GRM $2009 Dodge Aries project - EVENT COVERAGE W/ PICS [Archive]

Vigo

02-15-2009, 11:34 PM

So some of you may have heard off-hand mention of the fact that myself and a local guy i recently met decided to go in on making my old Aries into a Grassroots Motorsports Magazine $2009 Challenge car. If you've never heard of that event, you have $2009 (this year) to buy, build, and race any car in the event. It's one of the most interesting competitions out there to me, since the rules are pretty wide open. There are also a few people on this forum who've entered turbo dodges in past years, but I havent talked to any of them about it yet. We're going in blind! lol.

The car is my 89 Dodge Aries. I bought the thing way back in the day for $100 as a 2.2 tbi auto with a thrown rod. It's an LE, no options other than front buckets. Its been through a lot of renditions with various parts i had laying around. It stayed tbi the whole time but ended up being a lightly modded 2.5 tbi with a 555 that ran 17.0 and got me 27-29mpg as a daily beater. Eventually i took the motor out to put into my current daily driver 2.5/523 caravan (27-33mpg!!!) and it sat for a good long while.

When i met Mason, he brought up the GRM challenge and i immediately offered that i had a car and a bunch of parts laying around, and we decided to use the Aries. When we started i had put it back together as a 2.5tbi/auto that was just complete enough to drive it around the yard (because i have to play musical cars with my collection whenever i have to move something).

Pretty much immediately we found an 89 turbo caravan on craigslist for fairly cheap. It had 250k miles and tranny issues but it ran and drove and included such niceties as a big Evo intercooler and piping, 1g dsm bov, TurboXS mbc, and some pretty huge tires that i put on my cousin's dynasty to make it look like a 4x4.:eyebrows: I ended up paying $450 for the thing.

We did a compression test on the motor and got decent numbers (130 140 140 140) and decided to use it (250k!) so we tore down the van and the aries and got to work!!

So Mason (strax22 here) and I have put a few days into the car so far. Today, we finished adapting and tidying up the harness from the minivan and got the thing running! It moved out of the carport under its own power.

Here's some progress pics.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02767.jpg
This is the Aries before we started.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03231.jpg
Sorry, no before pics on the van. Its ugly.. who cares? Mason is enthusiastic.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03236.jpg
I dont work ON cars, i work IN cars. But you can't pick me up off a streetcorner (except by appointment).
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03237.jpg
Minivan engine/tranny comes out. Messy...
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03245.jpg
Here i demonstrate the ONE AND ONLY use for a 7mm 6pt box-end wrench: Fixing a stuck governor.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03239.jpg
How do you disconnect the bulkhead connector? With a PRYBAR, a 1/2" IMPACT, and a TWO FOOT EXTENSION. Thats how i roll!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03242.jpg
Aries engine comes out.
http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=Movie_0001.flv
Aries engine/tranny moves over.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03604.jpg
In with the new. Stole the crabs for my neon!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03606.jpg
Adapting turbo-van wiring harness.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03607.jpg
R.I.Pieces, tbi harness.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03611.jpg
New harness all tidied up.
http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=Movie.flv
It runs! Yay!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03619.jpg
Moved out of the carport under its own power. Like a baby's first steps! :clap:

More info when im not burnt out on making posts...:thumb:

Pat

02-15-2009, 11:37 PM

It's an awesome event...see you there in October!

skitzo_inc

02-15-2009, 11:39 PM

Sounds like a good project! With 2K you should be able to make that thing scream!

Vigo

02-15-2009, 11:47 PM

Well we're only in it about $550 so far, and i havent sold anything off the turbo van we took apart yet.

The aries already is setup for a 520/555, has 10.5" rear discs on a daytona ES axle thats welded, 10.25 minivan front brakes, 94 cast arm k-member, etc. Got a 520 for it, havent decided on clutch yet. Other misc stuff has yet to go on.

g0bbledeeg00k

02-16-2009, 12:01 AM

Looks great man! Assuming things go well, I hope to have my Aries down at the challenge as well. I haven't done all of my math, but I think I'm at about $1000 right now. I have to be somewhat cautious, however, since the car is also going to be a daily driver.

StraX22

02-16-2009, 12:10 AM

Heh, that first pic makes it look like something found on a big game reservation.

MNmopar

02-16-2009, 12:18 AM

That's awesome man, I just started getting grm magazine, I'll look for you in it! (I already recognize Pat's shadow)

And g0bbledeeg00k, I've been meaning to tell you, if you ever sell that Aries that you have in your sig, I want dibs!

That thing is sweet! I love the color.

Seriously, let me know if you ever are going to move it, ok?

j4278h

02-16-2009, 01:20 AM

Don't get burnt out already, I'm coming down in three days and its rip and tear season on some rampages and one unfortunate daytona.

Seriously if you need something for the aires hit me up before tuesday afternoon so I can get it loaded in the truck.

g0bbledeeg00k

02-16-2009, 07:35 AM

And g0bbledeeg00k, I've been meaning to tell you, if you ever sell that Aries that you have in your sig, I want dibs!

That thing is sweet! I love the color.

Seriously, let me know if you ever are going to move it, ok?

Thanks dude :thumb:! I'll keep you in mind, but I don't have any plans to sell it. Come down to Gainesville and check it out in October ;)

Vigo

02-16-2009, 12:19 PM

That's really cool. Two turbo aries at one event.. Turbo swapped aries are fairly rare! I think its because people dont realize they only weigh 2500 lbs. lighter than a 2door P body even.

Jason, other than the cylinder head you mentioned, i cant think of much else we could use that we wont have to buy new, like a clutch and gaskets, bushings, etc. If you have some used rear konis we might talk about that..

For clarification, we have a garrett thats going on it, a big front sway bar, and pretty much ALL the suspension is getting replaced, though i wont say by what until i know it works.

Theres a 2 1/4 straight through side exit exhaust currently on the car with only a glasspack. Not sure how or if we intend to upgrade that. I figure we need to buy the pricey items first and see what the budget looks like later. I know people have run 12s on 2 1/4 pipes before.

Im hoping our car will be strongest in autoX, then drag, then concours (i cringe at what that last will take).

mcsvt

02-16-2009, 02:00 PM

Great progress so far :thumb: I look forward to more updates :nod:

BIG PSI

02-16-2009, 02:15 PM

I would like to know what is the condidtion on the Mini Van ?
Is there any RUST ? Especially on the Sliding door or the rear hatch ?

Let me know
Chuck

omni_840

02-16-2009, 02:29 PM

Great progress so far :thumb: I look forward to more updates :nod:

+1 on this :)

Pat

02-16-2009, 05:38 PM

blk86trbo

02-16-2009, 06:24 PM

I would like to know what is the condidtion on the Mini Van ?
Is there any RUST ? Especially on the Sliding door or the rear hatch ?

Let me know
Chuck

Not sure of your intentions either, but if it's going to the yard I could use a few pieces too. My van was the unfortunate victim of a drunk driver. It could use the aluminum trim piece that's attached along the driver's side behind the door. Also the aluminum trim piece that surrounds the rear driver's wheelwell.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee39/blk86trbo/001-12.jpg

If it could be sent to 61360 for a reasonable price I'd love to have it. But if it's too much trouble, I understand...don't worry about it ;)

BIG PSI

02-16-2009, 07:54 PM

Not sure of your intentions either, but if it's going to the yard I could use a few pieces too. My van was the unfortunate victim of a drunk driver. It could use the aluminum trim piece that's attached along the driver's side behind the door. Also the aluminum trim piece that surrounds the rear driver's wheelwell.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee39/blk86trbo/001-12.jpg

If it could be sent to 61360 for a reasonable price I'd love to have it. But if it's too much trouble, I understand...don't worry about it ;)

I just need a good hatch and a good slider.......
Still waiting on response.....

Chuck

g0bbledeeg00k

02-16-2009, 07:57 PM

Im hoping our car will be strongest in autoX, then drag, then concours (i cringe at what that last will take).

I was kind of thinking the same for my car. I'm not actually going to do anything major to the body or paint. I might replace that piece of missing trim on the rear door and try to straighten out a slight dent in the roof. Other than that, I'm just going to leave it as is and keep it clean. I'll, most likely, leave the steel wheels on there as is, too. I'm not thinking I will actually have much of a shot at any of the awards (but you never know I guess) so I'm just going to do what I can by then, drive it down, and just have fun.

I am going to take Pat's advice and run an open downpipe at the event. My car has a 3" downpipe, a straight through MagnaFlow, about 18" of pipe and a turndown. Even as minimal as that is, I will be cutting it before the muffler and reconnecting it with a band-style clamp to make it easy to remove whenever. Also, I have been told that if it's not on the car while competing, it doesn't count toward your budget :thumb:.

Your project looks great! Good luck with everything and I'll see you in Gainesville in October!

Vigo

02-17-2009, 12:13 AM

Paul, I believe i have those parts in decent condition, but i have to check and wont see the van again til wednesday.

Chuck, the van has no rust but the sliding door is damaged. The hatch is fine, but id actually like to keep it closed up so im not really open to selling doors. However, there are PLENTY of rust free hatches and doors in the yards down here and id be happy to do the legwork of getting them for you and to you for a reasonable price. Im basically working as a self-employed mechanic so work like that fits into my life beautifully. PM me if you are interested.

I have a 2.5" downpipe i can throw on by itself if we decide not to use the exhaust that on there...

GLHNSLHT2

02-17-2009, 12:52 AM

heh, I should enter my new yorker, $250 for the car, Got paid $100 to put in a 89/90 front suspension setup and it's 11" brake system, J-yard 2 piece intake and factory rad/ic setup. Rebuilt J-yard mexicn CB with JE's for $1000. hmm what could I do with the extra $859.

RoadWarrior222

02-17-2009, 08:40 AM

Pick up used brake rotors from something small, weld a bit of steel tube between them, drill three holes in each, voila, ghetto strut bar. Might even be able to just hammer the tube flat or use square tube and bolt them together thru' the wheel stud holes.

Vigo

02-17-2009, 02:23 PM

hmm what could I do with the extra $859.

spend every dime on decent shocks, springs, struts and tires. :p

Spraynlog

02-17-2009, 04:31 PM

GLHNSLHT2

02-17-2009, 06:07 PM

Buy a snowblower so you can dig it out in time for the event?:bump2:

hehe, The Yorker has been out, it's the Tona that's still stuck in the shop. I can't get the gates open to get my buddies bobcat down there to even plow if I wanted to. There's still over a foot of frozen snow and ice behind the gates and I'm not spending 4hrs to try and dig it out. It can stay there till the snow melts.

blk86trbo

02-17-2009, 06:11 PM

Paul, I believe i have those parts in decent condition, but i have to check and wont see the van again til wednesday.

Thanks man, let me know what you find out (at your convenience)!

fastasleep

02-25-2009, 10:42 PM

spend every dime on decent shocks, springs, struts and tires. :p

This is VERY sound advice for competing in the Challenge. BTW, I really enjoyed meeting Pat down at Gainesville last year. I'll be down with the Colt this year and Matt is bring the Talon back with a bigger turbo.

-Les

GLHS60

02-26-2009, 12:18 AM

Hopefully you can get those trim parts off for Paul. I also have a Voyager LX and they have some unique trim pieces that can be hard to find. I think the Caravan ES had some of the plastic trim but not the shiny trim. Even the rear tinted windows are different with ghost stripes in them. Best of luck in the 09 Challenge. Hopefully you can sell some Voyager parts and win the Challenge without spending any money!! Only in a Turbo Mopar.

Thanks
Randy

Vigo

03-09-2009, 06:22 PM

Over the last two weekends, Mason and I moved the radiator, mounted the intercooler, filled the cooling system, checked the cam and ignition timing, took out the nasty temporary 413, put in the 520, and took a test drive. :thumb:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03840.jpg
Fits like a glove!! I swear, mounting this intercooler in this car was just ridiculously easy! You can see i enlarged the opening on the left. The one to the right will probly get the treatment sometime soon.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03843.jpg
We moved the radiator a few inches to the passenger side to make room for intercooler plumbing on the driver side. Luckily, there was a pre-existing set of upper and lower mount points on the passenger side.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03842.jpg
The top mount on the driver's side consisted of bending some metal with pliers and drilling a single hole.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03841.jpg
The lower mount we simply knocked off with an air chisel and moved over two inches and secured with some self-tapping sheetmetal screws.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03839.jpg
We upgraded to one piece axles after the previous axles became two-piecers during disassembly.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03847.jpg
Now that we have a GRM magnet, we're sure to get in the mag!

Now for the test drive.. Take note of the wonderfully squeaky water pump and hilariously strong bucking motion.
http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=Movie1.flv
http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=Movie2.flv

YEEHAWW!!!!

:thumb:

RoadWarrior222

03-09-2009, 07:24 PM

The lower mount we simply knocked off with an air chisel and moved over two inches and secured with some self-tapping sheetmetal screws.

Personally I'd figure on tacking that down, or I'd have done it with JB Weld/Epoxy underneath, or I'd have bolted it, because I wouldn't want vibration breaking it loose in the thick of competition... guess you could add a screw or two more each side or pop-rivet it too.

RoadWarrior222

03-09-2009, 07:44 PM

BTW, bushings and mounts ... the no brainer choice is of course Johnny's line of products, polybushings... but since a full set eats 1/4 of your budget, here's what people who don't have PB for their cars do, and the cheapskate way...

