February 2007

Van Trans day 2

Put in another 3 hours today. The large pipes worked really well as pry bars, damn near knocked the thing off the jack stands, but after a few good tugs, that thing plopped out on the floor nice and easy. We will have it in next time we work on it, then we can just toss the suspension and tires back on. Itll probably be a pain in the ass to get the converter spun and the trans loaded up but we are takin it easy with this project, no use getting pissed about it. It will be fun when it is done, cant wait to screw around with it. Im sure AJ will shit a brick when he can chirp gears hahaha. Here are the pics!

Nitrous MiniVan Built tranny install

Well we started kinda late, around 6pm on this, managed to push the van into the garage with the trans grinding and bumping, it was awesome, put it up on jackstands and then get the suspension apart, and pull out the axels. Disconnected some things from the trans and got some wires out of the way, Neutral switch and backup switch, dipstick etc. The floor is pretty wet underneath because of all the ice melting and me and corey were pretty burned out so we decided to quit and play with it later. its probably not going to be easy, and maybee we should do some reasearch before we continue, but what would be the fun in that. Pics!

Icebox, Springs, Fuel Fitting

Well today Tim and Corey installed the 2nd front drag spring, and cut the carpet in the back around the icebox, looks great, Corey also got a fuel fitting to connect to the feed line before the rail, because we had it tapped into the fuel test port, and what happens when you spray big is it drains the right side and not the left, and actually spikes lean on the dyno with the 100 shot, so this will get rid of that lean condition. Inbetween all modifications we took breaks and rode the quads around a bit hahah. Oh and I almost forgot, inbetween the spring and fuel fitting install we installed the rest of the 5 point safety harness. So its all ready to go, Corey has to buy a SCT 2400MAFS so Tim can retune the car, it will be nice to see how it does this year at the track with all of the little tweaks. Here are the pics!

Icebox done, one spring done

The goal at the dyno today, was to finish the icebox (mounting, drain, and burp the system again) and then install the front drag springs, because the ones that are in are too low, and arent the best performers for the dragstrip. So we came up with the idea to just weld the bolts to the floor and use steel spacers to hold the box up around the spare tire concave, it fits tight and works great, it couldent have come out better. Now onto the front left spring, this was so much of a hassle i dont even want to waste more time talking about it, it took damn near 3.5 hours to get the spring in. Here are some pics, im particularly happy about how the icebox came out, wait till we cut the carpet to fit around it it will look amazing.

bike exhaust

Got the yoshi pipe in the mail today, and installed it, took about 10 minutes. Not much else to say right now, show and ice on the ground cant really go for a ride, sounds good, no leaks. I cant wait to get it on the dyno and see what kinda power it makes. Pics!

Viewers Self port! (sloppy success story)

this makes me very excited, one of the sites viewers emailed in and asked me questions about porting the blower and said he was gunna do it himself, well he did and he sent me pics, here are his words and his pictures.

"Aaron Penney 11:53 pm

i talked to you the other day about porting my blower thanks for answering my questions. so i did mine with weekend but i forgot to take pics of the inlet after i ported and polished it. came out beautiful and works great cars very strong now. here are some pics attached ."

I love hearing things like this. just awesome!

Program the Powercommander

Ryan stopped by quick so i could drop my tune on my bike and enable the accel pump feature and dial in all the settings ftw. It went extremely fast, Its just as easy as you would think, you plug it in, open the program and hit send map. DONE. Its all set and ready to go for when i get my pipe i can take it right to the dyno.

