| LIFE OF A GT |
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 | |  | December 6, 2008 - My secret weapon has arrived!
It's a plastic LS1 from P-Ayr that I picked up from Summit Racing. It weighs next to nothing, letting me pop it in and out of the engine bay easily instead of humping around 500 lbs of metal. All of the factory mounting points are represented by steel inserts, so I can also use this to work out my header setup as well as things like motor mounts. If I wanted, I could even install different heads. There's no plastic version of the T56 transmission yet unfortunately.
Most importantly, this lets me experiment with fitment without taking the Camaro apart quite yet.
It was expensive enough that I'm taking very good care of it, and I should be able to resell it after the build is over. Meanwhile, it's going to make life a lot easier.
entry 95 - tags: engine, replica | | |  | December 6, 2008 - The engine is in!
And there you have it, an LS1 in an MG. Wow, that was easy.
Okay, maybe getting the complete functioning engine with transmission and suspension might be a little more difficult. But still, the first test fit, fits.
I've got the engine positioned to put the shifter in the same place as stock. Actually, it'll end up maybe an inch further forward. This is the best I can do without actually cutting anything other than removing the motor mounts at this point. With the Miata subframe in place, I should have a decent amount of room for headers.
entry 96 - tags: engine, replica, test-fit | | |  | December 6, 2008 - The engine height was set to put the oil pan at or slightly lower than the frame rails.
This is a bit of a guess, but I think it'll work nicely. I might be able to sink it down another 3/4" or so.
With this positioning, the engine ends up in almost exactly the same position relative to the wheels as the Miatas we do at Flyin' Miata. Only the front pair of cylinders are ahead of the wheels and the height looks to be the same. This means I could use an off-the-shelf subframe. Wow, could it be that easy?
The threaded holes in the plastic engine mean I could simply bolt up the extra oil pan. I like this thing more and more...
entry 97 - tags: subframe, engine, replica, test-fit | | |  | December 6, 2008 - A test of the hood clearance will have to wait until I get an intake manifold.
There's one on the way right now. As with a number of the other parts, it'll probably get sold after the swap as I won't need it anymore. But placing a ruler across the edges of the hood opening looks promising. We'll see.
I might be able to push the engine back slightly, which would have a beneficial effect on the weight distribution. But again, given where it sits relative to the Miata and the extra weight of the coupe body in the rear - I think it will work pretty well here.
This picture also shows the huge amount of room I'm building in. There's about 3' of clearance all around the car with my work area up front. This is definitely a home project!
entry 98 - tags: engine, test-fit, replica | | |  | December 6, 2008 - These spare parts are left over from a Miata conversion.
They'll come in handy with my engine test fits, although I don't have a way to mount the crank pulley.
entry 99 - tags: replica | | |
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