LTTR BOX Journey

[Hickster]

Good job.

 

[greasy]

@greasy
Kudos on the upgrades. I too share the Barton and Eibach upgrades.
Especially Kudos on getting rid of the sticker, I never felt the need for more Hellcat emblems on my Cat, and especially get a laugh when I see a "supercharged" emblem or sticker...

I too will be doing some major engine overalls, but sadly that will come much later down the road. So for that I am envious of you.

As far as esthetics, not sure your taste on the stock rims...but I feel our Cats just crave the 5 spoke look. Just my opinion.
View attachment 36500
and as far as...

Narrow all the way bro.

Anyway, nice ride...keep the updates coming.

Thanks dude! Love the way the Hellraisers look on your car. I too was eyeing up some 5 star wheels but ended up going a different direction. I am staring at them in my office as I type, but that will be for later in the story as I have some more stuff to tell

I can tell you from being in the car myself a short period of time....the car moves. The torque is bonkers!!! Keep me posted if you guys meet up...I would love to hear you car dudes chat about your power upgrades so I can be motivated lol. @greasy

Yeah she pulls pretty goooooooood. Thanks Sean!

 

[DGatzby]

Absolutely bud, I am super close to Elgin!

We actually know some of your famous neighbors really well. Tell you when I come over.

 

[greasy]

So let's continue this journey.....

I initially reached out to Tim Barth with some questions on combos for the car and I never got a response. I wanted to use Tim because he was great to us Mustang guys back in the day and he was local, but the lack of response gave me pause. If a prospective customer can't get a response back, how would it be when we actually started doing business? I ended up going with Curt Dusterhoff to do the tuning on the car and the guy was awesome. Get setup with all of the HPT yadda yadda yadda and did my initial log which was around 10 miles of street driving. Immediately I have an issue after I send the log to Curt, the car is not registering fuel pressure. I knew it had to be the from the wiring I fucked up, but I don't know what the exact issue was. I was confident in my soldering work and I verified like 10 times that the wiring was correct (correct wire in the correct pin location) based on the wiring diagram directly from Mopar. Curt was tuning a guy who worked for Dodge out in PA that had the same exact issue as me, so he hooked me up with him. I ended up finding out that Dodge had the incorrect wiring diagram out there for that part, the wiring was backwards I pulled apart the connector and swapped the 1st and 3rd position wires, finally the car was reading the correct fuel pressure!

Back to tuning a few days later, I did another 10 miles easy driving log, and everything looked kosher. Got the go ahead to do a 4th gear pull WOT from 1,500-4K rpm. All looked good, got the green light to do a full WOT pull in 4th gear. Did that pull and the car pulled HARD. Sent the logs into Curt and we had another problem.....injector duty was very high above 95% and with Demon injectors it was not supposed to be that high. Curt suspected the stock fuel pump was going, so I told Curt that I was going to shelf the car for the winter and then we would revisit this spring.

 

[greasy]

Fast forward to the winter I make the decision to slightly change the setup. Rather than throw a BAP on the stock pump and play with fire or buy another stock pump to only have it fail down the road, I decided to go with a bad ass dual pump setup by Injected Engineering. I found a barely used one and saved myself $300 vs new. Still having some time I was looking for used injectors to pop up, sure enough a set of Fuel Injector Clinic 1200cc injectors popped up for sale, I also saved about $300 on those vs new as well. I am now pot committed to running the almighty corn. I contacted Curt and told him about the switch and he cut me a deal on his Flex Fuel tune since we never even completed the pump gas tune. I didn't document the pump install, but it was fairly simple. The video below was right after I completed the pump install. I am going corn fed baby!!!!

Stock pump BOOOOOOOOOO!

Gasohol Setup, LOVE IT!

Big Daddy Injectors!

 

[greasy]

Spring comes and I started doing logs again for the Flex Fuel tune. Started off with pure corn....ran through the 10 mile drive, then the 4th gear 1,500-4K WOT hit, and then 4th gear WOT full pull. Everything looks great.

Car has about a 1/4 tank of corn in her and then I fill the tank to about half with 93, do some more logs. Everything looks great.

Run that tank to almost gone, fill up half way with 93, and run that almost out to make sure there really are no more remnants of corn in the system. Fill up full tank of fresh 93 and start the logging again. Get to the 4th gear WOT hit and during the pull my fuel pressure sensor shits the bed around 6K rpm Injector duty on the run shot through the roof and I was getting a bunch of knock retard.

