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I was at Richmond Racing Engines today and all of the machining required is finally done. The hone, line hone and everything for the lifters is complete. The LSXblock gets a bath and then into the engine assembly room. I have waited a long time to get the block to this point.
While I was there I had a decision to make, am I building a race car or am I building a street car?????
The simple fact is, it's one with a tiny bit of the other at best.
I want the best of both worlds. I want to enjoy my cake eat it too.
The simple truth is, I am building a race car. A race car with an interior. A racecar that has street axles as well as dragstrip axels.
For me to change from street to strip requires a full day in the garage swapping parts.
What do I want more?
I want to go to the track and I want to do some crazy fast runs.
In the end I can cheat when I have a good reason to take the car on the street.
If there is a car show or a photo shoot that I want to attend, I will load the car up in the trailer and take it there. I can drive it around once I arrive at the destination.
The simple truth is I have built a trailer queen.
All of the parts that are the sum of the whole scream, I'm here to kick ass. This is serious business and all of the pain along the way gets erased at 7.50 seconds at a time.
Will the car have a legal license plate?
Yes!
Will the car go to street legal drag nights?
Yes!
Will this Cobalt go racing the big boys in my class?
Yes!
Will this Cobalt get to race Corvettes, Camaros and Hellcats at the dragstrip?
I really hope so.
I talked with a tuner today, he was a big part of this forum when this was the place for Cobalts to be. He was also one of the originals who drove from Missouri to Toronto, Canada to rescue the project from JBP. I am going to be using Area47 for tuning my car. He is someone I trust to tune my car for crazy horsepower.
Everything is finally coming together. But sadly, while this project is finally about breathe take it's first breath this forum is dying slowly.
I talked with a tuner today, he was a big part of this forum when this was the place for Cobalts to be. He was also one of the originals who drove from Missouri to Toronto, Canada to rescue the project from JBP. I am going to be using Area47 for tuning my car. He is someone I trust to tune my car for crazy horsepower.
Everything is finally coming together. But sadly, while this project is finally about breathe take it's first breath this forum is dying slowly.
He'll def get you setup right. People will still be in awe at the project, could breathe some life into the forum again.
I appreciate everyone of you who continue to follow this project, even as we are almost at the 14 year mark.
When I was talking to Area47 about tuning he mentioned that he would enjoy doing a burnout in the car. Once he tunes the car, the first burnout video will be of him doing it while I film.
I have those too small tires to roast and I can already picture the cloud of burnt rubber smoke hanging over my neighborhood, upsetting some of my neighbors. I'm thinking the local HA's (I live in their neighborhood) will actually enjoy that smoke show.
Because I'm going to fly Area47 up here to do the tuning, there will be advanced notice of when that burnout is going to be. Who knows, maybe we can even live stream that epic burnout. Once again I find myself smiling as I find the end of the this project closer than ever before.
I appreciate everyone of you who continue to follow this project, even as we are almost at the 14 year mark.
When I was talking to Area47 about tuning he mentioned that he would enjoy doing a burnout in the car. Once he tunes the car, the first burnout video will be of him doing it while I film.
I have those too small tires to roast and I can already picture the cloud of burnt rubber smoke hanging over my neighborhood, upsetting some of my neighbors. I'm thinking the local HA's (I live in their neighborhood) will actually enjoy that smoke show.
Because I'm going to fly Area47 up here to do the tuning, there will be advanced notice of when that burnout is going to be. Who knows, maybe we can even live stream that epic burnout. Once again I find myself smiling as I find the end of the this project closer than ever before.
You have a good tuner, nice going. Have you thought about just running a mixed fuel that the pump could handle since it's not your daily? It would save money in the pump. E85 is way cheaper as far as fuel goes but you could run E50 mixed with something like Sunoco Gt 260 fuel which a lot of dragstrips carry and still get to 101.5 octane and only need about 15% more fuel than regular pump gas. Just a thought.
You have a good tuner, nice going. Have you thought about just running a mixed fuel that the pump could handle since it's not your daily? It would save money in the pump. E85 is way cheaper as far as fuel goes but you could run E50 mixed with something like Sunoco Gt 260 fuel which a lot of dragstrips carry and still get to 101.5 octane and only need about 15% more fuel than regular pump gas. Just a thought.
I will talk to Area47 about that. One concern I had when I originally thought about 'flex fuel' was the insane price of the injectors and that's before you factor in the fact I need the stubby style injectors to work with my Wilson intake manifold's fuel rails.
Originally Posted by 07MetallicSC
still here cant wait to hear it
Glad to see that your still checking in.
NEWS FLASH
I talked to the fabricator today. The wiring is finished. The car just needs to have the fuel tank and pumps installed and then the car is finished as far as fabrication goes.
The car should be ready to come home next weekend so that I can start with the remaining bodywork, paint and re-installing the interior.
The remaining balance owing is way more than expected. The workmanship for that money is top quality. Never before has this project been almost finished.
The light is truly shining at the end of a long, dark, tunnel.
Sorry for giving 2 news flashes in 2 days people but this is getting real now.
The engine block has finally gotten a spot in the room where the engines are assembled! This room is where the magic happens people. Kyle, the guy who builds the engines is as stoked about this milestone as we all are. He wants to see this engine run just like we do and Kyle wants to see the epic burnout once the engine is tuned.
The Carrillo -Bullet series connecting rods are in and these support 2,000 hp. The cam bushing had to be changed out for different ones and the new ones are now in stock.
