Well I drug this old turd all the way from Portland to Fontana to run in the Optima event.

It was a haul, 1006 miles one way and we did it in one shot down and back. Drove down there on Thursday and home on Monday.

I first ran an Optima event in 2016 at Thunderhill and boy have things changed since then.

My buddy Kevin and I decided months ago that we wanted to hit it up so we made plans way back then. I havent follow the series much at all but had a great time a few years ago.

We got through Tech on Friday and got our run groups and the stickers installed.

https://i.imgur.com/YCCqzfYh.jpg

This is his s10 and its a bad ass machine.

https://i.imgur.com/PitprOZh.jpg

We opted for garage spots with the weather forecast. It was well over 100 on Friday and Saturday and 98 on Sunday, we were very glad we got them.

A few of the cars in my GTV Class

https://i.imgur.com/vi44NoRh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/FeRBpUOh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/k8IF8TUh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/AspWT7Jh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Lpa5w6yh.jpg

I was seriously outgunned.....

I had a great time, the car did great on Saturday but I was off the pace of the slow cars and way off with the fast cars. I had a tough time getting over the nerves and the car was loose all over the track. Saturday was just autocross and D&E. Sunday was speed stop and road course.

I was much more on my game on the speed stop and had a great time running it.

https://i.imgur.com/SuVm9KIh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/34OEIpHh.jpg

Road course not so much. It was so hot, I was hot but the car was really hot. I could only get in a lap or 2 before the coolant temps were too high. I saw 235 on the first session and 240 on the second session and called it quits for the day.

Clearly I need to do some cooling upgrades.

We did the road rally Saturday night about 30 miles in LA Rushour traffic. It was 104 degrees out. It was less than pleasant but got some cool pics.

https://i.imgur.com/1dyftfbh.jpg

Kevin was awarded the fast first timer award and got his $$ refunded for the event. He is a killer driver and the truck just flat works. its 2900 lbs, about 400 wheel hp and has 315's squared setup.

I got the participants choice award from Anderson Composites and a super cool plaque from Optima for it.

I had a blast, disspointed with my driving and the results but I had fun.

The Fuel system modifications worked like a champ, zero fuel slosh or fuel smell in or around the car.

I did develop a small fuel leak at the fuel rail from a loose fitting, snugged it up and seems to be all good now.

Car is going to just hang out for a little bit. Going to figure out my next steps from here. Its been a great summer, the car has been all over the west coast and I think most of the bugs have been worked out.

https://i.imgur.com/V3sl3pCh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0XmQDySh.jpg

Optima is a big boys game now for sure. Glad to hear the fuel issues are fixed. I heard several good drivers were really struggling on the autocross Saturday, wasn't just you. How'd you do in D&E?

You drove it there and back. That is an ultimate street car IMO. I think the events should have NO trailers allowed LOL. I haven't ran an event since '15 with them, not because of the competition and race cars, as I think the event is a lot of fun for the money spent.
my cars been down quite a bit and I do not have much time on my hands....Love watching your builds:thumbsup:

Unfortunately I cannot take that credit, we towed the car there and back. Although with most of the bugs worked out I would like to try to drive it to some bigger events and see how it does. I have only driven it an hour or so from home, but it does great on the freeway, would need some cupholders and cruise control for sure.

Man this thread really died off as did my motivation for working on the car. Up until this week it had not moved since I unloaded it off the trailer.

My work load over the summer and what seemed like a year and a half of steady work to build the car then beat on it most of the summer led to 100% burnout mode on the car.

Been back biking, commuting to work some after work rides and mountain biking, that has been great.

Finally figured I needed to deal with the looming overheating issues the car has had. They got really bad in Fontana with the car seeing temps above 230 cutting my track sessions short by 2.

I have felt that the car doesnt flow coolant well for months now. So after a ton of research on the internet I spent a little time messing with the car.

