Mods you never thought you'd do... I just did some

[Givens]

I'm with Nate, I never thought i would be pulling out the motor on my car and be installing different heads. I was just going to get my 4 thread heads worked on but ended up finding a set of DC casting heads for cheap and went that route. I also went with ARP 2000 heads studs.

I can say right now that I would never turbo, cage, SA, or auto the car...let's see if i stick with that as time goes haha

You already messed up and said "never" ha ha, I said that to. When you go to the track and see a turbo Cobra launch of the TB and pull like a freight train from one end to the other so effortlessly. It changes you lol

It's an 8 point 10.0 cert. I did it more for safety than anything, as the car should be running mid 9's at 145 with nitrous. For how cheap a custom cage is, it just seems stupid to not have the added safety feature. Plus, if I really want to remove it, it will take about 10 minutes to cut the bars out, then I just have to replace the carpet and 2 speaker grates on the rear deck.

The line that I was unwilling to cross was the 8.50 cert /through the dash cage.

Yea not sure I was paying attention you have the bars in the trunk, I see it now. I'm going 10 point with swing outs, you can also go around the dash and not through it.

Doing the solid rear end build, arb, welded torque boxes as well. Someone's I think I'm hacking up my car but then I think what's the point of all this power if I can't stick it. Told myself I'd never do a cage, sticking to that one. My track doesn't require it

I think if you do a good job its not hacking at all but if you just throwing stuff at it then that's a whole different story. The Cage is more about safety for me I'd like to walk away in the event something goes wrong. I have a wife and 3 kids that depend on me, that changes the way you think. To each their own for sure.

 

[Givens]

I got a few more things done

Here it is in the car

Had to pull the axle because my brakes wouldn't work so I had to buy some.

I bought a set of Wilwood brakes, you have to measure off set and I had to get a set that fit the 9 in ends. Lets just say I learned some about brakes.

I had to drill the rotors out to 5/8 to accommodate the bigger 5/8's studs.

Here's the ASB after I got it welded in, it sure doesn't look like there's much room for the exhaust.

Lower control arm, I set the pinion angle 2 degrees low.

The shorter axle really pulled the slicks in nice, my stock wheels I'm gonna have to run a spacer to move them out. With the lower control arm I didn't have anything to measure so I just put the wheel on and centered it in the fender well.

 

[MG0h3]

You wont need room for exhaust soon enough!

I think Im gonna still hang my tips back there if I go turbo. I dont like the look of nothing back there in the exhaust notches.

 

[MG0h3]

What wheel/tire is that? If I ever do SRA I may use a fox too if that works. You arent rubbing on the inner fender?

 

[Givens]

Next I started on the trans and pulled my T56 out, which is sad cause I just had it out about 5 months ago to be rebuilt. I've put about 100 miles on it since.

Now just need to pull the clutch

Here the clutch when I took it apart, looks like it had a hard life.

Here is the Freddy Brown 4R70W that will be taking the T56's place, also has a UCC converter that I bought with the trans and sent it to Lenny to have it freshened up.

Here's the flex plate for the auto, I guess I could have trimmed the T56 plate but I bought this one.

I had to trim the tabs off my trans so it would fit I was scared it wasn't going in there with my ARH. It wasn't near as bad as I expected, I just moved the tail housing over to the passenger side of the car and got the starter side of the trans up in the headers and then it just slid right in. Oh you have to pull the pilot bearing don't forget that cause I forgot, I finally got the trans in and had to pull it back out. I also found a really cool way to pull a pilot bearing if anyone is interested, took about 3 min to get it out.

Here's the trans installed and a Stiffflers drive shaft loop

I also installed the trans cooler in the front grill, not sure I got one big enough now but it was the same size as the guy had I bought the trans swap from. Its a B&M 20,900 BTU but no fan and its in front of the radiator, so I'm worried about the engine temp as well.

I mounted the Hurst shifter in the center of the console, had a few problems cause for it to fit where I wanted, the hump in the floor caused the shifter to lean way back. I tack welded a piece of 1x1 square tubing under the rear to raise the back of the shifter up and angled it a little forward. The front of the shifter was a little low and caused problems when trying to install the cable, so I mounted a piece of 1' strap a 1/4 inch think to raise it up some. I also mounted the relay controller for the trans under the stock radio behind traction control buttons. You can see all the wires coming out in the first picture.

As for the hole where the stock shifter was I decided to just reinstall the original T56 boot and use it for a sound deadener and a grommet to run my trans wire through. I had to cut a small part of the frame so my shift cable could go through.

I have some Borla touring exhaust to complete my SRA setup but I'm not sure its going in with the ASB. I have already trimmed it some, and this is as far as I have gotten.

I got the console hole cut for the shifter, everything mounted up and my trans temp gauge installed. So I still have to wire up the trans to the relay, Trans Brake, Over drive, and converter lock up.

I still have a few things left, I poured some oil in the trans, but have not fired it up yet, and I'm waiting on my brake lines for my Wilwood brakes as they do not connect with a banjo bolt like everything else. If they come in I should be able to start it up tomorrow and go for a test drive.

 

[Givens]

What wheel/tire is that? If I ever do SRA I may use a fox too if that works. You arent rubbing on the inner fender?

