ProjectGS: Revival of the White GS
04-08-12 | 04:14 AM
#1
ProjectGS: Revival of the White GS
I've been here for a while now and most of you know me by my first GS, or the "White Car" or "White Beast" as it's been come to be known as.
This is long, skip to the 3rd post to see actual build progress. The first 2 posts are just a tribute and history of this car.
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A quick trip down memory lane and some history on this car. I've been through hell and back with this car. There have been write ups and pictures of this thing dating back about 7 years now. I was contemplating fixing it back to stock and selling it recently. Since I already have the Grey GS making over 800whp, I didn't think it was necessary to have another high power GS. I just have had too many memories in that car that I couldn't sell it. I bought it brand new in 2005 August, and that's when I first joined this forum. I paid around $37k for it new, and now it's only worth $15k at best if I sold it all stock. Not worth getting so little for it, so I decided I will revive the original ProjectGS.
The car has sat around most of its life. I used it as my daily for the first two years. Light modding here and there. I put around 20k miles on it in those 2 years. Then in 2007, I went more serious and started to boost it. From 2007-2012 the car has only gained about 10k on the odometer. The car as it sits right now has 33k miles.
This was in the beginning of 2008, when I finished the GTE swap + single turbo. I bought a genuine Vertex body kit, Blitz wheels, a custom system in the trunk, and 4 wheels big brakes.
Nice and pretty engine bay. All polished. This was an all out show car. It won two of the big tall 1st place trophies at Hot Import Nights 2008.
This is how the car looked when I won at HIN'08.
One month later, the car caught on fire. Turbo gasket blew out when I was running it at 30psi. I didn't have a fire extinguisher in the car so I was luckily able to put it out by throwing dirt and mud into the engine bay. It looks way worse than it was because of all the dirt and mud. Still, the damage was pretty extensive. I needed all new wiring harness and brake lines in that whole section. The hood got damaged as well as a whole bunch of other stuff.
I slowly but surely started to rebuild the car. Sanding down all the damaged paint, and getting it ready for a respray of the engine bay.
A few months later I bought my grey GS. It sits next to the white car. That's how the car looked after I got it all fixed up after the fire. I installed a new carbon fiber hood since the stock one was burned.
I bought new fenders. If you notice in the previous picture, the fender is damaged a bit. It was from being too low and too aggressive of wheel/tire. To this day the fenders still haven't been painted. They had a metal etched/primer surface on them. It was shiny so I didn't bother painting it.
Car back in commission and back on the highway doing what it does best.
When I rebuilt the car after the fire. I fitted my long time dream turbo. The HKS T51R. There is simply no turbo in the world that sounds like it. HKS made the surge cover in such a way that the turbo whistles like none other.
During this period, I was moving to a new house. I enjoyed the car for about 1 year after I finished rebuilding it. Here's everything nice and pretty.
Alas, came the day I sold the engine. Here it is, coming out of the car for the last time
Here it sits in it's new home.
Ever since then. The car has been sitting quietly in the garage. Almost two full years now, that car has not moved.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Now....to 2012
This is long, skip to the 3rd post to see actual build progress. The first 2 posts are just a tribute and history of this car.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A quick trip down memory lane and some history on this car. I've been through hell and back with this car. There have been write ups and pictures of this thing dating back about 7 years now. I was contemplating fixing it back to stock and selling it recently. Since I already have the Grey GS making over 800whp, I didn't think it was necessary to have another high power GS. I just have had too many memories in that car that I couldn't sell it. I bought it brand new in 2005 August, and that's when I first joined this forum. I paid around $37k for it new, and now it's only worth $15k at best if I sold it all stock. Not worth getting so little for it, so I decided I will revive the original ProjectGS.
The car has sat around most of its life. I used it as my daily for the first two years. Light modding here and there. I put around 20k miles on it in those 2 years. Then in 2007, I went more serious and started to boost it. From 2007-2012 the car has only gained about 10k on the odometer. The car as it sits right now has 33k miles.
