center caps are on and look much cleaner... pics when i actually get to wash the car...

ab-to-tb pipe is on its way...
i'm hoping there will be enough left to do the snorkel on the ab... this should open up the flow into the ab over the very small diameter pipe that's there right now... we'll see...
progress rsb is here and have a set of panducky-ish hardware coming... i should be able to get to this over the weekend...


interesting note:
went in to get my rear fenders rolled b/c the rear tires were rubbing a bit (40et w/ 205's)... we rolled the passenger side, then went to the drivers and noticed that it looked like the tires weren't hitting the fender, but the small bracket which holds the rear bumper to the quarter panel... so we ground down the inside about 1/4" to the screw and it's not rubbing anymore...

so if you're having rubbing issues, it might not be the fender afterall... so there it is.

 

props for the rims!

 

more tease... will have to be put on after the car is back from the body shop... some guy clipped my wife in the driver's side rear quarter panel... nothing too serious but enough to irritate the crap out of me...

tease:

 

i also painted the intake mani cover to match the exterior color... and to add some flair and significance, i added the logo to a program that my wife's grandmother began, and that she is heavily involved with - "children and worship"

 

Hello Scott,
I'm very interested in all the details about your "ducting" setup and OEM airbox mods.

Thanks for sharing,

Stefano

 

i'll be posting more info about it middle/end of next week once we get the car back from the body shop...

i'm ordering a dwyer magnehelic gauge to try to see where a good place to pull air from will be... the stock location isn't bad, but i want to do some testing... i'd love to route it from the cowl scoop area but i dont want to run that much ducting...

anyways... more to come.

 

I like how you painted your intake mani cover. I might have to paint mine.

 

thanks!!! (three ! for the 10 char)

 

so today was a bit install day...

hacked off all the resonators from the airbox...

installed the 90* pipe from the airbox to tb...

bypassed the tb coolant lines...

got rid of the metal coolant/breather tubes...

installed the painted mani cover...


the pics:

 

Thank you! How did you bypass the TB coolant lines?

 

if you want to remove the metal tubing:

get two 3/8" dual barbed brass connectors from hd, a 12" piece (you won't use all of it) of 3/8" fuel line from your local car shop, and two 1/4" vacuum caps

WAIT UNTIL THE CAR IS COOL - otherwise you WILL get hot coolant blown all over you and the car...


disconnect the coolant line from the hardline (the one furthest towards the front)
disconnect the coolant line from the side tb port (it is aimed towards the drivers side)
put the barbed connectors into each one of the lines you just disconnected
figure out how you want to route it, cut the fuel line to fit, connect it, and ziptie the connections to ensure it doesn't leak

remove the remaining coolant line from front of tb, and, as long as you've bypassed the breather line, you can discard the metal pipes...

now there will be two coolant ports on the tb without lines on them... use the vacuum caps and put them over each so the internals won't get dirty and whatnot...

tadaa you're done.

 

i did the coolant bypass myself actually used the stock tube it came with

 

nice car looks good

 

i mounted the stock metal internal bracket which mounted between the hvac controls and the stock headunit onto my aftermarket hu in the cruchfield kit... a how-to:

it's in there much more firmly without all the rattles and creaking that used to be there... and it'll be much more of a challenge to steal the hu now...

no pics but it's fairly straight forward:
1. mock mount the brace to the hvac controls, and make sure the hu holes are level with the hu...
2. measure... you want the center of the bracket-to-dash mouting holes to be 8 1/8" apart... you also want to make a measurement somehow from the bracket to the front of the hu to ensure that it's at the right angle as well
3. leave the screws that hold the plastic bracket onto the hu... more bracing always helps
4. drill - mark the two holes per side that you want to mount the bracket to and into the hu... then drill
5. i had to find longer machined screws to account for the extra length needed...
6. screw the bracket into the hu
7. screw the bracket into the hvac control unit
8. take measurements again to ensure that the brackets are the right distance apart from one another, and at the correct side-angle
9. mount it up, screw it in, reap benefits

it's a fair bit of work for not much visual benefits... the gap at the top is still there, BUT it is solid... very solid and doesn't creak and rattle anymore... worth it...

sorry for the lack of no pics... i was trying to get it done fast... just make some decent measurements, drill some holes, mount, and done.

do it

 

instead of trying to find another shifter bezel, my wife wanted to paint it blue... so blue we did paint it... sanded, painted, and cleared...

pics up later

 

pictar

 

Wait, that's my old car & that's my current car. We must have the same taste.

 

serious? nice...

i maintain that in terms of practicality, these are two of the best... the fit can't compete with the larger pt in terms of volume, but pound for pound these two can haul a hell of a lot of stuff...

 

I'd like to see a drop with some more aggressive tires.

 

^ me too...


it's my wife's car... and she doesn't want to have to worry about scraping or anything so a drop is out... which is sad to me... i'd have c/o's on it if it were mine...

the tires... we needed a/s tires, and we're short on cash so we needed something with good tread wear and relatively cheap... they are quick grippy... soft sidewalls though...