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UPDATES:Feb 11th, 2004 Well, the Formula is SOLD!! I am certainly going to miss it, but I think the guy who bought it will take care of it, and be able to enjoy it for a long time!! I guess it is time to redesign the website now and change some things around, so look for that in the near future. Jan 20th, 2004 Well, We officially posted the Formula FOR SALE! You can see all the details on the FOR SALE page! Jan 2nd, 2004 First let me say, HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Last year was a pretty good year all around, and as always I expect this year to be even better. Dec 30th, 2003 We got the car back from Dave, and it is running better than it did when it was stock. The shift points are perfect for the street, and will work well on the strip too. He also fixed the exhaust rattle that we had, and replaced a sensor on the timing cover. The car feels great, and Shelly has even driven it in the snow, and it does really well since we reset the shift points. He also replaced the lock-up solenoids in the tranny. Those were about the only things in the tranny that weren't replaced during the rebuild. Dec 20th, 2003 We took the car back to Dave's to get a few of the little things taken care of. We decided we are going to sell the Formula. It is a great car, and makes a great daily driver, except in the snow. And in Ohio, snow is just a part of life. Plus we plan on buying a house this year, so we are going to streamline our expenses. Nov 22nd, 2003 We replaced the IAC valve on the Formula, this week. It was stumbling a little when we would come to a stop. We will also be taking the car back to Dave's pretty soon to get the shift points reset. Nov 15th, 2003 Well, I finally got the Power Plate back from McCord. It took much longer than 2 weeks, but they did replace the motor under warranty, so it was free. Over all they were very helpful, but just a little slow. Oct 15th, 2003 I am going to try to list all the upgrades, and everything that was installed or swapped. You can check out the details on the Mod List Page ! Oct 14th, 2003 Will it ended up being the 3rd gear bands in the tranny. It has 5 clutch packs for the 3rd gear and starting the run at 3500 rpm's was just to low. The bands couldn't hold the power under that load, so we upgraded. I had Dave install the upgraded clutch packs, so now it has 9 in it, and an upgraded 3rd gear band. He also installed a new Governor, and did some fine tuning on the valve body & TV cable for improved shifting. At the same time, He installed the MSD-6 ignition, and changed the plugs and 1 of the header gaskets. So we are ready to rock n' roll. We may have to play with the shift points a little to get them back where we want them, but other that that this thing is ready to go. Oct 11, 2003 We went to the dyno today to test the car. About 20 of us got together from the GCFBA and went to Performance Engineering in Ross, OH. The car was running lean so we added fuel on all three pulls, but the car was still breaking up pretty bad at about 4800 rpm's, so we didn't pull any higher than about 5200 rpm's. The car needs an MSD ignition (on order!) But here is how it did: These #'s are rear wheel HP/ corrected 1st pull: (3600 - 4800) max
HP - 324, max TQ - 327 2nd pull: (3700-5000) max HP
- 326, max TQ - 335 3rd pull: N/A DNF So off to Dave's the car goes! :( Sept 9th, 2003 It seems as though the McCord Power Plate has stopped working. Apparently the motor shorted out, but I am not sure what caused it. I contacted McCord and they sent me some diagnostic procedures to run. That allowed me to narrow it down the the motor, so I am sending it in for replacement. They said it takes about 2 weeks, but we will see. June 30th, 2003 We got the shift points straightened out, the car is running great, and Shelly has been driving it everyday. She loves the way it drives, especially with the extra 100 or so horses!! We got the McCord Power plate installed on the Borla. It is my favorite new toy. It allows us to adjust the exhaust from inside the car, all at the touch of a button! :) June 22nd, 2003 Well, we got the car up and running. It passed E-check with flying colors, and I finally got the new tags on it. But it is over heating a little, but I think it is just a programming issue. We are still fooling with the tranny, just trying to get the shifts where we want them. June 20th, 2003 We dropped the car off at Dave's tonight. He is going to swap the harness and ECM over the weekend, so by Monday the car should be 100% functional. So Wednesday I am going to take the day off work to get the tags and change the oil. Then I think my cousin Todd and I will take the car out for a drive. I am thinking a couple times around the I-275 loop to break it in!! You can see some shots of the new motor completed and in the car on the rebuild page! June 15th, 2003 I talked to Dave today about the car, and we decided to upgrade to an OBD-I ECM. If we swap the ECM and the wiring harness in the car Dave will be able to do the programming with his laptop, and get the fuel system straightened out. June 14th, 2003 Shelly took the car out tonight for a quick ride around the block, so she could get the feel for it. She had been driving a Cadillac for the last week so the Formula took some getting used to. I think she is really going to enjoy the extra power!!. However, when we returned from the little trip, I noticed some extreme heat coming from under the car. When I looked under there the cat was literally glowing red. Apparently, the car is running more rich than I thought. The extra gas is combusting in the cat. June 13th, 2003 Well, the car is finished. We got the new injectors in it along with the adjustable fuel pressure regulator, but it is still running too fat. I drove the car home from Dave's and it feels pretty good. Obviously, I want to break the motor in before I really get on it, but it is definitely stronger!! June 9th, 2003 Dave has the new motor partially assembled, and most of the misc. parts are all ready to go. Check out the pics here! 383 Rebuild Page May 24th, 2003 I finally got my new poly bushings installed on the TA. They make a big difference in the corners. I was surprised by how tight the steering felt in the corners, It is a lot more responsive. They