I can't order up just the fuel pressure sensor for the car, so I have to buy a whole new set of fuel rails with the sensor That shit comes in and I swap it out really quick. I start logging from the 10 mile drive again to make sure the car isn't fooked. Car is running well, get the final pull done and send the logs in. Get a message back that I am getting knock from 6,200-redline. Curt is worried something is wrong with the motor

I pull all 16 plugs on this fat bitch to make sure everything looks ok. Plugs look good, so then I am thinking maybe I picked up some bad fuel from Shell. I run out my current tank and refill with some BP 93. I do another pull and I am still seeing KR! I am getting super frustrated, Curt tells me to get the car up in the air and look over the exhaust because he is very confident in his knock sensor settings. He has seen cars pick up knock for exhaust making contact under the car. Sure as shit the catback was making contact on the driver's side trunk area.

So I pull the exhaust off of the car which was a lot of fun, thank god for a map gas torch and beer. I get the car back together with proper clearances everywhere and go datalog some pulls to see if I am picking up any KR. That did the trick, the KR was gone! What a fucking sense of relief, I thought there was a strong possibility my motor was hurt.

I wrapped up some 1st through 3rd WOT pulls on 93 and everything looked good, no KR.

I eventually wrapped up the tuning on the street. The car is an animal, a bit of a handful with the manual, but I love it. It absolutely shreds the tires and pulls hard. Super happy with the car even though it felt like she was fighting me the whole way. Very thankful that I was using such an awesome tuner.

 

[greasy]

Car still needs to hit the dyno to see what I've gained. Before I can get her on the rollers some local Mustang guys from a Chicago forum all want to take down my Hellcat. It's funny how that works, its like people want that notch on their belt. 2 guys in particular one with a whippled S550 on corn making 825+ at the wheels and another Coyote swapped SN95 with a YSi centri making similar power want some action on the highway. We do a local cruise and they both get a lane.......I was unsure how the LTTR BOX would perform and much to my pleasure I was literally neck and neck with both of their cars! Mind you I haven't dyno'ed the car yet, but I know now that the combo is working and I am making great power. They both were surprised because I had been leading them on that the car was stock, much to their dismay they were very surprised they didn't take me to Gapplebee's

Dyno day arrives and while the car is performing I am still nervous about how the car will perform, just how I am! Once again the car does not disappoint and puts down 834 rwhp 724 rwtq via a Mustang Dyno. So these mods netted me an additional 191 rwhp and 141 rwtq!

 

[greasy]

Right around that time I also did some visual mods! Black lettering for the rear from American Brother's Designs, black lug nuts and center caps for the wheels, custom fuel door badge design I made, smoked side markers, and the Redeye/Performance spolier.

 

[greasy]

With the new found power, I also decided to add the newest rear diff brace from Per4mance Development.

 

[greasy]

Still more to come, but once again it is getting late!

 

[Octanewide]

Sounds like your doing all the right things and as soon as our blizzards and sub zero weather clears 🙄 time for some street/track action. Your Cat is definitely up for some very good et's and hard hitting from a roll hits. 👍

 

[FFBOS]

Good to see you on here too. Looks great.

 

[greasy]

Sounds like your doing all the right things and as soon as our blizzards and sub zero weather clears 🙄 time for some street/track action. Your Cat is definitely up for some very good et's and hard hitting from a roll hits. 👍

Thanks Jeff, excited for it to be warmer out. I am over this winter BS!

Good to see you on here too. Looks great.

Thanks bro, glad to be here!

 

[Hickster]

I will stay away from this car- ship.

 

[greasy]

One night I was out grabbing some cold treats with the special lady friend and on the way home did a blast in Mexico up to a 130. Got off at my exit shortly thereafter (less than a mile from home), then starting smelling weird sweet smell, and the car started running rough, hesitating almost like I had a bad vacuum/exhaust leak. Parked in the driveway, popped the hood, pulled the valve covers to see the fuel rails......nothing leaking or spraying. Looked under the car, no issues there either. Fire the car back up, still running like total ass, and get her pulled into the garage. I said fuck it I'll start looking at it tomorrow.

