History
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This page is an ever-growing compilation of the history of the CSX since it arrived. Be sure to check out these pages:
Well it's been about a year and a have since I drove the car. This weekend I finally got a chance to tear into it. I pulled the head and tore it completely down. This crappy reman head is pretty screwed-up. The three rear coolant jackets have been ground out and rewelded at some point. There is a small crack between one of the forward jackets and the chamber. The cam journals are pretty chewed-up too, so I think this head is done. Too bad too because it has tight guides and fairly new valves. The plan is to use the original head that came off this car when I got it back in 1998, which appears to have been junkyard TBI roller cam head as the exhaust valves are pretty burnt up. It also has some small cracks starting in the rear jackets, but they are not threatening yet and can be relieved. The guides are worn as well and so it needs a complete rebuilt....
I also pulled the trans in preparation for the new TU ceramic/organic clutch that's been sitting on a shelf waiting for a chance to be installed. I also checked the input shaft and diff carrier play and they seem to be holding up well. I had a little trouble removing the passenger side axle due to the OBX's tendency to collapse slightly when the bearings are installed. A bit of tapping persuaded it out.
Back to the head...a month or so ago I decided to use this head as my first attempt at head porting. I figured it was no big loss if I ruined it and was still usable if I didn't. It turned out much better than I thought it would. I made a few mistakes, but it should still flow much better than stock so I figure why not try to run it and see how it does.
Intake, before and after (click for higher resolution):
Exhaust, before and after (click for higher resolution):
The bowls were cleaned up and the ports straightened and blended. The roof of the intake was raised considerably (too much over near the bowls) and the roof of the exhaust was also raised slightly (there is a coolant passage that needs to be watched out for). I also filled the area on one side of the intake ports where core drift always leaves a pocket the undercuts the seat with JB Weld. This is probably where Steve Menegon does it, but I didn't look that closely at his head on the Daytona before installing it. The floors were smoothed and blended, but otherwise left alone. I did lay back the floor at the exhaust bowl more on the advice from Tyler. I'm now coming up with a way to deshroud the valves so that it is done equally.
I literally have not touched this car, short of starting it up once this spring. I really need to tackle the mechanical issues first, just so that it can be driven in the event of an issue with the Daytona. With the birth of our son this past December, there just hasn't been any time. What little spare time I do have gets devoted to fixing small issues on the Daytona. I suspect that I will not be able to do anything with this car this year.
Well, on the way home from work I noticed that I had no heat and the temp guage was acting weird. I was like great, it's the frickin' head gasket that's making it smoke. I started filling the radiator, which was pretty much empty, and heard a splashing noise. I look under the car and coolant is dumping out from behind the block. Dang core plug popped out again. Man I hate that thing. There is no room for the CSX in the garage, so I forged ahead with the Daytona. The CSX needs the front struts swapped, the turbo swapped, the clutch swapped, the radiator core support welded, the K-frame checked for square, the ball joints re-replaced, and a full, 4-wheel alignment job. Poor car needs a break.
Turns out that I didn't tighten the distributer enough. The front engine harness is tied to the corner and it slowly pulled more and more retard until it was way off the scale and ran like crap. I also experimented with some different cam settings. It's currently set to 2 degrees retarded on the 88 TBI cam. It's a little soggy on the bottom end, but pulls pretty good to the redline. It's just a matter of switching my driving habits a bit.
The kevlar clutch for the Daytona arrived, which is now swapped and the pressure plate (LUK unit painted red) for the TU ceramic/organic is now freed up and standing by for the CSX. At some point after the Daytona is done, I am going to have to swap the clutch and the turbo.
Went to an SDAC Chicagoland drag racing event at Great Lakes Dragway in Union Grove, WI on the 26th. I was hoping to get into the 14s again and hopefully set a new record for myself, but it wasn't to be. My best time was a 15.8 at around 92mph. With the extra traction, the T2/T3 clutch just wouldn't hold during my launches. I tried a couple of techniques, but I smoked it BAD every time. The track was very busy, so we only got about 4 runs in. It just so happens that the TU ceramic/organic clutch that I got for the Daytona has the wrong shaft size. The plan now is to put a better, longer-lasting clutch into the Daytona and put this clutch into the CSX. I think it will be perfect for the job.
On the bright side, JT loaned me a MSD Blaster 2 ignition coil to see if it would clear up the 5000 RPM miss I was having. It did. The car pulls to the redline awesome now. In fact, I hit the rev limiter a few times because I am so used to having the missfire cue me to shift. Going to try to gap the plugs up to stock to see if the fire stays lit.
That setup was way too loud. There was a deafening drone throughout the band. The only quiet spot was between 2000 and 2500 RPM. I went ahead and replaced the test pipe in the cat's position with the Dynomax Ultra Flo (p/n 17296). That cut the drone by about 50% overall while driving and it idles pretty quiet now. It's louder than I'd like, but I can live with it. It's now very quiet in that 2000-2500 range. I'm betting installing the cat instead of the Ultra Flo will make it even quieter.
I also replaced the hatch struts, finally. NAPA sells the "StrongArm" brand of struts that makes the correct one for P-bodies with a spoiler.
Well, the strut is still on there. Turns out that the strut rod nut was loose and was somehow pushing the center part of the strut mount up. Once it was tightened, everything moved back to where it should be. The strut is shot though and the other front strut isn't fairing much better. I am going to try to warranty them. I did fix the passenger side window and both have stayed fixed for now. The car developed an annoying missfire/breakup above 3000rpm above 15psi of boost. I fiddled with a few things and finally replaced the plugs with some new AutoLite 63s, as the AutoLite 64s that were in there had about 35k on them and were really worn. That seemed to help, but it is still not as strong as it was before.
The 7-year-old exhaust, an original "Jessie Buhr" aluminized 2.5" system with a Dynomax Super Turbo muffler, has been falling apart for about a year now. I've been patching it as it broke but had ordered a full 3" stainless system from FWD Performance in the meantime. Finally the twice-patched muffler simply disintegrated last week, so I decided to install the new system this weekend.
Man, what a chore. It is by no means a drop-in kit. Quite a bit of cutting and welding was required, especially in the area around the axle. My goal was to make a stock-looking exhaust at the tail pipes, so I picked up a Dynomax Super Turbo muffer that has a 3" inlet and a pair of 2.5" outlets (p/n 17674). A pair of stainless 2.25" 45-degree bends from ATP Turbo serve as the tail pipes (using a couple of 2.5"-2.25" bushings). I was quickly reminded that the early 2.25" swing valve housing on the turbo will not accept the 3" downpipe donut, so I dug an old 2.5" downpipe out of the spiderwebs in the corner and happened to have a 2.5" ID - 3" OD adapter. I spent all day Saturday cutting and fitting while trying to clear the spring, fuel tank, and axle. You can see my beautiful welding technique. The setup currently has no cat and man is it loud. I might as well have no muffler at all. I'm going to have to add a straight-through muffer in the cat's position to quiet it down (I have a Dymomax Ultra Flo p/n 17296 sitting here).