Comments on the internet recommended running the car with the rad cap off and squeezing the upper and lower radiator hoses to help push air out of the system.

I did this with no luck. The engine gets up to 190 and just hangs out there while idling in the garage, 192, 194. This is with a 165 degree thermostat in it.

I had the fans setup for the cooler stat with the fan on temps at 168 and 174 or right around there. I believed that the problem I was having was this was subcooling the water in the radiator, the lower hose was never getting hot even when the temp was above 190. When that stat would open, the cold water would hit it and it would close again.

So I disconnected the fans, ran the car with the rad cap off and a funnel tight in the filler. I ran the car like this until the thermostat finally opened and got lots of flow through the system. Lower radiator hose actually got hot and by squeezing the upper and lower radiator hoses I got a ton of air out of the system. I did this a few times, cycling the fans on and off making sure that I got all of the air out of the system for possibly the first time ever.....I hope this solves my problems.

So hook fans back up , get the car up to temp, same issue, fans cool the coolant down, car gets up to 190+ and sits there.

So I manually jumper the fans on, watch the coolant get up to 185, fans on, coolant drops to 175, fans off, stat opens, up to 185, fans on over and over again. So I have my culprit.

I get into HP Tuners and adjust the fan temps up to on at 180 first fan, then 185 for second fan and that is still too cool. Raise the fan temps up to 185 and 190 and for the first time this thing is working. Coolant temps are running 172 to 185 with the fan cycling on and off while cruising around town, fans off on the freeway.

I am really hoping that I had two things fighting me, air in the cooling system and fans that were setup wrong and that I don't have a drastically undersized radiator.

Other than needing a new set of tires from flat spots my list of things to fix from Fontana is small.

I need to fix my overflow hose and fittings as they leak.

Car needs an oil cooler too, but that will likely be mid winter upgrades.

Other than that not much to report. After not driving it for a month it fired right up, didnt do anything weird and I forgot how rowdy it was after not driving it for that long.

I like keeping the build thread going even though I know the forums are dying but in hopes that I might help someone along the way.

Cheers.

Sean

I hope everyone keeps updating their current projects & any new ones started. There is so much to learn from others & forums are great for allowing that info to be spread.

IG cannot touch on what forums can provide & the worse one (FB) is so bad many (like myself) stepped away years ago because of the stupidity.

I always have enjoyed a glimpse into others activities. Yours is better solely on the shear variance of your projects & passions!

Hope the fixes help the cooling woes Sean, sounds like there is hope. Please do keep your thread updated as you change and improve or just drive the car...I enjoy reading about your progress.

Reading about your issues and how you work through them is priceless. Maybe I dont have the same issue, but your steps, your solutions, really help others to understand and fix their own headaches....

Dont look at your reply count, look at your read count! You are helping the community a ton!


Jeff-

Sounds like you need 315’s squared...I’m willing to bet that’ll put a hitch in yer giddy up! I think, if you put your mind to it, you can have it done by Vegas, Yaaas!

And the bicycle thing, I can’t even picture it....tell me you’re not a spando camando, better yet, don’t ever mention it. Ever in the history of ever.

#makebuildthreadsgreatagain

Leave the 275s on there!!

Make small tire cars great again!!!

Sean, I hope you get your cooling issues sorted out. Glad you could get out on the bike and decompress a bit. You've been powering through projects like Ron Schwarz, so a bit of burnout is understandable. It's threads like yours that keep me interested in keeping my lifelong 66 Malibu project going. I have so little time and energy to devote to it, but it's posts like your's that keep me interested and motivated. Thanks for sharing the ride.

I absolutely love the look and total sleeper effect of the car Lance.....but I feel like I am driving the piss out of it and it just doesnt have enough tire to keep up with the guys with 315's. Sure it could be the setup, or tons of it could be the driver but man the turn in ability of a 315 is huge in comparison with a 275.

Much appreciated my friend. Glad I was able to be a little bit of a motivation, lord knows I need it here and there.

