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I've been keeping this project(and myself) out of the forums for a little while now. Since I'm actually into the building stage of things, and at a point where some potentially interesting things might happen, I've decided to go ahead and post it up! Hopefully everyone gets a kick out of it, I know I'm having fun building it, and learning a ton more about cars in general. Up to this point(and continuing on, although I expect to update here more frequently), everything can be found here where I've been keeping track of things mostly for myself: http://jamesbuildsacar.wordpress.com/ A quick recap for everyone who doesn't want to read all that: The project is a Brunton Auto Stalker Classic R kit car, which is made to look like a Lotus 7. The engine is an LS3 stroker I've been building as much myself as possible. 4.00" stroke, 4.065" bore, 11.2:1 compression, forged crankshaft and connecting rods, SRP pistons(which are made by JE pistons), which brings this to a 418ci LS3 stroker, basically. The heads are stock LS3 heads I got used, with double valve springs in them that I will most likely replace with single beehives since I plan on lighter valves also. I have 1.8:1 ratio Yella Terra rockers to increase valve side lift and stabilize the valvetrain a bit, and I'm planning on running around a .595 lift cam at 114 LSA, which will come out to roughly 0.630 valve lift with the rockers, but have not completely decided since I'm new to camming engines. So if anyone wants to advise me on that, I'm open to listening. .630 might be a bit much for single springs as well. I picked this particular kit because it has a suspension set up I like(double wishbone, adjustable pushrod to inboard coilover), clears relatively wide tires more easily than a lot of 7 kits(17x10 street wheels), is lightweight at roughly 1450lbs, and fits an LS motor. Originally I spent a lot of time trying to find an F20c based kit, but nothing I found made me particularly happy, and then I would've had to go forced induction to get the power I wanted. Revelations fucked around with this message at 07:58 on Nov 25, 2013 |
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Nov 25, 2013 06:58
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ssjonizuka posted:Interesting kit. What level did you get? I didn't see it mentioned on the blog. Do they supply a basic wiring harness too, or is that up to you? I got the level 3. It does come with wiring, and the level 3 also comes with the GM crate ECM, so I should be good there except that my engine is not stock, and to be safe I will have to fire it up for the first time at a tuning shop.
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Nov 25, 2013 17:13
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Fucknag posted:They're almost entirely unrelated. Stiffer springs are really only useful at really high RPM (and it's an OHV motor so the pushrods limit that anyway); running stiffer than necessary valve springs doesn't provide any benefit if you're not getting float, and produces extra drag on the valvetrain, which saps horsepower. Right. I would prefer to run the lighter single springs if possible, which should reduce the strain on the rockers, pushrods, and everything else valve train related, if I safely can.
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Nov 25, 2013 21:35
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jamal posted:You're going to die. Most likely. Want to sell me seats and harnesses? You still in that business?
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Nov 25, 2013 22:10
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McTinkerson posted:With 600 hp crank, what kind of tire width do you have planned? Do you have any downforce plans to aid traction? For street tires I'll have 275mm R888s. For track tires I'll have 13x10 steelies with 10" slicks. Most people use a wing mounted above the windshield for downforce on these, but I'm not sure that is what I'll do. For now I'm not too worried about it, something to worry about after this thing runs. Detroit Q. Spider posted:It's a drop-top so probably not too far off. Maybe 160? IDK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkvZRFXndeo Little more than 160 seems possible, looks scary. IOwnCalculus posted:Speaking of which, so I don't derail this too badly, what are you going to do for a gearbox? Technically a stock T-56 won't live with this power, but you are running half the weight it was meant to deal with. TR-6060? Magnum T-56? Plan is a T-56 Magnum, and a CTS-V diff with the shortest gearing I can possibly find.
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Nov 26, 2013 07:57
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Ugh, main cap side bolts and rocker arm bolts won't arrive until December 6. Anybody know what horrible things may happen if I turn the engine over and continue working on the pistons without those side bolts torqued?
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Nov 27, 2013 02:19
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Raluek posted:I'm... a bit worried about your brake situation if you're able to run 13" steelies. I realize the car is light and all, but that's really not a lot of brake. It'll have 12.75" rotors like mopox said, for street use. With the steelies I get 11" I think, need to double check. At any rate, it is more brake than my lotus had, and I never faded those. I am more worried about high speed stability due to lack of aerodynamics than braking, as a safety issue.
