Boy what a day it has been, and a long one at that.  It all started at
around 10:30 am when I first got up (no I didn't sleep in, I'm just on a
later schedule then most, and it works well to avoid traffic).  By
around Noon I had spent about an hour driving through rain, snow, sleet,
and wind to get about forty or fifty miles south in Provo to meet up
with Dempsey Bowling.  After a short discussion I was off driving
through the snow again following Dempsey's Gold GLH Turbo close behind.
Shortly we arrived at Tom's exhaust shop to get all these exhaust parts
installed that I'd been acquiring over the last few months (some more
recent then others).
        We had some time so we went in Dempsey's GLH to Carles Jr. to get some
grub.  Not a bad little car, or I guess you could say it's one bad
little car :) (hopefully I can line up with him sometime this summer at
RMR - how about it Dempsey?). O, the radar detector was nice, too.
Anyway, by the time we get back Tom has just gotten through all the
other cars in line before me and is ready to start on mine.  It was a
fun experience to watch him work away on all that pre-mandrel-bent pipe
(some of which didn't seem to be bent quite right, but it eventually all
fit), and to see the new exhaust system come together. It was a bit
tight over the rear axle, but it was able to fit.
        I was a bit concerned about how loud it was going to end up being, but
as soon as I started it up I wasn't sure what to think.  It didn't seem
any louder then before, and I actually think it's quieter inside the car
then it was before or at least at idle.  I hit the gas a few times and
it didn't sound much louder then it did before.  We paid the man for his
good work and took it for a short drive around the block.  At first it
didn't seem to much faster then it did before, but I did notice the
turbo spooling up much faster. I was driving relatively lower speeds and
had Dempsey in the car to add some weight (though I'm sure he doesn't
weigh as much as I do).
        I thanked Dempsey for the fun afternoon, and was headed home with the
sun starting to shine through. On the way home I was merging from one
freeway onto another, and that is really a mess with all the
construction going on. I had to take an exit with a 40 adviser speed
that should probably be more like 25 because of the steep drop and sharp
turn that turns into the left hand lane on the other freeway.  As soon
as traffic gave me an opening I merged right hit the gas with it in
second gear and the thing just took off like nothing nothing else
leaving the slow pokes in the left lane behind.  The Mustang directly
behind me tried to keep up, but didn't have much of a chance until I
notice I was going ten over and stop excelerating. The car had never
done that before, and has apparently picked up a lot of mid to high end
power with the less restrictive exhaust (I should have expected that,
but wasn't ready for it.  What a rush).
        I stopped by work for a bit, then headed home again only to run into
more snow, but luckily it just turns out that I was to fast for the snow
as it continued to clear up shortly after I got home. After some dinner,
I jacked the car up, took some pictures, changed the oil, wrapped the
down pipe with header wrap, and used some of what was left over to make
a cushion around the tight areas to reduce rattling noises (it worked
quite well too, and thanks to Dempsey for the idea - he has a few of
them up his sleeve).  I cleaned the car up and did a few other things
here an there to it, put everything away and took a brake for a while.
        Latter that evening I went out to show off my new modifications to my
friends.  My best friend was not only impressed, but jealous that he
hasn't gotten his planed exhaust system put on his car yet. He seemed to
think it was louder, and said there was defiantly a difference in the
turbo response, and the car seemed less effected by his weight then it
had in the past.  Latter that night we headed further North to Ogden to
cruse down the boulevard.  We got in one good race with a 69 Chevy
pickup that was slammed with dual exhaust that was much louder them my
3".  It was a good race, but I over took him both times, and the second
time he even got a head start. For once I was actually getting people to
turn there heads just by reving the engine, were as before I had to
actually show them what it could do before they would believe it to be
race worthy. The few other races I had were almost worthless as I kept
leaving everyone far behind by only accelerating quickly up to the speed
limit, and a lot of their cars that might have been really fast didn't
seem to want to play with me. :( I ended up staying up there much longer
then originally planed as I was having to much fun, but the night was
wearing on, everyone was leaving, and the copes were starting to have
better ratios, so we took off and headed for home.
        Over all I'll have to say that the exhaust is louder over all, but in
some ways it seems quieter, especially inside the car.  The best part is
the lower tone and the sound the Dynomax Race muffler (glorified glass
pack as Dempsey put it) gave it (I wish I could remember how my friend
put it, but was basically describing a typical glass pack type sound),
but I wouldn't mind it being a little louder at idle.  It sounds a lot
more muscle y, and rightly so, as it has made a definite improvement.
So the sound is good and not to loud, the turbo spools faster giving the
car a much better throttle response at low RPMs, the mid and high power
range is much improved and likely were the biggest power gain is.
        Next up, I've got to get some gages so I can know exactly what going on
to help me tune the fuel system how I need it to be so I can up the
boost some. A BOV would be a good idea at this point too, and I'm
thinking an under drive pulley and some suspension work would also be
good at this point.  Hopefully I can get those things and a few other
odds and ends done over the next month and a half.

--
Späldàm - http://[onward.to/spaldam]
88 Daytona Shelby Z TII T-Tops
K&N "Cone" Filter  RU 09-10
3" Full Exhaust Just installed 8-) - SLC, UT