V3.2 build (F2 procharger , 427, etc. ) by 1dirtyz

15 minute(s) of a 341 minute read

some updates i guess ,

i still didn't put on the suspension parts , but i did talk to kurt urban regarding the exhaust i have on the car and we came to the conclusion ( well he did , i just basked in his glory ) that the current 1 7/8 headers i have now are choking the car and i need headers with primaries with at least 2-1/4" or ideally 2-3/8" primaries with a 4.5" merge collector (necking down to 4") .

so after knowing that , i decided to get some made ,,, only problem is that something that size could not be found off the shelf and has to be custom made, and the closest place to have them made is at the Alanabi team's garage in qatar . so i called them up and they said no problem , i just have to supply the collector and flange and they'll do the rest.

so i just orderd a set of flanges and some Dynatech slip on collector mufflers which should be here in a week or 10 days .

but since i'll be waiting for the stuff to show up and get made, and since there is a race coming up soon , i decided to install a set of American Racing Headers i had ordered ages ago , they are 2" primaries and had a 4" merge collector (necks down to 3.5") . i ordered thse some time ago and asked for a regular collector but got a merge collector instead , and i was under the impression that merge collectors would only help an N/A motor and not a f/i motor. so i thought these won't hurt at all - especially since the car would not pull at all on the top end .

here is how they look compared to the old ones :




these headers fit nicley , but only thing i noticed is they stick down a bit more than i like:



and how they look under the car :



also got my lexan windows in , i'll try to snap somp pics of them when i get chance and try to figure out when i'll install them.

aaaaaand i just got an update from racecraft regarding an order i placed , should be shipping out on monday , more details when i get the pile of stuff in

i still have to fix the brake pedal switch for the 2step , i just don't seem to have the time to do so even though its just a simple task of attaching a small switch tot he pedal.

guess next up on the list of to do stuff is to swap out the suspesion peices and fix the pedal switch. i also want to remount the accusump canister horizontaly and make me a set of headlight (cover) brackets .

1/25/2011

quick update while i'm here , took the headers off and i'm going to install the old ones again ( will sell the ARH ones so no need to use them up ) . the plan is to take the car to the shop in qatar to have them fab me a set . i ordered a set of dynatech collector mufflers ,,,, the large by huge ones ( 2-3/8 primaries with 4.5 outlet) and one showed up ,,,,,,, lets just say inorder to get them to work under the car i have to lift the car about 4 inches so those collectors don't scrape

soooooo, i ordered a set of regular collectors ( same size , but no muffler) for my plan and backup plan ( more on that later in the post ) , these should be here in a week or so . so when ever all the collectors are here , i'll head to the shop and have them build me a set of headers like i said , BUT ( notice the emphasiss on "but") instead of having them routed under the car , i'll see if they can have them routed forward and to the sides . they will exit ( at least i hope so ) right infront of the front tires .

i tryed placing the collector muffler under the car in that position and on the pass side all i have to do is relocate the Accusump can ( something i've been wanting to do for a while ), on the driver side it gets a bit more involved : i'll have to "twist" the radiator to one side so it clears the collector, and inorder to do so i'll have to redo the radiator mount .

off course all this fuss is so i can put a big collector on there while not compromising ground clearance - plus it looks bad ass !

and if that is not possible , then we move to the backup plan : have them build a set of traditional headers that exit under the car and use regular collectors . sure its not as fun and exotic as the first idea , but hey , beggers can't be choosers

sorry but no pics this time , but i'll snap a few next time i'm there so you guys see what i'm talking about .

so the plan now is to build a new "core support " to hold the radiator in the twisted position so its ready to be used it the front headers are a go .

more updates soon

1/29/2011

i did some work on the car in preperation for the headers
turns out i can't run the collector through the fender for a couple of reasons , one being that one of the primaries will be about 6 inches long and the other is that the master cylinder is in the way . i can see how it could be done with an exhaust pipe like on a turbo car , but there is no space with a collector unless the car is something like a tube chassis deal . so i guess its down to forward facing and under the car now
like i mentioned earlier ,, the regular collectors will be here within the week, only after that will i take it to have the headers fabbed up .


