Winter Upgrades

J

Jim Ienner

Active member
It is during this long cold offseason that most of us contemplate a new round of mods for our trucks. I am curious what everyone has up their sleeves.
My plans are fairly simple this time. I will install a TrueTrac to eliminate my "one wheel peel" issues. These started when I went to the ultra sticky 15inch Hoosier radial slicks. This is unfortunate, as I really want to convert to a 9" rear in the future. Did not want to drop money on this, but it is required now to run next season.
On the performance side I will be adding an "on demand" second stage of nitrous for street use, and to make up ground bracket racing. In addition to this I will have a custom fuel tank done which will allow me to run about 4 gallons of fuel instead of 10 gallons at the track. It will allow me to carry less C16 fuel to the track, and be a substantial weight savings. It will hold 11 gallons, and retain the stock style hat and all guage functions. It will limit my range a bit, but not so much of an issue. I should still get close to 150 miles on a tankfull.
When my truck sees the track next year I will be spraying a bigger shot on a stronger tune. I feel I have learned enough about my combo to try to extract a bit more. My goal for 2008 is to get into the 9s on my Magnum Powers Blower. Once accomplished I think I will move on to a larger power adder.
What is everyone else doing?
Jim
 
Jim I like the idea of the fuel tank.

My goal was that by April:

Hotchkis kit
Ported blower
6lb pulley
SCT 2400 or the like
LT's High flows
255's
Wideband etc...

HOWEVER...

I just recieved a hotchkis kit last week. I'm waiting on the shocks to come in. I'll put that in later in the winter. I purchased a used stock blower. I sent it out to Steigmeier, its in the air on the its way home as we speak.

Captain Priority struck again :cuss:. Everything is on hold. The L will have a mid winter move into a bigger home. Also a place for her L friends to come over :thumbup: and barbecue.
 
Basically everything that I have amassed over the past year is getting put on the truck:

Power:
Powerdyne XB1A blower w/8bls boost (for now)

Pro-M MAF kit w/42lb injectors

Traction:

LFP 58" Trac-bar kit

Detroit True-Trac locker (if needed, my mechanic says it already has one and just needs shims to work)

Suspension and brakes:

Installing new bushings and endlinks

Rear disc-brake conversion (maybe)

Transmission:

Complete Rebuild w/2800 RPM T/C and new Art Carr Shifter (because I can't stand my B&M Megashifter)

Body:

Painting and installing VFN Fiberglass hood and hard tonneau cover

Adressing small paint bubbling over the drivers rear wheel opening and on the cab lower corners

Respraying and reclearing the front bumper and valance

Seeing if I can make a Carriage Works custom grille and then have that painted & put on the truck (if it looks good)

I think thats all ... my garage is empty ..

Randy
 
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My winter plans are pretty straight forward, I already have an appointment to have my Tru Trac/TA cover installed and I have the longer cam bolts which need to go in so I can get the suspension aligned properly, so I'm going to have those done at the same time, the alignment is OK but theirs room for improvement, those are my two priorities as I have the parts. I also really need a set of sticky compound street tire's as my F1's while a solid tire aren't doing it in the launch dept., so it's Nitto's or the new Mickey Thompson's (finally an 18') and I guess my big news is I'm finally going to do a motor, I have a mid July appointment so not really a winter mod but for me a big deal, I've wanted to do it for almost two years and with the addition of the Whipple I know I'm on borrowed time, so after a few phone call's I'm going to have JDM put in there long block and a new torque converter.
 
Yeah, Ryan .. Probably gonna max out another credit card to get it all done. :eek:ldtu: :thumbup:

Should look and run awesome when it's finished.

Todd, what kind of turnaround time did JDM give you for the long block swap? 2 weeks? (I was just thinking about how long Jim waited for his L)


Randy
 
Randy, Two weeks, yea right... trust me I thought about Jim's year truck less, and while I sure he had no intentions of that amount of time but I'm prepared for some time without the truck, I'm dropping it off in the middle of race season so if I have it for the fall I'll be lucky.
 
