Here are some updates...
After 3 weeks of waiting and emails, 6LE Designs wasn't able to supply me the Miro 111 wheels I ordered from them. I ended up getting a refund last week so all is good there. My new plan in regards to the wheels is ordering a set of Forgestar F14 wheels from Strano Performance. They're off of work through the first week of January so no orders are going there. We'll see what happens on this subject in a few weeks.
This week I had a funny issue pop up. Wednesday was by far one of the coldest days in Chicago since owning this car. While on my way to work, my engine decided to overheat. I pulled over right away, let the car cool down while eating breakfast/coffee. After that happened, I have driven the car back and forth to work but haven't had any issue since. What's odd is that I've actually had a problem with the engine not getting up to temperature since owning it.
After this popped up I searched around some places online, then decided to call a Performance Shop called Straightline Performance in Joliet, IL. After explaining my experience, the owner Nick was pretty much thinking that the thermostat has probably been stuck open since I've owned it but probably, by random chance, got stuck closed the other day when it was extremely cold. His explanation was pretty logical. After talking, what he said they could do is flush the engine, run some water in the engine, flush the engine again and replace the thermostat. Normally this is something I would want to do myself but considering how viciously cold it is, I've decided to take it into their shop.
While on the phone with the owner Nick, I decided to ask how much labor would cost for them to install headers and exhaust. It pretty much came down to $850 labor for installing headers, exhaust and dyno tune. Considering the crappy Flowmaster catback exhaust rusted and fell off a few months after buying this car, I decided to pull the trigger on buying a Hooker Blackheart mid-length header and full exhaust kit. I'm pretty excited about this kit as it's supposed to have great ground clearance, converts to dual exhaust with an x pipe, and is a full stainless design.
After purchasing the full exhaust kit, I also decided to order a Mighty Mouse catch can kit. I'm going to order a set of polyurethane engine mounts over this weekend as well.
One thing I'm kind of wary about in all the excitement of new parts is that there's a couple bad reviews about work quality for this shop on some other forums. I looked at some of the other shops in my area, and found a couple negative reviews with places such as Speed Inc and Modern Muscle as well. In an opposing argument, these places also have positive reviews out there so I'm kind of at odds with choice as I've never dealt with any places in "LS world". This is my first time sending any car I've ever owned out to a shop for modification/maintenance/repair. We'll have to see what comes of it.
Anyways, enough rambling for me. Here's some show 'n' tell of the Hooker Blackheart Exhaust kit I got in the mail today...
Hooker Blackheart exhaust for ‘98 Trans Am by
Jonathon Randolph, on Flickr
Hooker Blackheart exhaust for ‘98 Trans Am by
Jonathon Randolph, on Flickr
Hooker Blackheart exhaust for ‘98 Trans Am by
Jonathon Randolph, on Flickr
Hooker Blackheart exhaust for ‘98 Trans Am by
Jonathon Randolph, on Flickr
Hooker Blackheart exhaust for ‘98 Trans Am by
Jonathon Randolph, on Flickr