Car Tuning Turbo Kit installed
11-19-2008, 03:27 PM
#1
Car Tuning Turbo Kit installed Over the past few weeks I have been installing the Car Tuning Turbo Kit. Fit and finish is excellent and instructions were easy to follow. Let me just say that the kit is top notch and the customer service from Kevin at Cartuning has been over the top. They truly go the extra mile. www.cartuning.ca
There were a few minor modifications as the Monte Carlo is set up a little different than the Grand Prix. The first one is the sway bar is different which interfered with the down pipe. Car Tuning will be making a new down pipe for the Monte Carlo or you can take the route I did and upgrade to the GXP sway bar and end links. I believe the Impala may use the same sway bar as the Monte Carlo too. This does require welding tabs on your struts to attach the end links to or from what I can tell you could just get struts for a Grand Prix that will already have the tabs welded to them. I took measurements and the struts measure out the same, just no tabs on the Monte Carlo strut. Grand Prix sway bar opens up some room too and supposedly will help the car handle better.
I also had to cut the inner fender area open near the factory air box area like the Grand Prix to run the pipe up from the intercooler. Easy enough to do, just use a air body saw or other cutting device.
I have HS 1.8 rockers on the car and had yellow ls6 valve springs. The valve springs could not handle the boost, so I upgraded to Patriot Gold springs and no more valve float. Stock rockers and springs should be okay for most.
Now on to performance. The car pulls harder than anything I have driven or raced to date. With the cutout open, the car is a monster! Cutout closed I'm at 5lbs of boost and with it open we jump up to 8lbs. I will be bringing it up to 10lbs come spring and you get about 30 whp per pound of boost. Should put me close to 500 hp or more depending!
I have a 90 Mercury Cougar with a M90 Supercharged v6 that runs high 11's and the Monte definitely pulls much harder. I can only imagine how hard it would pull if I would have had time to mount up my drag radials. Kevin at Cartuning estimated my whp to be around 425hp with some data that was logged.
Now on to the somewhat bad news. Input shaft on my tranny broke when I hit second gear on Sunday. This should not be the norm as Jay's GXP went over 10000 miles on the pre-production turbo kit and stock tranny. I've spent some time at the track with the Monte prior to the turbo and this more than likely weakened the shaft and caused the break. Anyways I was planning on having the transmission done over the winter so no big deal except I would have liked to hit the track once to lay down some et's before the snow hit.
All I can say is save your money and buy the kit!!!! Pics soon....
There were a few minor modifications as the Monte Carlo is set up a little different than the Grand Prix. The first one is the sway bar is different which interfered with the down pipe. Car Tuning will be making a new down pipe for the Monte Carlo or you can take the route I did and upgrade to the GXP sway bar and end links. I believe the Impala may use the same sway bar as the Monte Carlo too. This does require welding tabs on your struts to attach the end links to or from what I can tell you could just get struts for a Grand Prix that will already have the tabs welded to them. I took measurements and the struts measure out the same, just no tabs on the Monte Carlo strut. Grand Prix sway bar opens up some room too and supposedly will help the car handle better.
I also had to cut the inner fender area open near the factory air box area like the Grand Prix to run the pipe up from the intercooler. Easy enough to do, just use a air body saw or other cutting device.
I have HS 1.8 rockers on the car and had yellow ls6 valve springs. The valve springs could not handle the boost, so I upgraded to Patriot Gold springs and no more valve float. Stock rockers and springs should be okay for most.
Now on to performance. The car pulls harder than anything I have driven or raced to date. With the cutout open, the car is a monster! Cutout closed I'm at 5lbs of boost and with it open we jump up to 8lbs. I will be bringing it up to 10lbs come spring and you get about 30 whp per pound of boost. Should put me close to 500 hp or more depending!
I have a 90 Mercury Cougar with a M90 Supercharged v6 that runs high 11's and the Monte definitely pulls much harder. I can only imagine how hard it would pull if I would have had time to mount up my drag radials. Kevin at Cartuning estimated my whp to be around 425hp with some data that was logged.
Now on to the somewhat bad news. Input shaft on my tranny broke when I hit second gear on Sunday. This should not be the norm as Jay's GXP went over 10000 miles on the pre-production turbo kit and stock tranny. I've spent some time at the track with the Monte prior to the turbo and this more than likely weakened the shaft and caused the break. Anyways I was planning on having the transmission done over the winter so no big deal except I would have liked to hit the track once to lay down some et's before the snow hit.
All I can say is save your money and buy the kit!!!! Pics soon....
Last edited by supercatxr7; 11-19-2008 at 05:57 PM.
