I joined last month, but got prodded into introducing myself, instead of just reading. So, Hi my name is Dave and I am a performance junkie, have been for most of my 61 yrs. When I was younger, I had a 383 Roadrunner, a couple 5.0 Mustangs, a Z28 and a 69 SS 396 Chevelle. Cars were cheap. The one I liked most and still regret having to sell (due to being a single dad and the money went into the house so we had a place to live) was a '65 ragtop Corvette that I redid.
I have recently returned to the performance would and am in the process of modernizing, fixing up a 1996 LT1 Corvette.
I live close to Summit Racing and take advantage of all the 20 off 100 and other incentives that they send me. I am buying my parts linearly instead of all at once, patience allows me to average the cost down.
So far I have a complete Dana 44 differential (driveshaft,cbeam) to swap in (its an A4 car). Heads to port, an LT4 cam, American Racing headers, Comp Cams roller rockers, roller timing chain (like the one in the LT4's, not the extreme duty one though). A rehabbed and upgraded Optispark (there is an automotive engineer here in Ohio that reworks Opti's using the Mitsubishi optics), a hotter coil, MSD 6A box, and a 52mm throttle body. Already did a DeWitts radiator, new rear bearings, going to do the front, a complete Banski Motorsports rear suspension and Global West Del-alum front bushings. Oh and new Bilsteins.
The car only had 11,800 miles on it when I bought it in July 2016, but had sat for most of the 10 years before I bought it. It has a 1996 only HVAC issue I will be fixing, also the headliner had drooped. We fixed that. The pic of my wife fixing the headliner is below.
I had really wanted a 6-speed, but have a damage right hand and sometimes shifting is an issue, but one day, if all works out, I will get another, maybe a 1989 or a 95 M6. White with red interior of course. I have grown to like white with red.
The stripes on my car are painted. I picked out the red and black to match the torch red interior. We found some material at JoAnn Fabrics that matches the torch red perfectly. We used that to create the cover for the harness bar. The bar I bought is from Exotic Muscle and I put it in to tighten up the hoop. Works like the bulkhead behind the back seat on a notchback Mustang (etc). There is also a camber brace that I installed.
When I was in high school (I graduated in 1975) all my compadres were jacking the back of their cars up. I was learning how to make a car handle.
The Corvette key fob went into my toolbox (I have a Gerstner for my precision tools, was a tool & die maker before I started writing commercial/business software for a living). I put it into the toolbox in 1991 and it stayed there until 2016 when I bought the '96.
I don't have the money to buy a new Corvette, but I still have the skills to build one that will be a great cruiser and fun car (and keep up with the base models, not the kicked up, LS based ones though, just the base models). I am not into drag racing, more twisty roads, up through the mountains of PA. and the country here in Ohio.
As such, I sourced the Dana 44 from a 4+3 car (pre-89) so it would have the 3.07 ratio that is currently in the car. I just wanted it to be stronger. Then the next task is to learn about rebuilding the trans and to upgrade the 4L60E to handle the power I am building into it. I will be upgrading it to 4L65/4L70E specs with 5 pinion carriers etc. I might even put a fan cooler back where the spare tire went. I took it out and am going to fabricate a brace, similar to the factory spare tire delete bracket that has become very hard to find.
I am rebuilding the Dana 44. All that is left is to get the c-clips that control end play on the stub shafts and new clutches for the posi. I found the special tool set on eBay that is used to service Dana 44's for a steal. It was brand new. I have also sourced the tools for the LTx balancer removal and the set for servicing the water pump/timing chain cover.
GM was "good" about having to have special tools to work on these cars. Probably worse on the newer ones.
I learned a lot about cooling fixing my 2004.5 2500HD Duramax with the LLY engines. The 04.5's and 05's were overheaters, however some enthusiasts developed a fix and I put an auxiliary radiator in behind the bumper, a bigger trans cooler, bigger, freer flowing hot and cold side pipes and a better intercooler (charge air cooler) along with the complete air intake system from a 2006 Duramax (to fix the turbo inlet issue).
That's my story and I am sticking to it.
I have recently returned to the performance would and am in the process of modernizing, fixing up a 1996 LT1 Corvette.
I live close to Summit Racing and take advantage of all the 20 off 100 and other incentives that they send me. I am buying my parts linearly instead of all at once, patience allows me to average the cost down.
So far I have a complete Dana 44 differential (driveshaft,cbeam) to swap in (its an A4 car). Heads to port, an LT4 cam, American Racing headers, Comp Cams roller rockers, roller timing chain (like the one in the LT4's, not the extreme duty one though). A rehabbed and upgraded Optispark (there is an automotive engineer here in Ohio that reworks Opti's using the Mitsubishi optics), a hotter coil, MSD 6A box, and a 52mm throttle body. Already did a DeWitts radiator, new rear bearings, going to do the front, a complete Banski Motorsports rear suspension and Global West Del-alum front bushings. Oh and new Bilsteins.
The car only had 11,800 miles on it when I bought it in July 2016, but had sat for most of the 10 years before I bought it. It has a 1996 only HVAC issue I will be fixing, also the headliner had drooped. We fixed that. The pic of my wife fixing the headliner is below.
I had really wanted a 6-speed, but have a damage right hand and sometimes shifting is an issue, but one day, if all works out, I will get another, maybe a 1989 or a 95 M6. White with red interior of course. I have grown to like white with red.
The stripes on my car are painted. I picked out the red and black to match the torch red interior. We found some material at JoAnn Fabrics that matches the torch red perfectly. We used that to create the cover for the harness bar. The bar I bought is from Exotic Muscle and I put it in to tighten up the hoop. Works like the bulkhead behind the back seat on a notchback Mustang (etc). There is also a camber brace that I installed.
When I was in high school (I graduated in 1975) all my compadres were jacking the back of their cars up. I was learning how to make a car handle.
The Corvette key fob went into my toolbox (I have a Gerstner for my precision tools, was a tool & die maker before I started writing commercial/business software for a living). I put it into the toolbox in 1991 and it stayed there until 2016 when I bought the '96.
I don't have the money to buy a new Corvette, but I still have the skills to build one that will be a great cruiser and fun car (and keep up with the base models, not the kicked up, LS based ones though, just the base models). I am not into drag racing, more twisty roads, up through the mountains of PA. and the country here in Ohio.
As such, I sourced the Dana 44 from a 4+3 car (pre-89) so it would have the 3.07 ratio that is currently in the car. I just wanted it to be stronger. Then the next task is to learn about rebuilding the trans and to upgrade the 4L60E to handle the power I am building into it. I will be upgrading it to 4L65/4L70E specs with 5 pinion carriers etc. I might even put a fan cooler back where the spare tire went. I took it out and am going to fabricate a brace, similar to the factory spare tire delete bracket that has become very hard to find.
I am rebuilding the Dana 44. All that is left is to get the c-clips that control end play on the stub shafts and new clutches for the posi. I found the special tool set on eBay that is used to service Dana 44's for a steal. It was brand new. I have also sourced the tools for the LTx balancer removal and the set for servicing the water pump/timing chain cover.
GM was "good" about having to have special tools to work on these cars. Probably worse on the newer ones.
I learned a lot about cooling fixing my 2004.5 2500HD Duramax with the LLY engines. The 04.5's and 05's were overheaters, however some enthusiasts developed a fix and I put an auxiliary radiator in behind the bumper, a bigger trans cooler, bigger, freer flowing hot and cold side pipes and a better intercooler (charge air cooler) along with the complete air intake system from a 2006 Duramax (to fix the turbo inlet issue).
That's my story and I am sticking to it.