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My First Space Ship

4K views 28 replies 18 participants last post by  R0ck39 
#1 ·
Well at least that's the best way I would describe the way my Jeep now looks, feels and sounds like from the drivers seat. From all the new gauges mounted displaying my AFR, Boost Pressure and Fuel Pressure. The DiabloSport Trinity mounted, monitoring and data logging so that Harrison and Joel (JerseyBoy) can get my Jeep dialed in just right. The boost controller sitting on the shelf just to the left and below the steering wheel reading the boost pressure and ready to be turned up upon completion of future modifications. Right next to the boost controller a hidden switch to open and close my new electronic cutout depending on how much attention I want to get while driving around. And of course the best part about my new "space ship" is the sound my new Stage 6 76MM Turbo makes as I put my foot on the gas and it spools up pinning me back into my seat and putting a huge grin on my face.

Quick Background... I've had my Jeep for about three and a half years and joined the forum just about right away. Since that time I have followed almost every build discussed on here. Though I will admit I did take about a 6 month break from the forum after breaking my foot and used what money I started saving for the Jeep upgrades on doctor bills. :( A year prior to that I used my Jeep upgrade savings account to put money down on a house. In the time I have had my Jeep and been on the forum I have seen a lot of changes on the forum including a lot of the original or veteran members of the forum moving on. Though I do not post a lot on the forum I am on here everyday trying to learn as much as I can and I sort of realized that now I'm one of the veterans as it seems like a new Jeep SRT8 owner joins the forum about every other day. So being a "veteran" I thought it would be a good idea and put up a thread regarding my build just like John (JPS043) and Waqaas (Untouchable) did in the last couple of months.

Onto the build.. My build is quite simple especially compared to some of the big builds out there. My Jeep is completely stock outside of my Borla Exhaust, a JET 180 Degree T Stat and now a Stage 6 76MM Turbo Build which included an upgraded fuel system and bigger injectors. I have the Stock 6.1L Long Block and Stock Transmission. I dropped off my Jeep with Stage 6 Motorsports in Jacksonville, Florida in late June just a week or two before moving back to my home state of New York from Orlando. In the year prior to dropping it off at Stage 6 I purchased some of the other items necessary for my Turbo Build. Got myself a DiabloSport Trinity, AFR gauge, boost and fuel pressure gauges and the proper gauge mounts. Then earlier this year I jumped on the sale by 1BAMFR (Keoni) for his slightly used 76MM Turbo as he was upgrading his beast to a 88MM Turbo. So from there the next thing I had to do was save up the rest of the money and drop off the Jeep, the Turbo and the other goodies with Stage 6. So the plan was to drop off the Jeep with Stage 6 at the end of the summer but I accepted a position with my company in New York so I dropped it off a little bit earlier.

I stayed in touch with Stage 6 and Harrison as we worked together on when the build would start and when I would come back down to FL to pick the Jeep up. Ultimately it was decided that we would debut my Jeep at VMP in mid September and I would meet the Stage 6 Team there and they would trailer my Jeep up for me. So as is the case with most builds Stage 6 ran into a couple of small problems toward the end of the build which were nothing of any major concern other than keeping the time table we had discussed and agreed on. Because of those small setbacks we came to the point where I had to decide what was more important to me: Putting the Jeep on the Dyno or keeping the Virginia Pickup Date. In the end I decided that for me the most important thing was keeping the time table and I was okay without the Dyno Numbers. Again this decision was made as I wanted to keep the return time table the same and pick her up in Virginia as I had taken the time off same with my father who went with me to pick her up. But since this as everyone know's was not Stage 6's First Turbo build they had plenty of data to get a good tune to me based on all the other builds they had done. I plan on talking with Jim from the HEMI Shop about what Dyno they use up here on Long Island and eventually see what kind of numbers my Jeep is laying down as a Stock Jeep with the 76MM Turbo.

