Chezmanbespoke

Workin as quick as I can after work and on weekends!

Pretty tough to keep heat in the garage with these temps for the past few weeks.

LSXREX

Jesus Christ that's cold. I love texas

Chezmanbespoke

**** yea lol, thankfully a nice propane space heater heats the garage pretty quick!



Fabricated the subframe side of the engine mounts, was a pretty tedious task lining everything up, and pressing the bushing in and out.

Going to weld them to the subframe tomorrow night, and then start on the hydraulic steering rack mounts! The steering shaft goes through the mount on the drivers side with tons of clearance, also have plent of space for my headers

Welds came out alright for the little migpack welder I have



Keepin me goin after a 12 hour work day, with more work



Once the steering rack mounts and engine mounts are welded into place in the sub frame, im going to take it out to clean it up and paint it.

LSXREX

Here's some motivation for ha. This is a full weight street car with AC and a full tank of gas. You're building a bare bones drift car. I can't imagine how much lighter it will be.

Chezmanbespoke

Damn! Thats not too bad at all!

I am hoping for under 2800lb, but I will be content under 3000lb haha, plan on doign some weight removal eventually where I can that doesnt ruin it for the street.

Made a little more progress last night, have to do some more welding on the mounts still, but their well set in place. Once all the welding on the subframe is done, I can pull it to clean all the welds up and paint the subframe

Tonight im going to be working on fabricating the mounts for the steering rack!

Getting very excited! Going to make a big order at either the end of this week, or start of next week to get me ready for next stages.



To give you an idea of how the mounts will setup, snapped this pic while I was tacking everything together

LSXREX

Thats pretty similar to the V8R design. Youre gonna have a bit of a squeeze with the forward primaries. Thats why i liked the Hinson design which uses pedestals and corvette design mounts. Miles of room for the longtubes. Mine are 1 7/8".

Chezmanbespoke

Theres alot more space then it looks, these are basically below the front exhaust port, with a little sweep back on the furthest forward primary, i have lots of clearance.

I cant use the hinson headers as they would contact the firewall and subframe with how I have the motor positioned. They are gorgeous pieces though!

Chezmanbespoke

Alright guys,

Bit of an update, didnt get as much work done over the weekend as I would have liked, wifey came down to visit me for the Toronto Autoshow & Motorcycle shows this weekend!

I did however manage to get the steering rack mounted! Seems like the mustang steering rack will work pretty good, though I think if I do this swap again I will try using a FD steering rack.

Tonight I have to finish welding the steering rack mounts, then cut down some of the steering shaft to fit on the universal joint. Have tons of clearance to my oil pan with the steering rack





My truck seems to be developing an appetite for its injectors and transmission, so Ive got some incentive to get this thing moving as I want to take my truck off the road when this is ready to strip it apart and rebuild the motor/trans and add a Compound turbo setup on it. Between the RX8, Duramax and GF, life is EXPENSIVE. LOL



Not sure if theres any bike guys on here, saw this at the Toronto bike show, but this thing was ******* unreal. I shouldnt be drooling so much since I work for Ducati, but damn!

CRO8TIA

Nice ride

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

A wifey and a GF? That does get expensive,

Chezmanbespoke

LOL GF=Wifey, Ive got enough expenses as it is hahaha

Planning to dump a bunch of cash at summit today,

on the order list:

-Collectors for headers
-More bends for headers
-Poly transmission mount
-Aluminum Radiator (26x16 seems like it gives me most allowance for mounting creativity)
-Fuel adapter fittings, hose ends and hose.
-Bulkhead for feed out of fuel sender.
-Summit 320LPH fuel pump
-Tilton 7/8 Master cylinder
-Filter/Regulator setup

Need to order some parts from Speedway also, they seem to have some good oddball pieces like the fittings to adapt the steering rack to the 6AN teflon feed, and the T56 hydraulic line goodies.

If anyone else who has done this could chime in with some information on how they did their fuel system? LSXREX's pics dont seem to exist anymore. I have yet to actually get the pump out of the car yet, need to fabricate a tool tonight, so Im kinda shooting in the dark on what I will need to complete it. It appears others have installed a bulkhead into the module for a feed and used the old feed line as a return?

