HI PSI

23 rwhp short. Lol. Story of my life...

It comes on very hard and has a broad range. from memory we're at full boost by 3,900 rpm. It goes to show that head work, bigger piping and good coolers make a significant difference.

Big day on the dyno today. We had to chase a few small issues. First was a sensor failure, then a misfire issue. We replaced the sender and installed another new set of plugs and the issues were resolved. We pushed the old girl as hard as we could, but had to pull it up due to the fuel pumps laying over. We ended up with 911 rwhp @ 26 psi. It look like I'll have to install a bigger gate springs and some 523/535 pumps to push it any further. Overall, I'm very happy with the results.

Thanks for the kind words, Tom. It runs a T56 Magnum with a S1 sequential shifter and strain gauge. The snail is a GTX 4202R.

It will either result in high 5's, or tears... We're also setting up the strain gauge for clutchless upshifts. It will be interesting to see what the fuel cut duration will be, for the synchro's to mesh. Exciting times.

Ensure that you have the block sonic tested before you start any machine work. The thinnest bore sections are between no.1 and 2 cylinder, but check all bores in all 4 quadrants. Some show good thickness 0.120" then go to 0.060 in an instant, then revert straight back to 0120". To give you an idea, I went through 4 block to get one good one. We even went as far as to offset bore my block to ensure maximum thickness...

It's time to get out of the 500+ club. The car is all ready for an E85 tune this Friday. Fingers crossed that we don't have to mop oil off the floor. 😄

It is nice to just cruise. But some creature comforts are good too... Unfortunately, I only have one set of series II door cards, and they were already modified. So I might as well go with it and make something nice out of a bad thing.

It's been a while... Work has recommenced. Still waiting on the engine assembly, getting close to the front of the cue. So, I thought that I'd start on other things. Roughing out component positions. Some Alpine MRV-1507's and 407's. One of the best Alpine screens ever made - Alpine IVA-D900 with PHA- H701 processor. Front stage is the Alpine DP-653, 3 way components. Rear stage is the previously installed R 61/2 2 way coaxials. A pair of Alpine RS-W10D2's where sourced for the low end.

The VN has been sitting for a while also. I'm starting to punch on with it also. STILL waiting on the engine to be assembled. We have everything bar the pushrods, so now I wait to get to the front of the engine guys cue. I'll comment on that thread and start with some updates soon. I have been enjoying working on the XR and I'm happy seeing it progress. I've been doing a few hours each day on it. All the console and dash trims back in the car. I wanted to be sure that the flywheel bolt issue was sorted before reassembling everything. The remaining tasks are primarily just finalising tedious cosmetic issues. I finished laying the mould carbon DJR splitter today and I'll wait a week before removing it and making the new part. I finally deleted the old ECU bracted and remounted the fuel reg. The header has been deleted and I've sorted a new radiator overflow tank, but it can't be fitted until the bar/mould is removed. A new carbon radiator support trim is also in the works, as the whole area looks horrible since installing the new radiator. The new trim will be extended to cover the the radiator and its mounts. Sorry for the sh*tty pics. I'll post more as I progress...

Hi all, long time no see. I thought that I'd drop in and say hi. I haven't done much with the car over the past few years. Essentially, I installed the FG cover, 52 mm radiator, new thermo's and deleted the header tank. I had the air conditioning re-gassed as my laptop guy wouldn't get in the car unless it was working. Sooky bloody tuners. Lol. We did a bit of street tuning and tidied up the idle and low throttle areas. Besides the clutch, it's pretty nice to drive. The car starts, idles and runs much nicer with the GTR coils. I've given the car a few good hits and it appears to have some issue when I wring it's neck. It misfires and spits for a bit then normalises. If I reset the ECU it disappears. I'll have to run some logs to see what's happening. I'm getting the car out of storage when I get home on Wednesday. I need to install remaining parts of the console, as wanted to ensure that we had sorted the flywheel bolts issues. I'll see if I can get a video of its acceleration. Hopefully the old GoPro still work.

Pretty much... This will give you an idea of what I'm dealing with... This was his response. "With all due respect ----- all the deep pits you see are the deep casting pits. We do not keep digging into them ,,, usually that does more damage than good". Thank you Robbie

Sleeping.. I finally receive the rocker cover back from chroming. My excitement around receiving the cover was short lived. I am absolutely disgusted with the product that I have received, especially for the price paid. I am that downhearted that I don't even want to take pictures of it. I was so looking forward to going for a drive.... What is it with businesses these days? Forgot to add that some new shoes arrived. Dunno what they're like. But I guess that I'll find out...