Love to see my brothers continuing to improve their trucks. So many people jump around from project to project, never really taking anything to the highest level. I intend to keep this truck for a long time, and the plan will be to always push faster while still remaining a viable street vehicle.
Please keep us up with all the progress, and of course, post up any questions or concerns. This info can become valuable to us all.
Jim
 
todd abbott said:
Randy, Two weeks, yea right... trust me I thought about Jim's year truck less, and while I sure he had no intentions of that amount of time but I'm prepared for some time without the truck, I'm dropping it off in the middle of race season so if I have it for the fall I'll be lucky.
Click to expand...

I was not really "truckless" for a year, but I did lose the spring season and the summer cruise season as well. Jim(JDM) assures me that he has learned from last year's mistakes and will be more concerned with his true customers, and spend a bit less time on the Saleen committments. Hope to see this displayed and not lost in pursuit of the almighty dollar.
When all was said and done I was very pleased with the outcome of my '07 project and feel it was worth the wait to have it turn out so nice. There are very few people I would let work on my truck. I have seen too much shoddy work from supposed top shops. I will pay a bit more and wait a bit longer to get the best job possible.
Jim
 
NewbRand said:
Basically everything that I have amassed over the past year is getting put on the truck:

Power:
Powerdyne XB1A blower w/8bls boost (for now)

Pro-M MAF kit w/42lb injectors

Traction:

LFP 58" Trac-bar kit

Detroit True-Trac locker (if needed, my mechanic says it already has one and just needs shims to work)

Suspension and brakes:

Installing new bushings and endlinks

Rear disc-brake conversion (maybe)

Transmission:

Complete Rebuild w/2800 RPM T/C and new Art Carr Shifter (because I can't stand my B&M Megashifter)

Body:

Painting and installing VFN Fiberglass hood and hard tonneau cover

Adressing small paint bubbling over the drivers rear wheel opening and on the cab lower corners

Respraying and reclearing the front bumper and valance

Seeing if I can make a Carriage Works custom grille and then have that painted & put on the truck (if it looks good)

I think thats all ... my garage is empty ..

Randy
Click to expand...

Who will do the tranny rebuild? The blower will really make your truck shine!

Jim
 
DieselSVT said:
Jim I like the idea of the fuel tank.

My goal was that by April:

Hotchkis kit
Ported blower
6lb pulley
SCT 2400 or the like
LT's High flows
255's
Wideband etc...

HOWEVER...

I just recieved a hotchkis kit last week. I'm waiting on the shocks to come in. I'll put that in later in the winter. I purchased a used stock blower. I sent it out to Steigmeier, its in the air on the its way home as we speak.

Captain Priority struck again :cuss:. Everything is on hold. The L will have a mid winter move into a bigger home. Also a place for her L friends to come over :thumbup: and barbecue.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you can have a nice mix of some mods to the truck, and a kick *** place to live. Take the truck along slowly for now. It is fun to keep making small improvements.
One great thing about living so far from a drag strip is that I usually do at least some modifications between outings. This has resulted in personal best runs 13 out of 14 trips to the track over the last two plus years. It is a great feeling to leave after a successful day. One mod at a time is a great approach.
Jim
 
I agree. I've never had a credit card so I've always kinda just "plucked away at it". Usually when I'm pretty close to making a big purchase for the L something always comes up. Fortunately its always a better investment than dumping money into a vehicle. I've only made one pass with the truck:embar:. I've got to get some more in regardless. I know when the collection of mods has reached the point of installation I'll have a nice :D grin when it all comes together. It was a big relief just to send the blower out to get ported lol. Thanks for the kind words Jim.
 
Jim, My tranny rebuild is being done by a local shop in Somers, CT. They do alot of off-road racing trannies for anything from crawlers to Baja trucks.


Ryan, I'm thinkin' house-warming Lightning Party in the Summer!!! :thumbup:

Nothin says "I love you" to your wife like a front lawn full of Lightnings!!


Randy
 
Hey Ryan, when are trucks are done this year we should see if we can arrange our schedules to make it up to Lebanon Valley some Wednesday for their test-and-tune night.

Just a thought ...




I'm also gonna make it to those 100' drags if they have them again.


Randy
 
I plan to stuff a stroker kit in the bottom end, play with my alcohol injection a little bit and go in the 9's on pump gas next year. Also will do some suspension work and rear end upgrades. Oh wait, I'm not on the Turbo Buick forums! HaHa, J/K. :) Glad all is well with everyone! Happy Holidays! -Mat-
 
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