fasteddiewick1548534718 Posted March 21, 2007 Posted March 21, 2007 In my long road in trying to get a car ready for CMC. I have ended up with two cars. A 94 camaro and 95 firebird. Based on your guys advice in the past, I think I am going to build up the firebird with the good cage and just the rebuilt the bad motor. Since I will be parting out the camaro to get some money out of it. Should I hang on the to trans or any other portion of the car/motor/TPI for future fixes or repairs? How well do the tannys hold up? Base on your experience, what would you keep or would you sell it all. All the parts are in good condition. Thank you, Ed Quote
Keith Posted March 21, 2007 Posted March 21, 2007 I am heading into my 4th year running my 1995 Firebird. I am the 4th owner of the car and the 3rd owner to race it. It has about 111,000 miles on the original motor and original transmission. Best I can tell, the valve covers, intake, etc. have never been off of the engine. With this car, I have never missed a session or lap to any issues. I am not the fastest guy out there but with the weight of the car and my driving style, I think I make a respectable showing with the old girl. Problems - engine oil temp shoots up past 300 degrees (buried) by lap 2 and stays there until the cooldown lap. Fix: act worried and change the 20w50 every two race weekends. Tranny - 3rd gear feels pretty worn and the tranny could use a rebuild. Usable and not an excuse for poor laps times so I am dealing with it. What I am doing: I've always figured that the engine was going to die and it hasn't for three years, I've been looking for a spare engine for a decent price with a known history (hard to get confirmed history on a used engine). I pick up my spare engine up this weekend. I have no plans to do anything with this engine - it is a spare for both my CMC car and my daily driver. I gotta believe that the tranny is on borrowed time. Now that I have a spare engine, I will passively watch the f-body boards looking for a tranny. However, in this case, I would prefer to get a new or rebuilt tranny with a better 5th gear ratio. A 0.74 (IIRC) 5th gear is too tall. If you know the condition and usability of the engine, tranny, etc. of your spare car, have a place that you can store it without it deterioring too badly and don't need the money from parting it out, I'd say keep it. It could keep you from buying replacement parts in a rush and possibly get some junk. I guess what I am saying is that my LT1 car has been dead reliable and I have run with virtually no spares. Even so, I decided to buy a spare engine and plan to buy a spare tranny so I don't have to get them in the future in a rush. Quote
mitchntx1548534714 Posted March 21, 2007 Posted March 21, 2007 At CMC power levels, you will not be taxing the driveline. I have driveline spares thinking it would be necessary and it isn't. I should probably start liquidating this stuff myself. People are fetching ridiculous prices on T56s swaps (pedals, clutch, bell housing trans). And if the trans is a M29 (from a '93) it get's stupid expensive. KeithO ... want my freshly rebuilt M29? One thing ... it is getting really hard to find a set of unmolested LT1 aluminum heads. Lloyd Elliott has scarfed up hundreds of head sets and worked his magic on them. And, according to the rules, a set of iron LT1 heads are not an option as they didn't come in F-Cars. So, you might consider keeping the heads and intake. Quote
y5e06 Posted March 21, 2007 Posted March 21, 2007 don't know history on your two cars but my experience with body damage on my firebird I've discovered it is harder to find fenders, hoods, bits and pieces (for reasonable racer's price) than it is for camaros. The Chevys are everywhere. A decent part or two for the bird can be harder to find if you ever have an incident. So if no other reason, it might be easier in the long run to do the camaro instead. Not to mention Mitch and I (both 'birds) seem to have a bit harder time getting down to minimum weight than the camaros in our region. dunno what real story to that is. maybe firebirds weigh a bit more? maybe we didn't try hard enough. If you're not hurting for cash and you have the space, why not keep some spares? When/if you do need 'em you'll wish you still had them. so, um, how much do you want for your extra trans... Morgan (the pack rat) Quote
ls168camaro Posted March 21, 2007 Posted March 21, 2007 What is special about the 93 model M29 trans and how much do they sell for? By the way Mitch you need to buy that trailer then call me about your old rig. Bryan Quote
Keith Posted March 21, 2007 Posted March 21, 2007 I believe the M29 has a deeper 5th gear, maybe 0.83 or 0.84... I really am maxed out on stuff right now. I just ordered a set of (slightly used) Hoosiers for my non-CMC car, bought an engine and bought 2 more sets of 4th gen wheels all in the last 4 weeks (not to mention another Firebird). I think I need therapy to stop all of this. ...OK, what are you asking for the M29, Mitch? Quote
mitchntx1548534714 Posted March 21, 2007 Posted March 21, 2007 A bazillion rubles ... but for you, 1/2 a bazillion ... I've "watched" M6s for LT1s on eBay for for as little as 1200 and as high as 2000 dollars. It's insane! Coupling the M29 with a T2R 3.73 gear would be an awesome combo. Quote
Lady in Nomex Posted March 21, 2007 Posted March 21, 2007 I would definitely keep the body pieces (bumpers, rear quarters, fenders and doors): some are same for the Camaro and Firebird, some are different. I'd stockpile for what I am running. Spare engine, computer, rear, radiator and trans are great, if there is a problem there is no down time, just swap in. I am running the 3.73s and a T2R, very nice combo. Launches like a rocket! Quote
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