Kentucky Armory Club

Been debating a build thread on my 1980 corvette and obviously I decided to post one here.

history this was my first car bought when i was 14. i completely went through it by the time i could drive. It had a 383 sbc th350 and the stock irs rear suspension. it was parked befor i went to college and now its time for something different.

Basicly going to build a fast sunday driver on a budget with the end goal is to drive to Beech Bend in BG and make a 1/4mile pass in the 9s on a 275 drag radial and drive it home. The 383sbc is getting pulled and a 5.3L Chevy truck motor is going in with a megasquirt 2 ecu controlling fuel and ignition. Also a 69mm turbo to help the 5.3 breath. the stock IRS is gettig pulled and a 4 Link 8.8 ford rear end is going in. The th350 will ether be built or a 4l80e will take its place with a shift kit and converted to some non computer based controller.

I have already done most of the dissasembly and began purchaseing components.
engine bay cleaned out

picked up this 170k mile 5.3 today for $450

Picked up a 8.8 as well today out of a 2000 ford explorer.


feel free to comment/suggest any ideas or thoughts.

Nice!

Very nice! Can't wait to see more on this!

Here is a run down on the parts list for the motor/turbo
Set of pac 1218 beehive valve springs
A throttle body for throttle cable use not drive by wire
Megasquirt 2 stand alone ecu
80lb Siemens injectors
Bosh 044 pump possibly 2 if needed
Wet nitrous kit I am piecing together already have a bottle.
"Gt45" Chinese turbo 69mm inducer
50mm bov
38mm wastegate
Stock headers or lsx turbo headers.


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Are you contemplating just cutting the stock headers to mount the turbo? Are you gonna inter cool it?

cut the stock headers weld a v band on it and then front mount the turbo just infront of the cross member. with e85 and 9.5:1 compression ratio an intercooler is not necessary and most likely will not run one at first. i will run one in the future but have not decided a2a or a2w.

the nitrous & e85/methanol through the nitrous nozzel will help cool intake charges to low temps for the track. the megasquirt 2 will support two stages of nitrous plan is to activate the fuel solenoid with the first stage as more of a cooling device and the second to activate nitrous which will help with cooling and a quick and easy hp adjustment

You mentioned a ford 8.8. Those are solid rear ends. Any idea of gear setup? Low gears really accompany the hit but really stinks when turboed. Too low of a gear and it won't spool up like you want. What are you thinking of for a happy medium?

plan is to try a 3:55 thats what is in the 8.8 I already pulled I dont want to buy gears until I decided on the trans if I run an 4l80e with its tall first gear I may go lower or if I run a th350 I may just let it be. The plan for this car is to spend the money smartly. I dont need gears when I already have some and it can be changed realitively easy later on to dial the car in. I decided on the 8.8 over a 9in because of size and the extra hp required to turn it. Had a friends mustang lose 3 tenths with no gear or other change then swaping to a 9.

Sounds good. I've got 4.56 gears in my mach. It really woke it up. Lol

I bet it did. The other thing that could be an issue is keeping the front end on the ground these cars have alot of rear weight distribution due to how far back the motor sits and only having a 98" wheel base. I am hoping with bringing the power on a little slower with boost control as well as not getting too agressive with gearing it wont be an issue but I have seen my fair share of mild C3 vetts pull the front end high. also a lower gear will keep it more highway friendly.

ken6881 wrote:I bet it did. The other thing that could be an issue is keeping the front end on the ground these cars have alot of rear weight distribution due to how far back the motor sits and only having a 98" wheel base. I am hoping with bringing the power on a little slower with boost control as well as not getting too agressive with gearing it wont be an issue but I have seen my fair share of mild C3 vetts pull the front end high. also a lower gear will keep it more highway friendly.

I hear ya. Your bruins should run pretty good.

Are you gonna put forged parts in the bottom end or just run low boost? You should go all forged lower, titanium vales and run about 15lbs. It could make big power.

its going to run 10lbs on the street and going to run it up tell it lifts the heads then i will get ls9 gaskets and stud the heads and planning on 20lbs stock bottom end at the track when the setup is maxxed out. these stock 4.8/5.3 motors love boost.

