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Rick's Widebody Tilt Front Buick Hybrid


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New changes are about to get going for real, so I figured I'd start to document my project.

 

The flared/tilt front body I as shown in my old, soon to be up dated website (sig url) was my starting point. Late last year I completed tilt/widebody II as in my sig using the Reaction Research 280YZ kit as a base. I'll add body construction pictures to this thread later. I built the body to accommodate up to 335 width tires at all 4 corners.

 

I have a crappy Safety Devices 6- point bolt - in roll cage installed that will be professionally redone. Cobra Daytona seats will replace the bulky Cerullo couches currently installed.

 

The car is currently powered by a Turbo 3.0l stroker L with ~ 420 rwhp , with a G- force T5 transmission and 3.69:1 R230 rear. All this is being removed and will be for sale (Shameless plug).

 

I have sectioned struts with Tokico Illumina shocks/coilovers installed, and Ground Control camber plates at all 4 corners.

 

The motor will be replaced with a 260 ci (about 4.3 l) twin - turbo Buick Stage II that has been under construction for over 2 years. I made the V6 choice because I liked the idea of a short motor that can be set far back in the chassis, giving good weight distribution and lots of room for the top/front mount turbos. The Stage II was chosen because of its power production capability - My realistic goal is horsepower in the 4 -figure range, at torque numbers that blow away any wimpy 2J or RB. Please, don't even start on me about "needing" that much. Of course I don't, and that's not even relevent.

 

My engine is a real mutt - The 4.005" bore block was originally from a Mclaren Indy racer, The billet odd-fire 3.450" stroke crank (by Hank the Crank) is from an unknown Trans Am racer, and the rods are old 6.5" Busch Grand National I- beam Oliver pieces. Turbo pistons are custom JE. The heads are BMS Stage II aluminum pieces, with 2.005" intake and 1.65" exhust valves. The intakes flow 310 cfm at the .615" lift that my custom Comp Cam provides. The valve train is composed of Comp roller lifters and T&D 1.65:1 roller rockers. A four stage Weaver dry sump pump provides lubrication. An ARE road race aluminum dry sump pan allows the engine to sit low in the car. There are some really beautiful surplus race parts in this motor. The almost 1.9:1 rod-stroke ratio will make this a rev monster - but it will probably be red-lined at 8500 or below.

 

Engine management will be Electromotive TEC3r. I have modified a Busch Victor 4- barrel intake manifold to have a holley pattern, progressively linked secondary 1600 CFM throttle body and 2- sets of 85 -pound Delphi Injectors, each set with its own twin Walbro fuel pumps/Aeromotive regulator. Injector staging will run the engine on the primary injectors until a set boost/rpm is reached, then bring the secondaries into operation. Eventually I will have a fuel cell for each bank of injectors, with the secondary tank loaded with C16. Ignition will be with 6 coils.

 

Turbos are T4 60-1s, .7 a/r turbines. I plan on running 3" exhausts into the rear fender wells and under the side skirts of the car, exiting in front of the rear wheels. I will replace the brake booster with a balance bar non -boosted setup (my Wilwoods are overboosted as it is) and relocate the battery to the rear to make room for the exhausts to exit into the rear fenderwells.

 

For the drive train I have a really cool NASCAR magnesium reverse - mount starter bellhousing and a hopped up Borg Warner T10. This synchro 4-speed tranny was built for a Nascar road racer - and has a claimed horsepower rating of 800 in a fat stock car. I have a Jerico Dog box standing by if this breaks. The clutch is a twin 7.25" carbon disc unit from Quartermaster with a hydraulic throwout bearing. I have a Technotoy tuning rear setup with shortened Z32TT CVs and wheel hubs ready to install with Dan's sweet tubular rear control arms. A 2.93:1 R230 is built and ready to install. Custom 13/12" CCW wheels will be ordered as soon as the rear suspension is done.

 

I'll add more BS and pictures as I get time and as the build progresses.

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Most of this thread will probably be about the motor for a while. I just went to the machine shop to visit my baby and the rotating assembly was being balanced. From here all there is to do is to assemble the engine and set up the valvetrain. There is no excuse for him taking so long on this, but great status!

 

There have been major problems with the engine build - Scottie-GNZ and I picked up the Stage II in Atlanta shortly after Christmas, 2006. The original configuration was a carbureted 14:1 cr 274 ci dirt track motor.

I knew I would have to replace the pistons and cam for turbo duty but was really negligent in checking other things, such as head volume necessary to get the compression down to some kind of turbo - friendly number.