The Results.. Well like I said I met Stage 6 with my Jeep at the Modern HEMI Event at VMP and got to test her out right away! I ended up getting in five passes that day recording a best time of 11.61 at 119 MPH running on race gas at approximately 7lbs of boost. All my runs that day were run on my Toyo Proxes and with all the seats still in the car and my best 60' that day was 1.82. So very happy with the 1/4 mile Track Results and looking forward to better times at ATCO in a couple of weeks! As for everyday driving the Jeep drives almost the same as it did before it's surgery which I love! Around town and normal highway driving the Jeep feels no different than before but when you stick your foot into the gas pedal the power the turbo produces is incredible and the Jeep pulls HARD!!! It's awesome!! No one bought these Jeeps for their great fuel economy but I have also noticed that though I get slightly less MPG's "City" Driving my MPG's went up on the highway! So for anybody worried about doing something like this for fuel efficiency reasons my average MPG's with about 500 miles on the clock since I got the Jeep back is about the same as before I got the Turbo installed. So to sum it all up I love my Stage 6 Turbo Jeep!!!

The Future: The next step for me is to start putting some money away to put in a Paramount Transmission and Torque Converter. I am pushing the power limits of the transmission right now but so far the Jeep has felt great but plan on getting this done in hopefully the next 6 months. Once that is done I may just have to go for the Stock Block 1/4 mile record ;) Moving on from there I am still undecided on what direction I want to go but I am thinking either a Forged 6.1L from one of the engine builders on here or maybe just hone out the stock cylinders and put in a forged rotating assembly. That part of the process is probably a year away at minimum. As I make future updates I will update the thread with the new modifications and results.

Well I hope that this build thread has been informative and perhaps entertaining to hopefully at least most of you on the forum both veterans and the newcomers and to those looking to do a build of there own down the road. If anybody has any questions don't hesitate to post up on this thread or send me a message. My apologies as I have been lazy and have been too busy driving it around and not snapping any pictures so I will take some this week and upload them.

Before I go let me give a shout and Thanks to the Stage 6 Team:
Harrison, Dwight, Shrek and Joel.
I have very much appreciated your patience with me and my million questions! You kept me updated and informed during the build and continue to help me me now with not just my revised tunes but with my continued questions about the Jeep now and it's future.
 
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#2 ·
Reserved for pics...
 
#3 ·
I will be watching this thread closely as this will probably be a very similar route I will be taking. It is seems you have the best of both worlds. Drives like stock everyday but a monster when you hit the loud pedal. Will you be driving it through the winter months?
 
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#5 ·
Yeah like I said I love that the Jeep drives like stock when I'm just driving around town or merging with traffic onto the Highway but when I want/need that extra power I just push a little harder on the gas :) As for driving in the winter it really depends on what the winter is like. I plan on keeping my Jeep for a long, long time so I don't want to expose her to much bad weather. I'll miss driving the Jeep too much to just let it set but I won't being take out in any blizzards ha.


Has your base tune been revised yet? Or was it for any of the trips down the track? That's some pretty awesome time for 1 mod :D

Also a bit curious what your original and current hwy mpg's are... I could care less about city, we all have too much fun stoplight to stoplight anyway :D

Congrats on having the build finished, I'm sure many will be following in your footsteps ;) :D
I'm currently on the third revision of the original tune from Stage 6 and JerseyBoy. Stage 6 put the original tune in then did a little driving and Joel got them a revised tune. Then I took her down the track and gave all the logs to Joel who got me the revision I am running now. I recently sent some "Around Town" logs to Joel to have him take a look and perhaps send me another revision.

The next time I take the Jeep on a highway trip which will probably be next week I will reset the average MPG to get you an idea what the Highway MPG's are. I'll even try to do one trip at waste gate only, 5psi, and then another trip at 7psi and see if the MPG's differ.
 
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#4 ·
Has your base tune been revised yet? Or was it for any of the trips down the track? That's some pretty awesome time for 1 mod :D

Also a bit curious what your original and current hwy mpg's are... I could care less about city, we all have too much fun stoplight to stoplight anyway :D

Congrats on having the build finished, I'm sure many will be following in your footsteps ;) :D
 
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#14 ·
congrats..always fun when you get to play with your new mods
Congrats Rhett, sounds like you're really enjoying the Jeep with the extra power. Nice write up thanks for taking the time.