Fill the front and passenger side engine mounts with polyurethane windshield adhesive, sets up real stiff. Transmission mount can't be filled it works different. Look in hardware/boating supply stores for "bow blocks" and bumpers for boat trailers, some of them are solid poly chunks that you can carve to shape for $5-$10.

Control arm bushings, the classic circuit racer trick is to replace these with solid bushings, you'd figure on using a stack of washers for the stub strut and sections of metal tube cut to size for the pivot bolt. This will give you a lot of road noise and vibration on the highway, but will stiffen it up real good, that's why PB are a good compromise between streetability and handling.

Swaybar, the one on the minivan is probably bigger.... you could cut bushings out of the boat trailer bumpers for those too.

Vigo

03-09-2009, 09:48 PM

swaybar bushings from johnny are fairly cheap. The one that is already on the car is fairly large, and i have a 1 1/4 that may or may not work in these control arms.

I can always add more sheetmetal screws to that bracket, probly 15 more if i wanted, lol. The whole box of screws only cost $3. Theres a section on top with 2 more screws that isnt seen that i think takes most of the load, though.

I think our next step will be fixing the driveability issue and piecing together our intercooler plumbing. I want to get the thing running 80-90% of what its gonna run before i start putting suspension together. I dont want a super fast autoX car thats only running 15s. Not gonna win that way! Seems like the top 10 from last year were mostly running 11s-13s 1/4.

Speaking of which, im curious as to the BASIC major parts motor setup on Pat's shadow...Doubt id be willing or able to duplicate it anyway! :p

Pat

03-09-2009, 10:27 PM

Speaking of which, im curious as to the BASIC major parts motor setup on Pat's shadow...Doubt id be willing or able to duplicate it anyway! :p

http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35146

See post 17...that will give you an idea of the basic motor set up. :thumb:

Glad to see the car is up and running! I've been moving along on mine lately fabbing little parts here and there. I'm changing a few things around, but the basics will be the same.

Vigo

03-10-2009, 11:25 AM

Oh bother! guess that won't be happening for this car. I think we can run 13's on what we've got, though! :)

Gotta work on breaking 30 mph and getting into 5th gear first though..

Spraynlog

03-10-2009, 10:36 PM

Fun project and awesome pics!:thumb: Thanks for posting up.:nod:

1966 dart wagon

03-10-2009, 10:47 PM

more pics, i cant wait, nice goal :eyebrows:

burnt_toast

03-11-2009, 01:27 AM

Very quality thread here, good stuff :thumb:

Vigo

03-29-2009, 08:42 PM

Mason and I finally got a chance to work on the Aries project once again.

Where last we left off, the car was running with no turbo plumbing and bucking violently.

Today, we showed up and got right to work on the driveability issue. Turns out we had the map vacuum line on the wrong port on the baro solenoid.. that was fast and easy! Car runs great!

Ok.. dig out all the intercooler plumbing that came off the old turbo van. We start mixing and matching pipes and couplers and with the addition of an old l-body lower intercooler hose, turns out we are only one 90* turn short of a complete intercooler plumbing system!:thumb:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04187.jpg
Turns out the tailpipe off the parts dakota is a perfect candidate! One harbor-freight-sawzall cut and it's ready! Of course it was carboned up pretty good, and i didnt have any automotive solvents at all.. Luckily oven cleaner works pretty well! This step cost: 0$
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04188.jpg
In progress. Turned the battery sideways for clearance. Still 0$.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04191.jpg
Finished plumbing. No 1g dsm bov yet as the hard pipe it was on sucked. The cone filter also came from the minivan. 0$
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04190.jpg
Yay! Now we can boost!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04192.jpg
This is an ambitious project, so we used an ambitious boost gauge! 0$

Then we decided to strip out the interior. We removed the carpet, headliner, rear seat upper and lower, rear seat belts, all trim behind the a-pillars, and emptied the trunk. We still have: a-pillar trim, complete dash minus hvac box and radio, front seats and all door panels.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04194.jpg
Here's an old amp remote wire that i shorted out many moons ago. It was melted into the carpet and several plastic trim pieces.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04196.jpg
We had wondered what all the many spiders living in the aries were feeding on.. then we found the ant nest under the carpet.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04199-1.jpg
Another 0$ under-sink solution: Ant spray!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04200-1.jpg
We found many things while tearing this car apart. This soggy article was among the most disgusting.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04201-1.jpg
Scraping all the crumbly glued-on noise insulation off the roof was an unpleasant process.

After stripping the interior and rebolting the seats, we turned the boost up to 13 psi and gave rides to the many people who wandered through the house today. This thing is surprisingly quick! low weight= THE WIN!

http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=Movie-2.flv

It's fun! And we still have 45 psi of room to grow into our boost gauge!!

Pat

03-29-2009, 10:30 PM

Excellent!

I started on my car today. I pulled the motor out to clean some stuff up on the firewall and do some fixin. I hope she's running again in a week or so.

2.216VTurbo

03-29-2009, 11:18 PM

Looking good:thumb: But it also looks lot there is a bunch more weight to take out. You gonna leave the door panels, what about the window crank mechanisms? You can use an old seatbelt and a couple snaps to raise/hold the window open or closed. How about the side impact beams? Bumper supports? Wait, is this thing gonna see street duty after the challenge? Maybe some of that stuff should stay...

Vigo

03-30-2009, 08:10 AM

well, Mason mentioned some possible rules hang-ups with cutting in the doors so we decided to postpone it until we read the rules. We pretty much did exactly as much as we had time for on that one day. Sometimes it can be tricky to dedicate even 6 hours a week to this car, so we try to stay busy and do whatever we know can be done when we have the time.

Id like to keep at least the front doors complete. The back ones can be completely gutted and welded shut from the inside for all i care. The dash has plenty of stuff left to come out of it. As for hole-sawing, etc, itll probably wait until the car is mostly done and do that kinda stuff in our free time once we can keep the car at one of our houses and work on it during the week. Right now he drives 21 miles and i drive 60 to go work on it so that stuff is pretty impractical for now.

Im loving this project!

burnt_toast

03-31-2009, 10:59 AM

wow that is some crafty looking plumbing for Freefifty hah

very nice results in one day and the drive vid shows it :thumb:

Vigo

04-05-2009, 09:44 PM

Mason and I worked on the car again on saturday.

Nothing drastic was accomplished on this particular day, but there was incremental progress and a lot of brainstorming..

What's really exciting is that the car will be ready to start racing in a few weeks!:thumb:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04266.jpg
We finished emptying out the dash. Previously Mason had taken out the hvac box, and today we took out all the air ducting, padding and insulation, speakers, excess wiring, and the black floor pad thats visible. We put the dash pad back on and it looks completely stock up top other than the lack of radio and hvac controls.

We also:
Fixed the reverse light wiring (auto to manual conversion on the harness)
Put the front end piece on (had to cut a section out to clear intercooler tubing)
Minorly repaired the shifter (made a bushing and bolted it down better)
Adjusted the clutch pedal to engage in the right area
Removed the track bar (in preparation for upgrade/replacement and to get measurements)
Removed front sway and eyeballed planned mods (1 1/4 w/ endlink conversion)
Brainstormed bushing and tie bar construction
Fixed the speedometer (minor cable repair and speed sensor and gear swaps)
Minor repair on the instrument cluster (involving electrical tape)
Superglued the ashtray back into one piece :p

I also determined that the weight removal has made a big difference, in that i wasnt able to do THIS before (im sure ive tried):
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04267.jpg

Struts/springs and wheels/tires are going on it in 2 weeks! WOO!

rib256

04-08-2009, 03:25 PM

I hope you guys rock the GRM challenge, and I can't wait to see the car in the mag.

fastasleep

04-08-2009, 04:51 PM

Yeah, I can't wait to see it either! We'll be down again this year; Matt in the Talon and me in the Colt.

-Les

Aries_Turbo

04-08-2009, 05:17 PM

looking great adam. looks eerily similar to my reliant. :)

Brian

Vigo

04-09-2009, 10:22 PM

yeh but yours is a 2dr and still nice! :p

Aries_Turbo

04-09-2009, 11:00 PM

i suppose. the clearcoat on the hood and roof is starting to fog a little.

brian

Vigo

04-11-2009, 09:27 PM

Ok, so just to keep you guys on the hook, i took a short vid today. Mason was out of town and i had to get my dad to hold the camera so no comments on the wobbliness please.

Basically, idle to 85mph in a 5spd dodge aries. Motor is an absolutely stock 89 2.5 mitsu t1 (with 250k miles) with an intercooler on 13 psi.

Also, there's no tach so im shifting by ear.
http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=Movie-3.flv

Next weekend should be a big update.:thumb:

Aries_Turbo

04-11-2009, 09:54 PM

cool dude. :)

i need to move. im sick of having to take time to fix rust before i can do the fun things like toss motors in and such. :) but the chances of that are slim. moving sucks and im lazy.

brian

83Shelby

04-11-2009, 11:26 PM

Dude that really makes me want to put one in my K! Damn son.

Ondonti

04-12-2009, 04:02 AM

short gears! Or I guess you are shifting in the low 5's?

Vigo

04-12-2009, 10:52 AM

yes probably. I dont know of any mitsu-turbo powered car that makes power much past 5k.

Its a 3.5fd 520 on 23" tires so short tires too. It does have the correct speedo gear so the speedo should be "accurate" (stock=accurate? lol)

blk86trbo

04-12-2009, 11:01 AM

ha ha that puts a grin on my face...awesome!

Big_P

04-12-2009, 11:22 AM

That thing hauls balls!

burnt_toast

04-12-2009, 08:20 PM

to see it in the vid is nice, to ride in and feel it is f'n awesome! :rockon:

great progress in small time frame, good stuff

Reaper1

04-12-2009, 11:59 PM

I'm hoping to be there as I've been the last 3 years in a row supporting the TM people that show up, such as Cliff Sebring and Team MinMe, ect.

Because of where I live I've actually gotten to "know" some of the guys from GRM ok. I don't go to BBQ's at their house or anything, but if we see each other we usually have an ok conversation and we call each other by name, so it's cool! :thumb:

GRM = THE BEST car magazine EVER!!! :amen:

WalkingSoftly

04-16-2009, 10:12 PM

Another turbo van is being parted out...I got to find me one before all of them disappear! Lol, i kid.
But good luck to you guys! Definitely post some more videos!

Vigo

04-17-2009, 08:42 AM

We're picking up some parts today and should have lots to talk about by sunday! :)

Pat

04-17-2009, 08:47 AM

Don't forget to keep some room in your budget and find some used autocross tires....take off's from your local scca group are CHEAP and they'll be much better than streets. The two years I've been there, the layout for the autocross was very tight. The Hoosiers I ran last year have got to be 5 years old (practically worthless to a hard core autocrosser) and while they're not nearly as good as I'd like them to be, they're better than nothing.

Car's coming along nice! See you in October!

Vigo

04-17-2009, 04:59 PM

Actually im PLANNING on leaving nearly 1k in the budget for tires. HOPING to find used 17" autoX rubber AND some used 15" slicks if at all possible. Realistically, other than a good clutch, we're probably only 100-200$ away from having all the major parts already paid for. :D

extremely simplified=

car $100

parts van $450

springs struts shocks=$500

misc bushings and heim joints we have yet to buy= $100.

wheels, have yet to determine a value. brand new they were less than $400.

Id like to get at least $200 back out of the van.

so as it stands with no money back out of the van and valuing the wheels at 100%, which is silly, we'd still have $500 for tires and a clutch. Not the best, but get some money back from the van and value the wheels realistically, and we could be getting close to 1k again :thumb:

Whats actually on the car in that little video could be estimated between 550-700$ cheap speed :eyebrows:

Vigo

04-19-2009, 01:02 AM

More progress!

We:
Picked up our cheap Konis/Eibachs and put em on
put the stock trackbar back on after measuring and scheming for the replacement
put a 1" or so swaybar with poly bushings in until we get the 1 1/4 one converted and ready
put rear pads, rotors, and calipers on it.
changed front spindles to the newer kind w/ the 11.25" brakes up front
put a cal in the computer (we had already socketed it)
added a charge air temp sensor
put 17s on it
then took em off and put 15s on it
schemed about gauge placement
drove it and took vids. :)

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04378.jpg
Getting started.....
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04393.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04381.jpg
Woot for adjustables! Its kinda funny that people buy Eibachs as lowering springs.. they raised my car like 3 inches. :(
But what can i say. I like LOW cars. I'll probably cut these in a few weeks.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04383.jpg
Ready to try 17x8s?
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04384.jpg
Works great on Dynasty.. DOESNT WORK AT ALL on Aries. Literally cant turn the wheel without hitting the fender. We'd have to run something smaller like 225/40 to make this have a chance of working. Its still a possibility but since we're planning to buy used, we may not be able to be choosy...

Time to add charge temp sensor wiring...
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04392.jpg
That was easy!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04394.jpg
Put some 11" brakes on the front, but my crabs didnt like it :p
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04395.jpg
IMA LEARN YOU SUMTIN YOU STUUPID THANGY!!
http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=Movie_0001-1.flv
That'll do. :D
http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=Movie_0002.flv

http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=Movie-4.flv
Pretty decent for 11 psi. 0-100 or so. Spikes to cutout sometimes but settles to 11. I guess the previous vids were really at 11 too since i didnt touch it.

