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Great looking build. Where did you get that spreader bar? I have a BB 68 with limited clearance in the front of my motor as I added a serpentine kit to it. Thanks. Just checked your parts list and found it.
They are tight on a BBC !!! I built one on the same config as shown then I went to a sort of cantilever 2nd design as I wanted to make room for a Blower drive as I look to put a procharger on the ramjet... I think I will move the alternator to the rear differential mount to make room as well....
Obviously there is the propensity of twisting the upper control arm if too much preload applied ... I am tying the shock mount to the roll cage when I install my semi coilovers and tubular lower control arms
Since this is a track day car, I went with a Fidanza aluminum flyhweel to greatly reduce rotating inertia for quick revs.
I was a little concerned about streetability with it, and upon many hours of research I went with a McLoed twin disc clutch to try and help low speed easy engagements with the clutch (and also reduce rotating inertia yet again). This is probably the part of the build I'm most nervous about, but based on everything I've tried to consider.. it should be great
The LS swap sidepipe headers from CIC came in, and they look great! Fitment was also great for the most part. They just barely touch the frame on the passenger side. We'll see what happens when its all on the road and settled in. Worst case, a gentle use of ballpeen hammer will take care of it.
I have a Fidanza Flywheel on my C5, with a Spec Clutch. It chatters a little bit - but it works great. I have also decided on the McLeod Twin Disk Clutch for my build.
Love the headers, do you have a picture with the pipes on? I have a set of Hooker Headers I was going to modify to fit - but if those are bolt on I might just go with it.
How did you figure out the areas of the tunnel to cut out? Trial and error?
What's your plan to center the shifter in the stock position?
Amazing progress - You have a very badass build going.
Thanks for the questions Navy08! Made me realize I haven't updated this thread in way too long! I'll cover them and more in this update.
Anyway, good news, the body is on and the car runs! Some bumps along the way:
Here’s a few pics of the engine bay after I put the body on. For the most part no issues engine clearance wise when I put the body on. The passenger side valve cover is <1” from the firewall. The bellhousing is pretty tight too, but it does clear.
I measured before putting the body on and tried to cut out some of the tunnel so that I wouldn’t smash the shifter through the floor. Turns out I did clear the shifter but cut a bit too far back, so I had to cut forward of the shifter as well once the body was on. Also the billet 1350 slip yoke for the tail shaft was hitting the tunnel, though the driveshaft side of the u-joint wasn’t. Perhaps a different slip yoke would have cleared it.. either way I cut a hole for that too. I used sheet metal from the hardware store to cover both holes. Didn’t think to take a picture of that.
The headers cleared the body just fine. They are made by billy boat for a vendor that isn’t a sponsor here so not sure if I can say where I bought them. PM me and I’ll let anyone who’s curious know. They do fit holley/hooker sidepipes just fine, but the ceramic coating didn’t match which was a bummer.
Here’s my shop supervisor. He’s the most demanding boss I’ve ever had… always hungry. Pretty loyal though.
Got the motor fired up (had the #6 and #8 plugs wired backwards, that was exciting… otherwise no major hiccups getting it started). And promptly discovered I had no oil pressure. What a punch to the gut. Thankfully I barely idled the engine before I discovered it so I don’t think I hurt anything. Speant a few weeks trying to diagnose it before I gave up and pulled the motor…
Cried in my beer for another week until I found the problem.
Ended up being an aftermarket oil cooler adapter I bought (long story). One of the few real cheap parts I bought… that’s what I get. Switched over to an improved racing thermostatic oil cooler adapter (they are a forum vendor BTW). It is NICE. It doesn’t send oil through the oil cooler until the oil is warmed up so that you don’t over cool the oil. These next two pictures are not mine, but is what I installed.
Here’s the oil cooler on the left. That’s the power steering/brakes cooler on the right. The lines are oil rated high pressure AN lines. Push LOK style. Was pretty easy to install.
I did not want to pull in hot air from being the radiator, so for now I’m using this cheap looking combination of silicone couplers and a 60 degree silicone angle. I had to cut the rad shroud. A buddy of mine is great at TIG welding aluminum, so I’ll have him make me something that looks much nicer. The radiator is an aluminum one meant for a gen 1 camaro. It’s a bit shorter than a corvette one I think. I mounted it much lower than stock. Its supposedly good for 600+hp, we’ll see. A spal fan. I’ll probably need to make a shroud.
The air filter barely clears the hood when its up. I may need to find a better solution.
This is the only picture I could find with the hood off to show the filter/rad setup. Long term I’d like to switch to a dual plane carb intake (but still port fuel injection) which would solve this problem. I’ll run a heat extractor hood then too.
To make the shifter work with the stock console a friend and I cut the top off the shifter (about 2”), drilled and tapped the top of it, and bolted a horizontal bar to it. It clears the console, though I had to shave the bottom side of the console slightly. The bolts for the shifter handle in this picture were just temporary.
Here it is all back together! Ok not quite, still needs bumpers and an interior and many little things. The wheels are American Racing Torque Thrust II. 18x10 all around. 285/35R18 Michelin pilot sport cups all around. The rears were real close to the frame, the fronts were fine except they were just barely touching the tie rod ends. I put a 5mm spacer under each, but its still closer than I’d like so I have 10mm spacers on order. ARP wheel studs all around as well.
Here you can see the mismatch in ceramic coating. Damn. Oh well. Something to fix later on I guess. Its functional for now. I’d like to lower the rear more, but the half shafts are already parallel, so I’ll need to raise the diff.
I drove the car around the block yesterday for the first time! No major problems, engine just needs lots of fine tuning. Many things still to do. Notable items include:
Tune the engine
Have a roll cage installed (anybody know someone in SE Michigan who could do a corvette cage? The guy I have lined up to do it is really good, but not ready until June. Might have to wait until then).
Install the interior. I have new carpet and insulation is on order.
I have new Kirkey seats ready to install as well.
Lots of wiring and vacuum lines to clean up. It’s such a mess right now. Definetly going to switch to electric headlight motors, wiper door motor, and anything else I can do to clean up the engine bay. I’m sick of all the vacuum hoses everywhere.
Install a posi differential. Tempted to just throw a stock eaton posi carrier in there for now for a few hundred bucks, and build up a super 10-bolt or something over next winter. The weather is about to break and I don’t really want to spend 2 months building a diff. The recent ford IRS diff swap thread really caught my eye too.
Nice C3! We highly recommend using Oetiker clamps or just regular hose clamps on those push lock fittings. We have seen them pop off under extreme conditions.
Thanks ImprovedRacing. I will certainly do that. Do you know if I need to insulate the pushlok lines where they run between the block and the headers? I was concerned about that area getting really hot on a 20-30 minute track session.
That Stroh's can brings back memories! I grew up in the West Bloomfield/Walled Lake area...for some reason I thought they wen't out of business but I see I was wrong.
Thanks ImprovedRacing. I will certainly do that. Do you know if I need to insulate the pushlok lines where they run between the block and the headers? I was concerned about that area getting really hot on a 20-30 minute track session.
If the lines are at least 3"-4" away from the headers, you might be okay. But over time the excess heat can cause the rubber inside the hose to harden, crack and/or deteriorate, so it's always a good idea to shield it. If it's closer than 3" or so it can actually melt the outer layers of the hose.
09-01-2017, 11:14 AM
