Project Helen - Photos & Media Forum

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Project Helen
Friday, August 31, 2012 6:53 PM
History on the car. I bought the car August 02, 2012 off of a forum member in West Virginia. It was a 13 hour drive from good ole central Iowa. It was a current project that was not finished yet, but I had no problem with taking on a challenge!

This is what it looked like the day I brought her home.


No Down pipe or exhaust


And the wiring was a bit messy for my liking



But...I got it cleaned up a bit. much better for now


3 inch down pipe is a GO!


And I got the MEGAN RACING exhaust hung
3 in downpipe reduced to 2.5 in straight pipe all the way back to cannon.



Then got a bit bord waiting to get it tuned...






Re: Project Helen
Friday, August 31, 2012 9:46 PM
lol good god what is with everyone and this green lately? ewwwwwwwwww

interesting project, sir. wondering why they hacked the firewall/cowl up though... seems kind of pointless when so many have turboed without doing such.

keep it up man. love to see it in person one day!



I choose the technology built for land speed records... not the technology built to save on emissions and gas mileage.
Re: Project Helen
Friday, August 31, 2012 10:19 PM
Yeah, I was smiling till I saw the green. Your butts going in the seat though so if you like it go for it. Are you going to change the AEM boost gauge to silver to match the rest? The build looks interesting.


2004 Cavalier Sedan
Re: Project Helen
Friday, August 31, 2012 10:52 PM
What are your goals with this car?






Re: Project Helen
Saturday, September 01, 2012 9:06 AM
Any specs on the build? Motor built to handle the boost?


"Oil Leak ? What oil Leak ? Oh, Thats Just The Sweat From All The HorsePower!!"

Re: Project Helen
Saturday, September 01, 2012 9:11 PM
Where do u guys get the racing seat belt bracket that goes from the seat belt bolt behind the drivers seat to the passenger side one have been looking but have not been able to find one yet....
Re: Project Helen
Saturday, September 01, 2012 10:51 PM
Do you know what model exhaust that is from Megan Racing??
Re: Project Helen
Sunday, September 02, 2012 8:02 AM
Lance Detwiler wrote:Where do u guys get the racing seat belt bracket that goes from the seat belt bolt behind the drivers seat to the passenger side one have been looking but have not been able to find one yet....



I believe its either OEM or TTR that makes them. Look on their sites for "harness bar"
Re: Project Helen
Sunday, September 02, 2012 2:13 PM
Ok I haven't seen em on gte but I will have to double check and look into oem..
Re: Project Helen
Sunday, September 02, 2012 8:08 PM
I'll be watching this.



R.I.P. JessE Gerard 7.11.87 - 1.25.08
The Radiation Nation Facebook Twitter Twisted Metal Alliance
Re: Project Helen
Monday, September 03, 2012 9:07 AM
Haha what is wrong with green?? Its a great color! lol I wanna see your white beauty in person one day too Brad!

Yes I would like to change the boost gauge to match the rest. Was actually considering just a manual tach style gauge, not sure if I like the digital one that much, but time will tell, its not really on the top of the TO DO list right now. Just trying to get everything straight on the car as of right now, then I can start playing with the rest. I would actually like to have a tucked and shaved bay one day down the road.

As far as the goals with this car....I'd say to have just a nice clean look to it, nothing too fancy. And have a cavalier that would allow me to talk @!#$ to a majority of people

As far as the specs go, I am not 100% on everything as I cannot see in the engine, but is said to be .20 over with wiseco forged pistons, eagle rods, and .75 cometic head gasket.. All new stock head components. Drivetrain, I am actually scared of. It is all stock and the clutch seems to be slipping on just the 215whp that it is currently on.

Aaron, I am not totally sure on the exhaust. I bought it off of ebay. Search this ---> MEGAN 4.5" Stainless Tip NA Catback Exhaust Cavalier Sunfire JF31 w/ Silencer
This is the same one that I purchased.



I will be putting up some new pictures and progress today, including the dyno day experience that I went through, and some interior stuff..slowly coming along.




Re: Project Helen
Monday, September 03, 2012 9:56 AM
Well the day was August 23 and this is when the day was still going good lol


I drove about 300 or so miles to get to this dyno because I have heard good things about them. AND after I talked to the guy a bit, I realized that he really seems to know what he is doing with over 13 years experience and a huge variety of cars that he has dealt with!

Any who...it was quite the exciting day. First of the bad news was that it was confirmed that there had in fact been a fire under the hood before the rebuild by the previous owner and a lot of the wiring was spliced together and a lot of melted plugs. Then they had to trace some wires down and found seven that needed soldered back together because there was some stuff that was not working. Then ended up needing a new TPS sensor. and some good news was that he recommended different plugs that were only $2.50 a piece instead of the $8.00 or so that I spent on the Iridiums that I had brought up to put in. OH and I forgot to mention that I had recently purchased some injectors on the forum that was said to be a direct swap but the tuner said that were not working according to the tune software?? I was not sure on this, some help on that issue would be helpful!