.
.
.

So far so good.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04387.jpg

burnt_toast

04-19-2009, 01:14 AM

awesomeness :nod:

Aries_Turbo

04-19-2009, 01:25 AM

nice angle grinder ;)

looking good!

Brian

Vigo

04-19-2009, 01:15 PM

i have another boost controller and some solenoids sitting around... maybe i should do a 2step and find my old gtech and run it for fun.

Reaper1

04-19-2009, 02:46 PM

Man, I GOTTA try to make the challenge again this year! I SO wanna see this thing in person! :D :thumb:

Captain Chaos

04-19-2009, 03:09 PM

Man, I GOTTA remember to remind Sean about it this year!

Fixed for ya!:thumb:

StraX22

04-20-2009, 12:17 AM

Time to add charge temp sensor wiring...
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04392.jpg

:nod:High tech electromicals action. Good thing you have the equivalent of probably 5 wiring harnesses kicking around for parts.

I'm just glad that the circuit board trace repair was a sucess given my big ol' hako desoldering gun

BTW: nice mspaint job.

Reaper1

04-20-2009, 02:32 AM

Fixed for ya!:thumb:

If I am able to go you will definatly be on the list of people I remind! :thumb:

Captain Chaos

04-20-2009, 08:43 PM

If I am able to go you will definatly be on the list of people I remind! :thumb:

LOL, you should still remind me EVEN IF you can't make it.

Reaper1

04-20-2009, 09:04 PM

OK OK!! Geeze!!

Sean, the GRM Challenge is coming up soon! Make sure you go! :D :thumb:

g0bbledeeg00k

04-21-2009, 04:58 PM

Lookin' good man! I hope mine turns out as nice as yours is shaping up to be. :)

Captain Chaos

04-21-2009, 07:33 PM

OK OK!! Geeze!!

Sean, the GRM Challenge is coming up soon! Make sure you go! :D :thumb:

Already on the calender.:thumb:

Vigo

04-29-2009, 01:28 PM

Wellp, the most recent scheme is now to swap to 5x114.3 so we can use some 16x7.5s i have. Front will be easy, back will be easy but the kind of easy that applies to every other kind of car besides a turbo mopar (easy but not SUPER easy).

Also gotta get some more gauges going, need to buy a holesaw :p

The stance is killing me, gotta cut those front eibachs!

Also gotta get it STREET LEGAL FOR LEGAL TRANSIT TO MAX ILLEGAL STREET RACING ACTION! :p

Aries_Turbo

04-29-2009, 10:15 PM

how do you do the rear 5x114.3? caravan/or intrepid hub and intrepid disc? (when i looked at an intrepid, the rear discs looked similar but it was just a guess)

front would be caravan setup?

Brian

Vigo

04-29-2009, 11:54 PM

Front would be caravan setup. Rear is tentatively planned as actually redrilling the hubs/rotors using a pattern and drill press for max 0$ accomplishment.

Opticon

04-30-2009, 04:04 PM

Here, I'll fix the funny for you...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Nightspy/Electronicals.jpg

Vigo

04-30-2009, 07:30 PM

Hahaha thanks!

vntodd

04-30-2009, 10:19 PM

just watched the vids...love it that you're out cruising around with the column shifter in park, lol!!:D

Todd

Vigo

05-01-2009, 06:38 PM

well actually thats my 3spd transfer case, im actually spinning all 4 in low range :p

SOMEONE would believe that in person.

Vigo

05-10-2009, 12:30 PM

A while ago i sold my neon to a friend for $300 as a favor. That didnt turn out the way i thought it would. He only gave me $100, flipped it for profit, and then tried to trade me some junk cars to make up the rest.:yuck::mad:

I mean, im a big fan of junk cars, obviously, but ASIDE from the ethical issues there, im a college student in and out of part time jobs and sometimes i just want you to SHOW ME THE MONEY:eyebrows:

Anywho, the neon is now in better shape than when i had it, and the new new owner likes it, and i now own a 90 3.3/604 woodgrain grand caravan and a 93 2.5/5spd mx6.

Luckily, the grand caravan had the large lug pattern brakes that i needed to put the 16x7.5s on the aries, at least in the front, and a lot of the underhood stuff is going to Big_P for his 3.8L Lebaron GTS swap. :thumb:

So, this weekend we swapped front spindles/brakes/wheels on the Aries AGAIN, and put leftover junk back on the front of the van to keep it rollable.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04538.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04537.jpg
The van is ugly, but still a productive donor for at least 4 project vehicles so far. I should change from Vigo to Vulture to reflect my scavenging skills.;) This picture shows the front small pattern already swapped on and backs still stock after we were done for the day.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04539.jpg
The front when we started. We had just installed this setup (11.25" rotors/60mm dual pin calipers on 91-up spindles) the last time we worked on the car, and only put about half a mile on it before taking it back off.:( But all for the better :nod:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04540.jpg
Side by side comparison of the two setups. The one on the right is a 91-up 5x100 with 11" brakes, the one on the left is a 90 model grand caravan 5x114.3 setup with 11" brakes. The setup on the right had a better caliper/pad setup, but either way we've got plenty of brakes for such a light car.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04541.jpg
Bleeding the brakes out. I think they need to be bled even more, but we worked slow yesterday and gave up on the car early in favor of lots of food! :amen:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04542.jpg
It works! Taking the car down.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04544.jpg
These rubbed the front fenders as well, but not NEARLY as bad as the 17s we had tried. I ended up doing the 'sawzall mod' on the offending portions.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04543.jpg
Derrick brought over the New Yorker i gave him and did some work as well. http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34837&page=2

We also put in some FFV injectors and the cal we had, but Im scared of toasting the tbi clutch before we're ready to change it, so we left the boost controller alone.

The rear brakes (10.5" non vented disc setup) will actually have to be redrilled to get the bigger pattern in the back. Ill get some hub centric rings from discount tire to center the front rotor over the rear hubs and use it as a pattern. It will be tedious, but not costly.

Hopefully the car will be inspected soon so i can do months of shakedown on the public roads :D

More to come...

Aries_Turbo

05-10-2009, 02:37 PM

What you doing with the 5x100 11" setup. I need some for my k car. It has 11" awd caravan discs for the rear

GLHNSLHT2

05-10-2009, 04:23 PM

Here, I'll fix the funny for you...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Nightspy/Electronicals.jpg

I'm sort of anal, but drilling out that connector is the only thing you can do if your car didn't have an intercooled option for it's wiring harness since they didn't cast that hole open for cars that you couldn't get the i/c motor in. You're just drilling straight through and not through any connectors. I drill through and find it fine. I suppose you could pull all the wires out, shove it in a vice setup on a bridgeport and drill it that way. You go Vigo!

mario03SRT

05-11-2009, 01:44 PM

Vigo

05-12-2009, 09:24 AM

I did do a gravity feed on the fronts first but i did not try to bleed the rears at all. We will be taking apart the rear brakes to change the bolt pattern soon, so i will re bleed starting from the rear at that time. I think with the wheels i put on i can easily bleed the fronts without even taking the wheels off.

Vigo

05-13-2009, 10:39 AM

What you doing with the 5x100 11" setup. I need some for my k car. It has 11" awd caravan discs for the rear

Unfortunately it's already dibsed for another 2 cars. I'll be putting the caliper brackets, rotors, and possibly calipers onto the front of my 90 van, and the spindles and wheel bearings themselves will be going onto Mason's CSX along with the newer style k-frame.

However, i can tell you that this stuff is easier to find than most people think. I have seen more 11" brake setups on NON turbo NON r/t 91-up daytonas than on any car in the junkyards, not to mention that the spindle, caliper bracket, and caliper are the same as the 91-95 grand caravans, though you need the small pattern wheel bearing and rotor to go back from 5x114.3 to 5x100 with the van stuff.

I WILL be taking my 5x100 wheel bearings and rotors out when i get the stuff to finish swapping the front of my van to 5x114.3 as well. If you could still use them when that happens i can send them to you. : /

Vigo

05-13-2009, 10:45 AM

Did a bit of semi-aries-related work yesterday!

Mason and I finished tearing down the turbo minivan donor and got it ready for the scrap heap. We took all the good stuff that remained off of it, along with some parts people here have asked for, and got the thing loaded up and sitting on my dolley waiting to be towed to the recycers. :amen:

All the money from sale of its parts and scrap metal goes back into the budget, so thats a plus.:D

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04594.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04593.jpg

We also did a bit of work on the OTHER donor minivan that we took the front brakes off of. There's a chance you may see this thing at SDAC this year, but not in the way anyone would guess, lol. NOW LIVE IN SUSPENSE!!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04596.jpg

If anyone needs all the factory owner's manuals for a 90 caravan, let me know! $5!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04597.jpg

/update

rx2mazda

05-13-2009, 11:40 AM

Keep up the good work.

GLHS60

05-14-2009, 03:13 AM

Vigo

05-14-2009, 08:23 AM

Tail light is definitely available, but unfortunately you missed the wheelwell moulding as someone dibsed it back on the first page of the thread. I can look in the yards for one for you sometime soon. Ill tell you if i see any.

i'll pm you about the taillight when i have it off and ready to ship. I am heading over there right now to take that one off and tow the rest to the scrappers!

RoadWarrior222

05-14-2009, 09:51 AM

We also did a bit of work on the OTHER donor minivan that we took the front brakes off of. There's a chance you may see this thing at SDAC this year, but not in the way anyone would guess, lol. NOW LIVE IN SUSPENSE!!

Making a flat bed car hauler out of it?

Reaper1

05-14-2009, 10:30 AM

^^been done before...I've seen it! Still cool though...

Vigo

05-14-2009, 02:58 PM

I considered it, only my thought was for a motorcycle hauler... that's not it though. I'm setting you all up for a letdown, haha.

Ok so bum news, i got the registration and put all the plates on and changed some bulbs and what not to prepare for inspection. I drive it about 20 miles over here to a friend's shop for inspection, and on the way the headgasket blows. Stupid 250k motor with no maintenance! LOL.

So... im here waiting for a friend to pick me up and the Aries will probably get a headgasket change, among other things, in the coming week or two.

I also got rid of the black donor van this morning (maybe shouldnta towed it with the aries..... jk) and there's a post about that with pics forthcoming!

Stay tuned..

GLHS60

05-14-2009, 08:08 PM

Vigo

05-14-2009, 10:41 PM

Unfortunately, i forgot all about the taillights in my rush to get the van out and done with and it is now gone. I do have another van but i think the left is cracked, and no chrome.. I will still stay on the lookout for what you're after, and sorry for my lapse. :(

On the other side of that coin, the good news is that the van is gone!:o
I towed it down to my preferred recycling center, and none of the wheels even fell off until i was only a block away from my destination.:D Ok technically it didnt fall all the way off since i stopped in the middle of the road and tightened the 2 lug nuts some of the way back down so i could pull it the last 500 feet.:lol:

NOW FOR THE ACTION SHOTS!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04598.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04599.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04600.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04601.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04602.jpg

...For a grand total of $126.90 out of the original $450 purchase price and back into the $2009 budget.:nod:

Now all this was before i blew the headgasket on the aries. In retrospect, i think it was blown and i blew it betterer when i took it on its longest trip so far (~20 miles). After towing it home and pushing it off into the backyard for a few days, i decided to work on something that never breaks... My van!

I upgraded to the 11" front brake setup we had taken off of the aries. Since i had already swapped the front spindles/brakes to a 93 setup off the red 3.0 van i parted (info on that:http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35377&highlight=dragged+home), all i had to do was swap the loaded caliper brackets and slip the bigger rotors on.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04603.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04604.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04605.jpg

Done! Now my van is slightly better prepared to tow my aries. Still gotta get that hitch off my lawn and onto the van tho...:p

Also, my odometer was highly PALINDROMICAL today. Take that mental dictionaries!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04606.jpg

Headgasket and simultaneous upgrades soon to come!

rx2mazda

05-15-2009, 07:47 AM

i decided to work on something that never breaks... My van!

ginx.

Vigo

05-18-2009, 08:10 PM

So Mason and I got together yesterday and today and did more work to the Aries. The latest accomplishments:

Took out the motor/tranny
Bought engine stand and put engine on it
Began the arduous process of cleaning off that stanky motor
Pulled a front rotor to use as a pattern to make rears 5x114.3
Put some parts in the trunk that we havent gotten around to installing yet
Pulled a good (hopefully) garrett off my black new yorker
Removed the balance shafts from the aries engine
Fitted a 2.2 pan and oil pickup and schemed on oil baffles
Played musical tires with some of the cars in my yard..actually that was just me.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04607.jpg
Just getting started.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04609.jpg
Lowering it out. We were using the hoist to pick up the car as usual and it looked a little tipsy so we decided to 'stabilize' it with a rock bar, a tire, and a floor jack. :lol:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04611.jpg
All out. It usually takes 1.342 people to drag it around with that chain, but we had two people which was more than enough.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04612.jpg
...It all happened so suddenly! I feel.....(shivers)...
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04616.jpg
Oh look, a new engine stand! I also taught Derrick how to find a/c leaks with a blow gun and a rubber hose on new yorker there.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04613.jpg
We had to borrow a front rotor for a crazy scheme so i installed a temporary replacement to keep the brakes 3/4 functional.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04617.jpg
Remember everybody: Eibach=LOWERING SPRINGS:thumb:

Funny thing, i was worried about toasting the TBI clutch we had in there, but that thing showed NO signs of slippage. I had put a little crosshatch on with a roloc disc on the flywheel and pressure plate and it isnt even faded yet. I should have been more worried about blowing a headgasket. Lesson learned!

