Diablo Dilemma

6 minute(s) of a 72 minute read

Update from NRE:

Well, the old gal got a good shakedown from Tom Nelson. He drove it quite a bit before taking it apart. He likes the old-world, mechanical feel of everything, as do I. A focus of the project will be to retain as much of that feel as possible.

He also did quite a bit of tinkering. The first thing he focused on is all the wirining. It's been completely mapped out electronically, so that he can incorporate the factory electronics into the new setup. The car will retain the factory A/C and climate control, gauges, idiot lights, etc.

Next, he did a mock up of where things would go in the engine bay, and pulled out the V12 and trans.

Headers are being made now.

The car will be reassembled and then road tested one more time before taking it all apart again to rebuild the engine and trans. At this point, NRE will hit me with a dollar figure. If I say no, the car comes back to me. Don't worry, there's no chance of that (EDIT: unless it's complete;y ridiculus)!

The project is picking up some momentum now, but I still don't have a substantial update for you guys. I will soon.

Tom says that it took a long time to map out the electronics, but that he was making a video of the the build. I'll put it up when it's posted.

As you can see from the pics, the cats are on their way out. They're rotten, and the one(s) on the left side are causing the engine to throw a code. Meh... won't be needing those things anymore anyway.

I inquired as to how much hp he expects from the car when it's finished. He said he wouldn't know until it was all put together, but did say that the car will most definately be in the 9's "easy".

1-16-2012

Nothing except "drawing board" type updates. It'll be awhile before anything substantial.  

So, what's on the drawing board?

Most of the plumbing and turbo stuff is going to be located in the neighborhood of the back bumper. You won't be able to see much of it, even with the engine lid open. That's not such a bad thing. It'll be kind of sleeperish.

I had been toying with the idea of adding a nice set of rims, but I'd rather keep the stock ones. I feel there's no other wheel that could possibly enhance the beauty of the car. Most of the really cool center lock wheels like the OZ Ultralleggera, only come in 19'... and you know how I feel about disturbing the proportions of a classic car with oversized wheels.

I also found a Lamborghini GTR bumper for cheap, but again, I don't want to go down the road of changing the look of the car.  

I want to have as much of the look of the orriginal car preserved as possible. Therefore, I'm going to try to keep the factory wheels on the car. Visually, the car will look the way the orriginal designer intended it to look... even though the GTR look is more aggresive (cooler perhaps) looking, my goal is to keep the car looking bone stock. I don't want to mess with (near) perfection.

I will add the factory wing, though. That's for certain. This is a nice example.  http://www.tomhartley.com/usedcar/LA...shire/17609277  It's the way I want my car to look. Bone stock, (with a stock wing). In fact, I'm going to redo the red brake calipers in black, like the car in the link. Not sure about yellow interior, but as far as the outside of the car goes, it's the look!

I'm even willing to cap the hp at a thousand or so, if I can keep those wheels. It's a slippery proposition, but it IS AWD, and after all, we're locking the center diff. It might be doable.

Another idea that's being tossed around, is the possibility of making a custom, removable cover, so that the turbo goods can be shown off. It would have to be really stealthy, so it doesn't disturb the car's lines, though. ...It's an idea.

Yeah, sleeper and Lambo really don't go together, lol!

As to disturbing the lines however, I may make an exception for a very slightly different looking engine lid. EDIT: ..rather, dual engine lids!


It may be a little hard to tell in these random pics (sorry for brown Lambo ), but see that area where the engine bay ends and the wing, begins?

If we could open that area up a little, and make a custom, removable piece that exposes all the turbo goodies, I'd be in favor of it. It would essentially be just a black, removable panel. You might not even notice it's there, unless you're really looking for the seams.

Again, it's an idea.

Cut this part here where the white lines are, and replace it with a nearly identical looking insert.

It wouldn't really disturb the lines, and you could actually show off the goods, or have easy mechanical access.

...Not a bad topic for a 2000th post, lol!

Abstract route, I think. ...more subtle.

Hopefully, it won't be like that black car with the air to air's on top. It'll be more stealthy, like the blue car. ...tucked away. Pretty sure we're going for air to liquid intercooling. I don't think simple air to air intercoolers will do the job in that location as well as an air to water system would, in a different location.

With the (proposed) second engine cover on, you (theoretically) wouldn't be able to tell it was turbo'd.

Truth be told, I'm not 100% sure about the intercooling, but I'm 90% sure liquid is the direction we're going. If air to air's are done right though, they actually have less heat soak over the long haul. We shall see what Tom says.

Either way, the rear intakes will not be involved in intercooling. That's where the radiators will live.