Austin Healey Sprite w/LS6 200-4r
12-06-2013, 03:25 PM
#1
Austin Healey Sprite w/LS6 200-4r I got the car off of ebay with a SBC and TH-400 in the car... An absolute blast to drive, handles like a dream and drives my z06 under the table as long as your careful with it... The car weighs 1456 lbs, iron headed 283 bored .50 over to make it a 290. I believe someone posted about this car earlier when it was for sale on ebay. Anyways, after driving the **** out of the car, I wanted to update it and as someone else said, do something for the aesthetics of the car. Here goes nothing...
In goes a built LS6 from a Z06 corvette, backed by a 200-4r transmission for the overdrive gearing. I drove all the way from Memphis to Omaha, Nebraska to pick up one of the few remaining Thomas Denner hoods and it's getting fixed and re-gelcoated as we speak. Engine will fit under the bonnet, side pipes are gone, exhaust will be under the car. Car will be red with new black interior, you'll like the console and shifter I promise. Engine controlled by FAST XFI, Touch screen will be installed also in the console to monitor engine, etc... I had it lying around from a previous project. I'll update as best I can but a lot done for now.
First pic is a quick video, you can click on to hear the car....
A lot more to follow, heres a previous one I was building.... a total basket case that was more rust and bondo than car but built the frame work for what I'm doing now.
also, brakes will be wildwood fronts with the big drums remaining in the back, master cylinder will probably get dropped down some into the driver footwell, but there is tons of room and it will be up high where it won't be noticed.
In goes a built LS6 from a Z06 corvette, backed by a 200-4r transmission for the overdrive gearing. I drove all the way from Memphis to Omaha, Nebraska to pick up one of the few remaining Thomas Denner hoods and it's getting fixed and re-gelcoated as we speak. Engine will fit under the bonnet, side pipes are gone, exhaust will be under the car. Car will be red with new black interior, you'll like the console and shifter I promise. Engine controlled by FAST XFI, Touch screen will be installed also in the console to monitor engine, etc... I had it lying around from a previous project. I'll update as best I can but a lot done for now.
First pic is a quick video, you can click on to hear the car....
A lot more to follow, heres a previous one I was building.... a total basket case that was more rust and bondo than car but built the frame work for what I'm doing now.
also, brakes will be wildwood fronts with the big drums remaining in the back, master cylinder will probably get dropped down some into the driver footwell, but there is tons of room and it will be up high where it won't be noticed.
12-06-2013, 04:41 PM
#3
Yeah, the front grill in the old bonnet was from a pinto... took us a lot of beers and head scratching to figure that one out. Hoping to chop a few hundred pounds off of the car with the swap, old front end was all steel, new is all fiberglass, engine and tranny combo much lighter, etc, etc...
12-07-2013, 01:02 PM
#4
Not much to report, although I got my wiring harness in today and I'm getting that all mocked up and ready to go. It should look good when it's all done. The old brake pad for the front is pictured here, wilwoods will be a lot bigger... The rear brakes are big drums from a 63 bel air car. All suspension is custom built and frame built under the car to support the horsepower.
12-07-2013, 05:44 PM
#5
Launching!
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Cool
Will be watching. I have had a 59 Bugeye for years that I am thinking about swapping in a Ecotech to keep weight balanced. These things are fun even with the original engine.
12-07-2013, 09:12 PM
#7
Yeah, tossing the SBC and LS engines in is a lot of cutting and welding, etc... Still, it's an incredibly fun car to drive... it kills me to not have it running right now after all the fun I was having in it, but it'll be better when it's all finished hopefully in a month or 2.
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12-07-2013, 09:51 PM
#9
Yeah, it worked great for normal driving but any high speed spirited driving you had to be careful because obviously brake fade in the front was a major issue and it would go to only back brakes in a hurry, which can get interesting. The new wilwoods will change all of that... They aren't massive compared to a lot of other brake setups but the car is very lightweight and anything is better than the old bicycle brakes!!!!!
12-07-2013, 09:55 PM
#10
On The Tree
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Yeah well the car only weighed 1200 lbs wet and they came with 4 wheel drum brakes. Common swaps are off of the later sprigets as every part is pretty much interchangeable from 58-80, no thats not a typo. They never changed much. The rear suspension stock went from a 1/4 elliptical leaf spring to a standard 1/2 elliptical, and then a few different BMC engines (948, 1098, 1275) then in 75 the midget got a triumph 1500.