Aries_Turbo

05-18-2009, 09:53 PM

looking good. in the end the TBI clutch wont be able to take it but for low(ish) boost it should be fine.

Brian

Vigo

05-19-2009, 10:39 AM

I agree. We're planning on eventually getting a 4 puck ceramic, but in the meantime we're sticking this brand new tbi disc back in with a new turbo pp and hoping for the best. We have low weight and low traction and usually never WOT in 4th or 5th so hopefully it will last long enough for us to get some money for a better one.

Aries_Turbo

05-19-2009, 05:33 PM

its a smaller diameter right?

Vigo

05-19-2009, 05:49 PM

Ive heard that, but i just tossed the only old turbo disc i had sitting out and theres a new turbo disc sitting in one of my trunks somewhere but i havent compared them side by side.

I have heard that its 215mm vs 230mm. I haven't verified it personally.

StraX22

05-19-2009, 09:43 PM

And on the fifth page, the lurker posted!

Here's some pics I took from the bolt pattern conversion of the rear hubs. Why would anyone do this you say? Because some of us have more time than money or common sense. :)

The hubs in their original nastiness...

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp167/StraX22/DSC01136_resize.jpg

Let's do away with those pesky studs

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp167/StraX22/DSC01137_resize.jpg

Hubs less studs

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp167/StraX22/DSC01138_resize.jpg

Now to make a centering ring. Unfortunately I didn't have a lathe big enough so I had to improvise. The tooling consists of a hole saw & mandrel with a transfer punch taking place of the drill bit, the piece to be worked on (a scrap of Kydex), and another hole saw mandrel to clamp the piece in place. It's jankey but it worked.

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp167/StraX22/DSC01140_resize.jpg

Now that the OD is finished, time for the ID

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp167/StraX22/DSC01141_resize.jpg

Fits perfectly snug

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp167/StraX22/DSC01142_resize.jpg

I used the rotor and a transfer punch to mark the holes. I also pre-marked the centers between the existing stud holes.

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp167/StraX22/DSC01143_resize.jpg

I circled the holes with a sharpie just so I wouldn't use them (I should have just used blue dye but oh well). I drilled the holes out in three steps to make it easy on me and the drill bits.

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp167/StraX22/DSC01145_resize.jpg

It was quite a struggle to keep the drill press from chucking the hub across the room.

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp167/StraX22/DSC01146_resize.jpg

And there we are all purdy and drilled. I'm planning on welding the studs in place so I don't have to use an end mill to flatten out the backside of the hubs. More pictures will follow.

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp167/StraX22/DSC01147_resize.jpg

2.216VTurbo

05-19-2009, 11:37 PM

I think I am most impressed that you can make just about anything work:hail: I can fab up stuff and weld etc but conceptualizing a jig like that to cut the hubcentric would never come to me... McGuyver would be proud:clap:

Aries_Turbo

05-20-2009, 11:11 AM

are you at all concerned with the studs being in the thinner metal area?

Brian

RoadWarrior222

05-20-2009, 12:26 PM

I was kinda thinking that... that there didn't seem as to be as much metal on the outside as there was in the stud..

edit: might make a difference if they're welded in solidly... if they were pressed in, I wouldn't like to corner it real aggressively.

Vigo

05-21-2009, 09:25 AM

Vigo

05-21-2009, 10:22 AM

Oh, and we also bought a bunch of gaskets and seals and stuff and spent time cleaning the motor and tranny.

I also compared the tbi and turbo clutch discs and pressure plates i have.

I have a luk tbi combo and a sachs turbo combo, both new.

The discs have the same diameter.
The pressure plates are different, BUT oddly, the turbo pressure plate surface is actually a smaller diameter than the tbi one, which looks like it could accept a larger diameter clutch disc.

Either way, they can be interchanged. FYI

The turbo pressure plate does obviously look to be stronger.

GLHS60

05-21-2009, 10:22 PM

[QUOTE=Vigo;490175]Unfortunately, i forgot all about the taillights in my rush to get the van out and done with and it is now gone. I do have another van but i think the left is cracked, and no chrome.. I will still stay on the lookout for what you're after, and sorry for my lapse. :(

No problem, I should have asked you sooner for the tail light as LX's seem scarce. Mine is about identical to the one you scrapped!! Best of luck in the 2009 Challenge.
Thanks
Randy

RoadWarrior222

05-22-2009, 08:18 AM

What exactly are you concerned about? The lug nut retains the stud in the flange by pulling on it. The only reason it is pressed in with those little splines is so that it wont turn when you're tightening your lug nuts. The lug nut is not going to pull the stud through the metal it sits in, and any force that would distort the hub flange would do so no matter which pattern we were using. Even in the stock lug location, any bending forces would pass through that thinner area as well.

It's the rim of the hub I'd be worried about, if a twisting force is applied the holes might stretch towards the rim if they're too close to it. If they're welded in though, force would be distributed all round the hole, whereas pushed in, they might begin the stretch on the outside slightly, and any funky forces would all be taken on the outside of the hole against the thinner part of the rim.

Yes normally, clamping forces will spread normal loads throughout the whole assembly. However, I figure if it's gonna be autocrossed and ran round a circuit, extra loads from cornering forces might be expected. Personally I would take particular care to check that the lug nuts are all torqued evenly, and never overtorqued, it's if you get a bit more or less force on one stud than the others where there might be a problem.

Might be overthinking it, but I've seen bolts tear out of big chunks of metal before because they were too close to the edge of it. Sometimes need the area around it to spread the stress.

Depends too on the rims you're putting on it, if they are going to be offset out a lot more, or significantly larger diameter with the tires on, then there's extra forces there that have been known to mess up stock hubs.

Vigo

06-08-2009, 03:20 PM

Ok, so it's been a while since we updated, but that doesn't mean we havent been working!

Since the motor and tranny have been out, we've been busy with cleaning, collecting gaskets and seals, painting, gathering more parts, etc.

The good news is that when the car goes back together, the engine and tranny will be relatively clean and presentable, and itll have a bigger turbo and a much better clutch, along with some other minor improvements.

I also finished the bolt pattern conversion on the rear and have some pics to post that i havent transferred to the computer yet. No test drive yet but there is not visible runout when spinning the wheel, so thats good.

I've been spending a lot of time working on my minivan to get it ready for a trip to SDAC, so thats accounted for much of the slowed pace on the aries. Still got to fit a motor swap into that minivan work in the next 3 weeks too.. :p

RoadWarrior222

06-08-2009, 04:00 PM

Part gathering can drive you crazy, hate it when you need a grade 10 bolt in a particular size or a manifold stud... and you end up spending 2 days tracking the damn things down, coz everyone you phone says "sure sure" until they see it, then all of a sudden they've only got grade 8 bolts or imperial studs....

skitzo_inc

06-22-2009, 05:55 PM

It's good to see this coming along, ready to see more progress though!

Vigo

06-23-2009, 05:24 PM

Us too, believe me! I was thrashing to have my van turbo swapped to drive to SDAC but that's become a lost cause. I still have to get the van running again, but as of this week or next the Aries is top priority once again.

Besides, sometimes you have to take a break from being productive and do something silly like lift a dodge dynasty..
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04680.jpg

Still need to lift the back more and put bigger tires on the front... but that can wait until the aries is hauling --- again..:thumb:

skitzo_inc

06-23-2009, 06:37 PM

haha, that car looks awesome lifted! I'm not a fan of lifted cars, but I would drive that thing!

Aries_Turbo

06-23-2009, 10:25 PM

i lifted a dodge shadow for a friend. caravan struts, longer rear springs. :)

Brian

turbokid

07-08-2009, 02:42 PM

cool project nice work

Vigo

07-13-2009, 12:37 PM

A point to add:

The turbo voyager has donated doors to Chuck (BIG PSI) and cladding/trim to Paul (blk86trbo), thereby keeping parts in the T-M community, out of the junkyard AND making room in our budget!

Thanks to all.

More updates to come.

mcsvt

07-13-2009, 05:18 PM

Adam, I meet up with Pete this past Saturday and delivered his parts. Nice meeting you, too bad it was only for a split second.

:thumb:

Vigo

07-13-2009, 05:22 PM

Same to you :)

Hopefully when the car is 'complete' we'd have the option of making some events with it and enjoying the camaraderie a bit more. Although i think for cross country jaunts, we'd have to tow it....

Aries_Turbo

07-13-2009, 10:36 PM

naaaah, i never towed my reliant anywhere. :) i even raced in cincy at SDAC-15. it was kinda foolish but i made it :)

Brian

Vigo

07-14-2009, 12:47 PM

But your car has an interior and the turbo is not visible from the driver's seat :p

BadAssPerformance

07-15-2009, 07:38 PM

Moved to "Project Log" Section

Vigo

07-20-2009, 09:51 PM

What the hell have those guys been doing on the aries project?

... Some stuff, slowly.:o

Mason and I finally had days off at the same time and got together to clean up and assemble the motor. Mason had done a lot of cleaning and a bit of polishing and painting in his spare minutes, so a lot of the parts were already prettied up and ready to go..

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01149Medium.jpg
Polished interior of a 52mm tb.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01150Medium.jpg
The difference between a 52mm tb and the stock intake.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01151Medium.jpg
And now, the LACK of difference.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01155Medium.jpg
Stupid 250k mile headgasket. :mecry:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01152Medium.jpg
Was brown, now black.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01159Medium.jpg
Some SERIOUSLY clogged coolant passages. Couldnt beat a screwdriver through it with my hand, so busted out the DRILL. Blocks and Electr0nicals fear it!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01161Medium.jpg
The camera didnt capture the plumes of junk flying out of the water jackets, but my expression gives some clue.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01158Medium.jpg
Roloc action!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01164Medium.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01165Medium.jpg
Painted, Roloc'd, matched to TB.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01166Medium.jpg

Vigo

07-20-2009, 09:51 PM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01170Medium.jpg
Coming along. Count the cans back there. It was a 10-soda job all told :p.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01173Medium.jpg
There we have it, a very pretty 250k mile stock motor! :thumb::thumb::thumb:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01174Medium.jpg
For comparison purposes...

And now for something completely different...
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01157Medium.jpg
Trash can Gasoline! 3 MIL CONTRACTOR GRADE!:eyebrows::clap:

1984rampage

07-20-2009, 11:07 PM

Y keep the mitsu?!

Aries_Turbo

07-20-2009, 11:08 PM

man adam, you rule! classy motor (in the end), redneck gas filler. covering all types. :)

Brian

mario03SRT

07-21-2009, 07:34 AM

Too late to suggest having the block hot tanked I guess? :confused2:

Pat

07-21-2009, 08:15 AM

Motor looks sweet!

One thing you forgot...to deck the block with a long piece of wood and some sandpaper! :-)

Vigo

07-22-2009, 12:45 PM

Too late to suggest having the block hot tanked I guess?

nah, its just that i'll have the only car that was ACTUALLY built for >$2009. IF i wanted to have the head resurfaced and cleaned and the block tanked, id be in it for most of $100. out of $2000 that sucks.

Y keep the mitsu?!

... so i can put it on my minivan? That's a stock garrett.

to deck the block with a long piece of wood and some sandpaper! :-)

Might just work on the warped head on my spirit :D

turbokid

07-23-2009, 12:13 AM

Does the trashbag and the soda count in the budget?
Lmao keep it coming motor looks good.

mario03SRT

07-23-2009, 07:39 AM

nah, its just that i'll have the only car that was ACTUALLY built for >$2009. IF i wanted to have the head resurfaced and cleaned and the block tanked, id be in it for most of $100. out of $2000 that sucks.

... so i can put it on my minivan? That's a stock garrett.

Might just work on the warped head on my spirit :D

"Pay me now or pay me later".

I hear what you are saying for sure:nod:. With the block though it's what you can't see not what you can see.

Good Luck on the project!

Marion

rx2mazda

07-23-2009, 11:16 AM

nah, its just that i'll have the only car that was ACTUALLY built for <$2009.

Fixed:p:lol:

rx2mazda

07-23-2009, 11:17 AM

Motor looks clean!!

Vigo

07-23-2009, 12:14 PM

Fixed

lol oops!

man adam, you rule! classy motor (in the end), redneck gas filler. covering all types.

Heh thanks, i forward half of all props to 'the lurker' AKA Mason (Strax22).

Working on it again tomorrow, might be running again this weekend..

and then DYNO!!! :D

Pat

07-23-2009, 12:16 PM

Fixed:p:lol:

Hey, hey, hey! I'll have you know that I've got a beautiful new motor with zero miles on the rebuild on the stand, and a 568 with a quaife on the floor next to it. The car, on the other hand, has a used motor with a sand paper/block of wood decked block, a leaky head and a leaky open diff trans.

That catholic school guilt from way back when keeps me honest!

rx2mazda

07-23-2009, 01:02 PM

Hey, hey, hey! I'll have you know that I've got a beautiful new motor with zero miles on the rebuild on the stand, and a 568 with a quaife on the floor next to it. The car, on the other hand, has a used motor with a sand paper/block of wood decked block, a leaky head and a leaky open diff trans.

