Hacksters daily driver 242.....lq4 and t56

[hackster]

Originally Posted by klr142

Wait, what?

The 17s I have are easy to clean and will fit some fatty tires... If you don't like them let me know, but don't leave me hanging!

Didn't mean to leave you hanging. Let's try Em on when I get back and see how they fit and look. I'll be back in town on Friday so maybe one day this weekend we can try Em on?

I was going to ask pat how hard his reps are to keep clean. Have got to be easier than the Tethys that are on there now.

Sean

[klr142]

Haha, yes, I think Pat did say that his reps are easier to clean... Maybe!

[hackster]

Been somewhat busy trying to get the turbo car ready for the IPD show but was able to make a little bit of progress on this.

After finding a flathood grille setup and paying for it, it arrived several weeks later in very very very poor condition. I tried to patch it all together and make it work but its just too far gone to live again.





I cleaned up the lights and headlight bezels and installed those. Then I headed over and stole a good grille from Pat. Thanks Pat.....Ill get it back to you in a couple of days.

The car looked like this then with the coffin hood and the flat frontend.





I had a flathood hanging around so I pulled off the stock front trim and welded up the holes and took it over to my friend Todd for him to do the cleanup, prep and shoot some color on it.

While he and his gys did a good job on the hood, the color is a bit off and does not match up with the factory color Probably keep my eyes out for a nice factory hood in this color or have this one reshot...its far enough off in color that you can instantly tell the difference.

Looks quite a bit better though in my opinion.





Car has been a blast so far, it is seriously traction limited though. I really need to figure out the wheel tire situation and commit to something.

There are a set of Polaris wheels nearby that might just need to go on this car.

Other than that, the rearend makes a little bit of noise under really, really light load, proabbly need to have a professional look at the rearend setup to help me get it dialed in just right.

Have proabably 1000-1500 miles on the car now and it has yet to let me down.

Sean

[Fraktion]

come get yo air dam

[M.H. Yount]

Nice work Sean. I found that the stock rearend held up pretty good under V8 torque if you've got the larger ring/pinion (1031) and a limited slip diff. I had a TrueTrac in mine for about 10 years. Backlash opened up a bit over the decade, and it got a little 'whiny' over that time - but nothing dramatic. Must admit it's nice now to have the Ford rearend back there and I know I can hammer it without hurting anything. At least without hurting anything in the rearend...

[hackster]

So no progress on the rearend quite yet...

I am at a crossroads and I would like a bit of direction if you all want to give it to me.

Wheels....What to do? I think black polaris wheels would look sweet however there are a lot of cars here locally that already have them.

Pats car is right down the road and has LM reps on it so that is out of the question and not to mention its the same color.

I have some 5x120 adapters here so I was thinking about some late model staggered BMW 335i wheels but wonder if tha would be too modern. Love the look of ESM's but they would suck worse than the tethys to clean.

Ideas? Direction?

Car needs more traction in a major way, didnt realize it was a problem until I started to really get on it the last couple weeks. Does not have any traction when on the throttle hard in any gear.

Now, Cam or no cam. Turbo is going to have to wait a while and the car would pick up 60-100 hp and be totally driveable with a cam swap. I know what MH would do, but these motors absolutley love cams.

Anyone got any insight they want to share?

Sean

[nathaninwa]

Ford 8.8 is my vote!

[Josh]

I think esm makes borbet type A's reps that look pretty cool

[M.H. Yount]

Stick an LS1/Z06 cam in it if you like -- but check valve springs out. Most of the cams that'll really let it go up top are likely to require changing your valve springs. Something that would've been easier with the engine out of the car.

[hackster]

Oh dont worry Nathan, its getting an 8.8!! Hope to pick one up this weekend as its 50% off at pick n pull. Might pick your brain again on our brief conversation for narrowing the rear some more. I think I will be taking more out than you did though so it might be a different story.

Not to offend Josh, but I think those wheels are horrible looking. ( I know that lots of people like them, just not my cup of tea.) I would rather do a late model largeish wheel than put those on there. Thinking something like a Fikse FM5 or TSW Snetterton. I like modern wheels a lot.

On the cam.....yeah, would have been a whole lot easier to do with the motorout of the car, but its too late to go back now. From all my reading, sounds like valve springs are a must. Should be no real problem either, put some air in the cylinder, hold the valves up in their holes and go one cylinder at a time.

The HP gains are impressive on the aftermarket cams, dont know if the ZO6 cam is worth the work......Ill look into that today.

Thanks for the words of wisdom though.

[nathaninwa]

I have a bunch of spare axles for you, especially an extra short side you'll need for your swap. I also have all the weld on brackets to make almost a bolt in.

[M.H. Yount]

The issue with cam choice is the trade-off Sean -- yes; you can pick up a bunch up top. And those that do often absolutely kill bottom end torque. Can't tell you how many times I over-cammed for a street car when I was younger. After I while I learned. If this is truly a daily driver -- well, it's torque at the bottom of the rev range that makes one truly pleasurable on the street. That was what was behind my Z06 recommendation. It'll pick up the top noticeably but not kill the bottom. If you want even more poke in a daily driver, I'd leave the combo alone and add light boost from a small turbo.

[hackster]

Originally Posted by M.H. Yount

The issue with cam choice is the trade-off Sean -- yes; you can pick up a bunch up top. And those that do often absolutely kill bottom end torque. Can't tell you how many times I over-cammed for a street car when I was younger. After I while I learned. If this is truly a daily driver -- well, it's torque at the bottom of the rev range that makes one truly pleasurable on the street. That was what was behind my Z06 recommendation. It'll pick up the top noticeably but not kill the bottom. If you want even more poke in a daily driver, I'd leave the combo alone and add light boost from a small turbo.

