Top secret build - Wartburg 2.0

In reply to Patrick :

Fig 1:  Bad Idea

(as if that ever stopped anyone)

I thrive on bad ideas.

it was mostly to amuse myself.  I went as far aS getting the same pulley roush uses on the m90 to get 405hp from a 4.6.  Things are just tacked together and ugly.  I hate how it looks from the front because i just built a bracket off the AC mount.  I could never leave it like that.  It was more a design exercise.

Also I was bored.  A used pair of vortec heads and a used lt1 cam would cost less and do the same thing with less complications.  I have a $10 used LT1 cam.  And a slightly boned up vortec head and a good one.  And engine gasket sets.

12ish years ago an online parts store was going out of business.  Everything was 90% off with free shipping.  Literally anything for a sbc, camaro, s10, chevelle, etc i added to the cart.  Boxes upon boxes upon boxes.  $19 denso radiators, $2 calipers, $1 brake pads, $5 alternators.  I basically have a gm parts store in my parents basement still.  And i found the freaking receipts a couple months ago.....  game on

No more unknown rear spring rates 

also just popped #4 out of the 6.0.  Chunk of crank counterweight missing.  Hopeful for block survival at this point.  Intake probably needs tossed because there are pieces of valve rattling around in it and that’s something i could never trust that i got all of.  Now i’ll probably tear it down sooner rather than later to make sure I don’t bag and store a block of scrap.  

Have I ever told you about how much I want to get a 6.0 block and stick a 58x 4.8 rotating assembly on its pistons?

Must be 58x for throttle mapping reasons.  The TAC in 24x computers does not like it when you play wih the throttle mapping too much, but the integrated throttle control with the 58x computers is just fine.

Patrick said:

Day 12 June 23.  Aka Carli’s birthday.  Simple goal was a couple gussets to firm up the connection between the factory frame and the backhalf rails.  I bought one of those newfangled diamond steel cutting wheels for the grinder and attempted to use it to go fast instead of the band saw to go slow, resulting in this:

 

Then I lost 12 build days and have $1200 in medical bills.  Good thing those are budget exempt.

Its the curse of the Wartburg..

Knurled. said:

Have I ever told you about how much I want to get a 6.0 block and stick a 58x 4.8 rotating assembly on its pistons?

We need to talk sometime. I have such an engine in the works on my engine stand currently.

Needs a smiley face eye tattoo...  Glad you survived.  Now that it’s consecrated it has to be fast.

84FSP said:

Needs a smiley face eye tattoo...  Glad you survived.  Now that it’s consecrated it has to be fast.

LOL...on mine I actually have it planned to get "joker eyes" over it and "y so serious" under it next time I go for ink.

Small update.

on the camaro/miata trip I picked up the free fiddy 3.25 center section.  Will be ordering a 31 spline spool shortly so I can set that up and get ready to narrow the housing and find axles.  (Damn, i forgot to look through the axle pile at Nelsons!) 

for non challenge use i’ll set up an identical center but with a limited slip so I don’t have to live with a spool on the street.  

Also mice got to the original front seats, which while sad is also ok because they weigh about 50 pounds each. 

Patrick said:

 

Also mice got to the original front seats, which while sad is also ok because they weigh about 50 pounds each. 

Damn, them are some big ass mice y0!

In reply to Patrick :

We still need to get together about the 2.lol 9" gears.  Da Boss keeps getting on my case  to LS swap and I may play hardball, and I'll need the tall gears if he calls my bluff, because 350s and 400s are a dime a dozen compared to 4L60s.

How are you going to make a gasser do more than an autocross parade lap?  How are you going to hit the 1:1 when the car was already outside it and tippy with the old configuration?

Evil genius time

Next order of business is clean the garage.  It’s a bit not clean.  

1:1 stability rule.  LOL.

i’m at 54” front track and 64” height.  It will get slightly lower as weight is added, but i may need to put a turnbuckle where the front shocks go and crank it down, and switch from the 12” wide 5” backspace wheels to the 14” wide 3” backspace wheels to find that 10”

it was around 54” tall with a 44”ish track when it ran in 2010.  That’s not going to fly.  

Words cannot describe just how narrow this car is.  

Patrick said:

wheels777 said:

Delivery Box truck have used Camaro pans for long time. That was one of our sources thru a friend who gets them in at a salvage yard. :-)

Interesting. I don’t mind being the beneficiary of the scrap order, and I told them not to call around next time until someone says yes and just call me first 

they said they’re seeing lots of rocker failures of the offset rocker.  

 

They’re definitely not as beefy as the straight rockers.  

 

I replaced a 6.0L in a 2500HD with 800 miles. Broke a rocker in the same spot, and what was left acted like a valve spring compressor, which popped the keepers and retainers out and dropped the valve into cylinder #8. GM has a bulletin about broken rocker arms, and if the valve drops, you replace the whole engine. If the valve didn't drop they tell you to replace the rocker arms with the same design rocker arm that broke already.

I cleaned the garage to 90% done over the last few days so I rewarded myself with some work on the car.   Lots of hammer and dolly work to get the mounting flanges of the fenders unberkeleyed.  Way more where that came from 

Wait, whose shop is that? 

The rule actually says "average track" 

Super wide rear tires could compensate for a narrow front end. 

John Welsh said:

The rule actually says "average track" 

Super wide rear tires could compensate for a narrow front end. 

I am picturing a Reliant Robin with 31x18.5 Mickey Thompsons on a van axle.

Should go around corners just fine, in the sense of completely missing them.

John Welsh said:

The rule actually says "average track" 

Super wide rear tires could compensate for a narrow front end. 

Correct.  I have new wheels with 1” more backspacing than are currently mounted, so i have 2” more track than planned, plus Greg Voth sent me up some volvo 240 front fenders to cut up for rear wheel radiuses, so there’s at least 2” more.  This coupled with the fenders being a little wider than I thought in back is giving 8” back that was going to be gone.  That’s 8” more track to help the average.  Rear was initially thought to have to lose 4” on right and 6” on left.  it appears i will only need to narrow the driver’s side axle tube the 2” that the assembly was offset to center the pinion.  This also means I have to buy one less axle shaft, and i can likely find one local for cheap.  I was budgeting $300 for axles so this is a welcome surprise. I’ll have to budget for the different wheels and redrill the hubs because the pattern is different and the wheels currently on back were picked up on trash night.  

 It is also good that I didn’t order the spool yet because i can go 28 spline on that.  The only B is i already got the matching geared 3.25 limited slip 31 spline post challenge diff, so i’ll just use that one in the chevelle because I have 31 spline axles for that and get a 28 spline lsd after challenge life is done.

Shiny bits under the not shiny bits 

Sexy and chrome always makes it faster. 

*disgruntled C3 Corvette Owner at the Old White Guy Nationals*    "Chrome will get you home"

I love the big front meats :D

Your car appears quite tall.