Mike7447

Fair warning,…if you’re a purist, you might wanna skip this one. There is reckless butchery, and minimal concern for the possibility of returning anything to “ the way it was” . I started with a really nice low mile cluster.Low mile in this instance is 72100 miles. *Pay no attention to the crime scene in the background,… I tend to have multiple things going on all at once, and never put back anything until I can’t find nothing. Even though the gauges are branded as a Jegs product, I knew it was probably made by intellitronix. I’ve had these gauges in other cars, and for the price, you simply cannot buy an American made 6 gauge panel with a GPS speedo for anywhere near this price. I paid 399.00 There are many reasons for the change here, but the main ones are I don’t trust factory gauges, I’m concerned about the factory tach working with the MS ecu, and the factory fuel sending unit impedance isn’t compatible with anything aftermarket. This panel lets me select for any domestic and aftermarket fuel sender with dip switches. I realize that requires I change out the sending unit to accommodate, but that tank has to come out for the fuel pump upgrade anyway. Now for the puke in your mouth moment… What you’re seeing is a layer of fiberglass resin floated on top of a 1/8” backer board. When it’s completely dry, I’ll cut the oval out of the center to allow the gauge panel to peek through. The entire surface will be covered with a piece of tinted Lexan. The white plastic housing behind there is gutted, ( and looks like bloody hell). I’m keeping it to keep everything else mountable when it comes time to reinstall it. Presently waiting on the Lexan to complete this, should be here by the weekend.

I’m gonna use a “Cobra head” inlet hose to feed the TB and keep everything low profile . Stupid thing has to come from Sweden, good thing I’m not in a rush.

Thanks for the kudos. I don’t know nuthin bout no machinist skills beyond what I can do with an angle grinder a sawzall, and a whole bunch of cutting hacking grinding and sanding gets me. and 30 bucks at the machine shop after I twisted and tweaked the thing from here to eternity by welding on it. My engine machinist put it on his belt sander to get it true enough to seal up. As for runner length, plenum volume, injector placement, flow Dynamics, and all the rest of that junk, I applied the rule of “looks about right” to get it to this point. The issue at hand now is finding a TPS that will fit the Chinese TB. The one I have is too small, and the others that are out there look to be the same.

The Frankin-take.. For better or worse, my intake manifold conversion is pretty much complete. Look up close… no fuel rail, no water running through the intake, no egr, no vacuum ( except where it’s obvious). A-6 fuel distribution block feeding (4) -4 lines going to each injector. The things are each held in place with individual fuel injector mounts I found online. The water bypass, the sensors for the MS3, and the gauges are mounted. Whether this goofy contraption works is gonna be a wait-n-see. It may work, it may starve the injectors. For now,I’ve built a laboratory. I’ve recruited a special needs underachiever as my assistant, and taken a bunch of separate parts from disassociated sources, sewed them together via a spool gun. As soon as the next lightning storm happens, I’ll strap that dude in,… crank him to the top of the tower in my garage-o-lab, and wait till the next lightning strikes, ( diabolical laugh) …..and then at the exact instant, yell to my humped assistant…...” THROW THE SECOND SWITCH!!! “Yesss Master! Welding on this thing proved “consequential”. It twisted, and crowned like mad. Despite trying to clamp it to a flat surface prior to welding on it,… I only have a spool gun. *And a spool gun is like a garden hose in a water pistol fight…Too much, too fast, and in weldspeak,…too hot. It took almost .100 to get the mating surface flat again. * (for the mathematically challenged, almost an 1/8” off). The throttle cable will run under the intake. The water runs under the intake., The rear bypass runs between the injectors and under the back of the manifold. Vacuum runs to a reservoir and a distribution block To feed what needs feedin’. The ECU needs a vacuum reference, ( ck), an IAT reference, ( ck), and a TPS position (?) to be happy. im almost there. Da-Done Dah!

