GrabberGT Ev. 5

Nice write up. The paint story is amazing. This makes some cars 10k+ paint job sound like a waste of money. Thanks for the inspiration!!!!!!

 

Very nice write up, and great job of putting together a great performing and looking car

 

I'll say. This car really touches home and inspires a lot of do it yourselfers out there.

and since I edited a previous reply after Chris replied/quoted it.. I'll throw it out there once more to help him maintain that low budget "a bit at a time" approach.

Here's my dirty penny.. to help save you many.

Those heads can be milled fairly heavily.. and even angle milled much moreso. Should be able to get you down to low 60cc range without much effort.. or more with some serious angle milling(.125-.150). Then headers would be the next hurdle with severe angle cuts as they get sucked in tighter towards the oil pan rail(there have been times when additional clearance can be gained on some setups though.. so there's that too). Also don't underestimate a good port job on those heads as there's still plenty left if you find someone smart enough to know how to go after it.

They also sell offset dowels to move the heads up and unshroud the larger valves from the already too-small bore in the process(this is where big bore aftermarket blocks really help out too). As a nice side effect.. the intake will sit higher(unless you angle mill which means this helps offset the tendency to sink the manifold down into the valley once its recut to fit the angle milled heads) which allows port matching for a poor mans raised port design. Best way is to recut the heads intake mating flange itself though. Every little bit helps.

Gapless rings all the way buddy! More power(and all through the rev range).. for more longer.. and well worth the few extra dollars.

Custom Cometic head gaskets.. to pump up compression even more.. can be had down to .028 or so. I usually have them made up at around .032 since rev happy motors need around.030 on longer strokes/shorter rod arrangements that tend to rock the pistons a bit more.

and for gods sake man.. LOSE THOSE FLOWMASTERS ALREADY!!!.. there are far better alternatives out there these days and any straight thru design would be much better as they scavenge better. Or better yet.. extensions/dumps aimed out towards your rockers if rules allow.

Gears could be shorter and cam could be made slightly longer to better utilize them from the autocross clip/s I saw so far. More spring and faster intake opening rate(1.7 rockers on the intakes will also help accomplish this as well) combined with slightly more dwell/slower closing at exhaust closing points will better utilize those 1.75 headers through improving scavenging. The only real substitute for CI is RPM(aside from stroke length and leverage.. it's all about airflow) and that motor should be seeing closer to low 7k rpm to enable squeezing more power out of it. Easy beans for the parts you're running here.

And you're right about the RPM manifold holding you back at higher rev's.. so lose it for smaller runnered single plane with a short style tapered spacer(merge style) under the carb. More gear will easily compensate for loss of lower rpm range torque production and you'll be far ahead in the end.

Also.. a lighter recirpicating assembly will help immensily for that type of racing. The cam will come on quicker.. it'll negate the slight losses from using a single plane.. Between two cars with similar'ish power/weight ratios.. the one that makes power quicker usually wins.

Lighten the car a bit more to compensate for your lower power levels(compared to the competition). On race day.. backseat delete and anything else you can drop off in your parking stall.

You've got plenty left on the table..50-70 horse.. that can easily be fixed for under 3k on this car.

 

Great info. I never knew you could do so much.

 

Sucks about the motor. Maybe time for an LS swap, sell the rest of the stuff you have. Nice article too. When building an engine I've always been told the folllowing; cheap, fast or reliable and pick two.

 

Somehow it's hard for me pick two.......I could pick cheap and reliable.....
and those two words..........at least for drag racing/track racing....have
never gone together in my world.
I could understand if you only had to pick one..........IMHO

 

Cheap and reliable, 302 roller motor. Fairly inexpensive and should last quite a few 1/4 mile trips

 

I'm with olerodder on this. Nothing cheap about a fast OR reliable motor. At least not one that would get pushed the way we do. Lol

 

I don't think you guys understand what I was saying. You can only pick two of the three. Cheap and reliable is going to be slow but reliable. Fast and cheap wont last very long. Fast and reliable is going to cost big $$.

 

Ok, I'll go along with you. So follow along with this Cheap and Reliable scenario with me....................I go out and by used go fast parts, I know where there are a pair of Yates C3 heads very cheap (they are just used up) then buy cheap used parts like roller cam/lifters(I sold my used .700+ lift cam and lifters for $200).................on and on and on. Then I put it together..............probably under $3000 and maybe make 500hp at the crank..........................now, how long it's going to last is any bodies guess, but mine would be not too long using it and abusing it like it were a real deal build with new parts and a lot of machine work.................That is why I would say choose any ONE of the three, but not TWO..............IMHO
Oh, forgot to add............my used 408 block that could use some used .035 over pistons (block has already been blueprinted and priority oil relieved) and I'd let it go for $300..................and line honed.

 

What AC/Heater unit did you go with? Kinda diggin it

 

Its the Vintage Air Gen IV Magnum.

 

I'm looking for a lighter spring for my Comet. I've got 500's and 550's if your interested in trading.

 

They are way too stiff for me and likely not the style needed for my coilovers. Thanks though.

 

What do you have now? I thought you had a TCP front coil over? What spring rate do you have?