Been spending the last week or so taking care of a bunch of little things that have been bugging me.

Spent a bunch of time wandering the hoses section to find the perfect pre bent hose to get rid of my kinked one for the vacuum to the booster. Also added on some OEM style crimp hose clamps.

https://i.imgur.com/E26KdH2h.jpg

I also noticed that the barbed connections I previously had on the radiator were not up to the task and were leaking and looked well ****ty.

So I ordered in a few fittings and converted the radiator overflow to a -6 an. Then went to barbed. on the catch can. I am not in love with the way the an fitting looks, as its a little too racerboy but its very functional so Ill let it roll for now.

https://i.imgur.com/jfKCSwyh.jpg

Engine bay has been fully detailed, fluids all replaced, catch can drained and nut and bolt performed all around the car.

https://i.imgur.com/vVISdSRh.jpg

Stickers all removed, car got a full detail, removed lots of rubber and cone marks from the sides of the car. Clay bar, polished some areas and a coat of Griots new Best of Show wax...stuff is amazing if you have never tried it. Wheels got a full cleaning and coat of wax with a few small touch ups as well.

https://i.imgur.com/ZLxLbaKh.jpg

A few weeks back I got an email from K&N offering up a spot at SEMA and the Optima Invitational. I dont feel like I did anything to deserve it but I wasnt about to turn down the opportunity so all this has been in prep for being in Optima Alley all week.

Looking forward to spending the week with some like minded car folks and learning a thing or two from some amazing drivers.

Flew down to Phoenix a few weeks ago and picked up a new daily. 2013 2 door MK6 golf R. 2 owner, 45,000 miles and in damn good shape. Was a wonderful drive home, took every possible backroad and stayed off of the interstate for all but 200 miles out of a 1,300 mile trip.

Aside from the seat sucking the car is wonderful, light, handles great, all wheel drive and some great power.

https://i.imgur.com/78JCnkMh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/gMhlSbqh.jpg

Cheers!!

Sean

Congrats on the invite!

Great choice for a daily driver, I've had a similar platform for two years now and absolutely love it.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-6w75bph-L.jpg

DD shootout? :D

Came all the way to Phoenix and didnt holler, that hurts man! 😀

I'll see ya in Vegas though.

Now this sounds like a fun time.....you let me know when I would love to get it out and do some autocross or track day with it and see how it does. Didnt buy it for that but its an awesome driving car.

Sorry man. Flight landed, uber to Dealer, test drive car and I headed out of town to beat rush hour. Didnt work but I made an effort at least =)

I will say for my first trip to Arizona I was shocked by how scenic it is, I would love to go back and check it out sometime. Maybe in the winter for a track weekend.

See you next week my friend!!

Vegas was overwhelming for us. 2 day drive down and 2 day drive home. We walked about 60 miles in the 6 days that we were in Vegas, lots of it for SEMA lots of it from hotel to casino, down the strip and at the racetrack.

I am not sure I need to do SEMA each year, Ill probably take a break for the next year or more. There were so many people there it was insane.

A few of my top pics and fun ones from the show.

https://i.imgur.com/TqLBd5qh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/bOk17ceh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/om0lZz7h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/s1ZZ25Nh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/kTXPfbXh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/DSSQIRfh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/DglQg5eh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uirnGOEh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/yPkpHwxh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ezxcdoTh.jpg

Garage build

https://i.imgur.com/TZ7pGvxh.jpg

The car seemed to be a hit. People loved that it was something different and well built. Each time we were at the car for something or another people would stop and take pics or ask lots of questions.

I think my goal of subtle from the outside and great content on the inside was a success.

We headed out from SEMA Friday even on the Ignited Exit Parade. It was awesome, tons of people but we were exhausted by then.

https://i.imgur.com/p6wFExDh.jpg

OUSCI was pretty rad, lots of cars and spectators on day one for the Auto Cross, which was half autocross and half road course. Run times were just under 60 seconds and the course itself was awesome, first half was a little loose, second half had lots of grip so it took some adjusting to that.