For better or worse, my intake manifold conversion is pretty much complete. Look up close… no fuel rail, no water running through the intake, no egr, no vacuum ( except where it’s obvious). A-6 fuel distribution block feeding (4) -4 lines going to each injector. The things are each held in place with individual fuel injector mounts I found online. The water bypass, the sensors for the MS3, and the gauges are mounted. Whether this goofy contraption works is gonna be a wait-n-see. It may work, it may starve the injectors. For now,I’ve built a laboratory. I’ve recruited a special needs underachiever as my assistant, and taken a bunch of separate parts from disassociated sources, sewed them together via a spool gun. As soon as the next lightning storm happens, I’ll strap that dude in,… crank him to the top of the tower in my garage-o-lab, and wait till the next lightning strikes, ( diabolical laugh) …..and then at the exact instant, yell to my humped assistant…...” THROW THE SECOND SWITCH!!! “Yesss Master! Welding on this thing proved “consequential”. It twisted, and crowned like mad. Despite trying to clamp it to a flat surface prior to welding on it,… I only have a spool gun. *And a spool gun is like a garden hose in a water pistol fight…Too much, too fast, and in weldspeak,…too hot. It took almost .100 to get the mating surface flat again. * (for the mathematically challenged, almost an 1/8” off). The throttle cable will run under the intake. The water runs under the intake., The rear bypass runs between the injectors and under the back of the manifold. Vacuum runs to a reservoir and a distribution block To feed what needs feedin’. The ECU needs a vacuum reference, ( ck), an IAT reference, ( ck), and a TPS position (?) to be happy. im almost there. Da-Done Dah!

It’s a JEGS product. Both them and Summit sell a version. I think it’s made by intellitronix for those guys as a derivative. https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Performance+Products/555/41628/10002/-1?trk_msg=Q8ACBJ2E4AM4R08BIJ2UAKGJ3G&trk_contact=PM6FBE3U6ECFC1VEE86UI1FC5S&trk_module=pda&trk_sid=VV2QBDQ7IJJ6F70M8NF6V9E6B8&trk_link=1H7CHRGAAKM4L355GQ1RNEOD2O&ltk_offer=&ltk_offer_tier=150D&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Product&utm_campaign=Price+Drop+Alerts&utm_content=Price+Drop+Message+1+-+Customer I intend to mount it on the housing and fabricate a smoked lens so you won’t be able to see the oval shape. Just the horizontal layout.

Uhh ck your 60’s band trivia… it was CSNY’s song. If I’m not mistaken, it’s the name of the RQ-3 project Lockheed has given to the next SR-71 replacement un-manned recon plane that they terminated. It’s also the name for the not-real Mach 10 plane Tom Cruise flew in Maverick. So either way, it’s open as a name for my subsonic pavement pounder. Im trying to see if I can find black satin Vinyl that looks like a stealth aircraft and cover the hood and roof with that. I’ll paint the lower panels Nardo grey.

