i86o Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 so, long story short im living in the planning stage for my dream car, i want to make, like the title said, the ultimate s30 v8 race machine (streetable) for both auto cross and drag. Forgive me if this post is a bit draged out, ive been stewing over this idea for months, and none of my ford mechanic friends want to hear anything of it, so here i am Im thinking my best option is a 280 with either a ford 5.0 or a chevy ls1 (much more expensive) now this project is on a near 5 year time line, as i have no money, i am in school, and i don't see much money coming in the near future, so i want to make sure that when i do buy something, it is the perfect choice for this car, first goals are to secure a shell, and a motor to start collecting parts for, thats my 10 month plan i would do -V8 swap with either a t56 or otherwise similar transmission with the initial goal of a good solid 400 all motor and eventually charge or turbo the thing, r200 rear end ( what alternatives to this are there?) -Corvette c5 brakes (has anyone done this?) -Full race suspension mods, good shocks, all new machined or tube welded components and quality bushings extc. (Arizona z car looks like it has the best or possibly only (and most expensive) offerings) bla bla bla, probably cost the most money out of all of the parts, 302s are cheap -Cage -Stitch Weld the entire car -Huge wheels, i don't know how big, but big, big and light -Functional ground effects ( splitter and side skirts )and spoiler along with a diffuser and under body paneling for down force (always wanted a car worth the effort of doing this) -custom interior (aka, nothing but dash and quality gauges ) anywhoo, enough speculating, if you guys could help confirm my suspicions, that would be great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280zwitha383 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 The turbo the engine later thing is what concerns me. You either need to build the engine to be n/a or you need to build it to be a turbo engine. If you want 400hp out of a 5.0 you're going to need a decent compression ratio and possibly forged pistons. Don't know if any 5.0 come with forged pistons but if they don't there's a solid $400. Then when you want to turbo it you're going to need new forged pistons (then you should have the rotating assembly balanced) and a different cam. I say build it how you want it the first time ESPECIALLY when money is the issue because when you have to open the engine back up and put whatever in you're spending money twice on what you should have done in the first place. Consider two engines, one stock to get you running and then the monster engine. Sometimes this isn't practical but if you can get a decent engine for a few hundred dollars and get the car running while you build your dream engine you're better off I think. Two separate LS engines is probably out of the question as just one is usually a stretch so other things need to be considered there also. Something to think about anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Spend the next 6 months searching this site and reading a lot of posts. Your budget will be around $27,000 to build the car described above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNkEyT88 Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 My suggestion. Because its off the wall and next to impossible.. 4.3l V6 TWIN TURBO, bolted up to a T-56 XMSN. They do make a turbo kit for the 4.3l, but this one has been custom made, which is what you will do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buZy Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 Spend the next 6 months searching this site and reading a lot of posts. Your budget will be around $27,000 to build the car described above. I'd say more like 40k for "full race suspension?" that includes a few learning mistakes along the way. I've got 19k into mine and as we speak its on jack stands again. Reality bites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube80z Posted September 1, 2007 Share Posted September 1, 2007 so, long story short im living in the planning stage for my dream car, i want to make, like the title said, the ultimate s30 v8 race machine (streetable) for both auto cross and drag. The best advice I could give is not to buy anything until you have the money to really get started. The problem with buying parts is by the time you have enough and the time to do this project you're going to have a lot of old stuff that's not as good as the current hot stuff. In 5 years who knows what the hot suspension and engine combo might be. Why buy a Ford or LS-1 now and get locked into that. You also really need to decide what you want to do and if this is going to be a street car or a race car. Too many compromises lead to a mediocre solution that doesn't do anything well. It's also a lot cheaper to buy someone else's car/project that's spent a lot of the money on pieces you want. Cary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i86o Posted September 2, 2007 Author Share Posted September 2, 2007 well thanks for all the helpfull responses guys! to answer some of your questionsor statments "The best advice I could give is not to buy anything until you have the money to really get started. The problem with buying parts is by the time you have enough and the time to do this project you're going to have a lot of old stuff that's not as good as the current hot stuff. In 5 years who knows what the hot suspension and engine combo might be. Why buy a Ford or LS-1 now and get locked into that. You also really need to decide what you want to do and if this is going to be a street car or a race car. Too many compromises lead to a mediocre solution that doesn't do anything well. It's also a lot cheaper to buy someone else's car/project that's spent a lot of the money on pieces you want. Cary" -both are execlent points, and the buying game is always a hard one to come out on top of, as far as the engine goes, my friend is a ford mechanic and a race fanatic so i can get 302 components and even complete engines for next to nothing luckily, one of the reasons why im kind of leaning towards that right now. As far as the race/street car thing goes, i want to have adjustable dampening, ride height, removeable areo parts, and laptop tuning of some form, so that i can both street and drive the car, but i want a full cage for sure, so that is always limiting. "My suggestion. Because its off the wall and next to impossible.. 4.3l V6 TWIN TURBO, bolted up to a T-56 XMSN. They do make a turbo kit for the 4.3l, but this one has been custom made, which is what you will do. " noble, but no thanks "I'd say more like 40k for "full race suspension?" that includes a few learning mistakes along the way. I've got 19k into mine and as we speak its on jack stands again. Reality bites." reality does bite, for those who have to take the first plunge, im hoping to learn from others mistakes (not that you havent im sure) and as far as the cage and suspension components go, im capable of making my own cage and tubular components, so hopefully ill save some money there, but certinaly pour my time down the drain screw spell check, im to tired,ha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted September 2, 2007 Share Posted September 2, 2007 My parents have an 87 E150 van with a 351 Windsor HO that is in GREAT shape, fairly low miles, that we are FINALLY getting rid of I THINK.... interested? It would need to be towed, IIRC the biggest thing that kept us from getting it going was bad gas tanks.... Original owners, second engine. PM me if youre interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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