i decided to remove the radiator mount i have on the car and fab a new one instead of hacling up the one i had already . the plan is to mount the the radiator tilted to the side a bit to give more space for the primaries to go through.

first off here is the monster of a collector that i have to work with :



its 2-3/8 primaries going into a 4.5 inch collector then through a 6" muffler , here is how it looks if it were to be installed under the car ( these will drag on the ground as is ) :



here is how they look from the front (picture makes the primaries look huuuge ) :



if i run the headers up front i can use these monsters without issues and i can switch to regular collectors if i need to .

and here is how the radiator looks after moving it to the side, you can see how much room it frees up :






(you can see the collector peeking at the top left of the pic)



and this is where the collector will be when done, it will have a tip turning it to the side instead of having it go through the bumper facing forward :



and here is the begining of the new radiator mount, it will have the radiator , water pump as well as the oil accumilator all bolted to it :



so far i finished the radiator mounting part, next up is the water pump plate and the accumilator mounting plate :

2/1/2011

i guess i can call the radiator mount bracket done ( well almost done, i still have to powdercoat it ) , but the bad news is that in my rush i forgot to snap pics of it on the car and i already installed the intercooler.

anyway , here is how it looks






so now i have to put the old headers back on , attatch the steering shaft, connect the lower radiator hose and fill with fluids.

my only problem now is waiting for the collectors to show up in time. if they do show up before thursday , i can take the car over to the shop and have them fab the exhaust up . if not i'll have to either take the car with one collector ( the huge one) and have them fabricate both sides using that one alone as a template , or wait till next week and take it then but then i run the risk of missing round 3 in bahrain .

2/2/2011

pooooop!
i just got off the phone with the shop manager and he said they are real busy and could not do anything till the 18th ,,, and the race will be on the 23rd so no headers for me ....

guess its back to the 2 inch headers again

2/4/2011

more poop but in a good way i guess , i took a look at the flanges i got and guess what : they were 1-7/8 port size ! now imagine i drove all the way to Qatar only to find out i gave them the wrong flage size !

kmracer, i know its a bit big , but i'm anticipating future growth

but to tell you the truth i'm starting to think ( espacially after talking to kurt) that i should go with 2-1/4 primaries into a 4.5 collector .

anyhow , i was looking at the car last night and started mocking up how the header tube routing is going to look like , cause i think i'll be taking a crack at it

so i just ordered a set of 2-1/4 flanges and will order a bunch of mandrel bends in the same size and see what i can do

2/19/2011

i got the new flanges i ordered from madman, he made me a set of stainless steel 2-1/4 primary header flanges : (the LS7 gaskets look anemic compared to these ! )



furthermore , i put the 2" headers back on the car since the plan is to go racing this weekend (depending on the political forcast ) , if not then its off to qatar for the new headers.

moving on , i placed an order for a whole bunch of parts from racecraft and some other vendors a little while ago , and there has been a steady stream of parts showing up

to begin with me and TNT Addict got in on the group perchase for the lexan window kits , and i got a a set of windows to do the whole car ( sorry no pics )

also , i got a set of dual rear claiper strange brakes:





and also ordered a drag steering coloum along with with quick release hub and steering wheel :



and because i might get the headers done soon i decided to install the column so as to know what room there is to build the headers. so out came the stocker and in went the new one here is a comparison :



and here is how it looks on the car , the wheel sticks out too much for my taste , so i'll have to shorten it when i get back ( its going to be removed any way to get powder coated) :



i also got in the new 9" housing in , its too pretty to put on the car








and here is whats going in the housing: lightweight aluminum 3rd member with 40 spline spool :




and to to connect all that a new torque arm



i'm still waiting on the new anti-roll bar as well as some chromolly tubing to make x bars on the doors as well as down tuber from the cage to the front of the car ( frame horns).
also on the way are a set of mark williams 40 spline lightened axles to stuff into the housing.

off course i don't think i'll have time to install all these items this season , so i'll probably take my time and wait till the off season (summer over here) and do them all at once ( well maybe the shocks will be installed soon )

other plans i have is to convert to a mechanical pump and fabricate a small tank up front ,,, but thats not so high on my to do list right now