Celerity
Well-Known Member
yeah yeah... ttiwop.
Ever have bologne and cheese sandwiches every day for lunch ? One day you're eating it, and you just stop. The thought of another bologne and cheese sandwich makes your stomach turn. You don't hate it, but you're just sick of it.
Well I was wrenching on what must be my 1000th D series engine, when I just dropped the tool and couldn't do it anymore. I mean, I don't mind the engine, but It's gotten stagnant. I needed a break. Something different. If you only do one thing forever, you wind up just... you know... stagnant.
Anyway I was trying for a Lotus about a month ago. I was looking at 1987 Lotus Esprit turbos. I found a few on Ebay and bid away.
I found one in Rhode Island, good mileage, ok shape - good price (So far). I called him up and asked to look at it. He agreed and I told him I would go that weekend.
Well I call Friday night and he says "My friend listing the ad said it was a bad idea to have someone look at it from Ebay." He then told me that it was reserved at 12,000. So I just went ahead and dropped 12k on the bid.
Nothing. 12,001. Nothing. 12,200. Nothing. Lied.
Oh well, but hey, I figure, since I got the bug up my ass to buy a new, lemme look around at some C4 vettes.
I find a few that I like, and two or so that I Want to look at. They aren't great prices, but they are decent. $8000 or so for cheap, $12,000 for ones with low miles. Rare 6 speed or 4+3. But I'm looking through the bargain news (Connecticut Used Cars for Sale and CT Classified Ads from the Bargain News) and I find "1976 Cosworth Vega".
A few months I almost bought a Cosworth that was in pieces. I was going to do it, but I thought better of it because I had no clue what a Cosworth engine was like, and didn't want to put all that effort into building a potentially garbage motor. But lemme call up and go test drive this.
So I showed up and test drove it - no intention on buying. But I bought it anyway.
No pics of mine yet, but here are some pics of like cars on the web:
I expect none of you to appreciate this car, but I really don't care
It's a 1976, with 25,000 original miles on it. It's been sitting in a garage for 25 years, and the guy I bought it off of bought it, redid the seals, gas tank, brakes and suspension with the hopes of keeping it. But he walks with 2 canes and can't handle the 100lbs clutch and the 120lbs brake. So he had to sell it in favor of an automatic. So he did the hard stuff, I get to finish up the body. The body is rust free but it's scratched to shit from people shuffling things around the garage and putting boxes on the paint. The interior is white (Which I hate) but it's all mint. It's # 2561, and it's the 10th to last one to ever be made.
And I will make it a daily driver. The car is much like a fully laden 240SX with an un-built SR20DET under the hood. It handles VERY well (Like, third gen supra well) and it's a bear to drive. It's got a reverse H shifter (1,2,3,4,5,r = r,1,2,3,4,5) and manual everything. It's got the smell of muscle car, and the long hood of one too. But that's my roots, that's the kind of car I can drive.
And drive this car does. Hoooooly shit. Unleash the anger of a Cosworth 4 banger sometime.. you'll be glad you did.
The engine may seem a bit outdated (It's a 1976 electronic fuel injection, and instead of a computer it has a few small tubes and is tuned using an oscilloscope) but it's the same exact engine that's used in the Cosworth Fords from the racing program. 2.0 liters of handmade, high toleranced fun. It gets about 25 mpg from what I can tell so far, and it's a real barn burner.
As a hint of what it's capable of, this engine is the precursor of the same engine in the GIS 2 Escort, sans turbo.
Pics of mine will be going up this weekend, when I take them. Right now I've been too busy wrenching on it and undoing the stupid shit that the guy before me did. Like cracking the brand new fucking gas tank.
Plans ? Resto mod. lowered with lakewood springs and struts. Lakewood brakes and the Camaro / S-10 hub upgrade. Points distributor converted to HEI converted to MSD via Mallory. Fan removal and installation of dual 24" electric fans on dual-core radiator. Oil cooler and air intake upgrades (It's got dual throttle bodies, so I'll do some motorcycle tricks). HID Headlight conversion, complete dashboard re-arrangment and new sound system. Followup with a new center console, some chrome lighting and a PDA stealth mounted somewhere. I may consider fiberglass body parts to address it's piggy 3500 lbs fat ass.