I also added an additional mount on the brake line bracket, which should keep the exhaust from swaying back and forth and hitting the fuel tank and spring. It's a tight fit back there.
Well, the trans is still holding up well and the OBX still rocks. There is a bizzare noise that happens when the axles get torqued-up a certain way by the diff. I think it's actually a wheel bearing, possibly from the guard rail impact. It sounds like a bearing. The rest of the car seems to be falling apart. The fallout from by little guard rail adventure continues. The driver's side strut started getting really loose a few weeks ago (4-year old Koni) and the strut mount self-destructed last week. The impact, which whacked the top of the wheel hard enough to shove the camber adjustment all the way in, must have bent the tube slightly. I can't tell by looking at it, but some paint flaked off where the tube may have collapsed and popped back out. It must have made the piston bind-up or something, because the strut mount is practically punched-out.
In addition to that, I have this continuing battle with the windows. First, the driver's side would get stuck due to the misshapen tracks from the impact mentioned above. After fixing that, the next day the passenger side window track tab broke and the window kept falling out of the track. I put up with that for about a week before I made a new tab out of aluminum. The next day the driver's side window motor started acting wierd where the window would stop but the motor kept going. Eventually that window would just fall down every time I hit a bump. Finally I took the motor apart, replaced the wacky cushions that go between the drive gear and the external gear. Then the next day the passenger side window started getting stuck on the way down. It looks like the glass is hitting something metal, as it is getting scratched. Argh. I'm afraid to fix it, for fear of what will happen next on the driver's side.
The new trans seems to be working well. It's an A555/A520 hybrid (A555 with the mainshaft and ring gear from an A520) with a 3.50:1 ratio. This is the perfect gearing for this car. This setup with the OBX torque biasing differential is a great combo. The only weak point is the mainshaft bearing surface. The bearing near the pinion gear rides right on the shaft and eventually the area starts to break up from surface fatigue. This shaft has a bit of life left in it, but when it goes I won't have anything to put in its place. The later transaxles (A523/A543/A568) have a real inner bearing race here. The bearing itself is the same, so it may just be a matter of machining the shaft down to accept the race. My main concern is the weakening of the shaft from removing the hardened surface in that area. It may create a stress point at the base of the pinion gear. If it were to break, the transmission would be destroyed. That is not something I am willing to risk with this tranny.
The OBX is an interesting piece. The car really wants to accelerate in a straight line, as the torque tends to get biased to the inside wheel. The effect goes away when coasting. I didn't beat on it too much since it is brand new and I also put in a new clutch that needs a little break-in time. It is made in China and is basically a cheap knock-off of the Quaife unit that was designed for the Dodge Neon 420A transmission. It definitely needs to be gone-through when received. There are issues with the spring washer orientantion, the case bolt torques, and the axle fitment. The machining on the element gears, the axle holes in the case, and the splines are also pretty rough and need to be checked/honed/deburred. Time will tell on how they hold up down the road, but at one third the price of a Quaife they are an attractive option even with their flaws. I will be changing the trans fluid once it gets a couple of hundred miles on it.
Well, it's running so sweet that I broke 2nd gear. It was an A520, but it had the chrome-moly bearing retainer plate. Time to accelerate the A555 build-up that I've been putting off, as the Daytona is still apart. Picked up an OBX and JT hooked me up with some carrier bearings. The main shaft in the A520 still looked pretty good. It's got one little dink on the bearing surface...like it chewed something (a gear tooth perhaps...). Hopefully it will hold for a while. New shafts are no where to be found. Gonna have to find a way to fix these things.
I was running 5psi of boost all winter, to save the Blizzaks. That's why I didn't notice that my intermediate sprocket had jumped ahead a tooth when I swapped the cam. When I turned up the boost, it misfired badly when I accelerated. Set it to 10 degrees and now it is running sweet.
For reasons I don't quite understand, the #4 exhaust cam and follower got trashed. The valve train was making some horrible sounds when I got home from the meeting last night. I swapped the FM475 cam with an '88 TBI roller cam. Also put in the PT Cruiser followers. The valvetrain is very quite and the lope at idle is gone. Idles real smooth, but runs a little rich now and lost some bottom-end and midrange torque. Pulls OK at the top end. Need an adjustible cam sprocket, as I can't remember if the donor car had the square tooth or round tooth sprocket.
Some dude switched lanes right in front of me while I was accelerating to merge into traffic and checking my blind spot. I hit the brakes and swerved too hard to avoid him, came around and ended up in the guard rail while going backwards. These cars are way too tail-happy when you are really on the hooks. The car hit the front corner first, so the front fender and the door took the brunt of the damage. They are a loss, but the rear quarter is definately fixable...it didn't even touch the tail light. All four of my new tires have flat spots on them now, especially the fronts. Grr....
I pushed the front-end underbody out with the Porta-Power, gave the fender some foot-stomping action out in the yard. Also used the Porta-Power to push the door back out by the hinges. Doesn't look half-bad, considering how little time I spent on it. The Daytona is nowhere near being done, so the CSX still needs to put out.
I got the 225/50 HR15 Kumho ECSTA 711s mounted on a half-decent set of 15x6.5" crabs. The balance is not great, but boy can this thng handle now.
Took the CSX to Ohio for SDAC15. There was no way that my work schedule would let me finish it in time (it's not even close). Had an awesome time as always, except for the nasty hangover on the last day (oops). The car did OK, though I couldn't break into the 14s at all this year. It just doesn't feel right at the top end and the boost always drops way off. With the wastegate disconnected, it can barely keep 15psi when I wind it all the way up. I tried wiring the wastegate shut, but that didn't help either. At low engine speeds, it'll crank out 20psi with no trouble. Not sure what the deal is, but I do think it needs a bigger turbo. I have that TU S60 with the .48 A/R housing and clipped turbine. The Daytona's engine has been collecting better toys since I got the turbo, so maybe it should get a true Super 60 instead. It may be that I have the (modified) Talon BOV in the bottom hose and at high engine speeds, the IC starts backing up and the pressure in the lower hose goes insanely high and pushes the valve open. I may try to remove the BOV and see what happens.
All put back together and back on the road so that I can put the Daytona down for a while. I cobbled-together a small guage cluster and mounted it under the center console. It has the fual pressure, oil pressure, and the new oil temperature guages. It's basically a Radio Shack 8" x 5.5" x 3" ABS project case. The guages are angled towards the driver with those Auto Meter inserts. It doesn't look great, but its servicable.
