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Patientzero
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Thanks man! Hopefully it will look alot more badass with the new wheels and me driving it. lol
Patientzero 2002 Roush LS3 build
- Thread starter Patientzero
- Start date
Thanks man! Hopefully it will look alot more badass with the new wheels and me driving it. lol
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Patientzero
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Any idea what happened to all my pictures?
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Patientzero
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I don't know what happened to all my pictures in this thread but I will try to update it soon. The car doesn't even look the same as the last time I posted. My bad.
D3VST8R96GT
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What wheel did you have on the car after the cobra R's when it was silver? Cant wait to see the new cosmos set up
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Patientzero
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I never even mounted the Cosmis Racing wheels because they were so heavy. The wheels on it now are Konig Dekagrams
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Patientzero
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I just realized I haven't updated this since FEBRUARY!?
I'll try to go through this as best as I can, alot has happened since then. Had a baby, bought a new(er) truck, bought a new car, switch shifts at work, and done a bunch of racing. But we'll get to that. I think I left off right before I got the new transmission put in so we can start there.
I was previously using a Tremec TR-6060 from a 2010 Camaro. This is a great transmission. Internally it is the same as a T56 Magnum. It's downfall is that it uses a fixed yoke instead of a slip yoke because the Camaro has IRS and the driveshaft never moves from it's fixed position. This causes all kinds of problems with a solid axle car because the the axle is constantly moving up and down and thus causes the driveshaft to need to change length. As you know the driveshaft doesn't really change length(though it can), instead it uses a slip yoke in the transmission so the driveshaft can move in and out to make up for these variations. Not only that but this is a very heavy and from the factory it has issues with slave cylinders. I'm done with this trans.
My solution; A company called FABBot started making adapters to use an Aisen AR5 transmission behind a LS using a slightly modified 4L60 bellhousing. This is the transmission that comes in a Chevrolet Colorado along with slightly different versions that were used in the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice. When Chuck Mallet built his LS2 swapped Pontiac Solstice's, he kept this transmission in the car and they did just fine. I probably wouldn't throw big sticky drag slicks on the car and start dumping the clutch from 6k but I think for my purpose with this car and the relatively light weight it will do just fine.
Here is the trans ready to go in the car. The clutch lines run somewhat close to the header so I used this black insulated silicone sleeve from DEI to keep the fluid from getting hot. This setup uses a stock Colorado slave cylinder and I opted for the powdercoated bellhousing from Fabbot. I will replace the shifter assembly later.
I'll try to go through this as best as I can, alot has happened since then. Had a baby, bought a new(er) truck, bought a new car, switch shifts at work, and done a bunch of racing. But we'll get to that. I think I left off right before I got the new transmission put in so we can start there.
I was previously using a Tremec TR-6060 from a 2010 Camaro. This is a great transmission. Internally it is the same as a T56 Magnum. It's downfall is that it uses a fixed yoke instead of a slip yoke because the Camaro has IRS and the driveshaft never moves from it's fixed position. This causes all kinds of problems with a solid axle car because the the axle is constantly moving up and down and thus causes the driveshaft to need to change length. As you know the driveshaft doesn't really change length(though it can), instead it uses a slip yoke in the transmission so the driveshaft can move in and out to make up for these variations. Not only that but this is a very heavy and from the factory it has issues with slave cylinders. I'm done with this trans.
My solution; A company called FABBot started making adapters to use an Aisen AR5 transmission behind a LS using a slightly modified 4L60 bellhousing. This is the transmission that comes in a Chevrolet Colorado along with slightly different versions that were used in the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice. When Chuck Mallet built his LS2 swapped Pontiac Solstice's, he kept this transmission in the car and they did just fine. I probably wouldn't throw big sticky drag slicks on the car and start dumping the clutch from 6k but I think for my purpose with this car and the relatively light weight it will do just fine.
Here is the trans ready to go in the car. The clutch lines run somewhat close to the header so I used this black insulated silicone sleeve from DEI to keep the fluid from getting hot. This setup uses a stock Colorado slave cylinder and I opted for the powdercoated bellhousing from Fabbot. I will replace the shifter assembly later.
