I got the mufflers on last night. The car is so quiet now, all I hear is the rustle of valve train noise. I can actually hear gear lash noise in the transmission that I never heard before. I think the next step is to pay a pro to fabricate the new down pipes to replace the turbo header and down pipe. It has Dutra duals on it. Any recommendation on pipe size coming off the Dutra duals? I may post this question on the engine section.

The low first gear of the t-5 feels much more correct with the NA engine. It seems to work the engine just about right for its HP and torque curve. That gear ratio felt much to low (high ratio) when it was a turbo.

Greg I am sure you will get yours to work right. And maybe I could have gotten this turbo application to work with time. I was just tired of it. This slant is such a nice engine as an NA engine. As I said before, I am in love with the car once again. One of the problems with the slant, in my opinion, is that most folks wanted them to be something other than what they are, which is a practical, namite, run forever, strong as a bull, flexible toque loaded little power plant. . I intend to love it for what it is rather than make apologies for the fact that it is not a V-8.

Sam

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Took off the bumpers, grill and fenders to remove the inter-cooler and patch all the holes I had made in things to route the inter-cooler plumbing, and am awaiting the replacement hood hinges to arrive from Reed (thanks Man) so I can start putting it back together. UPS says they will get here tomorrow evening. I hope I remember how this all goes back together. I usually push the bolts and screws from such a project into a piece of cardboard and label them. This time I just sorted them into a couple of ice cube trays hoping my old brain doesn't fail me when it is time to reassemble. The last step then is on to the exhaust shop.

It is tough to take a running car and pull it all apart. Having the fenders off really destroys the illusion of the car. It looks like it sould be sitting in a junk yard right now. Oh, SORRY, "recycling yard". I'm showing my age again. I will remain on edge until it is back together. I told my wife if something were to happen to me before it went back together she would likely just have to call in the junk man. She said, "That would be the least of my concerns". Sweet lady!

Sam

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