Ugly Betty version 3.5

[524of1000]

As I near completion of my current (and hopefully last for a while), I thought I'd reflect on what my Galant has become and how far it's come. I purchased Betty October 15, 2009 and drove her home from Round Rock, Tx with no boost and low compression and rotted tires. It was a great idea on my part. Of course I had no idea about the compression as this was my first project car. This is what I began with:






At the time I was making pretty good money and was stashing away $400 to $600 a month to build her. A lot went to tools, Most was thrown away on sh*t that I didn't really need, but hey, it's a learning experience, right? Well, by the end of a year I had a "new" head, an ebay FMIC kit, an ebay 3" catback, replaced alot of the gaskets on the top end of the motor, new valve cover, rebuilt the turbo myself, ect. This was the result:







So yeah. That was Version 2.0. Not bad, but obviously not goo either. That's when I started REALLY learning and I picked up a lot of knowledge from a member of this forum. We decided that a total redo was in order, and thus it began. New piston rings, bearings, gaskets, ect. After consideration of the parts I was currently using and a crash course in physics, parts were swapped in favor of others and the engine bay was cleaned up. A LOT. And so Betty became Betty 3.0.





And it wasn't bad...Until the oil pump seized. I took it slow this time around. Sarted with the intereor. OEM seats in better condition than my own, dyed the carpet, a few personalized bits here and there. Then I addressed the motor. My IC pipes were welded together finally, as well as a custom intake pipe, a Treadstone IC core (much better than ebay btw) and tuning abilities from an Evo 8 ECU. Actually, she now has quite a bit of Evo parts now, with more to come. And so I give you the *nearly* complete Betty 3.5:





Modification List as of 05/01/2011

524/1000

Interior:
1g Steering wheel
1g Shifter w/leather boot and 2g knob
OEM Evo 9 MR gauges (boost, oil temp) in custom mount
Carpet Dyed
Broken/messed up trim replaced
Custom Legend of Zelda armrest <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Exterior:
5 lug swap
’97 Eclipse GSX wheels

Suspension/brakes:
Front and rear strut bars
AGX adjustables
Cut stock springs
Stock brakes… for now…


Engine:
6 bolt block
OEM pistons, new rings
ACL Race rod bearings
BSE
New gaskets and seals
New water pump, oil pump and Alternator
AC delete
ABS Delete/Q45 Master Cylinder
Cruise control Delete
2g injector plugs
Small 16g with Ported hot side, 34mm waste gate, 17psi Waste gate actuator, MBC, stainless tubular o2 housing, ARP o2 bolts
2g turbo manifold and ARP turbo bolts
Stainless exhaust manifold studs
SCE embossed Copper exhaust and turbo gaskets
2.5” Thermal R&amp;D dual tip turbo back
No emissions
Vacuum lines deleted
Treadstone IC core with custom pipes (Broxma Approved)
Evo 8 MAF
Evo 8 560cc injectors
Walboro 255
Aeromotive AFPR
Thermal intake gasket
stock ignition with Magnecore 8.5mm wires
NGK BPR7ES plugs
1g Aluminum Radiator and Tstat housing
Silicone Radiator hoses
Minor wire tuck
1g NT Camshafts
Supertech Bronze Valve guides
Viton Valve seals
Evo8 Valvetrain
ARP headstuds
Cometec Head Gasket
1g NT Throttle Body w/ FIAV total block off
Custom intake pipe

Obviously I have alot more pics and theres more to the story than this, so ask away if there are any questions.

 

[Romanova]

What was involved with the 1G radiator?

 

[broxma]

It sits kind of low and the mount brackets don't hold it in place. He extended the mounts with long (1" or so) spacers and ran a long bolt through them. I will eventually make new bent brackets for them like I have on mine. I also have a 1G aluminum radiator and other than the top mounts, it fits fine.

Furthermore, I'm really proud of how it turned out, even though it is not my car. We both spent a lot of time and energy on getting this car back into shape.

/brox

 

[BPU925]

good lookin ride bro

 

[524of1000]

Quoting Romanova:
What was involved with the 1G radiator?



