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VBP 360 monospring (1985), Spreader bar, Holley 4175 instead of the Qjet, Poly upper and lower control arm bushings, Gary Ramadei custom blueprinted/rebuilt OEM steering box, Hella European Halogen Headlights in 1983 (100 watt highbeams, 55/60 watt lows), 255/45/17 ZR Ultra High performance summer only tires, Bilstein HDs front/Sports rear, 2.5 True dual exhaust with Long Tube Headers (headers added 1 month ago) on the upgraded/complete rebuilt L-82 with AFR heads, 10.2:1 compression, Howards Roller cam, competition adjustable strut rods with Heim joints, poly sway bar bushings, 1979 GM front spoiler extension, Performance Friction Brake pads with SS flex lines, 81/82 oil temp gauge in place of the clock (1986), complete lining of the interior with sound deadening/heat insulation under the carpeting to block heat intrusion/road noise, 3/4 inch OEM/GM style rear sway bar to balance the handling in place of the 7/16 GM rear sway bar and there is more...
Not exactly worst BUT:
Same issue with cooling as SLVRSHRK, Dewitts radiator and Stewart Stage 2 aluminum water pump...car runs too cool especially on cooler days...never gets up to proper operating temp...went from running HOT as a stock L-82 in the 80's to too cool today...talk about going around full circle....
Flex Fan in the 80's..ridiculously noisy and did NOT improve the cooling...
My 78 L-82 4 speed Gymkhana suspended C3 looks fairly stock with the exception of the wheels and the engine that looks like an L-82 minus the AFR heads but runs and handles like a modern sportscar with serious power...Not exactly like my 10 C6Z06 but not too far behind....
Hmm, Im not much for mods anymore, so I'll have to go back to my custom C3 show Cars of the 70s and 80s.
Best mods : a couple of the killer custom paint jobs that ended up in magazines, etc.
Worst:
- adding an Eckler long L88 hood to my '68. Never matched up to the upper fender line, left ugly lower windshield showing, bad move losing wiper door.
- took off stock '80 wheels and added custom to go with paint. Went through 2 sets of ugly tacky custom wheels until I went back and got another set of stock 80 wheels and had them polished like chrome. Looked better with the custom paint, rather than clashing with it.
-put on 3 piece aluminum louvre set on '80 rear window. Was hideous from Day 1. Took it off pretty fast.
I'm a relatively new owner in this crowd I picked up my '74 auto L48 coupe in Jan 2015. In that time I spent days pouring throuh posts here and decided I wanted to address the mods most discussed here, plus a few others. So far, all the best. :-) Great timing on the thread; it helped with a few decisions.
Heat shield in trans tunnel and under carriage, sealed all cockpit holes including auto trans shifter seal. Heat shield inside cockpit too. Hvac ducting, doors, seals.
Borgeson steering box, including slotting cross shafts 1/4 inch to increase castor
VBP spreader bar, 550 springs, Bilstien HD's, poly bushings everywhere, adjustable struts.
Autometer gauges and LED lights inside and outside.
Overdrive transmission (700r4)
Electric fuel pump, fans, return style regulator
Serpentine belt system
Electric Power: 160 amp alt, heavy gauge wire, jumper terminals in engine bay, ford style solenoid, high torque starter.
Ceramic coated headers, 2 1/2" stainless duals out the back. ('Was "this" close to sidepipes, but passed.)
420 horse/425 torque motor. And an upgraded rear to go with it.
Lime Rock green with white tail and motion paint stripe.
Best: Buying an auto frame for the removable crossmember, and putting a C4 suspension on that frame. Love the way the car handles now.
Worst: Blowmaster mufflers! Years ago I spent a chunk of a weekend welding up elbows and making SS tips to fit the mufflers to the car. Took it out for a test drive. Thirty minutes later it was back in the garage and I was taking the damn things out, and welded in a set of Dynomax mufflers the next weekend.
I don't think I have any 'best and worst' mods, everything I have done has been an incremental improvement and worth it!
OK - maybe there was on 'worst': Applying silicone sealant to the windshield frame to keep out water. It does keep out the water but it looks crappy. That was one of the first things I did and didn't know any better.
