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The Omni Goes to Hell
(last updated 10/16/2006)

2006 update - The Omni has taken on yet ANOTHER LIFE, scroll to the bottom for details...

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Here is my '85 GLH. This car has been through several lives. It used to have a 2.2 T1 with a DC Intercooler Kit, however it now is propelled by a 2.5 T2. Trans is a '91 568 with a Future Auto limited slip differential. This clutch type differential gives me almost 100 ft/lbs of break-away torque, enough to torque my lugs to spec without even putting the car down on the ground.
Here's my dirty engine bay. This is right after installing my Isuzu NPR truck intercooler. I first saw this done on Rickert's webpage. My installation is similar, although I chose not to move the radiator closer to the motor, instead I tucked the IC where the AC condensor would have been, removed the center support and beefed up the hood latch area with some angle iron. You might not be able to tell from the picture, but there is more alternator clearance than stock with this setup, and I can change a regular size oil filter without removing the radiator or fan. The NPR cooler is the smaller of the two available, the larger would extend about 3" into the frame where the front motor mount is, and therefore couldn't be used without doing some fabricating on the core.
The 340cca DieHard garden tractor battery starts the car over nicely, although if I weren't going to drag race the car I'd put the battery in the rear and free up some more room for the air filter. The late model coil cleans the engine bay up nicely as well.
Here is a shot of the engine bay as it stood when the dyno runs were made. The intercooler is a stock Dayonta T2 rad/IC which really didn't fit very nicely. The intercooler is largely obstructed by the battery tray and the alternator is a little too close to the radiator tank. The smooth air hose is a stock Spirit R/T part. The master cylinder is from a 5.9 Ram 350, but is the same as most Dodge Trucks.
If there was only a way to keep things looking as nice as they did the day they were put together. That head looks pretty good considering it is the stock 1985 G head that came on the car, 170k miles. The cam is original as well. The turbo is an stock'89 T2 with upgraded wheel (S70). The shortblock is a '89 T2 I pulled from the junkyard for $100. The crank and pistons are cast 2.5 stuff. Shortly after this picture was taken I upgraded to the 1 piece oil sender rather than the seperate pressure and warning senders.

Jan '03 - The stock cam (or rather the lifters) have developed some noise after a few road course days this year. I replaced them with a new '89 stock TBI roller cam setup which is now quite a bit quieter. Although it has a little lower lift I don't think it's going to effect the HP figures much.

Maybe I should paint those tanks black.
Sleek Omni styling never seems to age.
Here's a side view. Boy this car sat WAY too long, love that rust on the rotors.
Here is my first dyno sheet from Christmas 2001. I had the stock injectors in the car, and ran only 10psi as a baseline run. 182hp, 246tq. I did three runs, one in 4th gear, one in third, and one with a MP computer. Since my boost control is manual, the MP computer actually lost HP and TQ over the stock '89 T2 electronics. The 2.5 runs very nice on the 2.2 SMEC.
Here is my 2nd day at the dyno. This is still with the stock Daytona IC/Rad. Boost was set to 17psi, then 19psi. I only made two runs because I was happy with the numbers. I didn't really make any other mods than to crank up the boost and play with fuel a little. I will test it again with the bigger intercooler, and then with some more boost after I install the Cartech regulator. HP on this run was 229, torque was 322.
The interior needs a real cleaning. The car was broken into recently and they ripped out my gauge pod and tried to steal my gauges. They also grabbed my air cleaner of all things. People suck. The car has a 140mph speedo, Dawes A/F gauge, Digital EGT monitor, 30# boost gauge, Infinity CD/Tape radio, Shelby wheel, etc. The dash has seen a lot of hard wear though, it will be replaced sometime soon.
With those lightweight 5_spoke wheels I couldn't pass up having rear discs. The car actually stopped very adequately with the drums, but old drums just look nasty through open wheels. Wheels are 12lb. Kosei K1's (15x7) with Yoko 032R 225/50 rubber. There are no clearance problems except by the transmission at full lock. Front brakes are from a caravan, rears are vented '89 Shelby daytona units. Brake lines are braided stainless.
This is the Isuzu NPR intercooler, it is the smaller of the two but is the largest thing that would fit in the front. If I did this over again, I might consider welding two NPR cores together, there is actually about another 2" of usable space in between the rad and the cooler.
Sizing things up...
This is what happens when you hit redline repeatedly in a Lotus R/T when you're down a quart or two of oil. Fortunately R/T bottom end parts are a piece of cake. Unfortunately the top end also seized when these bearings went.
Uh-oh. All that torque caused a 5" tear to the left of the front motor mount. Fortunately, a few pieces of angle iron welded in place has stopped this problem in it's tracks.
Rice.
It's sad when this is your 'reliable transportation'. With a good rider, it runs 10.7's @ 135 out of the box, too bad that's still slower than G's K_car.