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Nov 27, 2013 05:36
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jamal posted:Do you have shocks for this yet? I used to help out a guy who went from jrz triples to penskes and he might still have them and they might fit. Yup, I have GAZ shocks already. Haven't looked at them too closely yet, they came with the kit.
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Nov 29, 2013 04:29
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Saga posted:I looked briefly at their website and I guess the kit mfg. does actually intend people to put 'vette engines in these. Have you driven a demonstrator OP? If I were you I would want to be fairly sure this thing will actually move forward and not just rapidly in very small circles. Also that it doesn't feature the handling characteristics of a first generation Viper. I haven't driven one, no. I talked to other builders before buying though. I know what I am getting into, and even if I wanted something slower there is nothing I could do except start over with a new engine, which would be silly.
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Dec 1, 2013 19:41
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Minor engine update today. Spent a few hours this weekend filing rings down, electric ring file makes this about a 20 minute process per cylinder instead of over an hour like before, so it was more tolerable. Here is a picture of some rings filed and bagged up for use: Today I started putting pistons in cylinders, which sucks quite a bit using this band style ring clamp I've got. It tends to shift around as you press the cylinder in, causing a ring to occasionally pop out and requiring you to re-clamp everything. I got the first 4 in, and was on pace to get all 8 done before the sun went down. But then I opened one of my rod bearing boxes and discovered this:  The lower bearing surface is pitted in a couple places, so I can't use this bearing. Fortunately they are about $9 and amazon sells them so I'll have another one this week. Probably try and get a cone style ring compressor also, if I can get one for my slightly odd bore size, just to save myself the pain of dealing with the band one more. Since I still had 3 good bearings, I went ahead and put cylinders 5 and 6 together before calling it quits for the night.  In other news, Evil Genius Racing is going to be helping me out with the front half of the roll cage. I just need to get the car out to them so they can have a look and start designing. Other cool things starting to happen, I think the car actually has a plan now, but I need to wait until I have it locked in before getting carried away there.
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Dec 16, 2013 02:06
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Added a short block update over on the blog site tonight. Thankfully was able to finish the short block, with the tapered ring compressor things were much easier.  Car is also now at Evil Genius Racing getting a roll cage, and a little bit of work done to the rear end to change the angle of forces in event of a rear impact. It'll also come back powder coated, so I'll be able to put the suspension together once I get it back as well. Decided to go ahead and get some pictures of some of the other kit components while in this bit of a lull, so here we go: GAZ gold adjustable shocks with coilover perches/springs:  Driveshaft and aluminum fuel tank(which will most likely get turned into a fuel cell, or replaced with one):  The Noise:  Custom axles:  Wilwood prop valve, master cylinder kit, and dynalite calipers, with stainless steel lines:  Wheel hubs, ready for speed sensors:  Now I need to find a cam and some pushrods, and get the heads on this engine.
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Dec 22, 2013 04:29
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BoostCreep posted:I'm considering switching to an automatic transmission for my Bricklin, which means I'll have a brand new T-56 Magnum and Diamond Clutch kit rated to 700ft lbs. for sale soon. Awesome. I already have a clutch but it is a stock one. Send me a PM with more details?
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Dec 22, 2013 17:56
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Z3n posted:If you're still in CA...how are you planning on getting this thing street legal? Ice dreamed of doing a kit car for ages and will get around to it once I kick this loving motorcycle habit I have. Living vicariously through this thread until then Standing in line at the DMV January 2 trying to get an SB100. Keeping my fingers crossed!
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Dec 29, 2013 03:30
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Comrade Flynn posted:No reason to wait in line now. I got the SB100 for the Noble in July and they still had plenty left. It's not like the old days. Thank God for that, since I haven't managed to get all the paperwork copied yet. Spent a bunch of time today painting just the fenders/wheel covers/whatever they are called. Mostly for lack of anything else productive I can do on the car at the moment, while engine parts are in transit and the frame is still at the shop. Pictures/words over on the blog for anyone interested in details on that. Also unwrapped the steering rack:  And the ECM and engine harness: 
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Jan 1, 2014 04:01
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Got my SB100 today, and a 3 month moving permit! Still a bit of work to do to finish the registration process more permanently, once it is assembled, but it has a smog exempt status. 4 hours at the DMV sorting out paperwork, glad that part is over. I get to do most of it again once it is road worthy since it needs an inspection by the CHP before I can finalize everything.
