The bow tie is a plastic vent thing under the dash in front of the center console. They say removing it improves A/C.

I replaced my clutch cable, lubed the new one within an inch of its life, and adjusted it properly upon installation. Big difference. Lube and adjust everything. Clean the car really good, and I mean at least 3 hours, minimum. You know, glycerin on all the rubber parts, etc. All these things are nearly free and make a big difference.

And I agree that your smartest performance buck is spent at autocross. The car is capable of going WAY WAY faster than you're driving it, probably. We have a couple of drivers around here who can make these cars dance. These are very hard cars to driver properly, but very satisfying. I guess that's why they call them the "drivers' car."

This is a great thread...

I've done a lot of the things alreayd mentioned so I won't repeat them...here are some new ones...

1) Replaced and lubed the bushings on my throttle linkage

2) Threw in a few bottles of TECHRON - HUGE difference

3) Replaced the ground cable on the battery and the ground strap on the transmission. Now the headlights don't go dim when I crank the stereo.

4) Wet Okele seat covers. At $300 per pair, they were much cheaper than recovering the seats in leather and add a nice texture to the interior.

5) Fabricated and installed oil drip shields on my heat exchangers. The cost was about $5 for aluminum sheeting at AutoZone and they stopped the blue smoke from coming into the cabin. I intend to do a write-up shortly on the mod so others can follow suit. But here is a pic of the template positioned on a heat exchanger...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...nExchanger.jpg

And here is the template on its own...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads/template.jpg

"rear wheel spacers (23mm?). SCs' rear wheels look anemic unless you do this or get wider wheels/tires."

Really? I've never contemplated wheel spacers. Am I missing something obvious? I have totally stock SC wheels. Hmmm...would this little mod rock my world?

Thanks,

Urathane wheels mounted to the front tow hooks under the front of my lowered 78 SC. No more grinding going in and out of steep driveways.
Cost for wheels at marine trailer supply, about $15.00
1/2" shoulder bolts for axels, about $5.00
Value- pricless
Jerry

Thanks for the info Re: Bowties. I removed the bow tie and the two plastic diverters on the fresh air vent under the dash on each side and I do think that this improves the AC flow and the fresh air flow.

Jerry,

I sure would like to see those wheels!

ok....good thread makes me think.

- new antenna
- new rear window seal
- near tail light seals
- painted black edge of tail light lenses (free)
- used fuse box + re-wire
- re-do tonnes of electrical(free but frustrating)
- new 911 SC badge
- short shift
- shifter knob
- adjust drivers door, re-mount ect. (big pain)
- new fog light lenses
- adjust fuel mixture (free)
- finally joining PCA
- finally autocrossing
- signing up for PCA drivers ed. $150 CDN = $95 US ( still less than $100 )

i have a tonne of recent mods over $100, actually over 1000. ouch! :eek: Worth every penny! and the list will go on! :D

Here is a photo and quick description of my skid wheels.
A 3/4" piece of chrome moly tubing .125 wall cut to fit between the hooks. Nuts welded on the ends to accept the threaded shoulder bolts. Urathane wheels from marine trailer supply, they actually come in one piece and are cut into 2 pieces. then they are bored out to 1/2" for the shoulder bolts. you don't want to use any wheel larger than 2 7/8"d or you could have a problem steering should you have a flat. You don't want to use a rubber wheel as they wear out to soon or a steel wheel because they make to much noise when they hit. The urathane seems to be the best wheel for good wear and long life.
Jerry

Awesome! Looks like you've already been riding 'em.:)

The city resurfaced the street in front of my house and that changed the angle between the gutter and the street making it steeper so now i hit almost every time i pull into the driveway. These wheels have been on the car for 2-3 years now and are holding up very well.
Jerry

Best cheap mods -- right up my alley! My top 10:

1. Replaced shift linkage bushings -- about $15 -- now I know what gear I'm in.

2. Replaced pedal cluster bushings-- about $20 -- getting the roll pin out was not a problem, getting the stupid pedal off was -- use a torch to heat, lots of Aerokroil.

3. Painted fan, fan shroud, air cleaner assembly and fiberglass air cooling system -- about $10 -- psychological benefit only, makes the engine compartment look nice.

4. New ignition wires -- about $60 from AJUSA -- these work great and can get to match the color of your car.

5. Ducktail spoiler -- $40 at Tweeks swap meet -- brought engine temperature down 10 degrees.

6. Removed all of the side rocker trim and bumper trim before repaint -- zero $ -- gives that early race/rally look.

7. Trunk carpet set -- $50 -- covers up the mess.

8. Converted to dual batteries to single modern 12 V battery -- $39.95 -- KMart, WalMart, etc. work great.

9. Headlight relays -- about $40 -- wow those H4's are bright now -- article in process, pictures coming.

10. 5 point harness -- $75 -- the only way to stay in those old stock seats in the corners.

