swflastang05's build thread

swflastang05

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I received the convertor back from Protorque again last week and installed it this past weekend, it was a good news - bad news situation, the good news is they adjusted it down so it fits with plenty of clearance, I actually had to add some washers to tighten it back up, which is okay. The bad news is it stalls at only 3,000 rpm on the TB, so back out it came after work today, ugh! I get to send it back, again.. on a positive note, I did get to drive it around a bit and see the new stance with the new wheels, and DAMN it looks good! Looks like a whole different car, I am extremely satisfied with that!

T4Lpg1ol.png

wQ3397fl.jpg


I also got my new tag, it sucked having to cut it up to fit!
u0RTwJ2l.jpg
 

RocketcarX

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I received the convertor back from Protorque again last week and installed it this past weekend, it was a good news - bad news situation, the good news is they adjusted it down so it fits with plenty of clearance, I actually had to add some washers to tighten it back up, which is okay. The bad news is it stalls at only 3,000 rpm on the TB, so back out it came after work today, ugh! I get to send it back, again.. on a positive note, I did get to drive it around a bit and see the new stance with the new wheels, and DAMN it looks good! Looks like a whole different car, I am extremely satisfied with that!

T4Lpg1ol.png

wQ3397fl.jpg


I also got my new tag, it sucked having to cut it up to fit!
u0RTwJ2l.jpg
That sucks to hear about the converter, the car looks great tho. I have never had an FTI converter fail to work for me in several applications. I really like their products, I hope Protorque gets you lined out.
 

05stroker

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That sucks! Taking the transmission out once it's bad enough let alone doing it three times
 

swflastang05

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That sucks to hear about the converter, the car looks great tho. I have never had an FTI converter fail to work for me in several applications. I really like their products, I hope Protorque gets you lined out.

Thanks, there's a lot of really fast cars running Protorque so I have faith in them, for now!

That sucks! Taking the transmission out once it's bad enough let alone doing it three times

Yes sir, but on a positive note, at this point I'm getting pretty good at it, aside from getting the car up in the air on jackstands, I can have the tranny out in about an hour!
 

swflastang05

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I received a call from Joe Rivera himself today, owner of Protorque, he schooled me on torque converter tech, among other things. After that call I sure wanted to go out and buy a good datalogger that can record engine rpm, driveshaft speed, vehicle speed and boost then graph it all out nicely to see, that is until I saw what all that would cost lol. Bottom line, since I have no way to log all that data and send it to him, he will make some small adjustments then send the convertor back to me to try again, which I'm good with. He feels that swapping out the pump will be necessary, along with some other tweaks. Of course all of this discussion took place after he asked me why I'm still running a 4r70w at this power level, when most people are running TH400's, which they build thousands of convertors for, no surprise there. I guess I don't want to spend the $$ to swap everything over to a TH400, not yet anyway. If all goes well I'll get the convertor back (again) next week, and will try again.
 

RocketcarX

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I received a call from Joe Rivera himself today, owner of Protorque, he schooled me on torque converter tech, among other things. After that call I sure wanted to go out and buy a good datalogger that can record engine rpm, driveshaft speed, vehicle speed and boost then graph it all out nicely to see, that is until I saw what all that would cost lol. Bottom line, since I have no way to log all that data and send it to him, he will make some small adjustments then send the convertor back to me to try again, which I'm good with. He feels that swapping out the pump will be necessary, along with some other tweaks. Of course all of this discussion took place after he asked me why I'm still running a 4r70w at this power level, when most people are running TH400's, which they build thousands of convertors for, no surprise there. I guess I don't want to spend the $$ to swap everything over to a TH400, not yet anyway. If all goes well I'll get the convertor back (again) next week, and will try again.
That's what a chevy guys always say, lol. They go with what they know.
The 4r has been proven in 1500 hp applications. On the flip side I bought a stage 4 FTI TH400 with the Probrake for $1904 shipped to my door, this included cutting the bell off for the modular bell housing. I used a PPP shifter and the JW Ultra bell, you could do the conversion for about $4200 all said and done.
 

swflastang05

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That's what a chevy guys always say, lol. They go with what they know.
The 4r has been proven in 1500 hp applications. On the flip side I bought a stage 4 FTI TH400 with the Probrake for $1904 shipped to my door, this included cutting the bell off for the modular bell housing. I used a PPP shifter and the JW Ultra bell, you could do the conversion for about $4200 all said and done.

Nice, what about the cross member, were you able to adapt the oem one or did you have to fab a new one up? IIRC you're using an FTI convertor also?
 

RocketcarX

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Nice, what about the cross member, were you able to adapt the oem one or did you have to fab a new one up? IIRC you're using an FTI convertor also?
I never installed the FTI TH400, I sold it and went 4r because I didn't want to give up OD. I believe JPC Racing has a crossmember and mount kit for the TH400 for $180.
I'm using the 9.5' billet FTI converter in my 4r deal, it is a shelf converter but they can build one for your needs.
 

swflastang05

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I never installed the FTI TH400, I sold it and went 4r because I didn't want to give up OD. I believe JPC Racing has a crossmember and mount kit for the TH400 for $180.
I'm using the 9.5' billet FTI converter in my 4r deal, it is a shelf converter but they can build one for your needs.

Thanks, I'll probably keep my 4r until such time if and when it starts giving me trouble.
 