And maybe I'll grow a Mullet
-> Steve
Ever have bologne and cheese sandwiches every day for lunch ? One day you're eating it, and you just stop. The thought of another bologne and cheese sandwich makes your stomach turn. You don't hate it, but you're just sick of it.
Well I was wrenching on what must be my 1000th D series engine, when I just dropped the tool and couldn't do it anymore. I mean, I don't mind the engine, but It's gotten stagnant. I needed a break. Something different. If you only do one thing forever, you wind up just... you know... stagnant.
Anyway I was trying for a Lotus about a month ago. I was looking at 1987 Lotus Esprit turbos. I found a few on Ebay and bid away.
I found one in Rhode Island, good mileage, ok shape - good price (So far). I called him up and asked to look at it. He agreed and I told him I would go that weekend.
Well I call Friday night and he says "My friend listing the ad said it was a bad idea to have someone look at it from Ebay." He then told me that it was reserved at 12,000. So I just went ahead and dropped 12k on the bid.
Nothing. 12,001. Nothing. 12,200. Nothing. Lied.
Oh well, but hey, I figure, since I got the bug up my ass to buy a new, lemme look around at some C4 vettes.
I find a few that I like, and two or so that I Want to look at. They aren't great prices, but they are decent. $8000 or so for cheap, $12,000 for ones with low miles. Rare 6 speed or 4+3. But I'm looking through the bargain news (Connecticut Used Cars for Sale and CT Classified Ads from the Bargain News) and I find "1976 Cosworth Vega".
A few months I almost bought a Cosworth that was in pieces. I was going to do it, but I thought better of it because I had no clue what a Cosworth engine was like, and didn't want to put all that effort into building a potentially garbage motor. But lemme call up and go test drive this.
So I showed up and test drove it - no intention on buying. But I bought it anyway.
No pics of mine yet, but here are some pics of like cars on the web:
I expect none of you to appreciate this car, but I really don't care
It's a 1976, with 25,000 original miles on it. It's been sitting in a garage for 25 years, and the guy I bought it off of bought it, redid the seals, gas tank, brakes and suspension with the hopes of keeping it. But he walks with 2 canes and can't handle the 100lbs clutch and the 120lbs brake. So he had to sell it in favor of an automatic. So he did the hard stuff, I get to finish up the body. The body is rust free but it's scratched to shit from people shuffling things around the garage and putting boxes on the paint. The interior is white (Which I hate) but it's all mint. It's # 2561, and it's the 10th to last one to ever be made.
And I will make it a daily driver. The car is much like a fully laden 240SX with an un-built SR20DET under the hood. It handles VERY well (Like, third gen supra well) and it's a bear to drive. It's got a reverse H shifter (1,2,3,4,5,r = r,1,2,3,4,5) and manual everything. It's got the smell of muscle car, and the long hood of one too. But that's my roots, that's the kind of car I can drive.
And drive this car does. Hoooooly shit. Unleash the anger of a Cosworth 4 banger sometime.. you'll be glad you did.
The engine may seem a bit outdated (It's a 1976 electronic fuel injection, and instead of a computer it has a few small tubes and is tuned using an oscilloscope) but it's the same exact engine that's used in the Cosworth Fords from the racing program. 2.0 liters of handmade, high toleranced fun. It gets about 25 mpg from what I can tell so far, and it's a real barn burner.
As a hint of what it's capable of, this engine is the precursor of the same engine in the GIS 2 Escort, sans turbo.
Pics of mine will be going up this weekend, when I take them. Right now I've been too busy wrenching on it and undoing the stupid shit that the guy before me did. Like cracking the brand new fucking gas tank.
Plans ? Resto mod. lowered with lakewood springs and struts. Lakewood brakes and the Camaro / S-10 hub upgrade. Points distributor converted to HEI converted to MSD via Mallory. Fan removal and installation of dual 24" electric fans on dual-core radiator. Oil cooler and air intake upgrades (It's got dual throttle bodies, so I'll do some motorcycle tricks). HID Headlight conversion, complete dashboard re-arrangment and new sound system. Followup with a new center console, some chrome lighting and a PDA stealth mounted somewhere. I may consider fiberglass body parts to address it's piggy 3500 lbs fat ass.
And maybe I'll grow a Mullet
-> Steve
