[Shotimes] the old '89 is runnin' fine

[Donald Mallinson]

Did a two day SVTOA event at the one year old Autobahn track in Joliet, 
near the Route 66 drag strip and NASCAR track.

Took the '89 SHO out for its first flog since getting the new cams in 
and having Doug Lewis at FPS do a super tune and suspension rebuild.

Many  of you are aware of the details of how disappointing this setup 
was at first, but here is a quick review:

Had Josh's cams installed straight up and did EH intake and BBB at the 
same time.  blended head passages to match BBB and EH intake.   result 
was a huge loss of torque and gain of maybe 2 hp way up high in the rev 
range, at 7000 rpm or so.

Took the car to Doug to install adjustable pulleys, do a tune with a  
chip.  Also freshen all bushings and install Doug's neat  and heavy duty 
rear suspension arms and subframe connectors.   Also put in off-road 
Y--pipe, free breathing exhaust the rest of the way to ONE big muffler 
and tip tucked under the bumper, with a huge turn-down tip, very stealth 
and stock looking exhaust.

I bought and installed a well-travelled set of Corbeau Forza II race 
seats (big guy seats) that save about 60 pounds and lower the driver 
about 3" or more.

Took it out and put 3 hours on it at Autobahn with new tires, but the 
same brakes as last year. (96 upgrade with Carbotech pads).

Took most of the first day to get used to the new setup, but  the new 
suspension rocks.  I thought I would have a problem forcing myself to 
shift at 7000+ rpm, but from the start, the power delivery just sucked 
me right along so I was hitting the rev limiter at 7300 or so about 
every shift.  May need to raise that limiter a bit.  Power starts to 
come on strong about 5000 rpm and hangs in there past the rev limiter.  
Don't have new dyno numbers, but it feels like Doug found the power that 
those cams are capable of and the car screams (for a non-power adder 
SHO) down the straights.  Need to keep the rev's up though, if I get 
caught at 3500 or 4000 rpm the car takes some time to get back up to speed.

New suspension is great!  spectators said the car was really flat 
through corners with little dive under braking.  New tires were great.  
Ron Porter will be relieved that I finally got rid of the ancient R1's 
that had age cracks in the tread!

May need better front brakes now, and I was locking up the rears pretty 
easily once I got up to speed.

Best pass of the day was in my last session where I had gotten some tips 
and inspiration from some of my Peoria friends to step up the heat a 
little.  I found another gear for me (the driver) and caught and passed 
a Cobra Mustang.  He could have just been a slow driver, but I was also 
keeping up with and catching several other cars that had more power and 
decent drivers.  I couldn't reel them in on the straights, but they 
couldn't walk away from me either, and I could get some distance back 
under braking and in the turns (better line on my part!).

All in all, I am now VERY happy with the setup, and will debut it to the 
SHO crowd at Memphis.  Wait till you hear the exhaust.  Very cool.  
There was a section on the Autobahn track where there were guard rails 
on both sides, and slight earth berms too.  The reflected sound was fun 
to hear.  At least people knew I was on the track.

Don Mallinson