The rusty areas of the floor pans are prepped for POR-15. Most of it is surface rust, but it is starting to pit and flake in a few spots, so it is a good time to address them. I also noticed a crack in the firewall, but I don't really have time to deal with it now. If/when I ever pull this motor for a rebuild, I'll patch up the firewall properly.
Well, I have the oil pan back in. I dropped it to fix a leak and went ahead and welded a temp sensor bung, side baffles, and some reinforcements on the bottom after banging out all the dents. It was then stripped and painted with POR-15. I also cleaned and painted the control arms and radiator/IC brackets. The control arm bushing on the passenger side was walking out of the arm, so I purchased new poly bushings for it again. I don't think it was properly lubricated, so it shouldn't happen again. I also got the radiator recored, which has been in dire need since I bought the car.
Put the car to rest for the winter. The inner tripod on the passenger side axle is pretty loose and the car needs tires, but other than that it ran good all summer/fall. I do need to drop the oil pan and install the crank scraper, oil temp bung, and possibly some baffling. The one thing that got me at the driving school at SDAC was oil supply problems. By the end of the session the car was running pretty bad because of collapsed lifters.
On the road again. New intermediate shaft, new seals. Thanks to Dave for the crankshaft seal housing (had to strip the orange paint...sorry :). I still have a rattle coming from the tranny in neutral. I noticed that it doesn't rattle if I release the clutch slowly, so perhaps it has something to do with this 6-puck HD clutch disc. Nice to have A/C again.
I was doing some post-convention maintenance such as retorquing the head studs (which it didn't need, BTW), when I had a slight problem. While trying to track down a fuel leak I dropped one of the fuel rail bolts on the head, which of course went straight down the center oil return passage and into the oil pan. Grrr. While pulling the pan, I cracked the front crank seal housing. Grrr. I then noticed that the new intermediate shaft seal housing is also leaking. Grrr.
Well, another year, another convention. SDAC-14 was a blast as usual. I went home each night, which made it hard to get up at 5am for the car show and the driving school. The car show was pretty cool, as we were right along side the classic Mopars from the Chicago Mopar Connection. My dad had a good time checking out all the classic Mopars. I didn't bother showing the CSX because it was...well just ugly.
The performance driving school was awesome. I liked it even more than SDAC-10 (even though that one had the NASCAR oval). Blackhawk Farms is a really fun track and the weather was beautiful. I got a total of 6 sessions in and my instructor was with me the whole time. He really helped me a lot. The car was running a little lean at the top end. Some 100 octane stopped the pinging, but it still broke up on the straights after a couple of laps. I think I cured it the next day by raising the pumping effeciency table up a bit in the upper RPM range. Guess I'm flowing a bit better than stock...probably the ported exhaust manifold/bigger exhaust. By the end my rear brakes were toast. They sounded horrible, so I just put a new set of pads on since I couldn't find rotors that night.
The drags were fun, but a little quieter than usual in terms of participation. There was some scheduling confusion and the bracket races happened while everyone was eating lunch. I didn't realize until the end that time trials were still running between events. I would have run more if I had known. One thing on the Shelby that I have not been able to fix: the car won't boost past about 14-15psi, even with the wastegate unplugged. I made a new BOV flange, swapped Talon BOVs, replaced the ribbed, upper hose, etc. Nothing helped. It's either a boost leak in the intercooler or somewhere that I can't see or the wastegate actuator is toast. The turbo is getting rather sloppy on the compressor side and there seems to be some oil in the IC now when there wasn't before the headgasket change. I have a feeling that it's on the way out. Grrr.
In the staging lanes at Da Grove. Thanks to Kevin Schellenberg for the pictures.
My best run was the first of the day: 14.737sec @ 96.35mph:
| Reaction | 60ft | 1/8 ET | 1/8 mph | 1/4 ET | 1/4 mph | Comments |
| 1.174 | 2.325 | 9.596 | 77.14 | 14.737 | 96.35 | First run of the day, 13-14psi boost |
| 0.594 | 2.473 | 9.915 | 74.04 | 15.345 | 90.05 | Still 13-14psi of boost, can't get more. |
| 0.796 | 2.428 | 9.785 | 73.99 | 15.224 | 90.18 | Consistent... |
| 0.421 | 2.406 | 9.674 | 74.44 | 15.048 | 91.42 | Getting closer... |
| 0.241 | 2.497 | 10.664 | 68.23 | 16.309 | 87.75 | Spinning bad through the antifreeze left by the New Yorker... |
| 0.560 | 2.679 | 10.222 | 74.72 | 15.504 | 93.69 | Spun bad on this one too (again behind the leaking NYer). |
| 0.580 | 2.357 | 9.707 | 74.54 | 15.011 | 93.22 | Finally getting some traction, but can't break into the 14s again. |
Well, on my way to Dave's house for the SDAC-14 early bird BBQ, the car completely died about 3 miles from his place. I managed to roll it into a gas station. I thought it was the HEP, as I got fuel pressure when I turn the ignition on, but upon further inspection, I noticed that the distributer rotor had about 180 degrees of slop.
Luckily, JT had his truck and trailer up at Dave's and was able to drive down and haul the beast back up to Dave's garage. A bit of disassembly confirmed that the intermediate shaft and oil pump gears were toast. The teeth were simply worn away to oblivion. I'm alittle unclear what causes this failure. It looks like a lack of lubrication to me.
Dave and Kate, being the cool people that they are, put me up for night and then Dave took me to the parts store in the morning. Dave had a selection of used intermediate shafts from various motors and I bought a new Melling oil pump from Autozone. After getting it all back together, the car ran like a champ. All the idle problems, pinging weirdness, and revving problems were gone. She pulls hard to 6k. Thanks guys!
Well, the car is back together. While I had it apart, I swapped in the A520 that I had just rebuilt before getting rid of the Shadow. It has the chrome moly bearing plate too, so it should hold up to this motor. The taller overall gear ratio will be welcome. Since it had the A568 in it before, I had to swap the shifter, cables, etc. I also replaced the middle rear freeze plug with a rubber one, as it was starting to seep. It was rusted through from the inside, just like the one behind the starter was. I also replaced that first one as the rubber was looking cracked and shabby.
I couldn't see where the headgasket had blown into a coolant jacket, but it did blow between cylinders 3 and 4. The gasket was still there, but it was burned between the gasket and the head. That area of the head is still flat and intact, so it should be fine. Unfortunately, I drove it to and from work and it still runs like crap except now it won't rev past 4500. Grrr.
I fiddled with it some more, but now I am seeing that the coolant system is being pressurized with gas after driving it around the block. Coolant is being pushed out out of the radiator. Looks like my aggressive cal blew the headgasket. I took it around the block again and it got even worse. Perhaps this is why it is running bad.
