This is my '88 Iron Duke winter beater. At the heart of this beast lies an all cast iron, naturally aspirated, 2.5 liter inline four with horsepower numbers near triple digits. Stock, original parts are used throughout to further increase power.Performance modifications have been made including unplugging the EGR valve, flipping over the air filter cover for increased airflow, and removing of one of the two wingnuts on the air filter cover to reduce weight. At 160,000 miles it is now fully broken in and making some impressive numbers.The last dyno test shown 76 horsepower at the rear wheels and 0 at the front wheels. Putting all this power to the ground isn't easy. A five speed manual transmission teamed with an old stock clutch do an excellent job of putting the power to the ground. For wheels I have stock steel 14x6 rally wheels wrapped in high performance 205/75/14 commuter Walmart tires. They get so much grip that when doing a burnout (which is almost unpreventable with so much horsepower)the rear end will hop like crazy. Speaking of hopping-this thing can hop. I can do this by means of 16 year old stock shocks. The bodies are rusted out and are simply left in place for looks. Downforce spoilers are mounted to the lower front fenders by 3M tape and do quite well at keeping the front end down when I have exceeded speeds of 75 mph. (Both times!)The optional swaybar was never added at the factory to allow an amazing amount of body roll-especially when teamed with stock shocks. This allows me to lift the the inside rear tire on command with a sudden twist of the wheel. To keep down aerodynamic drag, if you look close, I have placed a plastic snowmobile trail sign in front of the radiator. A $15 water temp gauge keeps me informed of overheating. (The cause of this is still unknown). By placing a snowmobile in the box I can do hopping wheelies in first gear taking full advantage of its awsome weight transfer. I can get the front tires about 6" off the ground. I've tried to get some pictures of it but I can never get the camera far enough out the window to get a good shot. (And plus my arm gets pretty banged up bouncing off my weather stripping on the inside of my window opening).The factory graphics on the side have been tastefully cracked by years of sunlight and bird poop to improve cosmetics. The E-brake cable has been broken to make it more like a race truck-I mean race trucks don't have parking brakes! I use a 4lb sledge hammer to keep the red racer from rolling away while it's warming up. A 1988 Beltronics Vector 3RT fuzzbuster is installed to warn of pigs within 20 feet in front of me. When I end up being chased, I can easily out run them (if they are bike cops). The cargo light is fully functional and kind of acts as a roof spoiler. To further aid in lightening, the body has been rust treated. Not to prevent rust- I mean treated with rust. The sheet metal has been thinned out or missing in several key locations such as the front fenders, sides of the box and bottom of the doors to help weight distribution. Stainless steel rocker panels (one on each side) give it show stopping looks. The rear view mirror will occasionaly fall off without warning and usually nails me in the right hand while shifting. I have to hold it up when going over train tracks so it doesn't fall. Before I do a burn-out I have to take it down and throw it in the glove box. The spare tire has been moved to inside the box and held in the corner by a bungee cord to give it that baja look everyone is going for.
The exhaust is fully stock for optimal perfomance. This makes it a real sleeper. The only sounds it makes is the tailpipe rattling on the crossmember because the hanger is bent and weakened from excessive hopping. The only sound the engine makes is excessive timing gear rattling. 2.5's have no timing chain- its gear on gear.
I have been involved in countless races against other motorists, with no success. (Most of the time I race people they don't even know it and they still win.)
I had this topper on my truck but it made my truck look just a little too cool -I got too much attention with it- mainly from hot chicks that fell in love with it. It was cool at first but they just never left me alone!
Future Mods: Replacing the seat with an real bench seat. (Wooden park bench)
Leaving the tailgate down for increased top speed.
Change oil, maybe filter
Tighten up sun visors to prevent falling down during jumping and hopping.
Fix slight radiator hose leak.
Add air pressure to low tire.
Put on new license tabs.
By the way I'm in no way saying this truck is cool. If you think it is cool then you are in fact, retarded. This is my winter beater and
as you now know,it sucks. Thanks for wasting your time checking it out.If you know of any other beaters that I might have a chance with in a race, please let me know. If you care to check out my other truck its under "vortec350s10"- you can click on it under my favorite links-My Summer S15