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  #11  
Old 09-17-2013, 06:01 AM
MattO MattO is offline
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Wow... I totally forgot that this thread even existed. Go me.

So. Yea. Here's a quick recap of the last 2 years...

The project started 3 years ago when I bought the truck from my grandmother after my grandfather had passed away. Thr truck was already lowered, had wheels, and I installed a massive sound system, as any self respecting idiot would.

The truck stayed like this as I daily drove it for about a year, before I was called out to Texas for work, opening new stores for In-N-Out Burger. I was in Texas for a little more than 5 months and while I was there I was talking to my friend about fabricating a turbo system for the truck. Conversations soon turned to parts boxes showing up, which lead to welders making sparks, which lead to the turbo system that is in the truck today. Sadly, while my friend can be trusted, his friends cannot. He brought the truck to a tuner in Fresno, CA who had no idea what he was doing. After 3 weeks of no progress, I pulled my truck from his shop, only it wasn't at his shop. It was at another shop in another town 40mi away. The truck didn't run at all, so I put it on a trailer and towed it to Motor Machine Super Shop in Carmichael, CA so the healing could begin. The guys at motor machine were great to deal with, despite having a cluster **** (which I believe is the technical term) on their hands. The wiring for the MAP sensor, throttle body, and the entire ECM had been tampered with and each part had to be repinned by hand. After nearly 2 weeks of beating their heads against a wall and redoing work that had previously been done by the original tuner, they got the truck running and making boost. The first time around, the truck made 280rwhp on 5.5psi of boost. Not great numbers, but it certainly was fun to drive and I would constantly sneak up on Mustangs at stoplights.





I daily drove the truck like this for a while, until I started trading emails with the editors of Truckin' Magazine. After a few emails, they invited me to their 'Throwdown' event, which is a performance truck shootout, and we got cracking on the truck to make it competitive. At this point, we added all the exterior treatments, and turned up the boost to 9.5psi, making 315rwhp on 91oc.

When we were at Throwdown that year, we melted two pistons while racing. It was heart breaking after the effort that had been put into the truck that year, but we towed the truck back to Motor Machine and started from scratch. We had custom forged pistons made, forged connecting rods, ported the head, polished the crank, all the fun stuff. It took months of waiting on the pistons, but we finally got the motor back together and on the dyno where it then proceeded to turn the #3 cylinder sleeve into powder in the oil pan. Motor #2, gone.





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  #12  
Old 09-17-2013, 06:02 AM
MattO MattO is offline
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At this point, I was beyond ready to give up on the motor and just go back to stock, but I held out, waiting to see what the parts manufacturers were going to do, and after many more months of waiting on those jack holes, we finally got a new set of pistons. We then started with a fresh, low mile block and got to work. The truck had been down for a year at this point, and oh, we had already been invited back to compete in Throwdown 2013. Well, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. The rings that the piston manufacturer sent were the wrong size, and when they red labeled us a new set, they didn't even include the oil rails. 5 days left to Throwdown. The guys at Motor Machine were able to pull a set of oil rails from a stock set of pistons and make them work. Once the motor was back int he truck, the charging system refused to work. Two days were spent working on that problem when it suddenly and miraculously, just solved itself. All they did was flash a new tune on the ECM and none of the parameters in that tune file could have affected the charging system. Either way, we were happy that the truck moved under it's own power and was making power; 335rwhp on 12psi of boost.

After getting the truck over to Jay's Hot Rods in Sacramento, CA to have the new prototype Wilwood brakes fitted, we loaded the truck on my buddy's trailer and steam rolled down to Irvine for the race. We came prepared this year and went down swinging, taking home 5th overall in a field of trucks that were far superior in almost every way with drivers who had more experience not only in their trucks, but were more experienced overall. More importantly, the truck survived without a scratch or squeak and performed flawlessly (except for the driver. that guy was an idiot. Oh wait, that was me...)









Now the truck is back home, being daily driven and taking no prisoners. AMG Mercedes and all manner of Mustang, Camaro, and Nissan Z, have no idea that this little truck with an exhaust that sounds like a farm tractor, is packing so much under the hood. We are constantly tweaking the truck to make it better and most importantly, improve driveability. There is alot of power that is left on the table with this current setup, but we aren't after crazy numbers anymore. This time around, we just wanted to build a fun truck that could withstand the punishment we planned to put it through and make it reliable enough to drive every day.
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  #13  
Old 09-17-2013, 06:07 AM
MattO MattO is offline
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And some misc photos of the parts that were put on in the MAD thrash to get the truck ready for this year's event.






Shout out to Nitto for an awesome set of rubber for the event. These were fun and make GREAT smoke shows. More on that a little later...
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Old 09-17-2013, 06:13 AM
MattO MattO is offline
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Custom Wilwood setup up front. We're looking at making these into a modular kit, but we have some more testing to do first.








My buddy Corey who hauled the truck down to SoCal for me for the magazine event. We had to drain the catch can and it was in an awkward spot that required us to remove the grille to do so.