Water Supply

Well today we started to remove the stock reservoir for the heat exchanger and install a 5 gal fuel cell which Ice and water will be installed in to keep the blower cooler, because the stock reservoir and cooler get hot way to fast and don't cool down easily. Increasing the capacity of cold water in theory should work really well, people sell kits and whatnot of a more efficient exchanger and other junk we figured this would work good and be a hell of a lot cheaper. So we had to dig the cobra out of the snow at the shop and get her on the lift, then we just drilled out the holes and ran the lines. We then realized the line was too small to hookup to the factory pump, we got 1/2 inch hose and we needed 3/4. So we called A&A and asked if we could exchange it and pay the difference they were really cool about it and said sure. So we nabbed some 3/4 inch hose and got to work, disconnected the stock reservoir and removed it, pulled the line out we didn't need and reconnected everything. Filled the tank in the trunk and fired up the pump, we knew this would be the hard part because it has to prime it and get the air out difficult for the pump sometimes. After some squeezing of the hoses and letting air out, and Corey sucking on the hose and eventually swallowing a nice amount of antifreeze it was flowing fine. It actually pumps really well considering its such a small pump in the front of the car. Also while we were under zipping the lines up out of the way Corey had bought some nice rubberized undercoating stuff, which we sprayed everywhere we could hahaha.

Also after we cleaned off the cobra stuck in the snow, we needed to move the quads out of the way of the lift, so we fired them up and me and Tim ripped up some of the snow around the shop. That 700cc Kawi is really nasty. Now Monday we just need to make mounts for the tank in the trunk and make a drain and get a shutoff for the drain etc. Finish putting the harness in for the driver seat, and probably something else i am missing but will eventually get done. Here are the pics

Power Commander Install

Today i recieved the power commander in the mail. Me, Corey, and Ryan fired up the heater in my garage and got ready for the install hahaha. 2 sloppy mechanics to heckle me while I install, and Me, to install by myself. I would be lying if i said they didnt do anything though, Corey lifted the tank and they both handed me tools hahahah. Either way this is extremely strait forward. You remove the plastics and the tank, unplug the TPS and 4 main injector wires, and plugin the power commander in sequence. mine was pre flashed, but i have other tunes i want to try when i take it to the dyno, probably 2 or 3 maps and see what makes the most power. Expect video and pictures of course. Here are the pics!

Random pics from today

We ended up with alot of non install related pictures that were definately worth posting, Tim and Corey were deciding where to install the nitrous on the Deihl Paving limo, while putting the limo back up on the shelf knocked some stuff off, one of the cans blewup hahaha, also pics of some of the cars outside enjoy the pretty pics.

Corey's driveshaft loop and harness

After the Tims exhaust and Rays dyno, we got a start on the cobra, Installed the driveshaft safety loop, and put in the bolt thru the frame rail for the for the crotch strap on the 5 point harness. After that we were pretty beat and called it a day. Pictures arent that great but, im sure ill take more someday.

Rays Turbo Sentra

Cody and Ray came down for a quick dyno of the turbo sentra. Car made great numbers on pump gas and 18psi 353whp and 302ftlbs. Here are some pics and video of the dyno run.

Tim's Exhaust

What a pain in the ass job, hahaha we put on timmy's header to catback section. Bassani or however its spelled pipes off the headers into high flow cats and into the Basanni catback that was already on the truck when he bought it, We dyno'd it and it didnt make anymore power, wich was to be expected for the most part, but it is louder, sounds pretty damn good. I took some good knocks too the head during this install hahaha enjoy the pics.

Cobra Swingouts

Well today we had 4 sloppy mechanics in Coreys garage, we were lowering the rear crossbar to make it more comfortable with the seat, and installing the swingouts. It all went pretty well, lots of little adjustments, holing the bar and taking measurements and recutting and refitting etc, drilling holes and welding on the tabs. It was time consuming for the most part but fitting stuff like that always takes a while. I regret that i didnt take any finished painted pics but we will definately get them tomorrow since we are putting the interior in. All in all they look great and fit great too, swingout no problem with the door and when the pin is in they hold rock steady almost like they are welded in place. Here are the pics!