Jim
Good write up Rhett....have fun with it and we will see you at Atco....I bet you'll squeeze another PB out of it...also, as we discussed at VMP....datalog, datalog, datalog ;)

Justin
Impressive man. Keep up the good work. Maybe we'll cross paths somewhere and get a run in.
Thanks for the notes guys! Though it's not one of the baddest Jeeps out there I love my BEAST and hopefully can continue giving everyone out there an idea of what these Stock Jeeps can do with a single power adder like a Stage 6 Single Turbo. I am definitely going for a new PB at ATCO Justin and look forward to seeing out there again and will make sure to Datalog all my runs for Harrison and your brother :D
 
#7 ·
congrats..always fun when you get to play with your new mods
 
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#8 ·
Nice Jeep Rhett
I saw it the other day when it was at the Hemi Shop
I am from Fl but now live in New Hyde Park and work in Huntington, we should meet up/line up

My MPGs are atrocious, and thats with a 6.1. I see about 9 city and 12-13 hwy. Get into boost and forget it.
 
#15 ·
Thanks for the note Waqaas!! Yeah I wasn't Would definitely like to meet up/line up with you soon. I'm pretty sure I saw that you will be at ATCO in a week but hopefully we can get together more locally as well. I'll make sure we exchange numbers when we meet in person at ATCO!
 
#9 ·
Glad you're diggin it Rhett!! What people DON'T know is this Jeep was a year in the making. :lol: I was about to start have to charge Rhett for tech support.;)

Rhett.... I looked over your logs from VMP and you were only running 6psi on your 11.61 pass. We need to bump it up a little for Atco. :D
 
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#16 ·
Haha yes Harrison you have definitely been extremely helpful not only during and after the build was complete but well prior to my Jeep FINALLY being dropped off with you and the Stage 6 Crew! That kind of help and support is much appreciated for someone like me with this being my first ever modified car! I'm sure I will have plenty of more questions for you moving forward as well ;) Thank you again for your help, time and patience with me and answering all of those questions I had for you! I'm also very excited to learn I was "only" at 6 lbs of boost to run that 11.61. I'll be excited to see what she can do in some cooler weather, no seats and another 2 lbs of boost!!


Man happy to see you are enjoying the jeep see you in atco:)
Thanks for the note and all your help as well Shrek. Looking forward to seeing you again at ATCO!!

Once again another Thank You to the entire Stage 6 Team for their hard work and support!
 
#17 ·
Very nice write up/review! It's great you East coast guys have so many reputable shops out there to do your work. We need one here on the West Coast!
 
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#19 ·
Thanks for the note Chad! I'll make sure to update this write up as I move along as well and not only with my highlights but any problems or breakdowns I run into as well.
 
#18 ·
Nice write up! Congrats on everything thus far and hope everything works out great for you in the long run with everything.
 
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#23 ·
Thanks Peter! I look forward to meeting you next week and hopefully meeting at the local NJ tracks from time to time as well!

Saw that smile in person!! Glad your loving it. See you in a week.

I couldn't stop smiling at VMP haha! Look forward to hanging out with you again at ATCO!

Sent from my iPhone using Autoguide.com App
 
#24 ·
Update: 1,000 Miles and Two MSHS Events

Well as the title of this reply states here is a quick update regarding my build after 1,000 miles and running at two MSHS Events. Don't worry I promise I won't update after every 1,000 miles;)

As the thread discusses earlier I picked up my Jeep from Stage 6 at VMP and ran the Jeep down the track 7 times which was basically the first thing besides a quick ride down the street upon getting the keys back from Harrison and Stage 6. First runs were on waste gate only all the seats in and on pump gas and I was running in the 12.2's. Turned on the boost controller saw some knock with 93 octane added, took it out, added then Shell URT105 and set a new PB that day at 11.61 @ 119MPH. Got all the logs over to Joel who quickly got me back my revised Tune.

Driving the Jeep on the street I have had zero issues and as mentioned love how it drives "stock" but when I need or want that power the Turbo produces I just give her a little more gas and I'm shoved back into my seat. If you wanted me to come with one issue that I have had since getting my Jeep back the only thing I could think would be how paranoid I was at first driving around the Jeep around as I started paying attention and investigating every little noise I heard. I knew I was making a lot more power and the rest of my Jeep remained stock so everything I heard I would worry was an issue. As mentioned though 1,000 miles and 15 passes down the track later I have had zero issues with my Stage 6 Beast!

