Ali SC3's 2003 GX470 build thread
02-24-16, 10:04 AM
#46
Did I mention how much I love this truck, I fit an entire audi 2.7t motor and basically the front half of an 2001 audi a6 into the back of it!!! This motor is going into my B7 A4 and its going to be awesome sauce.
I was originally going to pull a trailer, but apparently the engine fit right in the back cause the car is so tall there is enough room for the boom etc...
its new home =)
So the GX is now also officially a parts hauler. add that to the growing list of everything else it hauls well like family, pets, boats, trailers, cars... I'm starting to wonder what it can't do.
The classiest part of it all is that the rear air ride leveled it out so it didn't even look like it had a load in it.
The best part though was that I could put the suspension on low to make it easier to pull the engine out the back of it.. I think I am sold on keeping air ride I am going to start hoarding new OEM bags soon.
I was originally going to pull a trailer, but apparently the engine fit right in the back cause the car is so tall there is enough room for the boom etc...
its new home =)
So the GX is now also officially a parts hauler. add that to the growing list of everything else it hauls well like family, pets, boats, trailers, cars... I'm starting to wonder what it can't do.
The classiest part of it all is that the rear air ride leveled it out so it didn't even look like it had a load in it.
The best part though was that I could put the suspension on low to make it easier to pull the engine out the back of it.. I think I am sold on keeping air ride I am going to start hoarding new OEM bags soon.
Last edited by Ali SC3; 02-24-16 at 10:08 AM.
02-24-16, 01:42 PM
#47
Pole Position
I had similar BBS wheels on my 95 Jetta GLX. They were a pain to keep clean (brake dust! Oy!) but sure looked sharp.
What's the plan with the motor? As-is? Or make improvements?
Chip H.
What's the plan with the motor? As-is? Or make improvements?
Chip H.
02-24-16, 02:26 PM
#48
Yeah they definitely look sharp but haven't driven the car yet to know about the brake dust, thanks for the heads up. I had similar mesh style wheels on a nissan once and they were a pain to clean for sure, not nearly as easy as 5 spokes.
The motor plan is just to drop it in as is for now with the 6 speed trans that the b7 came with and get it running etc.. I plan to do the small maintenance items, fix the broken spider hose system, SAI block off, new intercooler silicon hose set, clean things up and I will put a stage 2 tune on the stock turbo's/intercoolers.
I was thinking about doing timing belt and waterpump and going stage 3 with k04 turbo's but at this point I have figured out there are like 50 million little things I need to sort out just to get this motor into a A4 b7 chassis that I will just be happy if I can get it mounted and running for now (and I am starting to get a little worried that it might never run)... so once I get to the point it is running I will evaluate the health of the turbo's and decide on upgrades and more maintenance at that point, timing belt is easy to do with it in the car. luckily the B7 chassis has a lot more room to work around than the older b5 chassis.
its crazy how many little things I have to do from switching over to a "return" style fuel system, 12v the fuel pump controller, wiring up the b5 harness to the b7 body plugs, b7 a/c bracket with b7 compressor and lines, will need the b5 abs unit and integrate that, integrate b5 fan controller, need to use 2.7t power steering line, supposedly need a b7 3.2l radiator core support to mount the 2.7t radiator but I plan to first try using the 2.0t core support with custom brackets... got the flywheel and b5 rs4 clutch kit already (the easy part).
The list goes on and on... plan to knock it out one by one. first step is getting it mounted, for that I just need the power steering line (got off parts car), a/c stuff bolted on cause itll be hard to do later, connect the heater core hoses, intercooler hoses, and I should be able to drop it in and take care of the rest of the bits at my leisure. Will see how it goes and soon as I become a full member on Audizine I will have a build thread on there and will post a link for those that are interested here.
My brother has a B6 S4 that had the V8 and it was swapped for a 2.7t. at the time he was like the second person to do that swap, and the nice part is there is alot of similarity between the b6 and b7 so I will have his car to look over if I hit a snag. should keep me busy at least =)
The motor plan is just to drop it in as is for now with the 6 speed trans that the b7 came with and get it running etc.. I plan to do the small maintenance items, fix the broken spider hose system, SAI block off, new intercooler silicon hose set, clean things up and I will put a stage 2 tune on the stock turbo's/intercoolers.