I added a little spark to the cal and now the motor is not running well at all. The idle is very rough and it pings a lot. I backed out the change, but the problems continue. I then went back to the cal I was running during the winter, but it still didn't help. I swapped the coil, wires, cap, rotor plugs. No dice. Next I decided to look at the timing it looked OK, but when I took off the belt cover, I noticed that the idler side of the belt was very loose. I figured this was making the timing jump around, but even after fixing it and triple-checking the timing again, it still idles bad, pings in boost, and won't rev past 5k.
Driving the car again in the nice weather. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do some work on the Daytona. Tweaked a few things in the cal to fix some summertime "cold" start quirkiness and hopefully addressed a low boost stumble.
The original fuel pump croaked a couple of weeks ago. Since this is my only running car, I had to fix it ASAP. I ordered a new Walbro 190lbs/hr fuel pump from FWD Performance, but couldn't afford to wait for it to show up. So, I dropped the tank and yanked the pump from the Daytona (same 190 unit, only 1 year old) and put it in the CSX. Seems to be working fine. I replaced the shifter cable bushings with the polyurethane "Booger Bushings", since the originals under the hood were long gone. I also changed the oil, which was way overdue, swapped out the air filter, and gave everything a good looking over. There are coolant leaks from just about everywhere one can have a coolant leak. They are all slow, but add up to a quart or two of coolant every couple of weeks. The freeze plug next to the one that blew before is starting to seep. I REALLY need to swap this motor out soon. It is on borrowed time. The new cal is rocking along and gets better mileage than the ND unit did. It's still lower than my Shadow was, but the CSX has smaller series tires and the short gears on the tranny.
Well, I spent much of the summer working on house and yard related things, so the Daytona sat for a long time. As such, the CSX has been my daily driver all summer and probably will be all fall. On the upside, some of that work included running 60A service out to my garage, which allows me to power my recently aquired compressor and stick welder. Hopefully I can get the Daytona back together in time to get the CSX back in the garage before winter.
On a whole, the CSX has held up well. There seems to be a coolant leak coming from the radiator. The radiator has desperately needed recoring since I got the car. I have also been using a custom calibration in place of the ND Performance cal I had before. It is much improved, though still has idle issues. The ND cal would always die two or three times at cold startup, but would eventually get going. It also would break up real bad around 5000rpm and had a part throttle lean spot around 10psi of boost that would cause the engine to cut-out. Aside from the idle problem (which may be mechanical), the new cal has none of these problems. It seems that I have the mixture setup right, but we shall see how my gas mileage is. See my Automotive Electronics pages for more info.
I've been driving the Shelby daily now for several weeks while I addressed some issues with the Daytona. All and all it has been reliable, though still has some cold startup issues, uses oil, and sounds like a Mack truck. I may drop the old Shadow engine in if looks like the Daytona project is going to take a long time. Eventually I put the Daytona wheels on because they actually have tread and they are also round. There are various things that need fixing on the CSX as well, but much of the work is the body. If all goes as planned, I will have a compressor fairly soon and will gain some experience at painting the Daytona. Then I'll be able to repaint the Shelby, finally. I may try to polish the rims next winter to have a nice, fresh Shelby by next summer. Yeah right. :p
I haven't driven this car at all lately. I don't like to drive it in the winter anyway, but real reason is that the starter solenoid was dying. I knew it would go, since I got the car with no heat shield and the solenoid was all melted. Well, this weekend I swapped the starter from my old Shadow in and found that my retrofit heat shield was now gone as well. That would explain that burning plastic smell I was noticing this summer. Luckily I had bought 2 new heat shields this fall (dealer parts), so I put one of those in along with the starter.
Well, the car is back together. It's not perfect, but it's close. I didn't notice it before, but the right rear quarter is pushed in about 1/4". Also, somehow the subchassis is tweaked such that the taillight is mounting a bit high and the bumper a bit low on the right side. It sort of spread things out. It looks fine until you get up close. Once these cars get bent, it's really hard to get them back where they should be again. Everything else lined up well, though the liftgate is not popping open as it should. I suspect the latch is not operating as smoothly as it used to. Still need to paint that trim below the taillights, but it will just have to stay red until the spring.
Putting the bumper back together was a bit of a pain. All those stupid plastic studs broke off the bumper fascia when I got hit, so I ended up making bolts with very flat heads to mount them. The heads are covered by the CSX fascia, so that's no biggie. I also threaded the CSX fascia studs so I could mount it to the bumper fascia with regular nuts. A lot of the original push nuts were gone anyway, so this setup worked well and allowed me to adjust the tension for minimal warpage.
With my Shadow now donating the rest of the parts I need, I have finally made some progress on the repairs. Using my dad's handy hydraulic kit, I was able to push the underbody most of the way back...still needs a few tweaks though. I test fitted the Shadow's bumper, just to make sure the frame wasn't tweaked at all. It fit perfectly. Looks like the restoration will have a happy ending.
Thanks to our club's prez, Jason Trotter, I now have a tail light and that flimsy trim piece. Now I just need a bumper support and struts. I'm thinking of getting brand new struts from Mopar, since all the ones I've seen in the yard (and on my cars) are rusted pretty bad.
BAM! Some kid in his daddy's SUV rear-ended me today. A few seconds after stopping for a red light, he hit me thinking I had gone through (it had just changed). Just what I needed...another project. The damage isn't too bad: collapsed bumper struts, bent bumper support, broken taillight, and the metal trim between the taillights and bumper is twisted up. There is no other frame or body damage except for the underbody behind the right tail light. That's going to need a bit of pushing.
Kudos to Dave Tekampe for helping me install the new suspension components. The work wasn't too bad except for the control arm bushings. Whatever stories you've heard about removing those suckers is true. It's a chore getting the rubber out of the metal sleeve. All the metal pieces need to be saved because the kit from energy suspension does not contain anything useful except for the rubber itself. The rest of the bushings are fairly straight forward. After some trial and error, we found that pushing out the center sleeve with a large bolt, followed the rubber works best. There's no need to push the outer sleeve out of the control arm. Of course, he had access to an arbor press....
Anyway, the CSX now has new Koni struts and shocks (including KYB strut mounts, etc), new Energy Suspension polyurethane control arm and sway bar bushings, and new lower ball joints. The car handles wonderfully now, compared to before, even with the eye-balled alignment and shot tires. Those are next on the list.
Another few months since the last update (better than almost 2 years). Not much has changed with the car except that it has been my daily driver since the trans blew on the Shadow in early June. On a positive note, I now have all the parts needed to restore the suspension. On an even more positive note, we now own a home and I have a garage! The mighty resurrection will surely follow soon....
