Ron's hurricane build

[DamnYankee]

Just took delivery today in the pre-hurricane Milton rain in SE Florida.
Guess I should call the car Uncle Miltie !!??!?!
Will be LS3, T56, IRS.

Cheers !!!

Ron

205042

[JimStone]

Awesome!

I have the same LS3/T56/IRS build going - started end of May.

Have fun!

Stay safe

[DamnYankee]

Got suspension and brakes mounted.
Aluminum panels all drilled.
Going with Levy's 14" brakes front & rear. With electric e-brake. These brakes are huge. I had FFR's Wilwood brakes on my 35 Truck and was never totally happy with them, had to use a real aggressive pad to get decent stops.
Also will be using Levy's QA1 shocks.
One thing that kept me from building this kit in the past was the windows, or lack of. So I'm going with FormaCars electric window kit.
And also FormaCars HVAC system. Hopefully that keeps it cool in south Florida.

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[JimStone]

You're making quick work, nice job.

That HVAC system is very interesting. Didn't know Formacars sold that.

Do you mind letting us know what it cost? Feel free to ignore that question if you want to keep $ out of your thread

[PNWTim]

You're making quick work, nice job.

That HVAC system is very interesting. Didn't know Formacars sold that.

Do you mind letting us know what it cost? Feel free to ignore that question if you want to keep $ out of your thread

I looked at that kit a couple of weeks ago before I placed my final order. It's nice but fairly spendy at $3.5K, probably $4K when all is said and done. Looks very well engineered and has lots of benefits like air blending, etc.

[PNWTim]

Got suspension and brakes mounted.
Aluminum panels all drilled.
Going with Levy's 14" brakes front & rear. With electric e-brake. These brakes are huge. I had FFR's Wilwood brakes on my 35 Truck and was never totally happy with them, had to use a real aggressive pad to get decent stops.
Also will be using Levy's QA1 shocks.
One thing that kept me from building this kit in the past was the windows, or lack of. So I'm going with FormaCars electric window kit.
And also FormaCars HVAC system. Hopefully that keeps it cool in south Florida.

206045206046

206047206048

Sounds like a great build, looking forward to following along.

[DamnYankee]

You're making quick work, nice job.

That HVAC system is very interesting. Didn't know Formacars sold that.

Do you mind letting us know what it cost? Feel free to ignore that question if you want to keep $ out of your thread

HVAC $3500, Windows $3700. FormaCars is a vendor on here, all on their website. Was good working with them so far. https://www.formacars.com/products/

[DamnYankee]

So lots of progress.
Drivetrain in.
Wiring mostly complete.

Had major issue with lack of ground clearance. I purchased the Blueprint Engines LS3 / T56 complete package. Once installed I noticed that the bottom of the bellhousing (scattershield) was 2 3/8" below the chassis. And the front of the oil pan was 7/8" below the chassis. No way this was gonna fly with ride height set at 3.75". Emails with FFR and Blueprint got the same response: cut the bottom of the bellhousing off. As for the oil pan, Blueprint said to buy a Corvette pan. Now I can fab or modify anything, but I was expecting this to all be worked out with this purchased package.
So I cut off the bellhousing lip and swapped in a Corvette oil pan (plus windage tray and pickup). But still not perfect. Rear of oil pan was still 1/4" below the chassis, and bellhousing was still 1" below the chassis. So I made 3/8" spacers to raise the motor mounts and transmission mount. Rear of oil pan is now 1/4" above the chassis, front of oil pan is 7/8" above chassis. Bellhousing is is still below the chassis at 1/2". But I'll have to live with that. Could have been worse I guess.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213013&d=1745538565

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213014&d=1745538565

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https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213017&d=1745538565

[DamnYankee]

Finally did gokart drive this week. Happy :-)

Then installed rear body today (initial fitment).

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213019&d=1745540068

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213011&d=1745538336

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213010&d=1745538336

[JimStone]

Definitely really good progress

With the transmission mount, besides the spacer, did you have to modify it or make your own?

Lewma is the only one I know of who has done the LS3/T56 in the coupe and he had to make a different trans mount. Maybe FFR now sends a correct fitting mount for people planning LS engines?

[DamnYankee]

I used the FormaCars HVAC system. Its installed but not yet used.
Fit was perfect, instruction manual was great.
The blower motor, heater core, and evaporator assembly sits on top of and into the passenger footbox. Required cutting top of footbox, and removing part of a crossbrace under the top.
The air plenums are molded (plastic?) with flex hose running to the outlets. Everything is real nice quality.
There are 4 AC outlets, 2 defrost outlets, and 2 heater outlets in the aluminum just below the dash.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213004&d=1745537621

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213022&d=1745540718

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https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213005&d=1745537947

[DamnYankee]

Definitely really good progress

With the transmission mount, besides the spacer, did you have to modify it or make your own?

