bjhines

The middle of my firewall including the lower seam with the cowl box flexed fairly easily... much easier than the slight flex between the 2 strut towers... I reinforced my cowl box and it became stiffer than the 2 strut towers...

1/16" thick!!! I think that is overkill... but the original did provide a mounting point for the throttle return springs... If you can relocate your throttle return springs then you can use the thinnest stuff you can find... I have even seen folks crush aluminum dryer hoses flat to make a 2 layer corrugated heat shield on race cars... ugly as hell but they are EFFECTIVE Don't forget to insulate your fuel lines as well... Header wrap is nice too...

I used John C's pictures as a reference for my design... as soon as I test fit the tubes.. I noticed that the tubes to the firewall did not cinch up tight at all... I could see the flex in the center firewall... Now that I have tied everything together it is MUCH STURDIER... My inside bar does not iterfere with the pedal box.. It is straight.. It also allws me to bolt int the original vent flapper and I can still hook up the cowl vent tube...

More Ideas for the center supports... There is supposed to be one more trianglular gusset on the front of my firewall brace tang... But I am getting ready to hack this one off and make it completely removable... for distributor clearance with a Chevy SB V-8 incomplete tang ...

some pics of my side reinforcement... It clears the clutch hydraulics, it ties the wheelwell, tower, firewall, and side together along with the front of the A-pillar bar... ....

as far as the clevises on the strut towers go... I would not move them... I would keep all forces passing through the center of the strut tower.. not offset inboard to the tang for the crossbar...

Mike.... I have NEVER owned a camera that would focus to less than 3.5" But that aside... the closer you are to your subject... the more distorted it will become... AND HOW THE HELL does your little camera LIGHT the subject when the lense is less than one inch away from the subject... The flash needs some distance if nothing else... The idea here is that you do not want to get any closer than you have to... The incredible resolution of a 6MP camera will allow you to take shots further out and crop them for close ups...

A few tips when you are trying to take a closeup shot... I do this kind of stuff for a living... 1: Find the close up mode button(little flower symbol).... It will focus with less distortion(fisheye).. 2: Find the minimum distance the camera will still focus(usually 5"-8").. Don't go any closer... Do not try to get any closer than this!!!! 3: Take the picture in the highest possible resolution and focus directly on the section you want a closeup of....(at the proper distance) 4: crop the high resolution image in Windows Picture and Fax Manager(MSOffice tool???)... You can get INCREDIBLE MICROSCOPIC CLOSUPS THIS WAY... This was not possible with 35mm film... especially if you have 6MP or more on a new camera...

Nice and pretty... Sand blasted, primed, painted.... I used wheel paint ... That stuff is on THICK!!!!

hey.. I mean no offense with the Rednecks want horsepower... but you should see the cats around here in Corvettes and Mustangs....

Nissan introduced the Datsun 240Z just a few years after the first dealerships were barely able to get cars to their customers... many of the cars that Nissan offered in Asia were unable to accelerate to highway speed on the short ON-Ramps in American cities(my Z-71 4x4 with posi needs every bit of it's V-8 horsepower)... The Datsun 240Z was introduced to change the minds of the American buyer... They introduced a car that no one thought would sell... It was a bombshell with spirit to match... THAT caught people's attention... I really think that car makers need to get away from carbon copy platform cars with carbon copy body shapes... Car makers are turning cars into appliances and then forcing buyers to add overweight options for comfort and some form of originality(mine has DVD/GPS/MAP yours does not)... I will gladly drive a bare essentials sports car... Especially if it looks good enough to eat... everyone will want one... give it performance to match and it will continue to sell well... as it's victories on track and it's venemous reputation grows... MAKE IT SEXY and MAKE IT SPIRITED... make it less than $24000 and it WILL SELL... Cars have gotten so bland lately... the market needs sex appeal... even at the expense of aerodynamic efficiency... I think the Jetta TDI cars have great gas mileage and great pickup(they would be fun if they were LIGHTER!)... The first gen MR2 I owned was FUN to drive in town(even without power steering and a manual tranny)... These are fun to drive vehicles that are easy to handle around town... They Zip in and out of traffic and are great on gas... You can do a lot with a light car... But it would be a huge diversion for whoever manufactured it...

I found yet another wonderful use for the lathe... I cut down some strut tubes for my rear struts... I used the lathe to turn a lip right where the original spring seat was welded to the strut tube... Welded back together with a section removed.... ...