* FORWARD I’ve been wanting to start this but wanted to wait on some useful information before I started. And even though it’s not that useful in a forum where most everything that has been done to one of these cars has been done already, I believe over the next several months I’ll have more than a few things to contribute that may not be as common. As a fair warning, My build threads do get extremely convoluted with my need to scratch a closet writers itch, so if you’re someone who wants to skip the blather, and got right to the pics, then you’ll know what to do if you open one of my updates. I’ll also tell you that occasionally, I’ll write some really stupid s**t, and you may actually find it entertaining. It is usually my goal to make this an entertaining, as well as informative build thread. On one of my other build threads on a different forum, the thing eventually got to 1 million page views before I left. The thing was so cluttered with my ramblings, side comments from others, and pics, You couldn’t find anything of use after a couple of years. To fix that, I asked the site admin to give me the capability of creating an index, with page jumps so that someone could go past all of the crap, and get right to the meat and potatoes of what they wanted. Maybe if this thing turns out that way, I’ll be able to do that too. But for the most part, as stated, I’m thinking it’s already been done before. So wt....,…. here goes. THE PLAN: What I got, and what I want I now know I’m gonna replace the factory P.S. with a manual rack. The factory stuff was removed Saturday and destroyed. ( it freaking has to weigh OVER 50 pounds including the pump, box, and linkage). I have started cutting the center crossmember to allow the rack to mount, but I’ll need another day to get it close enough to actually put it in place. I have the double d shaft, u joints and the bumpsteer kit to complete it once I can dedicate the time. the trans is out ( primarily for cleaning the s*** off of it and under the car,) the PO has rigged it to stay in OD, I need to look closer at the wiring. Next will be a front suspension conversion. On the last CQ I had, I cut the old struts off at the spindle mount and welded mounts onto it so that I could use fox mustang struts. the cheap C/O conversion that you can get for fox struts, and the fairly inexpensive caster/camber plates so I could dial in ride height are the primary reason for this. Engine compartment detail comes next. The abs monster that sits behind the rf strut tower is gone, the CC contraption, and any and all unnecessary wires and hoses will go. If I can get rid of the entire ECU for the engine, I want to do that as well. The Fenders come back off, and the whole engine bay and see-able surfaces under the fenders will go gloss black urethane. ive bought a 6 gauge digital led instrument panel with a GPS based speedo sender, that will replace the factory panel along with an upgrade for the barely working AM/FM/cassette w/a double din unit a small sub, and a nice pair of 6” component front door speakers. The tank will get drained, a compatible fuel sending unit to work with the new gauges, and a pump upgrade will get put back in before reinstalling it. engine will get assembled and running next. Engine and transmission will go in as a unit. I’ve cut the upper radiator saddle mount so that can happen. Depending on what you tell me about your tire size currently on your car, The “Optional “ plan” is that the IRS goes in favor of a disc brake fox mustang SRA. I will do a rear mini-tub to allow a 17x315 size rear tire. The ONLY way the irs stays is dependent on available tire size that I can get to fit under and whatever its’ gear ratio is. The availability of fox rears w/3.55-3.73 gears are plentiful enough, and considering I’m keeping the little fork lift engine, will be necessary to make it “fast enough”. All I’ll do with that is narrow the housing, shorten the axles ( well, Moser will, not me) and hang a set of rear single adjustable coil overs back there somewhere. How I’ll deal with the suspension is still TBD. It will be a street car. Rear seat delete happens regardless, both seats get moved back 1-2” the retractable seat belt mounts moved right along with them, and a filler piece fabricated to fill the gap I create. battery housed under the rear seat delete. The car doesn’t have factory paint, it has a poorly done repaint in a factory color. ( and some surprise rust) That, coupled to the fact that the fender that hit the ground when I was repairing the bottom of the front fenders looks like tail now that it’s painted in a lighter, striped rattle can version of Palermo grey will force me to deal with it before rather than after . I will repaint the car Nardo grey. the rear will dictate wheel choice. The concern you have about trying to turn a wide front tire on a manual rack at parking lot speeds may mandate that I either go narrower than 9” front wheels, or install a Prius electric p.s. unit as I have done on the last two cars. I told my wife I’d have the car done in two months, that was before the “ epiphany” hit me to make it a little more pro-touring. She just rolled her eyes and took a drink of wine. Maybe,…….Maybe by November? Where I started: Auction car. Poorly represented by the seller. Car has 72k miles, basically a stock auto trans car, but wasn’t properly maintained. Radiator was full of crud, engine oil looked about the same. Front seats had seen too much sun and were dried out and hard, rear tires were done. AC system was empty and had been leaking, Auto trans shift linkage was shot, front fenders were rotted at the bottoms, and the car had a poor repaint. I paid 12k sight unseen on the auction for the car…. Screw me once…..Shame on you… I fixed the front fenders, but there was no hope in getting a paint match… The other fender didn’t fare too well… the paint is terrible as a result of a rattle can attempt at repainting the whole thing. ( for that reason. It will not be featured in tonight’s update). I started buying junk slowly, trying to sort out what I wanted for the car. I sent the radiator to the shop to have it inspected and cleaned( they gave it a clean bill of health). I bought a new exhaust manifold, a new t3/t4 57 trim turbo, external waste gate, CX racing intercooler, 65mm, 50mm BOV, MS3 pro mini ecu, and a innovate WB controller…..a set of ARP head studs, Ajusa HG, 60 lb/hr LS injectors, and the related doo-dads, and wing-dings to be able to upgrade the engine. Pulling the head revealed that this engine had rarely ever met a man with a drain pan.The engine was so crudded up, I pulled it. I bought rings, bearings, a balance shaft delete kit, .020 over forged pistons, a new mechanical non jet valve head, and had the machine work performed. I picked up all that stuff on the 3rd of July Last weekend I rolled the car out of my garage and did my best to pressure wash 40 years of neglect from underneath. Once that was done I went to work removing the upper radiator saddle, * notice the bulging white balls-o-duct tape. For anyone who has done this knows, the cut edges of the remaining saddle are sharp as s**t. Since I didn’t want to be found dead in my garage as a result of a cut femoral artery, I decided that taping up the exposed razor sharp edges might be prudent. I removed the entire PS menagerie as a whole. That freakin thing has to weigh 50+ pounds. I needed the splined input shaft going into the steering box, so I cut that complain off and welded the remaining stump into a steering u joint. and plugged that end into the steering column… I removed everything else that will be “ unnecessary” The next “up to date” update will have pics of the installed rack, and the steering linkage. For tonight’s end, I’ll leave a pic the bare 78 dodge charger/horizon/omni rack as a “ stay tuned”. I hope all of the above plans garner some interest,…. Enjoy

Maybe it’s because I’m not looking in the right places, and I know I can custom order a set of wheels to fit the weird/quirky offset/backspacing limitations that the car forces on me, but who has had any luck finding an under 1000.00 set of 17” wheels for this car? the fronts at 16x7 have 5” of backspacing, and the 8” rears have 4.25” of backspacing. There are plenty of 17x8 wheels out there that have 4.5” of BS, and if I had to, I could make up for that with a 1/4” spacer, but the fronts…..The 7” wheels out there measure 4” back spaced. ( I’d have to either: A. run the 8” wheels up front w/a 1/2” spacer, or B: run the 7 with a 1” wheel spacer to maintain the correct wheel stagger. a 1/2-1” wheel spacer seems sketchy to me since I’ve never used one before. thoughts?

wow! Thanks for that! The last thing I need is to have a build thread associated with a neo-nazi hate group. It also was a Billy Joel album…,I wonder how that’s going for him..

