Cody Chandler's 06 GTO with an ATI ProCharger F-1C
This update from: 12/17/2009

 

Cody had us install an ATI ProCharger D-1SC last year along with our EPP blower camshaft, and Kooks headers. We finished tuning Cody's GTO just two days before last summer's Super Chevy Event at ORP. This car was a big hit at the ProCharger booth everytime we fired it up, that cam just made it sound awesome!

 

 

 

 



This goat was a big hit last year at the show, and Cody had a lot of fun with it last year, but now he's ready for more! The LS2 is getting rebuilt with forged internals, and the D-1SC was sold and in it's place will be an F-1C!



Here is a picture of the GTO getting the drivetrain removed.

The transmission was taken over to RPM Transmissions where Rodney and his crew rebuilt it into their Stage V version. You simply won't find a better built transmission, and we use RPM Transmissions for all of our builds.



Here is our engine building room which is awaiting our new honing machine.

 

We hired Dustin Portmess away from Lingenfelter's. Dustin has many years of experience machining and building the LS1 style of engines, and has a wealth of knowledge. Besides machining and building engines, Dustin has extensive experience in porting intake manifolds and cylinder heads.
 If you are thinking about getting an engine built, give us a call at 260 244-4808 and ask for Dustin.



The LS2 block is going to be retained, as they have proven themselves to be very strong.



We had the block honed out for the new pistons using torque plates as we do on all of our engine builds.





Diamond pistons were are being on this engine, as we have had very good results with them. 



Total Seal rings are being used, as in all of our builds.



Oliver I Beam E4340 Chrome moly alloy connecting rods are being used in this LS2. We used a Callies Dragonslayer crankshaft with a 4.0" stroke, which will give this engine 402 cubic inches.



ARP main studs and head studs are being used.



West Coast Cylinder heads ported a set of Edelbrock cylinder heads for our build.







Comp Cams 1500 1.7/1.7 shaft rocker arms are being used. Shorter Comp 7.200 pushrods were required.





Here it is, all 402 cid buttoned up and ready for the Victor Junior intake.
We installed a Comp hydraulic roller camshaft, the specs are: .647/.657 lift, 235/247 duration at .050, on a 114 lobe separation. This engine is going to be a thumper!

Update: 9/30/08



We are using carbon fiber valvecovers on this build, as we have used on some of our other higher end builds. Delphi 96lb per hour injectors will be used to handle the fuel requirements. We are also wiring in a BigStuff3 computer management system to handle all of the engine controls.





The engine and transmission are back in the car. We installed a Spec twin disc clutch assembly pn# SC66PT, as this car is going to make a ton of power!



We cut out the inner wheelwell panels to add a mini tub kit for wider tires.





This 345 tire is going to clear without a problem when we get done!



It is definately going to look like a steam roller from the rear!







The new wheelwells are getting welded back in. If you wonder where the rear-end is, we removed it and and we will be installing a Moser M9 fabricated rear in it's place. No more IRS either!



The wheelwells will almost look stock when Brent gets done with them.













Next we have to have Cody figure out which wheels and tires he is going to want to use, so that we can figure out the correct width for the rear, and get the Moser 9 inch rear ordered. We have been talking to the guys at Moser about this car, and they are anxious to see us get the 9 inch rear underway. Several of their guys have been over to our shop to check the car out, and as always, they are very helpful.



Update: 10/18/08



Cody's wheel/tire combo have been decided on. CCW wheels with M&H drag radial tires! This car just may stand a chance at hooking!

Update: 12/15/08



Here is the Moser M9 fabricated rear with the Moser f body (Camaro-Firebird) chrome moly torque arm and Moser chrome moly lower control arms. This same combination has given us a 1.29 60ft in our Camaro with M/T 225/50R15 dot drag radials, so we know this system works!



The Moser M9 weighs the same as the spindly GM late model 7.5" 10 bolt, yet this rear is very strong!



Hear is what a GTO would look like with the exact same tires we use on our Camaro. 225/50R15 M/T dot drag radials, although these are mounted on Centerline 15 x 10 wheels.



This wheel/tire combination looks pretty cool also! No doubt the taller sidewall would allow the car to hook better than an 18" wheel/tire combination.







We only had to make minor modifications to use the Moser Engineering f body designed torque arm.



We are using Moser Engineering lower control arms.



