Doc Hawk Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 A string of serendipity led me to believe I could put together a V8 swap on a pretty tight budget. Here's how it started: I bought a straight, minimal rust '72 S30 for $700. It was a rolling chassis, but came with a said-to-be running 350 SBC with an RPM Performer intake, an L28ET in good condition (complete), spoiler and airdam, and a pair of new racing seats. I sold the L28ET and seats, which offset the cost down to $200. Months later, I found a JTR swap kit on Craigslist. It came complete with the mounts, block hugger headers, required driveshaft and flywheel, and a BW T5 WC Transmission. I emailed, and it turned out that the seller was a friend of mine. We talked and it turned out that he bought the swap kit from the same guy I bought the car from. Further, the swap kit was actually installed and running in the car I now own! So, I bought it for $500. Since I didn't really know if the 350 ran, and I wanted a little more power, I decided to do a little shopping for used parts. Here is my current receipt total for all items in hand: $200 - Another 350, complete: good compression, running motor. $ 80 - Edelbrock 750 carb: ~500 miles on it (PO went with a Demon) Free - Low profile chrome air cleaner assy: Came with carb $500 - E-Tec 200 Vortec heads: ~3000 miles used, assembled, ported. Free - Dual valve springs: Came with heads Free - 1.6 Roller Rockers: Came with heads $ 50 - Flat top pistons - used, good condition. $100 - Hooker Block Hugger 1.75" headers $100 - Professional Products Crosswind Vortec intake (as RPM Air Gap) That puts me at $1030 into the motor, without a cam and lifters. Another $600 goes to my engine builder for assembly, machining, seals, gaskets, rings, pushrods, studs, assembly hardware, etc. I realize some of these parts are a lot more ambitious than "a little more power," but for example when you find a set of complete E-Tec 200's complete, ported and resurfaced, with dual springs and anidized 1.6 roller rockers for $500, it's hard to pass them up. I thought I was going to have all the materials I needed for a complete, running (non-handling; that's a different story) V8 swap for under $3000 for the whole car! Then I saw that my World Class transmission is about 150 HP shy of the power capacity that this combo will probably be putting down. Initial research into the question here and on various SBC forums only turned up solutions that start around $2000. I would appreciate any insight on my build in general, but my specific question is: Are there any low-cost options for a manual transmission capable of handling ~450 HP / ~450 Torque? I don't know what flywheel I have, only that it is the one required to mount the T5. Thanks for any help, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsicard Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Doc Hawk: Depends on what your goals are to determine how to build the engine and car. Make a plan and stick to it. Is it going to be street only or drag racer or road racer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Hawk Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 Intended Use 75% street/ 25% road course. I already have a very high strung 240Z with a class-restricted L28 that is 20% street/80% race (bad idle, obnoxiously firm suspension, very grippy racing clutch), so this car is intended to be more streetable, but still strictly a "weekender" for spirited driving. This will be the car I take to non-competitive HPDE track days for fun flogging around a track with a lot of power and no class restrictions. I am not a drag racer. I do like launching hard at lights within reason, but this will probably go to the strip a couple times to see what she can do and then be done with it. On streets, you're limited by safety concerns, legal concerns, and grip, so I don't think I will be doing much of what can be called "drag strip launches." I like road racing and will be doing that as much as possible. Power Goals Old Goal: It would be nice to have 400 HP for bragging rights, but I think if I am anywhere in that area it will feel pretty darn good in a car that weighs 2400 lbs. New Goals: I was able to find parts very inexpensively that will all go together to probably put out about 450 streetable HP with excellent numbers under the curve. So now my goals are to get the cam right to make it streetable but fun (I want to beat my L28ET buddies) and get the transmission right to hold that power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1badeagle Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 how much power will a stock t5 camaro tranny hold up to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Hawk Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 About 265 non-W/C, 330 W/C. But that is in a 3400 lbs. Camaro. You can put significantly higher power through a car that weighs 1000 lbs. less than that. As I've researched my question on other boards (didn't get any responses here), I have heard from many people putting 400+ HP through T5's for years without issue. The problem seems to be drag launches, power shifting, and general flogging will break a stock transmission. But for regular aggressive driving and road racing, it seems to hold up nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Doc, this is roughly the same route I am going with engine & transmission. I am confident that the WC T5 will take a very decent amount of abuse w/o breaking up, especially with minimal drag racing launch shock applied to it. 73BOTIZ ran at least that much hp in his 240Z and drag raced it on occasion without any damage/breakage. He even used a non WC T5 too! Don't fear the WC T5 in my opinion. I bet you'll be fine and have a great car to boot One caveat: make sure you have a sound transmission to start with, sir! Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Hawk Posted September 5, 2009 Author Share Posted September 5, 2009 Thanks Davy, your opinion is matching up with what Chevy guys are telling me, too. Unless you are setting up a drag car running slicks, the WC will not disappoint, says everyone. I'm rebuilding it before it goes into the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Hawk Posted September 5, 2009 Author Share Posted September 5, 2009 Now to cam this thing. Any help, folks? Here is what I have: 350 SBC, 0010 block Edelbrock 750 carb Edelbrock Performer RPM Air Gap intake Edelbrock E-Tec 200 aluminum Vortec heads High-quench chamber Ports are .200" taller than standard small-block Chevy heads 64cc combustion chambers produce 10.2:1 compression with flat-top pistons in 350-inch engines 200cc Intake Runner 2.02" Intake and 1.60" Exhaust Valves Flow numbers: Valve Lift / Intake / Exhaust.100" / 67 / 57.200" /122 / 110.300" / 175 / 153.400" / 223 / 182.500" / 252 / 196.600" / 259 / 204.700" / 265 / 207 Dual valve springs 1.6:1 roller rockers Flat top pistons for 10.2:1 compression Hooker Super Comp Block Hugger headers I would like to go with a Hydraulic roller cam. Here is what I am currently considering: COMP Cam XTREME Energy XR282HR 230/236 @.050 and .510/.520 lift on a 110 LSA Thanks for any help. Please remember the 1.6 rockers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoov100 Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 everything looks good except the edelbrock carb, what style rockers are you going to run? I have the hooker long tubes for the v8 s30 conversion if you are interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Hawk Posted September 5, 2009 Author Share Posted September 5, 2009 Don't like Edelbrock carbs? As I said, the rockers are 1.6 rollers. Anodized billet aluminum self-adjusting rollers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoov100 Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 Don't like Edelbrock carbs? As I said, the rockers are 1.6 rollers. Anodized billet aluminum self-adjusting rollers. do you have the part number for them? (And yes, I hate edelbrock carbs, IMHO they are just re badged Q-jets) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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