Vader's Heart:

This is what the motor used to look like under Vader's hood shortly after I got it.  It was in dire need of a good cleaning for sure.  The motor was pretty much stock with the exception of the modifications I listed on page one of my site. Nothing special besides it being a 350. :)

I cleaned up inside the engine bay not long ago because Vader has been out on the show circuit. Not completely clean, but cleaner than it was. When the motor get redone, that'll be when the major clean-up will take place. These are some updated photos of Vader's heart...

New for the 2007 show circuit and to help make Vader faster on the street and strip there have been some changes. You can see the in-progress pictures on the Modifications page. This is the finished product of this go 'round of modifications to Vader.

Nice and pretty...nice and powerful...nice and sinister...Looks much better under there. {EG}

Well, shortly after the above pictures were taken is when I found out that the motor had spun a bearing due to a faulty oil pump. So, there it sat in the driveway lifeless until I was able to gather enough parts and money to get Vader running again. During F-Body Beach Week in Myrtle Beach, SC I was introduced to a group of folks that were enthusiast and loved working on F-Bodies, the fellas at Zeus Performance. I met them through a friend of mine I know from the F-Body Hideout Message Forums. They seemed nice and I really liked their work. Based on what I saw, I was sold and I knew they could help me make Vader into my dream car. In August I delivered Vader to their care before I left on business to Little Rock, AR for a couple of weeks. This picture was taken when it was delivered to Zeus Performace...

Shortly there after the family and I made a trip back out to Charlotte for the Food Lion Auto Fair held at Lowe's Motor Speedway. After the show we stopped by Zeus Performance for a cookout and a F-Body social. Here's what the car looked like while we were there...

So pathetic...sitting there with no motor or transmission in it. :( This is what happens when you make the wife mad...she flaunts your car not having an engine. LOL!

About a month later, the car is up and running under it's own power after month's of sitting lifeless due to a spun main bearing caused by oil pump failure (after 170K+ miles). I returned for a visit. This is what under the hood looked like before it was finished...

Not much difference from what it looked like before? Look again. :D

In its current incarnation, Vader's heart has changed yet again.  On the inside there are new LSx based lifters from Cadillac Racing that replaced the crappy Comp Cams lifters that failed on me and sent Vader back into the shop.  Luckily for me it didn't do any damage to my rotating assembly.  So what's different?  Can you spot the differences?

Alright, give up?

Remember those dingy old plastic bottles?  Yup, they're gone in favor of some new OEM replacements.  Oooo...bright white and new.  I can't tell you how long the guys have been giving me a hard time to replace them.  Next up is pretty obvious, a custom cold air induction setup in place of the stock plastic style.  Nice and shiney.  :D  Adding to the "bling" factor are the new billet valve covers that replaced the painted stock silver ones that were on there from the original motor.  Notice anything else?  Take a second to give it a harder look...

Wow!  You can actually see the entire motor now!  As cars get newer manufacturers find more and more stuff to cram under the hood making them impossible to work on yourself and to add clutter.  Not so much with my engine bay anymore.  The AC heater box was removed and replaced with a 1LE model heater box and the AC compressor and associated components removed.  My car is now, officially 100% AC free.  In addition to that, the last remnants of the emmisions equipment is gone.  Finally, where are the wires?  Notice that the wires have been moved to the outside of the engine compartment or hidden completely.  This was something that I had been wanting to have done to my car after seeing Erik's Formula done.  It gives it that old school look of nothing but motor.

There are some things still planned for Vader's heart.  It takes time and money to accomplish so a little bit at a time.  Hopefully the next round of mods will allow me to complete the motor.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: RPO and Technical Data
Page 3: How RARE is it?
Page 4: Photography of Vader...part one
Page 5: Photography of Vader...part two
Page 6: Photography of Vader...part three
Page 7: Vader's Heart
Page 8: Inside Vader
Page 9: Modifications, Upgrades, and Repair...part one
Page 10: Modifications, Upgrades, and Repair...part two
Page 11: Modifications, Upgrades, and Repair...part three
Page 12: Modifications, Upgrades, and Repair...part four
Page 13: Literature and Awards
Page 14: Car Shows and Events
Page 15: The Track and at Play
Page 16: My other Firebirds