Long time, no update. Now that I am living in an apartment, little has changed with this car. Stills runs pretty good, but the trip back from SDAC with those bad tires ruined what was left of the original struts. To become safe for the roads, the cars needs struts/shocks (probably Konis), lower ball joints, tires, and bushings (polyurethane). In its current condition, the car becomes rather unstable above 50mph, but I still take it on the 5 minute drive to work to keep it alive. The motor is still the same, piston slap and all. Still makes good power, though. The car also got flooded when our parking lot flooded twice last year. I was able to dry it out, but now I find that it leaks water in the rain. Grrr....
SDAC-10 = the best time I have ever had with cars in my entire life. I finally got to put faces to some of the names that I have known for years now. The Chicagoland folks were probably the rowdiest bunch there.
The highlight was definitely the performance driving school. It was done at Michigan Speedway (NASCAR). The road course included almost a full mile of track oval, allowing me to achieve speeds of over 120 MPH! My 3rd session was in the pouring rain, which resulted in a spin-out on one lap and some hydroplaning through the cones on turn 1 on the lap after. Not long after I flew through the cones, someone smashed their nice 1987 Shelby GLHS into the wall on turn 1 due to hydroplaning as well. Big bummer.
My first trip to the drag strip went fairly well. My time slips are below. The only things I did to the car were empty the trunk and remove the muffler. I drove very consistent low-15s most for the day. The ND Computer was only giving me 13-14psi of boost (should be 16), so I borrowed a G-valve. Unfortunately, the ball was not seating and I only got 3-4psi and ran high 16s. I fixed the G-valve and set my boost to 18psi. The engine would break-up real bad above 4700 RPM. The 8th light on the A/F gauge was flashing at those speeds, so I raised the fuel pressure. I also gapped the plug down a bit. From then on, I couldn't get traction (see my 60-foot times). I finally got a run in the 14s with 20psi of boost: 14.918 sec @ 94.68 mph. I KNOW the car can do deep 14s if I could just hook it up. The treads on my tires were full of track rubber because I couldn't find a clean spot. All in all, I had a great time.
| Reaction | 60ft | 1/8 ET | 1/8 mph | 1/4 ET | 1/4 mph | Comments |
| 0.738 | 2.507 | 9.934 | 73.53 | 15.294 | 92.04 | First run ever, 13-14psi boost |
| 0.802 | 2.477 | 9.997 | 72.59 | 15.361 | 92.03 | 13-14psi of boost |
| 1.026 | 2.451 | 10.681 | 65.57 | 16.701 | 80.49 | 3-4psi of boost |
| 0.644 | 2.537 | 10.861 | 65.02 | 16.889 | 79.77 | 3-4psi of boost |
| 0.888 | 2.638 | 9.989 | 74.73 | 15.173 | 93.94 | 18psi of boost, breaking-up above 4700 rpm |
| 0.941 | 2.529 | 9.957 | 74.27 | 15.174 | 93.33 | Still breaking-up |
| 0.580 | 2.550 | 9.945 | 74.26 | 15.174 | 93.18 | Should have been bracket racing! |
| 0.579 | 2.527 | 9.742 | 75.38 | 14.918 | 94.68 | More fuel, gapped plugs, 20psi. Best run! |
| 0.862 | 2.574 | 10.075 | 74.98 | 15.257 | 93.92 | No traction; spinning through 3rd. |
| 0.631 | 2.629 | 10.059 | 74.59 | 15.248 | 93.96 | More spinning; tires full of track rubber |
| 0.655 | 2.614 | 9.918 | 74.39 | 15.140 | 94.13 | Found a clean spot for quick burn-out |
I certainly got a lot of runs, as the track was not busy at all. I wish the track stayed open after the SDAC events for more runs. Many of the other drag racers were having car troubles and everyone seemed to have trouble with traction. Anyway, it was a blast. I'll definitely try to bring the car to more local events to work on my launch techniques.
After dealing with all kinds of problems with paint on that fender, I finally got the car ready. The doors are back together and everything is installed. One of the power door lock motors was frozen, so I will have to find another. I even had time to paint the upper door trim and the mirrors to match the new lower trim pieces a bit better. I also resealed the valve cover and got the A/C working (just this evening). All I need to do is wash the car tomorrow and take off!
The car has been sitting for a very long time. I started working on the rust on the left, front fender a few weeks ago. The Shelby Dodge Automobile Convention 10 is coming up in July 8, so I am starting a campaign to get the car ready. I need to get the power window and door lock motors installed, as well as the power mirrors (the doors are already taken apart). I also need to replace the weather stripping along the bottom of the door windows. Mechanically, the car is sound. I would like to have air conditioning for the trip as well, so I will pull the A/C heater unit to flush the crud out of the evaporator coil (the compressor was rusting, internally). I will replace the plugged heater core while it is out.
I've signed-up for all the events, which includes a performance driving school and drag racing. I won't bother with the car shows. :) The car is going to take a beating, so hopefully it will be able to make the trip there and back.
A few more weird things happened lately. First the long, steel fuel line on the fuel rail cracked at one of the bends, causing the rail to depressurize when I accelerated. Then I started getting very bad hesitation. it got to the point where the engine would not even want to run under any load, then would suddenly be fine. Turned out to be the ignition coil mounting bolt, which was stripped out. Now all is good and the car is flying.
The next thing that needs attention is the tires. There appears to be flat spots from a 4 wheel lockup (panic stop). It has been doing this since I bought the car. I'm not sure if the tires can be salvaged, but the vibration is very annoying at high speeds.
For the first time in a while, less bad news. :) I finally got the Conquest intercooler installed last week. I found some 90-degree 2-1/8" I.D. hoses for the connections under the front cross member. I found them at Trak Auto for some kind of Ford van. The rest of the plumbing consists of mandrel-bent and straight exhaust pipe. The turbo-to-intercooler run is two 2" mandrel bent pipes and some straight hose. The intercooler-to-throttle body run is two 2-1/4" mandrel bent pipes and a long 2-1/4" straight pipe. All connections were made with bits of truck radiator hose and many stainless hose clamps.
Now that this car is intercooled, I return boost control back to the logic module. So now the 16psi ND computer can do it's thing. No more pinging at 13psi either. While I was at it, I relocated the MAP sensor to the firewall right next to the brake booster. I made an aluminum heat shield to protect the sensor and solenoids from the turbo. I took great care in replumbing the vacuum lines such that critical sensors will not be effected by other vacuum devices. These include the MAP sensor and fuel pressure regulator. Now the funky fuel curve problem is gone.