Every picture I’ve tried to drag in gets blocked due to file size. I have to get it hosted through Photobucket.

Well we could all lament, and wish for the good ole days. or… The remaining active participation here could come up with a plan to bring the FB one liners back into the fold. Facebook is monotonous. To sit for hours sifting through the “look what I bought/got/did” posts that disappear the next day is mind numbing. I will not add “s***” to my story. Nobody reads “ My Story”. ( Who wants to read a FB story from a 67 year old guy modifying an obscure, obsolete, car that doesn’t have either an LS or a 2jz smoking the tires at 60 mph on reels anyway?”)🤓 I blame F&F , and everyone of the stupid sss sequels that came after it as partly to blame. The rest on social media itself. When you go out to a restaurant or a club, and watch couples who have their face planted in the phone, or see entire groups that are separately looking for something “ funny” to share for the sake of filling the void that talking used to fill, it’s no wonder there isn’t anybody here anymore. So, then…… What to do? I’d imagine Site management can actively invite FB groups back to this site as a no BS solution to what’s typical there. The freakin ads that plague every single search or post here need to disappear too. But that takes work from admin and sacrifice ( ad money sacrifice). Not likely.

Over the last 20 years, I’ve had 6 project cars since 2003. Two Starions, two fox body mustangs, one Fairmont, and now this Conquest. Commonly, I name every project albeit a different name from the previous one, and one that I decided “fit” the project. One thing has remained constant though,…On the first car I commissioned a graphic artist to come up with a little decal to go with the name. The decal is kinda like my signature on the build. This little decal shows up on all but one of the last 6, and I intend for it to be placed on the fender or somewhere on the car with the project name somehow tied to it. The first starion was a drag car, and an absolute terror to drive, it wheel standed so hard it broke the first set of wheelie bars (partially blame that on the wheelie bars, junk design) Yeah that’s me in my speed racer outfit back in 2003. The engine was a methanol injected 393” 2 stage nitrous combo. No good side shots as these are “pre-digital” copies, but that decal is there, among others ( look at the center emblem). This car was called Marauder because of how hard it was to handle. On its way up right off the line… usually the front tires would get up about 4’ if I didn’t chicken out and lift. Next car was a Conquest, even more power than the above but a much better chassis, This car was named Raptor before Ford came out with a pickup truck named the same. The back glass had a really mean Osprey with its wings in full flare, and Talons just getting ready to kill the mouse that found a big hunk of cheese. It was captioned “It’s my lucky day!” ps that’s a water reservoir for the a2w intercooler, NOT a fuel cell. This car gave way to the first of the two fox bodies, and the tornado graphic reappears: I think I cheesed out and reused the marauder namesake, as although the car was much easier to handle despite making 1350 hp, it kept blowin junk up and pissing me off. Last to get the decal was a street car, my favorite-“ I shoulda never sold it” project, and for the first time, the name, and the decal went together. Which brings me to current with the starion/conquest soon to get out of my driveway, and into the garage. Target power is 350whp. The car will get painted Audi’s Nardo Grey, which is the OG grey that every other manufacturer in the planet now offers in some variant. The Conquest namesake will disappear. I’ve said it elsewhere, for the sake of a blacked out grill, and slightly different tail lights it’s a Starion. The problem today is the project name. Every remotely intimidating Japanese namesake is either on a car, or a motorcycle already. The car will be grey, with black trim, so,…. Kinda like a storm. Which brings StormTrooper, ( the German blitzkreig version, not the white plastic armor wearing doofus’s working for the evil emperor) Think of it like a sub-model….Starion stormtrooper. or ….Just a project nickname . Project Storm front is another that is just rattling around.. this is all just idle thinking, something for the three of the active remaining members to talk with me about😜. It’s just that When there’s a turbo wheezing away at 18+ psi in the project, a decal of whirling wind just makes sense to me.

The rack will be here Friday. After I confirm tie rod thread pitch, I’ll buy a bumpsteer kit that uses rod ends instead of tie rod ends and spacers. i just need to get the Damn corvette done and into the hands of the purchaser so I can get it out of my space, and the CQ will move forward at warp speed.