Newbie. Need to be pointed in the right direction!
09-13-2010, 10:19 AM
#1
Teching In
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Newbie. Need to be pointed in the right direction! Hey guys, I guess I'm the new kid on the block. My name's Justin, I'm 23 and from the northern Illinois area.
I recently purchased my first F-body and am looking to great pointed in the right direction, but I figure I should offer up a form of introduction first.
I'm a car guy; work full time for a trucking company, while putting myself through school for a master's in mech engineering. My first "fast" car was a truck - a 99 Ford Lightning that was putting out somewhere in the neighborhood of 500whp when it met an untimely demise while I was learning the hard way about snap oversteer in the rain.
My current car is a 2008 Mazdaspeed3. It was something of an abrupt departure from a fire-breathing rear wheel drive monster. I started working, on the side, as a parts engineer (designing headers, motor mounts, chassis bracing, etc) for a buddy who runs of the largest aftermarket, Mazda parts companies in the country. I learned a great deal about little Japanese motors, turbos, the whole deal.
All-in-all the car is fully-bolted, just shy of 300whp without the meth (it's a front wheel drive, M6, turbocharged 2.3L I4, factory rated at 265hp/285tq; basically the antithesis of every car on this forum).
My dilemma came when I wanted to head back to the track. Something just looked a little wrong about this:
At 300whp, despite the chassis mods, the configuration was more or less maxed.. and just barely squeaking into the 13s. It was utterly defeating after working for over two years building the thing up. It blasts down the highway and around turns, but 2.1 60's just... aren't good enough.
..then my clutch went out and I got an idea. Rather than build the motor in the Mada like I was planning, why not take some of that money and get a straight-line toy?
So, I did just that.
What I eventually picked up feels like I made the steal of the century. It is a 1996 Formula LT1 with 106k. It was definitely someone's baby for a long time and I intend on treating it well.
To my knowledge, the current mods are the car are: built 4 speed auto, stage 2 shift kit, 2500 stall torque converter, intake, full exhaust w/ longtubes, 1.6RRs, rebuilt stock rear, electric water pump, wet nitrous solenoids, welded subframe connectors, tubular control arms and a tune. The rear interior is stripped.. weighed it on Friday and it came to 3580lbs with a full tank of gas and me in it.
I have no idea what the thing is putting down power-wise.. if I had to guess from what I've read already, I would say somewhere in the 275-325whp range (without the spray, obviously).
The guy threw in a brand new 268XFI comp cam, chromemoly pushrods, 160deg tstat and a set of 10.5" Hoosiers with skinnies. All for $2700 (claims he had medical bills he desperately needed to pay).
The nitrous system on the car looks beat to **** and came with all the plumbing, but no bottle. I intend on taking everything off and bench-testing it before going any further.. I don't even know what size nozzle is in there. On top of this it has a nasty valve cover gasket leak which sprays oil onto the headers during left-hand turns, and possibly an oil pan or rear main leak also. I haven't had a chance to really investigate it yet.
Otherwise, the car feels really solid and I'm practically in love with it.
Obligatory pictures:
The guy I bought the car from claims it ran 11.39 with the slicks and nitrous.. I'm not sure I believe that, but then again I suppose it's possible if it's got a 150 shot on there.
My goal with the car is to make a streetable 500whp with the nitrous. At 100k+, the engine must be tired. Having looked over the stickied dyno thread I'm really not sure what to feel.
I intend on taking the winter to throw in the cam and pushrods, but where should I be looking to upgrade after that? What should I be careful of between the LT1 and the trans?
Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself, say hey, and get some peoples' thoughts. Thanks for reading!
I recently purchased my first F-body and am looking to great pointed in the right direction, but I figure I should offer up a form of introduction first.
I'm a car guy; work full time for a trucking company, while putting myself through school for a master's in mech engineering. My first "fast" car was a truck - a 99 Ford Lightning that was putting out somewhere in the neighborhood of 500whp when it met an untimely demise while I was learning the hard way about snap oversteer in the rain.
My current car is a 2008 Mazdaspeed3. It was something of an abrupt departure from a fire-breathing rear wheel drive monster. I started working, on the side, as a parts engineer (designing headers, motor mounts, chassis bracing, etc) for a buddy who runs of the largest aftermarket, Mazda parts companies in the country. I learned a great deal about little Japanese motors, turbos, the whole deal.
My dilemma came when I wanted to head back to the track. Something just looked a little wrong about this:
At 300whp, despite the chassis mods, the configuration was more or less maxed.. and just barely squeaking into the 13s. It was utterly defeating after working for over two years building the thing up. It blasts down the highway and around turns, but 2.1 60's just... aren't good enough.
..then my clutch went out and I got an idea. Rather than build the motor in the Mada like I was planning, why not take some of that money and get a straight-line toy?
So, I did just that.
What I eventually picked up feels like I made the steal of the century. It is a 1996 Formula LT1 with 106k. It was definitely someone's baby for a long time and I intend on treating it well.
