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Lightning Performance

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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?
 

cgraham1

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Ive gotta see a picture of the car before I make any suggestions...
 

kingOFgEEEks

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Options 3 get a 4.8 ls with a 6l90 out of a van. And then turbo that little bish.

You want it to pull 8k, but knock down 26 highway mpg?
Diesel swap it. Cummins or Duramax.
Going to need more rear suspension to handle that load too.

Or just swap the body onto a 1 ton van frame with a Duramax...
 

FergusonTO35

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You really like this thing, huh? Seriously, I understand. I'm an admirer of four banger Mustangs so I get it.:eek:
 

Blackgreyhounds

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My brother from another mother! I love the station wagon style car, functionality of an SUV but still drives like a car. Wife and I have had several over the years. Our most recent one is 2001 BMW 540iT with the 4.4L V8 and 220K miles. It is a truly lovely car to drive and the dogs and sheep love it. Good luck with your new ride!20180223_123012.jpg 20180409_145606.jpg
 

huskyboy

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My brother from another mother! I love the station wagon style car, functionality of an SUV but still drives like a car. Wife and I have had several over the years. Our most recent one is 2001 BMW 540iT with the 4.4L V8 and 220K miles. It is a truly lovely car to drive and the dogs and sheep love it. Good luck with your new ride!View attachment 142878 View attachment 142879
Must have some get up and go with that motor?
 

Marshy

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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?
The LT1 motors were reverse flow coolant so you really dont have many options for OEM heads right? If it wasnt an LT1 I would recommend vortec heads for their excellent flow at low lift. If your going to consider aftermarket LT heads then go aluminum. Depending on your budget I Like the LS option the best but that's because I want to try a conversion also. A reflashed 5.3L in a wagon would be interesting but I still dont think you'll meet your MPG goals. Granted its apples to oranges but my Yukon with a 5.3L manages about 18.5mpg highway but we're hauling 79mph on freeway. It might push into the low 20's with a sleek station wagon body, a lighter foot and a PCM reflash.
 

FergusonTO35

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If you're going whole hog on this, how 'bout diesel it? I bet there is a way to get a 4 cylinder Isuzu in there.
 

Lightning Performance

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I'm definitely staying with the factory set of heads. The economic thing is only for empty road trips. Gearbox overdrive is what I'm thinking behind the trans. Low lift flow is the goal. No need for a cam shaft change. The heads will need to be filled on the intake runners like a cathedral port. The chambers, bowls and ports will need tweaks but I'm keeping the small valves and exhaust manifolds if possible. The static compression ratio might be too low unless boost is supplied. No way but welding to close the head chambers :( A small turbo can be mounted under the tail and plumbed to the front. The car has room everywhere for add on extras. It's already pickup truck weight with a better nose profile.
 
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Flint Mitch

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I would love a roadmaster wagon or any other GM wagon with a duramax. Add a little extra boost for good measure of course, and I'd probably go manual trans too but I'm weird like that!


As an added bonus.....

The clutch acts as a deterrent for millennial car thieves: )

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 

Marshy

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I'm definitely staying with the factory set of heads. The economic thing is only for empty road trips. Gearbox overdrive is what I'm thinking behind the trans. Low lift flow is the goal. No need for a cam shaft change. The heads will need to be filled on the intake runners like a cathedral port. The chambers, bowls and ports will need tweaks but I'm keeping the small valves and exhaust manifolds if possible. The static compression ratio might be too low unless boost is supplied. No way but welding to close the head chambers :( A small turbo can be mounted under the tail and plumbed to the front. The car has room everywhere for add on extras. It's already pickup truck weight with a better nose profile.
My vote is bolt on turbo and methanol injection with LT1 stock everything. As long at your dont go crazy I think it would meet all your expectations without costing a fortune. Worst case is rapid unplanned disassembly (RUD). Upside is you get to build it from bottom up after that.
 
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Blackgreyhounds

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Must have some get up and go with that motor?
Yep. This thing was built as an autobahn cruiser. Mine is limited at 128 mph but the same engine with the "sport" suspension and brakes is limited at 155 mph. 0-60 would be sub 6 sec. Not a race car, but definitely puts a smile on my face.
 

Lightning Performance

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We had a '67 Chevy wagon, my mom bought it new, a Bel Aire, 283/powerglide.
I had the medium blue 67' Chevelle 2dr ht. 283 duce slush box with a factory signal tack. No pb but it had ps :)
Second owner 56k. I was 14 sold it for two more rides. A 70' Monty ps pb 400/350 vinyl top and AM/FM! Wish I kept the 71' Opel GT in blue. Little *s-word went good with headers an intake and carb. If I had it now it would be on the street for sure. Last ones sold were my 39' Coupe and my 55' life happened.
 
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