Hey all... I get asked alot of questions about my car/s and my build so I figured I would share what I have done (right and wrong) and where I am at today...

My build started out with my 02 CETA and buying the brand new (at the time) STS kit... Billy at TRT was a great guy and got me set up with all I could have wanted from an STS and more...

I had the T-67 upgrade... FMIC.. 6.0L Truck heads (droped the CR some) and the LPE GT-7 cam.

Best Dyno saw a 607RWHP pull spraying some oil at 13-14lbs of boost... (see pic)

This was a scream to drive and could handle everything I threw at it on the street... the 6 speed was a blast and the RAM HD I had in it would take the 5700RPM dumps at the track... It would run 11.0's at 11psi all day... and I knew it had more in it (some good 10 runs) if I upped the boost or lightened the car (3750 with me in it).

Well as is the story with most FI folks... I pushed my stock block too far and broke the ringlands in my #7 on the stock block... so back to the drawing board I went.

 

So this is where I am coming to realize the two key things in FI...

1- You will always want more
2- It costs 2-4x as much as you want/think/plan for
3- If you want to do what nobody else is... add another 50% to your cost!!

That being said... I started on what (god if I only knew then) would be a 4 year down time for my racecar habit. I found a shop that was local to me called Performance Turbo Motorsports... Good guy that owned the shop, but with so many other typical experiences in the FI world... why would this be any different?

But before I go down that road... I had yet another experience that seems typical in this world... I paid for a 408 block from a company called FFHP... that never built it... and never delivered it. So after I finally recovered my money from them (Thanks PSJ for the help), I linked up with Erik Koing (think thats spelled right) who was building great engines for may other FI folks...

Engine I have is a Iron 408, Eagle Crank, Eagle Rods, Wiseco Turbo duty -32cc dish pistons...

That got installed by Steve at Performance Turbo Motorsports... but unfortunately after 18 months of him having my car he finally admitted that this custom build was beyond his capability... not long afterwards he closed the doors to his shop. He passed my car to Steve Faraday at LMR with the promise that it would only be another 500$ worth of tweaking that Steve would do and all would be good! Hahaha... that was almost 20 months ago... and 20k ago... Apparently the deeper that Steve dug, the more things he and Josh had to fix to make right for my goals with my car...

For those of you who dont know already... the cheap way is actually the expensive way (See rule #2)... because you will pay for it 2-3 times to be done... just get it right the first time. Know what your goals are up front... because if you say you want a 500RWHP car... but you really want an 800RWHP car... see rule #1.

There are a FEW.. very FEW exceptions to this... Jeremy (Zombie) is one of them... he paid very little compared to the performance he has shown.

To add to this... those of you that know me or have been on the Board for a long time know that I have grown attached to the rear-mount idea. I loved fighting the rear-mount haters (90% of the FI community when STS first came out)... and I loved that I could use some of my actual engineering I learned in school towards the concepts of my car (Physics of how air flows, heat, volume, etc).

So here was what I started building towards... a 408 with a PT88 rearmounted.... ForcedInduction helped me with a good PT88... I had the good short block... so my dreams have a base...

So... Steve and Josh at LMR did some great work with my car!!! (See pics) And we actually got her to pull a good 702RWHP on pumpgas with only 42deg of timing!!

 

Ok is that 42 degrees of timing a misprint? Think most turbo guys run way less that that?
So what does it mean untimely death in your sig..your newest build is dead?

 

Now of course... (As if I havent had enough).. another bad turn. I was in Iraq when I get a phonecall from a friend that said he was driving my car and lost control of it... wrecked... Oh god..



Well my buddy was ok... and the car is waisted. Tweaked the frame... totaled. God... and before I ever got to drive it or even get Steve and crew to put a race gas tune on it and see what it could really do (was hoping for 850+)...

So my buddy felt really bad... and we worked to get things right (still working! hahaha) but this is where we are going! I found a good deal on e-bay while in Iraq for a 35th SS... figure I wanted to stay with a collector... had it shipped to Steve and LMR... and we are off again!!

 

You just summed It all up In that post for sure.Ive changed my turbo or motor setup 3 times and still the car isnt done.Its like a neverending looseing battle.But with guys like you and Zombie you have helped us all with your testings and findings over the years and have made It easier on the rest of us.And Its greatly appreciated.

