I had my GTS dropped off last week for a fuel system upgrade, smaller pulley, VECIII and some other minor stuff. I could list the things they found wrong with the car that Bobby Archer did to it during its last build but I'm not into writing novels. I'll sum it up with this...there was a red shop rag stuffed in the intake (stuck at the blow off valve) How it didn't get sucked into the engine is beyond me. Well, they (Chris and David) spend hours fixing everything, replacing missing screws and BOLTS and grinding my flywheel so it meets up with the Bendix of the starter.
I flew in Friday morning to pick up the car and arrived in time to watch them complete the dyno tuning. I dropped it off with 605 RWHP and was expecting about 750 RWHP. Well, as they complete the last couple of pulls, it hits 835 RWHP....sweet.
So I take the car to the VCA rally In Bastrop. It was just me and 34 other Vipers. Went to dinner Friday night with the bunch and had a blast playing on the toll road....at the speed limit of course. Well Saturday morning comes and we go to a car museum in Bastrop (everything from a Tucker 1 of 51 made to a 1954 SL300 Gull Wing) We drive back to Bastrop for Lunch as we are leaving the car just feels wrong, I give it gas and...well, nothing. It idles fine and it still drives but I can't even spin the tires in first gear. I call David and he says just bring it back. Luckily, I am about 20 miles away at this point. I limp back to A.R.T. and Chris runs out and starts to check the codes. The VECIII just stopped communicating with the PCM (or something) but within 10 minutes and a quick test drive, I was ready to go. I think I locked the VEC down when I tried to change the tune with the cards (my hood does not have a ground strap and I may have inadvertently shocked it) David then comes over and hands me an extra VEC and says if anything goes wrong, switch it out and come back.
Everything is perfect at this point, Meet up with the rest of the Vipers at the "Oasis" in Austin for dinner (even missed the run-in with the police they had....whew). Had a great time but thats another thread.
Well Sunday morning comes and we head to the 1.9 mile track south of Buda (hit a dead dog on the way there...another thread coming) but my brakes started grinding...eeek. I get to the track and the right rear pad is gone...fawk. Obviously not going to track it like this, so I say good bye to everyone and call A.R.T. and see if they can help me out since I was planning on driving it home. I get there and the apologize for not checking the pad (damn, they were busing fixing all the other shit...and besides, I didn't ask them to check them nor were they even squeaking) Well, they preform as NASCAR speed brake job, pat me on the back and say "If you hurry, you can still make it to the track" Sure enough, I make it back for the last track session and it was a blast. Oh, I tried to pay for the brake job and David just laughed and said "You're still here, hit the track"
Drove it home 400 miles without even the V1 going off once...sweet.
Thanks again to David, Cody and Chris! I can't thank you guys enough...the car is a BEAST!
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2002 FE GTS #71(forged internals+Paxton) (835 RWHP)
2003 SRT10 Paxton (674 RWHP)
Ariel Atom "arrived "
<<-- Eagerly awaiting the Dead Dog Thread... Pics?
j/k... Sounds like you had a hectic, but good time. What's an adventure without slaying a few dragons? (or puppies, in your case.. )
I don't have pics of the dog or the car behind me that looked like a scence out of a Quentin Tarantino flim. "Damn, you shot Marvin" comes to mind. I do have some pics of the under carrage though...ralf. The smell of burnt dog hair when A.R.T. was doing the brake job was a bit much.
congras joel, sounds like ya got a lot of car now. and damn if everytime i hear something about ART, its great. every damn time. wish they move to NJ already
aw man... I heard your car on the dyno and had to walk over to check it out! That thing was friggin screaming! Very nice car Joel! Nice meeting you by the way. And yea... the ART guys DO NOT play around. They take customers and their cars serious and you ALWAYS get more than you pay for! Glad the weekend was good to you!
aw man... I heard your car on the dyno and had to walk over to check it out! That thing was friggin screaming! Very nice car Joel! Nice meeting you by the way. And yea... the ART guys DO NOT play around. They take customers and their cars serious and you ALWAYS get more than you pay for! Glad the weekend was good to you!
It was great meeting you Frog and the rest of the VCA members. Man, Ryan and his wife did a fantasic job on the meet.
. Went to dinner Friday night with the bunch and had a blast playing on the toll road....at the speed limit of course. Well Saturday morning comes and we go to a car museum in Bastrop (everything from a Tucker 1 of 51 made to a 1954 SL300 Gull Wing) We drive back to Bastrop for Lunch as we are leaving the car just feels wrong, I give it gas and...well, nothing. It idles fine and it still drives but I can't even spin the tires in first gear. I call David and he says just bring it back. Luckily, I am about 20 miles away at this point. I limp back to A.R.T. and Chris runs out and starts to check the codes. The VECIII just stopped communicating with the PCM (or something) but within 10 minutes and a quick test drive, I was ready to go. I think I locked the VEC down when I tried to change the tune with the cards (my hood does not have a ground strap and I may have inadvertently shocked it) David then comes over and hands me an extra VEC and says if anything goes wrong, switch it out and come back.