The camshaft is at the border and will be picked up the same time as the rockers. Pushrods are the last thing to be ordered once everything else is assembled.
If you know people who used to follow the project but who moved away from the forum, it's time to hit them up and tell them to come back for this epic event. I have been doing that very thing to peeps that I knew followed the project.
The engine will be ready to run 2 weeks from today. I am almost in disbelief that after almost 14 years, this project is rounding the final curve. Part of me wondered if this point was ever going to get here.
Ok, now for some pictures.
After final balancing 1 After final balancing 2 Carrillo Bullet series rods 2,000 hp 1 Carrillo Bullet series rods 2,000 hp 2 Carrillo Bullet series rods 2,000 hp 3 Carrillo Bullet series rods 2,000 hp 4 finally in the room where the magic happens. Everything looks ready to go from this angle
PS
I never get tired of looking at that bowtie on the block but I may have said that before.
I was at the fabricators shop today and I honestly told him I was running out of $$$.
We went over what needed to be done and it should all be covered under the final numbers he gave me.
I go back later this week to pay him for this last invoice.
I have some updated pictures of the wiring done. It looks messy but until the actual motor resides in the engine bay this is how it looks. Both coil pack sets are installed.
There are minimal gauges being used simply because I can't justify the cost of wiring them all in. Some of the gauges that are in my previous posts won't be used but instead they will be sold off. Because of how much I have lost I am only doing what is needed to finish the project properly.
I mentioned my discussion with my wife about how much we needed to pay out and while she is the best wife in the world, she wants the bleeding to stop. I will do everything that I can do to keep her happy. Having to sell a few gauges for a fraction of their cost is fine with me. In the end I need to support her or this project is worthless. A car isn't worth hurting the woman I love.
I have some pictures of the emergency cut-off switch and the upgraded parachute mount. There is also a picture of the custom fuel cell. While it is aluminum and while E85 doesn't react favorably to aluminum, the fuel cell will be anodized inside and out.
I discovered a few items that the wiring guy missed so the project isn't likely to come home until a week from Saturday.
Everything is looking good. Those Holly computers sure are huge.
The Holley HP is smaller than mine which is the Dominator. The options and connections are almost endless in the Dominator. It will power any crazy concoction that you can come up with as far as power adders or electrical control. According to Holley this ECU takes care of everything. I hope that in real life, it does exactly what I paid for.
I have a few pictures of the block waiting for parts to be installed and of the Crower rocker arms we are using. The rockers are meant for business and you can see that by just looking at them. The last picture is the A.R.E. Drysump pump mounted. Jim wasn’t thrilled about the collet used to secure the pulley, so he is going to machine a keyway because at any horsepower, oil is essential. I really appreciate his attention to detail which is why I chose his shop for the project. I really wish I had found Richmond Racing Engines and Kreymr Racing at the beginning of this project 14 years ago. I shake my head at how much $$$ I would have saved by having honest and quality shops working on this project from the beginning.
The block has the bearings installed and right now we are waiting on the pushrods and camshaft. Apparently, the camshaft world is suffering a huge backorder because of a shortage of billet blanks. I am hoping that this a very short-term problem.
On top of that, I have run into an issue with fueling. My Wilson billet LS7 intake manifold was designed to run ID 1700 injectors. The issue is that my MagnaFuel pump does not flow enough capacity to run the Injector Dynamics injectors. I am now looking at electric gear driven pumps and I have seen a Weldon pump that may meet the needs of the project but by the time I found that information it was too late to get a Weldon technician on the phone.
Honestly, we are too close to the finish line to have this issue. Still, I can’t be unprepared which means I have to do my homework and make the right choice. Not having enough fuel undermines everything I have chose to do up to this point, over-build to prevent from running on the edge. Long ago I read the sage words of wisdom, fast/reliable/cheap pick two. Even in today’s pictures you can see the choice in parts and cheap is not an apt description. Those rocker arms mean business.
Jim, owner of Richmond Racing Engines, suggested a Weldon Racing Pumps as a source of an electric, gear driven pump as a possible solution. I researched Weldon and found a pump that may meet my needs and at a reasonable price, but I missed talking to a technician by 3 minutes. Now I wait until Monday morning. ☹
I am also thinking of the street and strip applications. This motor really isn’t street friendly. I have a crank/rods/rockers that were too weak for this engine but will work in a 500 hp motor so I am considering just getting a 6.0L Vortech block and having a street engine build. I have a couple of side jobs to bid on and if they happen that should cover the cost. Swapping everything between street/strip is fairly straight forward and more cost effective than trying to balance everything in one engine. I am going to be starting a crowdfunding page on a Christian based platform to help complete the project but my preference is to have the side work/overtime work to cover the short falls. For those who have followed this project for a long time will know that I want to use the car for Christian ministry. Using a Christian crowdfunding platform allows like minded believers to help out a 14-year project. I am not out to preach to everyone here, because no matter what your beliefs are, for everyone here following this project, you have all encouraged me along the way. 😊
for the fuel pumps you might want to have a look at some of the new aeromotive stuff, they have some brushless gear pumps with a built in speed controller that could be run right off your holley ecu. one problem you run into when you get into a fuel system this big is the fuel system is bypassing so much fuel at light throttle or idle, and it really heats the fuel. add to this that many of the electric pumps that are large enough to flow enough fuel to feed the horsepower arent all rated for continuous duty. these are a couple of the problems aeromotive is trying to solve with these brushless pumps.
01-13-2020, 10:12 PM
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