95naSTA

Lol. Looks/sounds like fun.

The shifter got mounted today and the cables are through the firewall. What needed to happen: The driver’s side rear air duct needed to be cut to make room for the shifter’s front left mounting point. The shifter’s front right mounting point got cut off along with a small portion of the right side of the assembly The reverse lock mechanism had to go. The front mounting point uses a bolt as a stud for the front mounting point. The bolt comes through the unibody from the exhaust tunnel and is secured by a nut. The rear mounting points bolt to a bracket made from angle iron that’s bolted to the unibody rail. I found a spot on the firewall that should work with the transmission’s shifter bracket and used a hole saw for the hole. The grommet that came with the shift cables fits in there nicely. And I also put the shift selector in OD before I disconnected it. I’ll want the PCM to think it’s in drive all the time but I’ll need to wire up a shift interlock button to get the key out. I plan on just using aluminum tape to seal up that rear air duct and I’ll make a shift bezel and boot once everything else is finished.

Nice. That sounds about right. Are you running an off the shelf tune or did someone tune it for you?

Any mods or is this stock?

At this power level (sub 250whp) a decent manual trans should help it get down the 1/4 quicker. For high hp builds, auto is always better. That said, I want a 13.9 out of the car with no boost/no2, and this should help.. not to mention make it a lot more fun to drive. Short answer, this car will never really be fast. But, that's fine by me. The Cobalt jack shaft came in and it fits nicely in the trans:

Grats man! I bet that thing is going to be a lot more fun to drive now.

So.. I finally made some progress! I finally finally finally got the 6-speed parts I ordered from GMPD. I was on travel when they came and UPS wouldn't hold the boxes till I came back.. So, they got shipped the boxes back to GMPD then I had to have them re-ship to me. It was free though.. I also came across an oil filter adapter for a lesabre that looks like it should clear the inner CV tulip. The intermediate shaft puts that tulip night next to the oil filter adapter. I also found/bought a used intermediate shaft for the transmission (part that replaces where the 60-e's tail shaft would run) for $60 shipped. The cheapest I found new was 180+ shipping. I've got a few ideas on how I want to mount the shaft's bracket this to the block.. All involve welding obviously but I have some water jetting done. The diagram for shaft: Mounting the clutch pedal and possible firewall modifications are the one of the biggest grey areas with the swap. So, I pulled the dash today.. and took pics of almost every single bolt/screw for when it goes back in. Initially, it looked like it was going to be really rough getting the pedal to fit. A bunch of wiring was in the way and it was coming out of the firewall more or less where the upper portion of the clutch pedal needed to go. But, once I unbolted the plastic bulkhead that the wiring came through, and got rid of the other plastic holding it in place, things got a whole lot easier. I can easily move the wiring out of the way, utilize the large hole the bulkhead plastic went through for the clutch master and line, and make a new firewall section that bolts up, seals everything up, mounts the master, and keeps the wiring out of the way. No dash Pedal propped in place (going to cut the brake pedal eventually) Plastic bulkhead pass through Hole exposed and wiring moved partially out of the way Hard to tell but I can easily mount the pedal bracket to the firewall Clutch master coming through the firewall with plenty of space for the lines to the hydraulic throw out bearing and the reservoir.

240k on the Bonnie.

Thanks guys, I also ordered a 0 mile F40 trans.

Looks pretty good. And last updates.. including coilovers??

Small update.. The trans has to come out due to no converter lock up and there's a 90% chance I'm going F40.. G6 6spd. I've got most of the info I need. I'll just need to figure out trans mounts, pedal mounting, and axles since those 3 haven't been done in my car yet. More power to the ground, more fun, high FDR but good highway mileage, etc. p.s. Sadie, I can park my i30 on the sidewark infront of my garage no problem.

Looks really clean. Nice job.

Sick article. Those numbers are definitely impressive especilly at the rpm they occur. Any n/a LG3/LN3 that can breathe past 4500 is crazy. And that exhaust note...

Thanks guys.

^^ Lol. True story. I closed on my house Monday and I got my Bonnie in my garage today to get an idea of what I'll be able to fit in there. It's not as deep as I initially thought but it's plenty wide and there's a lot of room for overhead storage solutions. The right rear area will definitely be the work bench area. I also had to air up the rear struts so it wouldn't scrape on the way in.. lol. Either way.. this much (new) space to work with so close to center city is almost impossible. And here's a few pics of my new place. The last one is the view from my roof deck.

Nice #s man.

Thanks! I snuck in one last thing before the move. I guess you can consider these teaser pics since I was lacking a good camera at the time.. but the exhaust tips are done.

I can't say for sure when this current check list will be complete due to my work travel schedule. I just found out today that I'm on travel not next but the following week and next week I'm away on vaca. Somewhat related note, this car should have a roof over it's head permanently when I return. House time. Wooo.

That sucks on the oil.. But it looks like you and your dad have a solid plan of action. When do you think you'll start the swap if the engine isn't toast?

Lol. Yep, there will be more lists. I dropped the trans pan and mixed in some CAT 8T9572-30w fluid. The advantages to using this is it's thicker, and dosen't break down as easy. So, this will bost line pressure a bit and will help protect the differential since the fluid around it is less likely to break down from heat. Nothing crazy in the pan too, so that's good. I am throwing a torque converter clutch code though. I'm not sure if this is 100% a failure yet or not. I changed the oil too. Nothing super crazy. I do have to raise the front end up a little bit, and I do mean little. My tires are hitting the plastic fenders even on light turns and normal driving. I would deal if the tires couldn't wear through the fenders but they definitely can.

The check gauges light will come on with the car in run and the engine off.

So.. I went to the track for the first time ever tonight. The first time down I think I did a 2.7 60' and a 14.7. LOL. Track prep was: Removed throw carpets, spare, jack Aired down the fronts to 25 psi I ended up getting this little bugger to run 14.1 with a 2.3 60'. Not too bad for a first time out. It was wayyyy hard to get traction and the car wheel hops like crazy. Got a little taco bell acton in Jerz on the way back.

You didn't mention a service engine soon light. If you don't have one, then definitely not. If you do have a SES light, I found this on how to get codes on your 93: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldbgn1h__6I If you do have a tps code, then yes.

It wouldn't hurt to check fuel pressure at the rail. I think I got my gauge for like $30 at the local parts store. I had a similar bucking/speed limitation issues with a clogged cat. It would get worse as the car went from cold to hot. Unless you're redlining the car at 30 mph when it's not going any faster, it sounds more like an engine related issue. Transmissions usually just let go and the rpms will be too high for the circumstances.

A 95 Bonnie was my first car. I always wanted to do so much to it but was always limited due to money/knowledge/skill level. Where as most people would move on once they get any of those two. I didn't. So many people say they're going to keep such and such car forever but they give up. I think we're that 1%.