Drift Ninjaz - BlogThis!

Well, it’s official.

I’ve made Project 240ss part of the v8mongrel website.  I’ll be keeping track of the progress over there.  This blog will still be updated with any random thoughts that I might have on the project or anything even close to car related. 

Keep an eye on http://www.v8mongrel.com/240ss for updates on the car.

My LS1 came packaged with a Richmond/TexRacing T10 Transmission, Hurst shifter, and a Lakewood 15005 bellhousing. From my research this should be fairly easy to adapt to the LS1 while using the LS1 flywheel/clutch and a specially made hydraulic throw-out bearing.

First, I’ll start with some links
Tex Racing Catalog
Circle Track article on rebuilding T10s

My gearing:
1st: 2.64:1
2nd: 1.75:1
3rd: 1.33:1
4th: 1:1

Looks like it’s a ‘W’ gearset according to the catalog linked above. My stock rear end is a 4.08 final drive, which absolutely will not work with this transmission. I have already picked up a 3.54 final drive from a 350z that should make the gearing a little better for my application. However, I’m still looking for the 3.3 from the automatic 350z.

I still haven’t decided if I’m going to use this transmission. The lack of overdrive has me concerned that it will keep me from picking this car to drive to work, like I had planned on doing. On the flip side, this transmission would save about 50 lbs over the alternative (T56), so it isn’t something that’s easy for me to overlook.

With that said, I opened it up tonight to get an idea of what the gearset looked like. Without any oil, it shifted fairly smoothly and didn’t seem to have any binds. Of course I didn’t shift it too much since it was dry of oil.

Here are the internal pictures:

Well, my friend PeeJ came up with a good name for my project. “240SS”. I like it, it will probably be the one that I stick with.

Anyway, not a lot of progress after purchasing the engine/transmission. I’ve mainly been sorting out what parts I have and what I need to purchase/replace.

I’ve been asked for pictures so here are a few.
The obglitory “Before I start modding picture” (WOW, that picture makes the engine bay look pretty nice.)

The LS1 as received, with a Lakewood 15005 bellhousing attached:

The itty bitty, but very stout T10, at a hefty 76lbs.

I’ve been doing a little bit of work at night, including cleaning some parts and starting a port job on the Throttle Body.
Here’s the Throttle Body before I started:

And here’s where I called it quits with the dremel:

Here’s my repainted LS1 intake. There was some junkyard writing on it, that wouldn’t come off so I just sprayed a fresh coat of black bumper paint on it. I think it turned out pretty good.

I was a car-crazed nine year old living in England when the Group B era took hold of international rallying, and the images of those turbo AWD monsters will stay with me forever. While I don’t like to drive turbo cars and find AWD less than satisfying, there is something compelling about the idea of street legal Group B clone.

Not all Group B cars are AWD. Some of my favorites aren’t:

Renault R5 Turbo

Lancia 037

But those cars are the exception, really, as Group B made international rallying henceforth the domain of AWD. No car more so, than the Audi Quattro.

Original Audi Quattro

Later Sport Quattro Variant

My elder brother, Paul, had an Audi 200 20v at one time, and the engine was a beast. Note, that this is the 4 valve per cylinder inline 5 cylinder 20v, not to be confused with the later 5 valve 4 cylinder engine. The engine would pull the heavy sedan along with incredible dispatch, and it was just begging for a lighter chassis. Enter the 90-91 coupe Quattro.

Audi Coupe

Add the 20v engine to one of those (not all that hard from what I have read) and end up with something like this:

Sprongl 20v Rally Car

I’d tone down the graphics, but I think it would be a great car to run on the country roads around here, including those the NC DOT hasn’t paved yet. Sure, an eighteen-year-old German car is as reliable as an eighteen-year-old human, but this is a dream, remember?

Well, I haven’t even had a chance to take the L33 back yet, and I’ve already found a replacement engine.  This one is a 2000 LS1 (I guess Project 5.3L is no longer appropriate), with ~15K miles on it.

This engine also happens to be bundled with a Richmond T-10 Transmission.  I’m going to have to figure out how to make that gearing work in an autocross, street and track use car.

Anyway, to keep this short, here are the specs on the engine:

2000 LS1 long block, 15k miles

- PRC Dual Valve springs w/ Titanium Retainers
- Harland Sharp OEM-style rocker arms
- Manley Hardened 7.400″ pushrods
- ARP rod bolts
- LS6 oil pump
- GTO front sump oil pan with baffles and dipstick
- GM-factory 1-3/4″ header flanges + material for headers.
- Brand new GM water pump with pulley
- Alternator
- new GM harmonic balance bolt
- all new GM engine sensors

Hopefully, the engine will be on it’s way to the house this week.

Well, it’s back to square one. I knew that when I picked up my L33, that it had been a little mishandled in the junkyard. The busted oilpan was a good indication of that. Turns out, there are also two cracks in the block. Since the block is cast aluminum, it “should” be easily repairable. However, after making a few calls to the local machine shops and only finding one that could handle welding aluminum, I paid them a little visit.