Road Course and Speed stop were Sunday. I did well on speed stop at 18th out of 32. I had a tough time on the Right side and would have done better if I could get that time down more.


https://i.imgur.com/4y6kzRMh.jpg

Saturday Night was Road Rally out to Shelby.

https://i.imgur.com/0i7d4IFh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wvZOIxLh.jpg

Sunday LSX Magazine grabbed the car with Kristi and went out to take some pics of it for an upcoming feature.

https://i.imgur.com/FGjCGFLh.jpg

And just some random cool shots over the weekend.

https://i.imgur.com/2cOyqZch.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CicWuogh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CMNyPWAh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ysBLI5ah.jpg


So that's a wrap.

Lessons learned, the car needs lots more radiator. My fixes worked great in traffic and around town even on the auto cross and speed stop the car stayed cool in sunny 80 degree weather but got hot again on the road course. Temps about 230.

I developed some vibration in the car in Fontana and thought it was tires, but we noticed it all the way over to Shelby and Back and it never improved. Sunday on the Road Course, the vibration got worse on hard right hand turns. I got the car up in the air and looked everything over, possibly a little bit too much pinion backlash but everything else seemed ok. I tightened a couple of loose jamb nuts but no improvement. I only did orientation and 1 road course session so I could get a lap time, but they were not hard or fast laps.

I need lots more camber and lots more front sway bar, as I have gotten better and faster, I have been able to push the car harder and harder and getting more induced chassis roll. This is letting the front roll over onto the edge of the outside front tire on mid sweeping turns and I am getting some shudder and push, also have to scrub a lot more corner speed than necessary.

Ill be upgrading the front struts, bigger sway bar and more camber in the off season.

The car needs more power. Will be doing the BTR cam, valve springs, 1000cc injectors, 2.4 pulley, cnc ported snout and a retune on it in the coming weeks. I would love to do an aluminum 6.2 but its not in the cards right now.

A few other odds and ends, hood vents, front brake cooling ducts, tripple adjustable rear shocks and a rearend checkup will be in order as well.

Overall for a car I built in my garage with mostly junkyard parts I have been pretty impressed with it, not only how it handles, but the beating the car took all summer long. The list of things we have done with this car since it was finished up in April is pretty awesome. Not to mention the people we have met along the way have been awesome. Looking forward to more adventures in 2019.

This is all built around a 200k mile 6.0 and a used 2002 Camaro T56.

Time for more chop chop this winter to get ready for March.

Sean

Very cool update, Sean--thanks for the pics! Can't wait to see what becomes of this thing next year . . .

Was great to see you again and meet Kristi. Every time I went by your car in Optima Alley it had a crowd around it. That says a ton...

Glad you had a great trip and made it home safely. And I hear ya on the once every couple of years being enough deal... I was only there for a bit over two days and I was swearing I'd never go back while on the way home. I've scaled that back a bit now though. :D

Thanks Lance. I could have easily just been there for 2 days and been content. Always good to shoot the **** with you, I was serious about coming down to AZ for a few days. I have to been in Scottsdale for work in January, we should definitely get together then.

Finally unloaded the car from the trailer this weekend and took it for its last spin for the year Saturday afternoon. Beautiful afternoon too.

https://i.imgur.com/nkkeXIYh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/PBGsK2vh.jpg

So here we go Sunday morning, not working at a feverish pace or anything I tore the car down. Drained all the fluids, bagged all the hardware and inspected everything.

https://i.imgur.com/MLah3uZh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YNpXeihh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/yAKGcCTh.jpg

This was about lunchtime. Found a couple of interesting things. The alternator is totally trashed. There is a good 1/8- 3/16" play up and down on the end bearing so it will need to get changed out.

Tore down the Drivers side after lunch and began with removing the rockers and rocker tray and pulled all the plugs.