The setup worked great for about a week until I started getting problems where the engine would QUIT just as I would start to accelerate. I also noticed an erratic idle speed. I have have always had a code 15, so I just unplugged the frickin' speed/distance sensor--problem solved. I don't have cruise, an automatic, or electronic speedometer, so the usefulness of the sensor is questionable anyway.
In other news, the piston slap is as bad as ever and the engine is consuming oil, though I don't notice any smoke or smell at all, nor do I see any in the coolant, etc. I loose about a quart every 1000-2000 miles. I'm sure it's just the rings. Blow-by is horrible...the dipstick isn't blowing out, but it is very tight in the tube. Oil is coming out of the oil cap and it just recently blew some RTV out of the valve cover seal. Due to the Shadow's current condition, the Shelby is now my daily driver. I hope it holds up....
Well, the weekly strife with this car continues. Monday it barfed out the block core plug behind starter...it had rusted out from the inside. I replaced it with a expanding rubber core plug (Expand-Tite), which seems to be holding. The next plug down has some evidence of a very slow leak. Looks like that one is next.
The piston slap is slowly getting worse. I think I should start thinking seriously about building-up a new, solid bottom end for this thing. No screwing around this time.... *sigh*
Still no leaks, trans fluid, coolant, or otherwise. The tires are severely out of balance or out of round. I will try to get them balanced. That metal-to-metal squeak turned out to be my 2.5" exhaust rubbing on the rear axle cross members. That Dynomax muffler is very heavy and it has stretched the stock mount.
Other than that, the car needs new ball joints and outer tie rod ends (boots are gone). A new set of bushings will probably be good too. I may just try to find a '89+ K-frame and put the new ball joints and polyurethane bushings right on it.
Well, I wanted to get started pulling the trans last night. This is the first time I got near it since I discovered the left side of the trans, axle, and engine bay covered in trans fluid on Saturday. I jacked up the car and grabbed the axle. It was not sloppy at all, compared to how it was before I installed the stabilizer bearing. Then from the topside, I noticed trans fluid all over the TOP of the trans as well. It appeared to be coming from the top of the shifter plane (slider) selector lever. There is a plastic cap on the shaft, which I assume is the gear case vent (it's not on the bearing retainer plate like on the A525/A520/A555). I am in the habit of overfilling my trannies by about 1/2 quart. It works fine on the A520s. On the A568, it seems to puke the extra oil out. The oil would run into a webbed area of the top of the trans, fill it up with oil, then it would run down the side, right over the left-side axle. It appears that this is where the oil is coming from. I cleaned the whole thing up with acetone so that it is dry and drained the excess fluid from the case (it was still very high). I then proceeded to address a coolant leak from that stupid head (helicoils). I may just have lucked out.
I fixed the coolant leaks at the thermostat housing by using the solvent-safe PFTE thread tape with Master #2 Gasketmaker (not RTV, this stuff stays soft). It appears to be holding up just fine.
I have no doubt that this tranny needs to at least have the diff re-shimmed. Perhaps even new spiders. But, it looks like it may be salvageable otherwise. The stabilizer bearing appears to be doing its job.
It appears that the stabilizer bearing has self-destructed. On the way home from the SDACCL meeting on Saturday, I started to notice a sort of vibrating metal-to-metal squeak that was getting louder and louder. When I got home I found the entire left side of the tranny covered in oil. I guess the bearing just can't handle it. So, it appears that I will be looking for a replacement differential.
Before the meeting I was able to install the new "Jessie Buhr" 2-1/2" aluminized exhaust system (thanks Mark!). The fit was mediocre at best and some bending and cutting/rewelding was required. It's still a bit off, so I will have to make some tweaks to it. Aside from that, it is a nice system. The original 2 1/4" exhaust with no muffler droned way too much when cruising. So, I opted for a Dynomax Super Turbo muffler (part# 17710). It's a nice unit and is the perfect length to fit in a P, J, or G-body. It's a 7" round, 18" long unit. It has a nice sounding idle and seems to be quite good at the top end. Not as good as an open pipe, but good enough for me.
I believe that I have found a "patch" for my current transmission problems. Thanks to Joe Dzwil, I was able to install a Techpak-Fitzall Chrysler Axle Stabilizer Bearing (part# 32125LRB). It's a neat little unit that installs in place of the stock seal and oil slinger in the trans. It has an integral roller bearing and seal that rides on the sealing surface of the axle. A good axle with a smooth and clean sealing surface is required because the roller bearing uses the old sealing surface and the new seal uses the very outer edge of the sealing surface, which will be rusty and dirty on a new axle. The extra axle I have was in good shape. Some sandpaper and some rubbing compound later, I had a nice bearing ans sealing surface. The bearing also has some gripping splines to keep it from spinning and an oiling hole that matches the oil feed hole on the trans.
Before installing the bearing, I fully drained the transmission so that I could clean the surfaces properly. I did an "Ed Peters" to it by drilling out the hole in the square-shaped boss on the bottom of the differential housing, and tapping it with a 3/8" NPT tap. Once it was drained, I plugged the hole with a brass pipe plug using solvent-safe PFTE thread tape (the yellow stuff). Getting good threads in the boss is tricky because it is slightly too large for the first 1/8" or so. Use a slightly smaller drill bit than is required by the tap. Now I can change the fluid completely without pulling axles or removing the side cover.
Looks like the CSX will be at the SDAC Chicagoland meeting after all!
Well this new tranny appears to have a serious problem. I noticed a bad fluid leak coming from the left axle. I figured that maybe the seal went bad. So, I pulled the axle only to find the seal in good shape but the axle had a lot of play in the differential. I put a tight-fitting socket with an extension into the differential to see if the carrier bearings were shot. I could not make the differential move within the transmission case...it was very solid. Upon further inspection, I noticed that the axis on which the axle "wiggled" was on the axle shaft itself between the CV joint and the differential spline. It appears that the differential case is worn out. The axle shaft also has some wear on it. I have another axle (which actually came with the trans), which has no wear on the shaft at all. This axle was a bit more solid, but still pretty sloppy. Looks like I will have to pull the trans. ARGH!
Well, I have done a lot of work to the car over the past months. Basically, I have been gathering all the parts I need to replace the head on the car. The head that came on it is shot, so decided to try a reman head. Big mistake. I have never seen such crap work in my entire life! Here is a short list of what was wrong with it:
In addition to the crap reman head, I installed ARP head studs so that I can stop buying head bolts. I am also trying the MP headgasket this time. I also opted for the FM ported exhaust manifold. This along with the 2.5" exhaust system I am planning to get should make the top end pretty nice. I did weld a Products For Power 2.5" high-flow cat onto the stock down pipe. The down pipe is 2-1/4" at the turbo, but actually necks up to 2-3/8" after the first bend. This fit fairly well into the 2.5" cat without a reducer bushing. I then adapted the stock exhaust off of my Shadow as a temporary measure until I find a place to do my 2.5" exhaust.
