The time has come for me to begin my swap on my NA rotary FC. After 2000+ track miles in 18 months we finally lost a coolant seal. The plan now is to start the swap in the next month. This car?s role is mainly a track car that my friend and I built and use for various HPDEs and Time Attack events. The car will stay street legal, because that makes transportation, and testing/tuning the car easier. A lot of the interior will be removed and other ?dead weight? eliminated as part of the swap. If we can keep the weight under 2700 lbs I will be happy.
The chassis is pretty well sorted out now. We have used Streets of Willow as our main test track, and since our first outing with the car as it was purchased, we have improved our lap times by about 15 seconds. On NT05 tires we are now running 1:32 lap times in the clockwise configuration. Sub 1:30 is considered fast on street tires. I used to do 1:29s in my Mustang Cobra that has 400 more HP than the FC does.
As you can see we took the reverse approach of most of the swaps. We wanted to make sure the chassis was dialed in and reliable before we added extra power. Obviously the additional power will require some more chassis tuning and increased braking power, but we are prepared for that.
Some highlights of the car are as follows:
86 base FC w/ sunroof ? no weight removal has been done as of yet. I wanted to weigh the car before the swap, but since it is now broken, that is out.
No PS or AC, manual windows and door locks
5 lug conversion with Turbo brakes and HP+ pads
95 Mustang Cobra R wheels 17X9 +24 all around with Nitto NT05 235/40/17 tires
NA clutch LSD
All solid suspension bushings and subframe/diff mounts
BC coilovers
RB swaybars
Autopower 4 point roll bar, Sparco seat and Gforce harness
Post swap goals related to the engine:
We would be more than happy with 375 WHP for now
Ability to safely rev to 7000 RPM if needed
Bulletproof cooling system -This will mean custom radiator mounting and ductwork
Bulletproof oiling system ? Upgraded oil pan baffling and Accusump
Last year we found a deal on a 98 LS1 that came out of a Trans Am. The engine supposedly ran but had a rod knock. It came with a good 4L60E, ECU, all accessories, harness, and F body manifolds. To our surprise, it also had an LS6 intake manifold on it. We paid $1000 for the lot. We started pulling it apart last week and it will be getting rebuilt pretty soon. We found 2 of the cylinders were frozen with rust. We freed them up with some PB blaster and a couple days of soak time. We will be pulling the pan off shortly to inspect everything, and send it off for a rebuild.
Currently, this is a rough list of mods to the engine to attain our goals:
LS6 intake, possibly with larger throttle body
Fresh 241 heads with Comp 921 dual valve springs
TR224 112 LSA cam or GMPP ASA cam? still undecided as of this moment.
Stock rockers with Harland Sharp upgraded trunions
Chromoly pushrods
Cadillac race lifters
ARP rod bolts
LS2 or adjustable timing set
Improved performance oil pan baffle
Melling or ported LS6 oil pump
Accusump setup
Performance oriented rebuild using upgraded bearings, rings, etc. If we need pistons (likely), we will be upgrading to forged units.
You may be wondering why I chose the smallish cam. The goal here is balance. I want an engine that will provide decent power and broad torque while complmenting the brake, suspension, and tire package. It is a lot cheaper and easier to build my engine around the car rather than building my car to handle some crazy HP engine. If we get the car dialed in and feel we need more power, a larger cam, and ported LS6 heads will be used with the valvetrain components we already have.
The rest of the drivetrain will consist of a Nor-Cal Auto Group rebuilt F body T56 and a TurboII rear end and halfshafts. I am planning to install an 8.8 Cobra diff later
Here is a picture of the car as it was purchased when I brought it home and washed it.
Some pictures of the car as it is now.. more to follow.