Best: 408" all forged,all roller,AFR 195,air gap,engine built on cnc machine ,1 7/8" headers,700R4 525hp on dyno.
Worst; can not control car. even with burn out then come to line with 275/60/15 drag radials,power brake to 2600 rpm then nail it car come up in front and left front tire leaves ground.car swerves gently to right lose control and back off i guess don`t know how to drive or to much hp?
Captain bob, I had a 700R4 and a 3800 stall 9.5 inch TC 4.11 rear behind my 427 CI SBC with significantly more power than you. I have a TCI line lock. I used 10X28 drag slicks good year and hoosier.
At the line power braking I could never get above about 1800 rpm and my motor would start pushing the front tires.
Your TQ is twisting your car frame is why you are getting a left front higher than the right front. Early on I figured out in my vette that I needed more rear spring to lauch my car correctly. I added a leaf and rearched the origin steel. so I ended up with about 500# rear spring. Then I could launch straight every time. I later added a cage 6 point to stiffen up the frame. I should have put in a 8 point.
i should add the fact that at first the car felt a dramatic power loss from the dyno. reading after Richy reduced the hp by changing cam and intake,carb (yes he was annoyed) then we put IR gun pointed to top of carb flange with hood up 2" ---------holly cow ambient air was 131 degrees with open element moroso-------not!!!! change to L-88 intake and i glass in underhood fiberglass intake to completely seal from that heat rising from headers. i cut a larger then L-88 cut in windshield end of hood perfectly rounded and contoured with epoxy.hood fits contour and exact 1/8" gap all around perfect. ambient temperature is now whatever outside air is in the north usually 70 degrees or so.the car was a animal but this twisting occur from 525 plus torque power braked to 2500 rpm with line lock. i install 7/8" rear stabilizer bar and Bilstein HD shocks in rear and sport up front.my God those drag radials really stick when hot after burn out.i will try extra leaf ,the front end does come down after a few seconds but dangerous from 0 to 40---50mph .i cannot imagine the original 570 hp in this car as a around town errand,grocery car 525 hp is max .i understand the world champ and his crazy ways (he will not take a dime from me) lay down the rules NO stroker without 6" rods and this angle milling and modified a perfectly good cnc set of AFR heads .
Thanks; I looked all over. Then I finally realized that they're for the non-pace car -style L82 spoilers, only. (I've got the pace car front spoiler from the factory and my understanding is that the extension is unnecessary wth the pace car spoiler- no?)
i should add the fact that at first the car felt a dramatic power loss from the dyno. reading after Richy reduced the hp by changing cam and intake,carb (yes he was annoyed) then we put IR gun pointed to top of carb flange with hood up 2" ---------holly cow ambient air was 131 degrees with open element moroso-------not!!!! change to L-88 intake and i glass in underhood fiberglass intake to completely seal from that heat rising from headers. i cut a larger then L-88 cut in windshield end of hood perfectly rounded and contoured with epoxy.hood fits contour and exact 1/8" gap all around perfect. ambient temperature is now whatever outside air is in the north usually 70 degrees or so.the car was a animal but this twisting occur from 525 plus torque power braked to 2500 rpm with line lock. i install 7/8" rear stabilizer bar and Bilstein HD shocks in rear and sport up front.my God those drag radials really stick when hot after burn out.i will try extra leaf ,the front end does come down after a few seconds but dangerous from 0 to 40---50mph .i cannot imagine the original 570 hp in this car as a around town errand,grocery car 525 hp is max .i understand the world champ and his crazy ways (he will not take a dime from me) lay down the rules NO stroker without 6" rods and this angle milling and modified a perfectly good cnc set of AFR heads .
Best: every mod that I've done, I've been happy with (so far, well mostly)
Worst: any mod that i actually have to do the work myself, by myself (mostly) and continuously have to work the part in, or buy more tools to do, or buy more parts to get this part to fit, or I broke a part that came in the kit and i need to replace it, or I started working on this and got pissed off at some point and forgot how it went together..
so basically its cool when its done and over with, but the process make me want to die.
12-26-2016, 03:25 PM
