Okay, being a newbee, and edjucating myself withh all this info, just a few Q's for my 88' gxl 5spd, Whats the diff & pro's -n- cons between a j-spec and a local block, rebuilt. the car still has the original exhaust sys on it, wish to change it out next year. Kinda leaning to full exhaust, but without the cats.... hee hee, opinions? I like the car, wish to work onit, nuthin like a hwy leagal go cart, but, i dont want the veichle turn into a pocket burner in the wallet either

 

Virtually all the j-specs are turbos. They have about 30k miles on them versus a fresh rebuild. The key is getting the rebuild from someone who knows what they're doing.

 

I don't see a point in getting a J-spec really unless you want a cheap engine. And ya, I have only seen turbo J-specs ever. With a rebuild you can have it ported or put bigger apex seals in, whatever. And if its a good place they can do anything you want really. I would definitely go with a rebuild. Why do you say you need a new engine anyways?

 

motor has 113k on it, and I had no doings to that milage, so i really do not have an established relationship with the motor, if you know what i mean, so, in the future, id like to put a rebuild in it, become one with the fresh triangles, etc. I know it, it knows me, my habits. With a weathered block and my habits, very unpredictable results........ especially with that many miles on it. Another Q, can some one direct me to info in regards to the 6 port deelee-o? hee hee, need to edjucate thy self, and.... what other crap can i pull off (smog crap, etc.) to put this beast to basics? any ideas?

 

Hi...

I have an '86 GXL and I've done most of thie things that you are thinking about. It has made the car more fun to drive as it's got more zip! I haven't gone too nuts yet but winter is coming and I'll have some downtime to burn more holes in my wallet. What I've done so far is economical and preventative measures to ensure the car is solid when I (or you) finally go crazy.

-Took out main and pre-cats (3 in total) and straight piped it from the exhaust manifold to the catback. This made the car louder but also gave it more top end. I lost some low end due to the 6-ports not opening. I currently run stock exhaust and mufflers but you should change yours out as I will soon.

- Rigged the airpump to blow open my 6 ports at 3k rpm. Do a forum search on "6 port" and narrow your search to the 2nd gen specific. There are many different ways to activate your 6-ports without backpressure from your exhaust.

--Electric Fan. I found on even slightly warm days my engine had to spin that heavy plastic fan around. It made a noise I didn't relate to performance and slowed me down considerably. I removed it along with all the plastic shroud and parts that went along with it. Save wieght (not much) and have one less accessory running off the engine.

--Air Intake. I took out the airbox and associated plastic stuff and put in an HKS SuperMegaFlow. Any conical intake will do fine. I also built (with help) a cold air box around the open element intake to prtect it from engine heat. So far I have not plumbed in fresh air from another source but it's on the list.

Hopefully this will help you get some ideas on what route you want to take when beefing up your GXL.



--Mike

 

I am not sure but I thought the 5th & 6th ports opened for top-end? Just correct me so I know. Thanks.

 

Sorry, I'm posting from work so I get many distractions.

I need to correct. I had two problems:

At first my 5-6 ports were stuck closed after years of possible neglect. So, in that case I was losing top end. After I fixed them and ran them from the airpump, my pump was too strong and they blew open right away. In that case I lost low-end.

The extra ports are for TOP END but they need to be actuated properly for you to recieve that top end power. I've heard up to 25-30hp can be lost.

I've had a couple different problems with my 6-port actuation and I sorta blended them into one that didn't make sense.

Thanks for pointing out my mistake. No point in trying to help someone if my info is wrong


--Mike

 

No problem. All those problems is why I am just getting the modified header that opens the ports by itself.