I was thinking about doing timing belt and waterpump and going stage 3 with k04 turbo's but at this point I have figured out there are like 50 million little things I need to sort out just to get this motor into a A4 b7 chassis that I will just be happy if I can get it mounted and running for now (and I am starting to get a little worried that it might never run)... so once I get to the point it is running I will evaluate the health of the turbo's and decide on upgrades and more maintenance at that point, timing belt is easy to do with it in the car. luckily the B7 chassis has a lot more room to work around than the older b5 chassis.
its crazy how many little things I have to do from switching over to a "return" style fuel system, 12v the fuel pump controller, wiring up the b5 harness to the b7 body plugs, b7 a/c bracket with b7 compressor and lines, will need the b5 abs unit and integrate that, integrate b5 fan controller, need to use 2.7t power steering line, supposedly need a b7 3.2l radiator core support to mount the 2.7t radiator but I plan to first try using the 2.0t core support with custom brackets... got the flywheel and b5 rs4 clutch kit already (the easy part).
The list goes on and on... plan to knock it out one by one. first step is getting it mounted, for that I just need the power steering line (got off parts car), a/c stuff bolted on cause itll be hard to do later, connect the heater core hoses, intercooler hoses, and I should be able to drop it in and take care of the rest of the bits at my leisure. Will see how it goes and soon as I become a full member on Audizine I will have a build thread on there and will post a link for those that are interested here.
My brother has a B6 S4 that had the V8 and it was swapped for a 2.7t. at the time he was like the second person to do that swap, and the nice part is there is alot of similarity between the b6 and b7 so I will have his car to look over if I hit a snag. should keep me busy at least =)
02-25-16, 07:07 AM
#49
Pole Position
Yeah they definitely look sharp but haven't driven the car yet to know about the brake dust, thanks for the heads up. I had similar mesh style wheels on a nissan once and they were a pain to clean for sure, not nearly as easy as 5 spokes.
The motor plan is just to drop it in as is for now with the 6 speed trans that the b7 came with and get it running etc.. I plan to do the small maintenance items, fix the broken spider hose system, SAI block off, new intercooler silicon hose set, clean things up and I will put a stage 2 tune on the stock turbo's/intercoolers.
I was thinking about doing timing belt and waterpump and going stage 3 with k04 turbo's but at this point I have figured out there are like 50 million little things I need to sort out just to get this motor into a A4 b7 chassis that I will just be happy if I can get it mounted and running for now (and I am starting to get a little worried that it might never run)... so once I get to the point it is running I will evaluate the health of the turbo's and decide on upgrades and more maintenance at that point, timing belt is easy to do with it in the car. luckily the B7 chassis has a lot more room to work around than the older b5 chassis.
its crazy how many little things I have to do from switching over to a "return" style fuel system, 12v the fuel pump controller, wiring up the b5 harness to the b7 body plugs, b7 a/c bracket with b7 compressor and lines, will need the b5 abs unit and integrate that, integrate b5 fan controller, need to use 2.7t power steering line, supposedly need a b7 3.2l radiator core support to mount the 2.7t radiator but I plan to first try using the 2.0t core support with custom brackets... got the flywheel and b5 rs4 clutch kit already (the easy part).
The list goes on and on... plan to knock it out one by one. first step is getting it mounted, for that I just need the power steering line (got off parts car), a/c stuff bolted on cause itll be hard to do later, connect the heater core hoses, intercooler hoses, and I should be able to drop it in and take care of the rest of the bits at my leisure. Will see how it goes and soon as I become a full member on Audizine I will have a build thread on there and will post a link for those that are interested here.