weren't to difficult to install either. I will get some pics up on the Mods Page soon! I also installed the CAGS skip-shift eliminator. This disables the skip shift in the tranny that forces you to shift from 1st to 4th while just cruising. May 19th, 2003 Latest update on the motor - We decided to go with forged rods as well as the pistons. Hopefully this will give me the strength I need to run nitrous or a blower. I will probably install a power adder next year, so I might as well prepare the motor for it now. And we should get the motor this week! Latest update on the site - I went to the cruise-in at Steak and Shake on Friday (5/16), and posted some of the pics. Latest update on my brother - He is currently in Kuwait. He has been transporting troops and supplies between Kuwait and a camp inside Iraq. But he called this week and said they plan on demobilizing in June, so he should be home in July! April 10th, 2003 Here is the latest. The block is in the machine shop being bored and assembled. And I am gathering up the last bit of parts that I will need for the new motor. Hopefully next week or so we should be starting on the rebuild. I am really starting to get excited now, but I know that feeling will subside when I start to see all the money go out to pay for all this. :) HEHEHE March 24th, 2003 You know it is amazing how these things work. We started out doing a top-end rebuild and a Hotcam. Then we went to doing motor rebuild with forged pistons. Basically going the 355 route. And finally, We are going all out. Dave talked me into going with a 383!! So basically this is what I am looking at right now: 383 Stroker w/forged
pistons I hope I didn't leave anything out, but who knows I
may end up adding to the list by the time it actually gets here. I
will say, it is going to be awesome when it is done. I just can't wait
to have this thing all together. March 21st, 2003 I decided to take the TA down to Tri-State for the first time this year. It was beautiful day, and the temp actually dropped down when I got to the track so the conditions seemed really good. Apparently, I am wayyy out of practice. My times were terrible. The first run - let the excuses begin :) - I bogged coming off the line so my 60' was like 2.6 and then I couldn't get it to shift into 3rd so I ended up running a 14.8 @ 98mph. Second run - I bogged even worse coming off the line, it felt like it almost stalled. So my 60' on that one was a 2.8. The rest off the run felt pretty strong, but it just wasn't there. I ended up with a 14.5 @ 103mph. So I was running about a full second off of my already pathetic times. I really need to just practice my launching technique. Well, first I need to come up with a technique, then I can practice it!! March 7th, 2003 Well you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men! We took the car over to LT1Dave's to get it checked out (it kept failing E-Check). I had him replace the intake gasket and give the motor a good once over. Unfortunately we found out what was wrong with the car - the pistons are shot! Both sides of the motor are way down on compression and I am getting tremendous amounts of blow-by. So instead of just "freshening" up the top end we are doing a full rebuild. It isn't cheap, but I figure we should pick up quite a bit of HP, and the car is in great shape other than the motor so we might as well go for it. It will be a blast once we get it done!! Feb 27th, 2003 We have started making some big plans for the Formula. It has been down on power for a while now, and I am pretty sure the motor is just getting tired! So it is time to wake it up a bit! Right now this is what we are planning: LT4 Hotcam w/ LT4 springs,
retainers, seats and locks Plus we will probably replace some odds and ends inside the motor, I really just want to get it back to where it is running great, and if I can pick up a few HP on the way, that's awesome! It should be a lot of fun to drive once we get it all finished. Although this means Shelly's car will probably be faster than mine - well maybe for a little while anyway ;) Feb 22nd, 2003 I started the overhaul on the Formula. First I
cleaned and re-oiled the air filter, then changed the oil, and finally
I replaced the passenger side O2 sensor. I still need to change the
fuel filter and the PCV valve filter, so I am going to try to do that
this week before I take it down for the test again. I found out some
pretty interesting facts on the emissions test while doing my research
(to find out why I was failing). Here is a really good website with
some great tips to prepare your car for the test. Blue
Sky Environmental Technologies. Feb 9th, 2003 Well, what's new!! Let me start off by saying that I hate failing the E-Check process! I don't know why, but every time I have to take one of the 'birds down there for the test I get nervous. I feel like I am back in high school taking a midterm or something. But it is even worse when one of them fails, which the Formula did (twice!). The first time it failed I figured it just needed some fuel injector cleaner and I also forgot to replace the valve cover breather with the stock oil cap. So I did that, and took it back a week later. It got better in one category and worse in the other. So I decided it was time for a little overhaul on the emissions system. Feb 5th, 2003 We got the news yesterday that my younger brother is shipping out for the Middle East on Monday. He is a combat engineer in the Army Reserves. He is supposed to be gone for about a year. I just hope this whole thing is over quickly. And on a lighter note- I snapped some pics of my guitars and posted them on the Picture Page. I have a Jimmy Vaughn Tex-Mex Strat, and a 2002 Standard Tele. I have had the Strat for a couple of years and I just picked up the Tele this Christmas. Jan 21st, 2003 I added some pics from a Cruise-In at Steak and Shake in Milford. The pictures are from the summer, so they are a little behind, but there were some nice cars there. Jan 5th, 2003 Be sure to check out the new site for the GCFBA, they are still putting the finishing touches on it, but it looks great. They also redesigned the message forum. The site was starting to get pretty long, so I moved the older journal entries to an archive page. You can see them here!
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