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.&nbsp I did lay back the floor at the exhaust bowl more on the advice from Tyler.&nbsp I’m now coming up with a way to deshroud the valves so that it is done equally.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.