2023 GT Premium - My Twin Turbo Build

[AcceptableNebula]

Car got all aligned this morning, and I finally got to drive the car 16 miles home. I am surprised with how the "drag" specific coil springs ride and handle. I know I changed every suspension part available, but the car is very tight and balanced. There are a couple new noises but nothing I didn't expect.

The springs are starting to settle, and am pretty happy with it. The rear springs don't have a drop measurement and Eibach says they vary. I wanted to leave the rear camber at 0ish but the rims are right on the edge of the fender. So I had them set at -1 and I'll pray traction isn't an issue for now. After parking on some various uneven ground, I was able to get the rear tires up, and with that camber they barely make it into the wheel well clean.

I was also able to get the drag radials mounted on the beadlock rims. I brought them with me to get the car so he was able to balance them. They took a little more weight than I like, but he said it was very common with beadlock wheels. Almost 10oz total added. Nearly negating the 12oz savings of replacing the 42 beadlock bolts with Titanium.

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[AcceptableNebula]

I was unable to locate a matching set of Forgestar Gunmetal F14 wheels so I had to order Matte Black front runners and try to color match them. This was the closest color I could get, as trying to match powdercoat with paint is hard. This was closest I could come up with. These will save me 11 lbs each and cut the rolling resistance down substantially.

I have been working on my variable front GT350 front knuckle. I have played with the CAD model enough to come up with a few ideas. One was to mill off most of the caliper mounting pedestals and make a bracket to communicate with 2 of the wheel bearing bolts, and still bolt into the remaining pedestals. The next idea I had seems to be the most effective while leaving of the original knuckle intact. I will mill the pedestals off 1/4", which will give the caliper the correct placement for the Girodisc PP rotors. I will make 1/4" spacers the shape of the pedestals to pad the caliper back out to the 15.5" of the GT350 rotor. The last issue is the PP rotors have a 7mm different offset than the GT350 rotor. Rather than trying to move the caliper back and have 2 sets of mounting holes, the easier solution seems to be machine custom 6061 rotor hats.

Regardless I wasn't putting on the GT350 rotors as is. The bright red just wouldn't look right in my opinion. So I did them up in Urethane Rapid Red Metallic, made new logos out of high temp 3M vinyl, and cleared with a very tough 2k Clear.

 

[AcceptableNebula]

I forgot to share something that worked well for me. Since the calipers came painted already, all that was required was a scuff and shoot process. Reds generally do not cover well so I was able to take the caliper out in the sun, and could still see the OEM Brembo decal thru the 2 coats of base and 2 coats of pearl coat. This allowed me to get the location exactly the same before applying clear. The vinyl I used is 3M extreme. It's rated for 200F as an external stick on, but I've used it under clear coat before at much hotter temps.

 

[AcceptableNebula]

I was able to get some street tuning done on Sunday. Fuel trims are within 2% or less and IPC torque errors are few and far between. I am hoping to get it into a local tuner that I know for WOT stuff next week. I don't want to try do WOT full pulls with 10+ lbs on the street. There seems to be a cop around every corner lately. During some part throttle tuning I did hit about 5 lbs of boost and the turbos definitely get loud.

So after owning a Gen V LT4 for 5 years, I have fuel system PTSD. Just when you thought $4,000 injectors, a 38% fuel lobe cam, and a huge low side was going to do it....

So I decided to hurry up and get the Fore system in and the 62lb port injectors in before the end of the week. I took the manifold off and removed the IMRC actuators. I've already disabled the IMRC in the tune, so this was the last step. I didn't know the measurements to make lockouts so I bought a set from Billet Pro Shop. Took the measurements from those and made my own set out of 7075 aluminum. I ended up installing the BPS 6061 ones because after seeing how little work these things need to do, 21g of aluminum is total overkill. There is literally no motivation for these to move. I'll rework them if I keep this intake.

I put the Radium Rails on with the 62lb injectors. The rail "fit" kit is all 6an and the hoses are very long, so very little of it is useful. Also the Radium hose for the HPFP does not have a check valve in it so I'll just keep the stock hose for now and get the correct ones from Fragola on order.

Removing the IMRC actuators saves 1lb 12oz.

 

[AcceptableNebula]

Got a little more done after work tonight. Bent up a piece of 1/2" stainless tubing and flared the ends to 37⁰. I Cerakoted the tubing black to it would blend in with the other hoses. Also did the vacuum line black while I had it in the gun. Got the FPR mounted to the rail. Just need a couple fittings that are arriving tomorrow and the engine bay will be buttoned back up. Also need to run a vacuum line to the FPR. I will use the port vacated by the IMRC to supply that.

 

[NGOT8R]

I can’t wait to see some video showing how well it performs once you can get WOT with it.

 

[AcceptableNebula]

Make some more progress tonight. Installed the Fore Triple Pump hanger into the tank and ran the Fragola PTFE lines. I measured out and had them make lines that are crimped, however, I think they are so light weight that they collapse very easily. The black coating on the outside definitely bunches up on a radius bend and makes it worse. I am going to last minute pivot and install some nylon coated PTFE lines. I will deal with them over the winter. I gotta get this thing running and a lower quality line will last a month I'm sure.

