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'94 Chevrolet Caprice station wagon

Here is the "Magic Bus", and it's modifications
I bought this vehicle with 86,000 miles on it from the stereotypical old man who loved and took care of the car. It came from the factory with the 260HP "LT1" 350 (5.7liter). This engine differs from the Camaro/Firebird LT1 in that it has iron heads with slighlty smaller ports, a lower 9.8:1 compression ratio, and a smaller lift/duration camshaft.

The transmission is a 4L60E (the redesigned 700R4). I added a Trans-Go shift improver kit. This is a very high quality kit geared at improving transmission life and shift quality more than just making it harsher. I highly recommend it for anyone with a 4L60E over any other brand shift kit. You can tailor this kit to your firmess desires (I installed 1 out of 3 1-2 accumulator spacers). This kit should be mandatory for anyone who owns a 4L60E with over 40,000 miles on it.

The wagon Jan '03
LOVE that Imp' grille! Want to change your ugly chrome Caprice grille too? You'll need:
Impala SS black grille GM P/N 10269614 -$ 72.23
Nuts, 5 pack GM P/N 22516030
-$1.09
Nuts, 5 pack GM P/N 10220717
-$1.09
It comes painted in black enamel paint. Be ware, if you re-paint it with Laquer paint, you may get some lifting of the GM paint!

Also note the Chrome 15" wheels. They are the same as a Chevy 454SS truck would come with. The tires are a healthy 275/60/R15. It is far better in snow, dry, wet, and picking up chicks versus the old white walls!
I just HAD to uncork the exhaust - it was just too quiet
The last thing I wanted to do with my daily driver was remove the OEM 409 stainless mufflers from the dual exhaust and replace them with some steel mufflers that would rust out in less than 2 years. I instead purchased (2) Summit Racing brand 304 stainless steel mufflers (P/N SUM-630522, each) and modified them to fit the car. There were no affordable direct replacement stainless mufflers, so the Summit ones, a welder, and a little fabricating netted the desired result. Notice the hangars cut from the OEM mufflers and welded on. I also cut the OEM mufflers open to rob some 2-1/4" 409 stainless pipe to extend the head pipes to reach the shorter new muffs. I had to cut and re-weld the muffler outlet to shrink it down to mate with the OEM 2" tailpipes.

The sound is PERFECT. It rumbles enough for my "hot rod" buddies to like it, but is quiet enough to take co-workers and my parents out in. Click on the picture to enlarge.


The original grille, left. The 9C1 police interceptor brake cooling ducts are visible here.
The 9C1 ducts replace the outer portions of the front air dam; they are GM part #10220593 and 10220594, about 6 bucks each.
Autometer 2-5/8" tachometer install
This is the Autometer P/N 2891 2-5/8" 6,000 RPM Black Tachometer and Autometer ($ 83.50) and P/N 10235 Single gage pod ($ 16.50) painted with a close matching vynil paint from Advance Auto parts. The +, -, and ground wires are all wired to the fuse panel a few inches away. The tach signal wire is run through the oval rubber plug in the firewall behind the driver's wheel well, to the PCM (computer) underneath the intake air box. You need GM P/N 12084913 ($ 2.08), a small hollow crimp on pin connector. Crimp and solder this connector onto the end of the tach signal wire. Remove connector A (the red one) from your PCM. Disassemble it, and put the wire (with pin) into slot 13 (i.e. "A13"). Now you have a nice clean tach signal right from the computer. These instructions make more sense once you start taking the connector off - it's very easy. Taking the signal from the coil does not work for many B-body owners.

Click the picture for a larger view.
FREE Intake air box modification
Shown is the air box with the top removed. Prior to my mods, all the air had to enter it via the small oval tube sitting int the middle of it. The box is now fed by the enlarged original oval hole in the front, plus 3 more holes I drilled with a hole saw.
www.9C1.com
"9C1" is the GM designation for the Police package. This site has info on many of the heavy duty parts from this package that are desirable to performace oriented drivers.

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More soon! * Updated 08/11/03