That catholic school guilt from way back when keeps me honest!

And still trapping 128mph:thumb:

I'll take that new motor off your hands, I need it. Maybe i'll enter my Spirit next year, no catholic school guilt here.....lmao

Vigo

07-23-2009, 01:37 PM

Sad part is i really am this poor. putting up half of a $2k project car was and is a financial challenge. lol. Gas and hotel to florida? ehhhh cross that bridge when i get there??

Maybe i should get a real job... :p nah

oh and also if anyone wants the part number off that large wix filter i will post it.

turbokid

07-23-2009, 05:59 PM

What fun is a real job?

Pat

07-23-2009, 10:21 PM

Reaper1

07-24-2009, 09:42 AM

I'm going to try and be there supporting the TD's as usual! :thumb:

Vigo

07-28-2009, 04:44 PM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01184Medium.jpg
This is a pointless picture of a flywheel we took. In the background you can see other cantankerous project vehicles that barely/don't run such as my van and Derrick's New Yorker.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01185Medium.jpg
Here's the engine/tranny all bolted together and such.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01187Medium.jpg
The dispossessed 8valve-spirit eyes its prey.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/Untitled-1copy.jpg
Easy-Peesy
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01193Medium.jpg
Our fan is now 2.5 times more bladed! 5>2 $0 FTW.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01194Medium.jpg
Almost running! (again :o)

burnt_toast

07-30-2009, 03:32 AM

Hot dang, motor's lookin fresh :evil:

rib256

07-30-2009, 07:39 AM

Go guys go! I think you are doing great.:clap::cheer2:

Reaper1

07-30-2009, 09:54 AM

:cheer2:
Rah rah reee...kick em in the knee!!
Rah rah rass...kick em in the other knee!!
:cheer2:

Vigo

08-03-2009, 12:53 PM

GRRR. Got it running and driving, but already had to R&R the tranny once for clutch issues (thanks again to burnt_toast for the help).. and now it looks like i'll be going in there again..

Not the best moment for this project, but i guess its a relatively good time for things to go wrong, considering how my schedule has loosened up. :/

pauly_no_van

08-04-2009, 09:06 PM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01166Medium.jpg

sweet!

turbokid

08-13-2009, 12:25 AM

any updates?

Vigo

08-13-2009, 06:36 PM

Well, it runs and drives, and Mason is keeping the car at his place now, which is good because that means little things here and there can be done during the week, whereas before neither of us ever even saw the car until the weekend.

We are trying to find a better pressure plate, and working on little things like sticky shift cables and such.

Probably the next big thing that will happen is to get a good pressure plate in it and do some tuning.

Big_P

08-17-2009, 01:03 AM

Sticky shift cables: hang 'em up, and spray as much PB Blaster in the top of the cable as you can, so it trickles down and frees up whatever's stuck. Done it myself. Might take a few days, though.

2.216VTurbo

08-17-2009, 10:14 AM

Still subscribed:thumb:

Aries_Turbo

08-17-2009, 10:12 PM

Sticky shift cables: hang 'em up, and spray as much PB Blaster in the top of the cable as you can, so it trickles down and frees up whatever's stuck. Done it myself. Might take a few days, though.

I take a baggie and cut the corner out of it just enough to get the cable sheath through. then i tape and ziptie the crap out of it.... then i fill the baggie with Mobil1 and hang them up till it drips out the bottom into a container. :) makes them real smooth.

Brian

Big_P

08-18-2009, 12:24 AM

I take a baggie and cut the corner out of it just enough to get the cable sheath through. then i tape and ziptie the crap out of it.... then i fill the baggie with Mobil1 and hang them up till it drips out the bottom into a container. :) makes them real smooth.

Brian

Genius!

Vigo

08-18-2009, 11:37 AM

Mason was applying the PB blaster methodically for a good while, and while improvements were seen, we think the cable itself was damaged during a certain unfortunate incident that my mother remarked was 'the loudest noise she'd ever heard' ....

So we used one of the cables i got from that daytona we parted ( http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34884&highlight=520+daytona) to get the 520, and now its smooth :)

Vigo

08-25-2009, 11:51 PM

Ok, finally got what we need to fix the clutch issues.. sunday should be a big day. Boost past 7 psi should finally be possible.....

:D

If i have a camera battery charger by then i can become a good forum user again and post more pics.

turbokid

09-01-2009, 12:12 AM

Lol well???? UPDATES NECESSARY lol

Vigo

09-01-2009, 03:51 PM

Well, switched the pressure plate, which only got us a few more psi of non-slippage, still slips though. I think the surface of the clutch pucks is glazed or something. It didnt look like it wouldnt work, but maybe i dont know anything. Its still slipping.

I would have pics of the clutch swapping up, but as soon as we got done with the aries we tore apart the CSX for MORE clutch swapping and havent finished that yet so the camera is parked on the CSX radiator for now, pics not uploaded to computer yet.

Mason is out of town frequently and i just started school, and things are busy. Im taking a break from the 3 hours of housework i just did to even write this, and buy a new camera batt. charger off ebay :p
: /

Vigo

09-01-2009, 05:31 PM

Ok, well got some pics off the camera card that are a few months old..

but new here!

Some pics of the rear bolt-pattern swap.

As you know, the fronts are just big caravan stockers swapped on in the usual fashion, but the rears are actually redrilled, using the stock front caravan rotor overlayed on the 5x100 hub using a hubcentric spacer to make it perfect, and making marks using a set of harbor freight transfer punches and drilling them.

Other than the drilling apparatus and bits, getting a set of harbor freight transfer punches and hubcentric rings from discount tire to do the accurate marking shouldnt set anyone back more than 30 bucks. The drilling is really the tedious part.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04675.jpg

The redrilled hub and rotor assembled.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04676.jpg
A 16x6 dodge avenger wheel. These are going on my van, actually.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC04678.jpg
some nasty old 16x7.5 5x114.3 wheels with way-too-big 245/45r16 on a dodge aries :thumb: Soon to be 215/45r16.. did i mention that?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Hankook&tireModel=Ventus+R-S2&partnum=145WR6Z212&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

couldnt pass that up....:D

pauly_no_van

09-02-2009, 10:52 AM

haha my wagon's got 205 65 r15 on the front and the inside corner of the tires rub the front corner of fender just a little in certain turns.
I may cut a bit away like you did...

Vigo

09-08-2009, 10:58 AM

Alright, so i got some pics off of Mason's camera!

Here's the lowdown on recent events:

We finished putting the tranny back in about 2 weeks ago.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01239Medium.jpg
Using the hoist method turned out to be slightly easier than the bench press method i used last time. Only slightly, though.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01244Medium.jpg
The tranny's weight is pretty well distributed when hanging from that bolt hole.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01245Medium.jpg
We took some time out to put a clutch and k-frame in Mason's CSX.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01248Medium.jpg
Our tires got here last Friday. Fast shipping from the TireRack as usual.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01249Medium.jpg
We had some fun getting them mounted and balanced but ended up coming out of it cheaper for other people's mistakes!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01258Medium.jpg
Ahh, gotta love it!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01259Medium.jpg
I forgot to check the traction rating on these..
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01250Medium.jpg
This weekend, we started on our swaybar endlink conversion. That metal is a ----- to cut and drill.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01251Medium.jpg
It's not done yet. Tedious work when you don't own a vise, lol!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01255Medium.jpg
I decided to go ahead and mount up the towbar brackets. Im sure as ---- not DRIVING this car all the way to Florida.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01256Medium.jpg
After drilling the holes for the bracket, i put the bumper back in the cover and marked and drilled the cover. I then jigsawed out the holes and went step by step until the brackets fit the holes in the cover nicely.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01262Medium.jpg
We sprayed all the visible elements black so it wouldnt attract more attention than it already will.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01268Medium.jpg
Bumper back together.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01269Medium.jpg
Tow bar mounted.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01261Medium.jpg
We also relocated the battery. Works great.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01257Medium.jpg
Cut the front springs. Not enough apparently. Darn me for playing it safe! 1.5 coils off the front. Also stiffened up the Koni's a good bit in the front. The rear is unchanged for now.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC01272Medium.jpg

We're signed up for an autox on the 27th. :D

StraX22

09-08-2009, 12:10 PM

Yay for somewhat more even ride height!

fastasleep

09-10-2009, 12:43 AM

Did you guys reserve your room and all, yet? They were $104 at the Gateway Grand. What day are you guys showing up?

-Les

Pat

09-10-2009, 06:12 AM

Are those sentra end links? I did the same thing on mine!

Vigo

09-11-2009, 10:20 AM

I did the same thing on mine!

They are indeed the nissan pieces! Though i must forward credit to Mike Stimac, whose awesome car i stole ideas from at SDAC, and who was kind enough to clue me in on the nissan pieces.

Honestly i need to be getting our rooms figured out like.. yesterday? I'll get on that...

Pat

09-11-2009, 11:18 AM

They are indeed the nissan pieces! Though i must forward credit to Mike Stimac, whose awesome car i stole ideas from at SDAC, and who was kind enough to clue me in on the nissan pieces.

Honestly i need to be getting our rooms figured out like.. yesterday? I'll get on that...

Man...I literally spent hours looking at differrent end link set ups to figure out what I could make work. I should have thought to contact Stimac!

Aries_Turbo

09-11-2009, 02:19 PM

thats sweet.... and those end links are cheap through rockauto.com. i used to have a 88 sentra and i vaugely remember those links.... disconnecting them so i could push the LCA down easier to pop the axles out so i could replace my transmission when i grenaded it :)

i may have to order a few sets of those... one for the daytona and one for the k car.

i assume its a common thread size like M8x1.25 right? Or maybe a standard thread cause it comes with a nut too?

Brian

Pat

09-11-2009, 03:07 PM

I can get you the thread size/pitch when I get home...I have three worn taps that I can look at to verify!

Aries_Turbo

09-11-2009, 06:05 PM

lol. nice. the swaybar is that hard?

Brian

Pat

09-11-2009, 09:11 PM

lol. nice. the swaybar is that hard?

Brian

It is a ----- and a half to drill and tap. Once the kids fall asleep, I'll run out to the garage and get the thread size.

Vigo

09-11-2009, 09:35 PM

It is a ----- and a half to drill and tap

You can say that again..

And as i said.. i dont have a vise!!

Good drilling technique helps a lot.. but if your bits are already dull you wont even make a dent in it, and most people's are. Something like this, you need to cut at a very slow speed and keep dousing with lube to keep the bit cool. If it gets too hot, it loses its edge and all progress stops.

We checked the thread size too but i dont remember it. If Pat doesnt have it up by tomorrow night i will find and post it.

pauly_no_van

09-11-2009, 10:40 PM

i killed and returned an expensive set doing that, never again for me!
i used skateboard wheels as bushings, hollowed em out they work a lot better than the rubber ones! :D

DaveSkrab

09-12-2009, 12:23 AM

Very cool! Great job on all of the progress as well! Just one suggestion from someone elses unfortunate experience. Make sure it's aligned properly, and use spare elcheapo tires while flat towing it all the way to florida. It can potentially wreak havoc on your Nice NEW tires.
Anyhow, Keep up the good work, and we'll see you there!!

GLHNSLHT2

09-12-2009, 12:48 AM

HEHE you guys having problems cutting and drilling and tapping the sway bar make me laugh. I cut the ends off with a hack saw. Hit the ends with a spot drill, and ran a 1/4" pilot drill to as deep as I wanted them ran my drill size for 1/2-20 threads. All with the sway bar clamped to a table. Just have to be square on it. I used a variable speed 1/2" drill and just made it turn like 10 rpms a minute. The drilling part was maybe 4 minutes a side between switching drills and tapping it. Maybe it's just because I'm spoiled and work in a machine shop so I have access to fresh tooling although I didn't use more than 1 of each size drill for the whole thing.

Pat

09-12-2009, 06:52 AM

[QUOTE=GLHNSLHT2;552038]HEHE you guys having problems cutting and drilling and tapping the sway bar make me laugh. QUOTE]

I'm glad we're able to amuse you.

Pat

09-13-2009, 08:07 AM

Brian - I can't find my taps, but I'm 99.9% sure that it was M8 x 1.25. Maybe Vigo can verify.

Aries_Turbo

09-13-2009, 09:25 PM

well i know i have that size and even if its something else, i have a pretty decent tap and die set. :)

thanks

brian

StraX22

09-13-2009, 10:05 PM

The thread size is a M10 x 1.25.

Some nice new titanium drill bits made all the difference in drilling it out. The only problem now is getting the darn tap started!

Vigo

09-14-2009, 10:00 AM

Yeh, you'll need quality cutting tools to get this done. The tap we have for that size wont even touch this metal, its not hard enough to cut it. : /

Pat

09-14-2009, 11:55 AM

What I ended up doing was drilling the hole in the bar larger, chamfering the edge and pressing in a piece of steel bar stock. The insert is welded into the bar, then drilled and threaded the insert. It was still a ----- to tap, but I could not for the life of me get the threads started in the bar itself.

Vigo

09-14-2009, 12:24 PM

Holy crap. That's annoying! I will definitely post back and let everyone know what we end up doing. I think i'd like to try just getting a better quality tap before going to that extra effort, but i may well end up in the same boat anyway.

