Old Project Revitalized - 56 Track Car

[vette427sbc]

Those should do the job! 32mm thick rotors? Or thicker?

 

[mfain]

Those should do the job! 32mm thick rotors? Or thicker?

Yep, 32 mm.

 

[mfain]

I have been AWOL for a while. My password got dumped and I had a lot of trouble resetting it. My most recent progress involves having a set of SS headers built by Ryan Linder of X1 Race Cars. 2 1/4 inch tubes, SPD merge collector. Ryan did a beautiful job. I got the firewall back in the car. I ordered a custom dry sump tank from Peterson Fluid Systems just before they shut down for 6 weeks for coronavirus (Colorado). Now they are a little backed up so it could be a couple of months before I get the tank. I was able to use their engineering drawing to finish the firewall where the tank sits, so the delay did not grind me to a complete halt.

Pappy

 

[phantomjock]

Pappy -

Nice shot on the stands. I take it that the exit forward of the rear wheels is exhaust? Nice.

Cheers - Jim

 

[mfain]

Pappy -

Nice shot on the stands. I take it that the exit forward of the rear wheels is exhaust? Nice.

Cheers - Jim

Hey Jim,

Thanks. The exit you asked about is actually the opening for side scoops - kind-of like the C5Z. They feed air to the differential and fuel coolers. There is a photo in post 35, page 4 of this thread.

Pappy

 

[rtj]

Looks like a wide body C1, that’s pretty unique. :thumbs:

 

[phantomjock]

Pappy - hope you'll forgive my oversight/forgetfulness - it was over a year ago!!

I am/was thinking of feeding air to my diff cooler via a couple of NACA ducts cut into the underbody. You'll probably get more air from that location.

Cheers - Jim

 

[bobs77vet]

those headers look so bad ass....

 

[mfain]

those headers look so bad ass....

Thank you. The tubes had to be fairly robust - a 13:1, 515 C.I big block with a big cam and heads can push a lot of air. The tube layout is also a little unusual since the motor has an LS firing order. Packaging was a challenge. I am curious to hear what it sounds like through a 3.5 inch exhaust and Magnaflow race mufflers.

Pappy

 

[mfain]

I don't normally like to post "in the thick of it" construction shots, but I though some of you might be interested in an AiM MXL2 dash/data logger in a 56 Corvette. The firewall is now in with only finish sanding to do - it is all the way back against the roll cage dash bar so I guess I'll stop there. LOL That moves the motor 19" behind its original location.

Pappy

 

[mfain]

Here is something that may interest some. I ran a duct from the right front fender scoop to a location behind the dry sump tank. That provides ram air between the tank and the firewall that may help keep header heat away from the tank. When the engine was on the dyno they raised the oil temp 15 degrees by moving a box fan that they had blowing directly on the dry sump tank - surprised me.

Pappy

 

[vette427sbc]

That AiM piece looks perfect in the dash!
Interesting info about the airflow over the drysump tank too

 

[rtj]

Interesting about the oil tank. Made me think a few cooling fine or a heat sink would help.

Turns out Howe racing sells a line with cooling fins:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...MI3qeNtIDi6QIVA43ICh3SNgQ4EAQYDCABEgLtG_D_BwE

Description: Howe Cool Tubes will replace your braided oil line, transferring the oil heat into surrounding air. Their unique fin design creates over 18 1/2 in. of exposed circumference, increasing the surface area five times over straight tubing. These oil cooler tubes are made of aluminum, which has excellent thermal transfer properties—whereas braided line is actually a heat insulator. You can even bend them in a standard tubing bender. Keep your engine oil operating at peak efficiency with Cool Tubes from Howe Racing!

I see some selling heat sinks for oil filters, not sure they’d get much air.

 

[vette427sbc]

Funny you say that as I had the same idea... I’ll post up in the aero thread with my findings

 

[mfain]

Progress - I guess. Finishing up the dash, interior side of the firewall, and floorboard.

 

[vette427sbc]

I assume most, if not all of your data will run through the AiM, so what (gauges, I assume) will go in the other pods in the dash?
And as for the firewall, do you do anything special in regards to fire retardant since it’s not metal? Does it matter?

The thought/design and craftsmanship in this car is on another level

 

[mfain]

Thank You. The AiM has a can bus pick-up from the Motec ECU, so it captures most of the data. But I am an old, old school guy, so I will also run analog gages for oil pressure, oil temp., water temp., and fuel quantity. The side pod gages will be trans. and differential temp. The pod in the center console will hold the Motec ignition switch. For the firewall I used a marine, fire retardant vinyl ester resin and will have aluminum heat shields in appropriate areas. So far that is not an issue with NASA. I did put an .063 aluminum firewall between the driver's compartment and the fuel cell - completely sealed off. In fact, today I finished a section of that firewall over the trans tunnel that I had to modify when I moved the motor to the right - see photo.

Pappy

 

[BBShark]

Really nice work on the interior. That's going to look great.

