Finally on the road with the TOP DOWN!

[DJ Mabe]

It's been a while and I'm not the best at updating the progress of the car but here goes. I took it out today for a long cruise. The GearVendor overdrive unit is a must for you standard auto guys. My gear ration is around a 4.11 with the short tires that I'm running on the car. I was able to cruise at 60mph at about 2500rpm's! It was great! This was the first time I had drivent the car with the OD unit working.

The other new update on the car is the Wilwood MC. This thing looks great. It's a fairly inexpensive piece for what you get. I still have't installed my slotted/drilled rotors but that will come. I have them in the garage, I just need to stop being so lazy. I'll probably swap these out when I get the new wheels. I ordered a set of Budnik Sparks that should be here in a week or so.

The radiator and grill are finally put together. What a PIA that was. I couldn't get anything to match up on the front to this car. Once I did have the grill in the aluminum radiator showed through so bad that you couldn't see the grill. So, I painted the center of the radiator black and installed a small horse.

Things that I still have to do... The NOS plate system I have isn't working. To put the plate on we had to cut the intake down almost .5". We we did this we were doomed. Installed the plate system, put it on the dyno and went. It's making almost 200hp on a 140 shot. The problem is it's not smooth. We put a camera on top of the intake to see what was gonig on. This showed us that under spray, the only ports getting the NOS is the center cylinders. We took so much plenum out of the intake that it's spraying to low in the intake and not getting equal distribution of the NOS. So, I have a fogger set up being built as we speak.

The other issues are small. I have to get the roll bar covered and I have to get a better sound system. I need more powerfull tunes. When I have the top down it's just weak.

Sorry for rambling. Here's a couple of pics I took today with the top down. Hope you enjoy.

DJ

[dropit69]

Looks great ..from a double convert owner ..i likey

[rickk]

good job.
rick k

[formula98]

Great Looking car!

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

niiiiiiice!

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Car looks great, DJ!

[David Sloan]

Very Nice!! Looks like a fun ride!!

[slenning]

Very nice!!! Enjoy

[DJ Mabe]

Thanks for the comments guys. The car drives so much better now than it did when I first started the car. It's not a full "Pro-Touring" car right now but I'll get there. It does turn, brake and handle better than before and it's very stable on the road. My main thing for right now is to get the bars covered and the intake taken care of. You Camaro guys don't seem to have the problem us Mustang guys have. We have all kinds of hood clearance problems with these cars. If I'm running a standard Vic Jr intake, I still have to run a low profile air cleaner with this current set up. Thanks again for the comments.

[EricButler]

Nice car.

[kmcanally]

We have all kinds of hood clearance problems with these cars. If I'm running a standard Vic Jr intake, I still have to run a low profile air cleaner with this current set up. Thanks again for the comments.

Hey DJ...beautiful car! So can you run the squirt plate, unmodified vj intake and clear the hood with the lo profile air cleaner? I have the same hood on my coupe and plan to put a windsor in soon. Currently with my 8.2 deck block, vic jr intake and a 1/2" noz plate I clear with a repop hi-po air cleaner (zero drop) and a 2 1/2" tall K&N .

[DJ Mabe]

Nope! It doesn't clear it. The intake cleared the hood fine until I added the nitrous plate. I had to take about .5" off the intake and once I did that, the entire setup was screwed.

I ditched the plate system for a fogger. The intake is tapped and drilled and now it's just getting the lines bent. Should be done in the next week or so. Oh yeah, I got the call from Tim at PRRC that my Budnik wheels should be here today!!! Hopefully they will compliment the car a little better than the TTII"s.

[ProTouring442]

Nice! We're 'vert family here too. Wife has a Miata, I have the '72 442 and an '89 ASC/McLaren. I also have 2 motorcycles. I'm thinking I like the open air!

Anyway, it looks damned good, you should be proud!

Shiny Side Up!
Bill
www.FQuick.com/ProTouring442

[DJ Mabe]

Thanks for the comments guys. The car is coming along. I just got my wheels today. They are a little more bling than I wanted but... oh well. Thanks again for the compliments.

[6'9"Witha69]

Looks good for a non chevy