Sorry Bro :( I know you'll come back strong!

Todd asked ME to tell you -- "that stuff don't happen in Big Blocks"...


:willy: :rofl:


Sorry to see this -- but in the end -- you'll have a better motor and all fresh etc.

Big bummer Matt... so... while you're in down in there you might as well.... :willy:

Hope you are up and running and back in the game soon Matt. At least I got to experience this engine in your car - even if it was running on coolant and 7cyl! Still felt strong on the auotcross!

G.

Greg, tell Todd that it is pretty hard to break a boat anchor.

I'm thinking of swapping out manifolds when I put everything back together. the one on the car is really pretty, but it doesn't really flow enough air for 454 cubes. With something better, it should make some very respectable numbers which not a whole lot of small blocks make. When it was first put together it made 540 lb-ft of torque at 3500 rpm and peaked around 610. On second thought, I really don't *need* a different manifold, even if it's costing me 20-30 hp/tq.

What I really needed last weekend was a set of rear tires that haven't travelled across the country and been to the track on several different cars. Gregg, I think you had some fun with me spinning out? :lol:

Matt

On the autocross, yes. Running into your off-track-excursion dust-cloud at speed on the roadcoarse.... not so much lol.

Matt That sucks! Sorry for your troubles. I hope you get it together without any more surprises Lord knows you need a break. Keep the faith brother.

Man, that blows brother! See if Rupp can turn it into an article for CP--make something good out of it at least.

Thank you for the video--will have one of those in my LS3 before it hits the street for sure---along with an accumulator.

I think for your 454 you should try the new Holley manifold along with some dyno testing---while the motor is out, you might as well--especially since it's not my money.

What will you be at Del Mar with? If solo, will you dare do a ride along in the OLJ?

D

Doug, are you talking about the Holley/Jenvey cross ram manifold? When I saw that thing I started looking at all the old parts on my shelf, and trying to figure out what I could sell. That thing is trick!

As for Del Mar, I'll be there. Riding in the OLJ would be a dream come true! I would would trade ride alongs for beer, but I want to go for more than one ride in the OLJ with you. On Sunday I'll take the Mustang out.

Heh, I never thought about it before, but Aqua Girl seems to have a penchant for getting covered in other car's dust clouds at El Toro :lol:

Matt

I just read this
 

Hate that your motor broke. Look forward to you getting it back on the road. Sometimes it always seems one step forward, two steps back. Good luck to you and keep us posted. Car is too nice to sit around.

Thanks for the kind words Payton!

It has been about a month now I guess, and it is time for a little update.

I took the block over to Steve Demirjian of Race Engine Dynamics. After looking at it for about five minutes he came to the conclusion that it was pretty effed up. The passenger side cylinder bank saw some serious heat at some point, and all of the cylinders were out of round. Additionally the sleeves, which interlock had still managed to move, some might have sunken a hair. Basically it could be bored out from 4.185 to 4.200, however that still wouldn't insure that it wouldn't leak at all when hot.

In other words, that block is done. Since the engine came with a "Rupp warrantee" rather than get a new block, Steve has offered to raid his parts shelf so that we can put together a 416 LS engine. We could have done a 427 LS3, but I prefer the shorter stroke of the 416 LS3 for something that is going to see plenty of miles, some of which will be hard miles. I've got a couple of ideas on a few cool (looking) parts, but nothing is set in stone at the moment. Oh, and I will likely be tossing out the MEFI 4 computer...

In other news, I just bought a pair of 550 lb front springs, and have decided to downsize my brake master cylinders. When will it ever end :willy:

In the meantime I've been having too much fun with my newish GT500. I picked it up with only a thousand miles on it. The previous owner tossed a set of Eibach springs on (I have no idea what kind) and I've put tires on it. With only those two modifications it absolutely flies. Just ask David Pozzi :lol: We traded off driving it at MATS in Vegas this last weekend, and it managed to hang with all of the heavily modified new Camaros and Challengers. I think I'll be taking it to Buttonwillow in September :unibrow:

Matt

Well that was quick!

