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Kenny's 1990 740 GLE, goin' for 9's

linuxman51

Railspeeder Enthusiast #1
300+ Club
Joined
Dec 25, 2002
Location
mont, AL
Since payment is sent on the new project shell, I reckon I'll kick off the project thread. This car is going to be built in two 'parts'..

The goal this summer/fall is to get the damaged goods repaired, get the car on the road, and set it up to compete in the street car class for import face off in November.
To that end, not much from the previous 'setup' will change, aside from suspension (since half of mine was thrashed in the wreck). The car will be lightened a bit, probably not as aggressively as the GL was (initially....), and will retain most of the stock wiring/etc.

I'll need to:
-repair the intake manifold, replace the fuel rail brackets and injectors
-hide the fuel cell (heh. damn plastic tanks, can't sump 'em) or figure out another way to feed the 044's. suppose I could just make a new cap for the tank.. hm. that might be the ticket.
-finish the bondo header setup and get a turbo on the car
-beef up the subframe and swap the torque rods over from the other car
-swap/rebuilt the rear end and go to a 3.73 or 3.54 final drive

We probably won't really lean on it this fall, it shoulda coulda woulda run low 10's or faster as it was prior to the wreck, so that with a cleaner tune should do well enough for the street class. I might have to sand bag some, we'll see.

a few words on the engine:
1995 b230F block, pin'd
AQ171 crank (2.5L)
RSI rods and pistons, rollerwave, 16v.
clevite 77 rod bearings
ARP head studs
elring head gasket
beehive springs
FS324 cams
Solid lifters (lash caps and renault lifters. there's better for less talk to fidel & others)



The car is currently gold/tan:
125577809.jpg


not sure how long it'll stay like that, but we're talking about a $400 volvo, so who knows.

Round two: This is where it's gonna (hopefully) finally be fast- rear end work, either a ladder bar setup with subframe connectors, attached to a built 8.8, or possibly a triangulated 4 link, depends on what kinda mood I'm in when we finally sit down to do the work. Also probably going to at least mini-tub it. A full roll cage will go in at this point (whatever is needed to run a 9.01 and slower, and if it ever goes faster than that (LOL!).. well I just won't run that fast in competition..) and the character of the car will change. more extensive weight reduction, if the cell isn't already in the car, it will be now, that sort of thing.

I would like it to remain street legal enough that I don't have to run out and buy a trailer right away, but I don't really have any plans to drive it around much, especially after the last incident. tagging the wall at the drag strip would be a definite bummer, but the car woulda been a lot less likely to flip, It'da just been balled up pretty good.

Pics of progress:
freeze plug retention plates:
127093298.jpg


new intercooler core:
127093305.jpg


as compared with the old one:
127093302.jpg


cross comparison (sort of) of tubes (well air paths, since they're both B&P not T&F)
127093294.jpg


side shot of ebay core:
127093308.jpg


head studs
127116871.jpg


head back on the block:
127116870.jpg


strippin' the gleeeeee:
127354279.jpg


after one evening:
127354281.jpg


new manifold after some custom fabrication work:
127380111.jpg


close...
127380112.jpg


Notcho hole-o
127380115.jpg


close-up of fitment:
127380116.jpg


Clean engine bay:
127469400.jpg


127469402.jpg


127469404.jpg


test fitting a couple of things:
127566627.jpg

borrowed a buddy's turbo for a few days, needed something big to ensure adequate clearance.

room all around, so it should be alright there. might require some hammertime in the engine bay though.

although I'm not so sure about the modified q45 tb:
127566625.jpg

I'll wait til the engine is in the car to pass judgment on that.
127566619.jpg


Got the engine in: (yay for lousy midnight pics)
127695394.jpg


getting things ready:
128421618.jpg


cutout on the passenger side:
128421617.jpg


driver's side:
128421615.jpg


gettin' the fuel system back on the car:
128421614.jpg


not quite so done back here
128421613.jpg
 
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So, thread title is finally legit.

https://youtu.be/vfKqPfEJfMM

course, I blew it the **** up a week later, but hey, she's had a long hard life to this point :-D

Video from the event where it put itself on injured reserve.
https://youtu.be/zAeesU_zCms

10:30ish mark is the best view point, beating the hell out of a procharged 5th gen viper (f1x) :-D


Quick run down of the current setup to help those who don't want to read 1500 posts of ****.

engine stuff from above is still relevant, except perhaps:
1600cc injectors (maxed the **** out)

th400 transmission, with the Jake rebuild specs - looped gov. pressure, plugged modulator, force 2nd delete for full manual vb, dual fed directs, 4L80e 34 element direct drum, 6 clutch direct, 4 clutch intermediate,5 clutch forward with HE frictions.
Converter is a Revmax stage whatever billet this, badass that, 4500rpm stall on some lazy ass chevy engine, with the right amount of abuse it will stall past 6000rpms at 30psi, but doesn't seem to be blowing through (but hell who knows).

Management is Ms3pro, currently only set up to run most things (sequential injection/ignition with gm coils)
yoshifab CAS adapter, boost control, nitrous control, launch control. traction control wired up but doesn't work(yet). Not monitoring fuel pressure, exhaust back pressure, or oil pressure yet.

Garrett 950 core intercooler with bounce-tested ebay end-tanks. volvo 3.54 welded rear diff with stock axles(!!)

E-85 is the fuel of choice, twin 044's with a 255 in-tank feeding the surge canister.

couple recent pics and time slips
162465899.jpg


street tires and low boost (right lane)
162573854.jpg


slicks and some driver learning
162855347.jpg


and the elusive 9 second pass
163161854.jpg


unfortunately, pushing further without paying close attention (perhaps) to details led to a block failure. the best possible block failure..
163261987.jpg


best possible due to the minimal amount of carnage inflicted.


This is soon to be all rolled up and swapped into a matching green wagon to the tow wagon.
 
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