11-19-2008, 03:35 PM
#2
TECH Enthusiast
Wow 3 more PSI when the cutout is open...that's a lot....I know the stock exhaust/headers are crappy but geez...
Lucky s.o.b....wanna throw 6K my way!!!
Too bad you didn't get to drive her more...just a big tease like you said before winter. 1st turbo LS4 Monte...hopefully more to come!!!!
Lucky s.o.b....wanna throw 6K my way!!!
Too bad you didn't get to drive her more...just a big tease like you said before winter. 1st turbo LS4 Monte...hopefully more to come!!!!
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11-19-2008, 08:03 PM
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WoW!! Another turbo'd LS4!!
Life can't get no better than this! This is a nice, clean, well done job here!! Good werk Supercatxr!
This is sexelent!
P.S. I can feel the the haters getting worried with sweaty palms and forehead.
Life can't get no better than this! This is a nice, clean, well done job here!! Good werk Supercatxr!
This is sexelent!
P.S. I can feel the the haters getting worried with sweaty palms and forehead.
11-20-2008, 09:38 AM
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actually, it is the same unit as the first, as in used, so there is still only one on the road, at least of people who post on here.
11-20-2008, 09:46 AM
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Somone DID buy a new one though, I can't remember who though. I thought he was the one that got the new one but maybe I'm wrong. But I do remember someone buying Jay's and then someone else saying they were too late in talking to him about it so they bought a brand new one.
11-20-2008, 08:17 PM
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11-21-2008, 02:33 AM
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i was wondering when i would see this post, looks pretty good. There are 3 other turbo ls4s i know about just here in ontario so i'm sure theres more out there.
I can't wait till i can save up that money, my car is gutted i would love to see what it would do with a turbo
I can't wait till i can save up that money, my car is gutted i would love to see what it would do with a turbo
11-21-2008, 08:49 AM
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My pipes weren't coated which is why it looked "rusty" although they are stainless pipes so not really rusted 
My trans lasted until we decided to build it just to be safe and it's been strong ever since. Car is back to stock now, I was going to sell it......but when it came down to selling I couldn't do it :o so she's getting build in spring (Cam/heads/Custom Cartuning Turbo kit) hoping for 650-700whp It feels good knowing that the trans is built and now I can push a lot more power and not worry.
I will say, these are upgrades you NEED when rebuilding a trans:
-1" GMR chain, don't get a 7/8th or 15/16th, go for the 1" right away
-New torque converter, stock one sucks *****
-300m input shaft
The rest of the upgrades are standard stuff with some shops having secret tricks to make things better.
My trans lasted until we decided to build it just to be safe and it's been strong ever since. Car is back to stock now, I was going to sell it......but when it came down to selling I couldn't do it :o so she's getting build in spring (Cam/heads/Custom Cartuning Turbo kit) hoping for 650-700whp
It feels good knowing that the trans is built and now I can push a lot more power and not worry.I will say, these are upgrades you NEED when rebuilding a trans:
-1" GMR chain, don't get a 7/8th or 15/16th, go for the 1" right away
-New torque converter, stock one sucks *****
-300m input shaft
The rest of the upgrades are standard stuff with some shops having secret tricks to make things better.
11-21-2008, 10:49 PM
#20
My pipes weren't coated which is why it looked "rusty" although they are stainless pipes so not really rusted
My trans lasted until we decided to build it just to be safe and it's been strong ever since. Car is back to stock now, I was going to sell it......but when it came down to selling I couldn't do it :o so she's getting build in spring (Cam/heads/Custom Cartuning Turbo kit) hoping for 650-700whp It feels good knowing that the trans is built and now I can push a lot more power and not worry.
I will say, these are upgrades you NEED when rebuilding a trans:
-1" GMR chain, don't get a 7/8th or 15/16th, go for the 1" right away
-New torque converter, stock one sucks *****
-300m input shaft
The rest of the upgrades are standard stuff with some shops having secret tricks to make things better.
My trans lasted until we decided to build it just to be safe and it's been strong ever since. Car is back to stock now, I was going to sell it......but when it came down to selling I couldn't do it :o so she's getting build in spring (Cam/heads/Custom Cartuning Turbo kit) hoping for 650-700whp
It feels good knowing that the trans is built and now I can push a lot more power and not worry.I will say, these are upgrades you NEED when rebuilding a trans:
-1" GMR chain, don't get a 7/8th or 15/16th, go for the 1" right away
-New torque converter, stock one sucks *****
-300m input shaft
The rest of the upgrades are standard stuff with some shops having secret tricks to make things better.