Land Speed LS

There are usually a total, including Bikes, of 125-150 competitors. I'm not overwhelmed by competition in either class. And I don't think it'll be crowded when I move to E/BFCC with the fresh engine and turbos. At least twice, there was no one in class but us.
KS
 
Koni Shocks

I am, as I've commented here previously, slowly developing an attack strategy for installing Koni shocks on my '02 LS. Due to the bastard layout, and the lack of aftermarket support you are all familiar with, it's necessary to use the generic design of shock with bushed ring mounts at both ends and create an upper mount to do the adaptation.

At this point, we've decided to use a length of seamless tubing to make the adapter. The top of the tube will be flanged to take the three bolts in the pattern that now is used for mounting to the body. This adapter mount will take up the space now occupied by the spring. Articulation will be at the bottom of the adapter instead of at the original mount point. The adapter will be gusseted for rigidity.

A double-adjustable Koni coil-over will attach to this construct and fasten to the existing lower mount point.

I should have time to finish this project by the second tuesday of next week!;)
KS
 
Spare parts

I got a call today from a fellow gearhead who told me that he'd just finished an engine/transmission replacement on a 2000 LS-V8. So he now has an engine and trans setting on the floor of his garage, and has no use for it. Did I want it? Of course, I said yes and will be going to get it within the next few days.

Other than a source of spare parts---the car was running when the swap was done---I am mostly taking this package so as to have a spare transmission to go through. Then the 4.0 Jag engine and the re-done trans will be loaded into my car in one 'swell foop'.:cool:
KS
 
Hey Pek---
Thanx for the encouragement. I am in process of ramping-up a new business, so my time is not my own.

My goal is to have everything done in time for the September meet at Maxton.
KS
 
lol. Of course, just playin man. I think it's awesome the project has been steadily moving forward!
 
Well, the big difference between this one and the 4.6 swapped LS, is the streetability. Cammerfe's power will be mostly "on-tap" instead of "continuous". You'll see a large amount of cammerfe's power is coming from spray/meth injection. Which means it's a badass monster when you want it to be, but it can be a tame car too.
 
Lotsa Power

Exactly, Pek. And don't forget the pair of turbos. With the hardware I'll be using, it'll be possible to dial the system down to 5-6 pounds for running around on the street, and yet turn the 'horsepower screw' and get more than 30 pounds of boost :D
KS.
 
so you'd much prefer the turboes over the supercharger? I've always heard back and forth as far as ppl talking about superchargers/turboes. I'm excited to see the finished product. I'm still quite weary as far as going anything further than the SCT tne for my LS as once I put in a SC/Turbo setup in the car...most likely noone ill wanna touch my car at the shops :/

Wouldn't mind buying a scrapped engine just to disect it and see if I can Bore it and make larger headers....that or use it for parts....
 
Boost

I've tried most kinds of superchargers over the years, and have come to the conclusion that when planning a project, you must first decide on your goals. Each type of blower has its own set of characteristics.

The roots-type installation done by Quik is superb for creating, in effect, a larger displacement engine. But instead of more actual displacement, you simply, in linear fashion, cram extra air, and the concomitant fuel, into the existing cylinders. Instant torque, and, as I said, linear. The drawback is that it takes a lot of power to run one, and the efficiency drops off rapidly at higher RPM. It's been estimated that the GMC-type supercharger on a 'AA Fuel' dragster engine takes upwards of 1000 horsepower to run.

Centrifugal blowers are much more efficient, but they have their own problems. First, for our purposes, is the packaging difficulty. There simply isn't room around the front of our engines for the placement of a device that's at least a little bit bigger than your head. In terms of function, there is little low speed augmentation. They are more efficient than a roots-type.

Now let's look at turbochargers. First, because they are run by harnessing exhaust gasses, it's possible to locate them anywhere in the exhaust system. Although, theoretically, some locations are better than others, the possible problems are readily solved by the proper sizing of turbine and compressor sections, all readily available.
And, because they function 'on demand', meaning that in steady-state driving they are idling---not providing boost---your engine is operating much as a stock engine would. The turbo's not noticeable. But with the extra rush of exhaust gas created by depressing the accelerator, the turbo ramps up and there is an (almost) instant creation of boost. The power comes on like gangbusters. And it's possible to size a turbo---or a pair of them, with one attached to each side of a V-8 engine---so that you can achieve very high boost levels. I expect to have more than 30 pounds available.

A further thought---
If you read Quik's thread, you'll see that he did a superlative job of machining several components necessary to mount his supercharger. In order to create the two-turbo installation I'm doing, I need a chop saw, a drill press, and MIG and TIG welders, and a plasma cutter. I have these tools in my garage. Although I have access to as much machining equipment and expertise as I need, I'd just as soon do as much of it myself as I can. And I don't own a Bridgeport.

The last time my car was to the dealer was because I got free oil changes for the first 40 K mikes. I do, occasionally have somebody do work on the car, but it's because I'm too lazy to do it myself.

KS
 
Turbo's rule :cool:

Hey cammer.. how's the Koni shocks project going ??

Keep us posted !!
 
