Hey Shocktherapy...
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Joined: May 2002
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From: Milford Connecticut
All I know is he bought Franks old turbo kit and upped the turbo to what I don't know, hey mentioned it in a post but I've yet to see a pic.
Last edited by todd abbott; Jun 27, 2006 at 05:34 PM.
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Joined: May 2002
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From: Pax,WV
From what i have read it's a Sonic Blue,i did see a small pic of a SB in his avatar on another site. But i don't know if it's his new one,i'd like to know all the details about his new Lightning also.
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Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Arkansas
OK....guess I need to answer a few questions here.
The truck I bought is a 2003 Sonic Blue. Here's a short story of the latest events right before I got it.
rmfreeze built the engine with a new NVH block, stock crank, Oliver rods, Diamond pistons, and Patriot heads with VT Turbo cams, and had almost all of the aluminum parts on the engine polished.
The engine had less than 2k miles on it when Frank took his turbo kit, had a few things polished and hot coated, ordered a bigger turbo (GT42-76) and installed it on the truck.
A few dyno pulls were made with the turbo setup (running a 4" open downpipe) when it started sounding funny. With only a few pulls in at low boost, it made 540 RWHP at 8 psi.
It was pulled off the dyno, and found that a cam follower had come off on cylinder #8. rmfreeze was going to pull the head on the drivers side since the follower would not stay on. We used rmfreeze's borescope and found that the #8 piston was dinged on the top. We also found that one of the intercooler bolts had come loose inside the intake, which we figured was the cause of the piston damage. That was really the turning point for him, and where he decided to wash his hands of the truck and I aquired it. He already been through grenading the stock block, putting in a built motor and having to pull it out for oil consumption issues, then building the new engine to turbo specs, only to have a small intercooler bolt come loose and mess it up. The bolt that fell out is circled in Red. This is an old picture of the intercooler when the bolt was still there.
We pulled the motor and head, and found the bolt that caused the damage sitting on top of the wastegate, only 6" or so from being inhaled into the turbo. It had made it's way past the intake valve, out the exhaust valve, out the drivers side exhaust, through the crossover tube, past the pass side exhaust log, and stopped on top of the wastegate. Luckily it hadn't gotten into the turbine wheel and ruined that. So far it looks like head repair (new valves, seats, guides, followers, bowl repair, etc) for the #8 cylinder, a hone job on that cylinder to clean it up, a new piston, and reassembly is what it's going to take to fix it. I bought a Romac SFI balancer to put on when it goes back together, and will probably get an SFI flexplate as well.
Plans include a dash of bling, a pinch of power, and slow roasting of the Nitto DR's for a flavorful 10 second pass on DR's. I want to be able to drive it to the track, and run some 10's like I drove in. I'll be personalizing the truck a bit with a Harley grill, clear corners, Innovation Pro-Sport tonneau cover, new wheels (who'd have guessed), and a few other cosmetic items. I will eventually have to buy a built tranny once the stock one goes south.
The truck I bought is a 2003 Sonic Blue. Here's a short story of the latest events right before I got it.
rmfreeze built the engine with a new NVH block, stock crank, Oliver rods, Diamond pistons, and Patriot heads with VT Turbo cams, and had almost all of the aluminum parts on the engine polished.
The engine had less than 2k miles on it when Frank took his turbo kit, had a few things polished and hot coated, ordered a bigger turbo (GT42-76) and installed it on the truck.
A few dyno pulls were made with the turbo setup (running a 4" open downpipe) when it started sounding funny. With only a few pulls in at low boost, it made 540 RWHP at 8 psi.
It was pulled off the dyno, and found that a cam follower had come off on cylinder #8. rmfreeze was going to pull the head on the drivers side since the follower would not stay on. We used rmfreeze's borescope and found that the #8 piston was dinged on the top. We also found that one of the intercooler bolts had come loose inside the intake, which we figured was the cause of the piston damage. That was really the turning point for him, and where he decided to wash his hands of the truck and I aquired it. He already been through grenading the stock block, putting in a built motor and having to pull it out for oil consumption issues, then building the new engine to turbo specs, only to have a small intercooler bolt come loose and mess it up. The bolt that fell out is circled in Red. This is an old picture of the intercooler when the bolt was still there.We pulled the motor and head, and found the bolt that caused the damage sitting on top of the wastegate, only 6" or so from being inhaled into the turbo. It had made it's way past the intake valve, out the exhaust valve, out the drivers side exhaust, through the crossover tube, past the pass side exhaust log, and stopped on top of the wastegate. Luckily it hadn't gotten into the turbine wheel and ruined that. So far it looks like head repair (new valves, seats, guides, followers, bowl repair, etc) for the #8 cylinder, a hone job on that cylinder to clean it up, a new piston, and reassembly is what it's going to take to fix it. I bought a Romac SFI balancer to put on when it goes back together, and will probably get an SFI flexplate as well.
Plans include a dash of bling, a pinch of power, and slow roasting of the Nitto DR's for a flavorful 10 second pass on DR's. I want to be able to drive it to the track, and run some 10's like I drove in. I'll be personalizing the truck a bit with a Harley grill, clear corners, Innovation Pro-Sport tonneau cover, new wheels (who'd have guessed), and a few other cosmetic items. I will eventually have to buy a built tranny once the stock one goes south.
Last edited by ShockTherapy; Jun 28, 2006 at 05:25 AM.
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From: Allen, TX, USA
Is this a completely custom turbo kit, or one of the few out there available for the L (can't remember the name from the one I saw recently... proturbo, I think)?
Very nice, and best of luck with it. 10s on DRs will be a sweet accomplishment!
Very nice, and best of luck with it. 10s on DRs will be a sweet accomplishment!
as you care to drink one of these days.