I ordered all of this stuff from Brian Tooley Racing and everything so far has been awesome, the valve spring compression tool works so good, they have great instructions online as well. These are a dual spring setup and come in a kit with new hardened spring seats and new valve stem seals. I also ordered the valve stem seal installer tool which took all of the guesswork out of the install.

The process is pretty straightforward on these, a couple taps with the hammer to make sure that keeper is loose, thread in the air chuck into the spark plug hole and give it some air to keep the valves closed. Spring compressor to loosen keepers, pull the keepers with a magnet and remove tool, Pop off keeper, spring and pull the seal and spring and reverse the order.

I took my time removing everything to make sure that it all goes back in the right locations.

https://i.imgur.com/MM0U4tDh.jpg

Here you can see I have cylinder 2 done and working my way back.

https://i.imgur.com/LnyO6pjh.jpg

All 4 done and ready for the other side.

https://i.imgur.com/IjpdUQOh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/iHLHWHuh.jpg

I am still shocked at how clean this thing is inside. It had over 200k when I installed it last year and has been beat on all summer long. The van it was in was one of our fleet vans and had the oil changed at regular intervals of 7,500 with synthetic fluids. This is a pretty good testament to me that regular maintenance is key to long vehicle life.

I have been running Mobile 1 and WIX filters since it went in the car and after being in here I see zero reason to change that.

Going to mess around with the other side of the engine this week and see if I can get all of this buttoned up for the cam swap this weekend.

Then I can get onto the blower snout, pulley and injector and figure out what to do for an oil cooler.

Happy Monday,

Sean

Well down the rabbit hole we go BTR V2 trunion upgrade is ordered after reading about bearing failures of the stock stuff with the double valve springs. :oops:

http://www.superstreetonline.com/fea...gli-delicious/

This is finally out. Pretty cool to see this thing in print....although I dont have my actual copy yet.

Sean

Very cool buddy!

Thanks Basher.

Got all but 4 valve springs swapped out Monday night and working on the coyote swapped F100 last night.

Ordered up some BTR Upgraded Trunion Bearings those should be here today so I hope to get the cam swapped out this week and get the rest of the goodies on in the next week and figure out a radiator setup.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Lat G friends.

Sean

It never ends!

Great thread - I love checking in here.

Happy Turkey Day! :flag2: :thumbsup:

Sorry to hijack, but 2004 Mustang LS2? WTF?

But it has pedigree and would cost 100k to build....lol, oh lord!

Yes, but no one around here cares about an SN95 Mustang... and quite frankly I don't blame them one bit. PM inbound.... :thumbsup:

Sorry there are no pedigree cars in your area.... can't help you with that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzI_u08AzPs

:G-Dub:

Dude I watched that the day it was released....So friggin awesome. 1000 wheel hp.

Got the other valve springs, seats, seals and retainers all installed last week.

Just been tinkering with it the last few days since I have been battling a cold, its getting worse.

Here are some pics of why I decided to do the trunion upgrade and some of how.

You can see that the stock trunion only has about 40% of an actual shaft so the bearing puts a lot of pressure on that one spot...not that this is bad wear for 200k plus miles. But when you put in heavier valve springs it really puts pressure on those bearings and shaft.

https://i.imgur.com/zqIWXZJh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0IynYdbh.jpg

and here is the other major problem. The factory bearings are just pressed into the rocker arm itself, there is no keeper in there and the bearing is a roller bearing with no keeper on the inside so if things come apart, these end up everywhere.

I chose to do the BTR TRK002 upgrade after a lot of reading up on what works.

You can see how huge of an upgrade this is.

Fully captured USA made Roller bearings

https://i.imgur.com/ZcDMz58h.jpg

A full round shaft for bearings to ride on and fully captured with washers and clips.

https://i.imgur.com/uf6ZxKHh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YrC5F0Uh.jpg

The process was really straight forward with the right tools.

https://i.imgur.com/ngxvzeGh.jpg

Totally worth the $39.00 in my opinion.