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Jan 3, 2014 07:18
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Help me with my paint, AI. Today I wet sanded one of the wheel flares to try and smooth it out, ended up being best if I started with 400, then 600, 1000, and finally 2000 grit. Got it to be very smooth, but I'm not sure if I like it more this way. It loses a lot of the clarity/depth of the clear coat, but that may be because my polishing has been inadequate so far? I did this one by hand, I think tomorrow I may pick up a double action buffer and see if that improves the situation at all. Going over the pieces this closely I notice a handful of issues on each one, in addition to the actual fiberglass touch ups I'll need to eventually do. These are all definitely getting resprayed at a later point in life, so it is a good learning experience. I also think if I buff it out any more it will end up being more like a gloss finish than the satin was meant to be originally. Anyways, here is a shot of the one I worked on today next to an untouched counterpart. Suggestions?
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Jan 5, 2014 02:53
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Mostly a bump update here to keep this from going all archives on me. Most of the car is at Evil Genius Racing getting worked on and powder coated still, I will be able to go out there and get it in the next few weeks I hope. I bought a Porter Cable buffer to work on the painting, but got a notice from my HOA that "repairing or restoring motor vehicles" is against the rules, so I'm chilling out on the obvious things like having a garage paint tent. While that is going on, I'm looking into alternative workspaces and whatever else to prevent this from becoming a bigger issue. Aside from that, I've done a bit more engine work by getting the (nice, mild)cam:   All lubed up:  And in the block:  I also have a stack of engine parts, but unfortunately discovered that my front engine cover kit did not come with a cam thrust plate. So I've ordered that, along with an oil pan, windage tray, pickup, and dipstick. The only remaining engine component I need(as far as I currently am aware) is a front accessory/belt system to drive the water pump and alternator. Looking to have a more substantial update in the next week or two with a whole lot more work done on that engine.
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Jan 27, 2014 01:47
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Hog Obituary posted:oh man, I thought the whole reason you lived out in the 'burbs was so you could have a place to work on poo poo. It's a private enclosed garage right? I assume one of your nosy neighbors ratted you out? I can only assume so. For now I'm keeping the garage door closed while I work on things, but that means less on the aerosol solvents and other things. Also got more light in there so I can do that. I'm still debating my ultimate response to this. No reason for me to pay what I do in rent if I can't use my space, especially if I end up renting a workshop somewhere nearby.
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Jan 27, 2014 06:38
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Another big update with plenty of pictures over on the blog: http://jamesbuildsacar.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/engine-and-roll-cage-progress/ Pretty happy with the continued progress, getting close to taking a weekend over at Evil Genius Racing to put the suspension together. Unfortunately I still don't have wheels, hopefully I can get those ordered and sent to the shop before I get out there myself, and maybe I can roll the thing onto a trailer that way. Pretty impressed with this Holley oil pan, I just hope it is enough to prevent my engine from killing itself. I suppose pulling the engine and installing an aftermarket dry sump system later isn't out of the question, for now I am too concerned about making sure things fit in the car to go messing with the external dimensions of the oil system too much. Also bummed these valve spring retainers seem to be wrong for my valves, since the notch they rest in is quite close to the top of the valve, causing the retainers themselves to be the thing that sticks up the most. Right now as the rocker arms sit, they rest mostly on the retainers, which isn't a situation I can run with at all. Time to go order some more valve spring retainers! As a side note, do you all prefer if I do a separate writeup and include the same pictures from the blog here?
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Feb 17, 2014 07:47
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Hey, sorry for the lack of updates, been a busy month for me. This Saturday I am going out to assemble the suspension, so will have a proper update then. In the mean time, the lifters are installed in the engine, and the heads are ready to go on as soon as I get some time to do that. I would absolutely have the road kill guys out to finish the car and drive it on the show, they are entertaining as hell. Might send them a mail once it is closer to the "put the engine in and go" stage, just to get a response.
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Mar 31, 2014 18:23
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Had a bit of help from JoeWagon assembling more of the engine this weekend. We put the head studs in, after cleaning up the head surface and the threads: Then we bolted some heads on:  We put assembly lube on the pushrods, dropped them in, and then installed the rocker arms:    And this morning we installed the valley cover, valve covers, and set the intake manifold on for fun:  I seem to have misplaced my oil pump shims that shipped with my double chain timing set, which offset the oil pump to clear the wider chain. So I'm unable to continue installing things until I find replacements, as well as the cap for the oil galley you can see I've taped off in all those pictures. Getting pretty close to an engine here, though!
