odurandina

thanks. no track stuff in my future.... 475 at the wheels. yep, that would be nice, but look how long it took Tony to get to 450.... just getting to 430 at the wheels would be incredible... but i want to run a very mild cam. so this means i need to go past 400 c.i. or fail... i like your supercharged truck motor idea... but i'm pretty much in love with the appearance and simplicity of the n/a LS layout w/ that big fat black intake... my goal has been a car that could reach like 192~196 mph on a long pass on a closed road course like Sandhills or the Silver State or some empty part of interstate in the Dakotas. the only way i can do that is with a (mildly cammed) LS3 with more some overbore and more stroke.... or if i get something at a bargain like this LS2, then i would need to add nitrous to get past about 185 mph. i'm not really interested in adding nitrous... that being said, the car would still be a pleasure to drive with the LS2.

eclou

I think it was Car Craft that took a junkyard LM7 and put an eBay turbo kit on it and got something like 1000 whp. Amazing

95ONE

The motor is finally in its final position. I can now build everything else around it. The project will now go as fast as i can spend money.. which isn't that fast anymore. But a large milestone in the project none the less. This actually represents cresting the large project "hill" The other side is in sight. Here is a pic of how far back and down the motor actually is. It exaggerates its position, but it is pretty far back and low. Compare the valve cover with the shock tower. The second picture shows just how much room I have in front. Unlimited space for the radiator now.

TonyG

First off.... let me say that the effort to move the engine back is bad-***..... great job. Wish I had someone local to me that could do the job properly. Not sure how you handled the torque tube situation resulting from moving the engine back, but I'm sure it's done right. Yeah.... that's what I'm talking about!

Second... While not singing the praises... the front end tubular structure is nice. I'm just not sure what the benefit would be in terms of cost/benefit ratio? I could see if you did it from the firewall forward... then there would be tremendous advantages in terms of suspension options. But from the strut forward, I'm not sure what you stand to gain. Seems like a lot of work for minimal gain.

TonyG

95ONE

THANK YOU!

And you are certainly correct. I did not build out that front end. I bought it and the fiberglass front end from a Gentleman who bought his car from a team that ran in, I THINK, the Grand Am GT series. It was a very nice piece. This tube frame is what he pulled off the original car. I just adapted it to my car. There is still a lot of adapting left with the fiberglass.

The torque tube is a complete custom aluminum piece that is still in the works. I couldn't really move on until this point anyway. I now have hard measurements to cut the tube. Much attention to squareness will be given. I will have to get a drive shaft shop re cut the splines and re harden them.

Here is a pic of the front end I purchased. And some of the torque tube

odurandina

holy ****.

Paulyy

Looks like you've got room for a GT4202

Only kidding, but nice work. very impressive.

95ONE

ROFL odurandina.
Thank you very much Paulyy.
I put so much work into this thing. It almost never shows what has gone into it. I spent a full, not counting breaks or internet study etc., 8 working hours on the car this weekend. Nothing got installed or completed. But much will move forward next time I'm in there. I did a ton of Clutch work this weekend getting it all to play nice. It's not there yet. Last half of the torque tube work/project is finally going forward. The pic below is of the adapter plate I had made for the Tilton Bell housing. I don't have it yet,but will next week. I gave a guy some specs and he cut it out for me. Pretty exciting as far as that project goes.

The aluminum Dash plate I'm making took quite a while to make. Its actually the backbone of that dash in the picture above. It's just a Dash COVER that I'm using as a 1lb Dash that will look and function just like a real one, but with Strategic mounting points to give it a "strong" feel.

A fiberglass one would have been faster. LOL. but I can't stop doing what I've always done and go out of my way to save a few lbs. It doubles as a quick release type dash to get to wires behind it. I will detail it out later. Not yet.

ausgeflippt951

Glad to see that even a talented fabricator such as yourself uses tools from Harbor Freight...

(talkin' about the calipers)


Looks awesome. The great thing about not paying any attention to this thread until now is that I got to fast forward through the last 8 months in one fell swoop! Only wish it would've been completed by now. :-P

Looking forward to it.

95ONE

I have the expensive ones too, (keep them locked in the nice tool box ) but I love my Harbor freight bash and trash tools. They do the job for most everything I do. I rarely use the good stuff anymore. My bottom end build was a rare occasion to use them.

ausgeflippt951

Hey I hear you. My background is partly in manufacturing and materials processing, so I try to purchase tools where tolerance or lower-quality materials are less of an issue. Things like torque wrenches, power tools, etc are things where I buy the good stuff. Things like punches, hammers, screwdrivers, etc: Harbor Freight here I come!

My hotel is actually immediately across the street from a HF so each week I try to figure out another tool/thing I need...two weeks ago I bought another magnetic bolt tray and wheel chocks.

333pg333

This looks great Bruce! I know you're running that 1 piece front clip so it looks to be very convenient now to work on the car in the shop and at the track. It will be interesting to see your corner balance figures when you're done? Damn this car is going to be so fast. Have you considered doing some serious underbody stuff while you're at this point? Recessed exhaust up into floorpan. Flat underbody with diffuser channels starting way early. You're running a custom fuel cell, yes?

95ONE

THank YOU! I can't see removing the whole front end and unbolting the motor to take longer than 30 minutes. Single fuel line going to car will be dry quick connect with no spillage. Coolant/oil lines will be A/N. Dzus fasteners on almost everything up front. So hopefully it works well.

I'm excited to to see the corner balance numbers. I am also curious. Everything is best guess right now. I will have 2 numbers. me in it, me not in it.

The Exhaust work is already starting. i will have some floor pan changes made to accommodate the large collectors, and small channels near the front to go from the collectors to the center, but that is the extent. I will be adding flat panels, but not extensively. I have yet to figure out how I will be incorporating my current diffuser to the underbody. It will truly be one of the very last things installed.

I am a huge fan of the stock fuel cell. That thing is incredibly light, fits well and is sumped from the factory. I just can't ask for more. I had ZERO issues last 3 times out. i ran it down to "E" every time. I don't foresee any future problems, but my crystal ball doesn't always work. Hopefully I hit higher than 1.1-1.2Gs (constant, peak is always higher) I was getting last time out and I might find a swirl pot may be needed. But until then, I'm going to stick with the old stocker.

333pg333

Oh you'll hit way higher than 1.2Gs peak. Constant...depends on too many things of course. Where would you put a swirl pot if you did go this route?

disasterman

I like that set up, very close to mine.