If you are planning on building a super performance car then 30K is a reasonable amount, especally if you have others doing the labor for you. This is going to be the cost no matter what starting point you go with. Some of the parts you are replacing are not exactly in need of replacing. Those parts being replaced can give you piece of mind so it is not exactly a bad idea. I know you want to make this car the car of your dreams but does this have to happen over night? Take your time, get the basics done first and then tackle the play things.

Massey

 

If the repairs to the wreck damage were repaired properly I dont see why you could'nt still make all that happen. It just seems to me that you are looking at a giant wall and not seeing the stairs leading to the top right next to you. Yes your ambitions for this car are big and unless you own a speed shop this kind of work will take alot of time and money. Go slow you should be able to succeed.

My ambitions with Sarah are not too far off yours with your car. I plan on making her handle like she is on rails but not out run a Z06. I have parts failing on my car as well. I need a new rack, mine is not usless but mine is loose and will need to be replaced here soon. I too will need outer tie rods and Moog are the only ones I am going to use. These parts even with my discount this will run me over $200 plus the core. Brakes are needed as well, but I cant afford what I want quite yet, so I am sticking with the OEMs for now untill I can save almost 3K for what I want. OEMs are not going to be adequate for a 600HP engine but they will keep you safe until you can get some money to play.

I dont know much about your physical conditions but if you are capable of doing some work on the car, why not do it yourself and enjoy the sense of accomplishment. If you dont know how to do some of this work then why not learn. As for replacing the engine... That can be done in a standard Garage with standard shop tools, no lift or anything like that is needed. I pulled my engine with no power tools, one engine stand, 4 jack stands, 1 foor jack, and one cherry picker to lift the car high enough to pull the engine out from under the car. This was done in a garage that had only a 9 foot celing and room for 1 car.

Anyway a few months ago I seen you very excited about this car and now you are giving up before you have even started.

Massey

 

What's wron with your lid? You don't need a bigger maf. And if you get one your throttle body is plenty enough for your engine. From the looks of the picture you have a k&n filter so go out buy the cleaning kit and clean that filter. It's alot cheaper and those filters are supposed to be lifetime if you keep cleaning them. I agree alot with Massey. Take it all in steps. If you do have piston slap then buy a block that has the crank and pistons in it. Then clean your valves and swap everything over. You'll save thousands doing that. But until then just keep saving the money for it all and do minor work to the car. The stuttering is most likely from the maf being as dirty as it was. Your piston Slab could also be cause from the fuel you are using. We had that problem in our gm van. Turn out to be the fuel so we switch To another company and used premium grade and it went away. A friends truck has piston slap. He's a mechanic and even said it's normal in gm vehicles and isn't a big deal. Just make sure you put money away until you have enough for a new engine and until yours dies keep driving.

 

It is the venturi effect, but in this case it speeds up airflow to benifit the sensor, not create a low pressure zone to pull fuel out of the bowl. It is supposed to be like that. Dont worry about the size of the MAF and TB for the stock engine, they are actually just right. If you do build up the lower end then there is a 98mm intake kit available that bolts on. You get a new intake and TB with the kit and it runs like $300 or so. I was reading in Chevy HP about it and when they tested it on the stock engine there were minimal gains, but on a built engine the gains were HUGE over the stock intake.

OH and the dirty K&N filter will perform better than any paper filter on the market today, even a Wix filter. The cleaning process for your K&N is simple and easy. If you dont want it any more I need one for my Z28, PM me and see if we can make a deal.

Massey

 

Well if you are just gonna toss it I will send ya $15 via pay pal if you are willing to send it to me. Yes that oily thing is worth it to me and I get them from work for about $30 so $15 used is not bad to me.

The sea foam is not bad treatment if used through the intake to clean the valves. If you have some feed it through a vacuum hose a little at a time into the intake and keep the RPMs up so it will not kill the engine. If used in the oil to clean the oiling system then put it in and let the engine run for a few minutes then change the oil. If you use the seafoam in the gas tank I would recomend using something like Lucas Fuel System Cleaner, it works better and I have had much better luck with that in the tank over seafoam.

Massey

 

It will pay for itself with in a year. Let me know if you are interested. Yea Retail price on that at my store is $46.99 and with my discount it is right about $30. I am going to be buying one here soon as her paper filter is getting ready to be replaced.

Massey

 

All your pics are gone Fox, your bandwidth was exceeded for this month! Good idea on the center caps tho I will just have to wait till next month to see what they look like.

No biggy on the filter. USPS would prolly want $10 just to send it to me unless it fits in one of the $3 priority mail envelopes that they have been pushing lately, I doubt it tho since those are just a little too small for just about anything you want to ship.

Massey

 

I think it is every 30 days from your signup date. I just got a pro sub so I dont have to worry about that. It only costs like $12 per year and I use them to host images for my website (when it is up).

Massey

 

I would not replace the Condenser or Evaproator unless they are damaged, same with the hoses. Usually a good flush will take care of any debris that may be in the coils and passages of those parts. Just replace the Compressor/clutch, Reciever/dryer and the Oraface tube and get a professional evacuation and fill. Make sure to tell them that the compressor is new so they can add the needed oil. THe whole job including parts, and having an A/C shop do the install should not be more than $1200 if you do the work yourself you can have everything done for about $500

Massey

 

Where in the world are you getting $800 for the compressor? Hell whole systems to retrofit in a classic vehicle for $1200. You can get compressors for $250 or less remanned and they are just as good as the new ones. Oriface tube is like $7 and the reciever/drier is like you said $30 Why replace the condneser or evaporator if they are still good? Hoses sure replace them if you want they are $60 for the assembly. The older parts will function just fine if they have not been damaged. They are not wear items so they dont need to be replaced unless they have failed. If you want everything new then just buy a new car. If you want it all to work right then fix what is broken and be happy.

Massey