GT4CS: The Quest for 400awhp!

psipwrd

Member
The Good

This is not much of a build thread since most of the work is done. :shrug:

After moving to Italy, I spent weeks looking for a small turbo diesel. My eyes were set on the Alfa 147 JTDm or Peugeot 206 HDI GTI as my daily driver. When I saw the Alltrac for sale, I knew I had to have it!

qs3n.jpg

m4ua.jpg


:D

The seller had a few people lined up. Not wanting the car to slip away, I paid him cash, wrote up a bill of sale, and let him drive it 2 weeks until he moved!

Immediately, I started reading up to see where to start first. After the basics like oil, coolant, plugs, etc, and other maintenance like wheel bearings, sparco seat, rack and pinion, the alltrac was ready for power mods! I started with the manual boost controller and prosport boost gauge. 15 psi put a big smile on my face!

Later came the downpipe, cone filter, catch can, intercooler flush, and t-vsv disable.

I found out CS's fuel cut was 17, so more boost!
 

psipwrd

Member
The BAD!

17 psi caused intermittent overheating issues, really only when it was cold outside. This lead to a blown head gasket. Here's where it gets bad. I took my car to the first mechanic, he said sell the car. I had it towed to the "best mechanic" in town, by his own shop tow truck. I asked for an estimate for the fix, and estimate for forged piston/rods. After not hearing back for 2 weeks, I go check on the car and this is what I see:







Trivia: What's this quote from?
Let me ask you a question, Ted.
Do you see anything wrong here?
No.
We got no engines, do we?
No.
Do we?
No.
A couple of Nissan SR20 motors will pull a premium one week before Race Wars, huh?
Yeah, probably.
:rofl:

I called up some friends and went to get my car and parts. He refused to let me take the car until I paid him. I talked to the legal office on base and they said maybe he had to take the engine apart to diagnose a bad head gasket LOL! I had to pay him 13 hrs labor for that! That's ridiculous. He also wanted 3 hrs labor to box up my parts! Nah, I picked them up and loaded in my wife's wagon.

Before the new tow truck driver picked up the car, I noticed my back wheels were dented.

Turns out the tow truck drivers put the tow straps through the wheels and cranked them down.




Also, my windows were rolled down and the car was left outside with a tarp over it after I attempted to pick it up the first time. There was over an inch of standing water on the rear floor carpet.

Back to the legal office! They said I had to prove with pics immediately before going to his shop and after, and even then Italian courts wouldn't hear my case for 2 years. :bangshead:

So I suck it up!
 

psipwrd

Member
Things are looking good!

Packing my baby up and taking her to a better place!





I ordered a forged 2.0 shortblock from ATS. After the engine arrived (Customs is a PITA), I decided to add some stuff to the head. I went with ATS cam gears, GSC Gen2 S1 Cams (268s), BC titanium retainers and shimless bucket conversion. I command this head to BREATHE!!!



After a quick search, I realized I have a MR2 dipstick tube guide that needs to be removed before I can move the Alltrac tube over. Thanks!
 

psipwrd

Member
Random pics:

ATS Rail, Supra 550/stock 440


Precision PT5557 CEA


Old buckets and cams removed


Japspeed exhaust


Forged 2.0 longblock before cams, gears, retainers and buckets


Sard 800cc's


Enkei Kojins 18x9.5


BC titanium retainers


Shimless buckets


Berk dp and phenolic spacer/TVIS delete


ATS cam gears, oem oil pump and ATS high volume oil pump


FMIC
 

CSAlltrac

New member
Would be a shame if his shop burned to the ground unexpectedly. I mean, leaving stuff unorganized and in piles like that is such a fire hazard. :p Carmas a bit** and he will get his. Keep up the work, she's coming along nicely.
 

psipwrd

Member
CSAlltrac":eypzy8tl said:
Would be a shame if his shop burned to the ground unexpectedly. I mean, leaving stuff unorganized and in piles like that is such a fire hazard. :p Carmas a bit** and he will get his. Keep up the work, she's coming along nicely.

My wife curbed those thoughts quick!

What's funny is his daughter did all the translating. She was like:


While reading through your project thread, I was excited to meet but saw that you moved. I have a house in Surprise and plan to retire there. Just trying to stay in Europe 3 more years to travel as much as possible and bring the car back once it's 25y/o.
 

psipwrd

Member
I just found out I my next assignment may be Alaska or Japan. If that's the case, I won't be able to take the car with me. I'll keep my hopes up, but not install any of the parts just in case I need to part out. Keep your eyes on this thread for either 400awhp or parts for sale!

The engine's finally in the car and things are looking good. The previous owner drove on the bad wheel bearings so long it stripped where the bearing meets the axle hub so they don't press together. I'm trying to source one for the passenger side, maybe even another for driver side. The clutch slave cylinder was also falling apart. If I can get these parts from England this week, the car may finally see some action next week.

Engine installed! (wire tuck sounds good now)


parts that make me sad!
Bad Hub assembly


and parts that make me happy!
3SGE manifold & throttle body

3SGE throttle body
 

CSAlltrac

New member
Glad to see you're still making progress. A Japan assignment would be so cool to take part in. You would get so much exposure to amazing car culture. Yeah I had to move, AZ will always be home but I have to follow the opportunities. AZ has zero with it being close to the poorest state economy wise.
 

psipwrd

Member
Today, I got pretty close to the nail in the coffin. I found out I am definitely not able to take the car to Japan or Alaska, so I'm trying to see if there's other places in Europe that need me. In the meantime, I'm preparing myself to sell the car and parts. The monkey wrench (there's always a monkey wrench) is I deploy next month for 6 months, and once I get back I'll have 2 months before moving so that gives me very little time with the car. I rolled the dice and possibly lost this one.

If this doesn't work out, I'm getting a 2015 M3 damnit! :x :shoots: :shock:
 

psipwrd

Member
Time for an update!

I finally got her on the road. She's running strong but leaking coolant from the back of the engine. The wife and I decided to stay in Italy longer so once that's solid, I'll order coilovers and brakes and continue modding.

Here's just a quick pic of her as she sits at the moment.

 

psipwrd

Member
The sun, moon, and stars aligned! I'll be moving to Germany where I will stay for 4 years and will continue the project!

I didn't have time to post the question, but I've had a weird problem with the car before leaving. While driving, the car would stall. I replaced just about everything in the ignition system, distributor, cap, rotor, coil, ignitor, and was in the process of changing the starter because of an intermittent start issue that I had since I owned the car. I was told it's the fuel filter, that it's clogged and once the car sits for a few hours the fuel settles and clears the fuel path so it would crank again. Once driving and the fuel filter has pressure, the contaminants clog the filter again. I ordered the filter but didn't get around to changing it yet. Let me know your thoughts please!
 

88gt4DE

Active member
Car looks amazing ... 185 like yours is the only thing I would part with my 165 for. I would bet if the fuel filter was clogged you'd have driveability issues too not just a stall ... but if its old I'D change it anyways ...
 

psipwrd

Member
I found and fixed a broken wire coming from the chargecooler and it idled w/o stalling for 45 mins. Test drive will be tomorrow or in a few months.
 

Meurz

New member
Also check and rip out any dodgy alarm/immobiliser wiring. Caused mine to stall randomly. :shoots:
 
Top