So I finally got my car running again tonight after my mild build and I can only imagine what it would do if I would have spent some real money on it for some real performance parts. This car is now so awesome (to me) that I momentarily debated not even bothering to do a gear swap. Then I came back to reality, I WILL do a gear swap but it will probably not be until next spring. I went through the gears so quick though that I am considering 3:55s instead of 3:73s though.
I got the car about a year ago and it was bone stock right down to the rims and ignition wires. I think a street car should look great so I got wheels first but I also grabbed a set of low mileage heads off a 93 Cobra and threw them on the shelf where the sat gathering dust because I didn't have the cash to do the whole build the way I wanted to. This was to be a bare bones budget build and I was still struggling to find the cash. Later, I also picked up an Explorer intake and it too, sat on the shelf in my garage. well, a month ago I decided to start the project.
I broke the motor down slowly and once I got the heads off, I realized that if I was going to put headers on, now would be the time so I ordered a set of JBA unequal shorties. Once I had the stock headers off, I realized that this would also be the best time to do the mid pipe so I ordered a MAC Prochamber as well. I struggled with a set of FRPP valve covers in black with red script until I finally decided that the cosmetic gains were just not worth the trouble with the EGR, intake spacer, notching the hood, etc. so I got rid of them and just stuck with the stock ones. I also had some trouble with the thermactor plugs on the front of the heads.
Well, I finally got it all together. I changed the oil tonight, put a new serp belt on and topped the whole thing off with a K&N drop-in and started it up. Shockingly to me, it started right up. I actually got the dist in on the right tooth and got the ignition wires right on the first try. It ran rough for the first few minutes even after I timed it but then it smoothed out so I took it for a very short trip just to see how things felt. It stalled as I backed out of the driveway when I cranked the wheel pretty hard but then ran perfectly as I drove it out of my residential neighborhood. Once I got it out onto the open road, I ran it through the gears pretty aggressively and it was like sex on wheels!
I got the car about a year ago and it was bone stock right down to the rims and ignition wires. I think a street car should look great so I got wheels first but I also grabbed a set of low mileage heads off a 93 Cobra and threw them on the shelf where the sat gathering dust because I didn't have the cash to do the whole build the way I wanted to. This was to be a bare bones budget build and I was still struggling to find the cash. Later, I also picked up an Explorer intake and it too, sat on the shelf in my garage. well, a month ago I decided to start the project.
I broke the motor down slowly and once I got the heads off, I realized that if I was going to put headers on, now would be the time so I ordered a set of JBA unequal shorties. Once I had the stock headers off, I realized that this would also be the best time to do the mid pipe so I ordered a MAC Prochamber as well. I struggled with a set of FRPP valve covers in black with red script until I finally decided that the cosmetic gains were just not worth the trouble with the EGR, intake spacer, notching the hood, etc. so I got rid of them and just stuck with the stock ones. I also had some trouble with the thermactor plugs on the front of the heads.
Well, I finally got it all together. I changed the oil tonight, put a new serp belt on and topped the whole thing off with a K&N drop-in and started it up. Shockingly to me, it started right up. I actually got the dist in on the right tooth and got the ignition wires right on the first try. It ran rough for the first few minutes even after I timed it but then it smoothed out so I took it for a very short trip just to see how things felt. It stalled as I backed out of the driveway when I cranked the wheel pretty hard but then ran perfectly as I drove it out of my residential neighborhood. Once I got it out onto the open road, I ran it through the gears pretty aggressively and it was like sex on wheels!