Lightning Performance
Here For The Long Haul!
- Local time
- 9:38 AM
- User ID
- 677
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2016
- Messages
- 10,991
- Reaction score
- 28,050
- Location
- East of Philly
You seen them boats, we still own one. The family says they are done with it so...
Came from Red Cross Cars. They get donated for resale. I should have walked away but she wanted it at the time or a Caddy. I know what one I would drive now and prefer overall.
So....it got in a fender bender five years ago. She rear ended a car at about 20mph. Took out the hood, support and rad. Left front fender is easily bent out. Just the tip got bent. Bumper cover got scraped up and a little rip. I have a 92' or 3 Impala wagon to rob parts from. The grill is a bit different. Moving on.
I want to put the car back on the street for road trips. It has all the bells and whistles. Three years it will be antique tags. Loaded white woody eight to nine passenger wagon. The family truckster LT1 5.7L. We got it with 55k on it. Has like 130 or something on the clock now. Ran good when parked a few years ago. I used to move it around the yard over there where it's resting so it runs. It needs the rubber coil lifts put in the front, sitting on the floor of the car, and some new rear air rides. It has air shocks on it now. The load level shocks went to leaking one night before a road trip, go figure. Tan leather interior and the paint is 90% unlike most out there that look like rags. Second owners besides RCC. The original owner was old and she stopped driving. The cars was garage kept till eight years ago when we got it. It has already had a water pump and heater core. Most of the usual stuff for maintenance has been done long ago including flushing the coolant mix mess gel about a hundred times and no mods, yet. It still has the original factory dual exhaust.
Over the next year I would like to fix the nose, go over the rear end, maybe add gun drilled rear disc brakes update, some fresh load level shocks and synthetic 50w. Next it will need a turbo for some added economy. The car does not lack power. It runs damn good for what it is. It got 18-19mpg before on the hwy 14-15 local. I need 26-28 hwy and 20 local. How to get there is the brain teaser. Pulling the roof rack cross rails gives 0.5 with her driving it on the NJTP on cruise control. So, the game begins of what, where and how much. This old dog is kinda fat and needs to go on a diet. I see worn out hole saw blades in my future.
The car must be capable of pulling a 8K twin axle up hill loaded with the air on in a parade with eight people on board. Not sure if they offered rear air in this car. I do have a 1999 old body Suburban with rear air just in case it is needed. They make some pretty damn nice custom truck/car tent campers these days for an add on. It already has a factory towing harness/brake wire set up with hitch delete. I have a 7500lb and 10K hitch. The 7500 is a direct bolt on.
Two options here:
Replace with current available custom parts or update everything to run a turbo?
The mods:
X cross over in the mid pipe
Cat back set up, quiet please...
Ohms resister on the mass air flow sensor to put the motor in cool weather lean mod, maybe....hopefully...
Possibly port the spare set of exhaust manifolds I have here. They don't need much. Top flow ram horns with a center dump. Pull the heads and get the best of old gen 3 heads I can. Lots of time and some small money chasing compression and low lift flow. Economy not performance is the goal. Play with the intake system to match and flow it out. Ported throttle body, the computer controls, o2 sensors and bla bla bla...
OR:
Don't pull the heads and set it all up for a turbo. Don't do the work to get them flowing at low lift and don't close the band up, risky but I'll try it. Set up the rear end to run a turbo with an oil line. It should not need an inter-cooler but if it does it can go under the back end with a fan and an air scoop for road speeds. Obviously I'm trying to avoid an inter-cooler and its associated cost and time to build. Not real keen on all that heat under the hood on this car. It all feeds back under the car most times and cooks the floor boards under your feet on long rides. I built, worked on and rode in enough street rods and ragged edge cars/trucks to know all about heat and the road. Seen too many parts right down to steel cranks fail on ten hour drives because of heat soak over time. I don't not want the thing to cook in it's own juices or cook me.
The "wood" side sticky paper is going in favor of flames and a dragon head on the fender some day. Might leave it on the tail gate or add some wood racing stripes to the hood for fun.