 

Turns out there was no way I could use the heads supplied with the engine - chambers too small. I located a pair of heads with suitable chamber volume - pristine new with big chambers and all the roller valvegear included. Of course, the titanium valves were not suitable for turbo use, so they were replaced with high -end Ferrea units. ($).

 

I found some "bargain" Ross forged pistons on ebay - they needed to be fly-cut to have the right valve reliefs for my build, but looked like they would do. Looked like I caught a small break on build cost. More on this later.

 

Next was cam selection. On the advice of a knowledgable Buick racer that Scotty recommended, I called Comp Cams, where an extremely helpful Tim Cole helped me design my cam. Of couse, there are no more odd-fire blanks available, so a billet build is necessary. (=$. This is the start of a troublesome trend.) On his recommendation, I went with a larger base circle since the Buick V6 cams have really small lobes and are known to have cam/lifter durability problems. I knew this would necessitate a line-bore, but didn't consider another consequence:

 

Now the rods hit the cam when the engine was mocked up. Too much interference to eliminate by trimming rods. One rod was trimmed in the attempt, and the machinist was uncomfortable with using it, so I had to find another Oliver rod.

 

Since trimming the rods was not working for us, the next step was to destroke. I hit the Buick internet community and found a guy who would trade my 3.650 stroke crank for a 3.590 one. Our calculations showed this would clear, but we were worried about how much. OK, now there is no interference but not enough clearance. Back to the Buick boards and the perfect crank was found - 3.450", Biilet, standard/standard. This one cost me, however. I did recover some of my purchase price by selleng the old one.

 

Now the bottom end clears, but the pistons are too far down the hole. New piston time. After looking at the Ross ones we didn't like the top thickness or the ring land configuration for turbo use, so even if I was spending more $ we got to specify some massively strong JE units, with the correct dish to get compression down to 8.2 or so.

 

I don't know if I would have selected this power plant had I known what all was involved - WAY too late to turn back now - but it will certainly be something that you don't see in everyone's Z car.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

Checked out the engine a couple days ago and it's all together! They are working a few more external details like oil pan scraper clearance but promise to have it ready before the new year.

 

I took that opportunity hang my twin turbo headers on to take some measurements and do some preliminary planning for the swap - looks as if it will fit with minimum cutting on the car. My main concern is the width of the headers between the strut towers and where the turbos will be positioned. Exhaust plumbing will be a challenge.

 

I will likely have to build custom accessory drives for alternator and AC compressor - hoping the existing dry sump drive will fit.

 

Swap Meister Scottie-GNZ has offered to help with engine conversion mounts - That expertise will be very much appreciated.

 

I'm in the process of stripping the car's engine bay - Have a front crossmember that has the control arm pivots relocated and the Datsun mount towers cut off.

 

Everywhere I look there's something to be fabricated/ trimmed to fit.

 

I still need to build a front mount for my R230 - Would have liked to buy the Technotoy one but it doesn't fit my Armada cased R230.

 

All the Technotoy rear with custom tubular control arms is installed, with Arizona Z-car Z32 rear Wilwoods.

 

The car is now sitting on new CCWs - 12X18 rear, 11X18 front w/Shot peened black anodized centers/polished rims. Tires are 335/30-18 and w/275/35-18 Toyo RA1s

 

Pictures soon.

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  • 4 weeks later...

My engine is almost ready to come home! Can't wait to start hanging turbos, dry sump pump, etc on this baby, then attacking the fabrication to get it into the Z.

 

There is still a formidable amount of work to do getting the car ready - but I feel like progress is picking up.

ST2.JPGST3.JPGN

 

 

ST3.JPGST1.JPG

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  • 3 weeks later...

Back from Jail. No time right now to work on the conversion , but I just had to hang those turbos on to see how it looks.

Stage21.JPG

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stage22.JPG

 

 

 

Stage23.JPG

 

Stage24.JPG

 

Looks as if there will be some mods to the headers required, but the turbos should fit just ahead of the strut towers. Exhausts will be a challenge.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm making slow progress with the swap - The dual brake master install is in work - That and the rear mount battery will make room for the twin exhausts to dump into the fenderwells.

 

Next is installation of the front crossmember with shaved motor mount towers and relocated control arm pivots.

 

After the above is done, all that remains before building motor mounts is front diff mount fabrication.

 

Pics of the CCW wheels - Shot -peened anodized centers, 12X18 rear, 11X18 front. Tires are Toyo RA-1s, 335/30-18 rear, 275-35-18 front.