This was in the beginning of 2008, when I finished the GTE swap + single turbo. I bought a genuine Vertex body kit, Blitz wheels, a custom system in the trunk, and 4 wheels big brakes.
Nice and pretty engine bay. All polished. This was an all out show car. It won two of the big tall 1st place trophies at Hot Import Nights 2008.
This is how the car looked when I won at HIN'08.
One month later, the car caught on fire. Turbo gasket blew out when I was running it at 30psi. I didn't have a fire extinguisher in the car so I was luckily able to put it out by throwing dirt and mud into the engine bay. It looks way worse than it was because of all the dirt and mud. Still, the damage was pretty extensive. I needed all new wiring harness and brake lines in that whole section. The hood got damaged as well as a whole bunch of other stuff.
I slowly but surely started to rebuild the car. Sanding down all the damaged paint, and getting it ready for a respray of the engine bay.
A few months later I bought my grey GS. It sits next to the white car. That's how the car looked after I got it all fixed up after the fire. I installed a new carbon fiber hood since the stock one was burned.
I bought new fenders. If you notice in the previous picture, the fender is damaged a bit. It was from being too low and too aggressive of wheel/tire. To this day the fenders still haven't been painted. They had a metal etched/primer surface on them. It was shiny so I didn't bother painting it.
Car back in commission and back on the highway doing what it does best.
When I rebuilt the car after the fire. I fitted my long time dream turbo. The HKS T51R. There is simply no turbo in the world that sounds like it. HKS made the surge cover in such a way that the turbo whistles like none other.
During this period, I was moving to a new house. I enjoyed the car for about 1 year after I finished rebuilding it. Here's everything nice and pretty.
Alas, came the day I sold the engine. Here it is, coming out of the car for the last time
Here it sits in it's new home.
Ever since then. The car has been sitting quietly in the garage. Almost two full years now, that car has not moved.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Now....to 2012
04-08-12 | 04:14 AM
#2
Fast forward to 2012....
My car collection has grown quite a bit lol. Yes those are all mine. The white car is sitting sadly in the corner with no engine in it for almost 2 years.
I decided that it was time to get that car back up and running after being dormant for so long.
I built a race engine for this car. Something worthy of it's legacy. CP pistons, Pauter rods, Billet main caps, etc. Some of the best and strongest parts you can buy were stuffed into this thing.
The engine for the white car sitting on the left. With it's turbo temporarily mounted just for a photo. The engine on the right is the one in my grey GS that made over 800rwhp a few days ago.
Here's the condition of the car after these years. I pushed the car outside about 2 months ago because I was working on some other projects inside the garage. Rain was not kind to the metal coating on the fenders. I sanded them down a little bit the other day. They were starting to get surface rust. I also sold the carbon fiber hood, so I am left with the old burned stock hood. I will be painting all the pieces soon. The exterior of this car will be back to how it should be very soon.
After 2 long years of waiting. The white beast finally has an engine again. Far from being a complete operating engine, at least it's a step in the right direction. I dropped the engine in the car February 2012, so about 2 months ago. It's been sitting in there quietly ever since. I had too many other projects going on to do anything further.
A shot of the underside of the hood. I had to spray some primer so it wouldn't rust. This car was a parts car for a few other builds for a while. If another car needed something, it was pulled from this car lol. Nearly every performance part was stripped off the car. The coilovers and brakes were removed and installed on the grey GS. I will have to start over with collecting new parts again for this car.
There have been so many projects I've done recently. That's why the white car has been on the back burner for so long.
This was a super clean car. Everything was done right. No expenses spared.
Unfortunately the owner(my friend) totaled it a week after it was done. A lady in a van was on her phone, and not paying attention. She ran a red and smashed that car. It was a total loss.
Such a waste. This was a super pristine and extremely clean car. It was a 2001 only had around 50k miles or so. Paint and interior was perfect.
