Mid-decade update.....
This project got put on the back burner for several reasons and sat around until a year or so ago when it was a piss or get off the pot situation. The lifters got a little noisy so those were swapped out with a fresh set from Morel along with new pushrods, headgaskets, etc. Everything looked pretty clean and all looked to be in good shape when it went back together.
I set a goal to get the car back on the road. The carb situation needed to go so with the help of Smash, the car was converted over to Holley Terminator fuel injection. I sourced a LS1 intake, injectors, rails to get it rolling while installing an electric fuel pump and new lines. I decided to go with an electronic throttle body with a slick pedal/mount setup. I cobbled together a basic intake from some old parts I had laying around and ended up needing to grab a LS3 Camaro waterpump so the new electronic TB could be attached with some ICT billet hardware. Regarding the Holley, I was incredibly impressed that after answering 7 questions on the little 3.5" screen that the damn thing fired over and idled better than it ever has.
I may or may not have taken it down the road for one of the sketchiest rides I've ever taken in a vehicle. The alignment was way off and the Holley was doing its best to keep it all running fine. I checked the box that technically it was "on the road".
From there, there were some odds/ends that I wanted addressed so I went to the 2nd Gen specialist (Larry - 2nd Gen Engineering) to get those done. I had a fairly extensive check-list all with the intent of getting it road worthy. Like any project, things snowballed and as you dig in, you find more items to be addressed. Larry cleaned up some of the wiring, installed a nice relay/fuse box, identified what wires were what from the original car, got the brakes sorted out, new e-brake cable, tilt steering rack, alignment, new tinted glass all the way around, new headliner and repaired the inner roof structure by the windshield. He also did a little tuning on the Holley to improve the driveability. As a last minute surprise, the TH350 gave up on one of the test drives so a known working used one got popped in to keeping it moving. I'm sure I missed a few things there but it was a healthy amount of work.
The car got home and was put on the semi back burner again as I was in the process of moving to my new home. Once the dust settled a bit and I had time to drive the car a little more a few things stuck out that still needed to be addressed.
1. Steering - Very vague, felt loose etc. - Ended up adjusting the steering box which made a big improvement but still think a little more needs to be done.
2. Engine temps - The car ran warm, not hot so the single fan with no shroud had to go. Grabbed the rad/fans from Bonzo off his partout car and ended up just using the fans as the rad in the car is pretty large. Thanks for Larry for having that 2nd fan circuit ready to roll so that was pretty easy all things considered.
3. Transmission - TH350 sucked. No kickdown with the electronic TB, short shifted, etc. Grabbed a RPM Lvl 7 4L60E and 3800 stall converter from a forum member and stuffed that in with Taylor/Chris along with other conversion parts. This really transformed how the car drove and glad I bit the bullet. A big trans cooler was also installed/plumbed. The shiftworks conversion kit for the factory shifter was pretty slick. Everything installed well and they even include the updated PRNDL insert.
4. Wheels/Tires - The factory 15s got a slight refinish but in general not all that suitable for the use of the car. Larry got me a hookup on Year One 17" snowflakes a little while back so I finally grabbed a set of tires with Beggs support. I actually liked the look of the turbo wheels but the silver snowflakes really pop nicely.
Short vid of it running through the gears post install
https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...3355675.TS.mp4
PXL_20230328_223146311~2 by
Brian DeLuca, on Flickr
PXL_20230324_195721474 by
Brian DeLuca, on Flickr
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Brian DeLuca, on Flickr
81 TA 2023 updates by
Brian DeLuca, on Flickr
Past few weeks I've done some short trips around town which have all seemed to go well.
Next steps are unknown exactly. Part of me would like to keep doing odds/ends with the car but the other gives me some pause as to get it to the level I'd like would take some very significant dollars. The paint on the car presents well from 10-15' but there are some areas where rust has crept up. Nothing egregious but you all know how finicky I can be. The car would need to be stripped completely, areas addressed and resprayed. The interior is complete but you'd want to replace items to make it look perfect.
For now I will drive it, take it to a few cruise nights, toss a FS sign on it and maybe someone who sees the bones are all there will want to give me a good number for it. Maybe in the interim it gets some boost to make it a modern turbo TA. We will see...