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Patientzero
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I had the to move my custom transmission mount forward a couple inches because this transmission is much shorter than the 6 speed. It also uses an off the shelf transmount for a TH-350 or 700R4 transmission.
I had a new driveshaft made by Precision Shaft Technologies(PST), this is the same company I used for my old driveshaft. I talked to The Driveshaft Shop and they didn't seem like they wanted my business so I went elsewhere.
Since the new transmission doesn't have provisions for a cooler I repurposed my old trans cooler to be my new power steering cooler.
I had a new driveshaft made by Precision Shaft Technologies(PST), this is the same company I used for my old driveshaft. I talked to The Driveshaft Shop and they didn't seem like they wanted my business so I went elsewhere.
Since the new transmission doesn't have provisions for a cooler I repurposed my old trans cooler to be my new power steering cooler.
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Patientzero
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Because I had to move the transmission crossmember forward it now interfered with the exhaust. I took this as an opportunity to add in some flex joints. This is something I had wanted to do for awhile and was just on too much of a time crunch to do it when I originally built the exhaust.
I also notched the tops of the tubes to make sure there was plenty of clearance around the crossmember. I didn't wanted it to rattle of hit because that little shit drives me nuts.
Installed back on the car. This is all 3" stainless, mandrel bent pipe.
While all this was going on I ended up getting a pretty good deal on a mostly complete black interior. I can't stand the tan and have hated it since day one.
I ordered some new carpet from RockAuto to give it that new car look, lol.
With the seats back in it. I'll figure out something to do with the area around the shifter at some point but the center console isn't going back in.
I also notched the tops of the tubes to make sure there was plenty of clearance around the crossmember. I didn't wanted it to rattle of hit because that little shit drives me nuts.
Installed back on the car. This is all 3" stainless, mandrel bent pipe.
While all this was going on I ended up getting a pretty good deal on a mostly complete black interior. I can't stand the tan and have hated it since day one.
I ordered some new carpet from RockAuto to give it that new car look, lol.
With the seats back in it. I'll figure out something to do with the area around the shifter at some point but the center console isn't going back in.
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The fans on the oil cooler and now power steering cooler were mounted but never wired up. I didn't want to just mount relays on the fender or something because I think that looks like crap. I ordered a cheap bare fuse box off Amazon for like $10 and wired all my fans into this. The main radiator fan, oil cooler fan, and power steering cooler fan. They are all controlled by the Holley.
This is just with the main power wires connected. There is a 8ga cable that runs to a power stud where my main battery cable runs through the floor to the starter. This should carry plenty of juice for anything I ever want to run off this fuse box.
Completely pinned
3 fuses, one for each fan. 1 relay for each aux fan and the main radiator fan is split between two relays.
Mounted on the fender and wired up.
This is just with the main power wires connected. There is a 8ga cable that runs to a power stud where my main battery cable runs through the floor to the starter. This should carry plenty of juice for anything I ever want to run off this fuse box.
Completely pinned
3 fuses, one for each fan. 1 relay for each aux fan and the main radiator fan is split between two relays.
Mounted on the fender and wired up.
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Patientzero
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At this point the car is finally together and drivable for the first time in 5 months...
...so I decide to take it apart again. haha
After driving it a couple times I discover the new transmission doesn't really like my 4.10 gears. 1st gear is 100% useless and 5th gear just isn't tall enough for any highway driving.
So I pulled the 4.10's and put some 3.55's in after spending way too much time on the gear ratio calculator.
...so I decide to take it apart again. haha
After driving it a couple times I discover the new transmission doesn't really like my 4.10 gears. 1st gear is 100% useless and 5th gear just isn't tall enough for any highway driving.
So I pulled the 4.10's and put some 3.55's in after spending way too much time on the gear ratio calculator.
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Patientzero
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I got a set of stock GT side skirts off of the same parts car I got the interior from. I thought the Roush side skirts looked pretty out of place without the side exhaust to go with them. Side exhaust wasn't a real option because of my full length subframe connectors, it's likely possible but not a route I wanted to pursue.