My brother has a B6 S4 that had the V8 and it was swapped for a 2.7t. at the time he was like the second person to do that swap, and the nice part is there is alot of similarity between the b6 and b7 so I will have his car to look over if I hit a snag. should keep me busy at least =)
The motor plan is just to drop it in as is for now with the 6 speed trans that the b7 came with and get it running etc.. I plan to do the small maintenance items, fix the broken spider hose system, SAI block off, new intercooler silicon hose set, clean things up and I will put a stage 2 tune on the stock turbo's/intercoolers.
I was thinking about doing timing belt and waterpump and going stage 3 with k04 turbo's but at this point I have figured out there are like 50 million little things I need to sort out just to get this motor into a A4 b7 chassis that I will just be happy if I can get it mounted and running for now (and I am starting to get a little worried that it might never run)... so once I get to the point it is running I will evaluate the health of the turbo's and decide on upgrades and more maintenance at that point, timing belt is easy to do with it in the car. luckily the B7 chassis has a lot more room to work around than the older b5 chassis.
its crazy how many little things I have to do from switching over to a "return" style fuel system, 12v the fuel pump controller, wiring up the b5 harness to the b7 body plugs, b7 a/c bracket with b7 compressor and lines, will need the b5 abs unit and integrate that, integrate b5 fan controller, need to use 2.7t power steering line, supposedly need a b7 3.2l radiator core support to mount the 2.7t radiator but I plan to first try using the 2.0t core support with custom brackets... got the flywheel and b5 rs4 clutch kit already (the easy part).
The list goes on and on... plan to knock it out one by one. first step is getting it mounted, for that I just need the power steering line (got off parts car), a/c stuff bolted on cause itll be hard to do later, connect the heater core hoses, intercooler hoses, and I should be able to drop it in and take care of the rest of the bits at my leisure. Will see how it goes and soon as I become a full member on Audizine I will have a build thread on there and will post a link for those that are interested here.
My brother has a B6 S4 that had the V8 and it was swapped for a 2.7t. at the time he was like the second person to do that swap, and the nice part is there is alot of similarity between the b6 and b7 so I will have his car to look over if I hit a snag. should keep me busy at least =)
02-25-16, 08:04 AM
#50
Pole Position
For cleaning off the brake dust, the cleaner I found to be the best was P21S. It's not one of those spray-on, rinse-off cleaners - you will have to use a sponge. But it won't etch the paint like the others will.
http://www.p21s.com/products/bis_wc1.html
Chip H.
http://www.p21s.com/products/bis_wc1.html
Chip H.
02-25-16, 08:14 AM
#51
The MB is nice though so its a tough call, sometimes the auto is nice but 70 in 2nd, thats very tall gearing for sure. the audi is like the exact opposite I think you can be in 6th gear at 70 and be just fine.
I needed something awd for colorado and while the GX is nice and all, I missed having the stick shift and turbo when the SC is parked for the winter, so this seemed like the perfect combo to me, in fact it'll likely be my new daily when its done and if all goes well. The 2.7t in these cars kinda pulls like a 1jz in the SC, its fun and will get you where you need to go, with decent gas mileage as well.
I needed something awd for colorado and while the GX is nice and all, I missed having the stick shift and turbo when the SC is parked for the winter, so this seemed like the perfect combo to me, in fact it'll likely be my new daily when its done and if all goes well. The 2.7t in these cars kinda pulls like a 1jz in the SC, its fun and will get you where you need to go, with decent gas mileage as well.
03-06-16, 03:27 PM
#52
Very cool build thread. You had my curiosity with the stuff up til now but with the possible manual swap you now have my interest. I hope it works out for your GX (and for us in the audience!)
03-24-16, 09:54 AM
#53
Thanks, the manual swap will be on hold for a while but it is definately in the plans for this vehicle, I have just taken on the audi project and the SC300 is down right now as I am putting it back on a standalone ecu, so it needs to be tuned and tweaked etc.... so right now I am just down to the GX470, and its as good as ever!! once the other cars are running fully again I will be gathering parts for the manual swap and I need an ARB Prado front bumper pronto!!!
we just had an overnight blizzard here and basically nobody could get in and out of my parents neighborhood as they take days for the plow to come through here and way the trees are the streets just dont melt, so the GX was on driving people to work duty, and it just goes over any amount of snow, I flattened out like a 1.5 foot snow bank by driving over it and then people would follow behind, seriously love this vehicle on days like today.
