Wow, I can't believe it's been just over 2 years since I last visited Tech, I've missed you guys :grouphug:

Backstory: So way back when I was young and stupid I bought my 1998 Z/28, arctic white, A4, leather, low miles. Honestly if I had just left well enough alone it would have been a great car for me. But being young and um... stupid, I did what anyone would have done in my situation. Made it faster... and ruined it.

Threw a huge cam in it, TC couldn't handle it, changed the TC but had problems getting it to lock up, which in turn killed the poor 4L60E. Oh well I always wanted a manual anyways. Swapped in a T56, destroyed the (brand new) clutch, put another brand new clutch in, then the trans went

And that's just the big stuff, I also had a lot of exhaust problems, the fuel pump went, ect ect ect... Basically the car was always in the shop, or broken in my garage, and it was all my fault. But I blamed the car, got sick of it and when the transmission gave up the last time I just parked it in the garage and went out and bought myself an economical, reliable, sensible daily driver... A 2005 Subaru STi.

So for the last two years I've been puttering around in my turbo econobox, enjoying being able to drive my car instead of working on it all the damn time. All the while my Z has been collecting dust sitting in the garage. Every six months or so I consider posting it up for sale here but never bring myself to do it.

But recently I've run into a few problems, first off I'm putting a lot of miles on my Subi, and it's getting close to the big 100k. I know that sooner or later it's going to start needing major services which will leave me car-less for days or even weeks at a time. The second big problem is it isn't fast enough I've held off the mod bug for over two years but I know that eventually I'll break down, dump a ton of money into it and make it an impractical and unreliable rocketship.

Ahh but wait, I already have an impractical and unreliable rocketship sitting in my garage collecting dust. So last night a lightbulb went off and I hatched a plan.

The Plan: So while I still have a reliable DD, and some extra cash to play with, do the following:

-Address the transmission problems.
-Drain and flush the fuel system (no stabil, stupid I know)
-Take car of all the overdue/neglected maintenance issues
-Rebuild the exhaust/emissions control systems
-Complete suspension overhaul
-Minor bodywork, then a coat of matte black
-1000 little other things I'm forgetting.

Basically, get the car drivable and through emissions. Then work on the suspension to get the car looking and driving like I always wanted it to. Then finally get it looking nice and evil. I want it drivable by the end of the summer and done completely by this time next year. I want it to be reliable enough that I can drive it for a weekend or a week without worrying too much about it, fun to drive, and looking and sounding good enough to get my heart going so I'm not tempted to ruin my STi.

Whew, long post is long. I'll keep this updated, and any thoughts/opinions/hatemail is more than welcome...

 

I don't know if I could of waited that long. I have a hard time not driving mine every weekend but its been raining here a lot lately so I haven't driven mine in close to 10 days.

But it sounds like you have a good plan so get that beast up and running again. Although I would try to get it done by July so you can atleast enjoy it this year.

 

Obviously I want to get her up and running ASAP, but I'm on a budget both of money and time that I have to work on her every week. And if I learned anything from my past failures it is that it's better not to rush things and get them done right the first time.

 

Hahaha, I love it. Good story. Makes me excited and its not even my rocketship

 

Man, I cant even imagine how happy you are gonna be the first time you take it out again! Good luck! STIs and Z28s are completely different vehicles and I think you will be extremely happy that you decided to keep it and fix it up.

 

welcome back to the darkside..

 

Hey I am new to this site. I just joined yesterday. I am purchasing a 2002 Z28 and I am trying to figure out the best mods for my money as well as the main differences between a SS and a Z28 and how they run with mustangs and the WS6's I know the compression is higher on the SS but other than the heads what is the main differences?

 

No difference in heads or compression.

Only difference between SS and Z28 and WS6 and base TA/Formula are the wheels, some suspension pieces, emblems, and the hoods. No engine differences, and no real performance advantage to either one, although it could be said that a fully loaded WS6 TA is a bit heavier. But car to car variances are a bigger factor in if any given SS is faster than any given WS6. Some cars just run better than others.

A competently driven LS1 F-Body (whether it's a SS, WS6, Z28, T/A, or Formula) should have no problem with any stock or near stock Mustang GT up till 2010. Certain year Cobras and the special editions are ones to watch out for, but the base GT's aren't much of a challenge.

 

Took her out last weekend (well by that I mean I pushed her out of the garage) cleaned all the dust off her, cleaned the garage so I'll actually be able to work in there.

Before she went back in I snapped a few pics.

Plain Jane...



Nothing to see here...


Pretty simple inside too.

Some light bodywork.

Pretty crappy photoshoot but it'll have to do for my "before" pics. Hopefully by next week I'll have the trans out and we'll go from there.


And since I'm posting pics, here's a few of my current DD

---Danger: Japanese Content Below!---

 

Thanks for the info man ill get some pics of the new car hopefully tomorrow picking up a 2002 Z28 all stock except for the exhaust. Other than that im looking at a intake throttle body and computer. Any other recomendations for a good dailey driver?