Finally modded the G8, for real.

[KenV]

When our son was born I took some leave to bond with the little guy. I also wanted to update my DD, since I had time to fix something if the work went egg-shaped. Before contacting Rick (G8-4-Speed) the car only had an HSRK from G8 GT V8 and Vararam. Sixty or so emails and a few weeks of work-on-it-between-crying-and-diapers later, the car is done (except for a WB tune...gotta scan it). Oh sure, I didn't know about swapping the black and pink wires for the LS3 MAF, I found a metal chip ground into my factory oil pump, I put waaaaaaaay too much coolant into it during the fill, I let the EZ-Up sit around the car during a windstorm, I had 87 octane in it from before the swap.....never mind, it could have been worse. Here's what she got:

Intake/TB: Rick's AirRam work, LS3/7 card MAF
Heads: Rick's porting/valves, springs/locators, milling
Cam: Comp 223/227, over .600 on both sides (plus pushrods and DoD delete bits)
Exhaust: ARH 1 7/8" with cats, stock axleback (Hushpowers on the shelf, not installed just yet. Need to decide on tips.)
Powerdex WB/AEM no-weld bung kit
Tune: Who else?
...and a Harbor Freight inspection mirror. Sweet Baby Jesus, that oil pickup is a pain.

This is an email tune (no logging for a retune just yet), and I have the same mileage I did when stock, provided I don't beat up on it. And when I beat on it, holy cow. My wife rode in it at half-throttle in Drive and mentioned getting a sitter so that we could go out in it and hammer it. The car, the car....

Seriously, having a family car like this is hella fun. I should stick an engine like this in one of the Mustangs. In no way does it feel like a 4000+ pound car now. Two kiddo seats, a Mafia trunk and this much oomph? Yeah, that'll work. Each time I run through the gears, I have a smile you couldn't remove with a belt sander.

Dealing with Rick was/is awesome, as is his work. As busy as he is the replies were timely and to-the-point. Thanks to Rick's talents and the other parts this is my go-to ride for anything that doesn't require a truck bed.

PS I used this site and the four-volume factory manual for the most part, so I didn't think I could add much about the 'how' of it all. But I'd be happy to answer questions about any of this if I can be of any help.

[Bob the Noob]

Now you can experience the fun of looking over at Hemi chargers and 300's at a stop light and think, "eh... not worth the gas."

When's the dyno time?

[GTX]

Congratulations on the kiddo. You are going to be pretty busy once he/she gets walking.
Sounds like you have a nice ride too. Enjoy it, just be responsible when the little one is riding along. There have been countless times I've passed up opportunities just because my kids are with me.
Get it tuned and to the track. Would like to see your results.

[Troy TrackBeast]

Sounds awesome Ken! Thanks for sharing. Rick is truly amazing at what he does and he is a pleasure to do business with. Where are you located at?

[KenV]

Thanks guys. The car's a dream, especially now that I found the coolant leak. Bad clamp on the rad hose going to the WP under the TB.

I let everyone slide if I have passengers. Not worth the risk, plus that extra weight. lol Hopefully the little guy will be a car person like his sister. Her first year of drives with Dad was made up of going through the gears in our 5.0 and she digs the quick littlel bursts she's seen in the G8.

For now the street is my dyno/track since the car is mainly for hauling the family and going to work. I'll send a WB log to Rick for fine tuning after some break-in. If anyone can get more out of it, dyno or not, it's him.

Troy: I'm in Bakersfield. So yeah, one day I'll be at T&T at Famoso to see what it'll do. I'm interested in finding out, especially after driving it a bit.

[-Ray-]

Great thread.