Evolving:

 

Can't wait to see this baby runin

 

Nor can I!

So I had to put together a list of relevant mods for a follow up article on the car for an interview with Brian Driggs of GearBox Magazine and for the WannaGOFAST Facebook page now that it is registered for the Chicago Half-Mile Shootout in June.. I have to say it was longer than I remember.. and I'm confident thats not everything in the car.

Here's what we came up with:

That's not even including stuff like the diffusers, parachute, kill switch lever, and charge terminals in the rear bumper cover, we have added hood pins, both wastegates and the exhaust now go through the hood, there has been some aerowork being done to the front bumper, the passenger side headlight is now a scoop directly to the turbo, etc

We got some more work done on the head-light intake scoop.. space constraints have required a bit of alteration to the original design but this will still accomplish what we need. Still just the rough copy. Final will be cleaned, sanded and molded leaving no panel gaps and painted hammered black.

Still being mocked up for clean fit

 

Damn DSM that's a lot moola spent on that car , I was thinking to take a trip out to the Midwest for a vacation this year around that time man maybe ill see the car in action

 

Almost sorted out this intake pipe..



Now just need to finish the rubber sealing, match the end pieces with the fender and then all the piping, intake and exhaust is being sent for ceramic coating! The intake pipe I think will end up coated black, and the downpipe and wastegate dumps will be getting this jet hot type coating. Looks like it glows.

 

Looking EPIC as usual!.... FYI I just gave up and had to google your latest sig... Denno if ANYTHING about this build though can be considered simple though ;D

 

Haha appreciate the kind words!

Compared to a lot of the LSR efforts.. this still has a lot of room to mature.

Some maths and a few experienced individuals are confirming that the next major step is going to be a proper cooling system.. on the order of 12 gallons of coolant capacity will be required to keep it from eating headgaskets on the long pulls.

Here's the current iteration of the scoop out of the car and without the weather stripping (probably going to split some vacuum hose to make a snug tight seal)

 

It's not the prettiest thing ever, and there are more than a few compromises from a flow standpoint.. but we are running out of space and I don't feel like investing almost 1k into an intake pipe lol

 

Lower Rad hose finally complete!


-16AN lines make the baby jesus cry.. not fun to work with. Hoping I don't have to take that off for a very long time

 

NO Joke! My hands hurt just reading that.... I've worked with high pressure hydraulic lines on the braking/height control system on old Rollers and thank said same baby jesus none of them were that big O_O!

If that doesn't hold up well.... I have no hope for those "fancy" silicone radiator hoses most people blow $$$ on LOL

 

Speaking of hydraulic lines..


Had to replace and re-bend on as it pinched/caved when trying to replace the flexible portion that runs to the caliper.

And for a street/strip car I don't mind the regular rubber/silicon hoses, but as many as I have had bust or develop a pin hole leak I'd rather not chance it on this project.

 

I will never forget a trip down the I-5 with my family as a kid. Right at the foot of the grapevine our '77 Roller developed a high pressure pinhole from the lower radiator hose... My dad let the car cool, dried it all off and wrapped it several times with good ole duct tape. We made it to LA in one piece and sourced a replacement, but man that was the first of MANY times I remember my dad busting out a MacGyver-esque repair and saving the day! His best may have been fixing a sticky valve spring in an old Bentley with a ball point pen!

Either way, here's hoping no duct tape is required on yours ;D

 

I have a couple embarrassing emergency fixes under my belt.

One of my favorites was making an 8 hour drive in one of my previous DSMs with a piece of heater hose clamped on one end to the outside of a boss on the water pipe that feeds coolant to the turbo's center section... and the other end sealed by the wodden handle from a lathe tool with a crappy worm screw clamp.

Worse.. it worked so well that I left it on for a couple months till it swelled, tore the hose flew off on the highway during a 3rd gear pull and left me in a cloud of steam.

This was then fixed the "proper" way in a CVS parking lot @ 2AM with a bolt I took out of a seat belt bracket. Of course after waiting an hour in the cold (I think it was early february) to be able to reach between the block and the turbine housing where the boss for the coolant fitting is on the pipe... topped off the coolant, burped it and went on my way.

I think I sold the car with the seat belt bolt in the water pipe.

 

Some final fitting now that the rest of my rad hoses were completed


Now even as a strictly "function over form" guy and I knew these were going to poke some when I ordered them as a necessary evil to clear the bigger brakes, knuckle/shock perch, etc.. gotta say this makes me cringe some (warning mike410b may be hospitalized upon viewing this):






Does remind me of Scott McIntyre's Auto-X car, but he has the excuse of running 275s in a car that needs tremendous lateral grip.

Now I have these tires on an 8" wheel to maximize section width. 16" diameter and 4.5 backspacing. These things just barely clear the brakes and give me about a finger and a half between tread and the spring perch.

I realize thats like the distance to the moon for some fitment folks, but this tire will be growing as the car moves along at very high speed.. how much I can only estimate for now.

Now of the Wheel Whores and Fitment Fanatics, who I am sure would love to take me down a peg.. what say you about resolving this if I decide to sell this set all together?

Mind you, a 235/60 drag slick on 15x8s is going to look like that, and I intend to get a set. But these are for the longer runs and street duty. I'm really not digging the mexi-poke/clown shoe look.

Would a 15x8 +38-40 bring that the inch or so farther back into the wheel well I would prefer leaving minimal poke?

Mind you this is in a 5x4.5 bolt and likely a drag wheel from summit/weld/cragar or similar.. Now with what size mid-100s tread wear tire to wrap and get the most section on the pavement while still clearing the the perch/knuckles even with a smaller margin?

I have some thoughts, but clearly got it wrong the first time.

It's why you'll never see me giving advice in a stance/fitment thread outside of being an instigator lol With all the other items in need of my attention I really did not spend much time on this. My usual fitting of drag slicks is the default that popped into my head.. and honestly never thought twice about it.

Ooops. haha

 

Custom rims, wheel tire packages for your ride - RIMSnTIRES.com
Should be the only resource you need to sort out your wheel and tire fitment woes! Hands down its the best comparison calculator I have found.

 

Yo ride needs moar low!

 

I really like that, and I feel like I've seen that before. Would've definitely come in handy.

About spit coffee all over my monitor when I read that LOL

Someone came into the shop and said that non-ironically to boot.

 

I DID cough up coffee reading that ::ROFL::

 

Alright, now back to the fun stuff! Hood is getting cut up today for the hood pins, waste gate dumps and the turbine discharge pipe:




The list is getting shorter in a hurry.. Hopefully going to sort out the Bezels for the pipes through the hood as well today. Thinking black would look good and hide some of the soot. Plenty will end up on the hood/windshield though.

 

Jesus she coming along good bro can wait to see some videos of her in action