Project G4 AKA Quasi-Ghetto

[FasterNU]

trimmed the bumper ends off 5" and recapped them, because the glass is so much tighter on McNeil.

And playing big pretend tooner guy again. went in and changed some stuff. (changed the compensation numbers down from 50 to 20 for closed loop and down to 30 for learn, and a couple other things)

Seems like the Holley "autotune" still has a ways to go? Weird spike too. Wish I knew what I was looking at! hahaha. It seems the self learn was higher than 30 though.... so this will be interesting. I really want to go get some new injectors that are on drop down list, and get it tuned by a pro. But, also want to drive it like ASAP in dirt.

 

[FasterNU]

still fucking with shit while I wait for a chance to get to desert! In the meantime... seem to be finding/working out the bugs. The steam port fitting in radiator started leaking. Tried to snug it more, leaked more. Took it out... noticed the NPT threads were damaged on flimsy aluminum fitting. Chased threads in radiator. Got a new AL fitting last night because I read brass in aluminum is a no go. Hopefully the new fitting will fix that issue that popped up.
** this is one of the reasons I like to drive truck a lot around town before taking it out. Really helps get rid of the small stupid issues you would have in desert.

Went ahead and took a shot at charging the AC. Total rookie here, so probably didnt do best job.

Restomod claimed 24oz refridgerant for all systems... and I only got 12oz in there. I dont see how all systems could require the same as they would have different volumes??
Tell you what. Barely got the low pressure fitting on!

BUT>>> I did manage it to blow some colder air. Not sure if it's as cold as it should be.... might try again later. Certainly already better than no AC.
Garage temp, which was waay less than outside temp where truck was in Sun. Think it was in 80's

Here is the air blowing at idle sitting still in full sun. Feel like this should be way colder, no? But, it still felt cold.. and was over a 30 degree difference from ambient I think

However, not so confident in this AC evap box from Restomod though. I have had it randomly leak twice now. Doesnt seem to come from my fittings either... so a bit baffled. Seems to come from box itself. Maybe it is me doing something wrong, but I was pretty diligent. I will double check the water valve.
But, I ran it after cleaning up the spill again... and went through all cycles slowly... no problems. Hmm.

 

[85Yota]

Hopefully the restomod setup works good for you since I have the same setup for my ford.

 

[FasterNU]

god damn thing is leaking. i stuck my cell phone light up in there. Looks like it may indeed be one of the heater lines(and not the unit). Son of a bitch. That requires dash removal, which requires center console removal. total shit show. ordered a heater core bypass hose for now. gonna go test it first. That would still be better than the units internal heater coil being bad though. haha

Oh, and stuck new 36lb Holley Injectors in it too. I know for sure the injector info in table should be correct now. And no way I should run out of injector now either. Still seems to be pulling a lot of fuel out at idle.

 

[charlie brown]

still better that it is a hose then in the evap. anyone installing a aftermarket ac, get the biggest of every component you can fit. biggest evap, condenser (maybe 2 connected inline), dryer. sometimes the longer the hoses the better. this from experience with dealing with my truck and some high end prerunners. full size extra cabs/bronco should have 2 evab's for bitchen cooling comfort

 

[FasterNU]

Yea, not sure mine will ever work super good. Pretty sure it's leaking too though. I bypassed the heater core for now and took it for a test drive and AC wasn't blowing quite as cold.

Speaking of leaking. This truck has been nothing but a level 10 squirter on all fronts. Now the fucking Right front bypass ressy hose is leaking! Total bitch to get that shock off. WTF. hate this damn thing right now. need to get it reliable.

I did get the new 36lb injectors in. They flow around 42lb at 58 PSI. I did a couple test blasts from 0-55 ish mph 1st gear redlines while data logging. (i had done this with old injectors too) Pretty sure I was maxxing out the OG LS6 injectors, or at least hitting a really high duty cycle above 5k rpms. Data showed I was flowing 260lb/hr at highest point now. Which is about 30lb higher than the theoretical max of the old injectors at 58psi. Add in the fact the fuel pressure actually drops as low as 55psi ... they were probably falling short. But, maybe this tune is waay rich and I don't need that much? target AF is like 12.5 at WOT

 

[FasterNU]

Well, testing on dirt went real good. She boogies for sure. Gearing is way too long as we all know. BUT>> not as long feeling in dirt as street. So, gonna drive it more. I feel like 5.43's might be good enough?

It's crazy how different each one drives. And it is crazy how much seat time is needed to get comfortable enough to push hard. I am stinking it up still. I went full retard once and did a 2-1 shift when I was trying to go to third at like 6K rpm!! My old manual H pattern habits fucked me there. haha. (looking back, I should have cheked max rpm indicator on dash! lost opp there) Luckily I quickly recovered it back to 2nd.. but i think that's a good way to shoot some pistons out. hahah

Suspension is working pretty damn good as a base tune. Front pops as is. I feel like everything is too "tight" though. Dropped pressure down to 19.5 PSI and already started opening up the top tubes more on front shocks when I was there.

Changed from 6, 12, 24 to 8, 14, 24 (clicks open from closed on comp tubes, from longest to shortest).

This was within like 5 minutes of hitting dirt.



Started getting more comfortable by the minute. Man, love the V8 sounds. Lots of room for improvment still too





can't wait to shorten up those gears and lose some more bog

 

[Cleandezert]

man looks pretty solid out of the box.

 

[Klever]

Duuuude fuck yeah Aaron!