Then another issue was that the boost controller decided to not work so we could not up the boost at all. Ended up leaving the dyno with the car actually running, so that was a plus. It put down 215whp @8psi. Hope to run around 15 psi or so when I get the turbo rebuilt and a working boost controller, and of course a clutch!

So with all the extra bull@!#$ and parts that had to be involved with the day I went from the quoted $550 to almost $900 -_-

Oh no....the day was not over yet.

I trailered the car up on a two wheel dolly and when we were about 200 miles from home, the tread decides to shred off of one of the dolly tires..oh ya!
So we pulled over and I took the car off and decided to drive it, seeing as we had spares for the car and the truck, but not the dolly :/
I get about 10 miles or so down the road and the smoke started rollin so I pulled over to check it out, expecting the worst by this point..
The oil return line for the turbo oiling system had melted on the exhaust manifold and was just dumping my oil...back on the trailer she went and we drove nearly 200 miles at 50mph on a tire and a rubber balloon basically. She made it all the way home, almost 2 hours later that planned, but she made er!

Then the next sunday rolls around and I was driving it around making sure everything was going to be ok for a 100 or so mile drive back to school where I could get it in our shop there and start tearing into it. and it sounded like it was developing an exhaust leak and I started heading back to the house as it was getting worse and I was not able to boost. My mind was up in the air again of the worst going wrong again!

Got everything checked out and turns out the tube going to the wastegate had cracked away from the manifold, explaining the loss in boost.

I am getting it welded up with a support brace to hold it tomorrow hopefully, as long as I am not too busy in class, and be ready to go for the weekend, then put some numbers up for an 1/8 mile midnight madness!

Here is a video, if it works, of one of the last dyno runs.
[video]View My Video[/video]



Re: Project Helen
Monday, September 03, 2012 10:08 AM
I love having a parts car siting around that I can just snab parts off of....saves me a ton of money!


I went from this.....


To this.... Fo Free!



Still not sure on What I am going to do on the back seat yet...leaning towards a rear seat delete, something unique.
Anyone with racing harnesses, where did you mount the belts at behind the drivers seat? Mine are currently on stock mounting points that were already there, as done by the previous owner.
Any insight or suggestions or links would be great!

Also, I would like to get rid of this bride seat and get two matching seats. Recaro styles that still hug the @!#$ out of you, similiar to what is in an SRT4. And a matching set of harnesses, 4-point..



Re: Project Helen
Monday, September 03, 2012 10:14 AM
why get rid of the bride?



Re: Project Helen
Monday, September 03, 2012 10:33 AM
Azncav (was static) wrote:why get rid of the bride?


Seriously. You already have one good quality seat. Why not just pick up another Bride? And with you saying Recaro style it makes me think that you are looking to replace it with 2 cheaper, lower quality, less safe seats.



Re: Project Helen
Monday, September 03, 2012 10:33 AM
Not going for a straight up drag car. I want something a little more comfortable for cruising. Love the seat, don't get me wrong, but would rather have two matching seats that are closer to streetable car than a race car. To each their own, I love the seat, just want something more fitting for the look im trying to achieve.



Re: Project Helen
Monday, September 03, 2012 7:24 PM
Cobalt SS seats.



R.I.P. JessE Gerard 7.11.87 - 1.25.08
The Radiation Nation Facebook Twitter Twisted Metal Alliance
Re: Project Helen
Tuesday, September 04, 2012 11:25 AM
Evan Undead (The Black Pearl) wrote:Cobalt SS seats.


That was one of my options, gotta find some for the right price. And I would want them to be the g85 seats.



Re: Project Helen
Tuesday, September 11, 2012 8:13 PM
Well...weekend was quite exciting for Helen. We were going to go to a small photo shoot with a few guys and this is what happens at 70mph with failed hood pins.....




Some pictures of the shoot to come tomorrow to spice things up a bit.







Re: Project Helen
Thursday, September 13, 2012 1:03 PM
Geeeziz you are not having luck with that thing!!




RIP JessE -- You are not forgotten! | FaceBook | G+
Re: Project Helen
Sunday, September 30, 2012 4:41 PM
Fast Car Crew
Small photo shoot with the guys








Re: Project Helen
Sunday, September 30, 2012 5:06 PM
oh damn man had joey tune it eh?



I choose the technology built for land speed records... not the technology built to save on emissions and gas mileage.
Re: Project Helen
Sunday, September 30, 2012 6:33 PM
Yessir. 215whp @8psi...had some complications that im still working through. Hopefully get it tuned for 20psi next year



Re: Project Helen
Sunday, September 30, 2012 8:09 PM
damn man should told me you were going there to tune i would have tried to make it lol



I choose the technology built for land speed records... not the technology built to save on emissions and gas mileage.
Re: Project Helen
Thursday, October 04, 2012 12:01 PM
Ill be sure and let you know next time!



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