I have been dying to own another 4th gen since I sold my last one over a year ago and with winter coming up I figured it was the chance to get a good deal on one.
This car started as a V6 and had the hood, spoiler, interior, harness, computer, dash, motor and trans stuffed into it from a 97 SS.
Motor is .030", forged mahle flat tops, moly rings, scat forged "pro comp" i-beams, stock crank turned .010". Heads were ported by a local NJ shop with 2.02 1.6 valves installed, CC503, 58mm TB, new opti, waterpump, ported intake, long tubes, ORY with an electric cutout, magnaflow exhaust, mallory ignition box (2 stage limiter and window switch), walbro fuel pump, founders LCA brackets and arms, aftermarket panhard bar, bmr subframe connectors, ls1 front brakes with drilled and slotted rotors all around, lowered on hotchkis springs, adjustable rear shocks.
Stage 2 Texas Drivetrain Performance T56 with a Ram Powergrip HD clutch.
275/40/16's all around on ZO6 replica wheels, HIDs and much more... only thing stock is the rear (said he blew two already) with 3.42s. Car went 12.80's on a 2.1 60' with 2.73 gears.
Almost $20,000 in receipts and 1,800 miles on it since all this was done to the car. Car was flawless before I smashed the front into the tow dolly and luckily only took off a little bit of paint
Car has a fueling issue on the left bank. Haven't had much time to check it out at the shop but we hooked the scanner up and saw injectors 1,3,5,7 at 136% cycle constantly.
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Originally Posted by LTb1ow
...its cool to like diesels, cause that and pretending to be country is like, hip nowadays!!
PO said it started running like crap after getting gas and going to a car show. On the way home it acted up. He got it home and switched the o2 sensors around and apparently he did a full tune up but never mentioned that part to me.
I got it on my lift and found one of his o2 extensions was shorting the high impedance signal to the ground on that harness. Also checked fuel pressure, injectors and plugs. Car still ran like crap. One O2 was bad, the MAF was bad, MAP sensor had a vacuum leak, motor was sucking air past the MAF and we found a few more questionable wires. I ordered a MadZ28 (Mad Tuner) tune and it ran a bit better... detonation at idle issue went away.
In fact, my buddy had it running long enough to get the SES light to start flashing (telling us it had a misfire) and then it died 15 seconds later. I was about to check the cap & rotor on the opti and as the coolant was draining down I decided to go over the firing order and noticed 5 & 7 were backwards... lmao. It only took me 16 hours to figure out that the final issue was the firing order
Anyway, I did plugs and wires and went to fire it up and it didn't do anything. I checked for spark and didn't have any fuel pressure BUT I head the fuel pump priming. I disconnected the line before the fuel filter and still had nothing happening. I took the pump out (thank god the PO did a fuel pump access hole) and tested it in a bucket of water; pump kicks on and spins but doesn't suck.
Got my new pump and the car is running. Hard for me to pinpoint what my issue was because I feel like it was several things but the main issue was defiantly the shorted O2 sensor, crossed wires and MAF.
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Originally Posted by LTb1ow
...its cool to like diesels, cause that and pretending to be country is like, hip nowadays!!
I am not saying that. Their tune or ECM was defiantly not 100% correct but it was just part of the big picture of issues. Don't forget I took over somebody else's project and changed many things along the way of fixing it.
I took the car for a spin last night and i was left with very mixed emotions. The car with 3.42s is difficult to drive with a 750 rpm idle, the cam and ported heads. Below 1,800 rpms the car bucks and surges at cruising speeds. The car feels fast for the cam it has and it handles and stops very well. Defiantly needs gears to make it more enjoyable to drive but I don't really want anymore power in a street driven car... It already blows the tires off at 35 mph.
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Originally Posted by LTb1ow
...its cool to like diesels, cause that and pretending to be country is like, hip nowadays!!
That car looks great. I know its a bit tougher on those, but a good tuner can do wonders for surging. I've had a bunch say some of my cars were impossible only to find one guy that took the time and "bam" it was like magic.
Obviously, and I know you know this, but make sure all the issues are without question worked out before hand. Nothing like a little unmetered air to make a tune impossible.
I know my tuner (efx) tunes the car for drivabilty by tuning it on the street. He has a mustang dyno put nothing similates driving on the road then actually driving it.
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94 TA GT. Stock 350, cam, exhaust
Interesting thing happened today. CEL popped on... bank 2 sensor 1 no activity (think I've figured out my surging at low RPMs). I don't know why it didn't kick on sooner; car was left running for a while without it coming on... of course I smelled fuel (not nearly as bad as the other days) but I figured it was just residual burning of old fuel in the exhaust.
Fun little LT1 fact that I never knew. Even though I had replaced that sensor, I did it on the cheap through my Napa Commercial account and they don't carry ACDelco O2 sensors. With the key forward and the motor off the resistance is 9mv. I chased the wires on that side to ensure nothing was broken. Seems a lot of newer vehicles had a resistance reading in that ballpark but this O2 sensor must not be LT1 compatible or defective.
I have true plug and play O2 extensions coming on the 18th (instead of having them spliced since it makes me uncomfortable since it already caused an issue once). Tomorrow I'll switch the sensors around and my issue will most likely switch banks.
...fingers crossed that I am in the clear now! Wanna start saving for a 12 bolt instead of throwing money at stupid things on this car [insert LT1 optispark joke here].
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Originally Posted by LTb1ow
...its cool to like diesels, cause that and pretending to be country is like, hip nowadays!!
Certain parameters have to be met before the CEL will set, I am assuming the battery was disconnected or computer reset at some point and the car was not driven enough to set the o2 monitor. Once that happened, the self tests will run at their appropriate times and set the CEL if a fault is discovered. 99% of the time, splicing o2 wiring yourself will result in issues, you are better off with the plug in extensions.
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If the oxygen sensor pigtail wiring, the connector, or the terminal are damaged, replace the entire oxygen sensor assembly. Do not attempt to repair the wiring, the connector, or the terminals. In order for the sensor to function properly, the sensor must have a clean air reference provided to it. This clean air reference is obtained from the oxygen sensor wires. Any attempt to repair the wires, the connectors, or the terminals could result in the obstruction of the air reference. Any attempt to repair the wires, the connectors, or the terminals will degrade the oxygen sensor performance.
On an unrelated note, I had those wheels on my '94, and I kinda miss them. What shape are the wheels in, any curb rash? What shape are the tires in?
Would you be interested in trading for another set of 17's?
Wheels are nearly new, only a couple hundred miles on them. Tires are Nexen N3000, 275/40/17 all around. Tires have about 2500 miles on 'em.
Wheels are 17" replicas and they look brand new but I am not interested in trading. It's got those stupid Riken Raptor 275/40/17 tires on it that last forever and don't smoke lol.
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Originally Posted by Kat
Nothing like buying someone else's project. .
Yeah... what a nightmare lmao. I have to give him credit overall for the entire transplant though. It is very neatly done and looks original. I think a lot of the issues were related to age (dry rotted hoses, fragile wires, etc).
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LTb1ow
...its cool to like diesels, cause that and pretending to be country is like, hip nowadays!!
. Wanna sell the hood? 