I was not impressed with the 2.6 lb aluminum relay box masquerading itself as a "Staging Fuel Pump Controller". So I installed a small 2 relay fuse box by the factory Fuel Pump Module. This will have 4 spare fused circuits unused in it for future growth. I ran 10 feet of 6ga which will see a 60 amp fuse at the battery some time this weekend. Unfortunately the relay box was rewired and the relays inside were 80 amp relays. After taking them out, I noticed they had a extra large terminals, so that means the sockets were also too big for a standard 40 amp relay. I have to use special diode equipped relays with the Cortex Boost Controller. By using that, I will have a PWM main Walbro 525 lph, and the Cortex will command the 2nd and 3rd 525 pumps based on boost levels. The 3rd pump will probably not even be necessary until 15+ psi or so. Three Hellcat fuel pumps should insure I realistically never run out of low side, but staged along with the factory PWM should keep the fuse temperature under control.

So I had to mill out some of the fuse box webbing and install the correct connectors. I decided to open the harness and pull the fuel pump wires into the new wiring to make one harness. I have metripack connectors arriving tomorrow so I'll get the wiring buttoned up then.

My new front runners arrived today. Instead of mounting my M/T Sportsmans, I decided to try Bias Ply fronts. After some research and some brain picking of seasoned drag racers, it seems that BP skinny fronts and Radials in the back work well. The Sportsmans weigh 26 lbs each and the pair of Hoosier weigh in at 24 lbs. Is definitely strange seeing 2 tires strapped together and only looking like a single tire.

 

[Decible]

@AcceptableNebula Please don’t mix drag tires. You are asking for major trouble. If you run BP fronts you need to run BP rears. And radial fronts/rears. I personally prefer BP slicks as I think you get better sidewall wrinkle and bite. I have seen a lot of ppl end up into walls by mixing tires, I definitely do not recommend doing it no matter what anyone says.

 

[AcceptableNebula]

@AcceptableNebula Please don’t mix drag tires. You are asking for major trouble. If you run BP fronts you need to run BP rears. And radial fronts/rears. I personally prefer BP slicks as I think you get better sidewall wrinkle and bite. I have seen a lot of ppl end up into walls by mixing tires, I definitely do not recommend doing it no matter what anyone says.

From what I've read that is generally the rule of thumb, especially radial fronts and BP rears. Thanks for the heads up, I will shelf these for now and run my S/Rs. Since it's a successful common practice though, there must be a secret sauce to it.

 

[Decible]

From what I've read that is generally the rule of thumb, especially radial fronts and BP rears. Thanks for the heads up, I will shelf these for now and run my S/Rs. Since it's a successful common practice though, there must be a secret sauce to it.

Thank you! Beautiful car and you have put too much in to it to kiss a wall or worse. With a mixed tire combo once it breaks lose (and it will at some point) you have a 99.7% chance of not controlling it and getting it back in line. It’s a really dangerous combo. It’s just not worth it.

 

[AcceptableNebula]

Most of the fuel system is done. I was able to fire up each pump and leak check the system. I just have to mount the fuse holder, finish wiring the flex fuel sensor to the boost controller, and make a bracket for the other ear of the fuel filter mount. I'm using a small 15 watt transformer to knock the 12v to 5v for the reference signal.

The Fore Triple Pump comes in at over 6 lbs when loaded with (3) 285 pumps, an increase of 3.31 lbs over the stock hanger. A small price to pay to make sure you won't run out of fueling.

I rotated the stock fuel pump control a little and utilized the mounting stud to ground the 2 additional pumps. Seemed like a better use of an M6 stud. Adding a second screw hole easy enough.

 

[AcceptableNebula]

Not a lot has changed with the car. I ended up picking up a couple things that have taken my attention.

I did pick up a GT350 aluminum strut tower brace to increase my street cred. With this installed, the Civics will know I can hang with them in the twisties.

I bought a 23 Spartan 26' enclosed car trailer. While it's looking pretty grim for drag racing around here, perhaps I will find a further south track rental to attend.

I also grabbed a 2004 F-350 I found online. It has gotten the complete Sinister Diesel bulletproofing setup on the 6.0 and has 81,000 miles on it. Overall it is in great shape for a 20 year old truck in New England. I've been wanting to try out a pre-DPF truck again after the hassles with my 2018 Denali HD. I feel like it's gonna be a money pit but I'm having fun for now. The 6.0 is a tough motor once it's known weaknesses are addressed.

 

[Mach VII]

Not a lot has changed with the car. I ended up picking up a couple things that have taken my attention.

I did pick up a GT350 aluminum strut tower brace to increase my street cred. With this installed, the Civics will know I can hang with them in the twisties.

I bought a 23 Spartan 26' enclosed car trailer. While it's looking pretty grim for drag racing around here, perhaps I will find a further south track rental to attend.

I also grabbed a 2004 F-350 I found online. It has gotten the complete Sinister Diesel bulletproofing setup on the 6.0 and has 81,000 miles on it. Overall it is in great shape for a 20 year old truck in New England. I've been wanting to try out a pre-DPF truck again after the hassles with my 2018 Denali HD. I feel like it's gonna be a money pit but I'm having fun for now. The 6.0 is a tough motor once it's known weaknesses are addressed.

Need to add the cowl brace for max effect, some of those ricers are pretty sneaky

 

[AcceptableNebula]

Need to add the cowl brace for max effect, some of those ricers are pretty sneaky

My friend told me the same thing. This bar is 4.5 lbs and comes off in 1 minute. The secondary brace would take too long to take off lol. I really did it to break up the ugly manifold/fuel rail area.

 

[Mach VII]

My friend told me the same thing. This bar is 4.5 lbs and comes off in 1 minute. The secondary brace would take too long to take off lol. I really did it to break up the ugly manifold/fuel rail area.

Wait until you try to check the oil level.... you might leave it off for good!

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