Been a while since I've updated this thread and the truck has been making progress. It is currently on 13lbs of boost, 10.8 AFR and 15 degrees of timing. My front 17x7 racestars came in however I'm still waiting on the 15x10 rears.

And the old ET Streets were trashed so I got a set of hoosiers: 28x10's

I helped my friend weld up an exhaust for the truck: 3" downpipe to 4" cutout, then on back to a 30" diesel magnaflow, and it exits behind the passenger rear tire out through the fender.


I also wasn't happy with how hot my IATs were getting. I wrapped the up-pipe and turbo inlet pipe in 1/8in insulation tape and then foil tape. I also made an aluminum heat shield for the air filter. This seemed to have reduced my IATs by about 10 degrees, which I'm happy with.

I've been going to the track a lot, been slowly working on the tune, and making some good progress. This is my last pass at the track (we had -500ft DA). 11.67sec@117mph

I also got 4.11s installed and a B&M differential cover. New times to come with the new gears (hopefully Sunday).

Lastly, I took the 2 year old plastidip off the grill...I think it looks better with the chrome.


What do y'all think I should do aesthetically to the truck? I'd like to color match the lower bumper/valence. Any other suggestions?

 

color match bumper and door handles
clear headlights and clear turn markers
5% tint

 

Also, Color match the side view mirrors or get some new smaller ones that are color matched. Great truck btw, I'm envious

 

Very cool build. Stumbled across this while looking around for drag radials for my old man tan truck like yours. A lot of great info here.

 

Thanks for the suggestions and kind words guys. She's getting there!

Ended up running a little better the other week, 11.59sec@115.9mph with a 1.65sec 60ft time.

However I seem to have developed an issue with the trans/converter. I'm commanding the trans to lock in 2nd gear at WOT but 1) the trans/converter locks/unlocks/locks again in 2nd gear and then 2) Stays locked through the 2->3 shift. So I feel I have 2 issues to get sorted out.

I tore into the interior, cut some lowes indoor/outdoor carpet for the floor, and will be adding a 2 piece center console. Should be finished this weekend.

I picked up a set of smooth door handles so Ill get them color matched eventually. Ill probably do new cleared head lights, 04+ stock tail lights, and get a color matched lower valence shortly.

I also picked up a snow performance meth kit which Ill get installed this winter sometime. Hoping to make a few 20psi passes this spring!

I was also told by 1320 wheels that my rear 15x10 racestars should hit the racestar warehouse any day, and ship directly to me! Excited for that, but Ill have to redo the rear brakes to fit the 15's. Also on the to-do list this winter.

Lastly, my friend and I are planning on cutting the frame horns off in front of the engine cross member and doing a tubular front end and core support. Should be good for some weight savings.

Does anyone know of a fiberglass front bumper to replace my current chrome front bumper? Just wondering if there is a lighter one out there...

 

Things have been slow on the truck as of late. Below is a pic of the 11.59sec pass it ran a few weeks ago.

I drove the truck up to PA (1000 miles round trip) for Christmas and it did great. A bunch of my gear head friends up there got to go for a ride. They thoroughly enjoyed it it seems HA.

I increased the boost to 15psi, currently on 11 degrees of timing but no new PB's. I believe that I need to buy a new, higher quality wideband as my AEM Gauge differs by about .7 AFR from what the logged HPT Output reads. Went to the track once on 15psi but ran slower - I believe its because its too rich, killing the power, even though the HPT log says the AFR is around 10.9. Its a little leaner now and I got my 65mph+ 2nd gear burnouts back.

I have a color matched lower valence on the way, will be having some smooth door handles color matched in the next 2 weeks, and I received notification that my 15x10 racestars shipped which is awesome. Time to order new brakes parts to fit the 15's.

Had a scare last weekend: was out tuning and logged 1 degree KR at 6000rpm, logged 1 degree KR directly after the 2->3 shift (2 pulls in a row), and was having a weird lean spike prior to the 2->3 shift. Called it a day and as I was accelerating toward my driveway, I noticed a puff of oily smoke in the rearview as I let off the gas. As I revved the truck in neutral, the truck was also blowing out some oil smoke - I was nervous!

Fastjweb came over today. Changed the oil - looked good. Pulled the plugs - looked good. And did a compression check - all 8 cylinders were within 17psi of each other.

Put it back together with some minor adjustments to the tune, made some pulls and all is well! I'd like to hit 10's here shortly on 15psi and 93 pump gas. Then I'll add the meth and shoot for mid 10's...? Then I'm DONE for a little while HAHA.

 

Got some progress to report. Installed a color matched lower valence with fog lights, which I still need to wire up. Looks a lot better in my opinion. I also have my door handles color matched but they need to dry for a while before I install them.

I also did the Oakley brake conversion today so that I can run my 15x10 Racestars.




And some pictures of the rims and their fitment. My 315/60r15 ET Streets should be arriving Monday. I really cant wait to see what it looks like. I'll need to do some fender flaring too in order to run those tires I'm pretty sure.





On Monday, I'll also be getting the truck tinted. Then I'll be done with the appearance mods for a while.

Still having the converter locking issue - staying locked through the 2-3 shift and not locking when I'm commanding it. I'm going to spend some time trying to figure that out this week. Its also still slow since I went to 15psi for some reason. I have a new bosch O2 sensor on the way so hopefully the results will reassure me that its rich. Then get the fueling straight, and maybe another degree or two of timing will get me a 10.99.

 

will look damn good buddy. Fenders rolled and no problems! We will have to do my rear brakes in a couple months.

 

yea, that way you can get a track set of 15x10s. Itll be interesting to see if these brakes have the same holding power on the line.

 

Not the best pics, but still looks pretty good!! The tint looks great, as do the wheels and tires. I think its safe to say that I'll be detailing the entire truck this weekend in an attempt to measure up to the bad *** wheels and tire combo!