 

[mfain]

Finally got the firewall in primer. Dry sump tank cove on the passenger side, provision for the Tilton brake and clutch cylinders on the other. Next step is to install the motor to finalize location of a few things like the firewall cannon plug for the ECU, the fuel line bulkhead fittings, and a couple of heat shields for the headers.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

looking very good

 

[mfain]

Took a while to get built. Peterson Fluid Systems shut down for 6 weeks due to CV-19. They did a nice job. Tall (22.5") w/7" diameter for 3.16 gallon capacity. Dash 16 scavenge and outlet, -12 vent lines and -12 scavenge for the air/oil separator, and a bung for the oil pre-heater.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

nice

 

[mfain]

nice

Thank you. Here is something I ran across on a Prefix Viper motor build that is really cool. It is like an Oberg oil filter, but it has a clear top. When you shut the motor down, you simply put an air chuck on the air valve for a couple of seconds and it clears the oil out of the housing. Then you can see any debris that comes from the motor and ends up on the filter screen. It is called a Clear View Filtration system. It debuted at PRI a couple of years ago, and Summit is even selling them now. I ordered one (big 6" filter screen and -16 inlets/outlets) that is recommended for high flow dry sump pumps. It even allows me to put my oil temp sending unit in one of the inlet/outlet ports which keeps me from having a separate port adapter in the oil line. They also make a version that has a screw-on GM oil filter on the bottom if you choose to use it as a remote oil filter.

 

[mfain]

Sewer pipe exhaust under construction. 2.25 inch header tubes into SPD merge collector with 3.5" exit. Then 3.5" exhaust through Magnaflow race mufflers. All stainless steel. I'll get it all welded up this week and will provide better photos.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

nice

Thank you. Here is something I ran across on a Prefix Viper motor build that is really cool. It is like an Oberg oil filter, but it has a clear top. When you shut the motor down, you simply put an air chuck on the air valve for a couple of seconds and it clears the oil out of the housing. Then you can see any debris that comes from the motor and ends up on the filter screen. It is called a Clear View Filtration system. It debuted at PRI a couple of years ago, and Summit is even selling them now. I ordered one (big 6" filter screen and -16 inlets/outlets) that is recommended for high flow dry sump pumps. It even allows me to put my oil temp sending unit in one of the inlet/outlet ports which keeps me from having a separate port adapter in the oil line. They also make a version that has a screw-on GM oil filter on the bottom if you choose to use it as a remote oil filter.

View attachment 2397

on my project list is a twin turbo BBB (big block buick) - I'm going to use a remote oil system on it because they have terrible oil systems. I've been watching what your oil system is because I'll copy it on the Buick (you'd think on my BBC C3, but I can machine 4 BBC motors for what it cost to do one BBB...) that clear cover would be a nice addition.

 

[phantomjock]

Pappy -

I'm getting back on to the 'vette and sorting out suspension--still. I'm moving to 15 inch wheels and the reduced size C5/6/7 uprights. I re-read your posting over at Lat-G. Have a question that was buried in this:

... For the upper ball joint, I used the 2 in./ft. reamer to enlarge the 1/2 in. hole in a heavy duty (3/4 in. threaded shank) solid rod end. The factory upper ball joint in the C6 spindle fit the now-tapered rod end hole perfectly. The rod end then screws into a threaded insert welded into 1 1/4 in., .095 wall chrome-moly tude that is part of my upper suspension link. Taper problem solved -- moving on.

My compliment first: Clever Thinking! Now, my question;

Could you share a picture of this approach? I'd like a peak at that upper suspension link with the solild rod end as the ball joint "landing."​

Please - and thank you!

Cheers - Jim

 

[mfain]

Now, my question;

Could you share a picture of this approach? I'd like a peak at that upper suspension link with the solild rod end as the ball joint "landing."​

Please - and thank you!

Cheers - Jim

Jim,

I couldn't find a photo. I built an upper link for a 5-link using a C6 upright using the solid rod end. That link was okay, but I couldn't find a good way to mount the forward links to the upright.

I finally got my lower control arms modified to connect the Speedway Engineering. Worked pretty slick. I also finished welding up the rest of the stainless exhaust. It was quite a chore getting it up and over the IRS and still have it easily removable.





I mounted the rotors and calipers to check the fit. All is good - that 372mm front rotor is a tight fit in an 18 inch wheel. Finspeed is building me a second set of trach wheels - forged CNC-machined one-piece, 12X18f/13X18r. The had to use a Corvette DP forging to get the backspacing I need on the rear.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

did you use the 5th gen Camaro unitized bearing to get the larger wheel studs? one of those pleasant surprises when I used the Camaro rear carrier was the larger studs... the second surprise was finding out the unitized bearing fits in the C5 knuckle. I don't know if that interchanges with the rear Corvette assembly, however the Camaro unitized bearing works on all corners (it's splined for the CV).

 

[mfain]

did you use the 5th gen Camaro unitized bearing to get the larger wheel studs? one of those pleasant surprises when I used the Camaro rear carrier was the larger studs... the second surprise was finding out the unitized bearing fits in the C5 knuckle. I don't know if that interchanges with the rear Corvette assembly, however the Camaro unitized bearing works on all corners (it's splined for the CV).

The fronts are C6 ZR1 (SKF) hubs to which I added the ARP studs. The rears are C7 Corvette. I have the ARP studs for them, but just haven't swapped them out with the GM metric studs yet. I don't know if the Camaro bearings will fit - maybe. I would have to check the spline count - I have the big ZR1 splines on my axle shafts. The ZR1 hubs have the correct wheel speed sensors for my MoTec ECU, but the C7 units do not. If I decide to add traction control at some point I will replace the rear C7 hubs with C6 ZR1 units. Both hubs have the bigger bearings, unlike the standard C6 bearings that fail at a pretty good rate with big tires and lots of track abuse. BTW, when/where are you planning on your first Optima UTC event. Should be a lot of fun.

Pappy

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

the Camaro bearings have the speed sensors as well - like anything, you mentioned about it, and I figured I'd tell you something you probably already knew - I'm good that way :thankyou:

I did, briefly, consider going back to the Corvette studs - but they won't work with the Camaro hub. Part of me also remembers opening up a hub bore to match the hub... but now I'm questioning whether or not this was on the same conversion.... I know I had to open up the holes on the C6 wheels...