Hi all, I've never actually made a post here before but now that I'm a few months into absolutely ruining owning my first L67 car (3rd 3800, but the others were NA) I'd make a thread.
This is my '03 Park Avenue Ultra. It was a christmas gift from my buddy Tyler who bought it at an auction for, IIRC, $800. It's got 218k miles on it and has every available option except for the HUD and rear-seat mirror/visor thingies.
As soon as I got it I did:
* Upper rad hose
* Coolant elbows (metal)
* Felpro LIM gasket
* SC snout oil (coupler was in good shape)
* All new vacuum lines
* Plugs
* Wires
* VC gaskets
* Front wheel bearings
* sway bar end links
* Front motor mount
* Oil change
* Water pump gasket
* Oil pressure sender
* Fuel filter
* Pads and rotors all around
* Front and rear exhaust manifold gaskets
* Replaced blown speakers in the rear deck
* Probably some other stuff
In the following months I also did the lower radiator hose (far more of a bitch than it should be, really) and EGR pipe.
As far as modifications/nonstandard parts:
Tuned with HPTuners for E85
ZZP 3.4" pulley
Front motor mount made from a 1984 Buick Cenury (?) sway bar end link and some hockey pucks
Replaced the flaking-chrome stock wheels with some cheap MSWs in the same size. The stockers are sitting in my shop now waiting for a muriatic acid bath to remove the chrome, followed by some silver paint.
Hilariously oversized 10" android radio so I can have Torque on my dashboard. Will go back to stock eventually when I find a good condition OEM radio to go back in.
Knocked all the PVC baffles out of the stock airbox for a more enjoyable aural experience, and cold-start vacuum cleaner noises
So for power we really just have a tune, pulley, and corn fuel.
And it works.
I was getting 10psi with no KR and about 110% IDC by the time we hit redline. Usable? Yes. I wouldn't beat on it endlessly but it's probably the absolute cheapest way to wring some additional power out of one of these. Sadly something seems to be up with my bypass actuator or *something* and I'm maxing out at 8PSI now. So... stock boost levels again. Boo. It scoots to 60 in 7 seconds dead with a lame-ass launch which is... okay for a 4,000 pig of a car. I believe stock is 8 seconds. I'd like my 10psi back, I may yoink a junkyard actuator and see if I have any better luck. I took the solenoid out of the equation and that made absolutely no difference.
Some fun things I've found in this car:
* Finger-tight trans pan bolts causing ATF to leak
* Bolts put back in the wrong places on the alternator bracket, punching a hole through the valve cover
* Some finger-tight LIM bolts
* Finger tight bolts on the alternator brace and EVAP valve mount
* The most trashed air shocks and pump I've ever seen
* Random 300w $20 garbage 6x9s in the rear deck
* Car jacked up forward of the front jack points, crushing the pinch welds and making the front fenders bow out
* Rotational play in the steering column, which is a new one. I guess there's a plastic u-joint that can go bad that isn't replaceable. Not looking forward to swapping a column in this car.
So that's about where I'm at with this thing.
I'll try to update this thread as I do stuff. I like having an easily-browsable build log.
If you prefer watching an idiot yammer into a camera I have a video playlist of my ownership with this car:
This is my '03 Park Avenue Ultra. It was a christmas gift from my buddy Tyler who bought it at an auction for, IIRC, $800. It's got 218k miles on it and has every available option except for the HUD and rear-seat mirror/visor thingies.
As soon as I got it I did:
* Upper rad hose
* Coolant elbows (metal)
* Felpro LIM gasket
* SC snout oil (coupler was in good shape)
* All new vacuum lines
* Plugs
* Wires
* VC gaskets
* Front wheel bearings
* sway bar end links
* Front motor mount
* Oil change
* Water pump gasket
* Oil pressure sender
* Fuel filter
* Pads and rotors all around
* Front and rear exhaust manifold gaskets
* Replaced blown speakers in the rear deck
* Probably some other stuff
In the following months I also did the lower radiator hose (far more of a bitch than it should be, really) and EGR pipe.
As far as modifications/nonstandard parts:
Tuned with HPTuners for E85
ZZP 3.4" pulley
Front motor mount made from a 1984 Buick Cenury (?) sway bar end link and some hockey pucks
Replaced the flaking-chrome stock wheels with some cheap MSWs in the same size. The stockers are sitting in my shop now waiting for a muriatic acid bath to remove the chrome, followed by some silver paint.
Hilariously oversized 10" android radio so I can have Torque on my dashboard. Will go back to stock eventually when I find a good condition OEM radio to go back in.
Knocked all the PVC baffles out of the stock airbox for a more enjoyable aural experience, and cold-start vacuum cleaner noises
So for power we really just have a tune, pulley, and corn fuel.
And it works.
I was getting 10psi with no KR and about 110% IDC by the time we hit redline. Usable? Yes. I wouldn't beat on it endlessly but it's probably the absolute cheapest way to wring some additional power out of one of these. Sadly something seems to be up with my bypass actuator or *something* and I'm maxing out at 8PSI now. So... stock boost levels again. Boo. It scoots to 60 in 7 seconds dead with a lame-ass launch which is... okay for a 4,000 pig of a car. I believe stock is 8 seconds. I'd like my 10psi back, I may yoink a junkyard actuator and see if I have any better luck. I took the solenoid out of the equation and that made absolutely no difference.
Some fun things I've found in this car:
* Finger-tight trans pan bolts causing ATF to leak
* Bolts put back in the wrong places on the alternator bracket, punching a hole through the valve cover
* Some finger-tight LIM bolts
* Finger tight bolts on the alternator brace and EVAP valve mount
* The most trashed air shocks and pump I've ever seen
* Random 300w $20 garbage 6x9s in the rear deck
* Car jacked up forward of the front jack points, crushing the pinch welds and making the front fenders bow out
* Rotational play in the steering column, which is a new one. I guess there's a plastic u-joint that can go bad that isn't replaceable. Not looking forward to swapping a column in this car.
So that's about where I'm at with this thing.
I'll try to update this thread as I do stuff. I like having an easily-browsable build log.
If you prefer watching an idiot yammer into a camera I have a video playlist of my ownership with this car:
