So I Drove The Lx On The Street For The First Time In 6 Months (bonus Pics Of New Garage)

LarsD

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Jul 2, 2002
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My LX has been sitting since the last time it left me stranded (roughly last October). Unable to track down an actual reason why it was dying on me while cruising I shotgunned the car with parts. I generally try not to do this, but it was stuff that I either wanted to replace or probably needed replacing anyway (swapped MAF to correct size so I could remove the QH, replaced the factory coil, replaced the unknown PIP sensor in the distributor with a Motorcraft sensor). Car ran, but I did nothing more then move it around to get to other stuff. So I drove it into town today because I wanted to drive it, and I need to start down that path of trusting it again.

Holy smokes. Something that I replaced woke the car up. The car feels the same off idle and for the first 1/3 throttle, but if I shove my foot into it any deeper it is nothing but wheel spin and fishtailing. It seems like the car picked up about 50 hp or something. It is bananas. Now I HAVE to do something about the trashed traclok. The car is worthless at any moderate throttle use. I think I am going to bite the bullet and put a fully built Strange 9" in the car.

In other news I finally got my garage built so I can get the cars out of the shop and actually work on stuff and have space.

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Thanks guys. If I can go a tank of fuel without the car dying on me I think I can say it is fixed for sure.

Grover: I went back and forth on the 8.8" vs 9" in my head a lot. I didn't really skimp on the motor and trans when I built the car. Not to mention it has always been my plan to step up the output of the car in the future (either a 427 stroker or a Coyote crate + SC). That being the case I figure I will buy once and cry once. Plus then I can share center sections between my Wife's 67 and this car if I want too.
 
Thanks. The only reason I don't have more is because how much these cost me in insurance.
If you have enough cars you might qualify for a fleet discount. ;)

Very nice garage! Would you mind if I asked how much it was (ballpark)? My family and I will likely be settling down in the next couple of years and I want a detached garage very much (with room for a lift!).
 
If you have enough cars you might qualify for a fleet discount. ;)

Very nice garage! Would you mind if I asked how much it was (ballpark)? My family and I will likely be settling down in the next couple of years and I want a detached garage very much (with room for a lift!).

My original shop was reasonable. It is 30x40 with a 16" eve height, I had it built in 2005, this more recent one isn't big enough for a lift as it only has a 10" eve height, of course the intention of this on is only for parking (it is 20x40). Not for work. My estimates likely won't match much of anything due to the fact that it took a very large amount of concrete since the ground on my land is so unlevel (concrete alone was nearly the cost of my shop turnkey). Assuming you have level ground you should expect to spend about $15-$20 per square foot concrete included. This is also heavily dependent on what the going rates are in your area for builders.
 
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Great garage Lars. (Still loving the 'Cuda as the "best" of your collection)
I disagree on the 9" thing.
A 9" is only warranted where power levels exceed the compromise in traded off lost power.
(I'm talking @84Ttop power here)

A 9" rear is comparable to a C-6 in these aspects:
Strong as an OX, can be made literally bulletproof.
Big, and heavy as hell.
Super expensive as a built to order replacement.
Robs potential horsepower as a result of the design.

Now on the last point, I'm sure I'll catch flak over, but because a 9" pinion is located low on the ring gear, and offset from center, it creates it's own internal friction as a result of the pinion trying to "crawl up" the ring gear.

The 8.8 on the other hand shares the same low friction design as the GM 12 bolt, and your fav DANA 60, w/ a low friction centered on the ring gear pinion, and certainly enough aftermarket strengthening products to make it easily withstand huge power at a fraction of the cost of an after market 9"

Keep the 8.8. It can be more than capable for a street car that sees even moderate track abuse.
 
Well if I keep the 8.8, then I will have to learn how to set it up myself because there is no one in my area that I can take it too. Which is fine I guess, I'm just not really stoked on that proposition.
 
X2 for keeping the 8.8... If I were to do it all again I would likely go that route as well. I have quite a bit of money invested in my fabricated 9" that could easily have been spent elsewhere.

As for car insurance, I have my 84' Mustang, 2015 Mustang and 66' Galaxie 500 insured through Grundy. They all have full coverage agreened value policies for rather sizable amounts and in NJ fwiw and spend about 1300$ a year for everything. It is worth a call to look into, I have zero restrictions for milage so long as they are garage kept.

@madmike1157 I have center pinion cases for my 9". Its all the rage these days lol, albiet they are quite a bit more money. Moser builds a sweet center pinion aluminum case (and I'm the sucker that has two...)
 
X2 for keeping the 8.8... If I were to do it all again I would likely go that route as well. I have quite a bit of money invested in my fabricated 9" that could easily have been spent elsewhere.

As for car insurance, I have my 84' Mustang, 2015 Mustang and 66' Galaxie 500 insured through Grundy. They all have full coverage agreened value policies for rather sizable amounts and in NJ fwiw and spend about 1300$ a year for everything. It is worth a call to look into, I have zero restrictions for milage so long as they are garage kept.

@madmike1157 I have center pinion cases for my 9". Its all the rage these days lol, albiet they are quite a bit more money. Moser builds a sweet center pinion aluminum case (and I'm the sucker that has two...)

Revisit point 4 please.
 
I was just saying: "Here, have 84Ttop tell you. He'll tell these people about how much it really costs to use a 9" rear"
Something that would probably go like this:

I have a bazillion HP, and I have a 9" rear, and because I dont want to lose any of my bazillion HP, I have spent even more money on a special, redesigned center section that puts the pinion in the same place it is already on an 8.8 from the factory .

That's all I was sayin.

No need for confusion.;)
 
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What would you guys say the limit is for a decent built 8.8 is then? Right now I am making anywhere from 400hp to 450hp. I have the factory traclok that acts like an open diff with 3.55's (really like this ratio). I was thinking if I kept my 8.8 (before I was considering the 9") I would put a Ford 31 spline traclok, matching axles, and a braced diff cover on it. I am not sure if I should do C clip eliminators or not since it is mostly a street car. I want to keep my rear drums for simplicity sake for now (car stops great and I don't want to deal with changing the MC). Future plans may involve a Coyote swap with a roots blower on it, a Dart 427, or heck maybe even an LSX swap someday (probably not). All of these would likely be in the 600hp+ range and I would hate to have to redo something that I could have done once the first time.