Summer of 2018 was full of expensive mistakes and lessons...
I wanted to run full 3" exhaust out the back, but needed to complete the install of the Watts Link first before I could do the exhaust, but I had trouble getting the Watts set up correctly. (Turns out I couldn't get the exhaust over the axle with the watts in the way, and had to dump it before the axle, so that was all wasted effort anyway)
I ran the car a little bit with open headers, but without exhaust on the car, the oxygen sensors were too close to the end of the pipe, so it was reading lean at lower RPM, and dumping in enough extra fuel to start fouling plugs. I cleaned the plugs, installed exhaust, and took the car to the Lyle car show for it's first trip out on the road. I didn't realize all that extra fuel had thinned out the oil, and was destroying the bearings.
I bought a cheap junkyard 5.3L to replace the damaged 383 just to get by for the rest of the summer. I then signed up for an autocross at DCTC, where a tensioner pulley seized and shredded the belt. Easy fix at least there.
At Street Machine Nationals, my season was ended with a loose lower balljoint coming apart, jamming the tire into the fender. In all my late-night thrashes, I had forgotten that I left the lower balljoint nuts loose so that I could adjust ride-height.
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