While expensive, the patten was probably a very good idea. That front end is amazing. As cool as that is, my favorite part is the tail lights. Like one guy said, Next there needs to be a "fast back" version. I would love to be the guinea pig for that one but, unfortunately my car is kind of a hybrid mix of Stalker front bumper, 1 piece head lights, & newer style side scoops so, adding 69 tail lights would probably not meet with nearly as much popular aproval as a whole car done with all classic styling. If anyone could pull it off, Im sure you would be the the guy though. Have you found any magizines that want to do a write up on your car yet?
Build Thread Finally! 89 Notch 2v Swap Progress Thread Project: 89mach1
- Thread starter CarMichael Angelo
- Start date
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smokin joe
Founding Member
Mike, the car looks amazing! I followed the whole build and it was like watching a child being born to me. Even the red interior ties in nicely to the whole concept. You have some definite talent! 
did some google searching...
this would look sweet
I agree. Not the chrome center cap though. I think I'll try that next.
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Mike, the car looks amazing! I followed the whole build and it was like watching a child being born to me. Even the red interior ties in nicely to the whole concept. You have some definite talent!
YThanks Joe. I am pretty happy w/ it as it has turned out. Talent??? I don't know about that though......I have......Wisdom
TenorPlayinGuy
Founding Member
YThanks Joe. I am pretty happy w/ it as it has turned out. Talent??? I don't know about that though......I have......Wisdom
Nah... In the words of Van Halen... You've got the touch!
Well 500 miles on the thing, so now I can comment on the finished product:
Ride: This car is carrying probably 300 lbs more than it did as a 4 banger.
With the added weight of 2v engine, the 70lbs of sound deadener, subframe connectors w/ the jacking rails, the rollbar, AND the hoopty assed 10" sub in the trunk all that weight adds up to a fairly decent ride. Compared to the choppy washboard it used to be, 180 degree improvement.
Performance: The 2v isn't what I expected, but it is OK for now. Seems to make more noise than power. I am used to the LS-2s in my last two GTO's. I was expecting the car to weigh around 3000 lbs w/ the weight added and figured that since a GTO tips the scale around 3700, the power-to-weight would yield similar results..........Uhhh, No! said the finger.
I will change this.
Steering: The manual Rack is the slower 20:1 ratio and it is not bad at all, I actually left out of the parking lot w/ one hand today holding a pepsi, so all-in-all....I got no problems w/ the Rack.
Brakes: Lets just say I hope I never need to come to a serious panic stop. Even w/ the right 7/8" bore master cylinder, it still requires a pretty good leg to bring it to a hard stop. I'm still messing w/ the proportioning valve, and I probably still have too much rear brake bias, so the vote is still out on the manual brakes.
The Carburetor. ABSOLUTELY have NO problem w/ my 19th century fuel metering device. It idles smoothly at 800 RPM w/an 13-0 AFR,slow cruises at the same, and provides a 11-12 AFR under hard acceleration. One pat on the throttle in the AM and it starts instantly. So no worries w/ this "mod"
The Restraints: I put these really cool 4 pt restraints that use a conventional "stock-style" buckle assembly. I love them.
The gauges: These gauges are not long for the world in this car. They worked OK when the 4 cylinder was in there, but now that there is a tremec 3650 in the picture, the internal speed sensor is not compatible w/ the digital speedo. Calibrating the speedo over the same one mile course I used for the 4cyl/T5 now has the speedo reading 314 mph, even though I'm only going 70.
(you really cover alot of ground going 314 mph) My odometer says 1183 , and the MSD timing computer says that the engine has only been running for 12 hours, So....1183/12 means I'm averaging about 98 miles per hour! Not bad for mostly city driving.
The fix for this is non-existent, Nordskog is outta business, so despite the fact that they were bought from Summit in November of 07, they are gracious enough to fully refund my money, All 368.00 of it.
The external body mods: I find it distracting having to figure what the guy waving his hands wildly in the next lane is trying to say.
The Sound: The 4 muffler system is perfect. Loud enough so that I can hear it while accelerating, almost gone at 1900 rpm on the interstate going 314 mph.
The Paint: I give it a 6 out of 10. It's my own fault, You definitely get what you pay for, The paint job cost me 850,plus my traded-out labor on his race car. That included finish bodywork, labor, and materials. The painter sprayed just enough color to cover,and just enough clear to cover that. His idea of "blocking the car" means a piece of sandpaper folded to fit your hand. The passenger door is wayy to friendly, and it just waves at everybody I pass. I have exposed several areas to base trying to get the damn orange peel gone, and there is still alot of orange peel.
The Whole car: I love it. given the negatives, The engine can (and will) be replaced. The same for the gauges. You have to look for the bad spots on the paint, fortunately it shines so damn nicely it's hard to tell.
Ride: This car is carrying probably 300 lbs more than it did as a 4 banger.
