Intro for Sy973

[Syclone973]

Hi,

My name is Michael. I'm in SoCal, not far from RPM. I've owned Syclone 973 for about five years, and it just spun 80,000 miles. It's 99% factory stock and has been "restored" as such.

The body and bed have been stripped and painted. Cladding has been refinished in flat black. The factory antenna has been removed and shaved. Mirrors have been removed in favor of power units borrowed from a Typhoon. The exhaust had rotted out and was replaced with a custom arrangement from Fast Intentions. Wheels are also factory, but they've been polished and repainted. Bill Marigold will be hand lettering the graphics in factory locations in a couple of weeks.

RPM replaced the fuel pump with a Walbro unit, (twice), right after I got the truck.

The truck is mechanically sound and exhibits some common issues. I've got start-up smoke, probably due valve guide issues, and the standard ABS failure. The trans is whining some under load as well.

What are the hot tickets for brakes and suspension? I've been victim to the mod bug twice before with a B5 Audi S4, and a Hybrid '72 240z before that, so I know what ground I walk on here, and I intend to keep the Syclone pretty mild, though 11s would suit me if I could manage it without pulling the motor apart. I'd like to do brakes and suspension first, so I am working with an appropriate platform...

Blueskies...
-Michael.

 

[s_blazin]

Re: Intro for Sy973

welcome to the site,

as far as brakes are concerned, read this thread, thats how i got my info

http://www.syty.net/forums/showthread.php?t=65911&highlight=brakes

as far as suspension, it depends on what you wanna do, if you like to keep it stockish you might wanna stay with the torsions put some good shocks on it and maybe some torsion keys if you want to lower it (this is what i'm doing)


if you don't mind aftermarket, there are a few different types of coil over conversions out there, search coil overs in suspension tech or in the vendors area, theres a few offered to us.

the start up smoke i'm sure is valve guides, very common in the 4.3.


ABS failure eh, do tell what did it do? i was thinking of putting mine back in but i have been hearing of some failures nearly causing wrecks.

oh and BTW
:worthless:


Good day

 

[Syclone973]

Re: Intro for Sy973

ABS failure eh, do tell what did it do? i was thinking of putting mine back in but i have been hearing of some failures nearly causing wrecks.

Thanks for the pointers. Here are the only two photos I have handy. I'll have to add some later, from home.

As far as the ABS death goes, it was uneventful. The ABS and Brake lights came on one day, and never went off. They come on again immediately after a reset. I pulled the "blink code" once and determined that it was a hard code of some sort, but never followed up as I plan to simply delete the system anyway because the brakes are miserable with or without ABS.

Having owned a Porsche 993 and still owning what was once a 500+ H/P Quattro equipped Audi with raceworthy suspension setup, handling is a big issue for me, and one that contributes significantly to my enjoyment of a hobby vehicle. I think I'll look into the coilover setups, and stick to the F-Body brake setup as I prefer the stock look, with stock wheels.

Thanks for the pointers!

-Michael

 

[nello]

Re: Intro for Sy973

Nice truck-
So chuck the torsion bars, stock wheels and tires for starters. Add a couple of beltech sway bars, lower it an inch or more, get some set back plates on the rear, add new shocks in the rear since IMO coilovers in the front is good enough. An upgraded steering shaft and wheel would be nice too. Caltrac or battle bars are pretty effective for hard boost launches.

Looking fwd to how the Syclone lettering graphics come out.

 

[jpalmer]

Re: Intro for Sy973

could be a plug or damaged wire on your abs. could be a bad unit,either way, ditch it. Hood Performance (vendor) makes abs deletes and they are reasonable.

 

[Z SKI]

Re: Intro for Sy973

Nice truck. Welcome to the board. I am also in SoCal and if you check the Western region section you might find that a few of us do get together a few times a year. I wish it was more, however it seems that we never have our trucks running at the same time.

As for suspension and brakes I would stick with the stock front suspension but lower it an inch in the front and about 2.5" in the back. I would throw on a rear sway bar, good shocks all around, traction bars and good bushing all around. For brakes, I like the 98-02 Camaro or C5 Corvette PBR stuff due to the fact that you can always get parts (rotors, pads, calipers, rebuild kits, etc.) for them due to being OEM components. Rotor size will be determined by the wheel choice. Stock 16" wheels will work with the 12" Camaro rotors and 17" and larger wheels will work with the 12.75" C5 rotors.

Hope this helps, If you need some more ideas or you want to see some pics of the stuff mentioned above check out my project thread. The link is listed below.

See ya,

 

[Z SKI]

Re: Intro for Sy973

Oh shit, i'm Polish. We are in the western forum......duh...:screwy:

 

[Mtn Z]

Re: Intro for Sy973

oh shit, i'm Polish.

Indeed you are :lol:

 

[Mtn Z]

Re: Intro for Sy973

Hi,

My name is Michael. I'm in SoCal, not far from RPM. I've owned Syclone 973 for about five years, and it just spun 80,000 miles. It's 99% factory stock and has been "restored" as such.

