I'm gathering parts for projects.
It's cold out, I have minimal time and warm spaces, so immediate work is stuff I can do in friend's garages in an afternoon:
Brakes! All around, drums, rotors, front wheel bearings, hydraulics.
Radio, steering wheel cover, dash cover and various other interior fripperies.
Possibly exhaust, since this one is pretty decent and I have the stuff to convert to the stock-style duals--but only if it looks like this one will come apart without trauma.
Shocks and springs.
Winter tires.
Trailer hitch and wiring.
All fluids flush and fill. Add a transmission cooler.
Tune-up (cap rotor wires plugs filters) if it needs it. I'm going to do a compression test for my records, and if the plugs aren't real pretty I'll do the whole thing. It looks recent so I may skip the extra work.
Pretty much all stock replacement items for the moment.
This summer I am going to freshen up the motor a little, again, I don't want to do major work but I'm thinking of an HO intake to go with the dual exhaust.
How major can I get on the stock computer?
Eventually I'd like to add better flowing heads (I have a pair of rebuildable E7TE heads I took off my truck for no good reason a decade ago) and probably shorty headers at that time.
I have a truck camshaft, and since I'm thinking of towing more than racing, I could put that in...but would it play nice with a car computer and intake? I'm not sure if it's an LO or HO firing order, but that's easy enough to look at. I will be doing the timing chain this summer, as preventative maintenance. Also water pump and 3G alternator then too.
I have the stock computer, of course, but I do have a Lincoln D9S computer i just nabbed off ebay. I'd prefer to stay SD, this is not a major performance vehicle, I just figure if I am taking the parts off to do some minor overhauls I might as well replace them with upgrades.
Edit: Transmission: I've generally given up on the AODs for truck use, but they seem to work will if you don't bust the TV cable grommet (which I don't have anyway). I'd like to keep this one, and keep it alive. Shift improvement kits? Adjustable governor? Leave it alone and change the fluid every couple years? Anyone? I'm less worried about the performance shifting than the not-falling-apart-behind-a-trailer shifting.
Lastly, looking for a trac-loc center for my spare 3.55s. I don't have an extra 8.8 center section, and I'm not going to bother swapping the whole rear unless I get a real good deal.
I think better breathing (and the associated hp/tq), decent brakes/suspension, and a stout trailer hitch in a comfort cruiser is exactly what I'm after in this car.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Do's/dont's on the HO/LO stock computers? I've Megasqurted, NisTuned, and currently have a couple SCT tuners with custom software...I'd rather not do any tuning with this car that can't be accomplished with physical wire connections and a screwdriver. I'll save my tuning time for the weekend cars.
It's cold out, I have minimal time and warm spaces, so immediate work is stuff I can do in friend's garages in an afternoon:
Brakes! All around, drums, rotors, front wheel bearings, hydraulics.
Radio, steering wheel cover, dash cover and various other interior fripperies.
Possibly exhaust, since this one is pretty decent and I have the stuff to convert to the stock-style duals--but only if it looks like this one will come apart without trauma.
Shocks and springs.
Winter tires.
Trailer hitch and wiring.
All fluids flush and fill. Add a transmission cooler.
Tune-up (cap rotor wires plugs filters) if it needs it. I'm going to do a compression test for my records, and if the plugs aren't real pretty I'll do the whole thing. It looks recent so I may skip the extra work.
Pretty much all stock replacement items for the moment.
This summer I am going to freshen up the motor a little, again, I don't want to do major work but I'm thinking of an HO intake to go with the dual exhaust.
How major can I get on the stock computer?
Eventually I'd like to add better flowing heads (I have a pair of rebuildable E7TE heads I took off my truck for no good reason a decade ago) and probably shorty headers at that time.
I have a truck camshaft, and since I'm thinking of towing more than racing, I could put that in...but would it play nice with a car computer and intake? I'm not sure if it's an LO or HO firing order, but that's easy enough to look at. I will be doing the timing chain this summer, as preventative maintenance. Also water pump and 3G alternator then too.
I have the stock computer, of course, but I do have a Lincoln D9S computer i just nabbed off ebay. I'd prefer to stay SD, this is not a major performance vehicle, I just figure if I am taking the parts off to do some minor overhauls I might as well replace them with upgrades.
Edit: Transmission: I've generally given up on the AODs for truck use, but they seem to work will if you don't bust the TV cable grommet (which I don't have anyway). I'd like to keep this one, and keep it alive. Shift improvement kits? Adjustable governor? Leave it alone and change the fluid every couple years? Anyone? I'm less worried about the performance shifting than the not-falling-apart-behind-a-trailer shifting.
Lastly, looking for a trac-loc center for my spare 3.55s. I don't have an extra 8.8 center section, and I'm not going to bother swapping the whole rear unless I get a real good deal.
I think better breathing (and the associated hp/tq), decent brakes/suspension, and a stout trailer hitch in a comfort cruiser is exactly what I'm after in this car.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Do's/dont's on the HO/LO stock computers? I've Megasqurted, NisTuned, and currently have a couple SCT tuners with custom software...I'd rather not do any tuning with this car that can't be accomplished with physical wire connections and a screwdriver. I'll save my tuning time for the weekend cars.
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