2000 AWD Xploder from Turbo back to NA

After getting an estimate on how much it would run me to fix up my Xploder with all new exhaust, cold side piping, and a bunch of other stuff done up the "right" way... I've decided to convert my Xploder back to NA form so that I can actually ENJOY the truck before I die of old age.

Anyways... To start it off I ordered up a MAC cold air intake (I do not have the stock intake) and sold my FMS headers on ebay.

I plan on buying a set of torque monster headers in the next week or so but am still up in the air on how I should run my exhaust from a performance "speed" perspective. I do not plan on doing much, if any, off road driving, so am looking for a setup that improves take off and speed for spirited pavement driving that sounds good.

I already have the spare tire removed (and will be keeping it off, I have free towing anyways lol)... What would an optimal setup be with the above in mind and no worry of a spare tire being in the way? True duals (straight pipe off of each header, thru separate mufflers, and out the sides), or a dual exhaust both going into a 2 in 2 out "H" pipe style muffler and then out the sides? Or something else? In all cases I won't be running any cats.

I also plan to re-tune my car since currently it is tuned for the turbo setup which obviously will no longer apply once I rip everything out.

Thank you for any input!

 

[willzilla]

Another update... truck still driving great.. no sounds from the belt now that I switched back to the full belt I was running before, lol... I'll just keep it in place.

It's getting colder here so I'll keep putting off my AC nightmare for a while longer and then pay someone to get it going before summer hits again

I am getting a tad bit of rubbing in the front if I hit a huge dip or bump at higher speeds or when backing down my downslope driveway and turn the wheel at the same time. I'll check into maybe doing a little more trimming when I get a chance

 

[willzilla]

Drove the truck down to Galveston TX last Sat and back yesterday... Drove great, zero issues. Ran perfect. Got "decent" gas mileage at just about 17mpg fully loaded with luggage. Went on a 7 day carnival cruise with the entire family and took the Xploder and my wife's car as we no longer have our van so couldn't fit all 7 of us into any single car, lol. Overall it was a good time

 

[willzilla]

Got back Saturday from the cruise and 3-4 hour drive back from Galveston just in time for some black friday/cyber weekend sales and picked up some plastidip for the Xploder... Went with a color called "Motor Oil", lol. Kind of a bronze'ish greenish color that I think will still look good with the brown interior. I plan on dipping the exterior of the car in the motor oil color and do the fenders and bumpers in a color called "Shadow Gray" to kind of keep the theme of the 2 tone in place that it currently has.

Motor Oil:

Shadow Gray:



I will also be dipping the wheels in black since they have faded over the years so it should freshen them up some. I also plan on doing the same to the faded trim between the windows.

I already have the sprayer so hopefully I don't F it all up, LOL.

 

[willzilla]

Spent the weekend building a carbon fiber car mount to mount a GoPro Max to do some 360 degree footage. Quick test run clip:



The DIY video to build one:



I think I'll do a video with it hooked to the Xploder

 

[willzilla]

Went ahead and slapped the mount on the Xploder and drove it around a bit, haha:

 

[XploderPhil]

Spent the weekend building a carbon fiber car mount to mount a GoPro Max to do some 360 degree footage. Quick test run clip:



The DIY video to build one:



I think I'll do a video with it hooked to the Xploder

That does a good job on recording the exhaust, it sounds mean.
You did a good job of hiding the kite string, that is a stage view

 

[willzilla]

That does a good job on recording the exhaust, it sounds mean.
You did a good job of hiding the kite string, that is a stage view

Haha, thank you! I'm surprised how good the mic picked up the exhaust as it was just using the built in GoPro MAX mic and had a ton of wind hitting it, lol. I'd like to figure out a nice solution to hook my wireless mic to it and run the aux cable down the mount and then mount the mic somehow around my bumper or something I have a few things I'm thinking of. As for hiding the string, lol, the GoPro Max auto eliminates the mount as long as the camera is mounted perfectly in line with the camera rod. If you tilt the camera on the mount it would be visible. Pretty awesome effect IMO.

 

[willzilla]

Posted another chase cam style view of the Xploder, lol

 

[willzilla]

Merry Christmas everyone!! Did an update video on my RGBIC accent lighting with a Christmas theme, haha



Quick drone view of the lighting... It's pretty good for a few hundred bucks especially compared to some of those pro installs people get for Christmas lights or whatever!!

 

[willzilla]

Happy New Year everyone!

 

[willzilla]

Unfortunately ate a tossed truck tire on an offramp in my Camaro a few nights ago. In the middle of pulling part of the car apart to determine damage. Seems I got lucky and mostly just some plastic under trays and splash shields were shattered pretty good and my front splitter was banged up some (which I have a carbon fiber one ready to go on in my garage):

 

[CDW6212R]

Sorry to se that, the small pieces are still dangerous. I see many on our highways here, but most are off of the road. Cars don't do well with being much lower to the ground.

 

[willzilla]

Sorry to se that, the small pieces are still dangerous. I see many on our highways here, but most are off of the road. Cars don't do well with being much lower to the ground.

Yeah.. if I would of drove over the same piece of tire in my Xploder I'd of been fine.. In my ZL1 and out a few hours of work and probably $300+ in parts :-/

 

[willzilla]

I'm glad I have my Xploder running well.. The Camaro is out of a commission for a while as I work on it so the Xploder is my last remaining car (sold the van earlier) other than my wife's Mustang haha. Figured while I'm working on the broken parts of the car I started my carbon fiber zl1 1le front end conversion as well

 

[willzilla]

Well... My oldest has been driving the Xploder a lot and shuttling her siblings around and sometime over the last week the rear driver side door no longer unlocks or opens (so even pulling the inside handle the door won't open)... So, something I need to dive into when I have time, blah! Lol.

 

[willzilla]

Noticed a lot of "whirring" sound coming from the rear portion of the truck... hopefully something not dying on me, lol.

 

[CDW6212R]

How is the rear grease, the pinion seal, and when was the last time you looked at the axles and bearings?

 

[willzilla]

How is the rear grease, the pinion seal, and when was the last time you looked at the axles and bearings?

Rear grease? Of the diffs? Have no checked anthing with axles and bearings.. Easy to just check this stuff? It's freezing out and ice rain so when it gets a little nicer maybe Ill slap gopro under car and pin point where sound coming from or something, lol.. or my stethoscope.

 

[CDW6212R]

The axle bearings are usually the most common to have go bad, and the noise is fairly obvious. Low grease level will affect those axles first, way before the actual diff, or its bearings. So get a look at the pinion seal first, see how much grease looks to be around there. My last 98 leaks there slightly, and I added grease when I first bought it. But I haven't had the time to R&R the axles to replace the bearings, plus properly seal the cover that leaks. Just doing the axle bearings and new grease often gains many years of more life.

 

[willzilla]

The axle bearings are usually the most common to have go bad, and the noise is fairly obvious. Low grease level will affect those axles first, way before the actual diff, or its bearings. So get a look at the pinion seal first, see how much grease looks to be around there. My last 98 leaks there slightly, and I added grease when I first bought it. But I haven't had the time to R&R the axles to replace the bearings, plus properly seal the cover that leaks. Just doing the axle bearings and new grease often gains many years of more life.

Is adding grease pretty straight forward to do?