To run the 1g radiator you MUST have the 1g Tstat Housing. It bolts right to the head. No fuss, no mess. As far as the fitment of the 1g radiator, it is exactly as Brox says. Mine was crooked when I received it, however it held fluid and I NEEDED a radiator right then and there, otherwise I would have sent it back. I will replace it eventually, but not anytime in the near future.

 

[cheekychimp]

Quoting 524of1000:



... and there's more to the story than this, so ask away if there are any questions.



I want to know what happened here; and how you got home /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Hopefully it won't be such a painful story now that your car is so f***ing badass!

 

[524of1000]

After I had got it running the first time Rick (solidviper) Larry (broxma) and I had decided to take a short cruise/meet. I still didn't know about my low compression at the time so it was super slow, but while I was accelerating on an on-ramp, Rick says I shot out a nice fire ball. I noticed all the smoke from my mirror and then the temps shot up. I pulled over, let her cool down, filled her with coolant again and limped her home. Luckily we were only about 10 minutes from my house. Here's another pic of that moment /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

 

[cheekychimp]

Hey I just noticed too that you went from a COP setup back to the standard ignition. Any story behind that? I know a lot of guys on here will confirm that the stock ignition is easily good for 600 WHP maybe more so I don't think it's a weak link in the chain, I'm just interested to hear of peoples experiences with COP vs Stock. I heard that COP systems really need a good quality CDi module to work properly and I decided to go this route with my other car but I'm sticking with stock for the daily.

 

[broxma]

We are working on a different ignition is all. We won't be using the COP plates in the end design so we figured we could sell them. You'll notice, I'm selling mine as well.

/brox

 

[PreskitVR4]

I would love to know how difficult it is to pull off the Evo ECU. With the tuning capability of Opensource, and the fact that an obd2 port would be sweet on a DD, needs crank angle signal, does the 1g cas work, so many more questions come up but my hand is cramping cuz I'm on my frigin iPod right now!

 

[broxma]

I didn't make a patch harness for it and just soldered it directly to the OEM harness. I just finished it and flashed the base map actually about 30 minutes ago. It fired right up after I removed the immobilizer from it. Soldering for me takes about 4 solid hours as it's about 80 or so wires. The best situation, which Steve accommodated was to get the Evo 560cc injectors and an Evo MAS, which basically means, you can run a stock Evo Map for initial start.

The only sensor which does not work Galant->Evo ECU is the knock sensor. All other sensors are essentially the same and nothing is changed out. With the new version of the Evo VIII map, we now have map switching, Valet mode, Individual launch fuel maps, individual launch ignition maps, gear based boost control with the ability to define the speed per gear, complete ignition coil control with the ability to define dwell times of specific coils, double limits on both fuel and load, and on and on. Plus, forced pass emissions, rear O2 sensor simulator built in, WBO2 input to the ECU, Speed Density direct inputs for both the IAT and MAP sensor. The thing is essentially running now like a high dollar stand alone on the factory harness.

Oh, and yeah, it's OBDII so no one gives you sh*t when you go to get the car inspected. We now have two Galants here in San Antonio running Evo VIII ECU's and that ain't because the first one didn't work I assure you.

/brox

 

[PreskitVR4]

Outstanding! My big hang up was crank sensor, but from the sound of things, it's not needed.

 

[524of1000]

It's not. Evo MAF (optional, but recommended), Knock sensor, ECU and related ECU plugs, EvoScan and the cable are about all you need, and all can be had for around $250 if you really search for good deals. It does seem the price for Evo VIII ECUs are rising though...

 

[PreskitVR4]

Not so many pull outs for AEM now that opensource is so gangster. Going speed density, have 3G eclipse in j-yard for ECU plugs, can get the pinkie from AEM's website, need ECU and knock sensor, thanks

 

[4thStroke]

Galant VR4 users are switching to Evo ECUs while Evo drivers are switching to 2g ECUs so they can use ECMLink.

I find this fascinating.

 

[PreskitVR4]

^^^^^and the backslide begins for the Evo /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif