Mikelly

I'm "trying" to provide perspective here to add a little clarity on the whole HP numbers discussion... I work with a tuner and his VERY LOW NUMBERS dyno when I tune my car. My last motor configuration in the zcar had a 450HP 383 stroker that would turn 415 to the wheels all day long on a traditional dynojet drum. On Evan's Superflow dyno the motor would ONLY show 323hp. It had a load applied to it and it was an eddy current dyno. So I knew going in that people would poopoo the numbers. Yet data logs showed the motor was making very strong power and that was all we needed to start "really" dialing the car in for our intended purposes. What were they? How much can we compress the time it takes to get from 2000 RPM to 6000RPMs. Why? That's where my roadrace application would live. When we started tuning, we had the motor running well over 9 seconds from within that range. When we were done, we were down into the low 6 second range. Now think about that for a moment. every time I brake and get the car going into the corner, I'm low on RPM, right? Going out of a corner and getting the car "back up to speed" is where roadraces are won. In a 30 minute sprint imagine how much that 3 seconds of compressed RPM ZONE gets me over not tuning with the proper components? How this applies to the header power discussion is simple. Everything you do to remove the restrictions will aid in the overall efficiency. 20 HP doesn't seem like a lot, until it is. I'm hoping the addition of 1 3/4 LTs to my 403 stroker LS3 will have the same desired effect, based on all the components in the package. Enjoy!

Not to mention the fact that each component added should build on the previous. Induction, fuel, air intake and tuning will all benefit and raise the threshold from there... "not really impressive" if you're "not looking at the bigger picture". Mike

As compared to what? Every LS1/2/3/6 build I've ever seen has gained in that range and not much more. I don't get when people make these kinds of posts because over and over and over in a repeatable combination, headers on these motors new about 20-25 hp depending on the dyno. I got the same numbers when I did the same on my C5 Vette motors, TWICE. Mike

Back on PAGE NINE the rear fender cuts are illustrated if you want to show them to your body guy. Mike

Mounted up the pan and some lines...

$3105 invested total in the drysump for my motor... Wonder what most guys end up spending on their wetsump oil systems? My last setup included a Mellings blueprinted pump, ARP pump shaft, Canton Accusump, ECV, Lines, Oil Pan, crank scraper, windage tray, dipstick and misc. parts! Mike

Some progress with my drysump system... We had to flip the sump on the ARE pan to clear the header on the passenger side... Fortunately the windage tray in the bottom of the pan will aid in controlling the drain drag from the crank... And I went ahead and ripped appart the BulterBuilt drysump tank and cleaned it out... And I went ahead and made up some lines and mounted the oil pan...

This will come as no surprise, but after an MBRP downpipe, CXracing intercooler kit, including the hard piping, and a COBB Access Port, this car is officially fast. I am so impressed with what a 2.0L with 23psi boost can perform!!!

Got the LS Drysump pan back from being modified to clear the headers... Basically we flipped the sump 180 degrees to clear the header on the passenger side. Now the lines will be extremely short since the pump is also on the drivers side. Mike

Matt, lets plan on that... I would love to come hang with you guys are the WM!!!

Matt called me the other night and I was sick as a dog, but didn't want to say "Hey I feel like ass can we talk later?" because I haven't heard from him in so long... Man those things look sooooo nice... Really can't wait to see the newly transformed machine!!

... And I've already got a host of parts on order... Cobb AP V3, MBRP dp, and CXR intercooler kit with hard piping, along with a stronger rear motor mount. Three weeks in, totally digging this car. Mike

The Mustang was great but a big car, and not as practical as I really needed. So I started thinking about something with 5 doors, sporty, and then of course fun to drive, but possible fuel efficiency when nnot being a hooligan. So the search began. I considered the Volvo C30 Type R, The VW GTi, The Mazda Speed3, and the Ford Focus ST. No comparison.... The Focus ST that Ford has put together is pretty amazing. It handles so well, and brakes as good as any track car I have owned. Ergonomics of the interior, the exterior, and I managed 33.4MPG on my overnight demo of the car. If you get a chance, go drive one!!

Wheels on mine are CCW 18X11.5 and 10.0 The tires on the rear are currently 295-30-18 and 275-40-18! Mike

Stance you say?

Going with a FAST setup? Mike

Not a whole lot going on lately with the bitter cold. I did manage to drop my oil pan off with EB3 motorsports to get the clearance issues resolved. Evan is going to cut the bottom of the sump off, flip it around and have the lines dump out on the driver's side, approximately 8 inches from the pump fittings. This will actually be a far better, and shorter option with zero issues associated with line routing. Heat on the lines will be significantly reduced as well. I also got my flywheel in, and was given a clutch kit to work with by a good friend of mine. Until the motor is in and all other associated support pieces are working properly, I'll be using this Kiesler bellhousing, a Fidanza lightweight aluminum flywheel and Spec Stage 3 clutch. It should be sufficient for the first phase of debugging. I'll eventually move to the quicktime setup everyone else is using. Mike

Happy New Year Matt!!

Been a slow few days since the holidays hit... I haven't been able to weld up the mounts because my welder died. I'll have to replace that this weekend before I can move forward. On the "life" side, I managed to trade the 2012 Mustang GT in on a 2013 Focus ST and I am TICKLED with the performance and braking of this little turbo 4banger... Not to mention the killer MPG when driving it like a normal commuter box. Happy New Year Gang!! Mike

Passenger side upper mount....

Guys, Due to dry sump mounting, I lost the lower left mount position. I need to be able to mount the alternator high to the right side of the motor. My ONLY drive sources are the alternator, crank and waterpump. Any ideas or mount/alrenator combos that are already in use would be helpful, and yes I searched... Mike

Pete Agapoglu has a solution for TC issues... Hope to get it resolved soon... sorry about the scrapes on the ceramic... Mike

Pics from yesterday's test fit... Drivers side motor mount location: Passenger side Mount location: So obviously the motor is coming back out. I need to tidy up the fuel line routing, I need to clean up the chassis/underside, and ther is some welding I'd like to do in a few areas... Anyway, it was good to get to see where the motor mounts will need to be welded in, and how everything will sit. Really happy with the placement of the Dirty Dingo motor mounts. Will make plates and weld that all up as well... Hope to have the motor permanently in soon.

Pics of mine installed... I installed with my motor, but this is only the second test fit... Steering rod was NOT removed, but I did have to trim the passenger side TC rod and surounding bucket for it.

Big day for me and the zcar today. The motor and trans fit in well on the second testfit. I will post a lot of pics tomorrow but you can see pics posted on Facebook at Mike's Hobby Shop.