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A
little bit of history:
My original flathood (the blue dragon) was given to me by my mother who
bought it from a guy in Florida in 91? for something in the low $6000
range. I received it in Dec. 1996 and spent a few months finalizing my
license and doing some body work, new tires, a few odds and ends to make
it road worthy for my first time driving "legally" for a 8 hour
trip from DC metro to eastern CT. It served as my "to school and
work" car for just about a year before it was backed into by a delivery
truck at Chantilly highschool. Was still drivable, took my $4100 from
the insurance claim and proceeded to slam into the corner of a school
bus in the same damn parking lot. At that point the car was trashed and
luck was on my side once again. My father, happened to get some info from
a vcoa club member who had called him about some technical stuff that
he was selling his silver flathood, had 340,000 miles on it, all highway,
no rust, and new paintjob. I couldn't refuse, flew to Dallas TX, paid
$3500 and drove it back to northern Va. The new silver car lasted roughly
a year before the transmission started to go (both of my flathoods have
been automatics), and just like the last one it sprung a mass oil leak.
Figured it was time to look at setting it aside to do some major repairs
all around.
Heres where it gets crazy: Now being one of those folks who has a car
up on blocks for years I look back on all that I tried to conquer and
how i should have done it. Let this be a lesson learned to all,
that you should plan your work before you start (that includes budget)
It started with the idea that why in the world should I spend the cash
on another AW71 auto trans, when I could by my fathers rusty 242 GT w/
tons of aftermarket and performance add-ons as a parts car for the whole
thing for the same price. So... I decided to go ahead and do an auto to
manual trans. swap. As we all know when you take the tranny off, you might
as well change the rear main seal, heck if you're gonna change the rear
main seal you should go ahead and run synthetic oil... and thats how the
story goes... lots of "well since we're doing this... we might as
well do this at the same time"
The project lasted from 8/99 till 1/03 and now is registered and on the
road full time again. total cost was roughly $3800
This is what has been done so far since 1/2003
Engine:
- Turbo city Garret T3 with .55 trim compressor
- New Injectors
- Distributor cap and rotor
- Splitfire plugs
- Magnecore spark plugs wires
- 80 amp alternator
- coolant reservoir cap
- Ams Oil 0w-30 synthetic
- Oil filter relocation w/ 1/4 cycle race micro filter
- P/S pressure hose
- Steel braided fuel line
- Steel braided oil supply line to turbo
Transmission:
- B230FT clutch and fly wheel
- O/D unit mod with heavier springs
- o/d relay
- o/d cut out switch
- speedometer cable
Suspension:
- Jamex sport springs
- KYB Gas adjustable front struts
- KYB rear
- IPD sway bars
- Poly bushings: sway bar ends, rear stress bars
- front lower control arm bushings
- GT strut braces, upper and lower
Brakes:
- Steel braided brake lines (front and rear)
- Drilled and slotted Brembo Rotors in front
- Master brake cylinder and reservoir
- Full synthetic DOT 5 fluids
Cosmetic:
- Momo Fighter steering wheel and hub
- Oil temp gauge and pan plug
- Euro spec Cibie headlights
- GT front turn signals (all yellow)
- Door/Window trim
- 20% tint all around
- Full carbon fiber Group-A wing from DBS motorsports
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Some random project pictures:
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