 

I threw the R230 in the back just to make the rear sit lower, but it needs that lump in the front to get the stance right!

 

CCW6.JPGCCW5.JPGCCW4.JPGCCW3.JPGCCW2.JPGCCW1.JPG

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  • 3 months later...

Back to work. To make room for the fenderwell exhaust exits, and to reduce sensitivity of the brake pedal for my Wilwoods, twin Tilton masters with balance bar are installed.

BMasters1

Front crossmember's motor mounts shaved and control arm pivots relocated

Cross.JPG

Right side tool box area cut, welded and seam-sealed for Armada-cased R230 mounting ear clearance.

Cut.JPG

Front diff mount built

DMount1.JPG

DMount2.JPG

DMount3.JPG

 

What a pain to build that, had to lift the 125 pound diff in and out about 10 times. The Armada case has wider spaced mounting ears than the Z32TT case, necessitating more cutting and a more complicated diff mount.

 

Here's the mount installed.

Cutmount1.JPG

 

And finally , the end result - The R230 mounted with full TTT setup and Dan's sweet rlcas:

 

Rearsusp.JPG

 

I'm working on getting the motor outfitted with all the major protruberences (drysump pump, etc.) so we can begin engine bay placement and motor mount build.

 

I had made some rough measurments that told me that the turbo placement would put them into the sides of the inner fenderwell, so I have modified the headers rather than cut on the car. Headers are now at the tig welder's to receive V-bands and right angle adaptors - Will give great flexibility in making the turbos fit and getting good angles for the twin 3" downpipes. I'll post pictures when done.

 

Next step is to take the car to Scottie's tomorrow for engine mount installation. I'm excited to be this far - Will be too cool to see the engine in its new home!

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Spent some quality time with Swapmeister Scottie today - We got the trans mount mocked up with "just" a minimum of cutting on the car.

 

That V6 sure looks tiny in there. I do have some plans for all that space up front, however....

 

engin3.JPG

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Tranny Mount is built, Motor mounts are mocked up. Pics soon.

 

Saw Z-Gad on the road yesterday and he remarked "Well, now that it's at Scottie's we'll see some progress."

 

There are still lots of things to fabricate, hammer, and ortherwise make fit, but it's getting far enough along to start looking doable. Talk about underestimating the scope of a project...

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Yesterday the motor was fully supported by some really elegant Scottie-GNZ -designed cradle/mounts - Final welding being done as we speak.

 

A little hammering on the inner fenders and the headers/turbos fit! I was worried about wastegate room but it looks to be easy to fit. Note the V-banded angle adaptors for the header-to turbine inlet connections. The GN headers had to have this mod to mount the turbos inward in the Z's long - but - narrow engine bay..

 

I will have to angle the radiator to make room for air filters-

 

I have discovered that I will have to hammer/ mod the passenger footwell to clear my rear-mount starter and clearance the rear of the trans tunnel for my 1350-Ujointed driveshaft, but, with the radiator mod, those "appear" to be the last clearance issues.

 

Stagein1.JPG

Stagein2.JPG

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  • 1 month later...

The Z is back with me - I'm now working on clearance stuff, modifying the car to fit around the new drivetrain.

 

With the motor offset 1.5" to the left, the header on that side has clearance issues with the strut tower - I've cut a section out of the strut tower and will weld in a concave piece so that header can be removed/installed without raising the engine. After doing some hammering (but not cutting) on the strut towers, I belatedly thought that maybe I should install my strut brace before proceeding. Good idea, huh?

 

I have found that my triangulated strut brace will work with this engine, as well as having room for a 2" tall throttle body spacer to increase the plenum volume of the EFI converted Victor Intake.

 

Next I'll be removing the upper part of the core support and build a frame for the angled radiator.

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  • 1 year later...

I must be out of my mind, but couldn't resist scooping these up. Old Kinsler Indy style ITBs for the Buick.

 

Kinsler1.JPG

Kinsler2.JPG

Kinsler3.JPG

 

Pretty hot looking, huh?

 

Pretty sure I will have hood clearance with my low-mounted motor and cowled hood...

 

This will be a project for later (after the car gets running, hopefully by the end of this year)- I will have to build a plenum and machine the mechanical injector bungs for EFI. I'm thinking that I will put one set of injectors in the traditional place, and fabricate a fuel rail to go inside the plenum to feed a set of 6 secondary injectors in a "standoff" position.

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  • 2 months later...

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