I got into some light body work for about a 2 weeks span. That took up a good chunk of my time. If you look in the background, we eventually built another GTE swapped IS300 for my friend.
My car collection has grown quite a bit lol. Yes those are all mine. The white car is sitting sadly in the corner with no engine in it for almost 2 years.
I decided that it was time to get that car back up and running after being dormant for so long.
I built a race engine for this car. Something worthy of it's legacy. CP pistons, Pauter rods, Billet main caps, etc. Some of the best and strongest parts you can buy were stuffed into this thing.
The engine for the white car sitting on the left. With it's turbo temporarily mounted just for a photo. The engine on the right is the one in my grey GS that made over 800rwhp a few days ago.
Here's the condition of the car after these years. I pushed the car outside about 2 months ago because I was working on some other projects inside the garage. Rain was not kind to the metal coating on the fenders. I sanded them down a little bit the other day. They were starting to get surface rust. I also sold the carbon fiber hood, so I am left with the old burned stock hood. I will be painting all the pieces soon. The exterior of this car will be back to how it should be very soon.
After 2 long years of waiting. The white beast finally has an engine again. Far from being a complete operating engine, at least it's a step in the right direction. I dropped the engine in the car February 2012, so about 2 months ago. It's been sitting in there quietly ever since. I had too many other projects going on to do anything further.
A shot of the underside of the hood. I had to spray some primer so it wouldn't rust. This car was a parts car for a few other builds for a while. If another car needed something, it was pulled from this car lol. Nearly every performance part was stripped off the car. The coilovers and brakes were removed and installed on the grey GS. I will have to start over with collecting new parts again for this car.
There have been so many projects I've done recently. That's why the white car has been on the back burner for so long.
This was a super clean car. Everything was done right. No expenses spared.
Unfortunately the owner(my friend) totaled it a week after it was done. A lady in a van was on her phone, and not paying attention. She ran a red and smashed that car. It was a total loss.
Such a waste. This was a super pristine and extremely clean car. It was a 2001 only had around 50k miles or so. Paint and interior was perfect.
I got into some light body work for about a 2 weeks span. That took up a good chunk of my time. If you look in the background, we eventually built another GTE swapped IS300 for my friend.
04-08-12 | 04:16 AM
#3
Now, onto some real action. This weekend, I decided it was time to get the White Beast going again. I finally managed to achieve my goal with the grey GS. My goal was to build a 650-700whp daily. The fact that it hit over 800rwhp, well I was just elated. That car broke so many records and is the first of many firsts of things that people once thought were impossible.
- Possibly highest HP daily driven street car 2GS/1IS, drag/race cars don't count. Needs to be truly daily-able and registered tags (needs to be verified, but I posted up in several other forums and nobody has found a higher example yet).
- Highest HP recorded through an A650E automatic Toyota transmission.
- Highest HP 2GS/1IS that can still pass plug in OBD-II emissions.
- Highest HP 2GS/1IS on a piggyback computer system.
The White Car has big shoes to fill. I'll try to put forth my A+ effort into this thing so I won't disappoint.
One thing that I've always loved is the HKS T51R series of turbos. The sound is just absolutely amazing, and there is not one other turbo that sounds like it when spooling. I just couldn't let go of of my beloved T51R, but it was old school turbo technology. It was a pig slow spooling turbo and it didn't make very much power for the size of the unit.
I am a Comp Turbo dealer and I contracted them to this challenge. Update this HKS T51R KAI turbo to newer technology. Boy did they deliver! It is now punched out to a 74mm, has a custom Billet CNC compressor wheel, inconel turbine/exhaust wheel, triple ball-bearing cartridge, water cooled jackets, aluminum center cartridge, and is now a twin scroll housing to aid in faster spool. On the left is my Comp Turbo 6765 Billet 3xBB turbo that laid down 800whp+ in the grey GS a few days ago. Just look at the insane difference. The new modernized HKS turbo is surely to put out some ungodly numbers!
A shot of the custom billet CNC compressor wheel up close. Amazing stuff that these guys can do. Custom turbo, anything you want!