Looks awesome! Sounds awesome! Looks like it works awesome! Congrats dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What gear ratio do you have? What stall converter?

 

[SaltyMethods]

Dope.

 

[FasterNU]

Duuuude fuck yeah Aaron!

Looks awesome! Sounds awesome! Looks like it works awesome! Congrats dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What gear ratio do you have? What stall converter?

Thanks!

So much time and effort... but the reward was great. You know it's a good time when you have full grown dudes laughing like kids in the passenger seat. It def made my day ... and put me back to the tippy top of a truck build's inherent emotional rollercoaster.

I think it is 4.56. That's what I think ad said when I bought it all? Never checked because I knew it wasn't gonna be right. lol.
TCS converter with 3,000-3,200 stall

 

[jonsangel]

Hell yeah dude! congrats. Nothing beats that first feeling of hitting the dirt. Happy to hear it went smooth overall

 

[charlie brown]

what a great accomplishment. so many people would of gave up and sold off. so many life changes would of made it easy. congrats... hope to see it ripping around soon.

 

[FasterNU]

Well, 2nd trip was not as promising. New suspension settings are better, so that was good.

Had a moment where I lost rear brakes/all brakes at that point. Got them back afer pumping foot brake and hand brake. That was weird. Went to camp to look for leaks. Nothing. I think maybe I finally got it hot enough or bounced around enough to get an air bubble to move? brakes feel a little different/mushier on hand brake. So, will try bleeding them again. They still suck for most part. Not as good as I want them for sure. So will need to improve that at some point too...

Here is worst part...after getting it in some sand washes and really getting on it for extended time... it seems I may have trans cooling issues? It got over 250. (I have my gauge programmed to warn me and flash red at 250) When I saw that, I backed off....

I am not sure how hot these things can get... but I have a hunch that is just too damn hot for extended time periods. Kind of surprised it got so hot so quickly, given I tried to stay conservative with the Converter at 3K stall and a mild cam.

I know cooler location isn't the best... but, I am hoping I can still get this to work with the current cooler set up. I really don't want to have to go back and redo all that... but I will if necessary. Because, there is no way I'm gonna be driving this thing like a bitch just to keep temps down. It's way too fast and fun!

Current cooler is this one:
https://www.kartek.com/parts/cbr-ex...ans-and-an-10-orb-oil-cooler-inletoutlet.html
1. I was thinking first thing I should do is get some heat shielding for the exhaust pipes that are sorta in that air flow path. I hear heat shield products works well. Thought here is perhaps I could get the heat reflected down and away from cooler. I planned to get some already for other areas...
2. How much will gearing change temps? I feel this could be a big factor in heat generation... given the mechanical advantage difference. Will going from 4.56 to 5.43 help that much? Or just delay the inevitable high temp?
3. Maybe try some ducting to get fresh/cold air to the cooler?
4. Maybe see if there are better fans available?

OR>>>>
4. Remove current cooler, and replace with 2x single larger ones? This could pose a problem with my A/C condenser

 

[Klever]

I run 2 coolers up front in my truck. I have a 4300 stall converter, 39" tires, 5.43 gear. I never see 200 degrees...ever lol

Where are you measuring temperature? That has a big factor. Cooler location has a big factor too (this is why stock vehicles put everything up front and usually straight up and down. This is so the air goes through the coolers; not just ramp off the fins and blow around).

You can check how efficient the cooler is by putting an in line temp sender...put it on the hot side first (front of your 4L80 if it's a late model one). Then the return side (rearish/middle of trans; if it's a late model one) and see how much of a difference in temperature there is. You want at least 100 degree difference.

If you ever want to switch converter stalls etc. Let me know. Pretty inexpensive.

 

[FasterNU]

Hmm, yea.. must be mostly location then. It's in the back, at a bad angle(aprox 45?). Air is probably just tumbling all around it because I have windows etc.

I have a temp sensor in the pan. So, should be an accurate representation of actual oil temp in trans, not the lines.

 

[Klever]

Ahhh. I would try and get it to fresh air without relying on the fan (if possible).

That's pretty warm for pan temp. You can run 225 degrees all day long....but once you start creeping above that I recommend change. That means your converter temps were about 350+ which is pretty hot.

Also, throw a scatter sheild on that bitch if you don't have a Reid Case.

 

[smokeysevin]

Do you have a cooler/heat exchanger built into the rad as well or is this the only cooler?

Sean

 

[FasterNU]

cooler only.
this pic might help. the exhaust pipes come right underneath it all too. brilliant design, I know. haha.

Gonna get some heat shield products and cover that section of tube, and the x-pipe under cell, and under the whole truck cabin....as that was plan anyway. Doubt it will do much to get trans temp down, but want it for cabin. Gonna be expensivce... but easy to see if it makes any difference and I can still go try to drive/test some more this season. I think I still want to loosen it up a little more overall on all tubes, probably add a tad more rear preload...

really wonder wonder if gearing will drop temps. That is going to be my next major upgrade.

 

[charlie brown]

that's a very tough area to get enough "fresh" cool air through the coolers. with the cell up by the cab and the exhaust coming up there.
i tied some ribbons in areas to see the air flow and the whole area behind the window is a dead zone.

I tried several locations around my cell/above for the trans cooler. no good air flow on my setup. I think the best thing would be to try to move it up front, get 2 coolers and mount them along the bedside with some holes/vents, or make some kind of air scope/vent to get more air flow where its at. i have seen some small scopes on the roof and or along the extra cab windows.

lets see what you come up with