These are my drag setup and they are Billet Specialties 9.5 wide, with a 5.5 BS and there is a little over an 1" of clearance on the inner fender. Now my stock setup wont fit, I'll have to run a spacer, but I need to drill the stock hole out to accommodate the 5\8's studs.

 

[MG0h3]

Wow you are moving right along.

Did you use the grease and socket to punch the pilot out?

 

[Givens]

Wow you are moving right along.

Did you use the grease and socket to punch the pilot out?

I've tried that a couple of times and no luck with the grease. I took a couple of pieces of regular copy machine paper, cut them in about 2x3 pieces and soaked them in water. I just started shuving then in the hole till it got full. Then hammered in a 5/8's bolt. No movement the first time but I filled it up again and it moved about 1/2 way out and it came out the third time. It was crazy fast, I had a slide hammer before I tried this and it didn't even budge.

 

[TooFast98Cobra]

Bread works well also.

 

[Givens]

Bread works well also.

I've heard that or read it somewhere, that's pretty cool.

 

[Givens]

I had sometime to get the trans and relay all wired in looks a lot better. I put the console back in just so I could see how it was going to look.

I got the exhaust on the car but it took some work to make it fit, the ASB there is not much room to work with back there. I ended up having to cut the bend where it goes over the axle and have it expanded where it would slip into itself. To move the exhaust tube closer to the axle.

It sounds pretty good a little quieter than my old setup, the first test drive was interesting. The full spool will take some getting used to and not using the clutch. So far so good no leaks, trans temps where in the 140 range. Maybe I can take it to the track this weekend and see how she does.

 

[whitedevil95]

Nice work! Looking good. Not sure if I could ever bring myself to not bang gears anymore. Although dropping a half second off my ET would sure be nice.

 

[HurstPerformance]

Very nice build! We look forward to seeing your updates in the future. If you find yourself with any questions along the way about your shifter or the parts from our sister company B&M, feel free to give us a call at 707-544-4761.

 

[03 black snake]

How much was the 4r70, if u don't mind me asking. I'm itching to do the same to mine thanks


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[getTwisted]

Nice build. Cool thread title. Its funny to see what all people do to these cars after saying they won't touch it. lol.

When I bought my car I knew I only wanted to lower it a hair, so I did. Only other thing I've done is put some different exhaust brands on it. I even put the stock exhaust back on for a while. Car is completely stock other than those two mods. I've had the car for 4 years and don't have one inkling to do anything else to it. Even thought about putting it back to stock ride height with stock exhaust. I'm obviously the black sheep of the group. Still cool to see posts like this though. Mod on.

 

[Givens]

Nice work! Looking good. Not sure if I could ever bring myself to not bang gears anymore. Although dropping a half second off my ET would sure be nice.

I took it to the track and it went 6.48 in the 1/8 with a 1.43 60ft off the trailer. Next time I went up there, they told me I couldn't make a full pass with out a roll cage.

Very nice build! We look forward to seeing your updates in the future. If you find yourself with any questions along the way about your shifter or the parts from our sister company B&M, feel free to give us a call at 707-544-4761.

Thanks, I like the shifter, the only problem I'm having is when you drop it in first its to close to the rear console. Is there a different shifter that would move the handle forward?

How much was the 4r70, if u don't mind me asking. I'm itching to do the same to mine thanks


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I bought the trans used and was slipping, it was originally built by Freddy Brown, I sent it back to him to have it rebuilt. I sent the converter off to have it checked, but I have about $4k in the whole setup.

Nice build. Cool thread title. Its funny to see what all people do to these cars after saying they won't touch it. lol.

When I bought my car I knew I only wanted to lower it a hair, so I did. Only other thing I've done is put some different exhaust brands on it. I even put the stock exhaust back on for a while. Car is completely stock other than those two mods. I've had the car for 4 years and don't have one inkling to do anything else to it. Even thought about putting it back to stock ride height with stock exhaust. I'm obviously the black sheep of the group. Still cool to see posts like this though. Mod on.

I think it pretty neat you have a stock one, I worked at a dealer ship when these cars first came out. I drove one a few different times but I was 18 and broke lol.

I should have just bought another one to race, oh well....

 

[roy_1031]

Just a mockup photo but I never saw myself doing a roll bar and kirkeys.


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[Givens]

Just a mockup photo but I never saw myself doing a roll bar and kirkeys.


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Nice cage, I'm guessing that's a prefab, are you gonna bolt it in or weld it?

I'm having a cage installed as we speak, should be done Tuesday or Wednesday. If I said I was a little nervous, that's an understatement of the year.....

 

[roy_1031]

Nice cage, I'm guessing that's a prefab, are you gonna bolt it in or weld it?

I'm having a cage installed as we speak, should be done Tuesday or Wednesday. If I said I was a little nervous, that's an understatement of the year.....

It's a MM 6pt bolt in with swing out arms. Thanks I got the roll bar paint matched to the car and clear coated as well, came out really nice.


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[Givens]

So I just got my car back, the cage came out really well, now I don't really know what to do. I was thinking about painting it but its so close to the headliner, and windshield, he really tucked it in there. I think it looks pretty clean just bare metal, maybe clean it up and wax it to keep it protected. I'm lost here, not sure what to do.

I had the cage certified 8.50 or slower.... were going to need more power now!!!