I'll use this to post my final review and videos with the GTM TSC kit. These vids are also posted later in my journal.
During the building phase, it was borderline infuriating getting updates from GTM. They did cut me a sweet deal on the kit, and was only 30 days late for my time hack. Which looking back in retrospect is an act of God. They shipped all my parts I sold to the people who bought them, and packeged it really well. They even cleaned up my oil cooler for resale after one sale fell through because it looked like hell. They allowed me to make payments at my convienience (as long as it was paid up by delivery), so I sent them a mortgage sized check bi-weekly. When picking up the car, I was there for two days and roughly 8 hours each day waiting. That was annoying and my Wife was running low on patience.
The craftsmanship on the kit though is superb. Everything fits so tight, it's a miracle everything made it in. The intercoolers are millimeters behind the crash bar, the oil coolers barely fit between the intercoolers and the bumper. The SC oil coolers sit behind the fangs and the filters are right there too. The radiator, fans and shroud are b!tchen and look boss in the engine bay. I got a good first hand look of the oil pans and the baffling system. I'm happy to have it in my car. It was an inexpensive upgrade.
They installed my sways, rotors, lines, pads, clutch, flywheel, and CSC. Everything fit perfectly and they did an outstanding job with it. They warned me about the clutch being on the ragged edge. I wasn't sure if Sam was trying to upsell me or not so I took my chances. Well, the clutch gets soft when I'm beating on it, especially in the heat. They also shopped around to find the perfect meth tank to install in the hatch. I'm glad they went with what they did. It's large, and all I need to do is cut out the carpet for everything to fit flush (the neck and cap will stick out). I should also mention that they finally unf@cked my O2 sensors. They discovered the wiring problem, the pre cats in the post cat location, and of course the melted chaos. Unfortunately for me, they definitely got their money to diagnose and fix it. I will be fair and say they cut me a deal on the hours.
I consider myself fortunate to have the experience I had with them go well (for the most part). All the parts were already there, but they are too busy for their own good. Every lift has a car, and the floorspace is filled with more cars. Because of this, they didn't start tearing into my car until March (it was picked up and delived at the beginning of December). They ran two initial dyno tests on their dynojet and then their new Mustang dyno. As jobs took priority, mine went into the backburner, but they never told me whether it was on hold or not. That was irritating. If there isn't going to be any meaningful progress, tell me so I'm not expecting it. I had second thoughts about the whole thing a few times, especially after seeing the final bill and how much I dumped into it.
I will give props to Sam for working so much on his broken leg. That whole thing became a downward spiral as most of us know to his health. Those health issues are no excuse for customer service that could use some major improvement, but I noticed and appreciate that. When I went to leave the first time, it was discovered a relay had gone bad to my rear tail lights. I called them and drove back. I was also concerned about some excessive squeaking. They replaced a pulley, the belt, and fixed the relay free of charge. They also topped off my meth and gave me almost an entire gallon for free. When my car destroyed a pulley and belt, Sam didn't hesitate to pick up the car on his dime and fix it. There was no arguing, I sent pics, an email and a call. When waiting at GTM, I had great conversations with nearly all of the GTM staff about opinions, the forum, projects, future products, etc. It was pretty awesome learning about things before they put out the word. So cudos for that as well.
For all the communication problems, the waiting, the money, it all faded when I was able to hear her for the first time. They kept telling me how great it sounded. I heard a familiar tone on the rollers when they strapped her down, but it sounded meaner, deeper down low, sweeter mids, and a howl that would make a wolf feel sheepish. The test drive was a revelation. The car wasn't finished, and looked it, but the power was just so smooth and easy. It was exactly what I had in mind when going with this kit. My Wife even got in on the test drive and it sold every penny I spent on the car to her. It even sold her the idea of getting meth installed. Now a big negative for me is that when I delivered the car to them, it was clean as a whistle. When I got it back, it was dirty as hell, so dirty I had to clean the windshield three times to be able to drive home. It's a small thing that goes a long way. Spend the f@cking money and clean your customers car when you deliver it. This was the same thing when I destroyed the belt. It was returned dirty with belt particles in the engine bay. I'm just now scheduling an appointment to get the engine bay detailed, the car clayed, polished, buffed, and waxed from top to bottom. I'm so busy, I can't even clean my own damn car.
In closing, I'm aware of GTM's shortcomings and their strengths. I'm completely satisfied after having the car for 8 months, and 60/40 with my personal dealings with GTM over the course of a year. If I were to build my motor by choice, or because I killed it, I would definitely stil consider them.