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L8 APEKS' project '75 244 (B230FT/AW71), EvW '10 entry...

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L8 APEKS

Yayayaya, hohohooo!!!
Joined
May 12, 2006
Location
Orange County, CA
Current Best Numbers:

1/4 mile (13C): 13.7 @ 95.1

1/8 mile (19T): 8.4 @ 85.6

Estimated 1/4 mile w/ 19T: ~13.3 @ ~104

Current pic:

ane935.jpg




Hey gang...welcome to L8 APEKS' 244 build v2.0! Please keep the BS out of this thread, I'd like to keep on topic here. ;-) Thanks!

BUILD SHEET: Keep track of the overall cost of the project from start to finish here! I'll try to document every penny spent in order to get a realistic idea of what the project cost:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AlDW4F1pn9dZdElnTF9vOS1fZzRJZXg0cjhiQ3BVY1E&hl=en


GOALS/PLANS/CONCEPTS:
12.5 ET or quicker
110mph or faster
$5,000 or less, all inclusive

The car will be built and tuned in stages, with the ultimate goal of a 12.5 ET @ 110mph, on a B230FT with the AW71, on LH 2.4. After this has been accomplished, I will likely convert to a manual transmission and make a few tuning changes so that the car will be more well-rounded, and I can then take it to open track/road racing events.

It will likely get running initially with the engine in near-stock status (13C or maybe a 15G), with a valve body and/or accumulator modded AW-71. Mods will be minimal at the start. Engine and trans will be from the donor car, and will not be rebuilt (166k miles).

Rear end will have a G80 or welded differential and a 4.11 R/P. ET's will be recorded on cheater slicks or wrinkle walls. No plans to change the axle yet.

Long term (12-18 mos) goals: Moving from a straight line car after hitting the ET goals into more of a well rounded car that can be driven to open track and road course events. Likely a T5 World Class 5 speed transmission swap.

Pics and updates to come over the next several weeks!



Starting some of the prep work, 12/27/09:

IMG00043.jpg


IMG00053.jpg




Engine in place, 1/3/10:

IMG00094.jpg


IMG00098.jpg




Engine RUNNING, 2/1/10:

It's a little noisy - no down pipe attached, so it's straight out of the 13C!

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Suspension and gears, 3/27/10:
OMP springs, Nitto drag radials, 4.10's and welded diff...

wvqzy0.jpg




Big thanks to the SoCal Volvo crew for all the help on this project:
David
Brian
PJ
 
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Update: The car runs! :)

Since the trans was still out of the car as of this morning due to receiving the wrong trans filter/gasket set yesterday, I decided to make lemonade out of lemons...I went ahead and did both the accumulator mod and the valve body mod while the trans was out. Also cleaned out the trans, installed a new trans filter, and filled it up with Amsoil racing synthetic ATF.

Didn't get to the gears; the G80 we has set aside had magically grew legs and somehow disappeared. So I'm gonna run the open 3.73 until I source another G80. I'll install the 4.11's then.

The trans is now bolted in, but David and I both had other plans tonight so there's still some buttoning up to do (drive shaft, diff fluid, etc.). But, the car fired up and ran for the first time in her new home. She sounds pretty healthy - hopefully she'll get me into the 12's without too much hassle!

One of my early posts predicted that we *might* have it running as early as 1/31/10, so it's pretty cool to complete the swap and get the car running inside of 4 weeks, start to finish!

Special thanks to another cameo by PJ, "accumulator screw cutter extraordinaire"!
 
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Awesome! Appletech is a good guy.

But why switch to a T5/6? Won't the AW71 hold up better?

Initial goals are just for ET's, but ultimately, I'd like it to be a more well-rounded car. The manual will be much more enjoyable for open track days and road course events. I figure it will never make more than 350hp, and the T5's can handle that OK.
 
Well, it's looking like the 244 is taking the back seat for a while now. I had some issues today that aren't necessarily hard to fix, but they take time - and I'm tired of looking at this car for now. Too much work and not enough reward yet.

Got the drive line buttoned up today...lots of extra time spent scraping grease and grime off the bottom of the car, rear axle, etc. Took the car up and down the block on a quick test drive. Turns out I messed up something in the trans; I've only got 1 forward gear now. Awesomesauce.

I also realized that I forgot to hook up the kick down cable inside the trans. MAJOR facepalm. That's what I get for rushing to finish. I'm gonna take my time now and try to ENJOY what's supposed to be my "fun" car. Rushing takes the fun out of it for me.

Also, the turbo started smoking REALLY badly on the test drive. Pretty sure a seal is on it's way out (or gone) in the 13C. This isn't too big of a deal; I may throw a 15G on it this weekend that I know is good, so that takes care of that. But I'm not looking forward to fixing the valve body from underneath the car, that's not going to be any fun at all.

Pics from today:

About to lower her off the jack stands to take her for a test drive...
ftixs6.jpg



Engine shot...
2qmg3e1.jpg



Interior front...
3021itg.jpg



Interior rear...
2rxuqtd.jpg



What's left of the donor car...
nwzr6o.jpg



The work horse that's been keeping me mobile while the other 2 cars are down...'85 740 w/ 220k...
j0zbxu.jpg



And last, but not least: the brake pads off Brian's car. Yes, he was driving and canyon racing with them like this...you should see the rotor, it broke into 2 pieces!
2w3qovt.jpg
 
Love the brake pads. Looks like the original surface on the bottom of the left one. :lol:

Good call taking your time on the project, sucks to rush and screw **** up. Good luck!
 
which forward gear? with the kickdown cable unhooked, it'll go into 3rd really fast. And by fast, I mean the last time I experienced it, it was into 3rd about the time you got past the stall on the converter.

