Progress Thread HeHateMe gets bent

I spent yesterday patching in the a pillar patch I made oh 2 months ago. Tack tack tack grind, tack blow holes in it, fill in holes grind mound down fill in more holes grind more make more holes fill in more holes... It was like being Bill Murray in Ground Hogs Day. Once I got the top and bottom pieces in I started to fill the middle part which is hard AF because it's pie shaped and the interior radius where the weather stripping is, moves outward as it goes down. I finally gave up about 530 and looked like a coal miner from all of the grinding dust.

7991LXnSHO said:

Jared on Car Fix made this look so easy. Starting with a less aged car surely helps, but I'm beginning to wonder about how much power I need to run to the new shop. What is a minimum 220 amperage rating for a modest welder? If I am going to learn, I might as well get something better than a booger stick machine.

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Most decent MIG welders, such as the Titanium MIG 170 will run on 110/220. For welding anything under 11/12 gauge metal 110V works fine. Maybe even better because you just plug it into a 110v outlet and go to town. I think they will actually weld a little bit thicker than rated on 110v. But once you get a feel for it, you can always get a 220v outlet installed and go to thicker town.

My belly button arrived yesterday. I'm sorry for anyone offended, but here's the main reason why. $$$$$$

To make a 500hp 2.3, I've spent $1,000 on a BoPort head, another $600 on cam, roller followers, and HLA's, $600 on rods, $550 on pistons, $400 on a turbo manifold, and $350 on a ported intake. There's ton's of other I already bought but it's all going up for sale.

So I've been looking for a 4.8 belly button. Usually people sell them cheap because everyone wants a 6.0, 6.2 or at least a 5.3. Of course, when I was looking for the Falcon or 2.3 stuff, belly buttons would pop up in my Marketplace search daily. People practically giving the 4.8 away. Since I decided a few weeks ago to swap power plants on the build, it's been like a desert. Lot's of high dollar 6.2, 6,0, and even seemingly high dollar 5.3 and 4.8. Last Sunday, I saw one of those too good to be true, it must be a scam listing. 38,000 mile, 2018 L20 4.8 out of a workvan that was totalled. The guy with it owned the workvan and it was maintained very well, bla bla bla. There was only one picture, showing the barcode on the back of the head. So I message him, after a few messages, get his number, call him. He's in Hot Springs, AR and my brother lives in Heber Springs and works in Little Rock. I call him and he can get one day during the week. So I put the two of them together and they work out getting it Friday.

And yesterday morning:



It's exactly as advertised. And the dude was really cool. My brother (and maybe myself) like to talk to anyone about anything, but my brother said this guy put us to shame. My brother had to gently nudge him to get the transmission unbolted so they could load it and he could make the 2hr commute home.

My brother called once he got it and started scamming me. He said, I thought this was supposed to be complete. I said it is, but if it's missing accessories I don't really care. He starts in, man the valve covers are off, half the rockers are gone, it looks rusty. I was like, #1 if you're not joking, give me my money back because you just bought a rusted 4.8 or #STFU. He says, naw, just kidding except dude did take the belt tensioner and belt because the pulley on his other van locked up and shredded the belt.

So this gem was $550. A VVT delete kit is $135. I'll need new head gaskets and head bolts since I will have to take the heads off and open up the ring gap. I may need a $350 swap oil pan. I'll have to see if this pan is too deep or not. $70 LS motor mounts for the K member. $6-800 on something like a S475 clone. Either swap the manifolds side to side or buy the Holley cast iron turbo manifolds, odds and ends, plus probably a sloppy stage 2 cam. Based on all the vids on the internet, especially from Richard Holdener, this combo for less than $2,000 is 6-700hp all day long.

If I only end up mini-tubbing and putting a 275 tire on it, the small 4.8 and a soft boost curve will cure wheel spin. If we go to Drag Week or something like that, I can turn the boost up. With a conservative tune this thing should live around 600-700hp for a long time. Oh and it was only $550 for all you see in the photos. It is SUPER clean. Obviously had regular oil changes and taken care of. Doing some internet price shopping yesterday, the most expensive thing I need besides the turbo is the EFISOURCE wiring harness for the GoldBox I already bought.