Would that we all worked in machine shops and had access to good quality tooling that the do-it-yourselfer would never have on hand..

Vigo

09-14-2009, 12:57 PM

We did some work on Saturday..

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05232.jpg
I crappily painted the last intercooler pipes that were'nt black. You cant really tell that one of them is a Dakota tailpipe, now!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05233.jpg
Mason worked on drilling out the swaybar to the tap size.. what a ----- that was!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05241.jpg
Fugging swaybar mod is the hardest thing we've done so far.. and its not even finished!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05243.jpg
Mason installed a new fuel filter and replaced the lines down there. They used to like like a $100 car.. now they look like a $1500 car!! all for $2 in hose! Put that in a lockbox! "mah opponent is using fuzzy math!"
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05247.jpg
And this is what the end of an epic 2-year drought and 2 straight months of 100+ degree weather looks like. Now all the roads that have gone to ---- throughout the dry spell will be washed away entirely!! hooray!

2.216VTurbo

09-14-2009, 11:26 PM

Considering how crappy those fuel lines look, the clamps look pretty good, I'd reuse them:thumb:

Aries_Turbo

09-15-2009, 11:57 AM

Considering how crappy those fuel lines look, the clamps look pretty good, I'd reuse them:thumb:

i would too. the new ones are crappier and strip out easily. the used factory ones are pretty good unless they are all rusty.

brian

burnt_toast

09-15-2009, 12:11 PM

tow bar mount looks sexay hah, good stuff man. hang in there

skitzo_inc

09-15-2009, 01:21 PM

Looks like everything is coming together quite nicely!

Vigo

09-15-2009, 07:33 PM

Haha Brian and Alan, Mason was insisting on reusing those clamps and i was wanting to replace them with some crappy worm gear clamps.

I agree they are great for tightening, but they suck for loosening!

..we kept the factory clamps. Reason wins over Vigo. :p

I got the hitch on my dynasty today. Had to move my muffler. LOTS of sawzalling, cutoff wheeling, chop sawing, hammering, exhaust clamping, torching, welding, bolting action for a damn hitch. took hours!

But its ready! gonna try towing the aries on the highway this weekend and see how it goes...

Vigo

09-17-2009, 10:18 PM

So, to go with my towbar, i had to put a hitch on the dynasty.

Then, i had to test it out.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05267.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05270.jpg

Made it 60 miles, and this car+dolley is way heavier than aries+towbar, so im happy.

Although i did notice that when i redid the exhaust for the hitch i picked up a bit of resonance at 70 and 85. :mad:

Anyone think we should start a post specifically pestering my friend Derrick to finish up that bodywork??? :amen:

Big_P

09-18-2009, 06:45 PM

Sweet, Adam!

Vigo

09-21-2009, 05:10 PM

Finally got the clutch holding 16 psi.:thumb:

Wanna get it on the dyno before i turn it up any further. Maybe next weekend if we're lucky.

Got an autocross on the 27th. It will be our first race!

Now i just need to build a 2-stage boost controller so i can autocross it and drag race it....

Vigo

09-21-2009, 09:57 PM

We've got room left in our budget, id love to borrow some slicks from someone and just count them in our budget, but i dont think any of the T-m guys will be bringing slicks on 5x114.3 wheels :/

Pat

09-21-2009, 10:20 PM

but i dont think any of the T-m guys will be bringing slicks on 5x114.3 wheels :/

That might make it tough...

Captain Chaos

09-21-2009, 10:32 PM

I have some 29x12.5x15's, lol can't wait to go and watch this!

pauly_no_van

09-22-2009, 11:32 AM

I'm running 16psi on the wagon, anything below 35 mph breaks tires loose when punched on dry pavement. Car is dangerous on wet streets! A413 is holding up perfectly so far, ~1000 miles on the setup..

Vigo

09-22-2009, 04:36 PM

Good to hear! I'll post a vid when i get some more time with it. Very busy with training for more Census work this week.

BIG PSI

09-22-2009, 09:07 PM

I have a set of M & H Racemaster Slicks; they measure 7.5 x 23 x 15
They are mounted on a set of 15 x 7 Aluminum Rims which have a universal bolt pattern
of 5 x 100 or 5 x 114.3

Let me know if you need to borrow them.
Chuck

Reaper1

09-23-2009, 12:07 AM

I can't wait to go and support our fellow TM guys!!

Captain Chaos

09-23-2009, 08:21 AM

I can't wait to go and support our fellow TM guys!!

LMK know when you're going, I'm going down for one day.

Actually Saturday is the only day I can make it.

Pat

09-23-2009, 09:18 AM

15 days left....

Reaper1

09-23-2009, 02:50 PM

LMK know when you're going, I'm going down for one day.

Actually Saturday is the only day I can make it.

Same here... :thumb:

Vigo

09-28-2009, 11:44 AM

Wow, this weekend was CRAZY intense and busy! Musta spent about 40 hours from friday afternoon to sunday afternoon doing car-related business.. Working on em, driving em around, towing, racing, on and on and on. Im glad its over now.

But it was fun in large parts.

Like when we dyno'd 210/320 to the wheels :bump2:
And when i finally made a clean run at the autocross :thumb:

Friday i got off job training early and headed down to SA to work on the cars. I got the Dynasty trailer wiring done and was going to tow the Aries on the tow bar to San Marcos in preparation for taking it to FWDPerformance in Spring the next morning. The car acted wacky on the towbar, and i pulled over after three miles and found out it was grinding my new tires off! Fugg that, i switched to the dolley and finally made it home at like 8pm.

Mason drove up to my place and got there around 5:25 am after driving most of an hour to get there. We left my place right at 6am and headed east.:thumb:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05307.jpg
6:15am, first stop at Walmart. Was looking for a hitch pin for the dolley but ended up with only sodas. Back on the road.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05308.jpg
Bout halfway there, cars holding up fine. This was my first distance tow with the Dynasty.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05309.jpg
Context clues.... we must be there!:love:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05310.jpg
Got there about 10am after having stopped for nasty breakfast. James was already there setting up. :D
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05312.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05313.jpg
Here we go! My first dyno evar....:p
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05316.jpg
Damn im good! i had guessed that it was making 180whp at 13-14 psi previously. I had turned it back down from 16 because i couldnt tell whether it was the clutch or the tires that was slipping in 3rd gear (since Mason broke my speedo cable:p no hard feelings, lol)
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05317.jpg
Turned the boost up 2 psi to start and got 21whp from that.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05318.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05321.jpg
Ended up at 210/320 at 17 psi. We were already running an off-the-shelf cal from FWD, and there really wasnt all that much to fix on the dyno coming from that:amen:. Our setup is pretty basic. A/F is about 11.5 across the board.. Gotta be nice to our 250k mile motor :p

A BIG THANKS to Cindy and James of FWD Performance for all the support! I've had a great experience working with and around them in the short time i've known them. Looking forward to future dealings :nod:

So that's what we're bringing to GRM power wise. No further changes will be made, most likely.

Ok, so get stuck in houston traffic and dont get back to SA until 8 something. Done get home to San Marcos until about 10. Then get up at 4:30am sunday morning to get the car ready for the Autocross!

Vigo

09-28-2009, 11:44 AM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05328.jpg
Leaving home in the middle of the night. Again..
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05329.jpg
San Marcos to San Antonio by 6 am. Pack up the car. San Antonio to Marion, Tx by 7 am. I was the third car there. They hadn't opened up yet.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05333.jpg
Look at me! We have a backup car and a canopy! < = PROFESSIONAL RACERS, right?:lol:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05330.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05331.jpg
Fits right in!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05334.jpg
(WTF is this thing?)x(every person who walked up)=lolz

More later!

pauly_no_van

09-28-2009, 12:13 PM

great documentation, most interesting thanks!
Very cool numbers, that's what I've been telling people, that the wagon puts ~210 to the wheels..... Maybe less now though seeing your dyno...
What turbo are you running again?

mcsvt

09-28-2009, 12:25 PM

How did you do in the auto-x? It's looking great, can't wait to hear all about the competition from the T-M entries. :thumb:

Vigo

09-28-2009, 02:17 PM

Ondonti

09-28-2009, 02:21 PM

Hope those issues get worked out. keep chatting me up on them. You are embarrassing a lot of people with your current output even though some things are still wrong!

Pat

09-28-2009, 02:55 PM

We are running a stock-style t2 garrett with a 2.5"sv going back down to a 2.25" downpipe to a 2.evensmaller glasspack. I know its hurting us, but i forgot to do anything about it before the dyno day. Time left to the race and time available to dedicate to the car is getting really tight.

Just run an open downpipe and take the glasspack out of your budget.

How much budget room do you have left? Can you get a little spray in there? :eyebrows:

Vigo

09-28-2009, 09:48 PM

How much budget room do you have left? Can you get a little spray in there?

I dont think we can get any more torque through our clutch without a stronger pressure plate, and ive taken the tranny out 4 or 5 times in the past 2 months. I'm tired of messing with it. I just hope it holds together at this power level.

I am going to put on a 3" downpipe. I didnt pay anything for the exhaust that was on the car (stuff i got for free and welded up like 4 years ago).. but i paid almost as little for the 3" downpipe.. got it as part of a whole mandrel bent system front to back with cat and muffler for $100, so... $20? :)

2.216VTurbo

09-29-2009, 01:17 AM

Nice numbers:thumb: I was in San Antonio 22-26th last week and thought I might be able to swing over and check progress or just GTG for a beer or something but the conference I was attending (Scoliosis Research Society at the Riverwalk Marriot) had every minute planned out breakfast lunch and dinner. I was stoked to sneak out for an hour to check out the Alamo and the Buckhorn Museum:thumb: BTW, the Holiday express hotel on Camaran st used to be the county jail, still has stubs of bars on the windows where they just torched them off:confused:

Vigo

09-29-2009, 11:06 AM

Sorry to hear that i missed you, but im sure there will be other chances. :thumb:

I believe there is an ex-jail or courthouse in downtown where hangings used to occur, and people still walk every day under the spot where bodies hung from the rafters. It might have been that building!

Vigo

09-29-2009, 02:06 PM

Ok time for Dyno vids!

Just a few runs, i dont remember the total number but they were all pretty dang close except for the first one on low boost.

http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=MOV05315.flv
http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=MOV05320.flv
http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=MOV05322.flv

'funny spot' at 3500 in first two vids is believed to be clutch slip:mad: at 320lb ft :love:. 5yr old stock t2 plate and newish 4puck ceramic disc.

Enjoy!

StraX22

09-29-2009, 06:40 PM

I was stoked to sneak out for an hour to check out the Alamo and the Buckhorn Museum:thumb:

Yeah, that's pretty normal for people not to have any free time when they come here for conventions. It's extremely rare to even be able to leave downtown. Incidentally, I did the audio system for the new ranger museum at the Buckhorn when I worked for Marilyn Systems.

And Adam, that last dyno vid you posted up is kickass; I'm glad you recorded them.

Vigo

09-29-2009, 09:19 PM

If only i had more to put up from the AutoX.. But in about 10 days this thread is gonna damn near explode with pictures, so its all good :)

Big_P

09-29-2009, 10:30 PM

320 ft lbs?! ---- me! NICE adam!

JamesL

09-30-2009, 12:54 PM

Great thread guys, keep up the good work! Did Cindy give you some stickers?

Vigo

09-30-2009, 01:58 PM

I will be bringing those out tonight! They will be on the car very soon..:thumb:

JamesL

09-30-2009, 05:19 PM

Hey, you had a little time to browse the shop.....Did you find that any of my junk would be useful to you. I'm willing to kick in more if it helps. TBHWY I'm still a little leary of that 250K+ motor. By all means let's get a 2.5 inch downpipe and get rid of the rest on the exhaust...might have to turn back the MBC a bit when you do that. Also, double check that cam timing for me.....I expected to pull the power further through the curve....and maybe one slot colder on the plugs at 17psi. I didn't look at the condition of the cam either.

Vigo

09-30-2009, 10:50 PM

Hey, you had a little time to browse the shop.....

Im sorry if i came off as rude about it. You have many items ill be asking about the price of when im done with the aries for a while.. Saw some srt-4 struts with hotchkis springs, for one thing.. And please tell Cindy im sorry for forgetting the van hood!:o

Well, as i said i have a 3" and some 2.5"s but i think considering how cheap i got the 3" i will use it. I'll make sure to back off the boost control before i take it out.

I think something mason and i spotted over there that would address the low-rpm problem would be a 690 round tooth cam gear.. it retards the cam 4 degrees relative to the 557 i have on the car right now.

I think that will lower the torque number a bit, which should help with clutch longevity. Eventually id like to put one of the dual diaphragm plates on it so i never have to think about it again, but we can make it through the event on what we have, i think.

Since the powerband is moved to the right, the hp number will go up. I think the cam gear and the 3" downpipe will make more hp at the same or lower boost number.

Other than that, i can only wish for some slicks to borrow, but most people dont have 5x114.3 wheels like what we converted to. Many dual bolt pattern wheels have 5x114.3 as the other pattern, if you know of any with slicks on them. We have to include value of items we borrow so its a tough order to fill considering those two aspects.

I gave Mason the car and the banners tonight so pictures of them in beautiful matrimony will be forthcoming! We will try the plugs as well. Im sure its $10 well spent.

Vigo

10-11-2009, 09:26 PM

WELL WELL WELL!!