The crossmember will be welded to the BMR subframe connectors. We stuck a driveshaft in there just to make sure we allow enough clearance for it.

Update: 12/18/08

We are waiting on a QA1 rear coil over kit with two way adjustable shocks for the rear of this GTO. We decided to devote some attention to the front end.



We're installing a larger 31x12x4 intercooler in place of the ProCharger supplied intercooler. The ProCharger intercooler works very well in the range that it was intended for, but we're shooting for a lot of boost with this GTO.



We had to trim out the inside of the front bumper channel to give us adequate clearance for the intercooler.



This intercooler is going to look really cool when we get done with it! We are going to make the intercooler tubing out of polished aluminum, which is lighter than steel and dissipates heat exceptionally well.

Update: 12/24/08



This is going to be one tricked out GTO!  Cody takes his cars to car shows, so we decided we needed to use polished aluminum intercooler tubing to make this GTO stand out from the crowd.





Once we have everything finished, we will go back and polished out the tubing. The battery is being moved to the trunk, where every RWD battery should be!




Update: 12/31/08




The QA1 coil over kit came in, we're back in business on the rear end!
We spent a lot of time making sure we had plenty of suspension travel in the rear, as we are setting this up to work for a daily driver. We will weld in the rear end back brace once we take the rear back out and set it in the jig fixture. We have an S&W anti roll bar on it's way to keep the rear stable when this car launches out of the hole.



We incorporated a driveshaft safety loop into the crossmember. We're just about ready to tig weld everything together!



We have a lot of holes to weld shut and grind down where the old rear cradle assembly was spot welded to the chassis.





We notched out the floor above the torque arm, and we will box this area in. This was necessary to allow for suspension travel.


Tim Irwin from Moser Engineering stopped by our shop today to check out the Moser M9 we're installing in this GTO. Tim is the guy who designed the Moser M9 and we wanted his input on our ideas for putting this rear into production, to sell to people looking for a stronger rear-end. Tim had a lot of good ideas for us, and he took the rear back to Moser with him to make a jig fixture for it.




The rear is back from Moser and it looks great!



The Moser supplied chrome moly crossmember has been designed to easily weld to the chassis.





Moser incorporated a driveshaft safety loop into the transmission crossmember.



Shown is the front multi adjustable mounting point for the torque arm.
The torque arm can telescope back and forth just behind the front mount, which prevents any possibility of binding.







The Moser lower control arms can be seen in these two pictures.







Adjustable lower control arm relocation brackets come as standard equipment with our Moser M9 rear.



The Moser supplied adjustable panhard bar is shown towards the top of the picture. The oil fill for the Moser M9 rear can also be seen towards the top of the housing.



We used Hal/QA1 double adjustable shocks and springs, which will be supplied with these rears.



Shown in this picture above the rear is what you will find after the original IRS unit is removed. We will be removing the rear and welding these holes closed.



The Moser anti roll bar is shown in this picture. This anti roll bar should only be used for very limited street use, and is the hot ticket for launching straight off the starting line.



Shown are the double mounting points at the rear for the chrome moly torque arm.

The new S&W 8 point chrome moly roll cage showed up yesterday! We sanded it down and painted it today, we'll be installing it asap.



We cleaned up the bottom of the chassis where the original rear end cradle was mounted, and installed a piece of aluminum.



We had PST Driveshaft make a special length 3.5" aluminum driveshaft for this build.


The Moser supplied driveshaft safety loop is going to work perfect.



The fuel system is run and can be partially seen in this picture.



The S&W roll cage installation is underway.











The carpet and the console are back in, making Cody's GTO look a little more finished.





Cody's pillar pod gauges are now installed as well.





We installed a new Oydssey battery and relocated it to the trunk and installed it in a battery tray.



Christmas has arrived early!

Weld Pro Star Wheels, M/T tires and the mighty ProCharger F-1C head unit all showed up!



We installed ARP wheel studs in the front spindles for use with Weld wheels.



Jake can be seen here installing the rear wheel/tire combination.



Now this is one cool looking GTO!



The front wheels look like they have too much offset, but this is the wheel that GTO owners have found to work. Cody may be going with an aftermarket k member in the future, so it may change things a little.



We went with M/T Weld Wheels in a 15 x 10 x 7.5 offset. We wanted to have the tires outward as far as possible without rubbing problems with the wheelwell, and it came out perfect.