Woke up today and went down to check the oil thinking maybe I lifted a head on the pull, nothing wrong with the oil, looks great on the dipstick and under the oil cap. Try to start the car and it is locked up. I am now thinking/hoping that one of the injectors stuck open and fuel flooded one of the cylinders. Next step was to pull the plugs an inspect.

I feel like I keep "Dodge"ing bullets with this car, looks like this cat might have 9 lives!!!!

I pulled the driver’s side plugs pulled, back cylinder 7 had both plugs in the cylinder with the electrode wet with fuel. Electrodes on all 6 plugs in 1,3,5 are dry. Pull all of the passenger side plugs and everything is dry. I throw a wrench on the crank pulley and start to turn the motor over by hand. Sure as shit I hear a bloop blooop, there is fuel in cylinder 7! While this sucks that an injector stuck open, I am relieved to discover it is fuel in cylinder 7.

Jammed some shop towel down each spark plug hole on 7 and turned the motor over to push as much fuel up as possible to soak up into the towels. Hook up a 5/8" heater hose to the end of my shop vac and jam it into each spark plug hole of cylinder 7 to get any remnants of fuel out. Turn the motor over a few more times to make sure all of the fuel is gone from the cylinder. I also inspected each cylinder with a WiFi Endoscope to make sure all of the cylinders look good, luckily everything did. Got the car up to drain the oil from the motor and oil cooler, there was probably 1/3 quart of E85 in the oil. Created a little trap door to access the oil cooler because I am sick of removing 15 fasteners to get to it. New oil filter on, ordered 28 quarts of oil for the car because it was on sale at Napa for $6 a quart! Ordered new plugs and injectors!

 

[greasy]

Went a step colder on the plugs from stock with the NGK 2309/LFR7AIX, gapped and installed those. Do yourself a favor, skip the swivel adapter for sockets and pick up one of the 360 swivel spark plug sockets for $15, it is a life changer on these cars!!!! Also this gapping tool is the bees knees! Picked up all of my oil from Napa and got her filled back up. Pulled the fuel pump fuse and turned the motor over a little bit to prime everything in case there was any fuel wash out from the stuck injector.

 

[greasy]

Installed the new injectors that arrived from FIC. Fired up the car, and it did NOT sound happy. A bit nervous I killed the car. I waited a few minutes and fired it up again, a decent amount of smoke was pouring out of the tail pipes and I was like shit this ain't good After a couple of minutes the smoking from the tail pipes subsides which makes me feel much better, I take the car for a spin and all is well. Figuring there might be a little bit of lingering E85 in the motor still I change out the oil again just to be safe.

I am a little chronologically out of order here, but this occurred before I did the final dyno. I recall writing this now I was nervous about the car on the dyno considering all that happened, but in the end the car performed great!

 

[greasy]

Happy with the car from a speed/power perspective I wanted to do some chassis bracing modifications. I initially ordered some BMR bolt-in subframe connectors and when they arrived all of the hardware was missing. I was baffled why they would ship product the way they did, reached out to them around 4 times to resolve and was crickets. Since they didn't want to resolve I sent the shit back and disputed the charge on my CC.

After that experience I thought I would order some stuff from Speedlogix. I ended up getting the front and rear strut tower brace along with some sub frame connectors. WHAT A SHIT SHOW THEY ARE. Do yourself a favor, never order from that terrible place ever. Get some popcorn for this BS. Some of you might have read this on the other forum.....I honestly can't believe there are companies that conduct business like this, my mind is blown. I had heard of horror stories about them second hand from others and went against my better judgement because I felt they had the best designed bracing. What happened over the course of the 3.5 months was them giving me the run around and lying to me. Long story below on my order of their front/rear strut tower braces, subframe connectors, and trans crossmember. Please save yourself the hassle of dealing with them.


July 2 - I place order with them via the phone specifically asking if all items were in stock and was told everything was. I initially wanted the standard rear shock tower brace but switched it to the arched version because the standard wasn't in stock. Shortly after placing the order that day I received a shipping notice that my order was shipped and my credit card was charged in full.

July 7 - The package arrives via UPS, but it it missing 2 items - the front and rear strut tower braces. I wait the rest of the day thinking they might come later, but nothing else arrives.

July 8 - I notify Speedlogix of the missing items, and they say the front and rear strut tower braces will ship later that week.