RocketcarX

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Thanks, I'll probably keep my 4r until such time if and when it starts giving me trouble.
That's my thinking too, I'ma long ways from running as fast as you do, your build reminds me how tough these transmissions really are
 

swflastang05

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A couple small updates, we're still tweaking the convertor with Protorque. I received the latest version about 2 weeks ago and installed it, the stall is a little better around 3250 rpm but still far from where we want to be. A couple more technical discussions with Joe and he asked me to drive it around a bit to see if it loosens up, which I did, and it didn't. Although I did notice that when bringing it up on the TB it flashes up to around 3500-3700 rpm for a split second before settling down around 3200-3300. Joe believes there may be something in the tune that could get it to hold at the higher rpm. Lito is looking into this, he said he needs to take another look at the tune since I changed the convertor anyway, which I never thought about but makes perfect sense. I guess the new convertor loads the engine different than the old one. I also found the new one results in the tranny running about 20 degrees cooler, which proves to me if nothing else the new convertor is more efficient. Joe also suggested running some lightweight racing tranny fluid. Not to mention it's been wicked hot lately and DA around 2500', which no doubt has cost some power. He wants to exhaust all efforts on this unit before doing anything else, since the next step would be to switch to an entirely different platform. I must say I'm very pleased with the personal service I'm getting from them, it's been a long process but I really couldn't ask for anything more as far as effort goes, they are really trying to make this work and won't stop until we nail it.

The other thing I've been working on is new headers, I had a few emails back and forth with LTH however they just were not wanting to do what I asked them for, which was to make a 3" X pipe. They just kept trying to convince me that their 2.75" X pipe was good enough. they finally agreed to build a 3", but it would be several months' wait time and who knows what cost, so I said never mind. I ended up ordering a custom set of ARH 1 7/8" primaries and 3 1/2" collectors, with their 3" X pipe. They had a special for Memorial Day 10% off so I pulled the trigger. Of course they told me 10 days to build them, and like I said that was around Memorial Day and I still don't have them, oh well, this is pretty typical when getting stuff custom made I suppose.
 

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It sounds like your making progress with the trans, which is good. I don't remember seeing 1 7/8" headers form ARHs for 3Vs. Custom does take time. Not a problem for the coyote.
 

swflastang05

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It sounds like your making progress with the trans, which is good. I don't remember seeing 1 7/8" headers form ARHs for 3Vs. Custom does take time. Not a problem for the coyote.

Correct, they make the 1 7/8" for 3v to order, they don't stock them or advertise them really. They did say there's been an uptick in demand though, so who knows what the future holds. I talked with them today, supposedly they had to order in the flanges, which are supposed to arrive tomorrow, then they will fab up the headers and ship them out to me on Monday, we shall see.
 

05stroker

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I had to raise my engine a half an inch with some Half Inch spacers under my motor mounts and run the Flaming River steering shaft to clear those headers
 

swflastang05

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I had to raise my engine a half an inch with some Half Inch spacers under my motor mounts and run the Flaming River steering shaft to clear those headers

Thanks for the heads-up, luckily I already have the Flaming River steering shaft and manual rack, and some extra 1/2" motor mount spacers from my old headers. I'm hoping the install isn't too bad over all, when I ordered them I spoke with the owner of the company, Eric, maybe? In any case I asked him about fitment, and he said "well we've sold a couple hundred sets and haven't really had any complaints", which makes me kinda nervous LOL
 

05stroker

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Thanks for the heads-up, luckily I already have the Flaming River steering shaft and manual rack, and some extra 1/2" motor mount spacers from my old headers. I'm hoping the install isn't too bad over all, when I ordered them I spoke with the owner of the company, Eric, maybe? In any case I asked him about fitment, and he said "well we've sold a couple hundred sets and haven't really had any complaints", which makes me kinda nervous LOL
They are huge, its a tight fit for sure. They hang low as well, IIRC I shimed the trans up 1/2" as well to get the x pipe back up. My car is pretty low though.
 

weather man

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I have that header and X on my car SWFLA, I think the pics are still up. I ran the shaft and dimpled. I had the standard BMR K member. Car is looking awesome as usual!
 

swflastang05

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They are huge, its a tight fit for sure. They hang low as well, IIRC I shimed the trans up 1/2" as well to get the x pipe back up. My car is pretty low though.
Guess I'll find out firsthand soon, they're supposed to be delivered tomorrow! I'm so slammed at work IDK when I'll be able to install them but that's another story lol.

I ended up tearing my rear end down over the weekend too, I went for a drive to test the convertor and it was getting really loud, I didn't really find anything significantly wrong though. I'll just replace all the bearings and reset the gear pattern, etc. and put it back together.

I have that header and X on my car SWFLA, I think the pics are still up. I ran the shaft and dimpled. I had the standard BMR K member. Car is looking awesome as usual!
Cool thanks, I'll try to find that part of your thread before I dive into my install
 

swflastang05

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I finally got the rear end back together, I forgot how much of a PITA that is! I mean I remembered that it sucks, but I guess I forgot how much! In any case one of the reasons that it sucked so bad is I tried just about every combo possible trying to get a good pattern. Pinion shims from .010 - .030 in .002 - .003 increments and backlash shims, at the end of the day I ended using the same combo that it had previously, so I guess that's a good thing, I did it right last time. I test drove it tonight and while it's still not perfect, it is definitely a lot better than it was. This is the final pattern, and the best it would get, which is of course not perfect, but it is as good as it will get in my housing:

xub9oEzl.jpg

PqxxR3al.jpg


So now onto the next project, installing these! 1 7/8" ARH w/ 3.5" collectors and 3" X pipe:

bKGArwUl.jpg

0lZZ3QQl.jpg

ZvTuYHLl.jpg


These are definitely visibly much larger than my Kooks 1 3/4" mid-length. I know installing these has potential to suck really bad, but heck it can't be as bad as the rear end that I just did right lol. Maybe I'll dive into it this weekend, we shall see. Then after I get the headers and x pipe in, I'll need to figure out how to connect them to the existing Magnaflow 3" OTA tail pipes that I've been running. ARH sent a couple 3" sleeves, worst case I'll get to practice my tig welding skills again.
 

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