Thanks for the offer man but I got a fever, and the only prescription is more boost

It's getting down to little things now. Wiring, driveshaft, hooking up the radiator, mounting the alternator, etc etc. A bunch of little stuff you neglect or can't do until the big stuff is done. But it's getting closer

Might as well post some updates. The converter came in last week, I got the transmission installed as well as the rear end.

This week I did a bunch of wiring in the engine bay and interior. The fuel pump wiring, line lock, transbrake, radiator fans, gauges, wideband O2, etc, all need to be wired and tied into the ECM. I'm making progress but it all just looks like a ratsnest right now.

I also mounted the drivers side coil pakcs and got the torque arm (BMR Trak Pak) mostly in. I rolled the crossbar up for ground clearance and tack welded it in for now until I get my driveshaft to double check my clearances.

That looks kick ***, keep it up.

Got my driveshaft in, built the safety loop and finished welding the trak pak in. Most of the wiring is done, transmission cooler lines run, fluids topped off, etc. Turbo and fuel plumbing are done, pretty much the only big thing left is to finish up the radiator install and mount the fans. Then I've got a lot of wires and hoses to tidy up and little things to do to make it road worthy.

I started the engine up to make sure everything still worked, verify oil pressure, get some fluid into the converter and verify the transmission was working properly. My goal was to get it to move out of the garage under its own power by spring, and since summer doesn't officially start until next week, I may have made it.

Anyway here's a short video of it running: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj23L-nwSaA

I got the car running and took it for a short test drive on Friday. Everything seemed to go well except for a small oil leak that I need to fix. The rest of the weekend I took off from working on the car. I put in a lot of late nights to get it where it is now, and now that all the basics are working I figured it was a good time to take a break.

I was so busy I forgot to take pictures or video, but fortunately my cousin had his cell phone and took a quick video of me putting some load on the engine during break-in. The quality kinda sucks but you get the idea.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP1GKonAsGM

It's on the road, kind of. Overboost protection is set at about 1psi right now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E-pGj8-cIs

All you need now is a built six-speed!

Very nice setup.Sounds good too

Well my Fuelab pump has gone out again (twice now in as many months). So it's going to be off the road again until I get that sorted out..

nice sucks that car stalled hate to live were you are to many hills = bad gas mileage lol

Wow, man that sounds like a poor product. Sorry to hear that. I almost got one of those instead of my Aeromotive. Hope you have better luck with the next one!

I finally got ahold of the engineer on Monday. Apparently they have seen a few failures of one particular resistor on the input of the control board. He told me that they originally suspected it was due to voltage transients (flyback spikes, basically high voltage spikes that occur when you shut off inductive devices like relays and motors, and can destroy electronics) destroying the resistor. However after the first failure I added a device called a transient voltage suppression diode that is designed to eliminate those spikes, and the pump still failed after about 5 hours of use.

He assured me that they are now using a 2nd revision of the control board that does not use the particular resistor that failed on my pump. He offered to send me a new pump with the 2nd revision control board which I said I'd appreciate if I could get before the end of the week (today). I sent my old pump back that evening for them to look at. Unfortunately the new pump never came this week and I'm not sure if they have even shipped it out yet.

It's becoming just a little bit frustrating, as I originally ordered the pump in March and it arrived about two months late. When I got it, it ran for about 5 minutes before it failed and it took another two weeks to RMA it. After I got it back in mid June I put about 5 hours on it before this second failure last week. I don't think I was asking too much to have a new pump this week. At this point it's the only thing holding back the whole project. Add to that the hassle and the tow bill each time it fails and my general lack of faith in the pump now, I'm not sure that I can say I would endorse the product.

Fuelab sent me a brand new pump which I got and reinstalled yesterday. I called up to see what happened to the old pump and the tech confirmed that the 2 ohm input resistor had fried again. The new pump is supposed to have the 2nd revision control board with the resistor in a different spot, beefed up and from a different manufacturer. The tech assured me that while a few of the 1st gen boards have had the resistor problem, they have not had any returns of the 2nd gen hardware. So we'll see how it goes.

I LOVE THIS BUILD !!! Keep up the good work man.

Nice build! You might consider putting two vband sections in your downpipe so that you can easily get the passenger valvecover off for maintainence.

Actually I've had them off a few times due to leaky gaskets, the downpipe doesn't get in the way.

On a similar note, since the exhaust is up so high, I can still change all the sparkplugs from the top

Ant updates??? New vids to put out???

No videos really, I've got a few pics though. I've been fighting with my share of startup bugs including some really bad starter heat soak that I think I might have finally fixed. I drove it on about a 40 mile round trip the other week through town and on the highway and the car gets HOT. So I've got some more work to do in that respect. It's getting there though..

Some more pics and the only other video I've taken:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfLyw-L1ZiY

Damnit!!!!!!!!Your gonna make me cry

Well, the firebird saw its first bit o' boost today. Only 5 psi but it made a huge difference. Until now I've had a 1psi overboost limit while I tune the NA map and have been pedaling the car to stay away from it. Letting the wastegate take over today and actually being able to open the throttle turned the car into a whole different animal It's definitely time for stickier tires.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhgp_GmCVEU>

Sounds good, MORE videos please sir.....