While I very much agree with you on the wrong cam getting installed. There is a number of cams that will still net me around a 40 ft lb torque gain at 2500 rpm and 90-100 hp up top.

From everything I have read so far, the biggest drop in torque is actually going to be the swap from the truck manifold to the LS6 intake.

That being said, I dont want a stupind huge cam that I cant drive around. I know that there are a couple of cams out there that have descent manners and pick up good power. There is no shortage of torque with the engine how it is.

Also on a side note, it is pretty well known that the 5.3 has a super mild cam in it from the factory. There is a lot left on the table is what I am saying and keeping it a daily driver.

I would love to go turbo, but the problem is that it takes away from the reliability of the car not to mention the fact that it is very nice and easy to work on as it sits. If I could figure out a way to make turbo charging it easier and fit better, I would just throw a turbo on it.

Sean

[hackster]

Originally Posted by Nathaninwa

I have a bunch of spare axles for you, especially an extra short side you'll need for your swap. I also have all the weld on brackets to make almost a bolt in.

Awesome!! Shoot me a PM with some prices, might be looking to do this sooner than later!!

Sean

[B-Rod]

Regarding the cam swap, without a doubt, yes. The Z06 cam is a reasonable choice and works well with turbos but a well chosen aftermarket cam shouldn't affect bottom end too badly and will make tons more power up top. My friend has a Texas Speed cam in his truck and it pulls great. I chose a Comp grind for my LQ4 turbo project. Theres a bunch of choices out there now but as was mentioned valve springs are basically a must, even with the Z06 cam. Pushrods are also a good idea.

[DNAsEqUeNcE]

Hacksters how to: clean, well-documented install of a lsx series engine in a 240, with restoration.

[cosbySweater]

i say go for broke and put a dana 44 C4 rear end in it.

[mavawreck]

Does that mean those sweet tethy's will be up for grabs?

[hackster]

Originally Posted by falunbrick

i say go for broke and put a dana 44 C4 rear end in it.

No way....i would put a 60 or a nine inch under it before i would ever think about a 44. Worked on far to many broken 44's to ever own one.


Yes Tethys will be available. More than likely very soon

DNA sequence.....thanks. It's all in the details.

Been working on rear suspension so far this weekend. Rear coilovers are on. Adjustable perches and 10" 175 lb springs. Got a 22 mm rear ipd sway bar on the back.

Also picked up a 25mm bar for the front and a coilover sleeve kit. Might make an attempt at getting the fronts done tomorrow if i still have the motivation.

Sean

[mavawreck]

Did you get any response from ESM on re-drilling? Their wheels are really hard to argue with for the price.

[hackster]

I did not inquire....I know that its about a hundred bux for a redrill though, they are very reasonable. While they are awesome wheels, they had two big draw backs for me, they would be a major pain to keep looking good and they do not fit over the r brakes without massive spacers and pulling the crap out of the front fenders.....so it was a no go for me.

However, I did make it down to see Ben yesterday and picked up rear coilover buckets and some springs. (thanks Ben and the rest of the crew at RSI)



They went in nice and easy and should be a lot better than the stock dl cut springs that were in there before.





The rear suspension has really come together, not a lot left to do back there except shocks and adjust the ride height. Until the rearend gives up.

Tore into the rearend too to see if I could adjust the speedo pickup to tone ring clearance, stupid fitting just spun in the cover, so I pulled it off and cleaned everything up. Went to pick and pull and took two diff covers one aluminum and one steel one. Also snagged a set of front struts since everything was 50% off this weekend.....no excuse for not doing coilovers in the front tomorrow now.

The aluminum was a pain to clean but its a nice piece....speedo still no worky, clearance is too big now.

Got it back on the ground today and headed to pick up some new hoops.



Still amazes me how big these trunks are.


So I picked up some 5x108 to 5x120 adapters a couple weeks ago and I really like clean five spoke wheels. Been doing a ton of reading and research on et and offset and backspacing. So these poped up and I started to do some math. They are ET48 and I have 32mm adapters. Should net a et16 on an 8 1/2" rim and fit the car just about right.

Brought home and tore into it promptly for some test fitting.....



Yes that is a block of wood...needede to see it at ride height to make sure it would all fit. Fronts are dead perfect, just a couple mm to the strut and still well within the lip of the fender.

Rears are a little farther out than they need to be for clearance, but with some fender rolling they will work perfect as well. SCORE!!!

Headed down to get some tires.

Before with the tethys, 215's and 25mm spacers.



After with 235/40/18's and 32 mm spacers.







I am very pleased with the results so far. Had to roll the rears quite a bit but everything clears now.

What say you tbers? It's definately not cookie cutter wheels for a volvo.

Front needs to come down some more now, but the rear is about where I want it, maybe a touch lower.

Sean

[mavawreck]

Looks good. What are your spring specs? I was looking at using the RSI hardware on the back and coleman racing for the front. I'd definitely be interested in what you end up running on the front too as far as sleeve length and spring. I'm trying to get a parts list together for mine.

[DNAsEqUeNcE]

nice

[nathaninwa]

Both of Seans cars in person have a weird glow around them. Its none like Ive never seen before.

[F13ND]

That looks great, I'm pretty sure I like this car more than your other one. Such a hard decision to make!