The body and bed have been stripped and painted. Cladding has been refinished in flat black. The factory antenna has been removed and shaved. Mirrors have been removed in favor of power units borrowed from a Typhoon. The exhaust had rotted out and was replaced with a custom arrangement from Fast Intentions. Wheels are also factory, but they've been polished and repainted. Bill Marigold will be hand lettering the graphics in factory locations in a couple of weeks.

RPM replaced the fuel pump with a Walbro unit, (twice), right after I got the truck.

The truck is mechanically sound and exhibits some common issues. I've got start-up smoke, probably due valve guide issues, and the standard ABS failure. The trans is whining some under load as well.

What are the hot tickets for brakes and suspension? I've been victim to the mod bug twice before with a B5 Audi S4, and a Hybrid '72 240z before that, so I know what ground I walk on here, and I intend to keep the Syclone pretty mild, though 11s would suit me if I could manage it without pulling the motor apart. I'd like to do brakes and suspension first, so I am working with an appropriate platform...

Blueskies...
-Michael.

Welcome to the board! These guys have pretty much touched on everything. Just research the hell out of this site and you will find the answers. :tup:

 

[dgoodhue]

Re: Intro for Sy973

the start up smoke i'm sure is valve guides, very common in the 4.3.

Valve guides are not common on 4.3 especially with 80k miles.

Maybe I am just being overly picky about terminology, but this is pet peave of mine. Regugitating wrong information, it keeps on being repeated on this forum. Valve Guides do NOT equal Valve Stem Seals (or often called Valve Seals.)

Valve Stem Seals is what cause the puff of smoke started up. The Valve Stems seals job is to control oil so it doesn't allow excessive into the valve guides. It can be fixed with $20 of parts. They can be done by pulling the valve covers and using an air compressor.

Valve Guides are what locates the valve and what the valve rides on. It is pressed into the head and would require the cylinder head to be removed and brought to machine shop to be pressed in. Valve Guides do wear out on high mileage engine, but not at 80K miles and they would usually cause smoke all the time

 

[Syclone973]

Re: Intro for Sy973

Valve guides are not common on 4.3 especially with 80k miles.

Maybe I am just being overly picky about terminology, but this is pet peave of mine. Regugitating wrong information, it keeps on being repeated on this forum. Valve Guides do NOT equal Valve Stem Seals (or often called Valve Seals

Awesome. Thanks so much for the clarification. Admittedly, I'm a n00b to these trucks, and I know I have lots and lots to learn. I will try diligently to use [search] before [post]. I am something of an oldskooler on several other enthusiast forums for my Audi and 240z projects, so I know how annyoing the repeated questions can be.

So, I could do with a set of stem seals. Easy. Thank you.

-Michael

 

[Syclone973]

Re: Intro for Sy973

I promise... I tried searching first... ;-)

An engineering friend of mine with significant contacts at TiAL, (where a ground up Ty restoration has taken place over the last several years), has questioned the wisdom of coilover setups on these trucks with the thought that the frame and/or strut towers will be stressed inappropriately.

I searched the forums a bit and found a bunch of questions, but very few answers.

Input?

Thanks,
-Michael

 

[dgoodhue]

Re: Intro for Sy973

I promise... I tried searching first... ;-)

An engineering friend of mine with significant contacts at TiAL, (where a ground up Ty restoration has taken place over the last several years), has questioned the wisdom of coilover setups on these trucks with the thought that the frame and/or strut towers will be stressed inappropriately.

I searched the forums a bit and found a bunch of questions, but very few answers.

Input?

Thanks,
-Michael

Their isn't a definative answer. I am going to buy a set of Renz shock braces and have them welded in whenever he decides to finish that project. Otherwise I would just weld the shock towers. I have had my Coilovers for 5 years but they only have 2K miles on them.

 

[s_blazin]

Re: Intro for Sy973

Valve guides are not common on 4.3 especially with 80k miles.

Maybe I am just being overly picky about terminology, but this is pet peave of mine. Regugitating wrong information, it keeps on being repeated on this forum. Valve Guides do NOT equal Valve Stem Seals (or often called Valve Seals.)

Valve Stem Seals is what cause the puff of smoke started up. The Valve Stems seals job is to control oil so it doesn't allow excessive into the valve guides. It can be fixed with $20 of parts. They can be done by pulling the valve covers and using an air compressor.

Valve Guides are what locates the valve and what the valve rides on. It is pressed into the head and would require the cylinder head to be removed and brought to machine shop to be pressed in. Valve Guides do wear out on high mileage engine, but not at 80K miles and they would usually cause smoke all the time

my bad, i was typing in a hurry and paid no attention, i knew what i meant lol, guess i forgot people can't read my mind

carry on.....

 

[GangBang Malloy]

Re: Intro for Sy973

nice job on the resto, truck looks like it just came off the showroom floor