 

So now here are some recent pics from LMR... we are going to try to have it together and ready to take out to the LSX shootout... Josh and Steve are good so I think we can do it!! The suspension and 9" are already swapped... Block and K-member are in.. we are debating on rebuilding the PT88 or going with an S-80...

 

So for those of you that dont want to read my rambling... here is the bottom line of the build:

2002 SS...

Iron Block 408 with -32cc Dish Wisco Turbo Duty pistons
Big Stuff Three
96lb Injectors
Edlebrock Intake
TSP Stage 1 6.0L heads
1400HP rated FMIC
TH400 Built Trans (Thanks Fran)
Neal Chance Converter
35spline 9" with Locker
All UMI suspension... K-member, Tq Arm, etc..
PT-88 Turbo from Forced Inductions (May be going with an S-80)
All custom Cold and Hot side piping done by Josh at LMR..

All the build done by LMR... Great shop if there is anyone wondering. Steve stands behind his folks and is very flexable to customer needs (half this I did from Iraq).

 

Nice..ok like that camaro.To tell the truth not a fan of the ce tas. I think they should have used bright yellow, not don the blacked out back .Stuck to nice crome wheels not black. Done a checkerboard or different striping theme..etc. But do think the camaro special edition looks great. Guy has a vert one not very far from where I love.

So you are not going rear mount now just normal front mount?
So time to change your sig?

 

Oh no... this is still a rear-mount PT-88 (or S-80) build... just in a new car!

 

what did u do with the ceta carcass?
im still looking for one, 7 yrs. later

 

Sorry to hear about the TA! I do like the 35th Anniversary Camaro. Just wondering where you got the alluminum front spindles that are in the picture?

 

dam man didnt know your car had been totaled!?!?, that REALLY sucks it was a beautiful car!! The camaro is also very nice and im sure it will haul some major *** but its definitely gonna be a while before i can associate a non-yellow car with the LongRange name lol Good luck tho with the current build, you probably need it alittle more than i do. I feel your pain In that case good luck to both of us since ive been down that road already and im only 23 yrs old lol

 

Yea it is... good catch!! It was 18 Deg at 9lbs....

 

Jeez man, I had NO idea your bird was totalled! I wondered where you had been to be honest! Glad to see you're back in an F body and at it again! This should be a REALL exciting build, and that 35th is BEAUTIFUL bud. Keep us posted k? =)

 

Beautiful carS... Your setup looks awesome. cant wait to see the new finished product with some numbers on race gas

 

My heart sank when you told me about the car being wrecked around 6 months ago. I really want to see it go down the track and deep 9's. I think i'm done spending much on my car, i'm just going to be tweaking what I got to make it better. I can't wait to see your car all done and making passes.

More and more people are putting together fast rear mount setups and there are a bunch of us in the low 10's as we work out the kinks.

 

Oh dam ! Thats why im far from letting others drive my ride. Dam Jared you been beat up on this build. I will keep some details from PTM to myself but yeah..................... I went the same rout everthing went bad but lucky enough I folded on him and went to lethal. Danny and crew where great I was there for most of the rebuild, Yes rebuild after I paid 2.5k for what I thought where new and the proper parts. so I ened up paying 2k+ again but this time I knew it was going to be done right. I remeber when I first showed u the rearmount system in tempel and you far surpass me with it. LOL!! But in all I hope u have a safe return and finaly get to unleash that beast. I know you should surpass 700+ hp Mine has more in it but I quit on 14 psi becasue I was over joyed she stayed together and I finaly after 9 months of BS got to drive my ride. I personaly thank u for the hook up and cant wait to see some times out that beast.

 

That really sucks about the CETA. I saw some of your other posts hinting at the fact, but this was the 1st time I saw the real deal.

Good luck with the new build. Hope it meets your expectations. Ya'll have more STS patience than I did. Spent 2 1/2years on mine. To be honest, had it running great....... but was having issues with ground clearance, so rebuilt the entire car high-compression NA. More to it than that, but that's the short version. I damn near rebuilt the entire car in 2 months (engine, rear, suspension, full exhaust, support mods, fuel, retuning, etc.) Still can't believe I pulled that off as fast as I did. The bad thing is I have free time since the rebuild and am already thinking stupid thoughts

BTW, the video posted looked good. Car was moving Hope the new combo scoots that well.

 

hope6 it all comes together for you soon mate! would be real nice to see you brake the 1000rwbhp mark with the new car!

Chris.

 

sweet thread, like a mini history lesson