I like the 416 idea. keep the stroke shorter. But I hope you bring the Camaro to Buttonwillow.... :thumbsup:

That warranty was gold huh? :unibrow:

I wouldn't say it was quick just yet. Maybe I shouldn't have divulged my plans without having parts and pictures to post. I could have played the "I have a fancy secret new engine that is going to be uber-cool" card. We'll see who gets gets back on the road first :thumbsup:

And as much as I think it might be fun to take the Camaro up there, I have a fear of blowing it up 300 miles from home since I don't have a trailer. Also I don't want all of the rock chips from being stuck behind you guys to get on that car. It is almost too pretty. The GT500 already has chips, and its cheaper to repaint that car :lol:

Matt

Glad to hear she is in the process of coming back together. You gotta bring it out to Bwillow though! Throw on a clear bra (on the car...) and rent a trailer from Uhaul if you have to.

How are you liking your pedals now that you've had some time on them?

This is completely second hand information
 

But I have heard of problems with 45X stroker motors with the piston coming too far out of the bore at the bottom of the stroke and causing piston rock, scuffing, etc. Not sure if that caused the problems and the out-of-round cylinders.

What did you end up on the master sizing? I landed on 3/4 front and 3/4 rear. Did you change pads as well?

I have a 550 lbs in the front of mine and it works well, what are you running in the rear?

Right now I've got 7/8" front and rear. Originally I wanted the pedal really solid because it slows the car down from high speeds incredibly smoothly. Threshold braking is easy. It is hard to lock the brakes up, but not impossible by any means. however, trailing off the brakes smoothly is hard because there is so little travel. I haven't taken the car on a track with a lot of momentum based turns, yet, but that is where the smaller master cylinders will make a big difference for me. On little autocrosses it should help to as the change might afford me a little more initial bite.

As for the springs, I'm running 250 lbs in the rear with the smaller of DSE's two rear sway bars. The car has good initial turn in, but pushes a bit mid corner. When I was out at RTTC the car wanted to spin when entering corners fast. I'm hoping that that the 550 lb springs up front will help the car from transferring too much weight too quickly, and that the smaller master cylinders should give the idiot behind the wheel slightly better control of the brakes to help settle the car in turns as well. Hopefully we will find out soon!

Matt

Alright, I might bring it out. The Mustang is a lot of fun though, and I don't really have to worry about breaking anything. The last thing I want to do is tow it back to the shop and fix something. Again.

Now, about the pedal. I like them, but as I mentioned in my last post, I want to change the feel of the brake pedal.

Matt

cool
 

:thumbsup:

Matt glad to hear your engine is moving forward. The Mustang sounds like its a nice substitute at the track.. Car is sharp with its subtle mods.:cool:

Tom

picks
 

any picks of the Tang ?

Got a deal on the car that was too good to pass up. It was lowered an inch, and it had really ugly Fesler wheels on it when I bought it. It also has a red pearl ghost supersnake style stripe on it that nobody is ever going to see. All I've had to do is change oil and tires :unibrow:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...88973157_n.jpg

Thanks to Hotchkis for the photo, I pulled it off their facebook page.

Matt

Matt congrats on the new car (even if it's a F-rd :lol: ) and your motor direction. You're gonna love the 416! Built right they make lots of power, rev quick and are reliable as you noted...:thumbsup:

BW w the Camaro is a must :cheers:

Thanks Ron. It's not like I bought the Mustang yesterday though. You'll have to ride shotgun with me on a track. I might be able to make a Ford fan out of you yet; the car handles about as well as a C6 Grand Sport. It's faster down the straights too, but the speed really sneaks up on you unlike in a C6 or our old rattle trap Camaros.

Matt

You better wash your mouth out with soap and go over and whisper sweet nothings into your Camaros ear. :lol:

Oh brother... and you said I have a Mustang/Camaro identity problem.

I wanna see a pic of it with the Fesler wheels.

You do have a Mustang/Camaro identity problem. Your Camaro has Mustang stripes. Are you going to get Shelby to sign the dash?

I like to look at things this way, my Camaro is kind of like an all-American blond supermodel. She might not be quite as exotic or classy as some of her contemporaries, but she looks absolutely stunning, and is perfectly built, not too heavy in the front, and not too big out back. She is also high maintenance, tempermental, has to have the latest trend, and when she brakes down and freaks out, it is often expensive to get back on her good side.