Lewma is the only one I know of who has done the LS3/T56 in the coupe and he had to make a different trans mount. Maybe FFR now sends a correct fitting mount for people planning LS engines?

Jim, Initially the supplied mount plate and rubber mount bolted up fine. But the transmission was too high and the shifter plate would not fit under the crossbrace, and the front u-joint was hitting the e-brake cable bracket. FFR did not have an answer for this, so I made a mount plate that bolted underneath the chassis bracket instead of above as is normal. This lowered the transmission enough for shifter plate to fit. I also cut the crossbrace out off the console to allow shifter placement.

Unfortunately FFR seems to half-*** support the LS / T56 combo. Headers fit fine, driveshaft had to be shortened by 3/4" .

[JimStone]

Jim, Initially the supplied mount plate and rubber mount bolted up fine. But the transmission was too high and the shifter plate would not fit under the crossbrace, and the front u-joint was hitting the e-brake cable bracket. FFR did not have an answer for this, so I made a mount plate that bolted underneath the chassis bracket instead of above as is normal. This lowered the transmission enough for shifter plate to fit. I also cut the crossbrace out off the console to allow shifter placement.

Unfortunately FFR seems to half-*** support the LS / T56 combo. Headers fit fine, driveshaft had to be shortened by 3/4" .

Oh man, thanks for the heads up. That's kind of a bummer what you had to do, but glad you got it all to fit eventually.

The Formacar HVAC looks great. Very cool

[burchfieldb]

I believe all of the ducts are 3D printed nylon off of an HP printer. We have one at our office.

[JimStone]

Ron,

Are you using the air intake/filter kit from Blueprint? Lewma said he had trouble with that intake having the MAF sensor too close to a bend. Any trouble for you?


Thanks

[DamnYankee]

Ron,

Are you using the air intake/filter kit from Blueprint? Lewma said he had trouble with that intake having the MAF sensor too close to a bend. Any trouble for you?


Thanks

Not using the Blueprint intake tube, got a 45 degree 4" tube off Amazon and cut it to length. Also I'm using Holley Terminator X Max electronics, not the GM electronics that Blueprint offers. Holley does not use a MAF in the intake tube, but uses a MAT which just requires a hole tapped with 3/8" pipe tap. Easy.

[DamnYankee]

First gokart drive: https://youtu.be/blkyRMASFeY

[DamnYankee]

Body mostly fitted. First look with wheels on.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213634&d=1746889529

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[PNWTim]

Looks pretty good. Do you have ride height set yet? I am guessing those are 18's?

[DamnYankee]

Looks pretty good. Do you have ride height set yet? I am guessing those are 18's?

Currently ride height set to 3.75".
Those are 19" wheels

[JimStone]

What offset did you use?

Any rubbing?

[PNWTim]

Your wheels and tires are spot on for sizing, they fill the wells nicely. Did you use Snowman's tire sizes and wheel offsets are did you do something different?

[DamnYankee]

Here's my wheels:
ForgeStar F14 Wheel in Gloss Gunmetal
19x10 +20 Deep Concave
19x12 -25 Ultra Deep Concave
Tires are 305/30-19 and 325/30-19.
I did notch the rear frame vertical during the build:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213639&d=1746903838

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213641&d=1746903838

[DamnYankee]

BTW, I had 315 rear tires on my Roadster (17 inch). If I couldn't get bigger tires on a coupe, I wasn't gonna build one. LOL

[PNWTim]

I was hoping you hadn't notched the frame. I know there is a sweet spot where you don't have to and can run 325/335's but the offset has to be perfect.

[DamnYankee]

Installed the FormaCar electric windows kit. Was a little bit involved but came out good. Had to do a lot of filling and sanding on the body to get the correct angles and gaps around the window frame.
Chris at FormaCars was always helpful when needed.

I'll post more pics soon.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216804&d=1753539559

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216802&d=1753539559

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216803&d=1753539559

[Lugnut Mark]

Ron any updates on your coupe build?

[DamnYankee]

Bodywork is 90% finished. Doors & nose fitted. Electric windows are in. Just put the body on a rolling stand so I can complete it and prime it.
Chassis is running & driving. Just a few more wires to run then I'll be full time on body.

[Lugnut Mark]

Nice! build on my friend