Tore down the front of the engine and built some tools.

A sharp eye will note the stock VVT 1 bolt camshaft still in place. I did elect to build some 5/16" dowels to keep the lifters up in their tray while Asher and I hot swapped the cam.

https://i.imgur.com/qpv1mxHh.jpg

New power maker installed. Its a BTR Stage 2 blower cam I can post up the specs if people are curious. Specifically built for the LSA setup.

https://i.imgur.com/Rk5mXSEh.jpg

New 3 bolt gear and new timing cover installed and torqued. Crank pulley pinned again and back on.

Onto the next phase. Pulled off the blower snout and got to cleaning.

https://i.imgur.com/bayaHnlh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/m35O1wIh.jpg

Stocker

https://i.imgur.com/uLSfzzSh.jpg

Not Stocker

CNC ported Blower snout

https://i.imgur.com/IoFWFpAh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BHIBhC5h.jpg

All reinstalled with a griptech 2.45" pullley for a lot more air this go around.

https://i.imgur.com/BqlWwnyh.jpg

Going to do the Mark Williams boosted 102mm throttle body to go with the snout just need it to show up.

Finally got around to installing this bad ass Turn One Power steering pump and billet pulley.

https://i.imgur.com/ovA4KAsh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/pO0FwyNh.jpg

The only snafu so far is the BTR kit shorted me snap rings for the trunions. They sent them out overnight to me but when they showed up they were the wrong ones so waiting on those still.

I did measure for pushrods and they were correct at 7.400 so got those and 15 of 16 rocker arms installed.

I had a hand this weekend from my nephew and Asher, always nice to have a hand. Thanks dudes.

Looking forward to getting this thing back together, should be pretty potent.

Question for you road racers, what are you doing for oil coolers and where are you mounting them? Any links or pics would be awesome.

Sean

I've been following your build and you've created a really cool ride. Your choice of an LSA piqued my interest because I have one too,makes 740 rwhp.
Now that you put a 2.45 on and the ported snout with the 102, have you considered upgrading the lid, intercooler, lines, and pump to control IAT2's? Possibly an ice tank for track days? I've only done one HPDE day, and a couple sessions at Atco, but my cooling mods are probably one of the smarter things I did. Getting the cooling system bled can be a pita, as can be the intercooling circuit, as you've had the displeasure of dealing with.
While you had the front apart, did you change the oil pump, or install the Katech C7 chain set? Who did your porting? From my little experience with this engine, controlling intake temps and heat soak are huge to overall temps.

Thanks.

I have considered installing a reinforced brick in the lid, but I cannot upgrade the lid as the ZL1 will not fit without cutting a big hole in the hood.

The pump, front mount intercooler, lines and tank are all upsized from the stock CTSV stuff so I should be ok there.

I have not considered an ice tank as that seems like its geared far more towards drag racing than what I am doing. Keeping ice in the tank while doing autocross just doesnt seem feasible.

I did install a new timing chain set a year ago when I put the motor together as well as a new Melling oil pump. I didnt go crazy on the timing setup as I dont really plan on spinning it to the moon. I have the rev limiter set at 6200 currently.

Sean

You may have definitely motivated me to do the trunnion upgrade . . . maybe on the 524, when I get back to it . . .

On the cooling note, it seems that out front, or with frontal exposure is always the answer. Modern cars, using obvious answers like the Corvette and Camaro as examples, stuff a million coolers into the frontal areas. Anywhere else, even with a fan, seems to be a fairly short-term solution (like drifter setups in the trunk), especially if you don't want to hear a fan blasting all the time. Desert racers with bed-mounted radiators and multiple giant fans may disagree . . .