Here it is sitting in the driveway after doing its taxi duty.
we just had an overnight blizzard here and basically nobody could get in and out of my parents neighborhood as they take days for the plow to come through here and way the trees are the streets just dont melt, so the GX was on driving people to work duty, and it just goes over any amount of snow, I flattened out like a 1.5 foot snow bank by driving over it and then people would follow behind, seriously love this vehicle on days like today.
Here it is sitting in the driveway after doing its taxi duty.
03-24-16, 10:41 AM
#54
Pole Position
Thanks, the manual swap will be on hold for a while but it is definately in the plans for this vehicle, I have just taken on the audi project and the SC300 is down right now as I am putting it back on a standalone ecu, so it needs to be tuned and tweaked etc.... so right now I am just down to the GX470, and its as good as ever!! once the other cars are running fully again I will be gathering parts for the manual swap and I need an ARB Prado front bumper pronto!!!
we just had an overnight blizzard here and basically nobody could get in and out of my parents neighborhood as they take days for the plow to come through here and way the trees are the streets just dont melt, so the GX was on driving people to work duty, and it just goes over any amount of snow, I flattened out like a 1.5 foot snow bank by driving over it and then people would follow behind, seriously love this vehicle on days like today.
Here it is sitting in the driveway after doing its taxi duty.
we just had an overnight blizzard here and basically nobody could get in and out of my parents neighborhood as they take days for the plow to come through here and way the trees are the streets just dont melt, so the GX was on driving people to work duty, and it just goes over any amount of snow, I flattened out like a 1.5 foot snow bank by driving over it and then people would follow behind, seriously love this vehicle on days like today.
Here it is sitting in the driveway after doing its taxi duty.
03-24-16, 11:22 AM
#55
Yeah, tell me about it, seems like the snow is not going away and I am getting a little tired of it now lol, although it is fun to get a little sideways in the GX. Was just starting to enjoy the sunny weather. A couple days ago it was so nice I was wearing a t-shirt and then this happens 
04-29-16, 08:13 AM
#57
You need to take the console area apart where the shifters are to get access to the shifter. there was a thread on here that helped explain how to take it apart without breaking stuff. once you get to the shifter its not hard to remove it, but you need to remove it before pulling out the transfer case or it wont budge.
once you get the new case in, then put the shifter back on at the end once its mounted.
once you get the new case in, then put the shifter back on at the end once its mounted.
07-14-16, 04:20 PM
#58
Well, I finally got around to getting some Armor!!! 
Ordered a front metal plate winch bumper from Southern style offroad (previously southern styel speed) along with their rock sliders.
Only thing is they wont have it to me until 3 months from now, which is a bummer but when it comes in it will be oh so sweet.
this is the pic from their website showing the bumper and silders... can't wait
I got the one with only the center hoop though, no hoops over the lights cause I don't like the look and of course they are damage multipliers.
apparently the roof rack is undergoing a redesign, so I have to wait order one of those.. oh well can't win them all
Ordered a front metal plate winch bumper from Southern style offroad (previously southern styel speed) along with their rock sliders.
Only thing is they wont have it to me until 3 months from now, which is a bummer but when it comes in it will be oh so sweet.
this is the pic from their website showing the bumper and silders... can't wait
I got the one with only the center hoop though, no hoops over the lights cause I don't like the look and of course they are damage multipliers.
apparently the roof rack is undergoing a redesign, so I have to wait order one of those.. oh well can't win them all
07-15-16, 07:04 AM
#59
Pole Position
Wow, that thing adds a foot to your overall length!
Chip H.
Chip H.
07-15-16, 08:41 AM
#60
Pole Position
Will your bumper have the 4x4 LED light pods in it, or is that an add-on? That is a beefy bumper!