Oh ya. They are cheap as hell to fix too! I want a c6 zo6 with the ls7 bad. I get all googlie eyed everytime I sit in one.

On the other hand, these modular DOHC 4.6 motors love boost too. Made over 600 on 10 lbs boost. Granted nothing like the ls7. That ls7 makes over 505hp right out of the crate. Throw in a cam, headers, exhaust and you've got BIG power.

You can't beat the price on. Them 3-600 for a running motor if you get greedy with boots or timing is a lot cheaper than scattering a built motor.
The price is right on the c6 right now. Got a friend that works at the vette plant that's chomping at the bit for a new z06


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ken6881 wrote:You can't beat the price on. Them 3-600 for a running motor if you get greedy with boots or timing is a lot cheaper than scattering a built motor.
The price is right on the c6 right now. Got a friend that works at the vette plant that's chomping at the bit for a new z06


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a new modded zo6 was out this past weekend and it was modded to a rowdy hp #. He was breaking in so didn't get the full show.

The bolt on top of the center section is center of the pinion and the axle flanges are centered under the car I'm going to cut 2.5 inches off the left hand side and narrow it up with new axles.


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Got the engine set down in it temporary today. Water neck hits a arms, going to need at least a 4 inch cowl to clear the stock intake and throttle body. Looks like I might have to go to full manual brakes to clear the exhaust manifold on the drivers side.

Got the rear end at ride height and looks like it will clear decent in the factory relief but the housing needs 3 inches taken off the drivers side.

Need to order the turbo to see where I can possibly mount it. Considering twin 58 mm turbos as the hot side would actually be easier to make


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V band and waste gate came in
Bought some new 60 lb injectors from a guy waiting on them.
Ordered my 4 link
Fuel pressure regulator
Some fittings
And exhaust mandrel bends.
Rear end has been narrowed 3"

To run 9's, you're looking at almost 800hp to the wheels (a rough guess). That's totally doable, especially with a turbo/nitrous setup. I think the fault will be your gearing, you'll probably need more like 3.73, you'll still be around 6k rpm across the line up to 140mph. I'd agree too though that 3.55's will make it a better driver and don't spend the money there if you don't have to. I'm anxious to see the project progress!

(3800lb w/ car & driver, 275/65R15 tires, and 775whp; calculator says that will be good for 9.90s @ 136.6mph)

Thing is turbos like load and alot of it. Really I'm on the high side for gearing compared to other guys I know with similar setups. I watched a similar build to mine just heavier weight and he went from 3.55 to 4.11 lost .2 in the 1/4. Went to 3.27 and went a tenth in the good direction. With a higher load turbos will build boost quicker. A nitrous or motor only setup you would be exactly right In my opinion. I don't want to spin this thing much over 6250-6500 with stock rod bolts. Also I'm looking at a 2800lb car(I hope) not a 3800lb car. I really think 650 to the tire will get me there which would be about 16lbs of boost only. With a small shot I think I can get it done on 10lb and 75hp shot. Nitrous on a boosted combo does more than naturally aspirated do to taking intake temps down more significantly also it spools the turbo almost instantly getting you into boost quicker. Center console cut out ready to bend up. Dash top piece cut and fit.

This came in yesterday boost reference fuel pressure regulator.

It's an eBay knock off of an aeromotive. Only down fall is the diaphragm just swap it out and it's good to go.

If you will only be in around 2800lbs, then I totally agree with you. 3.55's would be high for that weight and 3.23's or so would probably be perfect for that weight. Again, I'm anxious to see it come along.

Yep. I would like to see this car come in at 2500. But I'm not sure that's realistic. But I know cars with AC and heat that weigh 2800 so maybe if I had an alluminum block I could make 2500 I think.

Android tablet I picked up at Walmart for $99 running msdroid. Wireless gauges, tuning, and dataloging.

4 link and exhaust tubing for the turbo hot side. No time to work on it this weekend hopefully Monday I will.