Since my Falcon had a ton of space in front of the engine, I was able to fill that space with coolers (to good effect so far, including in super-hot weather). There is a tranny cooler in front of the radiator support; there is an engine oil cooler behind the bumper (cut out and grilled in the middle). Behind the support is obviously the 31x12x4 intercooler. Somewhere in front of the engine/front chassis crossmember is the stock C4 power steering cooler, which seems to work pretty good so far (one autocross in staggering heat).

Dude you have so much room up front its kind of rediculous.

Yes, working on how and where to mount the oil cooler.....and to be honest still trying to figure out what size of an oil cooler to run. Doesnt seem that its a common question to get answered.

Well, not too much exciting going on with the car.

I did get the Williams 102mm boosted throttle body and got it installed. What a piece of artwork.

https://i.imgur.com/C1XRKSGh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/eAOcO6ph.jpg

Also spent some time getting the tensioner reset closer to the engine and measured and picked up a new Gates HD belt to run this setup. Still just a 6 rib. Ill be curious if I need to upgrade to an 8 rib setup.

https://i.imgur.com/6MBwS06h.jpg

Spent a little time getting the valve covers all cleaned up, replaced some seals on the cover bolts and got them on.

https://i.imgur.com/rxW3RhAh.jpg

Also took some time this weekend and installed new NGK BR7EF plugs gapped to .022

Installed the 1000 cc resized LSA injectors. I also found the reason for the leak at the fuel rail connection. Not sure exactly how this happened but I have ordered a new fitting.

https://i.imgur.com/WHDSrPRh.jpg

Also re routed one of the crankcase ventillation lines as it was hitting the power steering pulley the way I had it routed before.

Should be a non issue now. It goes back and around the power steering reservoir instead of in front of it.

https://i.imgur.com/PgHXRcfh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xnk89NAh.jpg

Have a few parts on order to clean up some more plumbing. AN steam port kit to get rid of more hose clamps for serviceability. Also have a raw radiator on its way, this time a 3 core with no fittings on it so Ill be taking a shot at building and welding up a new radiator.....probably tack it up myself and have someone else do the final welding on it since I am still pretty new to aluminum stuff and really don't want to screw it up.

Cheers!!

Well the new Radiator showed up and even though its supposed to be the same size just a 3 core and an inch thicker, that proved to be not the case. So here we go.

https://i.imgur.com/VZX5ITEh.jpg

This sucked working in the painted engine bay I did everything I could to try and protect the finished paint as good as possible with weld paper and lots of towels and tape.

https://i.imgur.com/xNJWbSUh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/UPqH84kh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jfySxs6h.jpg

Capped the ends and built a tube tie the two front frame rails together.

https://i.imgur.com/KpKWLUeh.jpg

Pads that fit up into the channel of the radiator bottom will get rubber pads on top.

I got tabs in place for the lower intercooler mounting bracket as along with the tabs to hold the front of the IPD Aluminum skid plate.

Did a little clean up and taping and shot some paint on it.

https://i.imgur.com/c82kd4Kh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/DqyRxu3h.jpg

I have the upper radiator mounting bracket all done and it all fits under the existing header panel so win win.

Moving onto the fitting up the Inlets and Outlets as well as the filler.

Hope to have it back in one piece in the next week and then onto fitting up a tray to direct the air from the airdam to the Radiator to get some additional airflow up to the radiator at speed.

Going to move on to the splined front sway bar after that.

Anyone on here done one before on a 240?

Sean

Been out in the garage after work with my head down running beads on aluminum for a few nights. Talked with Nathan a bit and got some pointers, watched a couple of you tube videos and decided that I was going to tackle this radiator build on my own.

I have learned a bunch of stuff through this process and is why I like building **** on my own rather than farming it out to others.

Clean clean clean. This stuff likes to be clean. My process was acetone wipe down, then scrub really well with a stainless wire brush, when I thought it was clean enough scrub again.

Not being an aluminum welder I was not used to this much cleaning and found that the cleaner the surface was with the best fitup possible netted the best welds.