His trailer is painted to match his bad-ass Crew Cab Colorado.
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  #15  
Old 09-17-2013, 06:24 AM
MattO MattO is offline
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Lastly, we took teh truck back down to SoCal to terrorize Malibu with Matt Farah and the crew from The Smoking Tire. We had a really great time and Matt definitely enjoyed driving the truck and laying down some serious rubber. If this is how cars mark their territory, mine is the alpha male.



These marks go for nearly 500ft each and are only two of maybe a dozen burnouts that he did. I told him, "The tires were free, so just leave me enough to get back to the hotel where our trailer is at and you're good." He obviously didn't disappoint

As far as what is next, the transmission control issue needs to be addressed. Matt and I both agree that not having much control over the transmission is KILLING this truck's potential, but without sponsorship, I don't really see that happening. Incase you missed it, I work for In-N-Out Burger and have been since 2005. It's a great job and the company has been very good to me over the years. This job has allowed me to build this truck, travel to new places, meet all kinds of people, and have experiences I may not have been able to otherwise and for that I'm very grateful.
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  #16  
Old 10-19-2013, 06:58 AM
MattO MattO is offline
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Now making a whopping 365hp/375tq at the rear tires on 12psi



#1 injector is faulty and doesn't like to play along with the others. It's not a big deal until the very top end where it starts to lean out a little too much. It's an all day ordeal to swap the injectors in this thing, so I'm waiting to finish some other small things, plus add methanol injection before I swap out the 60# units for an 80# set I have. Looking for 400-450rwhp when it's all said and done.

I'm currently spending alot of time at the track trying to get a handle on this whole 'driving thing' and getting consistent. Learning a TON, and having fun. Next week is probably my last time I'll get to play this year, but hoping to get the truck down into the 12's in the 1/4mi. Currently running a 13.1 @ 108mph. My 60' times are garbage, so right now, the name of the game is traction. We'll see if I can get anything done next time around.

Here's some parting pics for your enjoyment



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  #17  
Old 10-19-2013, 11:14 AM
WSSix WSSix is offline
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Congrats on the great progress! Have fun drag racing it.
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  #18  
Old 09-08-2014, 05:56 AM
MattO MattO is offline
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So I'm back at it. I've been driving the truck daily still, racing when I can, but generally trying to stay out of trouble.

I'm going to take the truck to the next level;



I will be using McNeil Racing fenders and bedsides to create a full wide body for the truck so I can tuck 305+ tires on all four corners.

In addition to the body mods, I'll be switching to Ridetech coilovers, and reworking the rear suspension which is the only thing that I am not 100% decided on what course I am going to take. The interior is getting Corbeau seats/harnesses and a 4-point roll bar. I'll be removing the massive stereo in favor of something more track friendly (it will still have a stereo.) The transmission and rear end are finally hitting the gym with a 4L65 upgrade kit and Eaton Trutrac. Lastly, I'm finally going to make the switch to E85 and add methanol injection.

So aside from all of that, I'm working with a friend to develop a completely scratch built shift controller for the 4L60/80. It will allow us to turn the GM 4spd transmission into a sequential box while still retaining automatic functions, unlike a manual valve body. You will be able to select any gear and the transmission will hold that gear until commanded otherwise.

My friend is doing the hard part, which is the controller, so I'm tackling the actual shifter assembly and switching gear. Hoping to have some pieces water jetted and machined some time in the next two weeks or so.



Oh, and I was told on Friday that I'm headed somewhere in October for work. No exact date or destination, just told to be ready to pack a bag SOMETIME in October. At which point I'll be gone for 3 months or more...
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  #19  
Old 05-23-2015, 04:34 PM
MattO MattO is offline
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So, a lot has happened since I last saw any of you guys. I took the opportunity earlier this year to learn which way to turn the steering wheel when I come up to a turn, and also which pedal makes the truck stop, and which causes it to make more noise (but not much else.) I was at Thunderhill for the Optima Search for the Ultimate Street Car series and had a lot of fun learning to drive and meeting some of you while Greg played Chef for everyone.





And shout out to all you who endured my dad hanging out with you while the event was going on. Also, Bret and Greg, he wants to send you more kettle korn
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  #20  
Old 05-23-2015, 04:41 PM
MattO MattO is offline
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So while at Thunderhill, the transmission got too hot and I smoked 3rd gear. Being the idiot that I am, I decided to hand the truck over to someone who actually knows what they are doing, so off the truck went to West Coast Transmission in Sacramento for an upgraded 4L65E transmission. Zane and his crew did a great job putting together a solid, and strong transmission that could handle the laughable power that I'm making.

Now, I didn't want to make the same mistake twice, so I opted to go slightly overkill on the next round of upgrades to the cooling system. I ordered twin B&M 5.75x11x1.5 fluid coolers and complimented them with dedicated Spal 300cfm fans on individual circuits so if something bad happens with one fan, the other will remain unaffected. The coolers are mounted behind where the factory fog lights would be in order to get as much airflow as possible.





I then taught myself to make proper braided lines with AN fittings, and converted the 3/8 hard lines from the factory transmission to -6. I also bypassed the radiator entirely to 1. Make the install more clean and professional in appearance 2. To hopefully give the engine coolant a break and help it shed heat



While I was in there, I also changed out my normal electric fan setup as it was on the fritz.
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