Updates 4/7/2012
Ok I starting on actual fabrication for this thing.
Welded in some positioning braces. This give me a reference of where the turbo will be sitting in the engine bay. It is also a guide for all the exhaust runners.
Turbo bolted on just to see how it looks on there.
Woohoo! Finally getting somewhere after 2 years.
Different angle.
Another angle.
Starting to fabricate the twin scroll manifold collectors. I haven't welded stainless in a looong time. The welds aren't the prettiest, but they are plenty strong.
Tacked it onto the flange.
Nice and sharp edges on the merge collector. This was a serious pain in the butt to fabricate. The angles have to be dead on, or else you will get a collector that points in the wrong direction!
A shot from the top.
Starting to tack up the individual runners. This is my first time ever to build a turbo manifold. Still a bit slow at it.
This is as far as I got today. Called it a night. Will be continuing tomorrow after some rest.
- Possibly highest HP daily driven street car 2GS/1IS, drag/race cars don't count. Needs to be truly daily-able and registered tags (needs to be verified, but I posted up in several other forums and nobody has found a higher example yet).
- Highest HP recorded through an A650E automatic Toyota transmission.
- Highest HP 2GS/1IS that can still pass plug in OBD-II emissions.
- Highest HP 2GS/1IS on a piggyback computer system.
The White Car has big shoes to fill. I'll try to put forth my A+ effort into this thing so I won't disappoint.
One thing that I've always loved is the HKS T51R series of turbos. The sound is just absolutely amazing, and there is not one other turbo that sounds like it when spooling. I just couldn't let go of of my beloved T51R, but it was old school turbo technology. It was a pig slow spooling turbo and it didn't make very much power for the size of the unit.
I am a Comp Turbo dealer and I contracted them to this challenge. Update this HKS T51R KAI turbo to newer technology. Boy did they deliver! It is now punched out to a 74mm, has a custom Billet CNC compressor wheel, inconel turbine/exhaust wheel, triple ball-bearing cartridge, water cooled jackets, aluminum center cartridge, and is now a twin scroll housing to aid in faster spool. On the left is my Comp Turbo 6765 Billet 3xBB turbo that laid down 800whp+ in the grey GS a few days ago. Just look at the insane difference. The new modernized HKS turbo is surely to put out some ungodly numbers!
A shot of the custom billet CNC compressor wheel up close. Amazing stuff that these guys can do. Custom turbo, anything you want!
Updates 4/7/2012
Ok I starting on actual fabrication for this thing.
Welded in some positioning braces. This give me a reference of where the turbo will be sitting in the engine bay. It is also a guide for all the exhaust runners.
Turbo bolted on just to see how it looks on there.
Woohoo! Finally getting somewhere after 2 years.
Different angle.
Another angle.
Starting to fabricate the twin scroll manifold collectors. I haven't welded stainless in a looong time. The welds aren't the prettiest, but they are plenty strong.
Tacked it onto the flange.
Nice and sharp edges on the merge collector. This was a serious pain in the butt to fabricate. The angles have to be dead on, or else you will get a collector that points in the wrong direction!
A shot from the top.
Starting to tack up the individual runners. This is my first time ever to build a turbo manifold. Still a bit slow at it.
This is as far as I got today. Called it a night. Will be continuing tomorrow after some rest.
Last edited by JeffTsai; 04-09-12 at 02:40 AM.
04-08-12 | 06:12 AM
#6
I don't know a lot about cars, but when ever I see you doing something that I KNOW will be crazy, I get goosebumps...............NO HOMO!!!!!!!! lol, can't wait to see what we are going to end up with
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04-08-12 | 08:40 AM
#11
Nice background details. Since your moving to twin scroll, have you put any thought into trying the quickspool valve? The concept is interesting, I haven't seen anyone have one in person yet, but there are a few out on the forums with seemingly good results..
Last edited by 99 GS3; 04-08-12 at 09:43 AM.
