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This was a car I really wanted back in the day. I like the looks from the front and the rear (and who doesn't love that hood) although I have always thought these cars looked weird from a side angle. Regardless, cool car that you rarely see on the roads anymore.
Nice looking car, and I like what you are doing with it (fixing the AC, LED backups, replacing the backseat). It's also great that the former owner did not do anything drastic (ie. that cannot be undone relatively easily and inexpensively) to it. Too many of these cars wind up with their interior plastics painted bright colours, and all sorts of JC Whitney-type garbage hung all over them. I've owned my TA Firehawk since 2001, and have no intention of ever selling it (even if it gets driven only about 5-7 days per year).
I know this may sound a little strange but that's my dream car in black of of course with the 6M! I really want one but I haven't found one in excellent stock condition yet (meaning at least paint and interior not asking for the world here!) . i have a c7 but its not the same. That T/A has sentimental value to me. I'll keep looking!
Nice find... I've been looking at a few WS6s when the pop up around here (DFW) and haven't found the right one yet.
Most I've seen have been used and abused.
Looks like you've found a nice one... love the aftermarket stuff on the rear suspension.
Will the Ten bolt be sufficient with all that rear tire?
I'm curious about the wheels you've got on that WS6, specifically the size of the back ones. Fronts look like the standard 17" X 9" with 275/40/17, but the backs appear larger. I put a set of AR Torque Thrust M's on my Firehawk, but all of them are 9" width. I really like the deeper lip on the back ones you have. What brand are your wheels, and what size rears are you running?
4th Gen WS6. Oh the horror! All it needs is a rear end. I am a horrible critic of a 7.5. My Formula WS6 was the only F of any kind of any generation year before last at Wannagofast in 16 at Sulphur Springs. I thought that was strange
You will love the subframe connectors and strut tower brace. My 1998 LS1 took turns like it was on rails and it had the stock suspension.
The difference in handling was immediate.
I bought yellow powdercoated BMR tubular SFCs that were welded to the frame. Have fun!
Originally Posted by bjohn
haha! It's funny you should ask. I'm not entirely sure how long it will last with all that's done to it and the tires that are mounted. If you asked anyone on LS1tech they'd say it's on borrowed time. I should mention that I've been EXTREMELY nice to it so far. I don't want to break stuff.
The rears are larger by quite a margin. I'll have to measure them and get back to you here!! What I can tell you off the top of my head though, is that the rear tire size is 315.
In other news:
I took delivery of some parts after a bit of the lapse in the action here haha. UMI came through big time with some very nice additions to the suspension/chassis with their Subframe Connectors, Strut Tower Brace and Lower Control Arm Relocation Brackets. The finish/manufacturing is a 10/10. I can't recommend them enough at this point!!!
the last week or two I've put quite a few miles on the WS6 after work and am starting to love it more and more! Even to the point of contemplating selling the C6 haha! Here's a quick shot I took on an MN backroad a few days ago that turned out ok. Stay tuned for the next video/parts installation post. It'll be this weekend once I have some personal time away from work.
So far so good with them! It handles 10x better than a factory car with all of the parts installed that are on it. I couldn't be happier with the results.
Nice. It was such a pleasant surprise when the SFCs were installed. I remember kicking the tail out when making a very abrupt turn (on purpose)....and an unopened can of Pepsi in the backseat actually burst.
What's it like working on these cars? I've always wanted one but half the engine being buried under the cowl was always a turnoff for me.
I would change the oil, oil filter and air filter. I just had to jack up the car to reach the oil filter and oil drain bolt.
But I stayed away from the sparkplugs. The last sparkplug, I think it is plug #8....was the hard one. I had to pay a guy $50 to change the plugs. He was a certified mechanic and owned the red special edition 2002 25th anniversary fbody.
He literally could not even see what he was doing...as he had to wedge his arm under the dash and remove plug #8. There was barely enough space to even move the socket. But he did it!
Haha, funny you mention the can bursting. I did that in the vette this weekend with a friend. We did a high speed run, then threw the anchor out hard (he hadn't been in the car when it was driven hard yet), and some bottles in the back (unopened, we were sober for the record.... heading to the garage) got knocked around and a couple opened up. Stunk bad lol.
Nice! It probably sucked cleaning up, but still a cool experience knowing how awesome these cars are
They are relatively easy to work on, but you're right about the cowl being an issue. Depends on what you are doing to it I guess! Most everything is like any other car. Just nuts and bolts.... Don't let it scare you off!!! Buy yourself the toys you deserve.
I can second that! Done plugs in these cars many times, and all of the talk/memes of changing the spark plugs in a 4th gen are TRUE. Talk about a PITA lol.
It wasn't all bad, we were fairly close to the house so it was easy to clean lol.
What about a head/cam swap? Looks like even just getting the intake off it a bitch. I can't imagine yanking the heads. Do you have to drop the engine out of the car?
I've owned my 99 SS for over 18 years. Also have UMI suspension, and a H/C SBE LS1 and M6. If you ever decide to change the exhaust setup, the Kooks TD system is the way to go....worth every penny.
Congrats again on a great buy, keep posting those mod pictures and videos!
Yeah, my SS became to under-valued to ever sell, and as time went on, too clean and too many memories to ever let go of. It will be in my family until it dies.
Kooks exits out the back. It is a loud exhaust without their high-flow CATS, which is my next mod - I went off-road pipes on my system and should have went with the Cats from the start. I still love the sound, here is a little clip from a long time ago when I first put it on (skip to 1:45):
06-29-2018, 09:39 PM
enjoy!
