So, it has been about a year since I last updated this, and I am happy to say that this upcoming winter the engine replacement will be happening. During 2018 I put a few thousand miles on the car, and did some autoX with it. over this past winter I removed the old hurt 10 bolt and replaced it with a Moser 12 bolt (link:
http://www.njfboa.org/forums/showthread.php?t=68687) It should hold 900 Horsepower from what Moser Engineering told me. new 12 bolt housing with 3" tubes, fully welded all around. 33 spline axles. Detroit TruTrack rear Diff. 1/2"x2" screw-in wheel studs. ball bearings on the housing ends. no-clips. solid pinion spacer. chrome-moly pinion yoke. aluminum rear cover. built in adjustable lower control arm mounts. powdercoated black. heavy and beefy. I also had a driveshaft made by Denny's Driveshafts which I was told is good to hold about 1,500 horsepower. 3" tube. chrome-moly slip yoke. high speed balanced. lifetime warranty. I had to sort out some wild ignition issues which melted down my distributor cap and fried a diode in my MSD Digital6 ignition box also. The car got a full 4 corner alignment and drive-line angle was set. I had the mis-aligned rear hatch, so I removed the deck-lid and reinstalled it so everything lines up properly. I now have a few hundred miles on it this year and I am super happy about it all.
However I am getting amped up to get things moving towards the engine swap. Working overtime as much as I can to collect the funds so I can buy the engine flat-out. I am 99% sure it will be the engine I listed in post#1 a while back.
http://nyesautomotive.net/406_525hp_EFI.html a 406 with EFI. basically a new DART SHP block, Callies crank and rods (NOT the Eagle ones.. scroll to the bottom of the link page for callies crank/rods). Dart Pro1 cylinder heads. Holley Sniper tbi tyle EFi (possibly might upgrade to the Holey Super Sniper unit). Dyno Tested to 525 hp, and shipped to my door. I spoke with them and they can file the rings and make any other mods needed so that I can run a 200-250 progressive wet shot of nitrous too. The holley sniper can control cooling fans, nitrous progressive shots, tune settings and so forth.
My biggest dilemma is going to be the exhaust and headers. I currently have the DynoDon's 1 3/4" short/mid-length headers. they are awesome for my current setup.. and perhaps might be "ok" with the new engine N/A, but not for the engine when its on the nitrous. I am pretty sure I will need a set of 1 7/8" or bigger headers. Biggest problem--- my car is a street car and it is LOW. In all practicality, I don't think a set of long tube headers will work. I spent a lot of time on Thirdgen.org and the hooker and other long tube headers would probably sit way too low for my already low street car. I might have to just get a set of headers custom built for the car. Expensive! bummer. As for the rest of the exhaust, I don't have any desire to run a dual exhaust.. nor do I think it would be easy, since I have the S&W subframe/torque arm kit that has a low crossmember under the driveshaft. I think I will go with a 4" mufflex exhaust system... with a proper muffler.
I think the plan for 2019 is to drive the car to events, shows, do some autoX and maybe even chug it down the 1/4 mile a few times. Around November, PRIOR to pulling out the engine, I would like to get the car over to S&W racecars in Pennsylvania and have them install a 6 point roll-bar setup with swing-outs on both sides. After that is done, I can drive the car home and start pulling it apart. I want to relocate the Optima red-top battery to the rear (under pass side trunk area), and redo all the needed wiring. I will also need to install an On-OFF kill switch too. Then I'll remove the current engine (and probably transmission too). I want to spend some time in the engine bay patching holes, relocating things, running new nickle-copper brake lines, and then paint the engine bay. Once things are proper in there, I can install the new engine with the trans (prob both at the same time). Will have to see if my 2,800 rpm Edge racing converter should be replaced?? Then bolt up my existing DynoDon's headers to just get the engine running and car sorted out. If those are a problem, I'll have to decide if having a custom set of headers built is the best way to go.
I am NOT sure what I will be doing with the accessory drive or pulleys yet. I ONLY need a water pump, power steering pump, and alternator. I might wind up just using my existing 140 amp powermaster alternator and existing power steering pump. I see online companies (march, Eddie motorsports, billet specialties, etc) want about $1,800 for nice billet accessory drive kits. That might be out of my budget for this year, it might just have to wait. my current parts/brackets aren't super pretty, but if I can use them while saving up $ for a fancy accessory drive setup, that might be the way to go.
I also plan on installing a brand new radiator since the engine, water pump, hoses, etc will be brand new. I will probably go with a large 2 core radiator, as I have read that some 2 cores work better than some 3 core radiators. I'll need a new catch can too. I want to keep the current (oem stock) dual puller fans too. so if I can find a proper radiator that the fan mounting assembly will work with, that would be awesome. again, the fans will be controlled by the Holley Sniper computer .
all in all, the car is pretty much set for 2019. I am going to enjoy it as it is now and patiently wait for the big stuff to begin in November.
anyone that has any thoughts, ideas, recommendations, negative/positive comments, feel free to share. any parts recommendations or links to important stuff is appreciated.