The problem is that the side skirts were black and needed painted to match the car. The problem with that is that not only did they need paint but so did several other parts of the car. The Laser Red was more like Laser Pink. I'm just not the type of person to drop $5k on a paint job, especially on a car that see's track time and could be wadded up into a wall at any moment.
I started looking at other options. I'm not a fan of plastidip. I don't have the facilities or knowledge to paint it myself. The last real option was a vinyl wrap. I started looking around and ended up getting a quote for $2900 to do the car. Thanks but no thanks. I watched about 6 Youtube videos and decided to give it a shot myself. How hard can it be right?
I started by ordering just a small piece to try it out and see how it looked. I went with red because I thought it might help hide small imperfections since the car was already red. This was my first try wrapping anything ever.
I was incredibly impressed with how this looks. Most of the wraps I had seen were weird matte or color changing so it never really hit my radar but this was awesome. It honestly just looks like paint. I decided to go ahead and do the whole car except that the red didn't really match the paint at all and I never like red to begin with. I determined that if I was going to do all that work that I was going with a color I liked...
The problem is that the side skirts were black and needed painted to match the car. The problem with that is that not only did they need paint but so did several other parts of the car. The Laser Red was more like Laser Pink. I'm just not the type of person to drop $5k on a paint job, especially on a car that see's track time and could be wadded up into a wall at any moment.
I started looking at other options. I'm not a fan of plastidip. I don't have the facilities or knowledge to paint it myself. The last real option was a vinyl wrap. I started looking around and ended up getting a quote for $2900 to do the car. Thanks but no thanks. I watched about 6 Youtube videos and decided to give it a shot myself. How hard can it be right?
I started by ordering just a small piece to try it out and see how it looked. I went with red because I thought it might help hide small imperfections since the car was already red. This was my first try wrapping anything ever.
I was incredibly impressed with how this looks. Most of the wraps I had seen were weird matte or color changing so it never really hit my radar but this was awesome. It honestly just looks like paint. I decided to go ahead and do the whole car except that the red didn't really match the paint at all and I never like red to begin with. I determined that if I was going to do all that work that I was going with a color I liked...
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Patientzero
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After I decided on the color for the wrap I could go ahead and order wheels. The Cosmis Racing wheels I previously bought are just crap Chinese cast wheels. They weighed 29lbs each!! I sold them and went with some Konig Dekagrams. These are a flow formed wheel, size 18x10.5 +18 and only 21lbs each.
Once the wheels showed up I needed some nice sticky rubber to stuff them into. There are only 3 competitive options in a 200tw tire for autocross. BFGoodrich Rivals, Bridgestone RE-71R's, and option 3; Yokohama A052's.
These are 295/35-18's and look right at home on the 10.5" wheels.
Not only did I gain over an inch of width over the 275/35-18's on 9.5" wheels, I lost 6lbs per corner.
Bonus; with the correct offset wheels I lost another 5lbs from the rear by getting rid of the spacers.
Once the wheels showed up I needed some nice sticky rubber to stuff them into. There are only 3 competitive options in a 200tw tire for autocross. BFGoodrich Rivals, Bridgestone RE-71R's, and option 3; Yokohama A052's.
These are 295/35-18's and look right at home on the 10.5" wheels.
Not only did I gain over an inch of width over the 275/35-18's on 9.5" wheels, I lost 6lbs per corner.
Bonus; with the correct offset wheels I lost another 5lbs from the rear by getting rid of the spacers.
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Patientzero
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I did have to make a little bit more room to fit that big of a tire on the front without looking like a brodozer. Pretty simple solution.
I swapped to a shorter coilover spring. No other changes, the fender aren't even rolled. They do rub the sway bar at full lock but so did the 275's so not a big deal to me. I never go to full lock on the track anyway.
Here you can clearly see how the shorter spring allowed the necessary clearance.
Going from a 12" Summit Racing brand spring to a 8" Eibach spring dropped some more weight off the front of the car and unsprung weight at that.
I swapped to a shorter coilover spring. No other changes, the fender aren't even rolled. They do rub the sway bar at full lock but so did the 275's so not a big deal to me. I never go to full lock on the track anyway.