I also pulled the trans to install a new LUK Turbo III clutch (with a Turbo II disk) I got from FM. The plan was to reset the preloads on the A520, install new seals, and toss it back in. Well, as luck would have it, I happened upon someone selling an A568 transaxle here in IL!!! An hour's drive and $550 later, I had myself the ultimate of transaxles: the A568! Thanks Gerry! He also sold me the cables and shifter. I ordered a new set of seals for it since the input shaft seal was leaking and I called FM to ask them to send me the other half of that TIII clutch I bought. I found the shifter knob and boot at a boneyard on a '92 Shadow with a A543. During the installation I found that a few mods were required, but nothing major. I will have a page up about this sometime in the future. Drop me a line if you'd like the details now.
While I was waiting for parts, I addressed the nasty water leaks in the passenger compartment. The leaks were causing the insulation and carpeting to shrink and rot. I completely GUTTED the interior, insulation and all. This car is noisy enough and I don't care about 2 or 4 lbs of weight, so I replaced the insulation with heat shield/sound deadening insulation. I also ordered a new molded carpet from Newark Auto. It was an OK fit and a mediocre color match. While it was gutted, I traced all the water leaks by sitting inside during some heavy rain. Most of the leaks were due to bad gaskets and seals. One leak was a body caulk issue, which the car may have had all of its life. I spent a lot of time cutting and gluing the insulation back in, and it feels pretty sound now. I also bought new weather stripping for the doors and had the headliner and visors reupholstered. The interior now looks quite respectable, especially since it is all Shadow ES instead of half ES, half CSX. If everything else holds up (yeah right) I will address the body next year.
Broke 500 miles on Friday (19th)! Woo! The engine is now broken in. I hooked up the wastegate solenoid around 400 miles and have been enjoying the power. :) The boost likes to creep to 14psi, before the computer pulls it back down to about 11psi. Luckily, I'm not hitting cutout. I guess it's time to play with restrictors again. I drove the car all the way to work on the tollways and it did just fine, aside from the bumpy ride. Here is the car as of today:
As if that weren't enough, Arlie Hart is selling a GLHS in New York to a guy in Chicago. He agreed to carry the last two panels with him, so I may have them this weekend!
The next major project will be to gut the interior again and try to find the source of my water leak. The carpeting is getting musty again and it seems to be shrinking. I'm not sure what to do with it at this point. I may have to trash it in favor of some new carpeting. It sure could use it. The headliner is another issue. I plan on buying some headliner material and gluing it on this summer as well.
The only other big problem is the suspension. It definitely needs new shocks and struts, judging by the way it hops all over the place.. I have a lead on some interesting units, otherwise I'll go with Konis or KYBs.
I had a burning desire to work on the CSX and I had the opportunity last Thursday (the 4th), so I put in some of the parts I had. I also pulled the valve cover and tried to quiet down the valve train by pumping up the new lifters again. While I had the cover off, I replaced the fuel pressure regulator with the adjustable unit from Rick Diogo. I also replaced the spark plugs because they were fouled from running so rich (RN12YC).
After allowing the RTV on the valve cover to cure for a couple days, I started up the engine and adjusted the fuel pressure. I brought it down to 50psi. I took it for a spin and it's running so much better...much more low-end torque. The plugs looked fine afterwards. I'm still at reduced boost, so I won't know for sure for a while. It was nice to drive it again.
The dumb thing still has a water leak somewhere. I guess the search will continue. I also installed some of the interior pieces from Arlie Hart, but I still need to get the two, large rear sail panels from him. Anyway, it looks much better with the darker trim pieces.
Well, I received the adjustable fuel pressure regulator from Rick Diogo. It is actually for an '89 or later turbo, but it will work just fine the and pipe connection opens up the option for a custom fuel setup. It appears to be a used unit that has been modified. An aluminum cap with the hose barb and adjustment bolt covers what is probably a cut open, stock regulator. Better than hacking and gluing with JB Weld, or crushing it in a vise, in my opinion. :) I also received the pressure isolators I ordered for the oil and fuel pressure guages that I will be installing. They look like they will do the job and I will add specifics on how to get them to the Mini-Mopar Resource Site when I get the chance. I also updated this page with a picture of the pistons and rods I used on the engine rebuild. I actually had several pictures of the rebuild, but my nice camera and the roll of film they were on met their demise while I was on vacation in December. I am annoyed.
Since it cold outside these days and the CSX is buried in a foot of snow right now, I haven't done much with it. The old battery also decided that it doesn't like cold weather and has died. I don't want to drive this car through the salty roads of a mid-west winter anyway, so it will stay where it is until spring. I will then buy a new battery, install the goodies I have been collecting, and hopefully continue the restoration if I can. I can't wait to get that ND Performance logic module in there!
My future with this car is becoming uncertain at this point because of certain events going on with my life. I hope I will be able to keep it after all this work and years of waiting to finally get one. Keep your fingers crossed for me....
IT'S ALIVE!!! This unusually warm weather for November has allowed me to finish assembly of the engine. After completing assembly, I filled all the fluids and stared at it for a very long time, trying to think of anything I may have forgotten. I then proceeded to clean the garage to find any parts that I may have neglected to put back on. After all that, I decided that I had stalled long enough. I pulled the ignition wire off of the coil and cycled the ignition switch a couple of times. The fuel pump moaned and pressurized the system. I did a careful inspection of the fuel system, and found a small leak near the fuel filter. After fixing this, I took off the oil fill cap, and tried to crank the engine. Sure enough, it cranked over and after few cranks there was oil to the head. I then reconnected the ignition wire, said a little prayer, and turned the key once more. Three cranks later the engine sprang to life with more clattering and chattering than you can shake a stick at. A few seconds later the brand new lash adjusters were pumped up and the engine quieted down. I watched carefully, with the fire extinguisher nearby, as the oils and other residues left on the manifolds burned off. After a few minutes of idling, the engine stopped smoking and was running smoothly. I kept an eye on the fluids all this time and there were no leaks, but I had to keep topping off the radiator. I believe this was just the air being purged out of the system, but my paranoia kept making me think it was the headgasket. There was no white smoke out of the back even when I goosed it a bit, so I became confident enough to go for a drive. I took it once around my subdivision (1.1 miles) at the lightning speed of 30 mph. The engine ran smoothly and pulled with confidence, even though I was not going into boost or revving it past 3000 rpm at all. I pulled it back into the garage, shut it off, and did a through check over.