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Apr 5, 2014 22:43
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Today I got the spark plugs, fuel injectors and fuel rails installed:  Now I'm stalled for a few days while I wait for that oil galley cap, but once I get that I should be able to do most of the seals and covers for the engine, including the oil pan.
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Apr 8, 2014 05:08
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Slightly derailing my own thread. I haven't been able to work on the engine too much this week because my daily driver 2012 Mustang GT broke. Pressure plate spring snapped, causing the clutch not to release. This is apparently my fault, and I've been fighting with both the dealership and Ford customer relations all week.  The pressure plate is specifically listed as a covered part in my warranty, so we'll see what the eventual outcome is. Right now the warranty claim is at Ford corporate for approval, but the dealership keeps claiming abuse despite that spring not being a wear item.
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Apr 12, 2014 17:47
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The Mustang is still at the dealership, Ford Corporate denied the warranty claim based on some dubious evidence, still fighting. Got the oil galley plug for the LS engine in, it was indeed a different size to the one that came in my Comp Cams engine block plug kit. Not sure what is up with that, possibly I ended up with a Gen III part in the Comp package. That happened with the ARP head studs as well, and I ended up having to buy some Gen IV ones locally in a hurry(thanks to JoeWagon for helping me find those). Now I'm dealing with the oil pump spacing to clear my double chain timing set. The timing set came with spacers, of course, but I seem to have accidentally thrown them away and can't find replacements for sale anywhere. I did cut some from sheet steel, but I'm concerned they are a little too thin and it just hurts me to think of doing that on such an otherwise high effort build. So I'm going to give Comp a call and see if they'll ship me out some replacements even though they don't list a part number.
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Apr 17, 2014 05:59
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Got a little bit more done on the engine this weekend. Oil pump is on, throttle body is temporarily on just to seal off the intake side a bit, baffle for the oil pan is in, along with the oil galley cap. Comp was kind enough to ship me out the oil pump spacers for free, so that was awesome of them. The windage tray needs some modification to fit the aftermarket oil pickup, so I'll be getting to that as soon as I get a chance, and then the oil pan should be able to go on also.
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Apr 28, 2014 17:40
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It is a bit of a pain due to the oil pump being spaced off the block by about 2mm to clear the double timing chain. I had to bend the oil pickup bracket a bit to get some more range out of it, and file the bolt hole a bit as well.
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Apr 29, 2014 00:08
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Broke the Mustang again yesterday, and recently moved to a different house(where at least I can work on things with the garage door open), so not a whole lot has been done with this project recently. The engine is mostly assembled, it only needs a front accessories, a crankshaft position sensor, and ignition coils and I should be able to start it up on a running stand. More of a bump to keep this from the archives than a real update, sorry about that.
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Jun 9, 2014 18:21
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I feel it would be unkind of me not to share this with you guys: That is a SPEC stage 2 clutch with about 800 miles on it. I'm impressed by the state of the pressure plate, considering.
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Jun 14, 2014 05:58
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jamal posted:So the OEM pressure plate failed, dealership didn't want to warranty it, revs went to BBB, forced them to fix it, they put in this Spec clutch, and now the disc has exploded, and that damaged the bellhousing? What does the spec pressure plate look like? Seems kind of odd for a broken pressure plate to not damage the bellhousing but a blown up disc, which should mostly be contained within the PP somehow did. I got reimbursed for the first clutch issue, which I fixed myself after the car sat on the dealer lot for a month. I installed this spec disc and the aluminum flywheel myself, unfortunately.
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Jun 14, 2014 21:03
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Mustang is finally put together again, which means I can focus on this thing again soon. Ford cut me a check for the repair the first time around, still talking with spec clutches about this new issue. Mostly a bump to keep this alive, really hoping for more soon, I miss making decent progress on this.
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Jul 7, 2014 05:05
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Made it out to the shop to test fit the suspension finally. They've done a great job on the cage, and reinforcing the back of the car. I got to mostly assemble the passenger side front and rear suspension, only didn't do the steering rack or rear toe link, and the rear spindles seem to be drilled incorrectly for the rear wheel hubs, so I need to get in contact with Brunton about that and see what they recommend. Some pictures: Rear suspension test fit with new cage and rear end   Front suspension test fit   If they are upside down in the thumbnails imgur just hasn't updated yet, sorry about that.