Here you can clearly see how the shorter spring allowed the necessary clearance.
Going from a 12" Summit Racing brand spring to a 8" Eibach spring dropped some more weight off the front of the car and unsprung weight at that.
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Patientzero
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With the wheels squared away it was time to get back to the wrap. I decided on a color and got to work a piece at a time. I took apart everything I could to help hide the edges and make it look as professional as possible.
I started with the rear quarter panel and just worked my way around the car.
The front passenger fender had a dent right in the top of it along the body line from the previous owner. I didn't want to have the dent fixed because the whole point of all of this was to avoid the body shop. So I bought a brand new fender from Amazon for $80.
I started with the rear quarter panel and just worked my way around the car.
The front passenger fender had a dent right in the top of it along the body line from the previous owner. I didn't want to have the dent fixed because the whole point of all of this was to avoid the body shop. So I bought a brand new fender from Amazon for $80.
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Patientzero
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Here is a little step by step of wrapping the roof.
I was able to finish the trunk and that's when I ran out of vinyl.
I'll stop with the updates for tonight but I'll try to pick back up tomorrow if I dont' get busy. Hope you guys enjoy the content.
I was able to finish the trunk and that's when I ran out of vinyl.
I'll stop with the updates for tonight but I'll try to pick back up tomorrow if I dont' get busy. Hope you guys enjoy the content.
You do nice work, experience shows.
DKblue98GT
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Very cool car and nice work! I'm really impressed by the wrap job.
Burninriverdiver
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Great work, that wrap looks professional so far!
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Patientzero
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Thank you for the complements guys!
To pick up where I left off. I ran out of vinyl. The vinyl I was using was Vivvid brand that I purchased through Amazon so I just hopped online and clicked "order again".
Oops. The color I originally bought was called "Gloss Dark Grey". I thought it looked kind of light to be called "Dark Grey" but other people had mentioned something similiar in the reviews so I liked it enough I went ahead and used it. This time when I ordered more it actually looked like "Gloss Dark Grey" and was labeled as such. Now I had to figure out what color was actually on the car so I could get more. Amazon customer service was completely useless partly because they just told me to order more of the one I bought before *eyeroll*, and partly because their customer service is very lacking in the English speaking department.
I sent Vivvid an email and posted something on Instagram about the situation. This was on Sunday. 7am Monday morning THEY CONTACTED ME! I guess someone in their social media department had seen my post and forwarded it up to the appropriate people before they even got my email. They asked for a couple pictures so they could match the color. They had it figured out by that afternoon and a roll of the correct color was sent out at no cost to me. Very impressed with that customer service.
With the new roll of vinyl I had enough to get the car finished up.
Here are pics from a little photoshoot I did right after finishing the car.
No poke with a 295 on the front, according to the internet you can't do this.
To pick up where I left off. I ran out of vinyl. The vinyl I was using was Vivvid brand that I purchased through Amazon so I just hopped online and clicked "order again".
Oops. The color I originally bought was called "Gloss Dark Grey". I thought it looked kind of light to be called "Dark Grey" but other people had mentioned something similiar in the reviews so I liked it enough I went ahead and used it. This time when I ordered more it actually looked like "Gloss Dark Grey" and was labeled as such. Now I had to figure out what color was actually on the car so I could get more. Amazon customer service was completely useless partly because they just told me to order more of the one I bought before *eyeroll*, and partly because their customer service is very lacking in the English speaking department.
I sent Vivvid an email and posted something on Instagram about the situation. This was on Sunday. 7am Monday morning THEY CONTACTED ME! I guess someone in their social media department had seen my post and forwarded it up to the appropriate people before they even got my email. They asked for a couple pictures so they could match the color. They had it figured out by that afternoon and a roll of the correct color was sent out at no cost to me. Very impressed with that customer service.
With the new roll of vinyl I had enough to get the car finished up.
Here are pics from a little photoshoot I did right after finishing the car.
No poke with a 295 on the front, according to the internet you can't do this.
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Patientzero
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A video walk-around so you can see the vinyl up close.
