Need just a LITTLE bit more power

[2008 V6]

Just saw this
http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=112982

 

[Sky Render]

Marc S runs a used NASCAR engine in his AIX car. He's got a build thread over in the Engine Swap sub-forum.

I'm pretty sure the upkeep on that thing would destroy your budget.

Sent from my toilet using Tapatalk

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Dave – Your logic & numbers are right on. Looks like its time to start selling sicker space. Racing isn’t cheap.
I truly hope you find a solution that is financially feasible.

Yeah, me too! This all came about when our local region put the Enduro series on hiatus for a year (maybe longer, maybe permanently), which kind of cut the heart out of my fairly successful racing program. I'm also one of those TTA/PTA people that got orphaned when National killed the class. Rather than pulling a LOT of stuff off the car to drop back to PTB, I decided to stick in ST3, which is the class they intended all the PTA cars to migrate to. The formula changed, by a little bit, though. It went from "points for mods" to an adjusted pure power-to-weight class. Suddenly, I went from running against essentially stock C5Z06 and lightly modded M3s to a class with wide-open aero rules, and a much more relaxed mod factor for full race slicks. In the end, the advantages that I gained in fuel economy ("only" 15 gallons per hour!) in the endurance series disappeared, and the compromise in the sprint races that I was previously willing to accept rapidly became unacceptable. I also don't have the budget (neither time nor money) to throw at building the car up to a competitive ST racer, so I elected to make the move, somewhat laterally, to American Iron instead. Essentially, all I would have to do is trade my Hoosier R6s in for Toyo RRs, add a little power, and maybe do a wing, and I should be out having a bunch of mid-pack fun. The pointy end in AI takes a bunch of money that I don't have: Boss302R money. I'm all about selling sticker space on the car, if anybody has interest in doing Midwest area promotion, let me know! I run NASA AI, The ALM Endurance series, and also instruct with five different clubs... If you look under my user name on the left of the screen, I've had that up there for something like six years...

$$$, Dedication, Ruthlessness and Creative Rule Interpretation usually bests youth and skill.

Damn, that's sig material right there!!!

What usually beats everything else is mucho, MUCHO, $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ - Unfortunately I don’t have $$$, youth or skill any more – I’m screwed.

Amen, brother!! You can see that in the paddocks every event. The pointy-end guys are the ones showing up with four sets of sticker tires every weekend, have a spare drivetrain laying around in the toter-home, and often have a couple of crew guys as well. Hell, there's two brothers that race Vipers in our region, and I've seen them bring a complete backup car!

Oh, and yes, I've been following Ed's build on CC.com, and it's a very cool, well though out plan. It just doesn't work for me, with my goals. To be completely honest, right now I'm just looking forward to running in a tight pack of five or six cars, all battling for fourth place. I can hang with all of them in the corners, but they just kill me on the straights, hence my quest for a little bit more power, without bankrupting myself in pursuit of a $4 plastic trophy.

 

[2008 V6]

I can hang with all of them in the corners, but they just kill me on the straights, hence my quest for a little bit more power, without bankrupting myself in pursuit of a $4 plastic trophy.

Dave - The trophys are at least $5.00 to $7.00 when purchased in bulk. You should know better

 

[ArizonaGT]

So did you settle on a plan yet?

 

[SoundGuyDave]

I did indeed. A fellow AI racer recently had a fresh 4.6 (stroked to 5.0) develop issues right after dyno tuning (close to 390rwhp), and swapped in a Coyote. I'm picking up the hurt motor, and have a couple of options I'm considering.

1) Frankenstein. I'll have a LARGE combination of parts to play with, including stock and FRPP CNC heads, stock and FRPP intake manifolds, stock and Comp Stage 3 cams, and a couple of header choices (Borla and American Racing, both 1.75" primaries) to play with. It shouldn't be TOO difficult to shuffle them around to hit my power target.

2) Diagnose and rebuild the stroker, tune if for a flat 8.5:1 ratio, then ALSO do a tune with a plate for 9.5:1. That would allow me a few options on what class to run. The endurance series class that I run with ALM (GT3) allows power ratios ranging from 8.5 through 11.49, so I might as well shoot for the pointy end. AI has a 9.5:1 ratio, so I would need a tune for that as well.

First step will be getting the engine torn down and have a postmortem done. If all it needs is a bore, pistons, rings and a balance, then I'm leaning towards plan 2. If it needs more than that, I'll probably go with the first plan.

 

[ArizonaGT]

In for teardown thread updates

 

[STEVE_POE]

Dave, I have a wc 4.6 5.0 short block sitting in my garage . it was in a customers car I converted to spec iron. originally from capaldi racing.

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Let me get this motor home first, and torn down, and then we'll see what's what...

 

[2008 V6]

Awesome Dave - I’m glad you were able to work out a deal.
The fun begins – ---- Again!
Looking forward to updates.

 

[SoundGuyDave]

It's going to be a while, guys, just so everybody's on the same page... I'm going to be taking this fairly slowly, as I do have other projects and priorities going. This deal kind of fell in my lap, and the whole concept of a new engine really wasn't planned on! I would rather stay racing then park the car for the season now...

 

[hunterwiley]

Dave, just saw this thread, and will follow with interest. I was at your point a few years back, having just destroyed my foxbody AI car. I picked up a 2005 AI car with stock everything, and had to decide how to build it to current AI levels. It had long tube JBA headers and hotrod cams already, and was still down on power. Coyote or 4.6 buildup or SBF? I had a perfectly good boss block 347/TKO600 combo sitting on the garage floor, then only thing that was good from the fox body so it made my decision easier. If spec iron had been a known class at the time it would have made it even easier, as I would have done that instead of AI. But long story short, I did the SBF swap, sold my 4.6 and 3650 to a guy in Utah for $4500, and the rest is history.

As a side note a bunch of fellow AI racers are putting 5.0 truck engines in their AI swap-cars as they make better torque numbers relative to the HP and they can be had much cheaper used than the mustang 5.0's...