With the added weight of 2v engine, the 70lbs of sound deadener, subframe connectors w/ the jacking rails, the rollbar, AND the hoopty assed 10" sub in the trunk all that weight adds up to a fairly decent ride. Compared to the choppy washboard it used to be, 180 degree improvement.
Performance: The 2v isn't what I expected, but it is OK for now. Seems to make more noise than power. I am used to the LS-2s in my last two GTO's. I was expecting the car to weigh around 3000 lbs w/ the weight added and figured that since a GTO tips the scale around 3700, the power-to-weight would yield similar results..........Uhhh, No! said the finger.
I will change this.
Steering: The manual Rack is the slower 20:1 ratio and it is not bad at all, I actually left out of the parking lot w/ one hand today holding a pepsi, so all-in-all....I got no problems w/ the Rack.
Brakes: Lets just say I hope I never need to come to a serious panic stop. Even w/ the right 7/8" bore master cylinder, it still requires a pretty good leg to bring it to a hard stop. I'm still messing w/ the proportioning valve, and I probably still have too much rear brake bias, so the vote is still out on the manual brakes.
The Carburetor. ABSOLUTELY have NO problem w/ my 19th century fuel metering device. It idles smoothly at 800 RPM w/an 13-0 AFR,slow cruises at the same, and provides a 11-12 AFR under hard acceleration. One pat on the throttle in the AM and it starts instantly. So no worries w/ this "mod"
The Restraints: I put these really cool 4 pt restraints that use a conventional "stock-style" buckle assembly. I love them.
The gauges: These gauges are not long for the world in this car. They worked OK when the 4 cylinder was in there, but now that there is a tremec 3650 in the picture, the internal speed sensor is not compatible w/ the digital speedo. Calibrating the speedo over the same one mile course I used for the 4cyl/T5 now has the speedo reading 314 mph, even though I'm only going 70.
(you really cover alot of ground going 314 mph) My odometer says 1183 , and the MSD timing computer says that the engine has only been running for 12 hours, So....1183/12 means I'm averaging about 98 miles per hour! Not bad for mostly city driving.
The fix for this is non-existent, Nordskog is outta business, so despite the fact that they were bought from Summit in November of 07, they are gracious enough to fully refund my money, All 368.00 of it.
The external body mods:
I find it distracting having to figure what the guy waving his hands wildly in the next lane is trying to say.The Sound: The 4 muffler system is perfect. Loud enough so that I can hear it while accelerating, almost gone at 1900 rpm on the interstate going 314 mph.
The Paint: I give it a 6 out of 10. It's my own fault, You definitely get what you pay for, The paint job cost me 850,plus my traded-out labor on his race car. That included finish bodywork, labor, and materials. The painter sprayed just enough color to cover,and just enough clear to cover that. His idea of "blocking the car" means a piece of sandpaper folded to fit your hand. The passenger door is wayy to friendly, and it just waves at everybody I pass. I have exposed several areas to base trying to get the damn orange peel gone, and there is still alot of orange peel.
The Whole car: I love it. given the negatives, The engine can (and will) be replaced. The same for the gauges. You have to look for the bad spots on the paint, fortunately it shines so damn nicely it's hard to tell.
Brakes: Lets just say I hope I never need to come to a serious panic stop. Even w/ the right 7/8" bore master cylinder, it still requires a pretty good leg to bring it to a hard stop. I'm still messing w/ the proportioning valve, and I probably still have too much rear brake bias, so the vote is still out on the manual brakes.
If you decide to go 5 lug. I was at the local junkyard, and there was a plethora of sn95 front spindles/brakes everywhere. I was stunned!
The fix for this is non-existent, Nordskog is outta business, so despite the fact that they were bought from Summit in November of 07, they are gracious enough to fully refund my money, All 368.00 of it.
Time for a Florida5.0 set?
The Whole car: I love it. given the negatives, The engine can (and will) be replaced. The same for the gauges. You have to look for the bad spots on the paint, fortunately it shines so damn nicely it's hard to tell.
Cars are fun to drive, they never look perfect... because we drive them... not saying to stop trying to reach perfection.
from the pics, the car looks awesome! people who are highly skilled & take pride in their work, such as yourself, are their own worst critic. I have personally pulled your thread up for at least 4 of the guys I work with to look at. They are all amazed at how well it turned out. further upgrades will only make a good thing even better so, keep up the good work and posting pics.
I figured you'd get bored with that engine, especially considering the HP monsters you've had in the past. In stock form, those 2Vs just run out of breath too early to make any horsepower, and no NA 4.6L has any sort of bottom end torque to make that OK, haha. With a mod motor, it really needs to either be a 6000+ RPM screamer, or a boosted monster, or both, before it's really going to be fun.
tarafied
New Member
Well, I saw this awesome 68 Fox Body (hey that's 89 upside down!) at the NMRA World Finals yesterday. I could not believe my eyes! What a cool ride. Very well executed!!! Met Mike and his family too. Great people. Had to register and say how much I loved this car!!!