I have been having some issues with the low impedance (peak-and-hold) fuel injectors. I had the hold current percentage too low and combined with the alternator belt slipping at high rpm, my battery voltage was dropping and allowing the injectors to start closing past 5k and 4-5lbs boost. I spent a long time convinced it was an ignition problem until I took my blinders off and figured it out. I increased the hold current and it runs great now. In celebration I cranked the boost up a little to 7psi.

Unfortunately my camera man is MIA this week so this unsubstantiated photo evidence will have to do. I promise to get some more videos soon. I'd really like to get it to the track this year, I'm a bit leery about how accurate a dyno is going to be with a non-lockup torque converter.

So...... when you gonna sell me the car back?

Hey don't you have a Nova for the go-fast stuff? I certainly took my sweet time getting the car on the road, but I've still got a lot to do. I've got a rollbar coming that needs to be put in (yeah, gonna be fun with all that dynamat too..), need to pick out seats and get a harness, get some tires and wheels for the track, and start dialing in the suspension among other things.

What brand turbo blanket is that and how do you like it? Nice build, can't wait to see some 15 psi vids!

I got it on ebay from 'Cool turbo blankets'. It's thick and has held up well to my nuclear exhaust temps, and probably saved my hood as well. Since then i've also wrapped the headers, crossover, and downpipe with DEI Titanium which has cut down a lot on the radiant heat.

I think I'm going to leave it at 7psi until I get some stickier tires and play with the suspension. Upping the power is pretty much pointless until I can get it to the ground.

Ya thats what the Nova is for but I miss the sweet power of a DD!!! lol

Video as promised:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1FFN0QTRXg

Glad to hear you've had good luck with that blanket because I've been planning to order one too. That car is looking and sounding great!

Wow. Looks great! Anything worth doing is worth OVER doing

i hate you! lol! your car is the same color, year, and everything as mine... now i want my turbo so bad. thanks man lol

A welder and a wallet is all you really need man

Just got back from the track tonight. I did 5 runs total on some MT ET Street Radials. I never did get the tires to hook up on the launch but I'm still happy with my times for only running about 6-7 psi. Best ET run was 11.45 @ 120, best MPH run was 11.812 @ 121.5. I'll post up videos soon.

Here's a few videos:

First up, 11.79@117. 20psi in the tires and leaving at about 5 psi boost. The tires spun so I backed out of it slightly to get them to hook at about the 60' mark. 60ft time was 1.92s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yhGkIkUyb4

The next pass I dropped the tire pressure down to 15 lbs and left at 5 psi again. The car still didn't hook but it wasn't nearly as bad. 11.45@120. 60' was 1.73.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_URsgYxbu8

The last pass of the night, the car started going sideways during the burnout, so I ended it early. That yielded a 11.81@121.5 with a 2.00 60'. No video, it was pretty uneventful.

Here's links to the previous two passes from the pit side:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq0XSC03DK0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdaPYoWLBJE

I'll be doing a little more work to the suspension now to try and get my 60' times down. If I can get it to dead hook I think it'll be in the low 11's at only 6-7 psi. I need to get the roll bar in before I turn it up any father. I've got an S&W 8-point kit I'll be putting in as well as some hunsaker seats on order. I finally get to work on the interior, yay!

Also, since the turbo is sucking in 180 degree air from the engine bay, I'm dealing with awfully high intake temps that make me uncomfortable even on ethanol, so I'm going to work on a cold air intake or meth injection to get that under control before I try to bump the boost up any higher.

All in all I'm pretty happy with it for now, the track closes in about 4 weeks so I don't know if I'll have a chance to turn the boost up before winter. We'll see how it goes..

Badass setup! Can't wait to see this thing run once you get it to hook!

Thanks for using our products in your build

If you have any questions or concerns let me know I will be more than happy to help out where I can

I appreciate it. I've been very happy BMR's quality and I'll be looking your way again come the next round of suspension upgrades.

nice build dude!!

Fab work look good, nice videos as well!

Love the build. I really want to boost my Camaro badly. It's just too simple to bolt on a nitrous kit though. Maybe one day...

Well the season ended pretty uneventfully. I never got the car past 7 psi before the track closed down for the year, mostly due to some ignition problems I never got sorted out. I'm tearing the car down re-do the stuff that was rushed to get it on the road last summer: cleaning up the wiring, finishing the exhaust, closing up the HVAC holes in the firewall, putting in the rest of the roll bar, installing the interior, etc.

While the car is apart I'm taking the opportunity to go through the drivetrain to make sure there are no surprises waiting for me next year.

I also got a high speed camera and I did take one last video before I put the bird away for the year. Hopefully more videos will follow next year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScNcSsIRzlY

After that I pulled the car into the garage and started hacking away, here it is the next day I hope I remember how to put it all together again

Love the last burn out of 09 vid....

Thanks, I hate tearing it down after that, but that's what winter is for I guess

Put the block on the stand and started taking it apart. Found out the fel-pro oil pan gasket had deteriorated and was coming off inside the engine (caused by alcohol in the oil maybe?) Pulled a few main caps to check the bearings.

.. also started ripping out the interior.

You Sir have inspired me.. I cleaned my garage out and started my L98 Z28 T-70 project. Just some ebay junk, till tax time and then a good turbo. Might go Code$59 might go MS? Any thoughts, pros-cons. Agin Sir nice work!

Looking at this
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/On-3-...item20aecfaea1

Be careful with the ebay ADs. They could be saying that the comp. exducer is 76mm. Ask what the comp. wheel inducer is. Take a look at the GT45 Ebay turbo. It has a 68mm comp. inducer.