THIS THREAD IS AWESOME

would read again

 

This thread is long overdue for an update. Here's the abridged version of what has gone on. I drove it a bunch and had all kinds of fun. Yay! Then, I drove three hours to get to a multi-day auto-x and broke it on my second run. The transmission decided to become a one-speed and I ended up stranded. That kind of sucked so I decided to put a v8 in it. As I said, this is the abridged version. The less abridged version that still doesn't aptly describe my thought process can be found here: TheTurtleBuild | Boosted –> Broken –> 'Merican .

Today I got this. It's an ls1 and t56 from an 04 gto. 47k miles and it came with a warranty.


This is what the car looked like two days ago. Not a lot has changed since then.


The bay is getting cleaned up as well.

 

This is an epic build. I'm subscribing to this

 

I haven't been updating this thread as often as I had before since V8's aren't the nature of this forum. That said, I have been keeping this page up to date: TheTurtleBuild | Boosted –> Broken –> 'Merican It's a blog that I put together to chronicle the build and I'm trying to write it such that it'll be helpful to others who do this swap.

This was a quick test fit

 

Mother of god.

 

Yesterday, I got back to work on this thing after not touching it for for a week and a half because life. The bay is shaved, I have a rear diff, my headers came in, and my FM v8 swaybar came in. I'm still waiting on the V8R stuff. There was a mixup and the order didn't go through when I thought it did.

Full update here: Mr. Function Over Form has a shaved bay? | TheTurtleBuild



I go back to school tomorrow so progress will halt for a while. That said, the clubroadster mods are almost complete so it won't be long before I can move onto the substantive stuff that you guys will appreciate.

 

Did you widen with firewall without drivetrain?

Also, did you get a bangin deal on that LS1?

 

Yeah, I hammered out the trans tunnel to the dimensions that FM provided, but my widening extended too far back. That interfered with pedal travel. Rather than hammering it back and having a rough and fatigued tunnel, I removed the afflicted sections and I'm going to weld some new metal in. I thought I was widening the tunnel for the transmission, but it turns out that the widening is only necessary to clear the bell housing, so a flare out at the end of the tunnel is sufficient.

I got an okay deal on the drivetrain. I wanted an engine that had been tested and inspected, and I had to pay a premium for that.

 

Don't you have to ding the tunnel for a reverse switch or something as well?

 

That's what the FM instructions call for. I haven't personally been able to do a meaningful test fit since the cross members aren't in yet.

 

Good luck and be detailed. I am trying to learn a few things.

 

Thanks. I'm trying to write my blog such that it could serve as a stand alone guide. This will definitely be one of the better documented builds.

 

nice job looks great

 

Run an 03-04 cobra reverse light switch and call it a day. No banging required.

 

Thanks for the tip. I feel like I've abused the unibody enough already so no further hammering is a definite plus.

 

A couple of things have happened since I updated last.

This is what the bay looked like last night, with the chassis harness coming along nicely.


The electrical system is being rebuilt, pretty much from the ground up. I eliminated huge amounts of wire.


As you've probably noticed, a bunch of bracing has been added. Also noteworthy in this photo is the Getrag differential. Same one as the CTS-V.


I build this nifty pedal assembly.


Everything has been pushed back. For reference, that's a 6.5" steering wheel extender.


There's an exhaust system that'll make a fair amount of noise. Two Magnaflow canisters will be shoved on the back.


This will probably happen because fun.



And that's it for my not-so-comprehensive overview. Much, much more can be found here: TheTurtleBuild | Boosted –> Broken –> 'Merican

 

Damn, i remember seeing some youtube vids of you ripping down some farm roads in this car when it was boosted (likely somewhere earlier in this thread, too). Glad to see this thing is going to be a real best when done.. subbed.

 

Wow this is coming along awesome.

Loving all the extra bracing and relocation.

Is the goal a perfect 50/50 with moving everything back?

 

I've noticed that most of my photos earlier in the thread have died. Lesson learned, don't use facebook for photo hosting. For whatever reason, I can't edit the posts but.....

This gallery has a decent chunk of what's missing, with an emphasis on the headlight project: https://plus.google.com/photos/11393...CIrAt_qShLG4Rw

Here's a sample for newcomers:






And here's the video that Fireindc was referring to:
This video has really blown up--over 20k views now. This was before I installed the ID1k's and upped the boost.

 

Thanks. 50/50 might be a lofty goal but it's something that I'd love to achieve. I've contemplated a rear mounted radiator but that's a can of worms that I don't feel like opening at this point. The car be corner balanced once it touches down after months on jack stands and we'll find out how well I've done.