Not much sprite left but the cockpit, even then, haha..crazy setup, 100hp on them is way too much fun i cant imagine a SBC let alone an LS. Hopefully it stays together, haha. Ive got a 59 bugeye, but its keepin the BMC stuffs...1275 thats gonna get a turbo
Nice little setup though, just go over all those welds to be sure it stays together haha
Not much sprite left but the cockpit, even then, haha..crazy setup, 100hp on them is way too much fun i cant imagine a SBC let alone an LS. Hopefully it stays together, haha. Ive got a 59 bugeye, but its keepin the BMC stuffs...1275 thats gonna get a turbo
Nice little setup though, just go over all those welds to be sure it stays together haha
12-07-2013, 10:34 PM
#11
Believe me, if you rode in the car when it was running, you'd fall in love with it... The car is very well built, full custom suspension, frame under the car, etc... Here's the last startup of the SBC before I yanked it... Forgive that it dies, manual choke, very cold outside.
the engine going in it has a tsunami cam in it from texas speed, I'm fighting the urge to leave it in or toss in the LS6 Z06 factory cam. solid motor mounts and I honestly don't need it that lopey but damn that cam sounds good!!!!!
the engine going in it has a tsunami cam in it from texas speed, I'm fighting the urge to leave it in or toss in the LS6 Z06 factory cam. solid motor mounts and I honestly don't need it that lopey but damn that cam sounds good!!!!!
12-13-2013, 02:15 PM
#12
Well, I went and grabbed the Thomas denner hood to check out the fitment and it's a long shot to get the engine to fit entirely under it.... The problem is it's a long shot also to get everything to fit under the old hood also. ****. Well, I'm not going to cut up the thomas Denner hood, it's too rare. To get the engine to fit I would have to drop the engine 6 inches at least because of how the hood slopes down in the front. same for the other hood. the amount of fab work for that would be epic and take a long time.... But I've got a factory hood here to toss onto the old front end and cut it in the center for the new engine... If the new engine wont fit either way, I've got 2 options... A and B. I'm leaning towards B but I'll see what you guys think...
Option A
Option B
Option A
Option B
12-13-2013, 02:49 PM
#13
Launching!
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Just throwing this out there - with A you could reverse the intake. Yes, probably a little firewall work, but it might help with clearance on that hood. I know some rock crawler guys who reverse them.
12-13-2013, 02:55 PM
#15
I reversed it, It's still not even close, would need to drop it down still another 4 inches because of the front slope of the hood and then would need to fab the firewall stuff and the same problems with the steering, frame rails, etc, etc...
12-13-2013, 02:57 PM
#16
The pics are deceiving, they look like everything would fit under but because of the way the hood slopes down in the front, it's a no go. Even the oil cap, the way it is in the supercharger pic, has the hood resting on it... It's tight the further forward you go in the engine bay... Plan A and B through the hood will get the red rocket on the road months before dropping the engine and all of that fab work.
12-16-2013, 01:45 PM
#17
so obviously I have to cut this down a few inches and do some trimming front and back, also the panels will go under the dash and have a hidden audio system and 2 speakers, 1 by driver and passenger leg under the dash. The console will be covered in vinyl also, and the touch screen will be molded into the existing dash in place of the existing gauges... speedo and tach will remain. let me know what you think, I wanted to make the car something completly different and as fun as possible to drive.
12-16-2013, 02:38 PM
#18
At the risk of looking like an idiot: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH THE SHIFTERS!?!
-Is it a Kenworth Transmission?
-Is it a cutting brake like on a sandrail?
-Is there a backhoe arm that pops out of the trunk?
I'm just giving you a hard time, but I have never seen an O/D or gear splitter like that before. Details please. Like is shifting a team effort?
In other news, cool build!
-Is it a Kenworth Transmission?
-Is it a cutting brake like on a sandrail?
-Is there a backhoe arm that pops out of the trunk?
I'm just giving you a hard time, but I have never seen an O/D or gear splitter like that before. Details please. Like is shifting a team effort?
In other news, cool build!
12-16-2013, 02:58 PM
#19
shifter on the left operates like a normal shifter, but pull it all the way back to 1 it pops the other three levers forward and then you pull the second lever for your 1-2 shift, visa versa... pretty cool, just wanted to do something a little different.
12-16-2013, 03:42 PM
#20
Very cool build, I'll follow along for sure.
I love the old British cars. In fact, we have an auto museum that has lawn events every Sat or Sun during the summer and they had several British car days. My wife and I went to every one, and every car I looked at I wondered how you could fit an LS engine under the hood.
I know this is the wrong car, but what about something like this forward facing scoop on a slightly larger scale?
I love the old British cars. In fact, we have an auto museum that has lawn events every Sat or Sun during the summer and they had several British car days. My wife and I went to every one, and every car I looked at I wondered how you could fit an LS engine under the hood.
I know this is the wrong car, but what about something like this forward facing scoop on a slightly larger scale?