Old School Meets New - Supercharged LSA into Grand National

[DeltaT]

Re: Old School Meets New - Supercharged LSA into Grand Natio

Getting it back together after the firewall and removal/repaint of the inner fender liners:

Made a gasket for the TNT manual brake bracket out of FelPro gasket sheet because I didn't want to leave it unsealed but I also didn't want to put a bead of RTV on there. This was a clean option:

Holding the Wilwood master cylinder and TNT bracket in place:

Tomorrow I will swap the proportioning valve and clean off the brake lines, then get this all installed.

If you get the entire system correct, I really like manual brakes better than most American power brakes. I have a similar setup on the Grey Ghost and they are very progressive, nice distance on the pedal stroke and capable of really pulling the car down from speed. The final steps after everything is bled and ready to drive is to bed in the new pads then perform some really hard stops to ensure you get the rear proportioning valve adjusted just right - the rears should never lock up before the fronts.

Things should speed up a bit after this. The engine compartment is a lot cleaner than it was before.

Jim

 

[1984 Big Block H/O]

Re: Old School Meets New - Supercharged LSA into Grand Natio

Very Nice!!!

 

[jones20992]

Re: Old School Meets New - Supercharged LSA into Grand Natio

Wicked!

 

[87 GN]

Re: Old School Meets New - Supercharged LSA into Grand Natio

Very nice!

What paint did you use on the wheel wells?

 

[DeltaT]

Re: Old School Meets New - Supercharged LSA into Grand Natio

Thanks.

Washed the inner liners really well with a citrus degreaser and scrubbrush, then I scuffed them lightly with 400 grit sandpaper, the hit it with 3 coats of Rustoleum satin black enamel. Let it dry for 2 days then rubbed it with brass wool (could have used fine steel wool) to take out some very fine bubbles and shot it with another coat.

If I was going to do it again I would use a urethane-based trim paint, but I already had one done when I found that as an option.

The liners are Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FPR or sometimes called Glass Reinforced Plastic) so like any plastic I tested some on a low corner of the back of one of them to make sure it didn't dissolve it or something nasty.

On the outside (underside where the wheel is), I used a couple coats of Rustoleum Rubberized Undercoat. Gave a nice, textured flat black look to the underside - much better than leaving it bare and fugly.

If you had extra $ you could use Eastwood stuff on everything but that stuff adds up quick.

And as I RE-RE-learned during the firewall saga, if you bring something down to the bare metal, use primer and paint from the same company - the ONLY way to guarantee compatability.

Jim

 

[DeltaT]

Re: Old School Meets New - Supercharged LSA into Grand Natio

Made some progress this weekend.

Got the new proportioning valve for 4-wheel disks in there, cleaned all the brake plumbing and blew it out with air pressure. Painted some brackets, only the modified transmission linkage one shown here (extended 2" to the rear with a welded in plate to accommodate the 4L85E transmission):

I painted the new brake bracket with a couple coats of VHT clear. The brake lines at the MC are not finalized yet - need to double-check the routing then tweak them for the best fit.

I took advantage of the nice day to pull the Moser Pro 12-bolt from the Grey Ghost. It's got an Eaton posi, 33-spline axles and 3.73 gears in it and will hold up under this new drivetrain quite nicely. I also modified it a while ago for the Wolfe Racing upper control arms with spherical bearing. Since it is up high under the car and I didn't drive in the rain, the spherical bearings have stayed remarkably clean. The rest of the rear will get a good cleaning, new seals, a gasket, gear oil and a paint touchup:

It is a heavy sucker to get out of there safely - especially by myself. Took my time and used 2 jacks and kept my fingers out of the way!

I'll just keep this out of the way for a bit while I continue on at the front of the car. Stuff at the back is going to take 2 weekends easy.

Jim

 

[DeltaT]

Re: Old School Meets New - Supercharged LSA into Grand Natio

Lots going on, working on different sections, waiting on a couple parts, stripped a special locknut so I'm waiting for a replacement (old torque wrench way out of spec) before I can button up the driver's side front suspension & brakes.

Masked off the basic motor, removed sensors, plugged holes, etc. so I could give it a thorough degrease. Then I shot it with 2 coats of VHT clear which should keep it cleaner and help shed any dirt and oil when I wash it in the future. Did the oilpan and ends of the heads but left the valve covers alone as I am going to powdercoat them with a nice black wrinklecoat after it's up and running. Of course I masked off the pullies and other bits before shooting:

Looks like next Saturday I will put the motor in. I am going to try lowering the front end down as much as is practical then putting the motor & 4L85E in as a unit. With the engine tilter and some patience it turns it into a 1-man job, as long as I get the balance point just right and am able to put the entire unit up over the radiator support. I've done it before with bulkier oilpans so this should be pretty easy.

After that I can testfit which set of exhaust manifolds to use. The LSA kit cam with 2 sets of manifolds - the CTS-V and the F-body ones, plus I have a set of the cast iron Hooker manifolds that are supposed to fit the G-Body best of all, clearing the front control arm's rear mount points. Before I drop this in I will put on the ZL-1 starter and heatshield.

Still working on the brake pedal/master cylinder setup. The brake rod from manualbrakes.com is too short for this setup so I think I need to go back to the Wilwood rod-in-MC setup and fab up a threaded receiver for the pedal end.

Not enough hours in the day!

Jim

 

[DeltaT]

Re: Old School Meets New - Supercharged LSA into Grand Natio

Got a decent amount done today and ended up with the motor and transmission mated for the first time. Yesterday after work I cleaned the transmission and shot it with clear as well, also the cast transmission cover that goes on the bottom after it's all it. No way am I laying down under that on the hoist to do anything! All I need to do to wrap up the unit for initial install is to bolt the flexplate to the torque converter, and bolt on the Dirty Dingo engine-side motor mounts.

Other than the 2-ton hoist, the engine tilter is the most useful tool around for pulling motors. It literally turns it into a 1-man job. Without the tilter you can't really put the motor and transmission combo in together, but as long as you don't have a monster kickout or super-deep oilpan you can do it with the tilter. The 2-ton hoist is nice because the arm length when it is set to 1-ton is quite long - much longer than the smaller 1-ton hoist.

I don't think this Mast pan is going to present a problem. I also testfit the Hooker cast headers and they fit with only the tiniest bit of filing to clear one head stud. One less thing to worry about.

So with this rig I can stand on the right side with the motor/transmission level, lift it high over the radiator support, roll it so it's above the engine bay, then tilt the transmission down, lower it a little, push the hoist back a bit, rinse and repeat until it's all the way in there. The chain has enough give to allow me to align the motor mounts and ease it down. An unexpected bonus of the epoxy coating I put down on the garage floor is that I can slide the hoist sideways without much trouble if I need to.

So tomorrow's the day, unless Murphy decides to swing by and visit.

Jim

 

[axld86]

Re: Old School Meets New - Supercharged LSA into Grand Natio

jim, nice build. pretty much same I did on my car( less the power train, see sig.) one question, are you building for more of a handling : curves / autocross? as a long time drag racer I want to start autocrossing myself. thanks axld

 

[Blew86442]

Re: Old School Meets New - Supercharged LSA into Grand Natio

I guess we can say Hundred Grand National.

LOL!!! Good one!


Seriously though, awesome build! You are making it an absolute dream car! You really can't put a price on that! 8)