back to main page....	Page updated Thursday, April 7, 2005
This page is a catch all for any of my car related activities. Some are links to other pages while the other is a chronological listing (oldest to newest) of things I've done, a log I guess. I'll also try to keep track of cost and the ordering of parts and everything here.
Autocross Results Car Repair Records PCM Modifications
08/11/04
Other stuff. Boy, I can think of a lot of "other" stuff to get. Here's a little bit of that: 2600 stall converter (Done 07/14/03) Torsen T2R differential (Done 01/15/04) Rebuilt 4L60E transmission (Done 07/14/03, done again 01/15/04) 08/11/04 Next... Weight and power are the next big items. Jet Hot coated headers and y-pipe (20 lbs?) Light weight battery and rear mount (15 lbs?) Light weight sway bars (20 lbs?) ESP spec engine rebuild Light weight racing seats and harness (30 lbs?) 3.42 gear Light weight wheels (25 lbs?) Ratchet shifter Poly motor and trans mounts It's only money. Of course, every time you do one thing, something else comes to mind.
06/04/2003
Oh boy! When it rains it pours. 3 days ago the AC died. Now tonight, the transmission is dying. Help me! I'm ordering the rebuilt transmission a lot sooner than expected. AND the Vigilante (2600 stall?) torque converter too.
06/06/2003
Ok, transmission is on the way, torque converter is on the way (2600 stall) and I'm driving around with a 2 speed automatic. I've got 2nd and 3rd gear but even 3rd is acting weird. It's like the torque converter is running at stall speed. oh well. Just a few more days. Hope she makes it.
06/09/2003
The transmission is here in Atlanta and should be at Ernie Mayer's shop, Pappi Tates in the morning. Just waiting on the torque converter to get this crippled thing fixed. Also waiting on the coil over's, front sway bar and panhard rod. Gotta call Strano tomorrow.....
06/11/2003
Torque converter's here!!!! (28lbs) Transmission goes in tomorrow!! Can't wait.
06/12/2003
YEA!!! A new transmission AND a great torque converter, a Vigilante 9.5" 2600 rpm stall. Thanks to my good friend, Ernie Mayer (his automotive service business, Pappi Tates, in Chamblee Georgia 770-458-2437) for his patience and hard work while I bother him with stuff that doesn't make him a lot of money. But I don't trust my car to ANYONE else, period. It didn't seem too bad other than some hard to reach bolts on the bellhousing (of course, I'm not the one doing the work) but with the help from what looked like a 4 foot extension for the ratchet, they came out too. IF you ever have to pull your transmission, just a few things I'd recommend. First, now's your chance to replace all of your transmission related bushings. Whether you do it by getting original, poly or maybe even replacing parts, plan ahead and have them there ready to go in. We had to wait 2 hours for someone to deliver the torque arm bushing on the transmission tail shaft. If I had a new torque arm, it would have gone on right then! Second, if you're replacing all of your fluid (especially on a new transmission), run synthetic. Your transmission will love your for it. It just has much better wear properties and can take the heat much better than conventional. Anyway, Ernie got it in, no problem. Ahh, but not done yet. We found all of the dye that went into the AC system a month or so ago. Looked like the compressor had diarrhea. Dye everywhere. So we got a brand new AC Delco compressor and dryer and put that in too. When it rains, it pours. My first time driving impression was mixed. It felt different but almost like it had less power. Very weird compared to the "two" speed I drove in. After driving for a while I began to see what was different. It was shifting out too early and never getting above the stall speed until I got going pretty fast. So I got into TunerCAT and made some adjustments to the shift MPH and raised them by 4mph and lowered the % throttle required to be considered WOT. The result was amazing!! All the power is back plus more. It feels MUCH more responsive. I truly believe a lot of the problems people have when they change things on their car is they don't consider how it effects the other systems they're related to, especially those that are computer related.
06/26/03
Got my car back today with the new coil overs, springs, shocks, and front control arm bushings installed. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! Transient response is incredible!! All of the bounciness I use to have is gone, it's firm but not rough. My Suspension Techniques 35mm front bar still isn't here and my adjustable panhard rod is still missing also. It will only get better!!! I took the car to get an alignment after this was all done to Gran Turismo East, Inc. 770-455-0347, 3306 Shallowford Road, Chamblee, GA 30341 (Talk to Kieran). Jeff is the alignment guy and he can align any type of car. Great bunch of guys, got me right in and got it adjusted just like I wanted. Highly recommended if you need tires or alignment. My toe was "only" off by 1.5"!!!!! Anyway, they managed to get 1 degree negative camber, 4.7 and 4.8 caster and 0 toe. The next stop is Balanced Performance Motorsports. They're going to get the car on scales and adjust my weight distribution and do some massaging on the inner rear wheel wells so my 17 x 11's don't rub. Went there today to check it out. VERY nice, clean place. Everyone there was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. It sure is nice to find places where the employees race. Also, my heat treated Hoosiers arrived so I'm just waiting on my front wheels. If got to take my car back to Ernie next week. We left the old spring perch on the Koni when we put it in and it needs to come off. Oh well, live and learn.
