers are the biggest components that removed weight on the nose. Relocated battery, lightened front bumper, custom upper intake, and ditchin the TEVESII all helped as well.
The IRS adds a few pounds out back. Its a trade off, sprung vs. unsprung weight, but it does contribute to balance as well with the added weight being low and at the rear.
List is done along with a lil polish on the roof and hood. Cleaned the windows. Sittin on GO, now its gonna snow tonight. :punchballs:
I just now saw the post on the weight balance. Nice!
Quite a machine Gumby. Good work, mate.
50/50 weight balance ftw. I had never noticed the little aluminum air dams for your hood scoops...those are cool!
I know, this snow was quite a kick in the balls after having a few days of 70 degree weather! I was planning on running my car up to my Dad's shop to work on a few things and by the time I got off work Saturday, it was spitting snow. Ah well spring will be here to stay soon enough and we will be able to play.
Great job with your Bird! You've really been busy. I never knew you could change the lips on wheels before either, that's really cool. There's not much space between the tires and fenders either, it looks good. Do they rub at all?
Chuck, yeah I am stoked with the new numbers.
No rubbing from my tires.
Snow stayed south far enough that I got to run today, but boy was it COLD this morning. Too cold for UHP summer tires I'll tell ya that, no grip at all today.
Thanks for all the compliments guys!
I hope to be picking up a 4 eyed bird from a friend and trying to build an AutoX car. You've done alot of work, and amazing work at that! Love the car. I'm not a fan of the look of the wheels, but the functionality is sweet. I love having wheels with a nice lip and the versatility of the 3 piece is cool. What is the function of your Aluminum hood scoop pieces?
heat extraction