The inner wheelwell clearance is good too.



We're working on the exhaust system, which is going to consist of duals dumping at the front axle, with an H pipe connecting the two sides. We are going to install two Hooker Maximum Flo 3.00" dia mufflers.



Tig welding the system together is all that needed to get it finished.



The Hooker Maximum Flo mufflers are a good muffler to all around performance. They are quieter that a typical bullet muffler, yet they outflow most turbo style mufflers.





We are using an H pipe in this exhaust to equalize out both sides.



The ProCharger Race Bypass valve is now welded to the 4.00" aluminum inlet tubing.
 


The ProCharger F-1C head unit is temporarily mounted so that we can tubing.



We relocated the radiator reservoir to the passenger side and used a Moroso tank. The reservoir was relocated to make room for running the ProCharger air inlet down through the inner fender.



The Moroso tank can be seen through the hole in the above picture.



The ProCharger F-1C is mounted and all the plumbing is finished!







We relocated the computer module to make room for the larger ProCharger F-1A head unit.





It is getting close, so is the Memphis Shootout!



It is time to break in the engine! We begin by starting our part throttle driving tuning, then we change the engine oil and filter, next we complete the part throttle tuning, and then the engine is ready to go wide open throttle. We'll take it wide open up in 500 rpm increments, usually the first pull we'll go up to 4000 rpm, check all the data, then go from there. This whole process may take a good part of a day, and we normally end up going through 5 to 10 gallons of fuel by the time we are done.
 


Update: The Scoggin Dickey carbon fiber valve covers that we bought for this GTO are leaking oil on the dyno! We tried replacing the driver side cover with one of the same carbon fiber covers from my Camaro, and it is still leaking. We're not talking about a little leak, there is a puddle under the dyno. We ordered a set of GM aluminum covers and Trickflow spacers for now, as time is crucial to get this car tuned for the Shootout.

809 RWHP is where we are at so far, the engine sounds great!





Here is a view with the new valvecovers.







We welded a Caspers breather to the passenger side valvecover.



One item we almost overlooked in our mad scramble, is to add a battery disconnect, which dragstrips require when the battery is relocated.



We will be securing the positive battery cable shown in this picture.





3,538 lbs is all this GTO weighs, roll cage and all!

9/22/09 Update





Carnage from our 1st pass at the track at the LSX Shootout!
We think we know what happened, and it is because we are too use to racing cars with a spool. We found out that with a locker you have to do a dry hop after the burn out to engage the locker. If you don't do this you can end up with too much play in the locker before letting out the clutch at the starting line. This probably would not be a problem with an automatic as power braking the car at the line should engage the locker. Moser is setting up the center section for us with a Wavetrac.

We got the car back together and went to our local Muncie Dragway and the rear held up fine, now we broke the output shaft in the transmission!
Rodney from RPM Transmissions swapped out the stock 27 spline output transmission shaft for us for a 32 spline shaft, which required quite a few modifications, along with a turbo 400 yoke.

Back to the track we went with the GTO. It ran a 10.70 something granny shifting it on the first time down the track with Rodney from RPM Transmission driving it. He wanted to make one pass taking it easy on the car to get use to it. The next pass he tried coming out at 6000 rpm and the rear tires went up in smoke. We were getting ready for the third pass and Rodney discovered the steering wheel was loose! This steering wheel has never been out of the car! WTF...  Clearly this GTO now needs to ditch the oem front shocks and springs. 60 ft time was in the 1.55 range. The drag radial/manual transmission combo isn't the best either, a bias ply ET Street would work much better with the manual transmission, but the drag radial works much better as an all around street tire. We're seeing a lot of belt slippage above 4000 rpm with the F-1C, and we're going to try replacing the blower pulley with one from Reichard.



It's about time we install a linelock! Luckily this car makes enough power that it is pretty easy to build heat into the rear tires, but the linelock will make it that much easier. The linelock also allows the car to sit at the starting line without having to worry about it rolling forward through the staging beams.



Here are the Pedders 90/10 front shocks. These shocks will really help out with weight transfer. We're also going to install a methanol injection kit and retune the engine for the methanol. Without belt slippage and the methanol we should see another big jump in horsepower.



The shocks look great on there!



The line lock is installed, it will make it much easier to stage the car.

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