Car died at VIR on monday. Time to start the LSx project
#176
Rotary Freak
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Thanks Fritz. I'm hoping to have it buttoned up by the fall. I don't have a lot of time lately to actually wrench on it :-/ I have at least purchased all the big ticket parts now, only the ECM and odds and ends are left now, so it's basically carving out the time and getting the help at my house to get it done now.
#178
I drove my LS1 FD from Orlando to VIR, did 327 miles on track, and drove home I plan on doing it again dec 3-4 for chin motorsports. The dark side is F'n awesome! Accusump is a must. that track is so awesome, I can't wait to get back there.
#180
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Let me know how long you get away with that in your LS1
Last time I got about 7,000 track miles. Typical race piston engine of any sort needs a rebuild at least every other year with half those miles.
PS Before the flames start I have the utmost respect for all LSX engines but the rotary really does also command some respect One engine is just ten times easier to set up.
#183
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big update. Hauled the car and everything out to Bill Gammon's place this weekend.
This is where the weekend started on Thursday morning. Me trying to lad everything into my truck by myself. First obstacle was trying to get the engine and pallet high enough to go into my truck.
After some playing around with the chain lengths and the load leveler, i got it in the truck.
Next i had to use a come a long to get the car in the trailer. This actually didn't take nearly as long as I thought it might.
My rear view for the drive to Charleston. The car is back there but you can't see it in the pic.
The drive started out great, but then it started raining/sleeting like crazy in the mountains. That was not a fun drive. Finally got into town around 8:30. Took 5.5 hours to do the 300 mile drive, i averaged 15mpg in the dmax.
At the shop, about to unload the car.
After we unloaded everything, we had some beers and discussed what i had and what i didn't have, and the plan for the weekend. Basically our goal was to get the engine and transmission in the car.
This is standard decoration at my friend's house. I approve.
9am Saturday Morning. Engine off the pallet and back on a stand.
Thursday night we decided that even though I am installing an accusump, a baffle tray would be a good idea, and nearly impossible to install once the engine is in the car. So I ordered one friday morning and had it overnighted. What a nice piece of kit.
This is where the weekend started on Thursday morning. Me trying to lad everything into my truck by myself. First obstacle was trying to get the engine and pallet high enough to go into my truck.
After some playing around with the chain lengths and the load leveler, i got it in the truck.
Next i had to use a come a long to get the car in the trailer. This actually didn't take nearly as long as I thought it might.
My rear view for the drive to Charleston. The car is back there but you can't see it in the pic.
The drive started out great, but then it started raining/sleeting like crazy in the mountains. That was not a fun drive. Finally got into town around 8:30. Took 5.5 hours to do the 300 mile drive, i averaged 15mpg in the dmax.
At the shop, about to unload the car.
After we unloaded everything, we had some beers and discussed what i had and what i didn't have, and the plan for the weekend. Basically our goal was to get the engine and transmission in the car.
This is standard decoration at my friend's house. I approve.
9am Saturday Morning. Engine off the pallet and back on a stand.
Thursday night we decided that even though I am installing an accusump, a baffle tray would be a good idea, and nearly impossible to install once the engine is in the car. So I ordered one friday morning and had it overnighted. What a nice piece of kit.
#184
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Next, we decided to paint the engine since bare aluminum looks so dingy.
Then we cleaned up the engine bay a bit. Still a lot of stuff in there, but it is much cleaner now.
A Boss 302 Laguna Seca then showed up to supervise.
SOON
Oil pan off for painting and baffle install. The Bottom end looks really good.
We decided to test fit an old dead block to get the engine pedestal location right, and also determine firewall clearance with the manifold.
bump steer correction kit had the new tire rod ends rubbing the inside of the stock wheels, so my friend Bill was kind enough to loan me some CCWs.
#185
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Sunday started with installing the new clutch master cylinder and running the wiring harness through the firewall. Both jobs were major pains. Didn't get a pic of the new clutch MC
bolting up the fidanza lightweight flywheel
Pressure plate and LS7 Clutch. Of course at this point we realized the bag of bolts that came with the transmission had nothing to attach the pressure plate to the flywheel. Amazingly i found the proper bolts at auto zone.