Should have Jadded Dragon carved into the tailgate imo.
What say ye'
Turbo or Old School?
Came from Red Cross Cars. They get donated for resale. I should have walked away but she wanted it at the time or a Caddy. I know what one I would drive now and prefer overall.
So....it got in a fender bender five years ago. She rear ended a car at about 20mph. Took out the hood, support and rad. Left front fender is easily bent out. Just the tip got bent. Bumper cover got scraped up and a little rip. I have a 92' or 3 Impala wagon to rob parts from. The grill is a bit different. Moving on.
I want to put the car back on the street for road trips. It has all the bells and whistles. Three years it will be antique tags. Loaded white woody eight to nine passenger wagon. The family truckster LT1 5.7L. We got it with 55k on it. Has like 130 or something on the clock now. Ran good when parked a few years ago. I used to move it around the yard over there where it's resting so it runs. It needs the rubber coil lifts put in the front, sitting on the floor of the car, and some new rear air rides. It has air shocks on it now. The load level shocks went to leaking one night before a road trip, go figure. Tan leather interior and the paint is 90% unlike most out there that look like rags. Second owners besides RCC. The original owner was old and she stopped driving. The cars was garage kept till eight years ago when we got it. It has already had a water pump and heater core. Most of the usual stuff for maintenance has been done long ago including flushing the coolant mix mess gel about a hundred times and no mods, yet. It still has the original factory dual exhaust.
Over the next year I would like to fix the nose, go over the rear end, maybe add gun drilled rear disc brakes update, some fresh load level shocks and synthetic 50w. Next it will need a turbo for some added economy. The car does not lack power. It runs damn good for what it is. It got 18-19mpg before on the hwy 14-15 local. I need 26-28 hwy and 20 local. How to get there is the brain teaser. Pulling the roof rack cross rails gives 0.5 with her driving it on the NJTP on cruise control. So, the game begins of what, where and how much. This old dog is kinda fat and needs to go on a diet. I see worn out hole saw blades in my future.
The car must be capable of pulling a 8K twin axle up hill loaded with the air on in a parade with eight people on board. Not sure if they offered rear air in this car. I do have a 1999 old body Suburban with rear air just in case it is needed. They make some pretty damn nice custom truck/car tent campers these days for an add on. It already has a factory towing harness/brake wire set up with hitch delete. I have a 7500lb and 10K hitch. The 7500 is a direct bolt on.
Two options here:
Replace with current available custom parts or update everything to run a turbo?
The mods:
X cross over in the mid pipe
Cat back set up, quiet please...
Ohms resister on the mass air flow sensor to put the motor in cool weather lean mod, maybe....hopefully...
Possibly port the spare set of exhaust manifolds I have here. They don't need much. Top flow ram horns with a center dump. Pull the heads and get the best of old gen 3 heads I can. Lots of time and some small money chasing compression and low lift flow. Economy not performance is the goal. Play with the intake system to match and flow it out. Ported throttle body, the computer controls, o2 sensors and bla bla bla...
OR:
Don't pull the heads and set it all up for a turbo. Don't do the work to get them flowing at low lift and don't close the band up, risky but I'll try it. Set up the rear end to run a turbo with an oil line. It should not need an inter-cooler but if it does it can go under the back end with a fan and an air scoop for road speeds. Obviously I'm trying to avoid an inter-cooler and its associated cost and time to build. Not real keen on all that heat under the hood on this car. It all feeds back under the car most times and cooks the floor boards under your feet on long rides. I built, worked on and rode in enough street rods and ragged edge cars/trucks to know all about heat and the road. Seen too many parts right down to steel cranks fail on ten hour drives because of heat soak over time. I don't not want the thing to cook in it's own juices or cook me.
The "wood" side sticky paper is going in favor of flames and a dragon head on the fender some day. Might leave it on the tail gate or add some wood racing stripes to the hood for fun.
Should have Jadded Dragon carved into the tailgate imo.
What say ye'
Turbo or Old School?