June 2003, SDAC Autocross at Cal Ripken Stadium

  • August 19th, 2002.
    So far I have mainly been driving the car to work and around town. I also have been to the dragstrip with the car 3 times and to the road course (Memphis, TN and Loudon, NH) with the car as well. Best 1/4 mile run so far was a 13.135 sec. @ 106.45mph at Cecil County Dragway in Maryland. Best launch was a 1.83 60'.
  • September 25th, 2002.
    I went back to the dyno last weekend to try to get some tuning done and find out HP with the new intercooler and with the rising rate of gain regulator. Unfortunately my cooling fan is a little small and I'm having trouble keeping the car cool when stopped, so I had to cut the session short. Also I need to get a fuel pressure gauge installed inside the car. One quick dyno run produced 258hp with 300tq at the wheels, but the car is real finicky with the fuel settings. I need more tuning time to get this tweaked in just right.

    June 2003, Cecil County Dragway (SDAC-13)

  • July 24th, 2003
    It's mid summer 2003 and the car is still running strong. I attended SDAC-13 in Aberdeen, Maryland and ran the car in all events. With the help of a ECU calibration from Relentless Performance the car ran 12.86 @ 107.6 on drag day backed up with a 12.90 @ 107, with a recorded track temperature of 105 degrees and a eraser sided hole in my intercooler tubing. The calibration allowed me to run without the rising rate fuel pressure regulator and allows for more consistent performance results. The car ran 13.0 @ 103.0 in the same heat with the stock T2 computer.

    At the SDAC-13 autocross I shared the car with John Spiva of Quickor Suspension. John, who is a frequent and capable autocrosser drove the car to the FTD in competition on his first and only time in the drivers seat ever. Great work John. My lap times were about 1-1.5 seconds slower than John in my own car.

    Since last year the transmission has also been revamped by Chrysler tranny tech Cliff Ramsdell. Although the previous 568 was quite capable, due to a near accident with a careless Mustang driver, I lost all teeth on the reverse gear trying to move out of his way quickly. The broken teeth took out most of the rest of the trans. The tranny has been replaced with another '91 568, this time using a 3.50 F/D and a neon-type Quaife limited slip. The Future Auto posi is still working great, but the diff is incompatible with the 3.50 F/D so it has been installed in a spare A-568 for track emergencies.

  • October 16th, 2006
    It's been a few years since an update, but the GLH made a 3000 mile trip to the west coast to catch some sun for a few years. While out there, it became obvious why New England cars never last around long, as the rust spots turned from pinholes to windows. However, after a lot of work, and a bunch of luck, the GLH has now taken on new life with the motor, trans and suspension installed in 86 GLHS #485. Thanks to Lou M. for flying out to California to help me with the drivetrain swap and to Don Costa for taking being a good friend (even if he really is a Ford guy), and for cutting me a good deal on "S" #485.

    Click here for some pictures of the new car, although it is now again back on the EAST coast it hasn't seen much action with the old 8v plant. Transformation to a 16 valve, programmable ECU ride is already underway, as well as installation of a new interior with SRT-4 "viper" seats. Although it may run at Cecil this year for one last Hurrah with the SOHC motor, expect to see it flying around in DOHC trim by springtime, and hopefully updates of progress more frequently than once every 3 years.

Many thanks to my good friends Lou, Gus and Pat for all the help getting this project back in line and finally running smoothly.
I couldn't have done it and wouldn't have had the motivation without you guys.


Comments? Questions? email me here