The Corvette engine will get converted to a V belt running the alternator and waterpump... I will do what it takes to delete any smog equip.. I may convert to Mega Squirt and Spark... Do the LT series engines or any of the earlier L-98 Corvette engines present any problems by having externally balanced flywheel or damper....???

ok dammit.... lots of lightweight Chevy engine ideas flyin around in here... hmpfff... screw power, screw drag raying.. this is a track car and I already have everything except the ENGINE... needed.. one lightweight chevy engine that will bolt up to my WCT-5 tranny... It looks like damn near ANY Corvette engine from 1986 to the late 1990s will work... anyone know about any wrecked low miles C-4 corvettes...????

not a Ford!!!! damn that is a good deal... But I have a carefully laid out set of goals for my CHEVY V-8 project... 1. LIGHTWEIGHT.. PERIOD... lighter the better... 2. CHEAP... This is already becomming a $15,000 car project... I can upgrade motors later... I need something to get me by for a season or two while I tune the chassis... I dont want to significantly change the weight balance of my car every time I swap engines... The initial cheapo motor needs to be as light as any later high power engine I night install at a later date... Correct me if I am wrong... But I could use ANY Corvette engine from 1986- until they went to the LS series... That is a wide range of engines including all of the LT engines... What years and Models of the Camaros used the aluminum head LT engines...???? My WCT-5 transmission will bolt to ANY of the LT engines as well right???? It seems that every Corvette made since 1986-1/2 has had a lightweight engine with aluminum heads... I am not averse to the idea of the early TPI systems... 1988-1991 C-4 Corvettes... Remember I am not making a drag race monster... 350HP PLENTY....

as far as new parts go... It looks like I can get stout prepped short block for $2400 with all forged parts cheap aluminum heads for around $1000 Cam, lifters, pushrods, rockers, girdles, timing set for another $1000 (good to 6KPRM) intake, carby(cheap) $500 Flywheel, clutch, starter $600 Oil pump, pan with windage tray and pickup $140 That is $5640 without shipping... call it complete minus ignition... Mate it to my WCT5 and GO...

A $3000 dry sump is going to have it's own set of operational costs.... No doubt.. it is a good way to ensure good oiling... But it would also require tearing down the engine to safely install... and it is a maintenance pig with plumbing GALORE!!!! There are so many other modifications that need to be addressed.. like the oil puking into the intake and other oil control issues... No doubt the LSx is a GREAT choice!!!! It is a fantastic motor.. But I am looking at all kinds of increased costs associated with installing it in my hotrod.. and making it track reliable... not the least of which is the fact that I do not want to trade all of it's weight advantages to a heavier transmission... I have found several slightly used ZZ4 and ZZ383 engines for less than $3000.... I have also found a neat source for used race engines... www.racingjunk.com

one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is the thinking that you need at least 300HP to call a car a sports car... like I said above.. Rednecks want power more than handling... The sports car that is the next blockbuster must stay out of the horsepoewr game... a small lightweight car with 200HP will allow good economy and light weight performance... If you want a V-8 then you are going to build another large Pony car... DONT DO IT...

The way I see it.... No one offers a stripped down/spartan sports car because manufacturers THINK no one wants to buy them... Manufacturers have done exactly the opposite from creating a new small sports car...... They are taking family 4 door vehicles and offering a souped up model(WRX, EVOx)... These cars are often aimed at kids... I would not be caught dead in an EVOx... Nissan does not offer a suitable platform right now... The G35/350Z are built on subframes to insulate the interior from noise and vibrations... Those subframes are one of the first things to get modified in a race car chassis... A really sporty little car would need entirely different design and construction methods... and much smaller dimensions... Another point of contention for sports car makers is the fact that horsepower is a prime motivator for people interested in buying a sports car... Corvettes offer OOMPH!!!! that the Lotus Exige cannot offer... even though the Exige can turn faster laps at most venues... The average 55 year old redneck wants POWER!!! more than handling... A nice little lightweight sports car to hark back to the good old days of the S-30... would need stunning good looks... light weight... and probably a 4 cylinder engine in todays market... I really think that you could sell a spartan sports car in decent numbers if the price was kept as low as possible... My take on this market is... You cannot please everyone... but if someone offers a car for less than $24,000 with few options, stellar performance, and stunning good looks.. It will become an overnight success.... I have owned all kinds of cars... lately I have been looking for another small, fuel sipper, that is fun to drive and good looking... I just can't find many things that fit the bill... I am absolutely SURE that millions of Americans are looking to add a small fuel efficient car to their stable... a runabout that is fun to drive and saves gas... There is a market for a new S-30... I just hope Nissan can see this... The conditions are similar now to what was going on in the early 1970s... BIG cars abound.. people are tired of driving hunge vehicles... Gas prices are rising, small cars are going to gain in popularity and this is the time to introduce a new sports car for the masses...

