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Thread: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

  1. #1

    84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    At the requests of some other members on here I have decided to start a project log on my car. This first post will probably get a little wordy, because the history of the car is pretty interesting so I am going to start with that and then move into where the car was when I bought it, where it is now, and what I have in store for the future.

    First the car:

    Here is basically how she sits now. A low mileage (~45,000 miles) original paint Gold dust 84 GLH. I am the second owner of the car. I bought it from the basically as you see it from the family of the previous owner, as he had passed away. He had used it for a daily driver/weekend autocross car for the first few years of its life, then transformed it into a street prepared machine, and it was basically only used for racing from then on. I have been told that most of the miles that are on this car have been put on it in competition. If you autocrossed in the Midwest in the 90s, it seems there is a good chance you know this car. I live in central Iowa and have met people from Kansas, Chicago, and Minneapolis that remember the car well from back in the day. here are a pics I have been given/found of the car in the glory days of the previous owner.







    Alright now for some info on what I know is done to the car. Lets start under the hood. The motor that is in the car is not the original motor. It is still an NA 2.2, but it has been worked over some. The SCCA class the car was built for doesn't allow a ton or work inside the motor or head. I know there are a set of Keith Black pistons in it, and I suspect it was bored out slightly, but only to negate wear, as according to class rules. It is still the stock cam and no more then some light port and polishing can be done. Intake, exhaust, and ignition are open in this class so it has the Mopar dual downdraft manifold with Weber 32/36 DGAVs on it.





    The exhaust side is a Mopar 4-1 longtube header that goes basically straight into a muffler with a tip at the end. The class rules state that the exhaust must dump out the side or behind the driver, so in the interest of weight it does that and no more.



    The ignition is a Mallory Unilite distributor and a MSD 6-AL box and blaster coil. I have also bought the launch control unit for the box but haven't had the time to get it installed. The box is under the seat and is kind of a mess so I would like to move it and make it more presentable. I work with wiring by trade, so having the wiring in this car messy and unlabeled doesn't sit well with me.





    This combination is good for 120 whp and 134 wtq. Its not a ton, but with so much torque coming on so soon, and only 2,300lbs with driver, it is enough to embarrass much higher powered cars around the cones.



    On to what holds the car up. I will post what suspension came on the car, but it is literally on stands with nothing under it right now, as I wait for new stuff I will talk about later. Up front the car had what I believe were Carrera coilovers with 425lb springs. It also has some home made "camber caster plates" up front that are not adjustable.








    The rears are single adjustable Koni Reds on what appears to be a homemade coilover setup with 500lbs springs.







    Here is the alignment as it sits now. Lots of toe in the front, which works well for what I use the car for. Not enough camber though, which I am working on. This was taken just to get a baseline.



    The wheel and tire package is what really gets people when the first see the car. They are 13x9.25 wheels I believe made by a company called Duralite, that no longer exists. They weigh in right around the 10lbs mark each and are very light weight. I run a full slick on them. In the past they have been 13x9-20 but this year I am stepping up to at 22.5in tall hoosier. The hope is that the extra height will help me have to shift to third less often, which I was doing way too much thanks to extremely short gearing. The wheels are a little wide for the car and really give it an aggressive stance. I am not going to take home any awards at a local StanceNation show however.









    I also have a set of 14in BBS basket weave wheels off of an E30 BMW to drive the car on the street with. The BBS logo is just a magnet as a joke, and I don't drive the car with it normally.



    Interior is mostly stock up front. Everything behind the B pillar has been removed now, mostly to give me a place to put my slicks and tools when I go racing. There is also a 6 point bolt in cage in the car. I hung a fire extinguisher on it by the request of my grandma. Apparently they had a Horizon burn to the ground in the late 80s, and she was concerned for me. What is more racecar then a fire extinguisher though?







    That is about all that has been done to the car. I will throw a few extra pics of interesting stuff and some action shots before I dive into what is to come.