By the lack of comments, you all must be bored of paint pics. So I'll move it forward a bit. Assembly... Now this took a bit more planning than I initially thought. I should have blasted the bolts and commenced the re-plating process much earlier. This held me up somewhat at the local business I used to plate everything was a little overwhelmed with the workload that placed on them. Albeit a slow process, they did a wonderful job. 😄 Thanks heaps MCX Rockhampton.. I installed Bilstein shocks with Pedders springs. New wheel bearings, hand brake pads and VN Group A calipers and rotors were fitted. As well as new hand brake cable. fuel and brake (Hard) lines for the whole car.

I'm not brand biased. I like lots of cars. It's al about how they make you feel. 😄 We all know that K31th isn't right in the head. Hasn't been for some time.... Love ya work K31th. 😄

It had more in it, but my tuner is lazy. 98 Ron - GTX 4202R

A few more black bits...

The build was also a means to an end. My ex poisoned my girl's brain and I've had zero access for the over 18 months. The build kept me busy, focused and broke all at once.. 😄 This build (to date) has been exceptional in every regard. The flow of trades and just steer good luck with all aspects has been uncanny. It's like this was meant to be. Let me explain... A very short time after purchasing the short engine and heads. I came across a new ZF S6-40 manual transmission. The same gearbox shared between the C4 Corvette and the VN Group A. Bloody beaut bit of kit, but there was a small issue that I had overlooked. The shifter on this unit just so happens to be built for a Corvette, as the shifter is offset 37 mm to the left. Not good.... Those Grp A Mofo's are like rocking horse sh*t. Search failed... Not one for giving up,I trawled the net and managed to establish that a European turbocharged sedan (Lotus Carlton) shared the same box and shifter. Anyway, I found a pick on the net of a shifter and investigated its source. It turned out to be some exhaust shop in Wales. Turns out the guy was the President of the local Carlton car club. I managed to source a new old stock shifter, and an additional low Km used unit for $1,300. I couldn't believe my luck. But I wasn't holding my breath on them actually arriving. Sure enough.. Bam! shifters arrive. but it didn't stop there... Now I had two of the three parts that I needed to make this box fit. Next part required - bellhousing. Lo and behold, a new old stock VN group A bellhousing pops up in one of my searchers. I'm like WTF !!!! sh*t like this never happens to me.

To me, it's an investment. The costs to build the car is very reasonable. I will more than likely double my money in the next 12 months. Besides that, it's a tough streeter. What's not to like? While were on subject of the driveline. I managed to get a hold of Daniel Reid from Reidspeed. He had previously manufactured a few serpentine kits to suit the 2400 Whipple on a Expensive Daewoo V8. Daniel stated that he wasn't making any more, but had the original proof of concept kit that he developed. Indications suggest that it will work with my blower. It should look something like this. Fingers crossed... The new alternator and power steering pump arrived the other day. Can't wait to see it all on the engine.

Thanks Puff. I can understand why so many divorces result from car builds. The time involved is immense. Let alone the financial commitment. Once I got the engine, I wanted to keep the Grp A theme running... I sourced a set of bare Grp a heads. Unbeknown to me, the heads had a LOT of material removed form the sealing surface. So much so that we had to get a 0.120" head gasket. The heads had received some major porting work and flowed around 640 hp. I had the heads fully reconditioned, with new Manley valves, Isky and Lunati springs along with genuine Grp A roller rockers.

Somewhere around this time, I started purchasing parts for the driveline. Now, remember when I said that this was going to be a restoration... This is where things started to change from the intended path. Originally, I had intended on just installing a stroker kit. My engine told me that I would waste my money going down that path, as the standard manifold wouldn't support it to its full potential. I'm not one to waste money. So the original engine and gearbox were put on a pallet and stored. The search for an alternative heart commenced. While searching the net I can across this. I contacted the seller and soon enough, the engine was on its way from W.A. It's a SS Group A, 4 bolt mains block. It had Yella Terra forged rods and Ross forged pistons. The block has fire rings and was set up for boost. The engine was originally built by Mark's Workshop in W.A and stored as the previous owner had changed direction. The engine is still awaiting a full strip down, clean and reassembly. I have everything for the engine except a camshaft (Hydraulic roller). Sourcing a billet for the engine has proved difficult and we have aske Ivan Tighe to make us a unit to our specifications. Oops. Forgot to show the inside of the doors...

Before I could start assembling the car, I had to finish the body. I spent a lot of time on the body, making sure that everything was as good as it could be. The results speaks for itself... After the white was applied, the firewall blackout was finalised..

Bonnet and doors received the same treatment. Fully stripped and painted.

Who the f*#k need nitrous.

As usual, I got a bit carried away with prepping the metal panels, I went a bit nuts and bare metaled everything, inside and out. I seem to have lost a few prep pics from when I was prepping the inner guards. But you get the idea with the pics of the outer skins. I'm sure that you're sick of seeing black stuff, so here is some Alaskan White... Guards, rear bumper, skirts, mudguard supports etc...