So as everyone knows the final MSHS event of 2012 took place a little over a week ago at ATCO Raceway at New Jersey. I took the Jeep there on my Dad's trailer as a precaution in case anything happened with my main concern being the Stock Transmission. I was expecting to run 11.5 and was hoping to maybe see 11.3 at ATCO. Well I beat those goals right out of the gate running a 11.19 on my first pass of the day. After a few runs I turned the boost gauge up 4% on the Boost Controller and then ran an 11.03 followed by my current Personal Best of 10.98 @ 125.46 MPH!! All on a Stock Jeep with a Stage 6 76MM Turbo Kit!! Just ask anyone who saw me at the event after running that pass and they will tell you the smile on my face didn't go away!! Needless to say I am totally hooked as well and cannot wait for next season :D

So once again let me give a huge shout out and thank you to the entire Stage 6 Crew: Harrison, Dwight, Shrek and Joel who at this point have given me back my Jeep and not only met all my expectations but far exceeded them at this point as well. I could not happier with the product that they have delivered to me!! For anybody considering going this route let me reassure you that you will NOT be disappointed!!

Let me also give a shout to this entire community especially those who I have met along the way who have helped me get to this point and helped me find this new passion!

Until the next date update thanks for reading!!
 
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#25 ·
Well as the title of this reply states here is a quick update regarding my build after 1,000 miles and running at two MSHS Events. Don't worry I promise I won't update after every 1,000 miles;)

As the thread discusses earlier I picked up my Jeep from Stage 6 at VMP and ran the Jeep down the track 7 times which was basically the first thing besides a quick ride down the street upon getting the keys back from Harrison and Stage 6. First runs were on waste gate only all the seats in and on pump gas and I was running in the 12.2's. Turned on the boost controller saw some knock with 93 octane added, took it out, added then Shell URT105 and set a new PB that day at 11.61 @ 119MPH. Got all the logs over to Joel who quickly got me back my revised Tune.

Driving the Jeep on the street I have had zero issues and as mentioned love how it drives "stock" but when I need or want that power the Turbo produces I just give her a little more gas and I'm shoved back into my seat. If you wanted me to come with one issue that I have had since getting my Jeep back the only thing I could think would be how paranoid I was at first driving around the Jeep around as I started paying attention and investigating every little noise I heard. I knew I was making a lot more power and the rest of my Jeep remained stock so everything I heard I would worry was an issue. As mentioned though 1,000 miles and 15 passes down the track later I have had zero issues with my Stage 6 Beast!

So as everyone knows the final MSHS event of 2012 took place a little over a week ago at ATCO Raceway at New Jersey. I took the Jeep there on my Dad's trailer as a precaution in case anything happened with my main concern being the Stock Transmission. I was expecting to run 11.5 and was hoping to maybe see 11.3 at ATCO. Well I beat those goals right out of the gate running a 11.19 on my first pass of the day. After a few runs I turned the boost gauge up 4% on the Boost Controller and then ran an 11.03 followed by my current Personal Best of 10.98 @ 125.46 MPH!! All on a Stock Jeep with a Stage 6 76MM Turbo Kit!! Just ask anyone who saw me at the event after running that pass and they will tell you the smile on my face didn't go away!! Needless to say I am totally hooked as well and cannot wait for next season :D

So once again let me give a huge shout out and thank you to the entire Stage 6 Crew: Harrison, Dwight, Shrek and Joel who at this point have given me back my Jeep and not only met all my expectations but far exceeded them at this point as well. I could not happier with the product that they have delivered to me!! For anybody considering going this route let me reassure you that you will NOT be disappointed!!

Let me also give a shout to this entire community especially those who I have met along the way who have helped me get to this point and helped me find this new passion!

Until the next date update thanks for reading!!
Happy for you Rhett! and so happy you were smarter than me and brought a trailer. cant thank you enough for what you did.
 
#26 ·
don't apoligize for updates. keep'em coming. It's great to see you are running strong and trouble free. A testament of a great build. Is that last run a stock block, stock trans record?
 
#29 ·
Good question. I'm still very fresh when it comes to all the gauges and everything going on in my car and at ATCO I was concentrating more on my launches as to better my reaction times and 60' times which compared to VMP I crushed! I was also paying attention to my AFR and never really looked up at my boost gauge. At 28% Waste Gate I saw about 7psi on the boost gauge and Harrison said he saw about 6lbs on the log. Therefore I was thinking I was raising the boost about 1 psi by adding 4% so I thought I was going from 6-7psi to 7-8psi but upon a quick review of the log pressures at ATCO, Harrison said he thought I was running at about 9psi. I have not downloaded the logs off of the Trinity and sent them to Joel and Harrison yet but once I do I can follow back up with them to see what kind of boost I was running at 32% Waste Gate.
 
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