ASTRID - SCCA TT National Tour & Time Attack Build

[zef]

Updated & cleaned up mod list. Car will be done next week...

As if I'm already fully committed to this project as it is...I'm off to go buy a pick up truck today.

My brother-in-law inherited from his father a 2003 Silverado 2500HD Duramax with 75,000 miles on it. Never drove it in the winter, only took it out in the summer to tow his camper. My brother-in-law drove it for about a year and decides he wants to sell, so I got it for $9,500

Shit, now I need a trailer... and room to put all of this. My condo association is going to hate me even more (as if that's even possible at this point lol)

Really wish I still had my shop....

 

[Roadrunner_GTI]

Updated & cleaned up mod list. Car will be done next week...

As if I'm already fully committed to this project as it is...I'm off to go buy a pick up truck today.

My brother-in-law inherited from his father a 2003 Silverado 2500HD Duramax with 75,000 miles on it. Never drove it in the winter, only took it out in the summer to tow his camper. My brother-in-law drove it for about a year and decides he wants to sell, so I got it for $9,500

Shit, now I need a trailer... and room to put all of this. My condo association is going to hate me even more (as if that's even possible at this point lol)

Really wish I still had my shop....

That trailer life spoils you
You could always rent a U-haul trailer if you have no where to store one. That said, I don’t blame you for wanting your own so you can set it up exactly how you want it.

 

[zef]

More pics from Swoops yesterday added to the front page. Made safety improvements to the autopower 'bolt in' roll bar. Swapped the bolts for interlocks and had 6x6x1/8" plates welded in which are many times stronger than the backing plates provided by autopower. I've gotten feedback already that the down bars are not 'legal', but I checked with SCCA and because its a roll bar, not a cage, it's not held to the same standards or requirements. I wasn't aware of any stipulations for roll bars, the SCCA rule book literally just says "they have to attach to the frame of the vehicle whereever possible". Is it the ideal setup? No, but still way safer than the original design.

Also now sporting a custom inlet pipe with provisions for DV/N75/manifold runners that will clear the manifold much better. Also no more rubbing on the brake reservoir, which would sometimes happen even with the tyrolsport stiffening kit.

 

[zef]

Powder coater is holding up the process at the moment, but as soon as the roll bar and sunroof delete panel come back, the car should be good to go.

Some pictures from the custom downpipe with a titanium dump tube. Downpipe has a removable section to swap in a cat for emissions when needed.

Removable battery tray with PM3

 

[smanierre]

Did you use swaintech for the coating on your manifold and turbo?

 

[zef]

Did you use swaintech for the coating on your manifold and turbo?

Yessir!

 

[smanierre]

I think that's gonna be in my future, hopefully getting my turbo shipped right to them then to me, and then gonna have my manifold done when I get back.

 

[zef]

Hey guys - so the car is home. It's actually been home for a few weeks now. Sort of in a tight spot because I don't really have a spot to put the car at the moment, so it's at my parents house while I figure that out. However, in the meantime, I am preparing the final stages of preparation before she's ready to come back to life...

When I got the car back from Swoops, there were a few things left to do. I could've had Swoops get the car turn-key, but to save on funds (as well as out of stubborn pride) I decided to do the last leg of the work myself. Mostly that involved:

- Fresh fluids (brake fluid, oil, coolant)
- Bleed brakes (entire system has been bone dry for over a year)
- Plumb oil & coolant lines for the turbo
- Route vacuum lines for the N75/EWG
- Wire up gauges
- Install Nostrum Big Bore HPFP

I actually went to ImprovedRacing for the AN lines - they make them in-house to your measurements and ship them to you. These are really high quality and for $10, it's a no brainer. What is unique (I think) about the G25 is that it has 4 cooling jackets instead of 2. I decided to utilize the additional 2 cooling jackets by rerouting the coolant hoses that used to go through my factory DSG cooler. Per Garrett's spec, I rotated the CHRA 15 degrees so that the coolant flows slightly upwards, which according to Garrett greatly increases cooling efficiency (source: https://www.garrettmotion.com/racin...ing-a-turbocharger/turbo-system-optimization/)

I didn't exactly 'reuse' the same hoses that went to the factory cooler, but I kept the T coupler that goes into the upper radiator hose that has a little 'pill' thermostat in it. The lower heater core hose I pulled off of a 6 speed manual GTI, which mated perfectly to the custom heater core connections that Swoops made that reroute around my external wastegate. he was able to add a -6an male bung on the lower connector (which is the feed line into the heater core).

