Build Thread Finally! 89 Notch 2v Swap Progress Thread Project: 89mach1

Adams91LX said:

did some google searching...



this would look sweet

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I agree. Not the chrome center cap though. I think I'll try that next.

smokin joe said:

Mike, the car looks amazing! I followed the whole build and it was like watching a child being born to me. Even the red interior ties in nicely to the whole concept. You have some definite talent!

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YThanks Joe. I am pretty happy w/ it as it has turned out. Talent??? I don't know about that though......I have......Wisdom

Well 500 miles on the thing, so now I can comment on the finished product:

Ride: This car is carrying probably 300 lbs more than it did as a 4 banger.
With the added weight of 2v engine, the 70lbs of sound deadener, subframe connectors w/ the jacking rails, the rollbar, AND the hoopty assed 10" sub in the trunk all that weight adds up to a fairly decent ride. Compared to the choppy washboard it used to be, 180 degree improvement.

Performance: The 2v isn't what I expected, but it is OK for now. Seems to make more noise than power. I am used to the LS-2s in my last two GTO's. I was expecting the car to weigh around 3000 lbs w/ the weight added and figured that since a GTO tips the scale around 3700, the power-to-weight would yield similar results..........Uhhh, No! said the finger.
I will change this.

Steering: The manual Rack is the slower 20:1 ratio and it is not bad at all, I actually left out of the parking lot w/ one hand today holding a pepsi, so all-in-all....I got no problems w/ the Rack.

Brakes: Lets just say I hope I never need to come to a serious panic stop. Even w/ the right 7/8" bore master cylinder, it still requires a pretty good leg to bring it to a hard stop. I'm still messing w/ the proportioning valve, and I probably still have too much rear brake bias, so the vote is still out on the manual brakes.

The Carburetor. ABSOLUTELY have NO problem w/ my 19th century fuel metering device. It idles smoothly at 800 RPM w/an 13-0 AFR,slow cruises at the same, and provides a 11-12 AFR under hard acceleration. One pat on the throttle in the AM and it starts instantly. So no worries w/ this "mod"

The Restraints: I put these really cool 4 pt restraints that use a conventional "stock-style" buckle assembly. I love them.

The gauges: These gauges are not long for the world in this car. They worked OK when the 4 cylinder was in there, but now that there is a tremec 3650 in the picture, the internal speed sensor is not compatible w/ the digital speedo. Calibrating the speedo over the same one mile course I used for the 4cyl/T5 now has the speedo reading 314 mph, even though I'm only going 70.

(you really cover alot of ground going 314 mph) My odometer says 1183 , and the MSD timing computer says that the engine has only been running for 12 hours, So....1183/12 means I'm averaging about 98 miles per hour! Not bad for mostly city driving.

The fix for this is non-existent, Nordskog is outta business, so despite the fact that they were bought from Summit in November of 07, they are gracious enough to fully refund my money, All 368.00 of it.

The external body mods: I find it distracting having to figure what the guy waving his hands wildly in the next lane is trying to say.

The Sound: The 4 muffler system is perfect. Loud enough so that I can hear it while accelerating, almost gone at 1900 rpm on the interstate going 314 mph.

The Paint: I give it a 6 out of 10. It's my own fault, You definitely get what you pay for, The paint job cost me 850,plus my traded-out labor on his race car. That included finish bodywork, labor, and materials. The painter sprayed just enough color to cover,and just enough clear to cover that. His idea of "blocking the car" means a piece of sandpaper folded to fit your hand. The passenger door is wayy to friendly, and it just waves at everybody I pass. I have exposed several areas to base trying to get the damn orange peel gone, and there is still alot of orange peel.

The Whole car: I love it. given the negatives, The engine can (and will) be replaced. The same for the gauges. You have to look for the bad spots on the paint, fortunately it shines so damn nicely it's hard to tell.

Sheesh, I stop building this thing, and the moths move in.......quick.

Like I said on some other fact finding thread I posted, I was gonna post up some pics of my dash/gauge conversion.

As some of you know, one of the major gripes about this car is that the digital gauge panel didn't "fit" my 60's theme. Duuur, I knew that when I put the things in. I just happen to have them laying around, so they got installed.

After my first show, and because the gauges will not work right (speedo says 314 mph at 70, temp gauge occasionally decides to only display the last digit)
I decided to get a credit from summit and get something different.

That was a challenge in of itself, w/ Autometer alone offering over 20 different gauge styles. I overcame the challenge, and although I looked at all of the manufacturers different junk, I went w/ Autometer anyways as they had the ones I liked.

The problem became how to back them up. I wanted to do something "different" (that's not in my character, is it?)
I chose to build a wood backer, stained and lacquered to cater to my theme.
Now I'll tell you, I know it's not gonna be for everybody, as most of you guys are trying to "tech-up" your interiors. I, on the other hand am going the other way. I'm going for the Barney Rubble look instead.

So here we go, the gutting of the relevant interior parts:



I went w/ a pine board. Lowes has a bunch of different woods to choose from, but not knowing on whether or not this will work, the 3.50 it cost was "expendable"



The passenger side had to be laminated, as there had to be "hidden" screws to allow me to mount it.







I have to wire them, and get them in the dash. I'll post up some better, completed pictures when I can get back at it.