run it to a defroster tube right under the windshield... or a custom seat heater... ohohhh... HEADLIGHT WARMERS!!!! yea!!! Bust some caps in that sucker....

Do you see many classics from Japan over there??? It would seem that you could keep them rust free for decades with little cover... My project car came frmo the Arizona desert and was previously driven in SoCal... It is one of the best chassis I have ever seen... but a rare find in the states due to the low population in the desert areas...

Another thought I have had... I am not looking to maximise the performance of my engine.... 350HP... easy goal... I don't need a lot of the expensive parts used in the top end... With decent 9.5/1 compression I can pretty much stay in the low to midpriced range for the entire valvetrain and the timing set... I don't need to turn the thing at 7000RPM... I can shift at 5800RPM and still have plenty of legs for the track... But it does need to run cool and have good endurance for long periods of abuse... I have been in MANY C-5 Corvettes while the dash is blanking out everything to display OIL OVERTEMP... and then the ailing Corvette drivers subsequently let the Datsuns by on the next straight... Ignition will be EDIS/Megajolt adapted to a Chevy balancer(I have a lathe and a part number for a 36 tooth gear)... This is more of a chassis related requirement than performance related... The oil system will be conventional but well prepped for track use... Pan, pickup, hevy duty pump, cooler, thermostat, accusump, big friggin idiot light... As far as high dollar top end.... I have had bad experiences in the past with broken stock rockers and chunks in the oilpan locking things up... I could really use some ideas on the type of top end parts you would use in an engine that will see potentially hundreds of hours at 3000-5800RPMs... without blowing the bank... I am thinking that I should be looking at some of the BOAT related internals... They see high rpm for long periods of time.. and they are not using billet titanium rockers in those ski boats...

seam welding took more time than anything else so far... SUPER HARD TO DO!!!!! just cleaning the seams was enough to make you sick of cars for a while... then after you start welding you will end up cleaning them again and again as you keep finding bubbling trash in your weld puddles... But much stiffer... ohh my.. much stiffer... Your wife will love it... If you see a seam in these pics that is not welded... It has been welded since I took the pics... I went through a 20lbs spool of wire and 2 tanks of gas... and then a lot of grinding wheels to clean up dirty welds... ....

That is pretty awesome price wise... But we have a numbers thread for weights... This gets all confused because we are talking about a stock known quantity for the LS1 weight wise... But the SBC is pretty much a custom piece... aftermarket EVERYTHING... who knows.... the World block may be heavier than a factory SBC block... But the rotating mass could be MUCH lighter than the SBC stock... and we are assuming aluminum heads for the SBC.. It is one of my requirements... The other issue is the fact that the LSx swap is for a used factory motor... no modifications for longevity on track.. I am looking at BRAND new SBC engines with many modifications for racing in the $5000-6000 range... My issue is that there are many engines in that price range that are built for drag racing with short runs... I would rather put my money towards lightweight and endurance... in other words.. I dont need a $2500 induction system.. I dont need highly ported heads with all that money tied up in flow.. What I need is an engine that has been thouroughly check and meticulously assembled with all of the oil control and safety modifications and none of the porting and polishing... I am seriously considering buying a fairly expensive race prepped short block and slapping some undesirable/cheap aluminum heads on it with a cheap carby... The only part I will spend some money on is the EDIS-Megajolt ignition system... I can upgrade heads, intake, and carby later... The only bling on that engine will be all the lighweight aluminum components and the EDIS.... This is where I am thinking about the LT engine series... cheap factory aluminum heads... swap some JY cleaned up heads onto a NICE short block... $200 Edlebrock carby... I think I can get 350HP.... and years of service.. with future upgradability.... If anyone can point me in this direction I would love it!!!...

That is so cool MY77Z... I am sure you see all kinds of neat vehicles over there... Send us some pics of what your friends drive too... especially cars we don't see often here in the states...