When we purchased the car it had an Auto Thority Stage I chip set. We traded it in for a Stage II set. We added a K&N air filter to replace the stock air box. Next we removed the Catalytic Converter and welded in a straight section of pipe in its place.

The engine originally produces 247 horsepower and 258 ft. pounds of torque. We hoped we were now in the honest 275 range.

We drove the car like this until we had an unfortunate failure in May 1998 at Hallet. At the track we discovered an unusual ticking noise while bringing the throttle up. Several opinions ranged from the cam timing belt hitting the cover to a cracked piston skirt. We began to tear into it to eventually discover the #2 rod bearing was failing. We caught it early enough that it didn't spin or damage the crankshaft.

Seemed like this might be an opportunity to do some additional things upon the rebuild. See the update sections.