July 10 - I install the transmission crossmember and test fit the subframe connectors. I notice an issue with the subframes on the test fit. Basically the passenger side subframe is twisted in a way that doesn't allow it to sit flush in the front and back at the same time. When one side is positioned correctly the other side is cocked. I report the problem w/ pictures and ask to send me another set replace defective ones. They respond back saying that they will look into it.

July 13 - Speedlogix asks for more detailed info about subframe issue. I report back more in depth explanation and draw a diagram as well.

July 14 - I get a response back saying that they will have their "Suspension Engineer" look into it.

July 20 - I ask for an update from them on the subframe connector issue and when the front & rear strut tower braces will ship. Speedlogix says they asked for update from the "Suspension Engineer" and the front & rear strut tower braces should ship later that week. It is now over 2 weeks that the product hasn't shipped when supposedly it was in stock.

July 21-30 - The following day Speedlogix asks to setup call with me & their "Suspension Engineer" to discuss the issues with the subframe connector. I give them my availability on 4 separate occasions over the course of the week. They fail to call me at any of the times I provided. Frustrated by the whole situation I ask for them to cancel my order, send a shipping label so I can return the parts I do have, and not be charged a restocking fee on the parts I was returning.

July 31 - With no response from Speedlogix I ask to cancel my order a 2nd time. They try to save face and in the morning asks again to have a call with their "Suspension Engineer" later that day. I gave them my availability for the afternoon, neither Speedlogix or their "Suspension Engineer" ever calls.

August 1 - I ask Speedlogix to cancel my order for a 3rd time. Magically the "Suspension Engineer" calls me a couple of hours later. Turns out that their "Suspension Engineer" is the guy who started Razor's Edge Motorsports. Turns out the guy is a pretty cool dude and tells me that he sold the rights to the products to Speedlogix, but still manufacturers the product for them. We discuss the situation with the subframe connector and he says can take back the subframes if they are not correct, no issue to ship me out a new set. I also ask why they would be out of the front & rear strut tower braces and he says that they shouldn't be. He mentions that he has shipped them a bunch of those over the past few weeks that were powdercoated in wrinkle black (which is what I ordered).

August 3 - Speedlogix offers me an alternative product, but only for the rear strut tower brace. They cannot provide me an update on the front strut tower brace.

August 4 - Thinking about switching up the rear strut tower brace to get it sooner, I ask for update on the front strut tower brace shipping. Speedlogix is unsure and says they will contact the powdercoating facility.

August 6 - With no update again, I ask for them to cancel my order for a 4th time. They respond back saying they will have product tomorrow to ship, but if I want to cancel my order I will have to pay a 20% restock fee and shipping for items to come back. They will only accept the product back if it is uninstalled and in new condition.

August 7 - Fed up with the situation and tired of being lied to/getting the run around I file a dispute with PayPal. They receive the notification and ask me to cancel the dispute saying that if I cancel the dispute they will refund me my money on the front & rear strut tower braces Really? Now you want to refund me my money for product you have not shipped.

August 11-18 - Over the course of the next week I they continue to try and get me to resolve the dispute without PayPal. It is funny that suddenly they want to listen to my refund request when I take it to this level. I escalate it to a claim with PayPal.

August 19-October 11 - I go through the long arduous process of the PayPal claim. I end up having to ship the product back to Speedlogix on my dime, but I am refunded in full.

 

[greasy]

The reason I bring this whole ordeal up is that it inspired me to fabricating my own stuff. I took the money I initially spent on the Speedlogix garbage, picked up a welder, and taught myself to weld.

So I started off making my own rear brace. Below is the development of my gen 1 brace, the design has now changed though. It was a great experience overall.

 

[Magnified]

Suspension engineer only comes in on the days he's not working on the garbage truck, or when he's off because the truck is broken. Jesus, I feel your pain.

I cannot remember who it was but I last ordered subframe connectors on my old SC GTO and those were spot on all the way around, and the car felt like it was brand new when I sold it ... That BMR stuff made in America or China? China, and the American companies that beat a freaking path to their door, have no concept of quality control or quality product. When I was at Compaq and then HP, the companies were willing to take a comparatively massive jump in faulty units because the increase in profit from paying such ridiculously low wages was so great they simply, and I'm not kidding, didn't care. If the customer was pissed off and inconvenienced because 5% or more of components were bad, the decision was made to eat that and put up with them being unhappy - after all, where else were they going to go?