    Here is a sheet from getting my car corner balanced. Obviously the car is extremely nose heavy, but it is as close to perfect from corner to corner as the guy doing it had ever seen. this is with me in the driver seat and about half a tank of gas, which is what I usually autocross with.



    Although the car isn't really setup for it I was talked into taking it to a drag strip once far a test and tune night. With spinning through all of the first 2 gears and missing 4th I was still able to stay ahead of my friends Miata, if only by a small margin. It was probably the slowest and closest race of the night!





    Now for a few shots of the car in action on the course. People love seeing the car run because I am often on only three wheels around every corner. It is definitely a ride they don't forget when they ride with me.







    The Ten Tenths watermark on the bottom of that picture is from a podcast that my friends and I do. I have to throw in a shameless plug for it, so check us out on iTunes and at www.tententhspodcast.com

    I almost forgot my vanity plate. I can't claim being creative enough for coming up with it. It was on the car before I got it and I was able to transfer it to my name.



    Continued in second post!

  2. #2

    84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    - - - Updated - - -

    Alright so for things I have cooking now. Recently I pulled all the suspension off of the car to have them shock dynoed only to discover that one of the fronts had developed a hole and the oil had all drained out. You could push and pull the shaft in and out with no resistance. Rather then rebuild a setup I wasn't terribly fond of due to lack of adjustability, I decided it was time for an upgrade! After some researching I settled on ordering BC Racing Suspension's ER line for the srt-4 and the adapters to fit them on the L-body from Rich Bryant. I know that you can swap a few parts and make the fronts basically bolt on, but I didn't want to deal with finding those parts this close to season start. I also don't want to move to the 5 lug front, and I don't think that the brakes will clear my 13in wheels. I don't have pics for this stuff yet. They were just ordered last week, so I will update when they arrive. Here is what the shock looked like when I pulled it off the car.





    The last, and probably most interesting part I have in the pipeline is the Magnusson Type 80 supercharger setup I bought on Ebay this winter. The setup came off a car that was supposedly built by Shelby and Paul Rossi for drag racing in the early 80s. I have a love for very odd parts, and the stories behind them, so I couldn't resist buying this.



    It fits on the car perfectly, other then my shock tower brace doesn't clear it. I got a larger 40/40 DCNF Weber from a friend to go on this, as I doubt that the 32/36 will be enough. I will have to cut a hole in the hood to clear the carb, so I am on the hunt for a different one.



    This is the valve cover that came with it. It has been shaved down to clear the blower, and I think it also used to say TURBO on it. I am thinking about trying to match the font and have a friend print a sticker that says BLOWN instead. We'll see how that goes.



    Here is the cam and blower pulleys bolted together. I am hoping this setup won't destroy cam bearings, but I guess we will see.





    I got this sweet little period corrcect boost gauge at a local swap meet. New in package for $10! People should go to more swap meets.



    I have just a small list of parts I still need before I am ready to get it running with this. I still need a water pump and timing belt kit, AFR gauge, rebuild kit for the carb, and a better fuel regulator. I think the blower will make about 7psi based off the highly scientific method of there being a 7 stamped on the pulley. i believe my motor is slightly higher compression then stock, and with boost on top of that I am not sure the motor will stay together, especially since I run it at redline for extended periods of time. It may be a bad way of looking at it but I have 2 extra 782 turbo heads and a complete NA motor, so if I blow it up I blow it up. It will just make this build thread more interesting. Stay tuned for more!
    Last edited by adamn; 03-25-2016 at 09:29 PM.

  3. #3
    Hybrid booster
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    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    Bad a$& build
    subscribed

  4. #4
    Garrett booster
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    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    love the cage.. can you provide any details
    more pictures would be great too

  5. #5
    Hybrid booster
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    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    That is a cool little project.

  6. #6
    Garrett booster
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    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    This will be fun to see, very cool.