Cool build thread too, I might borrow some ideas for my 93 LX convertible:eyebrow:
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married to Tara, that makes me tarafied!
Cool build thread too, I might borrow some ideas for my 93 LX convertible:eyebrow:
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married to Tara, that makes me tarafied!
Sheesh, I stop building this thing, and the moths move in.......quick.
Like I said on some other fact finding thread I posted, I was gonna post up some pics of my dash/gauge conversion.
As some of you know, one of the major gripes about this car is that the digital gauge panel didn't "fit" my 60's theme. Duuur, I knew that when I put the things in. I just happen to have them laying around, so they got installed.
After my first show, and because the gauges will not work right (speedo says 314 mph at 70, temp gauge occasionally decides to only display the last digit)
I decided to get a credit from summit and get something different.
That was a challenge in of itself, w/ Autometer alone offering over 20 different gauge styles. I overcame the challenge, and although I looked at all of the manufacturers different junk, I went w/ Autometer anyways as they had the ones I liked.
The problem became how to back them up. I wanted to do something "different" (that's not in my character, is it?)
I chose to build a wood backer, stained and lacquered to cater to my theme.
Now I'll tell you, I know it's not gonna be for everybody, as most of you guys are trying to "tech-up" your interiors. I, on the other hand am going the other way. I'm going for the Barney Rubble look instead.
So here we go, the gutting of the relevant interior parts:
I went w/ a pine board. Lowes has a bunch of different woods to choose from, but not knowing on whether or not this will work, the 3.50 it cost was "expendable"
The passenger side had to be laminated, as there had to be "hidden" screws to allow me to mount it.
I have to wire them, and get them in the dash. I'll post up some better, completed pictures when I can get back at it.
Like I said on some other fact finding thread I posted, I was gonna post up some pics of my dash/gauge conversion.
As some of you know, one of the major gripes about this car is that the digital gauge panel didn't "fit" my 60's theme. Duuur, I knew that when I put the things in. I just happen to have them laying around, so they got installed.
After my first show, and because the gauges will not work right (speedo says 314 mph at 70, temp gauge occasionally decides to only display the last digit)
I decided to get a credit from summit and get something different.
That was a challenge in of itself, w/ Autometer alone offering over 20 different gauge styles. I overcame the challenge, and although I looked at all of the manufacturers different junk, I went w/ Autometer anyways as they had the ones I liked.
The problem became how to back them up. I wanted to do something "different" (that's not in my character, is it?)
I chose to build a wood backer, stained and lacquered to cater to my theme.
Now I'll tell you, I know it's not gonna be for everybody, as most of you guys are trying to "tech-up" your interiors. I, on the other hand am going the other way. I'm going for the Barney Rubble look instead.
So here we go, the gutting of the relevant interior parts:
I went w/ a pine board. Lowes has a bunch of different woods to choose from, but not knowing on whether or not this will work, the 3.50 it cost was "expendable"
The passenger side had to be laminated, as there had to be "hidden" screws to allow me to mount it.
I have to wire them, and get them in the dash. I'll post up some better, completed pictures when I can get back at it.
5.0Droptop
...all those nights we shared, and you're a dude??
Special Agent Mukity-Muck Whats in Charge Round Here
tarafied1
New Member
That cluster and the Mach wheels are totally going to complete the theme of your car. Im excited to see more progress.
Finally! This little"mod" seemed to take forever. The gauges are MUCH better than the old Nordskog pieces. Fuel level reads instant, The Tach doesn't require the stupid Dakota Digital adapter the old one did, and the speedo reads 70 @ 70 (not 314)
For your perusal:
I don't know what's up w/ the crack looking thing in the picture, they're NOT cracked. Honest!
You can see the holes where the mach 1 emblem used to be in the upper dash either I gotta find something to cover these or it's gonna piss me off.
I think it turned out pretty good. and I'll definitely keep the look. there were a couple of things that I had to do to make it work. the center dash vent is "screwed in" as the wood is too thin to hold it tight, and the entire Gauge housing cover had to be "Persuaded" back into place because the wood is too thick holding the gauges.
But it's all back together, and I'm happy. All I gotta do is clean it up and I'm ready for Foxtoberfest.
For your perusal:
I don't know what's up w/ the crack looking thing in the picture, they're NOT cracked. Honest!
You can see the holes where the mach 1 emblem used to be in the upper dash either I gotta find something to cover these or it's gonna piss me off.
I think it turned out pretty good. and I'll definitely keep the look. there were a couple of things that I had to do to make it work. the center dash vent is "screwed in" as the wood is too thin to hold it tight, and the entire Gauge housing cover had to be "Persuaded" back into place because the wood is too thick holding the gauges.
But it's all back together, and I'm happy. All I gotta do is clean it up and I'm ready for Foxtoberfest.
Attachments
hsean
10 Year Member
Dude! This took me a week! all I did was mount gauges. ( well and some 9th grade wood working). But other than that, all I did was mount some gauges.
