Engine:
LS1 GEN III 5.7 liter V8 6-speed manual transmission, Comp Cams hydraulic roller cam Gen III/LS1/LS6 350, Hi-Tech Chrome Moly Pushrods, Crane Cams LS1 rocker kit, Comp Cams Gen III/LS1/LS6 RPM Valve Spring Upgrade Kit, Comp Cams LS1,LS2,LS6 High Performance Valve Locks, Hypertech Thermostat 160° F, K&N Air Filter, SLP Air Box Lid & Smooth Bellows, Granatelli 75mm 3 Pin Mass Air Meter, Hooker Headers 1.75" Black Full Length Headers, Hooker Headers Off-Road Y-pipe, Flowmaster Muffler Cross-flow 80 Series / Custom Tip end, Oil cooler, Throttle body heating bypassed, Disabled rear 02 sensors, Air injection system removed/disabled, Diablosport Programmer GM LS1 + Diagnose tool + installed custom tune.
Transmission:
Strange Engineering 12 bolt rear axle with 4:11 ratio and US Gear clutchpack LSD, B&M Ripper Shifter 6 spd, Skip shift feature disabled, Corvette ZR1 Wheels 18" 275/40 265/35. BMR adjustable torque arm.
The rest:
Strano springs + Strano customised bilstein shocks , Braided brake hoses, ‘Angel Eye’ front foglamps, Energy suspension antirollbar bushes. AD244 alternator.
3/3/12
Changed the headlight gears for brass ones, much better. The electric aerial failed (again) and had to rip to bits and change the mast, plus a component in the raise/lower motor was buggered. Fixed & it’s fine now. Still got to change the ABS sensor, which HAS failed (why...?? Maybe I’ll find out when I remove it next week...).
19/11/11
The ABS sensor on the Strange axle has failed (looks like). To be checked out. Also, the gears on the passenger side headlight finally failed, fixed in the usual way by swapping the gear around by 180 degrees, but I’ll order some brass gears as well, the nylon ones are crap anyway.
24/09/11
2 weeks after doing all the work below, the alternator promptly failed yet again. Grrr. Replaced it with a much later/stronger/better AD244 variant.
27/08/11
Fitted new radio LCD backlight, fixed non-functional sail base drivers on the stereo (dodgy connection). Installed halo (angel eye) front foglamps, the halos come on with the sidelights. Replaced the battery. Fixed intermittent issue with front headlight doors (bad connection). Fixed minor damage to front rad 
support bracket (under car). Changed the rear hatch gas rams for new. Removed the unused air injection pump hardware.
06/08/11
The axle has fitted ok, with no issues except that the BMR torque arm was not a ‘bolt on’ since a chunk of it had to be removed to make room, despite Strange’s info saying specifically that a BMR did NOT need any alterations. New rear propshaft UJ as well (larger). Stainless brake pipes all fitted ok, brakes bled etc., also the new track rod ends and antiroll bar links. Oil cooler fitted ok although it was quite hard to find a location—it’s horizontal under the LH front corner, right by the bumper air intake. The oil takeoff was a bit harder.. It wouldn’t fit between the exhaust and the block, until I chopped a few mm off the edge of the block... Lucky it’s alloy..
Discovered that the power steering rack has a leak as well :( so ordered the bits for that also, hopefully I can just change the seals.
30/07/11
Time for an update: all the springs and shocks in the suspension are now done—much better! However the ol’ dog broke a tooth on the rear axle ring gear (they are known to be weak), and after a bit of debate, I decided to get a complete new aftermarket axle imported from USA. It’s a Strange Engineering 12-bolt with a US Gear clutch (Salisbury) type LSD, (the old LSD was a Torsen) and stronger halfshafts etc. The complete axle is a more-or-less “drop in” replacement. I also got a BMR adjustable torque arm for the axle... And stainless brake lines.. I am bolting the whole lot in now, so far with little problem.
2/02/11
The AC compressor failed a few weeks back. Quite a major task to fix as almost all of it except the heat exchanger in dash got replaced. I bought most of the bits in an “AC repair kit“ direct from the States, about $300, very reasonable. I also now have a complete set of revalved Bilstein shocks and new custom-made springs from Sam Strano, a well known Firebird supplier in US. I also have braided brake lines and bump stops ready to fit. I’m also considering why, although it’s not slow, it’s not as fast as expected... Crate engine time???
10/07/10
Update: done a few of the minor tasks, replaced the window “furry” on drivers side, and also the AC knob, air vent, and radio aerial, as mentioned below. Had to rip the power aerial gearbox to bits to get all the smashed bits out of it & allow the new one to be installed. In pipeline to get T-Top sunshades and a set of springs & shocks...
5/07/10
Little has needed to be done in the last year—mainly routine oil changes, all the pads, etc. The alternator failed AGAIN very recently. I am no longer convinced that it was changed the first time, and even if it was, the one in it was a “no name” model, without the correct fan ducting—not good! It had lost 2 diodes and one bearing was also failing. I bought a correct AC Delco model myself and fitted it myself also.
Fitted LED bulbs to all minor lights (running, stop/tail, indicator) which is much better. Also, a number of other small parts have been obtained to fix various minor items like the dash broken air vent, cracked A/C knob, faulty power radio aerial etc. I hope to move to a few nicer improvements soon, such as better spring/shock combination etc...
Also had to improve the silencing a bit as it was too noisy at it’s yearly test, done via adding a centre small silencer, but I’d like to change the whole Y-pipe back part of the exhaust, I don’t like it much.
21/07/09
So far the following things have been fixed; New alternator (old one had one shot diode), and 2 new door window motors. 2 new front tyres and all 4 wheels balanced. Changed the engine oil.
|