I need to look at it all to ensure I dont have fuel heating issues that others have talked about, only going to be running 36lb injectors on it since its an N/A setup, no need for garden hose injectors.

Planning to use the corvette filter regulator which will feed a 6AN braided line all the way to the front to the fuel rail.

iizuka

Interesting build man. I like the idea of how low you got that engine. I did a search to try to figure out the final weight of an LS1 swapped RX8 and got to this thread. I'm about to buy some DOM tubing for my roll cage and wanted to see if I could use 1.5" instead of 1.75". I believe I'll be able to keep my car under 3000lbs, so that's awesome, I can use 1.5". Thanks LSXREX! Interesting that you were at the Motorcycle Show in Toronto, I was there too, but working... Anyway, nice build!

Chezmanbespoke

Glad to hear you were able to find some good information!

I am going to do everything I can to keep weight under 3000lb, my goal is 2800lb though that might be a little ambitious.

Were you? Who do you work for! I was there on behalf of ducati as I operate their Canadian distribution with another guy in Mississauga!

iizuka

You probably saw me or heard my bikes running. I am a Lab Technician and work for Harley-Davidson. I was sent here from the U.S. to support the LiveWire (electric bike) display on all 7 shows. Just got to Montreal yesterday. Final show, ready to go home!

Edit: I have a similar goal too, but my car is going to be as bare as it gets, not even glass on the front doors

Chezmanbespoke

Very cool!!! I probably did see you there as I was strolling through! Didnt stay too long as I am always eager to get back out of toronto as soon as I go down there. Nothing like the hours spent in traffic fighting in and out. Hope the rest of your tour has been good!

Have been ******* around with the throttle for the car, finally got my kickass Asus laptop I use for CAD work back up and running, and have been looking at whether I can make a part to adapt the sensor off of a GM pedal, onto the RX8 pedal.

A buddy of mine has a 3D printer, going to see what I can come up with that we could 3D print an adapter piece to make it all work.

Made myself a big "to do" list, so I can spend less time staring at the car figuring out what to do next, and more time working.

In the mean time, have just been enjoying some delightful craft beer while I work. If theres any Canadians on here that are into beer, you MUST check out Bellwoods Brewery! This is a personal favorite, nothing like the Roman Candle IPA




Have my engine harness laid out in the basement, its a truck harness so its going to be a big job re shaping and wiring it to fit, but free is cheap, and it will take alot to come any where near the cost of a new harness.

iizuka

Roman Candle, huh? I'll have to try one of those before I leave! So you're doing open track days / Time Attack, right? If so, you'll be fine with the mustang rack. For drifting, I believe it doesn't offer enough travel for good steering angle.

Chezmanbespoke

You must!! My uncle is a Craft beer connoisseur and has been introducing me to some goods from the local craft brewery's and this is so far my #1 !

Yea that is my plan for the car, though it will be plated and be a summer daily for me. Plan on doing coilovers for it and having an extra set of wheels with some 50 UTQB rated tires on them since that is what I am allowed for the CSCS Super Street class.

I am not a drifter, so the mustang rack should work well. I know AGM (IIRC) makes a nice aftermarket rack for SCCA racing, so if I am unhappy with the ratio I can always switch up to that.

I am hoping to find some weight inside the car to remove as I dont want to go as far as glass changes. This car had its dash & steering wheel airbags deployed when I bought it, I have since Purchased new bags and a module, but I am contemplating removing all of the airbags for weight loss, including the side curtain ones. I know I could shave 10+ lb of wiring out of it by removing things I dont need, but it depends if I feel the hours of stripping wiring out of harness's is really worth the weight savings. Plan on doing a Braille battery so have a few lb to save there.

I dont want to put a cage in the car unless I have to, trying to retain rear seat use if possible, as I dont want it to turn into a dedicated track car.

Was hoping to get some more work done on it tonight, but my truck decided to shower itself in coolant, so looks like that will be my night, tonight Trying to keep this damn duramax band-aided until april, so I can strip it apart and blast/rebuild everything to make a nice hauler/tractor pulling truck. Seems it has caught on to the RX8 plan and has decided otherwise lol

iizuka

The airbags will shed some weight, but I don't think it's going to be that much. The curtain airbags are pretty light. My car is going to be a dedicated track car, so I went all out. Took literally a truck load out of the interior. The really heavy pieces are the ones you want to keep if you want a nice daily...

