Drift Ninjaz

I’ve got a detached garage (24×26) that I enjoy spending time in.  Before this year, it wasn’t insulated and the little kerosene heater wasn’t getting the job done.  Not to mention all of the moisture that it put into the garage.  Additionally, I’ve been meaning to put walls up in the garage so that I could start hanging shelfs and parts bins.  I settled on 1/2″ plywood and while I was putting the plywood up, I also hung insulation behind it.

I could immediately tell a difference with this, but the kerosene heater still couldn’t keep up with the draft that comes from the open ceiling (I might deal with the ceiling in the upcoming year, keep reading).  But I also wanted to get rid of the hassle of buying Kerosene, safely storing it and maintaining that messy heater.

So, I purchased this and hung it from a rafter. [Read more →]

This is an electric go-kart that I built for my son.   I downloaded the plans for the itzy-bitzy go-kart from spider carts: Itzy-Bitzy plans

These are a good set of plans, but I wanted my son to be able to use the go-kart on some wooded trails so I modified the plans a bit. I changed it to a live axle setup and gave it a little more ground clearance. Of course, I also made it so that it had storage for some batteries and a mount for the electric motor. [Read more →]

This is a list of weights of Mustang items.  The list was started from a post on s197forums, however that post is no longer being updated. I have been adding to it as I see items posted.  Additionally, I have tried to confirm these weights when I see them posted by others.  If you see anything that needs to be corrected, please let me know.

For now this is just a placeholder of the mods that I’ve done to the Mustang.  I’ll add more info to this post as I go along.

[Read more →]

WOW, it’s been 4yrs since I’ve posted here.  Hopefully that will change going forward.

The 240sx had a good run.  I owned the car for 9yrs which is longer than any other car that I’ve previously owned.  I got the install of the LS1 mostly complete and then had a change of heart.  Well, really I purchased a Mustang and that killed my desire to finish the 240sx. I installed the engine to the point that it could be test driven, and then sold the car to a friend who has been finishing up the details and has been driving it around Northern Virginia and seems to be happy with it.

I’m going to start doing a few projects with the Mustang, in the meantime, here’s my summary page of the bolt-on mods that I’ve done so far.  <Insert link to mustang page>

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:

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.

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.