    Subscribed

  7. #7

    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    Quote Originally Posted by fixit View Post
    love the cage.. can you provide any details
    more pictures would be great too
    I think it was made by autopower. I will get a few more detailed pics next time I'm working on the car.

  8. #8
    Rhymes with tortoise. Turbo Mopar Staff cordes's Avatar
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    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    In on one. Thanks a ton for putting in the time to post pics and the car's story. I love it.

  9. #9
    Hybrid booster
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    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    Subscribed

    Looks great

  10. #10
    boostaholic
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    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    Very cool!
    If your still on factory shifter parts, look into this kit.
    http://www.greatlakeshotrod.com/Grea..._For_Sale.html

  11. #11
    Supporting Member Turbo Mopar Contributor 2.216VTurbo's Avatar
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    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    This should be a sticky as an example of how to do a build thread, great write up and pics I know Gold Dust is the rarest GLH color, any idea how many? 84 only or 85 too?

    AJ (no More Alan) 84 Rampage RT TIII/568 Quaife 87 GLHS dealer optioned Red 16V Masi/568/Quaife
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  12. #12
    turbo addict
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    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    i think I know this car from when I went to the SCCA autocross in Kansas. See this photo?...the bar the red arrows are pointing to. Have a good shot of that? Does it tie the front of the k-frame together? If so it is like mine and I bought mine from the guy that owned this car before.
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    Great stuff for great cars! Poly engine mounts and bushings at: http://www.polybushings.com

  13. #13

    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny View Post
    i think I know this car from when I went to the SCCA autocross in Kansas. See this photo?...the bar the red arrows are pointing to. Have a good shot of that? Does it tie the front of the k-frame together? If so it is like mine and I bought mine from the guy that owned this car before.
    Do you remeber the guy's name? The previous owner was Bart Holden. I have a few pics of it at its attachment point in my large pile of saved pics of the car. This will show how little I know about these cars outside of my own, but I thought it was stock.




  14. #14

    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    Quote Originally Posted by 2.216VTurbo View Post
    This should be a sticky as an example of how to do a build thread, great write up and pics I know Gold Dust is the rarest GLH color, any idea how many? 84 only or 85 too?
    I once found the totals but I don't remember where I found them or what they were. I do remember that there are more Veryons then there are Gold Dust GLHs lol. This will sound like heresy, but I really kinda hate the color.

  15. #15
    turbo addict
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    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    Do you remeber the guy's name? The previous owner was Bart Holden.
    I did now that you wrote the name down...thats him!
    I loved the idea on his car and he said he would make me one...and he did and sent it to me.
    GREAT addition to the car.
    Great stuff for great cars! Poly engine mounts and bushings at: http://www.polybushings.com

  16. #16

    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny View Post
    I did now that you wrote the name down...thats him!
    I loved the idea on his car and he said he would make me one...and he did and sent it to me.
    GREAT addition to the car.
    Well you have/will be making his car better too. I have your engine and tranny mounts, and will probably be ordering some stuff for the coilovers, as recommended by Rich. I love hearing all the far reaching stories of Bart and this car!

  17. #17
    Garrett booster
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    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    very interesting !!!

  18. #18
    turbo addict
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    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    this is awesome! I just posted in the show off your l-body thread, so thank you so much for a build thread, frickin awesome! any idea on the offset of the wheels though?

  19. #19

    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    Quote Originally Posted by OmniLuvr View Post
    this is awesome! I just posted in the show off your l-body thread, so thank you so much for a build thread, frickin awesome! any idea on the offset of the wheels though?
    I saw your post and most of your questions are answered here. I'll see if I can measure backspacing at least.

  20. #20

    Re: 84 GLH Autocross Build- Pic Heavy

    I have a small update! Got my new slicks for the season. Went with a taller tire this year, 22.5in vs 20in, in hopes that my gearing will be a little better. Hoosier had a sale going so I got these for $90 each. $400 with shipping for $1200 in tires is a good day.






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