Engine and transmission together for the first time.
Everyone present signed the bell housing. I love this picture.
It is time to stop ******* around and stuff this thing in.
At this point, we had to remove the leveler and the rear mount points for the chains. We got a floor jack underneath the tail of the transmission to hold it, then we were able to shimmy the engine into place on the mounts.
Shifter almost in place. Trans was on a stand here and the brace being hooked up. It sits higher than this now.
#188
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just scored a rear 99 brake kit from Fritz - thanks man. Looking at an outlaw kit in the for sale forum that I'm hoping to pick up too.
Also about to pull the trigger on a set of CCW classics in 17x9 or 17x9.5. I'm hoping they can source some RA1s in stock somewhere and cut me a deal on a package.
Also about to pull the trigger on a set of CCW classics in 17x9 or 17x9.5. I'm hoping they can source some RA1s in stock somewhere and cut me a deal on a package.
#191
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just scored a rear 99 brake kit from Fritz - thanks man. Looking at an outlaw kit in the for sale forum that I'm hoping to pick up too.
Also about to pull the trigger on a set of CCW classics in 17x9 or 17x9.5. I'm hoping they can source some RA1s in stock somewhere and cut me a deal on a package.
Also about to pull the trigger on a set of CCW classics in 17x9 or 17x9.5. I'm hoping they can source some RA1s in stock somewhere and cut me a deal on a package.
Looking good and hopefully I'll see you soon at the track
PS Thanks for snagging the brakes from me
#193
needs more track time
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just scored a rear 99 brake kit from Fritz - thanks man. Looking at an outlaw kit in the for sale forum that I'm hoping to pick up too.
Also about to pull the trigger on a set of CCW classics in 17x9 or 17x9.5. I'm hoping they can source some RA1s in stock somewhere and cut me a deal on a package.
Also about to pull the trigger on a set of CCW classics in 17x9 or 17x9.5. I'm hoping they can source some RA1s in stock somewhere and cut me a deal on a package.
On the east coast, Phil's Tire Service sells RA1 for the racers. They are also a dealer in D-force wheels which are nice and light and durable.
http://philstireservice.com/
http://philstireservice.com/pages/wh...7-18-wheel.htm
I have some Hawk HT10 pads that I won't be using anytime soon if you are looking.
Last edited by gracer7-rx7; 01-18-12 at 11:14 PM.
#194
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Thanks for the link man. I ended up going 17x10 all around and NT01s @ 275/40. John at CCW tried to get me to go 17x12 with 315 rubber in the rear, but I just don't want to go THAT far into the car to cut the rear fenders to put flares on right now. If i get out there and find i need more rear grip I may go that route in the future, but for right now I'm going to feel it out with the 275 rubber.
#195
Sua Sponte
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That's what I was going to reccommend as those fit with no modifications. You can also fit the 315's with some aggressive fender rolling/stretching and some slight modifciations to the trailing arms. The 18's have a little more clearance on the inside than the 17's. I think you'll be fine with what you have... just a little throttle control/modulation
#196
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That's what I was going to reccommend as those fit with no modifications. You can also fit the 315's with some aggressive fender rolling/stretching and some slight modifciations to the trailing arms. The 18's have a little more clearance on the inside than the 17's. I think you'll be fine with what you have... just a little throttle control/modulation
As another update, thanks once again to Fritz for hooking me up with a Stoptech front brake kit biased for the rears he already sold me.
#198
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Picked up a pair of Evo 2 plus seats. I don't really need the extra room, but you never know when I might blow up and gain a lot of weight lol. I also wanted a roomier seat for passengers.
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Well I have a Prodrive by Sparco seat in the car now, stock passenger seat. I really was looking for just a passenger seat and this deal on the pair came up. I still haven't decided if I'm going to swap out my prodrive for one of these EVO 2 Plus seats or not.