Koni

I have about 40 boxes of 'stuff' stored along the wall of my garage next to my no-engine '63 F-100. There is not quite room to walk in the available space. And the pair of Konis for this project are in one of the boxes.

The next time I can get my racing partner/crew chief over, we're going to go through the boxes and find the shocks. With the dimensions of the shocks in hand, we'll be able to order the materials necessary to build the upper adapters---and then we'll be able to actually get something done.

And I have to go out of town to do a planning session regarding my OTHER race car's engine. And I have a business to work at. As I said---'the second Tuesday of next week...'
KS
 
I guess I'll wait lol
Im about to swap in the new euro shocks I bought a while back, I dont wanna install them and 2 days later.. someone finally did a fully adjustable coil over swap :(
 
New Record

Well, we now really have our work cut out for us.

I've made no secret of the fact that, when I finally get the new engine built, I was going to not only raise my existing ECTA land speed record; I have intended to go into E/BF CC (E blown fuel competition Coupe/Sedan) and go after that record as well. Until this weekend, the record was quite within reach---standing at 154-and-change MPH. But a well-established race team, running a T-bird SC, has just bumped that record up to 184.8. Hoo-Ha!!!

The combination of a pair of turbochargers, a fuel cell full of methanol, and an NX spray package will give me over 1K of horsepower. I think we're going to need it.

Let the war begin!

KS
 
Koni Update

I finally forced enough time to go through all the boxes over the past weekend and dug until I found the Konis. (Last box, all the way to the bottom---on the floor---and back against the wall.) So here's an update. I'm working with generic full competition double adjustable items so they have a ring top and bottom to take spherical bushings. I'm now in process of working with Energy Suspension to come up with polyurethane bushings that will take some of the harshness out of the ride that'd obtain with full metal-to-metal mounting. As soon as we get this problem solved, we'll be able to mount them so we can go ahead and finish the design of the upper mounts we'll have to fabricate.

I'm going to post a request in the regular LS forum for information regarding spring rates and anyone close by that might have recently replaced their shocks and have the cast-off parts setting in the garage. It'll make it easy getting the length dimension and the mount angles correct. If anyone can help, please let me know!

KS
 
10/7/10 Update

Discussion with Koni has resulted in a decision to send the set of shocks back to have them modified. The mounts for the coil spring kit will be welded to the shock bodies. In addition, it will be necessary to revalve because the original application was a 2500 pound car (460-powered Pinto) and the LS app is not quite 4000 pounds as raced. And we haven't considered the rears yet.

KS
 
Brakes

I've had an annoying pulsing in my brakes for long enough that I decided to do something about it even though I'm short of both time and money. I assume it's a warped rotor.

I went on ebay and found rotors and pads from topbrakes_net. They've just arrived and I was enough impressed to make note of it here. I got all four rotors and a set of ceramic pads for $209, shipped.

Observations:
Zinc coated---neatly applied, probably by an electrodeposition process, since all surfaces including the insides of the ventilation are coated.
Seem to be Blanchard/parallel-ground
Through-drilling and slotting is done with a swirl pattern and is directional so that all rotors are marked as right and left.

I'm going to take time to at least do the fronts this weekend. And while I have the wheels off, I'll give them a comprehensive cleaning and use the caliper paint kit that's been on a bench in the garage for several months.

I intend to go to Wilwood brakes---probably 14" because I believe that's as big as will go inside 18" wheels. But that'll be part of an all-inclusive brake upgrade this next summer, as necessary for higher speeds at Maxton. At that time I'll also go to 5/8ths wheel studs which will require re-boring the hubs and modifying or replacing the wheels.

KS
 
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That's a heck of a deal. Did they have solid rotors? Do you still have rubber soft lines?
 
New brakes

Just finished up doing the fronts and can give you a degree of update. To answer the questions, all they seem to illustrate are either drilled or slotted or both. I still have the factory lines, although SS braid is one of the things I have on the list. The current effort is more in the line of maintenance than upgrade and I'd have put it off until spring if it had not been for the annoying pulsing, which turned out to be a cracked rotor.

Present plans are to acquire a complete front suspension/engine cradle and go through the moving parts so that the entire front end is new and improved at the same time as the engine and transmission are replaced. Hopefully nothing else will get close enough to failing that it'll require a purely maintenance effort . I hate to do things twice to get the ultimate result I'm aiming for.

Now I have to go out and drive the car enough to remove the zinc from the swept areas on the rotors so as to get rid of the 'touchiness' that's apparent at this juncture.

KS
 
Thats a great deal. Pics? Zinc coated is to help protect against rust?
 
Rotor Pictures

Thats a great deal. Pics? Zinc coated is to help protect against rust?

Something about the interface between my computer and the internet, or perhaps due to my own lack of proficiency, I've never successfully posted any pictures here. I don't seem to have trouble doing simple picture emails. If you like, I can take some pictures of the rotors and send them to you, Alax. Then perhaps you could post them here. PM with email address if you like.

Zinc coating is a rust preventative. It, of course, very rapidly wears off the face areas where the pads touch.

KS
 

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