Just got back from GRM $2009!! WOOHOO!

What a blast.. so much to say!

.. and so little sleep...

So i'll be loading up a bajillion pics and the full story tomorrow afternoon.

But here's what i found in my inbox when i got home tonight, having driven home from florida from 10:30 last night to 5:00 this afternoon..

http://racingready.com/2009/10/07/grassroots-motorsports-2009-challenge/

http:
//racingready.com/2009/10/08/grm-2009-challenge-competitors-vehicles/ (http://racingready.com/2009/10/08/grm-2009-challenge-competitors-vehicles/)

Dan of Racing Ready was great to talk to, check his page for some fun race coverage in our part of Texas!

Check back tomorrow!!! :D

jamesmonty

10-11-2009, 09:58 PM

Nice turbo-mopar plug!

DaveSkrab

10-11-2009, 10:00 PM

You're CRAZY for driving through last night! Great time meeting you guys! Have you started scheming for next year the same way we have?

Reaper1

10-11-2009, 11:44 PM

Sorry I didn't make it guys! :( I have a test tomorrow in my EE class that I had to study for. School first...sorry. I hope you guys did well!! :thumb:

Vigo

10-12-2009, 10:03 AM

I have a test in 1 hr and 57 minutes. Ill be back soon!

Vigo

10-12-2009, 02:52 PM

ALRIGHT!

So... Wednesday morning (oct 7) i get up at 7 something am and head down to SA to work on the Aries, skipping class again:o.

Mason and I started our last day of last minute lasts around 9 am.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05413.jpg
Cleaning out the Dynasty.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05414.jpg
Pulling off the ugly flaky chrome ---- on the Aries.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05416.jpg
A bunch of masking.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05417.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05415.jpg
Much better.. Mason had already done the front bumper, grille, and headlight surrounds (some black, some polished chrome) in the days before.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05425.jpg
How many spares do i need? Well.. I took 5. Add that to the tires on the car and dolleys and i took 15 tires across the country. If i had slicks it woulda been more.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05426.jpg
Wiring up our a/f gauge, and backlight for our boost and tach.

Vigo

10-12-2009, 02:56 PM

Took some good advice and upgraded the exhaust with stuff i had laying around..
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05418.jpg
Here's the new one! $50 total, and thats the truth. I also spent more on the glasspack than the downpipe, actually.:lol:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05420.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05421.jpg
Yep, thats what we dyno'ed 210/320 through. :o

Vigo

10-12-2009, 03:04 PM

You're CRAZY for driving through last night! Great time meeting you guys! Have you started scheming for next year the same way we have?

Oh, you'll think we're crazier after some more explanation...

It was great meeting you too! Your csx-t was part of my optimism about my car going fast with simple stuff, and in person you and the rest of the team definitely made us feel the camaraderie and showed what can be done with a turbo mopar and some skill and persistence. :thumb:

As for next year, i am totally all for it, but it falls on my fiancee's birthday so we'll have to see if she had as much fun as i did before i say its on.:thumb:

If i go again... im looking at bringing the aries back with a LOT more work and performance, and possibly entering my minivan as well :eyebrows:

Vigo

10-12-2009, 03:29 PM

We installed a 2-step boost controller using the factory wastegate solenoid and 2 boost controllers.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05655.jpg
We found a kickass switch at radio shack that lit up when it was on. We had to wire in an extra relay to get the light function to work, but it was worth it for the cool factor.:eyebrows: This button had a lot of fans among the people i let drive the car at GRM.;)
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05428.jpg
After putting on some vinyl from our sponsors at FWD Performance :thumb: and getting the 2-step dialed in at 11 pm wednesday night in front of my parent's house :lol: (7psi/16psi to start) we finally got the car onto the dolley and left there at 11:20pm.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05433.jpg
We stopped at Mason's apartment to pick up clothes and handy doodads like a radar detector:eyebrows:. Then, we headed north to San Marcos!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05434.jpg
On the way, we made the first of MANY fuel stops. We were comfortably going about 220 miles on a 14.5gal tank and getting 17 mpg towing, with a high tank of 21 mpg on one leg.:thumb:

We finally made it to San Marcos and picked up my fiancee Kambri and all of our luggage, and left headed east to i-10 at 2:45 am. Once we hit i-10, we stayed on it for about... 1000 miles:yuck:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05435.jpg
This is what we looked at.. all.. night.. long..
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05442.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05446.jpg
When the sun came up, it got a bit easier to stay awake:), but we'd already been driving most of the last 8 hours:o, and we were still in Texas:(. Remember, Mason and i had started working on the Aries almost 24 hours earlier and hadnt slept since then.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05514.jpg
You can tell ive been into dodges for a long time by the condition of that sticker.. id replace it if i could scrape the old one off.. its fossilized!

Vigo

10-12-2009, 03:34 PM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05449.jpg
Luckily i came prepared with a little motivational poster to keep me going, thanks to the intarw3b.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05460.jpg
Drive drive drive. Yoda helped a bit too with the motivation aspect. Do drive halfway across the country on no sleep or do not. THERE IS NO TRY!:nod:

Vigo

10-12-2009, 03:43 PM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05466.jpg
Louisiana mostly looks like this. Makes me wonder what it looks like when a hurricane comes through. :( Ouch.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05489.jpg
Make sure you got gas before driving on this bridge for the next 23 miles.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05512.jpg
Gas gas gas. Money money money :mad:.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05529.jpg
We passed a LOT of nice classics on this trip. :love:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05542.jpg
These guys were using the one with lots of power to tow the one with very little power.. which i thought was completely backwards, obviously!!!:lol: Where do people get these ideas?:rolleyes:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05557.jpg
Fast forward. I was too bored to take pictures in Mississippi OR Alabama.:drum: And then i finally started passing out at the wheel:eek:, so i switched off and took a nap.:faint:
...for one whole hour..:whip: back to work!:yuck:

We finally arrived at Gainesville and the host hotel at 10 pm local time. So.. from up at 7 wednesday morning and working on car til 11 to driving halfway across the country and finally getting there at 10pm on thursday evening. FUN! but mostly RELIEF!!

Vigo

10-12-2009, 03:53 PM

We socialized in the parking lot for a while before going to sleep a bit after midnight.

6:00 am alarm goes off.
:yuck::whip:........:yuck::whip::whip:........ :yuck::whip::whip::whip:....... :censored::mad:
Finally got out of bed at 7:10 am.

The raceway opens at 8 am! Let's go!:bolt: No time to figure out how to get there!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05566.jpg
This guy looks like he knows where we're going.. lets follow him.:lol:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05570.jpg
:banana-mario:Our team finally made it! I feel like we already won, just for surviving ourselves:number1:

Vigo

10-12-2009, 03:56 PM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05576.jpg
We rolled through the gates and starting checking out the competition. We later found out one of the vehicles in this picture runs 10s.:welcome:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05615.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05599.jpg
I started to feel better about the competition after seeing these guys:lol: and also just feeling good in general cuz these are MY KIND OF PEOPLE!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05591.jpg
Start unpacking both cars...
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05636.jpg

Vigo

10-12-2009, 04:06 PM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05619.jpg
Everybody's unpacking their cars, swapping tires, putting up canopies.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05640.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05635.jpg
Sometimes the competition rolls by and you wonder about the $2009.... but ya just gotta stay in the spirit of things (the wink wink spirit for some of these guys;)) and have fun!:nod:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05650.jpg
That's a dummy wearing that helmet. If he wasnt hoarding it id be sporting it myself....:ban:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05626.jpg
A lot of guys had team shirts and were putting a lot of sweat into their cars in the parking lot. We mostly stood around and sweat into our Strongbad and Transformers shirts while leaning on our car. It was a winning strategy in the early hours:D
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05623.jpg
It wasn't too long until the Shitbox Racing special attracted media attention. Laughs and Wows seem to follow this car around.:evil:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05663.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05675.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05664.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05666.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05668.jpg

Vigo

10-12-2009, 04:18 PM

When we went through tech, they made us put in an overflow bottle for the radiator.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05644.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05648.jpg
Mission accomplished!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05689.jpg
They passed us!! .... suckers.. lol
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05687.jpg
After polishing the turd-rocket for a while we hit the concours line to be judged.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05691.jpg
That last digit is just instant cred. I hope to return with the aries as well.:thumb:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05695.jpg
Pay no mind to the chicken car.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05704.jpg
He just shows up every year to get a prize for longest drive in your racecar. And also dress up as colonel Sanders, autocross, drag race,eat food, talk to awesome people, and have a bunch of fun! Going fast is relative in this field, anyway, and definitely not high on the list of good reasons to show up. :thumb:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05699.jpg
Looks can be deceiving too, as we t-m'ers know. The gray car is motor swapped, AWD swapped, and turbo'd. oh and dont forget the standalone:thumb:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05703.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05707.jpg
Team Gutty blew my mind with honda-ness. There's ONE of their race entrants in the background and SOME of their pit bikes in the foreground.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05708.jpg
The porsche was chevy v8 swapped, rear-mount turbo'd, and they even painted over the rear hatch glass to emulate a 63 vette split-window treatment. Definitely looked cool. The festiva in the back belonged to our central texas GRM buds we first met at San Antonio Raceway and was a heap of fun to watch and be around. :thumb: http://www.feoa.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=52156 I wish i had some pics of the keg mounted in the rear hatch area, and the tap mounted on the rear liftgate.. :evil: We were both running parts from mutual friend Craig N. here in SA.. The turbo on my car, and the r-comps and drag radials they ran. Craig has a turbo miata running 12.5@113 using the same basic motor that was in the festiva.

You woulda had a lot of fun out here, Craig! hint hint:whip:

Vigo

10-12-2009, 04:39 PM

After concours, we hit the autocross grid and waited to run.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05718.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05713.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05715.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05723.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05725.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05727.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05734.jpg
I had snagged one of the magazine drivers and let him drive 3 out of our 4 scored runs after i took him around on the first one to give him an idea what kind of wheelspin he was up against:lol:. I had 3 or 4 more fun runs after the scored runs were through.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05738.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05739.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05737.jpg
I had fun letting someone else drive the car because i got to snap some pics of it on course.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05756.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05741.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05743.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05751.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05762.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05763.jpg
Some funny lady decided to frame this shot of my car behind a clearly labeled trash can. :lol: ... and she says she supports my hobby.:o

neongary

10-12-2009, 04:57 PM

Great job!:clap:
Looks like you guys had loads of fun. So, what's up for next year?

Vigo

10-12-2009, 05:08 PM

http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=MOV05735.flv

http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=MOV05730.flv
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05598.jpg
GRM had a spanking new miata there to compare to the $2009 and under crowd. For the record, my car was slightly faster at autocross and a lot faster at the drags.
^The new front end on the miata just makes me want one more. Ive always been a miata fan, but the new front end just makes me love the current gen more than ive loved a miata before, and Kambri wants one too. I got her into one in the SA new car auto show last year and since then its been nagging her.

Dont be surprised if we buy ourselves one of these as a college graduation present :nod:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05767.jpg
I finally got to see this car at the event. Id been following it a bit on the GRM forums because its super interesting to me! He's taken an electric S10 drivetrain and mounted it in the front, with the stock fiero 2.8/5spd in the back, and prius batteries in the cabin for a gas/electric AWD beast!
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/west-coast-2009-challenger-awd-fiero-hybrid/10519/page1/
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05768.jpg
GO BRICE!!

You inspire me to take on my Gas/electric AWD van project:eyebrows: Cant WAIT!

Vigo

10-12-2009, 05:15 PM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05769.jpg
After the fun runs opened up i was car-swapping with some cool d00ds and landed in this STOCK miata with old r-comps and worn out shocks for one run.
For reference, this car trapped 77mph on the drags next to my 97.
In my car, i ran 34.9, the magazine driver ran 34.6, but on my first run in this 87 whp wonder i ran 33.0. Just goes to show how power is only one part of the equation. I conservatively estimate r-comps to be at least 14 parts of the equation, with rwd handling balance another 7 parts.:thumb:

After the fun runs, the day wound down.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05775.jpg
After a bit more piddling around and silliness, we headed back to the hotel.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05777.jpg
Our car ran fine and didnt break, so we just left it there right next to Pat's arse-kicking shadow overnight.

Vigo

10-12-2009, 05:21 PM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05818.jpg

Good times were to be had at the Gateway Grand Best Western in Gainesville. After cleaning up a bit and taking a short nap, we headed down to the first banquet.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05782.jpg

Fun guys and tasty food, and our car on the screen rotation :thumb:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05784.jpg
Slot car entertainment was provided courtesy of Scalextric. I talked to a friendly guy operating the tables and he showed me their timing boxes and stuff.
I blew the people at my table out of the water with my blazing fastest lap time. It was 10% faster than anyone elses. That kind of margin would have been enough to win me the autocross outright earlier in the day!

Vigo

10-12-2009, 05:32 PM

God damn been writing posts for almost 4 hours now! Gonna go buy some groceries and eat something and then CONTINUE POSTING AWESOMENESS!

bbs

1BADVAN

10-12-2009, 06:48 PM

how does the $2009 work it looks to me like some of those cars are definitely not under $2009

Reaper1

10-12-2009, 07:30 PM

You can sell parts off the car to put money back in the budget(up to the total cost of the car or the estimated value of the car IIRC). That's how some/most/all of them are able to claim under $2009. There is a TON of fabrication and lent services that go in to these cars as well. If anybody were to actually have to PAY for this work/materials. or if they had to put some sort of value on it, then I completely agree...WAY more than $2009!