As for the Mustang, I love it because having a Ford around all you guys makes me feel like I'm dating that girl with just the right amount of wrong. That car is kind of like that college girl you knew who was a little bit intimidating looking at first. She could probably stand to lose about ten pounds, but really, she was quite attractive strange reason though. Also add to the list being low maintenance, easy going, and a desire to party anywhere. Anytime. You don't have to wait hours for her to do her hair, or find the right dress.

Oh and the Mustang can move its ass in all the right ways :lol:

Matt

p.s. I'll pull up a shot of the awesome chrome Fesler wheels. I think I have a couple on my cell phone.

Huh...??

I just poked my head in here for a second... and im reading about Camaro's being blonds and Mustangs shaking its ass and doing hair.....





Im out.... poke back in a couple weeks. lol.

Matt,
Thanks for letting me try your Mustang! I rode with Matt and he wheels that Mustang very well! I was all thumbs in that thing for a few runs, then started getting used to it and did better. It has a good power and great balance.
David

Alright, per Dave G's request I'm going to show all of you guys the wheels that came on the car. The Fesler/Asantis retailed for $4500 for the set, and I couldn't get rid of them for $500. They sat on a shelf at Driverz for the last 5 months. Jon and I tried ebay and Craigslist to no avail. I hate to make a joke about a situation that was bad for everybody involved, but with Driverz gone I probably won't ever have to look at those wheels again :lol:

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...A/IMAG0234.jpg

Matt

Those look terrible. Your new wheels look a million times better.:thumbsup:

Dude, you should ssoooooooooooo have kept those for Frankenstein! They would look hot on that baby!

G.

Ha! Jon going out of business and ripping you off did ya a big favor!!


Great looking car BTW.... and I'm glad you have the balz to like ALL automotive icons....

If it sounds like the KR's, wow! :cool:

Matt bet that 69 is pissed at u for cheating.

Next thing you know ur going to bring a Miata to the autocross. Hehe

Jorge (Bundell), Dude! you are so right, those would definitely set off that little '65. Hell, The $4000 I'd save by not having to buy wheels would probably cover the majority of the cost of the bondo that Frankenstein is going to need.


GW, I suppose I'm like you in that I don't discriminate against Fords of Chevys. Never really understood people who were diehards. All my sh** seems to break just the same. In fact if my Camaro and Mustang are both broken at the same time, I might look for '91 Miata like Jason just mentioned.

Skip, you should hear this thing in person. think of that KR video, except real, and spectacular. I said I wasn't going to modify it, but there is an intake that makes the supercharger whine more prominent. I think I need one :_paranoid

Matt

real, and spectacular.

You know your audience.

:lol:

I agree...and then audio. :unibrow:

Sorry to be a late comer, but what carpet kit is that way back in post #241 in your Camaro?

Thanks

No worries. I haven't forgotten what it is:lol: The carpet is Mercedes' charcoal grey (or whatever their second darkest color was at the time) that my interior guy made in three pieces. Any interior shop should be able to cut a carpet like this for you car for a reasonable price.

Matt

I finally got some new parts for my engine this week. Now I'm just playing the same game as Dave, trying to round up the rest of what I need. Rupp and I had a little bit of an oversight picking out parts, and forgot that the LS7 heads needed a bigger bore than what the factory LS3 block provided. Unfortunately for my wallet, my LS7 manifold was already on the way from England when I found this out, so the whole LS3 416 kinda went out the window in favor of something big enough to fit the manifold. The engine block went off to Steve Demerjian of Race Engine Development. It is going to get the dry sleeve treatment this time around. I'm going to throw in the old 4.125" crank paired up with some new 4.155" pistons for something in range of 447ish cubes. This displacement coupled with a set of LS7 heads, (which I have yet to pick out, but am considering buying GM ones and sending them off to Richard at WCCH) should really take advantage of the Jenvey manifold.

So, if anyone is looking for a Jeff Davis Precision Metal Craft manifold and some Trick Flow 235 heads, Have I got a deal for you :lol:

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...MSA/mail-1.jpg
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...MSA/mail-2.jpg
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo103/69MSA/mail.jpg

Matt

:hail: :hail: :hail:

Love the new manifold!

Matt, is the precision manifold for an LS3?