I wasn’t overly impressed and certainly didn’t get a confident feeling that the repair would be handled correctly. On top of that, the cracked mounting ear was pushed out of alignment, and would need additional work to try to get it back in alignment.  I just decided to throw in the towel on this engine. Fortunately, the junkyard is willing to take it back so my search for a new engine will begin as soon as I return this one.

As I’ve alluded to before, this project isn’t just about building a v8 powered 240sx. I’m trying to build a car that will excel in a lot of areas. I’ve already put a lot of effort towards making the car handle well, and I plan to continue making improvements to the handling as I can. The end result of this project is that I want a street car with 300-350whp, under 2700lbs, full interior, and enjoyable to drive on the street. I’ve already got the car down to under 2700lbs, but that’s with the factory 4 cyl. While the aluminum block v8 weighs about the same as the factory iron 4 cyl, the T56 is the Big Bertha of transmissions. Seriously, this thing could hold it’s own if it were installed in a semi. For a comparison, here is a picture of the 240sx transmission next to the T56. I suspect there’s at least a 40lb difference there, see for yourself:Off-site picture

The first round of Weight Reduction resulted in a fairly easy 200lbs being removed from the car. Keeping in mind, that I removed a substantial amount of 1-5lb items that add up when removed all together. There were some items that were removed for racing that I plan to return to the car during this project. Like the radio and front speakers.

Anyway, in order to maintain my 2700lb weight goal and keep the car streetable, I’m going to have to “pay” attention to the details. The quotes around pay is obviously there to signify that this round of weight reduction isn’t going to be cheap. Fortunately, I stumbled upon a set of z32 rear uprights for a good deal. The difference between these and the stock pieces is that the stock pieces are steel and these are cast aluminum. There’s about a 3-4lb difference per side, plus it’s weight that the shocks have to control, so it’s a great place to remove it.

Here are the uprights after I spent an hour cleaning them. One needs some additional time with the wire brush, but the battery died on my drill, so that’ll come later.

In addition to those uprights, I also found a good deal on a Largus Swaybar, which is larger then my current Suspension Techniques Swaybar. It’s also hollow, so it’s considerably lighter. I haven’t installed this yet, so I don’t know the weight difference, but will include that once I have it.

Future weight reduction will be centered around the following items:
- Fiberglass or Carbon Fiber hood.
- Fiberglass or Carbon Fiber trunklid.
- Potentially a lighter steering wheel.

With those components, I expect to take out another 30lbs of weight from the car, but those pieces get expensive real fast, so I will only get them if I can find a great deal on them.

Didn’t get much sleep last night and that couch is looking awfully comfortable after 3hrs in the car, so here are some pictures of the worlds fastest trailer.

Stock Weight - 2828 (with 3/4 tank of gas, floor mats, spare tire, tire tools, etc….)
Est. Current Weight - 2608.5
Weight Savings - 219.5

coilovers - 16 savings over stock suspension setup
spare tire - 31
jack/tools - 6
antenna - 2
mats - 8
header - 15
exhaust - 30
secondary horn - 1.5
fan/pullies - 9.5
intake - 4
fog lights - 5.5
cruise - 2
battery - 16
Flywheel - 9
Radio/speakers/amp - 8
gas (¼ tank instead of Full) - 56

Okay, so maybe the title is misleading. The first step is really planning for the swap. But, since this step is kind of universal, I’ll make it step one. You’ll need a bigger fuel pump regardless of the power adder that you select.

I went with the tried and true Walbro pump. Hey it works, it’s cheap and everyone uses it. I won’t question that, so in it goes.

First step is to remove the carpet from the trunk, and then you’ll see the access panel for the fuel pump. It’s held in by four 10mm screws. Remove those. You should now see the cap for the fuel tank. There’s probably years of dirt and grim on it, so clean that off at this step.

Next up, unhook the three hoses and the two electrical connectors. With those out of the way you can remove the large plastic nut that holds the cap in place. Supposedly there’s a tool for this. I just used an oil filter wrench, like this one <PICTURE>

Once you have that removed, lift the cap slightly, being careful not to drop anything into the tank. There should be two electrical connectors and a hose connected to the cap. Unhook the connectors and then follow the rubber hose into the tank. You’ll reach a metal bracket that you should pull straight up on. This is the bracket that the fuel pump is attached to. <PICTURE> Remove it, and be careful not to turn it over. There’s likely fuel still inside the pump.

Oddly enough the upgraded Walbro pump is significantly smaller then the OEM pump. Cool, more flow and less weight!! I love having my cake and the icing.

Remove the OEM pump from the bracket and replace it with the WALBRO pump as indicated in this picture: <PICTURE> Now you’ll need to cut the OEM harness near the factory pump and attach it to the connector that was included with the new pump. I used solder and heat shrink tubing here, even though the kit included crimp-on butt connectors. I’m not a huge fan of these, especially in this “environment”.

Now you can reinstall everything by just reversing the steps above. The large o-ring around the cap should be replaced with a new one.