Hook the kick down up and try again. if you then only have one gear, well you boned something in the VB :p
 
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Nothing super exciting to report, other than the fact that the 850 is finished, so the 244 will be getting some love again soon. Build sheet has been updated. I'm also waiting on some money to come in, which should be in within the next 1-4 weeks.

Priority one is sorting out the running issues; I know what I did wrong with the trans and it's an easy fix. But the car has a pretty big oil leak, and refuses to idle. Not sure where to look, as the engine ran great when it came out of the donor car. But this will get sorted out soon.

I won't have a lot to spend initially, but I wand to just get the car driving and add maybe a couple of fun parts now if the opportunity arises and it makes sense to just do it now. I've got a headache trying to select a turbo, and I have 2 very different options.

The cheap way out is to throw either a 15G on it, or put a 15G back into the 850 and put the 19T on the 244.

The other option would be a T3/T4E (not quite sure on trims yet), along with a new exhaust mani, external WG, diverter valve, etc. This is the option I'm leaning toward, depending on cost (looking to be anywhere from 350 to 950 depending on which parts I choose). For no reason in particular, I'm not going to run a Holset. If I open up too many options, it'll be 2011 before I've made up my mind. lol.

If any of you SoCal boys wants to help me sort out these annoying running issues, let me know! My motivation to work on this thing alone is lacking. lol.
 
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Idle is fixed...car runs pretty well now!

Oil leak is fixed, just needed a new front cam seal.

Aaron (wennstroma) dropped by and helped us make sense of some of the cabin wiring - we made some progress tracing the wires for the rear lights.

Speed sensor was wired in.

I'm going to fix the trans tomorrow so I can drive the car to another location to park it.

Exhaust will be hooked up later this week, and the car will officially be on the road and driving! It should make it's first drag strip pass on 4/3/10.
 
Exhaust is done for now. Running the stock 13C, stock DP, into a 2.5" rice muffler (dumps under the car, before the axle). Going to work on the trans tomorrow.

Updated the build sheet in the first post; ordered all of the parts listed under "Stage 1" on the build sheet today. Should have "Stage 1" complete before 4/3/10.
 
She's alive and well! :) Drove her around the block a couple times today, sans bumpers. lol. The trans issue was simply that the gear selector valve moved as I was bolting the valve body back up to the trans, and I didn't notice it. Since I was working from the passenger side of the car, I didn't see the valve as I was putting the pan back on. Ooops! Oh well, it's all fixed now.

Should have some bumpers on tomorrow...need to get the bumper shocks off a 240 in the yard. Boost controller came in the mail; I'll likely throw that in too along with a couple gauges.

I forgot how slow a stock car was! I mean, it's OK for a 1975...but it's by NO means "quick". I was also surprised at how BIG the 240's are, as I haven't driven one in quite a while. The neighbor here drives a late-80's Tercel. Parked next to the 240, it's at least 2-3 feet shorter, and a foot narrower. It could fit inside the 240 with room to spare. This got me to thinking about weight, remembering that stripping the full interior only resulted in about 100 lbs of weight reduction. Even gutted, this is going to be a heavy car. I'll definitely need nitrous at Stage 3 to hit my final goals. I was hoping to get the car down to 2500 lbs or so, but I don't think that's realistic on my budget. I'll still have to add a roll bar or a cage at some point.


The next two weeks will see the Stage 1 parts finding their way on to the car, and I'll have pics/video on or before the track day on 4/3/10. I'm still hopeful for a 14.X @ 90-something with the Stage 1 setup.
 
wvqzy0.jpg


David and I installed a rare set of OMP springs today - they lowered the car quite a bit! Had to buy a pair of new struts for the front as one of them was blown...ended up with Gabriel Ultras. I figure a cheap but working strut was better than a good but busted strut, and it was all we could find nearby.

Rear tires are Nitto NT-555R drag radials, in 205/55/14. Fronts are Hankook cheapies in 185/70 or 75?/14. Will need to do something about these but they have plenty of tread so...they stay for now.

4.10 pinion gear is in the housing; diff is going Monday morning to get welded and then installed with the matching 4.10 ring gear.

'86 bumpers are on the car now; blue air dam will be painted black.
 
Well, the little 244 surprised me...13.7 @ 95!

I blew my Stage 1 goals out of the water! I will enjoy this setup for a little while, then I'll move on to Stage 2.

Car Setup:
'75 244GL, gutted
'94 B230FT, 13C, AW71, LH2.4
MBC @ 16psi max, Mike's chips, stock DP into 2.5" muffler, 4.10 gears, welded diff, OMP springs, Nitto NT555R's (205/55/14).

Timeslips for all 3 runs, in order (#2879):
2rh5tzb.jpg


My car at the track today:
33otykj.jpg


An honorary Turbobricker - the "Mad Max" Turbo Mustang! His first run was a 12.96, pretty sure he ran faster...
x3fvw5.jpg
 
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