Thanks for that link.. not too much new information, I may just stick with Vibrant as they have all the bends and straight lengths I need at reasonable prices on Summit.. I'll check our local Lordco auto supply and see what my discount would be.

The girlfriend and I are house-sitting her parents' house & dog while they are away.. it's on the Indian Arm inlet of Pacific ocean.. man I wish I lived there fulltime tho..

 

Just spent the last few hours reading through this thread and your car is by far one of the most well done I've seen. Makes me want to get my 77 4 door done now. Thanks for the motivation man.

 

I used some yonaka piping last time, 4" was fairly round though the bends. Got it from streetimports eBay store. It was cheap. I believe it shipped from somewhere in Canada even tho it says New York, no hastle. All the ss Vbands and flex pipes from China eBay store.

 

How did your bumpsteer mods work out in real world driving ?

 

It turned out fine.. car doesn't exhibit any weirdness over many different turning scenarios, it just feels normal.. so I guess it all worked out well?!

 

it looks pretty shiny!

 

Put about 250km on it roadtripping it thru twisty rural farm roads on Vancouver Island since Friday evening.. it has been a blast!

 

What, no burn out pics/videos?

 

Sticky tires are expensive! I'd prefer to let them pin me in my seat than just burn

 

LOL. I hear ya. Plus being pinned in the seat feels ALOT better IMO

 

My thoughts exactly!

 

You and your Island friends should make a pilgrimage to Washington and attend an event. This one is loads of fun.
http://www.nwnmotorsports.com/events/Bremerton-September-2016

 

I found this thread when you posted some pics on PT.com. and have been working my way through it since.
I too have an orange Nova ('71) that I bought as a roller ...... in 1996. I just put it on the road two weeks ago, and it's not nearly as sophisticated as yours so your time frame was far superior to mine.LOL
Anyways, thank you for taking the time to document everything you have done. It has given me food for thought when it comes to making mods to mine in the future.
Now it's time to pour a drink and start on this one http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php4?t=18295

Thanks again,
Ken

 

No problem Ken! In all honesty, Billy Utley's Nova build that you linked to was my inspiration, and believe it or not his is even lower than mine!

 

Hey Joe do you still make it down to Burnaby Market Crossing? I'm looking at getting out for a rip tonight.I never get tired of looking at what you've done to the Nova.Very cool...I see you moved out of East Van to the North Shore...a little more quiet over there...cheers from Pitt Meadows
Dave

 

Hey Dave,

Unfortunately a couple months ago those Marine Way Market Crossing meets got shutdown.. too many 20 year old dumbasses redlining their 5.0L Mustangs on the spot for minutes at a time, littering chip bags and cig butts, etc. A bunch of people from that group have tried several other places since and looks like the place that has had continued success is the parking lot around Princess Auto in Coquitlam. I'd be totally down to meet up there on Thurs, but I just can't swing it tonight..

Cheers,
joe

 

Alright fellas, time for a bit of an update.. hopefully the subscribers to this thread haven't run off to bigger and more interesting things!

So after beating on this thing on the street for the better part of 3 springs summers and falls, it's time for an engine refresh. My oil pressure has always been 40psi cold and ~30psi hot at idle, spiking up to 80psi under rpm, but after a HOT day in early September with about an hour stuck in traffic, I noticed my idle oil pressure go down to 29psi, then 28, then 27, eventually settling around 26psi. I pulled over, waited about 30mins for the engine to cool down, then drove it home keeping out of boost. I parked it for a while, took it for a spin or two in the colder dense air, and it always idled at 30psi, but then dipped down to 27-28psi after one spirited drive. Parked the car and changed the oil soon after, and found some copper powder in the oil. I'm lead to believe this could be cam bearings, but either way then engine is coming out.. I need moar everything.

If the engine is coming apart, I might as well stroke it. As I've been doing research, I originally was going to go as big as 4.060" on the LQ4 block, depending on how it ultrasounded, but apparently that's good most of the time for N/A but is pushing it for even medium boost on an iron block that checks out thick. It seems 4.030" bore is good almost universally (of course I'd get the block checked first) and that would give 408cid. I would have a big range of piston choices between 15cc dish and up to 32cc dish giving 9.7:1 down to 8.4:1 compression ratios. The ones I'd be eyeing are Wiseco 25cc and 20cc dish which would give I believe 8.64:1 and 9.27:1 compression ratios (off the top of my head, I'll post my evaluation spreadsheet later). I already have this block, but would likely be into it for $500-750 CDN of machine shop time after checking, cleaning, bore & hone, and possible deck check as well (mains and cam bores were checked before last rebuild and were mint). There are few off-the-shelf deep dish piston options for 4.035" and 4.040" if I needed to rebuild again later on.

The other option is a new LS3 block. I'd be able to run it at 4.065" right from the start giving 415cid, and would have 4.070" and 4.075" to expand to in the future. Not to mention I'd be ahead in lighter weight, and the block would be reinforced so potentially same wall strength compared to a 0.030" bored LQ4. It would cost me probably $1800 CDN, but my brain could justify that for weight and newer engineering of the block etc reasons.

LSX block & 6-bolt heads is out of the question for both total cost as well as added weight.. this isn't a 25psi+ 1500whp drag racer, it's a street driver (eventually road track too) car that sees boost but also cruising and a bunch of idle.. I just don't see the need.

I'd keep my cathedral port 317 heads for now (71.06cc chambers), along with LS9 head gaskets (4.100" bore x 0.051" compressed) all of which dimensions I used for the above compression ratio calcs. I could potentially upgrade to LS3 or LSA/LS9 heads in the future for a stronger casting, but more importantly a likely better intake flow. Changing to a 70cc chamber LS3 head will increase the compression ratio of any combo I decide on by ~0.1:1.

I know that once you add boost you technically don't need to lose sleep over how free-flowing the intake/heads/piping/etc is, but me being an engineer I like the idea of eventually having all the individual components be as free flowing as they can.. I like to think they may all add up for non-boost low end or something, but if for no other reason than simply just on principle.

So.. who here has an opinion on: 1) keep what I have and make it a 408, or 2) buy new for ~$1000 more and have a lighter 416, all other details considered the same?

 

How much more for an ERL block with 4.125" bore?

Ken

 

Looks like $2250 USD + core cost for ERL to do their sleeving magic for their smallest/most basic machined bare block setup.. adding up to $4000 USD for a sleeved 4.125" bore machined LS3 based off a used core that they source. For me, if I were to go the route of purchasing a block it'd have to be GM as the value for me just isn't there for aftermarket anything at several thousand dollars more expensive.

 

I'd set a ET or hp goal and build to that. I'm cheap, I'd do rods and pistons only. The less bore and stroke will be happier. Do the minimum overbore just thinking down the road.

If you weren't already turbo I'd probably just do NA 416 and call it a day, probably run 10's.