However, there is/was a rule that if somebody protests a car to have cost more than $2009, then the person being protested has the option of either selling the car for $2009, or dropping out. Thus far I don't think that rule has EVER been enforced, however there has been many revisions to the rules over the years because there were cars that were DEFINATLY over the cap, but on paper it worked out due to fancy number crunching.

Vigo

10-12-2009, 07:35 PM

Thus far I don't think that rule has EVER been enforced,

Why bother? We were having too much fun! I didnt mind running alongside anybody at that event, and the #2 overall finisher was a dodge shadow that might be called 'one of those cars'. Its just really damn fun. I blew past a turbo 300zx on the drag strip and out autocrossed a new miata that motor trend just called the 2nd or 3rd best drivers car in the world. And my budget sheet read $1480.

Thanks to all those here who bought parts off my turbo van and put that money back into my budget! :thumb:

Pat

10-12-2009, 08:32 PM

how does the $2009 work it looks to me like some of those cars are definitely not under $2009

$2009 budget, a total available recoup of $1004.50 by selling stuff up to the cost of the part/car/package of parts you bought, dumpster diving, scrounging, fabricating your own stuff and an --- load of hours put into building, painting, welding and finishing it.

Vigo

10-12-2009, 09:00 PM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05819.jpg
Only 40 cars or so had the track to themselves on Saturday, so we went around in circles getting tons of runs. We gridded up quick because we did absolutely nothing to the car but start it and cruise over to the lanes.:nod:
That e30 bmw next to us was a super cool car. And because it was also running a 2.5L with a .42/.48 t3 garrett i like to think we are almost as cool as it... despite that fact that it was way faster in every way.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05823.jpg
Mason drove the car the first 5 runs or so.. the left lane started bad and got worse, so we switched to the right.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05825.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05829.jpg
Unfortunately, we had some finicky connections under the dash for the high boost switch, so we were stuck on 7 psi until we figured that one out.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05830.jpg
I had hoped we'd be able to keep up with the Festiva, but they had 5mph on us all day and ended up 3 tenths quicker with the worn drag radials they got from our mutual friend Craig. If only his miata used my bolt pattern and not theirs!! lol!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05887.jpg
Grudge match! old vs. new!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05890.jpg
Old was faster than i thought....
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05874.jpg
Pat's shadow was fast all day, though a bit off its usual pace.
He had an awesome run against Cliff Sebring's neon that i didnt catch on the camera.
http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=MOV05864.flv
He had another awesome run against Team Gutty's CRX. The two cars and teams were fighting it out for first place all through the competition. Pat's shadow eventually beat them out in the drags by a tenth and trapped 127mph, tops for the event. Big props to those guys for making all the rest of us turbo-mopar guys look a little bit better to the rest of the world.:thumb:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05834.jpg
Our car had acted funny going into 4th a few times, but i didnt think anything of it until we lost 4th entirely while someone else was driving.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05835.jpg
One of our shift cable sheaths had melted near the exhaust, allowing the cable to bulge out. I suggested scavenging our exhaust band clamp and Mason cut it up to form some new sheath sections which we clamped on. I hung the rest of the thing up there as a heat shield afterwards. Back to the lanes!!

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05868.jpg
Les (fastasleep) ran a smoking 13.0 in his Laser before snapping an axle on the line. He had it back up and running in about an hour with another warrantied parts-store axle. Did i mention he competed in the under $1000 class? :thumb: Another t-m guy representing, only this time reppin dsm's. :p

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05862.jpg
I knew someone was gonna get stomped when we lined up against this guy.. i just didnt know who:confused2: This thing coulda had an STI motor for all i knew.

http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=MOV05863.flv
We win! I was filming this. I dont remember who was driving, i let a bunch of people make passes in our car. Everybody was having fun with it, and i had fun just watching it.:clap: People seemed to love the little red button that made it go faster:eyebrows:

Vigo

10-12-2009, 09:03 PM

http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=MOV05845.flv
Did u catch how hard that fiero was coming off the line? That thing was operating on probly 20-30% electric power (and full 120hp 2.8 power :p) on the crappiest tires i saw during the whole event and still came off the line hard and landed it in the 14s, which is... WAY faster than the stock 2.8 could have managed without the electric fwd. :love::hail:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05871.jpg
After Les got towed back to the pits by a golf cart, i was just about to roll his 26 inch slicks to my car and bolt em on for max dropping a whole damn second action!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05891.jpg
When i got over there, things didnt look so good. Id been letting several people make passes in my car throughout the day, and i found out that on the last run, Lee Sebring (leftmost) had broken the end off the shift cable we'd repaired a bit earlier. No hard feelings, Lee, old ---- breaks sometimes.:thumb:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05895.jpg
It was late in the day, but i gave it a quick shot at a fix until a rusty hose clamp popped and cut the tip of my finger. I then huffily pouted and gave up! :lol: I knew we weren't getting the E.t. we had wanted to go for, but the track was closing in 30 or 40 minutes, rainclouds were looming, and i just wanted to finish out the whole event with clean arms and a cold soda and no blood, so we settled for what we had..http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05897.jpg
For total newbs driving badly on super stiff tires in a heat index and humidity around 100, i wasnt complaining about 98 mph on 5/16 psi (2 step). Although, to put it in a ...certain way.. we were 30 mph slower than pat on 1 less psi of boost.:yuck::lol:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05902.jpg
Met a great guy named Paul whos had this Schwinn tandem bike since he was 8 years old. He made a full pass in it after asking to borrow a helmet from me in the pits and putting some pants on:lol:. He hit 24 mph in the 1/8th but lost 4 mph by the time he crossed the beams at the big end. :p Or maybe the other guy lost 5 mph and he gained 1... who's to say!!:lol::clap:
He's got a spirit r/t motor and a lotus europa he's trying to combine for next year! :thumb:

Vigo

10-12-2009, 09:22 PM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05878.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05904.jpg
We left the car and turned in our fastest time slip to GRM guy Per Schroeder, who graciously made a face when i said i wanted our team name to be Shitbox Racing.
Thanks to my friend Chris for inadvertently giving me a team name by referring to me as Shitbox Racing to other people.. turns out i like that name! Coulda said it to my face! :p
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05907.jpg
The Howdy on the back of the A&M university car got some reactions from other people. I didnt know what the fuss was about til i remembered that other people arent all from Texas! silly me! i forgot how odd we are here! Im sure Y'ALL have noticed by now...:p

Vigo

10-12-2009, 09:42 PM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05911.jpg
After a long day of racing, it's time to strap our two k-cars back together and head back to the hotel.
http://http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05913.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05916.jpg
I didnt realize how truly hardcore i am until i saw how other people were doing things.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05918.jpg
More than one person was towing more than one car with one huge truck and huge trailer. The ~1694 lb Festiva was towed in behind a 15 passenger chevy party van, and hell the Fiat 500 weighed less than i do and they still brought it in with a 9000 lb diesel ford. Most of em weren't even going as far as us.

AND, they didnt even drive through the middle of the night forgoing sleep in both directions!

I do give credit to certain Team Gutty members for being crazy enough to try to drive their chopped top crx back to michigan, which was in the 30s F iirc.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05919.jpg
Team Mini-Me was pulled aside for their own special photoshoot at the last minute.. I wonder who's getting some pages in the mag? Good job guys!:D

Vigo

10-12-2009, 09:54 PM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05926.jpg
We're column 30. Note how the entries above and below us autoX'd faster and drag'd slower, had similar concours points (18-19) and still came out ahead in the overall points in the last column. I knew Autox was where we had to be strong going into this.. and coming out, i can only say that i know it to an even greater extent.:o
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05928.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05929.jpg
Notice in this one that i managed to beat out a Locost in Autox and Drags. :thumb:
Its hard to tell but a lot of the cars below us in the 1/4 were v8s and turbos and at least one was v8 AND turbo. Notice the Schwinn at the bottom. 42 second 1/4. Shoulda raced the Fiat! :D
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05930.jpg

bakes

10-12-2009, 10:02 PM

Good show guys

Vigo

10-12-2009, 10:05 PM

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05921.jpg
Good food and lots of laughs at the awards banquet.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05970.jpg
This car was built in the 3 days preceding the challenge after the previous car turned out to be too far from done.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05977.jpg
This car was just your basic 1.6 miata with a t25 turbo bolted on and a nice paint job, old bmw rims, and sticky tires and a good driver. It did very well with a basic, repeatable setup, and it had my eye all weekend.. If i had to pick one car to swap mine for and leave with, this probably would have been it. Remember how fast i went in a stock non turbo one at autox? I'll tell you.. less than half a second slower than this one. I probly could have done even better than he did in it.

I dunno what it is about me hopping into other people's RWD and making them look bad.. i guess its a talent.. for burning bridges. lol. Word will get around and noone will let me drive their car! Wish id gotten some personal time with that red miata.. my eyes adored you.. though i never laid a hand on you, my eyes adored you.. like a million miles away from me you couldnt see how i adored you.... :confused::ban::closed_2:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05954.jpg
Pat and team won the prize for best bribe of the concours judges with chocolates, roses, and who knows what else behind closed doors:eyebrows:.. just kidding guys!! :thumb:

Im just jealous because they took home 2nd place overall!!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05934.jpg

The win went to Team Gutty, which seems deserved.. it was an extremely capable car with exceptional concours appeal, an 11 second 1/4 pass, and a 2nd place autox finish behind a locost. Wow. Still loving those pit bikes, too!!

Vigo

10-12-2009, 10:19 PM

After a great many goodbyes and a bit of sadness to leave this happy place behind:love:, we headed out into the night at 10:30 pm and drove all night.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05992.jpg
My fiancee had to drive a stint or two, which she said was terrifying. At least she was pumped with caffeine. Did i mention how hardcore i am? I don't believe in coffee, havent had a sip since i was 4 years old. That one taste was enough. I had one 5 hour energy in a bit of desperation on the way there, and nothing but soda on the way back. Mason and Kambri were juiced. lol.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06008.jpg
You come across some weird stuff when you stop for gas every 200 damn miles. Time to put a second tank in my Dynasty. I dont ever want to have to suckle the Grosse Tete for fuel again:lol:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06029.jpg
I cant tell you how many people were staring at our stickered up Aries race car on the way back.
http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=Movie-5.flv
Those lyrics.. what are the odds?? I swear this wasn't planned..
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06042.jpg
3100 lb dynasty +600 lb dolley + 2500 lb aries + 600 lb of passengers +450 lbs of cargo + stock 150hp 3.3L plus all these damn steep---- bridges makes Dynasty getting a motor swap soon.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06051.jpg
Notice all the ambient light in these photos? thats cuz the sun's up, which means we've been driving.. how long since 10:30 last night? Back in Texas means were over halfway home!!:thumb:
------- ginormous texas...
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06052.jpg
Everything's bigger in Texas. Including our lone star.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06072.jpg
All weekend i complained about how it was so mindblowing that i drove 1000 miles away from Texas and the weather somehow got HOTTER.. then we come back and it's... cold?
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06074.jpg
Home sweet home!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06079.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06089.jpg
Aside from a shift cable, no worse for wear! (Remember, Lee, driving a 14 second aries like a 12 second neon = breakage. lol)
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06092.jpg
Back in its muddy little corner with the rest of the Shitbox Racing fleet.

glhs727

10-12-2009, 10:44 PM

Great showing!! sounds like a blast!

BTW I know that TIGER! It is at a gas station along I-10 in Louisianna isn't it? LOL Yea, that is definitely a weird thibg at a gas stop:confused:

Reaper1

10-12-2009, 10:47 PM

Very well documented, guys! I give you the :thumb: :thumb: !!!

Vigo

10-12-2009, 10:48 PM

So, in conclusion:

WOW. FUN.

Thanks first and foremost go out to my partner Mason, who brought up the whole GRM challenge within 5 minutes of our first face-to-face meeting. Without his effort, skill, and consistent willingness to give almost every weekend to a junker car when so many other things stood waiting, this whole thing would not have happened. His eagerness got me over the hump in January and never faltered. So many other teams started with many and ended with few. My team started this year two strong and ended this year two strong, and next year's looking good, too.

My fiancee Kambri, for supporting this insanity. There's much i could say about her here, but what she'd appreciate most is if i finished this all-day series of posts and went back to the home life. :)

Cindy and James of FWD Performance. Their generous support and contribution helped us to get as far as we did on so little money. I had a great time getting to know them a little bit, hanging out and working around their shop, and running their parts hard with no breakage!:hail:

Alan Jones, who asked for no recognition and so just gets a name-drop :p. Suffice to say his help was proportionally staggering when you consider our budget total. Call me up when you pass through and we'll get together.:thumb:

Thanks to Grassroots Motorsports Magazine for urging knuckle-dragging junk-collectors like me come out into the light and burn the tires off our heaps for the amusement of the car world at large. Glad to be of service!

And finally to Turbo-Mopar.com readers and members, who at every turn made me feel cool by recognizing me, knowing about my project, and finally, at this late stage, making me feel personally connected in this community. Im glad ive been able to entertain so many with this thread and this car and let me just say that i dont regret one word of the thousands ive posted in this thread for you guys.

:peace:

:banaride: into the sunset.