Bellhousing and Transmission

Well tonight we had 2 goals, get the bellhousing fit and installed, and get the trans setup and installed. So started by installing the pivot bolt and then a new ford creaker (throwout bearing for those of you who dont speak mustang). So now we get to jam it in there and see whats in the way, or at least try and guess and fit and trim etc, well first things first, the bottom has to get cut just like the plate, because of the moroso 7qt pan. The bellhousing was trimmed, and we could get one left side bolt in and no right... Quickly figured out the bellhousing was hitting the downpipe, awesome. pull out the downpipe wich is a pain in the ass, and get back under there. we get it all fitted up right, minor snags and hangups, as to be expected while fitting new parts on a custom vehicle. Either way, we get the bellhousing on and tighten down the bolts, next is the fun part, jamming the trans in, well while ryan was away I got the trans under the car and up into place myself, and when he returned, we learned that unfortunately, we cant fit the bolts thru the trans HAHAHA fun shit like this always happens, the bolt passages in the end of the trans are smaller than the bolts that need to go into the bellhousing...

So! we whipped out the drill and drilled the $1800 dollar tremec trans mount holes bigger. So we get it under there again and i have him help me just get the trans up on my chest, and then i pick er up and smash away till it goes flush hahahahah. Needless to say the trans went in after some persuasion and the bolts went right in to our newly widened trans mounts, hold her up and throw in the brand new tremec cross member and walahh, she is ready to go. Corey was nice enough to donate an older cobra shift lever, but it just doesnt work with the ergonomics of the fox, so ryan has to add a shift lever to the list of more shit he needs lol.

All she needs is the rear, and some fluids, and some final lookovers i know i cant think of right now... Enjoy the pictures kids.

Diesel fun

Well last night, Corey was browsing some diesel forums, and found this

1st Generation Ram Diesel Power Increase

After we read it we were damn sure we could do this, since its pretty easy. Now this mod is to get some more power out of your diesel, but if you turn the fueling adjustments too far, you get heaps of black soot, WICH IS EXACTLY WHAT WE WANT!

So today we went out in the freezing cold to give it our best shot. We got some adjustment out of it, and gained some power, but we didnt get the crazy smoke we wanted out of it, so saturday we are gunna play with it again, and see if we can make it smoke like crazy. Here are some pics from today

Mustang Work!

Ryan got the wheels and flywheel/pressure plate bolts yesterday in teh mail, so today we worked on getting that stuff in while we wait for the differential. It started with cutting the bellhousing plate to clear the moroso 7q oil pan drain plug lol. Then we re-tapped the flywheel and lined her up and bolted her down. Next was the clutch disc and pressure plate, all went without a hitch. While we were working on everything we realized the new scatter proof bellhousing doesnt have the little knob thing the clutch lever rests on bah! So Ryan has to order one sucks but yeah well. Here are pics of todays events!

Wheels and stuff!

Today Ryan got his Weld Draglites in the mail and the clutch and flywheel bolts! Here are some shots of the new shiney wheels!

loading up the 240

Ace came down today to pickup the 240 at Ryan Halpins house, he is going to be doing the work on it, it will be fun to take it out and do some donuts when its done! We all stood out in the cold and took turns wrenching that come along to get the car on the trailer hahaha it was fun i guess. Camera phone pic.

Fiddy trouble

Well today, I totally dissasembled the fiddy and double checked everything again with Corey, and I am not afraid to admit, I have been defeated. I just have no idea what the hell could be wrong with this thing, I am giving up and seeing if i can get some help from my friends dad who does small engines repair. He is gunna get it running or I will part it out and set the damn thing on fire.

Dropped off the Rear

Well me and ryan drove up today and dropped off the rear to get built!

Here is the last pic of the stock rear you will ever see.

Tq Boxes done

Ryan and i worked on the tq boxes on the mustang tonight, his uncle stopped by for a while and we shot the shit with him, and ryan worked and i bossed him around hahah, well not entirely, me and his uncle stripped the rear end so it will be ready to drop off tomorrow so he can get the diff and axels etc installed. We took a break around 9 to goto Applebees with corey, meredith and Tim. Then we went to emmaus and picked up the extra propane tank corey had, because ryans ran 2 ran out. Managed to use the rest of the propane and get the job done. Ryan drilled the holes, tack welded the plate and bolts etc, and then installed the lower and bolted it in place and impacted the bolts on, then welded the rest of the spot welded seams together. Here are some fun pics from tonight.