Ethyl is a 2004 GTO. I bought her new in November 2004. We put 95,000 miles on her with 80,000 of them being at 450+ rwhp. In May 09 we decided to go completely through it. First off the original LS1 running heads and cam for 85,000 miles only required honing, cam bearings, and rings and is back in another GTO making nearly 500 rwhp with forged internals, heads, and cam. In our build we initially started to put a 91 mm Borg Warner Turbo on but switched to a PD twin Helix Harrop HVT2300 supercharger. After getting it together we decioded to go with the 4.0 Liter Whipple to see how far we could take the Texas SPeed and Power built 408 LQ9 Engine.
The engine. We started with a LQ9 Iron Block built by Texas Speed. It has Diamond Pistons, Eagle Rods, and an Eagle Forged Crank. The entire rotating assembly is coated and the pistons are a -28cc dish. We put ETP 245 heads on the car and retained the 1 7/8 inch Kooks Headers.
Fabrication. We relocated the ECM to inside the drivers compartment and fabricated a coil pack relocation scheme with some modified GM Performance Valve Covers to clean up the appearance. We fabricated an AWIC reservoir with a front mounted heat exchanger.
Forced Induction. We started out intending to put a Borg Warner 91 mm Turbo on it but went with a Harrop HVT2300. Our goal was 20 lbs of boost since the engine was built to go to 1500 HP. The Harrop maxed out around 18 lbs so we went with the Whipple Sand Rail 4.0 Liter Supercharger. That Supercharger is a beast. We have seen 19 lbs of boost on the engine thus far with the OEM pulleys. We also replaced the 2004 GTO radiator with a 2005 Radiator to eliminate the large fender mounted catch can.
Fueling. For fuel we went with 83 lbs Accutron Injectors fed by an Aeromotive A1000 pump through a -10 an line. The -10 splits into 2 -8 an lines into the rails with an Aeromotive Regulator sitting on the other side maintaining constant pressure. We used the OEM fuel system to complete the return.
Clutch/Tranny. One of the reasons we built the car was to stress prototype Monster Clutches. Monster Clutch and SNL Performance have done all of the fabrication on the car. The T56 was built to go to 1000 ft lbs of torque using carbon fiber synchros, brass shift fork pads, steel shifting forks and face plated components. The current clutch is a Monster 11" Ceramic that went straight from the rack to a WOT pull on the dyno. That clutch has held for over 3,000 miles now. See a couple of Dyno pulls below.
Drivetrain. We turned our attention to the drivetrain with a complete drivetrain by GForce1320 including the 3.5 inch carbon fiber driveshaft, 8 inch tubs, coil over kit, 33 spline stubs and hubs, 300 mm CVS shafts, and a 33 spline spool using 3.46 gears. We will be running 14.5 inch slicks on 15 by 10 Holeshot Rims with 15 by 4 inch skinnies on the front. Currently have MT ET DRs, 295 by 55 by 15s on it.
Finishing touches. SNL put a Kook's afterburner 3" exhaust on the car. We added a FireCharger fire suppression system and Prosport AFR/Boost gauges. We've modified the GTO Shifter by adding a GMM Race Unit with an SNL developed Hurst shift lever adapter. Currently we are still trying to figure out how to get a hood on the car.
Suspension. Lovell's suspension components from Kollar Racing will replace every component in the suspension with new bushings, and fittings. We are also going to the Lovell's 90/10 struts as the car will work mostly on the strip once completed. We still need to complete the hood, add the Roll Cage, and completely repaint the body to finish the build.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGlBm6uQ0SI
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
Me n Ethyl
Thanks for the comments, you make a good point. That is the reason what you see in the photos is just a small part of the build. We literally cut the GTO undercarriage out of it for the tubs and QA1 coilovers and the full return fuel system was probably overkill as well. The entire drivetrain has been replaced/rebuilt. If I were doing it again I would probably have gone to a tube chassis. Some of us believe this is all going away and soon as your post suggests. Before it does though, it was a thrill doing something with the car no one else has done. I guess that is what it is all about, at least for me. We will get the car on the track at some point.
Had a pretty good day today. Spent some time mocking up the remote water pump layout and trying to determine how to solve the tensioner issue.
Hybrid Mode