To my knowledge, the current mods are the car are: built 4 speed auto, stage 2 shift kit, 2500 stall torque converter, intake, full exhaust w/ longtubes, 1.6RRs, rebuilt stock rear, electric water pump, wet nitrous solenoids, welded subframe connectors, tubular control arms and a tune. The rear interior is stripped.. weighed it on Friday and it came to 3580lbs with a full tank of gas and me in it.
I have no idea what the thing is putting down power-wise.. if I had to guess from what I've read already, I would say somewhere in the 275-325whp range (without the spray, obviously).
The guy threw in a brand new 268XFI comp cam, chromemoly pushrods, 160deg tstat and a set of 10.5" Hoosiers with skinnies. All for $2700 (claims he had medical bills he desperately needed to pay).
The nitrous system on the car looks beat to **** and came with all the plumbing, but no bottle. I intend on taking everything off and bench-testing it before going any further.. I don't even know what size nozzle is in there. On top of this it has a nasty valve cover gasket leak which sprays oil onto the headers during left-hand turns, and possibly an oil pan or rear main leak also. I haven't had a chance to really investigate it yet.
Otherwise, the car feels really solid and I'm practically in love with it.
Obligatory pictures:
The guy I bought the car from claims it ran 11.39 with the slicks and nitrous.. I'm not sure I believe that, but then again I suppose it's possible if it's got a 150 shot on there.
My goal with the car is to make a streetable 500whp with the nitrous. At 100k+, the engine must be tired. Having looked over the stickied dyno thread I'm really not sure what to feel.
I intend on taking the winter to throw in the cam and pushrods, but where should I be looking to upgrade after that? What should I be careful of between the LT1 and the trans?
Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself, say hey, and get some peoples' thoughts. Thanks for reading!
Last edited by TheDoc22; 09-13-2010 at 10:37 AM.
09-13-2010, 10:36 AM
#2
TECH Addict
iTrader: (15)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posts: 2,062
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Welcome to the forum and clean car, same color as mine. It sounds like you have a good base to start with. For the heads and cam I would talk to Lloyd Elliot or AI they both know what they are doing and have great feedback. Other then that I think you have the right idea taking off the nitrous and testing it before you use it. The only other upgrade I would look into would be a good torque arm the rear end will last you longer then us 6speed guys
09-13-2010, 01:53 PM
#3
Good move on switching to the fbody platform, slick lookin car man! 
and yes, 11's are possible with tires, bolt ons, nitrous, and an internally stock motor no problem.
500rwhp is a ton of power for one of these cars, and it really depends on the setup. I'm not saying 500rwhp isn't doable by any means, but a lot of people have broken into the 10's with less hp.
There's really a lot of options here, all of which depend on your budget. Forced induction gets expensive on these motors because they're such high compression they don't like boost from the factory-thats when you get into forged internals, heads, and everything to mess with compression-really probably not the most cost effective route for your goals.
You could do a 383 stroker with a mild top end (ported and polished stock heads and intake by Elliot Portworks or Advanced Inductions-you'll hear them being called AI and LE on here) and a nice shot of nitrous to get your 500rwhp.
Basically it comes down to, how fast do you want to go, and how much do you want to spend?
and yes, 11's are possible with tires, bolt ons, nitrous, and an internally stock motor no problem.
500rwhp is a ton of power for one of these cars, and it really depends on the setup. I'm not saying 500rwhp isn't doable by any means, but a lot of people have broken into the 10's with less hp.
There's really a lot of options here, all of which depend on your budget. Forced induction gets expensive on these motors because they're such high compression they don't like boost from the factory-thats when you get into forged internals, heads, and everything to mess with compression-really probably not the most cost effective route for your goals.
You could do a 383 stroker with a mild top end (ported and polished stock heads and intake by Elliot Portworks or Advanced Inductions-you'll hear them being called AI and LE on here) and a nice shot of nitrous to get your 500rwhp.
Basically it comes down to, how fast do you want to go, and how much do you want to spend?
09-13-2010, 02:33 PM
#5
Teching In
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Welcome to the forum and clean car, same color as mine. It sounds like you have a good base to start with. For the heads and cam I would talk to Lloyd Elliot or AI they both know what they are doing and have great feedback. Other then that I think you have the right idea taking off the nitrous and testing it before you use it. The only other upgrade I would look into would be a good torque arm the rear end will last you longer then us 6speed guys
I've been looking at putting together something with a federal rebuild kit from summit like..
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FEM-CSMHP766-000/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SME-3-48-05-100/
Do you think building something cheap like that would hold up well enough for daily driving?
If you have Facebook here's a video of me up against a Z06 (the Z06 missed a shift, but I definitely held my own all things considered): http://www.facebook.com/video/?of=16...ubj=1665507173
09-13-2010, 05:41 PM
#6
106k is really not all that much for a stock motor. People rack these things up to 175-200k all the time before seeing many engine problems...they are built to take abuse, but it also depends on how long/ and how the nitrous/setup was used on the current setup.