06/28/03
Got the Suspension Techniques 35mm front bar on today. Much heavier than the 32.5mm LG Motorsports hollow bar. Another BIG change. Even more responsive on transients now.
06/30/03
Would you believe that my transmission is starting to screw up???? Just started yesterday!! 2 and a half weeks and it's broken?!?!?! I placed a call to them this morning but they haven't called me back yet. Not a good sign.
07/01/03
The transmission is out and on the way back. I'm not a happy camper. We'll see what they say when they get it apart. Where's that damn panhard rod???? And my front wheels???? Would you believe I'm having to drive around in a six cylinder Mustake, I mean Mustang??? How embarrassing!!! :-) At least I have a ride so it could be worse.
07/13/03
The transmission should arrive tomorrow. I hope Ernie can get it back in then. I know he'd like to get it out of his shop. They said the 3 & 4 bands were burned up. I ask how he thought it happened and (of course) he said he didn't know.
07/14/03
The transmission's back in!!!! Ernie also pulled the stock spring perches off the car!!! Yea!
07/17/03
Just an update to the car. It feels like a totally different car. It feels responsive and quick. I like the way the transmission is adjusted right now. Even in these 90 degree days we're going through, the engine feels much stronger than it use to.
08/25/03
Transmission died again yesterday!!!! 41 days. I'm pissed. I'm going to call them up today and ask for my money back.
09/2/03
OK, transmission is back in the car... again. I told them I'm not doing this again. I received a letter from them in the mail the day after I picked it up.It was a little handwritten note with a small o-ring taped to it and it said "We think this o-ring is missing on the input shaft. We are not sure. Check" Oh right, that gives me a lot of confidence they got it right THIS time. Like I said, no more chances. Luckily Ernie noticed it was missing and took the one off the old transmission and put it on the new one. Great...
10/02/03
153,320 - Just had the brake fluid flushed (replaced with Valvoline Synthetic or whatever it's called) and Hawk HPS Plus pads put on the front. What a difference!!! Like a whole new brake system. Oh, the transmission SEEMS to be doing ok except.. at the autocross on Sunday it was a little strange. I started in first as usual and took off. At about 3500 rpm it upshifted by itself then down shifted and up shifted and downshifted and... well, you get the picture. Like it had a mind of it's own. After two runs I finally put it in drive and it was fine. Go figure. I'm going to re-program the manual mode tables today to try to tell it not to do that but who knows.
12/24/03
Well, I went and did it. I ordered a Hooker Cat-Back system and a Lingenfelter cold air induction, a rag joint eliminator and Friday, a Torsen T2R from Sam Strano. I have to get ready for the Pro Solo in February and don't want to be too embarrassed... or course, it might not matter how much I put on the car, I'll probably STILL be embarrassed!!!
05/16/04
I finally got rid of the Hawk Plus pads. I DO NOT recommend those for the street. Very noisy and VERY dusty. Plus, I was going through pads every 4 months. I've changed to the Hawk HPS pads for now. Then, after we changed pads, we noticed that the wheel bearings on both the front wheels were shot so I had those replaced. Always something. I've also changed my shift speeds to .35 from the 6.35 or whatever was in the shift tables. OH YEA, I forgot to say the transmission was replaced again but this time with a GM. 3 years and 50,000 miles sounded good to me. Maybe someday I'll try the aftermarket again but not for a while.
08/11/04
Well, haven't written in a while. I've had to replace several AC components, front wheel bearings, and radiator. Just routine items I guess. Have to go back tomorrow to replace an AC line that got cut by the alternator.
01/13/05
Once again, it's been a while! I just had to replace the PCM after it caused what appeared to be transmission failure. So now I have a new PCM. I just added Corvette Z06 front brakes to the car. The only problem was that my Borbet street wheels won't fit now. So now I'm going to be running my 17x11 ZR-1 wheels on the street. My new street tires go on tomorrow so we'll see how it is. But so far, I love the brakes. I'll get some pictures up here soon.
01/23/05
Love the brakes! Great pedal feel. It requires much less effort and stops faster, compared to what I had. I need to disable the ABS though. The cycle time is way too slow, you could stop faster without it I believe. I ending up buying Sumitomo's, 315/35-17's all the way around, mounted on my race wheels that are 17x11's. I love these tires. Very inexpensive (~$120-140) compared to the next most expensive (Goodyear F1) at $280 each. But these are very sticky, I love the extra grip, both because of the added treadwidth (275 up to 315) and wheel size (17x9.5 up to 17x11), and the stickyness of the tires. So far, it's all been good...!