Rich

Making the wipers park on the passenger side. It's free, and only takes 20 minutes.

Adding a light above the ignition switch that ties into the dome light, and uses one of those 15 second delays. No more fumbling around trying to find the key hole at night.

Removing gauge glass and cleaning /reinstalling.

I LOVE the wheels for skid plate idea! Do they make them in solid rubber? You know, so they don't make that scary sound that makes pedestrians cringe. It might absorb some impact too.

Rich911E,

You've got some great tips.

Describe how you painted your fan, shroud, and air cleaner.
Do you wish you powder coated? What kind of paint did you use?
Any pictures to show off?

Did you get your front carpet kit used? That's a great price.

Stan:

Thanks.

I got the trunk carpet set at Original Fit Interiors. I know some on this board don't like them, but I ordered my carpet set, my trunk set and we put a set of the carrera carpets in KeithO64's RS3.0 replica and the stuff seemed fine to me.

To do the fan, just remove the alternator and fan assembly (undo the strap, tilt out the assy, undo the wires) and then disassemble the fan from the alternator and housing. Sanding takes a while as these have more nooks and crannies than a Thomas' English Muffin. I just painted the fan and shroud with plain old Krylon in a can and it's holding up fine after almost two years. The fan draws in cool air so it never gets terribly hot.

Next time I will use engine enamel on the plastic shroud though because when you shut the engine off the heat just cooks the plain paint. You have to take off the induction system to get the plastic shroud off. Not much of a problem with carbs, but it is a deal with FI. Here is a picture when I was putting it together: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...ter Engine.jpg

Rich

PS: I really like the curb protector wheelie thing -- what a great idea and a good use for old roller skate wheels! This is something Pelican should sell! If it is within one year, you can still file your US patent on it and then you can have a Pelican exclusive. This would also be of interest to anybody with spoilers -- the ricers would buy these things up like crazy.

JMPRO, what would be involved in producing a kit for the urethane wheels? I think you could sell a lot of these.

okay, it's been a while since i checked in on this thread, but it's always nice to see it come back to life.

in the meantime, i wanted to throw a few more out there.

1) just drilled out the airbox on my 3.2 car making it resemble swiss cheese with an oversized drill bit. cost = zero. the change in tone of the car is amazing and if you are into the "music" of the flat six, i suggest you go for it. the induction roar is quite cool and i look forward to doing my smog next week so i can get the cat bypass on for the full deal.

2) hardwired my valentine 1. cost = zero. having the radar detector running of the key is really nice and the lines are all routed under the dash and inside the windshield rubber. took quite a while to do right and wasn't as straight forward as this board would have you think, but the results are fabulous and i don't have the cord breaking up the view out the front windshield. very nice.

3) new shocks/bushings/ball joints/turbo tie rods. cost = more than a little bit. went with bilstien hd in the front and sports in the rear after doing a ton of research and bothering numerous people on this board. also went with a street hardness bushing in the front and an alignment with a degree of camber in the front and about a degree and a half in the rear. after a hard day of driving in napa wine country eating up 2nd and 3rd gear turns i must say that the results are very, very nice. while not a staggering change, the car does take a set much nicer than before.

next question is: should i use the superman broomstick technique or go for a cat bypass by fabiani. i plan on retaining my stock muffler with internal mods to reduce some of the baffling as per Paul Brewer's instructions.

keep it up lo-costers,

david

Jack,because this design only works on the cars w/ tow hooks w/ the slotted hole in it{not sure what years that is} i wouild have to design another one for the older tow hooks of bent rod design. The custom made wheels and all the other fabrication{which i don't want to do} makes it a $100.00 item at retail which really narrows the market and i just figured it was'nt worth it.
If any one wants to run with idea , more power to em{ chuck are you listening} Don't try to lesson the cost by using rubber castor wheels, the axels are to small and the rubber will wear out too soon{ask me how i know} also the wheels sustain a great deal of shock when they come in to contact with the little gully next to the curb and will shatter if the material is hard rubber{ask me how i know}. The urathane works best but roller skate wheels are too small d. and razor wheels are too large .so thats how i came to the boat trailor roller cut into two pieces and bored out for the 1/2" shoulder bolt. I looked around for someone to cast the wheels for me but the min runs and tool cost was too high for a limited item.
Jerry

Plastic Restoration
 

There are a couple of great threads that tell how to improve plastic bits:

There is redying your Heater Knobs. Thanks to Nick Hromyak (nromyak)

And restoring the ignition switch cover. Thanks to John Walker.

Preview:
The only difference, before and after, is the surface heating:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads/key-round.JPG

A lot of good ideas being brought up here, keep them coming.....:)

purchased the Electronic Version of the 911 Workshop Manual, $40, purchased PET6 $40...

I've made alot of sub $100 "improvements" to my car, but the most noticeable and enjoyable was the Swepco 201 in the gearbox! Feels like I rebuilt the tranny and it only took an hour to change the fluid!!!