Lebowski's Absolutely Kosher Turbo Project

[carrosene]

I think those are my new favorite wheels for 2002s. Awesome car.

[craaaazzy]

the stance looks great. must be very fun to drive at 15lbs. i will need to start collecting parts for a turbo set up when i've got the cash.

[Lebowski]

Spent some time on a nice day tweaking the ride height and camber. I dunno, maybe I went too far. What do you guys think? Running a 3mm spacer in the fronts...

Most of these photos are just gratuitous glamor shots. Don't mind the rust under the front bumper...

And I added a photo of my pit crew, my 3 1/2 year old Asher.

[Lebowski]

A few more angles...

The front nose rust is like a beautiful girl who raises her arm to reveal a hairy armpit!

[Colin]

Looks great. Are you on a 7.5 wheel up front?

[john1180]

Somebody needs to make sahara duct tape!

A few more angles...

The front nose rust is like a beautiful girl who raises her arm to reveal a hairy armpit!

[bluedevils]

Aaron;

How is the ride quality (sorry if I missed you answer already!) w/ the GC kit?

al

[Lebowski]

Somebody needs to make sahara duct tape!

Hey, not a bad idea... wrap the entire car with original duct tape and tell everyone I painted it Polaris!

Hey Al, sorry no seats yet. Stefan takes his time. Believe it or not, the ride is actually better with the coilovers and urethane bushings. Probably because I actually have some compliance now instead of riding around on cut IE stage 2s. I was basically riding around on the bump stops of the Bilsteins! Don't get me wrong, it rides pretty stiff but the quality of that ride is much better.

I think GC can tailor each set of coilovers to your individual needs... so if you just want a sporty ride they can go as soft (or as stiff) as you want.

[Lebowski]

Well, things had just been going too well I suspect for my luck to hold out. New seats came today... pics below. They were done by Classiccarseats.com/GTS classics, and Stefan was an absolute joy to work with. They are his "Sebring" seats, driver's side widened a bit to fit my big ass. Lumbar support on the driver side with tilting bracket for the passenger side to allow rear seat access. I decided to go with vinyl instead of leather... and the vinyl is really nice quality. I'll let you know how the install goes. Plan is to recreate the early door panels and rear seat in black/red with fabric inserts to match the front seats... don't want to go too crazy with the plaid!

And now for the bad news... noticed all of a sudden my AFR out of whack. Was waaaay to lean... but car seemed to be running just fine. Looking around I noticed a crack in the turbo manifold on the runner for cylinder #2. Good news is that my exhaust manifold studs seem to be holding well.

Good news, I talked to Jon at 666 Fabrication and though he has never seen a crack like that before (just my luck) he said he can get it fixed no charge and get it in and out of the shop in a day or two. Now I just have to have time to get the manifold pulled back off.

[Lebowski]

Oh...

and Mike_B, Stefan said to tell you hi!

[Clownman]

Where did the manifold crack? I have one of Jon's mani's, not installed yet but where should I keep and eye out when i do install it? Also where did you get your ARP Manifold studs?

Chris

[bluedevils]

Aaron, man you had so many problems with this manifold, I just wonder if you should ask for a refund and get another turbo from a reputable company...did you r get the *trip* device with the seats?

[jgerock]

Looking forward to seeing you this April, Jim! I owe you a ride if you're up for it!

Sorry Aaron - I'll miss the True Friends Event next month. Too much going on to take the cross country trek this year.

[Mike_B]

Oh...

and Mike_B, Stefan said to tell you hi!

Those seats turned out amazing! Great work from Stefan as always.

That sucks about the manifold. I hope I don't have the same issues. I got the Volk manifold for the NK in the mail today.

[Lebowski]

Where did the manifold crack? I have one of Jon's mani's, not installed yet but where should I keep and eye out when i do install it? Also where did you get your ARP Manifold studs?

Chris

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Jon said he has never seen one of his manifolds crack like that (upper side of the runner for cylinder #2). I feel confident that he makes a quality product and that I just have had some bad luck... and he's fixing it under warranty no questions. That's good customer support!

Got the ARP studs from eBay... they come in several lengths. I think I should have gone with a bit longer... that 666 manifold flange is really thick!

Aaron, man you had so many problems with this manifold, I just wonder if you should ask for a refund and get another turbo from a reputable company...did you r get the *trip* device with the seats?

I really believe Al that this is a quality manifold... I think most of my problems are just growing pains from my novice installation...

Trips device came with the seats, but they forgot to cut the holes to mount them. They are sending special instructions so I should be able to get you some measurements soon...

Sorry Aaron - I'll miss the True Friends Event next month. Too much going on to take the cross country trek this year.

Jim, sorry I won't see you in Arkansas... for me Vintage is looking like a no go. I end up working almost every holiday and Vintage is always over Memorial Day weekend which is almost impossible for me to take off. Still, you never know!