Chezmanbespoke

Damn, thats disappointing haha, I want the heavy **** to be things I dont need!

I have a Momo racing seat that I will put on the drivers side, mostly cause Im skinny and slide all over the stock ones.

Thinking I will toss everything I take out into a bin to see how much weight I drop off. Some of the parts underneath like the PPF im sure I will make up for in weight with exhaust and heavier drive shaft.


Was looking at the pedals last night, and it looks like transferring the sensor would work if you had a little stepper gear setup, as the GM pedal has more rotation on the pin between 0 and 100% Throttle position.

It appears however, that using a pedal from a 03-06 GM Pickup, will fit with relatively simple modifications. Elongate some mounting holes, build one spacer, and cut the pedal section off, and join the pedal section from the RX8 pedal onto it to retain proper look.

Will update with pics once I actually get it done tonight

iizuka

One thing that's crazy heavy in our cars is the torque arm. I don't know how you're going about it, are you going to modify yours or make a new one from scratch? That is the one thing I really like about the Hinson kit, but fairly easy to be duplicated. It seems that you want to keep the TBW really badly, but wouldnt be better to just get a cable actuated throttle body?

Chezmanbespoke

I am planning on removing the torque arm/PPF from mine, i know the ls1rx8.com kit includes a little piece that bolts onto the diff housing, looks to be a plate with a tube welded on, then a wheel stud welded onto the end of the tube. Kinda sketchy, but maybe there is less force on the front of the differential then I think.

I plan on doing a 8.8 swap in mine reasonably soon, as I know the stock axles wont take the abuse, and the nice ones are $600+ , so may as well spend that on buying adapter axles. From what I can see, the 8.8 diff swap eliminates the PPF/Torque arm anyways.

I wanted to keep the DBW setup, mostly cause I have a newer harness which is pre setup for DBW. I am working with my brother to develop a module that will make the gauges work, but our next step with the module is to attempt to get traction control working, which will require a electronic throttle.
Though it is seeming like I would be needing an E40 or E67 PCM to be able to send torque reduction commands and have it listen, the E40 and E67 have a twisted pair CANbus system vs the 99-05 systems have a single wire VPW setup that I dont believe I can command a torque reduction through, at least not very easily.

Will see how the module pans out, trying to get the car to a point where we can test it, as fast as I can.

iizuka

Very cool! I admire all the work you're putting in the electronics. I never liked the idea of TC, ABS, etc. on track cars though, I like them raw. If they work well, it's like cheating, if they don't, they are not predictable.

Steve Dallas

Meh. Everyone else is running that stuff now, and a lot of cars are virtually un-driveable without it. I slowly learned to embrace it. Next up is finally learning to like double clutch automatic transmissions...

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Yeah it is the future for sure. the TCS on the Tudor PT cars is pretty insane, they can change TCS maps on the fly. Probably not news to a lot of people but I just read about this, it's pretty cool. Supposedly without it the cars are almost undrivable on cold tires.

Chezmanbespoke

I would love to keep the function, mostly since I am a tech guy and part of the complete package of function of is the electronics, so I would like to make them work since it is not a track only car.

Traction control is last on my list of module functions though, mostly due to the need for newer electronics then im currently working with, and the time to work through a perfect code to have no function hiccups with traction control.


On a note of suspension, I've been doing some research on coilover setups for this car to figure out which route would be best to take.

I know the extra weight on the front end, and overall balance of the car will make a big impact on the performance of the front suspension especially, so its proving to be a bit of a job to figure out which is the best route to take.

At this point, I'm still a novice driver at best, with very little time on the track, despite a huge amount of time behind the wheel of some very powerful and balanced cars, so I know my ability to tell the difference between Tein Basis and Bilstein PSS9's is going to be very limited.

It seems as if my best route would likely to be something like the Tein Basis setup for now to learn the car, as it will still be seeing a fair bit of track even if I am slow as ****, then as I am able to improve, I can make suspension changes accordingly.

9K, I have seen you pop up in several threads I have dug through in regards to coilovers, maybe you could shed some light for me?

Appreciate everyone's input on this build so far!