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Aug 20, 2014 17:47
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Bibendum posted:Wait, are those the final spindles/uprights or just really fancy mock-ups? Cause I don't think heim joints will work that way. At the top you'll have have lateral play and at the bottom you'll have the full suspension load, not even in shear on the threaded section of the joint. I know heim joints are strong, and I've seen them used like in the bottom on locosts before but not in a heavy monster power build. The top is one heim joint with conical spacers bolted to a giant eyelet essentially. The bottom is one heim with conical spacers and threaded upwards into the upright, and a second similar one for the tie rod. Seems to work for them, this is what they ship for all the LS powered kits.
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Aug 21, 2014 01:00
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Another day at the shop, progress is being made. Test fit all the suspension, including steering and rear toe links. Brake and clutch pedal are nearly mounted, we did a little fab work to clean up the way they mount and make them more easily serviceable in the future. I only have a couple of pictures from today, but tomorrow should be more interesting. Loose rear driver's side suspension  Rear coils and the new rear frame bars Evil Genius Racing added  Front driver's side setup, with steering arm and test fit caliper  Summit Racing, in Nevada I also made the trek out to Summit Racing to pick up the transmission, and see the shop there. More pictures of everything from that trip tomorrow, along with more progress.
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Sep 3, 2014 05:42
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BoostCreep posted:Shame, I still have this magnum t56 for sale. drat, I totally forgot you had that. Sorry about that.
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Sep 3, 2014 06:10
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Spent another day at the shop today and made a lot of good progress. Clutch and brake pedals are mounted and the seat position is measured up, but I don't really have pictures of that part of the process today. I'll just jump to the pictures. My day started like this. The collection of things from Summit Racing yesterday.  The T56 Magnum transmission. This one's ratios are 2.97, 2.10, 1.46, 1:1, .74, .50.  Super classy high technology for mounting the flywheel and clutch. I actually changed the bolts on the pressure plate after this picture but didn't take another.  Engine in car. Between the previous picture and here, I attached the bellhousing to the transmission, and then transmission to engine on the bench. The bellhousing to engine was kind of a pain in the rear end, two of the bolt holes are not cleared enough for M10 bolt heads and I had to hit the hardware store for some M10 cap screws to make that fit properly. I kept thinking I should take some pictures of the bellhousing mounted to the transmission but I didn't take the time to wash my hands and do it.    At this point we were kind of dumb and pulled the engine/transmission back out because we couldn't fit the headers on. Once we had the engine out we discovered we were just supposed to hang them on the outside of the car like you see here and they'd line up fine. We're getting pretty good at pulling and installing the engine, which is good because it will be coming back out after we finish fitting everything.   Complete drivetrain, minus the drive axles. Turns out the best way to get the diff in there is to push it into the cradle upside down and rotate it in the cradle at the back. The driveshaft itself takes a bit of work arranging to fit it between the diff and transmission. On final assembly I will probably install the driveshaft to the transmission first and install the differential after that to avoid that headache.  And there we are, today's progress. Unfortunately I'm not able to be at the shop the rest of the week, but some of the welding and other fab work can continue from this point in my absence. Hopefully I'll have some more progress relatively soon.
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Sep 4, 2014 07:23
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Got a PM asking for info, so here's the current state of the project. Haven't had a chance to get out to the shop since last post, but I had a throttle pedal sent out, and they were able to weld up the floor and mount the seats according to what we'd measured and talked about while I was there. Here's a shot of the seats/floor in the car: The throttle assembly setup sounds like it isn't awesome, so we'll be looking at a new way to mount and hook that up potentially next time I'm out there. I also expect to be hanging bodywork and making sure everything fits flush before sending the frame off to be powder coated. Hopefully I can get that handled shortly after thanksgiving.
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Nov 22, 2014 08:16
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Have made it out to the shop a handful of times since the last post, and most of the bodywork is trimmed up and mocked onto the car at this point. Light on pictures since my time at the shop is so limited, it is difficult for me to pause and get the camera out. I'll post up what I do have soon, but I wanted to get a small update out! Potentially this weekend I'll be finishing up the transmission tunnel body work, the firewall/cowl, mounting the hood, and running brake and fuel lines. At which point I should be ready to disassemble the car and send a bunch of things off for powder coating, ceramic coating, and maybe some anodizing.
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Jan 27, 2015 06:35
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