So I started to mock up the radiator, I first built the upper mount that nests in the top of the radiator since it didnt need to hold water or be perfect since you wont see much of it and it had pretty descent results.

So on we go. The plan was to be able to keep the existing upper radiator panel since I have a lot of work into it and like the way it turned out. You can see though not mch wiggle room in placement of the filler. I had to make a small spacer to get the filler up about 1/2" to clear the panel.

https://i.imgur.com/FO1E3xEh.jpg

All in place and fitment should work great. Probably need to redo the lower radiator hose but upper should go right back on.

https://i.imgur.com/NUSBte7h.jpg

Not being very familiar with aluminum and welding some thin stuff here to mismatched thicknesses was a little nerve racking but all in all I am pretty happy with the results. The radiator had just the core and end tanks on, all of the fittings and filler were done by me.

https://i.imgur.com/ep7er6uh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/oz4vCulh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/rm5vwmnh.jpg

I have been sweating this for weeks. Now that its done I can move on. Get the fans mounted up, button up all of the plumbing and reinstall all removed components, fill with fluids and get ready to start the tune process again.

Cheers!!!

Sean

The welds look great. Kudos on tackling it yourself. I often stress out about a job I've not done before, then look back after it's done and realize it wasn't a big deal after all.

Daniel

Looks great! Nice work. Did you fill with water and test for leaks before final install? :D

I love the build. Really impressive! Are you running E85? Meth? Stock LSA heads? What's your peak boost?

I daily drive a 3-pedal CTS-V with a stock longbock LSA @ 702rwhp, and I might encourage you to consider a larger pulley than the 2.45"

The 2.45" will work great on the street, autoX, and speed stops, but you're gonna be fighting IAT2s all day long spinning the blower that fast on the track.

You're correct that an ice tank will not help on the track either, other than the first 2-3 laps. The reality is that the brick in the lid just doesn't have the ability to shed as much heat as the blower generates with that small of a pulley for the typical road course WOT profile.

Is your pulley interchangeable? IE could you run a 2.45 for most events, then swap the pulley and tune for road course events? If that's legal, that might be the hot ticket.

I didnt until you said to.....I built an elaborate setup so that I could pressure test with air and check for bubbles. My entire career has been in HVAC Service and that is how we test for leaks so I am comfortable with it and can 100% pinpoint them. I managed to find 2 pinhole leaks, got those ironed out and installed for good. Thanks for the tip Lance. I would not have checked and would have been pissed at myself.

Was at 8lbs on stock setup, pump gas, no meth, just normal boosted pump gas engine. Tune is very conservative. Keep in mind that this is a 6.0 Gen IV truck motor, its not an LSA block, heads or accessory drive. I wish =)

From what I have read and researched....

The LSA crank pulley is 7.8" and the stock truck crank pulley I am running is a 7.5" so that means I have an underdriven crank pulley. I should be overdriving the blower by approx 20% with a max speed of under 20,000 rpm with the 7.5" crank and 2.45" upper. I also cannot fit a larger pulley in there with the Nick Williams Throttle body.

https://www.lingenfelter.com/PRI2014...heet%201.1.pdf

The other thing to note, I dont spin this thing to the moon. I have my rev limiter set to 6200 currently and usually shifted about 5600 to 6000.

I am going for smooth, reliable horsepower on this setup so the tune will take that into account.

The one thing I am worried about is the brick and wonder if I should install a reinforced one while I have everything apart.

Appreciate all of the pointers though, sure helps having others keep an eye on it. I also don't think Ill be anywhere near your 702 wheel hp.

Sean

Love all the easy bolt-on upgrades, Sean . . .

Question: Are you using TIG or a spool gun for the AL welds? I have a never-used spool gun I got with my Miller welder several years ago . . .

It would be interesting to see what a few more RPMs would get you, given the linear power-generating characteristics blowers are supposed to have. Your springs are surely good to 6800, along with your cam.

Happy holidays, dude!