I recently got my GN back, and the wait was worth it! Thanks to GN Northwest, who slaved away on the car for months. I have been lurking the forums for a long time, and now I can finally put the car up on them. It still needs tuning and finish work.
And parts.
. . . But it runs, drives, and I can't use more than half an inch of throttle with out breaking every traffic law in a cloud of smoke.
A little background - I bought the car on R&R from AFG, sort of a "childhood dream fulfillment" thing. It was a fairly clean LC2 swapped '85. The original motor was toast, so the previous owner pulled the drivetrain from a wrecked '87, engine to axle, and Frankensteined it together. It had 38k miles on the chassis and 42k on the motor. I planned on building the Hell out of it anyway, so I didn't care about the provenance.
It was stock, except for a 3" downpipe and a catless Hooker exhaust. I had an intake tossed on and a little spring cleaning done, plus the coil-overs, and called it good. I went back to finish deployment. It ran like a raped ape on a Mid-winter coast-to-coast run.
In March, the car overheaded on the way to work. The radiator cracked, and leaked out. By the time the warning light came on, it was too late. White smoke. A buddy and I pulled the top end of the motor, thinking "gasket", and discovered . . . not gasket.
Cracked head, #3 cylinder, exhaust port.
I wept, I cried, I shoved it on a trailer and dragged it up to GN Northwest. The initial plan was to have the block examined, find a set of heads, rebuild it, and call it good. Dan and Gene had a set of ported 8445s, all upgraded. They came with a lower intake that was ported as well. Perfect . . .
But then, in a fit, I realized that the motor was already open. I requested a set of forged pistons, for good measure. And call it good.
Then I realized that the heads were probably going to flow better than the stock turbo could push. I pointed at the menu and told them to keep bringing it until the money runs out. I ended up with a PT6262, cam, 60# injectors, methanol, and so on.
The car is street driven. No cage. No drag radials. If the pavement is dry, and I whisper on the throttle, it putts around like stock. The turbo/converter combo works well . . .
There are a few supporting modifications to do before I can really open up the tune and explore the capacity of the PT6262, but even at 15 psi it is an absolute terror. At 25 psi, with the methanol spraying, and a dash of race gas . . . .
And parts.
. . . But it runs, drives, and I can't use more than half an inch of throttle with out breaking every traffic law in a cloud of smoke.
A little background - I bought the car on R&R from AFG, sort of a "childhood dream fulfillment" thing. It was a fairly clean LC2 swapped '85. The original motor was toast, so the previous owner pulled the drivetrain from a wrecked '87, engine to axle, and Frankensteined it together. It had 38k miles on the chassis and 42k on the motor. I planned on building the Hell out of it anyway, so I didn't care about the provenance.
It was stock, except for a 3" downpipe and a catless Hooker exhaust. I had an intake tossed on and a little spring cleaning done, plus the coil-overs, and called it good. I went back to finish deployment. It ran like a raped ape on a Mid-winter coast-to-coast run.
In March, the car overheaded on the way to work. The radiator cracked, and leaked out. By the time the warning light came on, it was too late. White smoke. A buddy and I pulled the top end of the motor, thinking "gasket", and discovered . . . not gasket.
Cracked head, #3 cylinder, exhaust port.
I wept, I cried, I shoved it on a trailer and dragged it up to GN Northwest. The initial plan was to have the block examined, find a set of heads, rebuild it, and call it good. Dan and Gene had a set of ported 8445s, all upgraded. They came with a lower intake that was ported as well. Perfect . . .
But then, in a fit, I realized that the motor was already open. I requested a set of forged pistons, for good measure. And call it good.
Then I realized that the heads were probably going to flow better than the stock turbo could push. I pointed at the menu and told them to keep bringing it until the money runs out. I ended up with a PT6262, cam, 60# injectors, methanol, and so on.
The car is street driven. No cage. No drag radials. If the pavement is dry, and I whisper on the throttle, it putts around like stock. The turbo/converter combo works well . . .
There are a few supporting modifications to do before I can really open up the tune and explore the capacity of the PT6262, but even at 15 psi it is an absolute terror. At 25 psi, with the methanol spraying, and a dash of race gas . . . .
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