Automotive

1987 Shelby CSX #694 of 750

This is my 1987 Shelby CSX that I've owned since 1998.  It is number 694 out of 750 that were modified at Shelby Automobiles in Whittier, California.  You can read the back story here.  The car has somehow survived a move and a number of life change events, however I have not really done any serious work on it for about two decades.  That has recently started to change....

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The CSX: October 9, 2006

Posted on October 09, 2006.

Turns out that I didn't tighten the distributer enough.  The front engine harness is tied to the corner and it slowly pulled more and more retard until it was way off the scale and ran like crap.  I also experimented with some different cam settings.  It's currently set to 2 degrees retarded on the 88 TBI cam.  It's a little soggy on the bottom end, but pulls pretty good to the redline.  It's just a matter of switching my driving habits a bit.

The kevlar clutch for the Daytona arrived, which is now swapped and the pressure plate (LUK unit painted red) for the TU ceramic/organic is now freed up and standing by for the CSX.  At some point after the Daytona is done, I am going to have to swap the clutch and the turbo.

The CSX: September 28, 2006

Posted on September 28, 2006.

Went to an SDAC Chicagoland drag racing event at Great Lakes Dragway in Union Grove, WI on the 26th.  I was hoping to get into the 14s again and hopefully set a new record for myself, but it wasn't to be.  My best time was a 15.8 at around 92mph.  With the extra traction, the T2/T3 clutch just wouldn't hold during my launches.  I tried a couple of techniques, but I smoked it BAD every time.  The track was very busy, so we only got about 4 runs in.  It just so happens that the TU ceramic/organic clutch that I got for the Daytona has the wrong shaft size.  The plan now is to put a better, longer-lasting clutch into the Daytona and put this clutch into the CSX.  I think it will be perfect for the job.

On the bright side, JT loaned me a MSD Blaster 2 ignition coil to see if it would clear up the 5000 RPM miss I was having.  It did.  The car pulls to the redline awesome now.  In fact, I hit the rev limiter a few times because I am so used to having the missfire cue me to shift.  Going to try to gap the plugs up to stock to see if the fire stays lit.

The CSX: September 19, 2006

Posted on September 19, 2006.

That setup was way too loud.  There was a deafening drone throughout the band.  The only quiet spot was between 2000 and 2500 RPM.  I went ahead and replaced the test pipe in the cat's position with the Dynomax Ultra Flo (p/n 17296).  That cut the drone by about 50% overall while driving and it idles pretty quiet now.  It's louder than I'd like, but I can live with it.  It's now very quiet in that 2000-2500 range.  I'm betting installing the cat instead of the Ultra Flo will make it even quieter.

I also replaced the hatch struts, finally.  NAPA sells the "StrongArm" brand of struts that makes the correct one for P-bodies with a spoiler.

The CSX: September 17, 2006

Posted on September 17, 2006.

Well, the strut is still on there.  Turns out that the strut rod nut was loose and was somehow pushing the center part of the strut mount up.  Once it was tightened, everything moved back to where it should be.  The strut is shot though and the other front strut isn't fairing much better.  I am going to try to warranty them.  I did fix the passenger side window and both have stayed fixed for now.  The car developed an annoying missfire/breakup above 3000rpm above 15psi of boost.  I fiddled with a few things and finally replaced the plugs with some new AutoLite 63s, as the AutoLite 64s that were in there had about 35k on them and were really worn.  That seemed to help, but it is still not as strong as it was before.

The 7-year-old exhaust, an original "Jessie Buhr" aluminized 2.5" system with a Dynomax Super Turbo muffler, has been falling apart for about a year now.  I've been patching it as it broke but had ordered a full 3" stainless system from FWD Performance in the meantime.  Finally the twice-patched muffler simply disintegrated last week, so I decided to install the new system this weekend.

Man, what a chore.  It is by no means a drop-in kit.  Quite a bit of cutting and welding was required, especially in the area around the axle.  My goal was to make a stock-looking exhaust at the tail pipes, so I picked up a Dynomax Super Turbo muffer that has a 3" inlet and a pair of 2.5" outlets (p/n 17674).  A pair of stainless 2.25" 45-degree bends from ATP Turbo serve as the tail pipes (using a couple of 2.5"-2.25" bushings).  I was quickly reminded that the early 2.25" swing valve housing on the turbo will not accept the 3" downpipe donut, so I dug an old 2.5" downpipe out of the spiderwebs in the corner and happened to have a 2.5" ID - 3" OD adapter.  I spent all day Saturday cutting and fitting while trying to clear the spring, fuel tank, and axle.  You can see my beautiful welding technique.  The setup currently has no cat and man is it loud.  I might as well have no muffler at all.  I'm going to have to add a straight-through muffer in the cat's position to quiet it down (I have a Dymomax Ultra Flo p/n 17296 sitting here).

I also added an additional mount on the brake line bracket, which should keep the exhaust from swaying back and forth and hitting the fuel tank and spring.  It's a tight fit back there.

The CSX: August 23, 2006

Posted on August 23, 2006.

Well, the trans is still holding up well and the OBX still rocks.  There is a bizzare noise that happens when the axles get torqued-up a certain way by the diff.  I think it's actually a wheel bearing, possibly from the guard rail impact.  It sounds like a bearing.  The rest of the car seems to be falling apart.  The fallout from by little guard rail adventure continues.  The driver's side strut started getting really loose a few weeks ago (4-year old Koni) and the strut mount self-destructed last week.  The impact, which whacked the top of the wheel hard enough to shove the camber adjustment all the way in, must have bent the tube slightly.  I can't tell by looking at it, but some paint flaked off where the tube may have collapsed and popped back out.  It must have made the piston bind-up or something, because the strut mount is practically punched-out.

In addition to that, I have this continuing battle with the windows.  First, the driver's side would get stuck due to the misshapen tracks from the impact mentioned above.  After fixing that, the next day the passenger side window track tab broke and the window kept falling out of the track.  I put up with that for about a week before I made a new tab out of aluminum.  The next day the driver's side window motor started acting wierd where the window would stop but the motor kept going.  Eventually that window would just fall down every time I hit a bump.  Finally I took the motor apart, replaced the wacky cushions that go between the drive gear and the external gear.  Then the next day the passenger side window started getting stuck on the way down.  It looks like the glass is hitting something metal, as it is getting scratched.  Argh.  I'm afraid to fix it, for fear of what will happen next on the driver's side.