Everything looked great, so I started it back up again and went for another drive. I took it easy and put a good 15 miles on it keeping it under 55mph and around 2500 rpm. I let it go into boost a couple of times and I quickly got 5psi, even though the wastegate actuator was tied directly to the manifold. The engine was running great and I finally got to experience what it was like to drive a CSX (I was so wound up on the initial drive home, that I never really got a chance to observe the handling). That super-stiff suspension makes for a bouncy ride on rough roads, but the thing corners like it's on rails. What a difference from my Shadow ES! Definitely not a touring sedan, but that not why I bought it! :)
After my little trip, I pulled it back in the driveway and popped the hood to listen the engine carefully. There was a weird whine coming from the timing belt. I think the shroud may have been rubbing on the intermediate sprocket. Also, I noticed that the BOV was leaking boost when I was at or above 0psi. The BOV should be closed at this point, so I have to look into that.
After over three months of owning the car, I finally got a chance to drive it around. All that work was not in vein! Special thanks have to go to Chris Wright for setting me up with Venolia and pointing me in the right direction, to Neil Emiro for all the advice about the choices in pistons and rods for the bottom end, to Gus Mahon for all the advice and info about the world of boost and compression ratios, to Mike Demoss at Forward Motion for advice and good deals on parts, to Randy Chet for selling me this car and telling it to me straight, to Brian Rachwarter for helping me find the car, to John Johansen for checking the car out in California, and to countless others on the Shelby Dodge Mailing List that have helped me over the past year and a half. Here is a shot of the engine bay as of this date:
That white thing in front of the Turbo I turbocharger outlet hose is an oil catch canister that I have on all my cars. It keeps oil out of the airbox, but in this case, it is venting to the atmosphere. It's made out of PVC pipe parts and I plan on making a web page for it. I have improved the design well beyond this one, it was just lying around from the days of my Sundance. Obviously, the CSX has no A/C right now, but I plan on installing it over the summer. You might recognize the radiator; it's from the Shadow ES before it was intercooled. The wires are Splitfire Dual Coils. I have no love for Splitfire, and I have never used their worthless plugs. However, these were on sale for half price, so I grabbed them since they seem to be made very well. If they act up, I'll pitch them for Magnecores.
In early September of that year, I finally had the time to tear apart the engine to see what was going on. As I disassembled the intake ductwork, I was disgusted to find that the PCV vent line was tied directly to the intake duct, just past the air filter. The large amount of blow-by from cylinder #4 blew oil through the PCV system, through the intake, the turbo, up through the intercooler (!), and into the intake manifold. Most of it ran back into cylinder #4, causing it to burn all this oil. When I pulled the head, I found that the headgasket was fine, the #4 piston was fine, and there were no cracks in the head or block. I expected to see a whole in the piston from all of this blow-by. When I disassembled the head, I found that the exhaust valves guides were worn, but the rest of it looked OK. The head had a multi-angle valve jobs done at some point, so I decided not to mess with the valves and just grind them. After grinding, the valves seated very well, and I decided not to worry about the somewhat worn valve guides. There was no indication of the valve stem seals leaking, but I replaced them anyway. Cylinder #4 was carboned up really bad from the oil, as was #1. The only possibility left was the rings. When I pulled the pistons, I found that the upper ring on #4 was broken is six places and a huge chunk of the ring land was gone. The sides of the piston was badly carboned up from being driven this way for so long. Luckily, there was no scoring on the cylinder wall at all. The ring pieces were held in the piston by a nice coating of carbon.
I was very surprised to see that the block had almost NO wear. There no ridge at the top of the bores, either. I decided to deglaze the bores just to see how it would go. The first few passes with the honing tool showed the bores to be very even. A slight ridge appeared at the top, then disappeared a few passes later. #4 had a small spot where the piston must have been slapping, but it disappeared as well. I re-measured the bores and they were still straight and round. I then made several performance decisions with the help of a few people from the SDML (thanks to Gus, Neil, Dempsey, and Garry). Here are all the parts I ordered for this engine:
Here is a shot if the pistons and rods after they had been balanced and the rod ends were modified to hold the larger pin. Pretty pistons, eh?
Along with all that, I replaced all gaskets and seals as well as the radiator and heater hoses, fuel lines, and vacuum lines. I also had to repair all of the wiring harnesses under the hood because of heat damage. The Venolia parts took two months to arrive. So, while I was waiting, I got ready for some future performance enhancements. Here are the parts I collected:
I planned NOT to use the ND Performance computer at first. I decided to run with the stock CSX computer and the 804 injectors to take it easy on the engine and make it run rich, which is good for break-in. I would also plug the wastegate actuator can right on the manifold pressure to keep boost very low for the first couple of hundred miles. I would be saving the Conquest intercooler installation until the next summer, so I just used the turbo outlet hose from my '88 Turbo engine to run the engine as a Turbo I, since I had moved the stock Turbo II components to my '88 Shadow ES.
After search through several boneyards, I found a few of the interior pieces I needed, but the main panels were impossible to find because I needed to find a 1987 or early 1988 Shadow or Sundance with a dark grey interior (because of the seatbelt arrangement). This interior is somewhat rare. Nevertheless, the SDML came to my rescue. A great guy by the name of Arlie Hart found a Shadow sitting in a boneyard in NY with the interior pieces I needed. Trying to get those large panels shipped from NY to IL was quite a trick, but we managed. I also restored the majority of the wiring, which was severely hacked for previous stereo installations, and repaired the Boston Acoustic crossovers (power resistors) and replaced one of the tweeters. I then made up and added the necessary wiring harnesses for power windows, power door locks, and power mirror, which I intend to add at some point.
When the Shelby sat out in its first rainstorm, I was greeted the next day with water in the trunk and under the carpeting up front and in the back. The trunk leak was just the standard P-Body trunk leak issue, but the water in the front was from the windshield seals. In fact, most of the seals, weather stripping, etc was all falling apart after being in the intense heat of California. It look a long time to track down all the leaks and make the car sound again.
The CSX was delivered to me on July 31, 1998. The car carrier that had the car loaded took forever to deliver it because of mechanical troubles. The stories they told were so crazy that I was actually believing them and when the car arrived, the driver showed me what happened to his rig: blown tire rim, new hydraulic pump, and blown hydraulic hoses. I washed the hydraulic fluid and dirt off of it, and it looked to be in good shape.
Recent Repairs:
Problems:
As you can see, the car had quite a few problems, but I knew about most of them before I even bought the car because the seller was very straight with me. It was still a good deal though (would have been better if I didn't have to pay for transporting it), and I was looking at it as a project car anyway.
The short ride home was a blast. The engine pulled hard, even though it was on 3-1/2 cylinders and the 2.5" no-muffler exhaust sounded great! The interior was pretty dirty and was missing quite a few of the ES interior pieces and the ES headliner was already falling down. I didn't have time to work on the engine right away, but I did start to fix many of the interior issues.
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