This past Saturday, I was able to do everything above, minus the gauges and fluids. However, my tuner needed the serial numbers off of the injectors, which required me to pull them out of the cylinder head once I confirm the injectors are good to go, I will reinstall the manifold and get it towed to Excelerate Performance for a timing refresh, and a first start!

Hoping I can have the car up and running in under 2 weeks!!

 

[smanierre]

I never knew that about the g25 having those extra cooling jackets, definitely gonna have to try and get mine setup that same way as well. Also i'm not sure if the serial numbers will be needed for my injectors but i'm gonna be getting them just in case so I don't have to do the same. Thank you for your sacrifice.

 

[zef]

I never knew that about the g25 having those extra cooling jackets, definitely gonna have to try and get mine setup that same way as well. Also i'm not sure if the serial numbers will be needed for my injectors but i'm gonna be getting them just in case so I don't have to do the same. Thank you for your sacrifice.

Never hurts. I needed them on mine because mine are an older version of their current KDI injectors so they needed to confirm the %/ms

 

[smanierre]

Never hurts. I needed them on mine because mine are an older version of their current KDI injectors so they needed to confirm the %/ms

Can't wait to see yours up and running. Once I get mine done we can terrorize the locals together at events

 

[zef]

Sup everyone - I am still alive (as is the car). Big update coming this weekend. I have a few buddies coming up to help me get the car on the road (hopefully) this Saturday.

Long story short, after getting the car 100% completed, the car developed an oil pressure issue. I dropped the pan and found gobs of sludge. One of the two shops I took it to fucked something up and unfortunately I am too nice to do anything about it (plus it's impossible for me to prove who did it). Good news is the car only idled with said issue so I don't believe long term damage was done. I cleaned up the pan and pick up tube really well and reinstalled. Car fired right up and sounded much better. Man to hear that G25660 whistle on a cold start gave me CHILLS.

I am going to finish bleeding the cooling system and get the car running up to temp and run an engine flush to get anything out that might've gotten past the pick up tube. Once that's done I will test the oil pressure to make sure its within spec.

If it's within spec then its off for a corner balance and an alignment. If it's not in spec I will drag it into a storage unit to sit for another year so I can save to just bring it to ForceFed and have them rebuild the motor. I would say I'd fix the car this year, but my Duramax/tow vehicle needed injectors and my 4runner daily needed some TLC so my car budget for the rest of the year is looking pretty slim.

If I were to do this all over again I would've just brought the car to ForceFed and said 'call me when its finished' but there's another part of me that says all of the blood sweat and tears will be worth it. Just didn't expect this project to take nearly 2 1/2 years...

Pictures and what not to follow shortly.

 

[Roadrunner_GTI]

Sup everyone - I am still alive (as is the car). Big update coming this weekend. I have a few buddies coming up to help me get the car on the road (hopefully) this Saturday.

Long story short, after getting the car 100% completed, the car developed an oil pressure issue. I dropped the pan and found gobs of sludge. One of the two shops I took it to fucked something up and unfortunately I am too nice to do anything about it (plus it's impossible for me to prove who did it). Good news is the car only idled with said issue so I don't believe long term damage was done. I cleaned up the pan and pick up tube really well and reinstalled. Car fired right up and sounded much better. Man to hear that G25660 whistle on a cold start gave me CHILLS.

I am going to finish bleeding the cooling system and get the car running up to temp and run an engine flush to get anything out that might've gotten past the pick up tube. Once that's done I will test the oil pressure to make sure its within spec.

If it's within spec then its off for a corner balance and an alignment. If it's not in spec I will drag it into a storage unit to sit for another year so I can save to just bring it to ForceFed and have them rebuild the motor. I would say I'd fix the car this year, but my Duramax/tow vehicle needed injectors and my 4runner daily needed some TLC so my car budget for the rest of the year is looking pretty slim.

If I were to do this all over again I would've just brought the car to ForceFed and said 'call me when its finished' but there's another part of me that says all of the blood sweat and tears will be worth it. Just didn't expect this project to take nearly 2 1/2 years...

Pictures and what not to follow shortly.

Who did the engine work? I’m confused how a shop could have caused “sludge” if they didn’t run the engine?

 

[jay745]

Glad to hear you're hopefully on the tail end of the journey. Best of luck this weekend!

 

[NewGuy1]

Builds looking good hopefully you get it up soon. I havent seen anybody beside me run the revozport hood so nice to see it looking good with a different setup. Gives me more ideas on what I can do next on my build.