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The Blasphemy Build

2K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  frankb 
#1 · (Edited)
It looks like it's time for me to start my build thread. I'm starting to seriously get into the build and hope to use this thread to track my own progress, take notes, and hopefully help someone else out who's building after me.

A quick background, I ordered in May during the last 50/50 sale but delayed my build date several times due to an impending 50 mile move for a new job. I ordered a base kit but with the sale I optioned out enough things that it's a hybrid between base and complete. Essentially, I'm building a brand new car with no used parts, but wanted to do several changes that made buying the complete kit a poor proposition.

My order was base kit with the following options:
-Powder-coated frame
-FFR lower control arms
-2015 rear IRS
-Speedhut gauges
-15" Halibrands
-Stainless Exhaust
-Heater
-Chrome Driver and Pass Rollbars
-Front and Rear Sway Bars
-Padded Dash
-Ron Francis Harness
-IRS Center Section and Spindles
-Wilwood Pedal Box
-Odds and Ends(mats, wind wings, visors, etc...)

I'm getting Wilwood brakes from Gordon that fit the 15" wheels, 2.5 turn power steering, seat heaters to augment dash heater(I'm in WI and plan a long driving season), and other miscellaneous things that will come up in the build. Car will be 60-70% street and 30-40% track. I'm within a couple hour drive of Road America, Blackhawk, GingerMan, and Autobahn CC, and plan on getting in many laps. 15" wheels for street, 18's for track use.

If you're wondering why I'm calling it "The Blasphemy Build", it's based on my choice of engines. I'm a huge fan of the GM LS engine platform. Super light, super compact, great aftermarket support, huge power even naturally aspirated, and handles boost even with factory lower end. My friends all said it was blasphemy to put anything but a Ford engine in the car, hence the blasphemy build... Traditionalists will hate my decision but I firmly believe these cars are meant to be built to the owner's preference. I have a great deal of respect for those that try to build an authentic car, it just doesn't fit my build and driving plans. So.... I'm starting with an LS376/525 while I build an LS2 block into a 427. So the car will at least have a 427 engine if I decide to put any 427 badging on the car. :) The engine will be backed by a LS7 bellhousing/internal throwout bearing, aluminum flywheel, and clutch. Tranny will be a T56Magnum, and rear IRS is 3.55 with a factory limited slip.

I don't plan to highly document my build, there are plenty of good threads out there by people with way may patience than I have for such a thing. If basic parts go on with no issues, I'll skip right over, I only want to note when things don't happen as expected or I'm doing something unique that someone else may want to see. I plan to do some custom fabrication work based on my build plans, with the help of a friend who owns a tool and die shop. I'm also teaching myself CAD/CAM/g-code for doing basic CNC machining and fabricating. It should come in handy during the build.

Delivery went flawlessly except that it was 70 degrees and sunny two days before delivery but snowed before my car showed up. Gotta love Wisconsin weather! Gerry from Stewart was great, we loaded the car onto my chassis dolly, and the whole process was done in very short order. It felt good to send Gerry on his way with a nice tip since he was going to be on the road for Thanksgiving and unable to get home to Arizona.



A detailed inventory was completed right away and I was able to repack things more logically and in easier to access boxes. My back-order list is quite short with no show-stoppers. Major missing items are headlight assemblies, throttle cable(I'll be throttle by wire anyways...), parking brake cables(I'm going line-lock), and a couple other knick-knacks. This biggest issue is I ordered the stainless side pipes but got uncoated. I haven't called FFR yet to talk to Courtney about options. Either get the $300 credit back and keep them or we'll have to give UPS more business. Still not sure which I'd rather do.





More to come...

-TJ
 
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#3 ·
They'll probably send you new stainless pipes and include a return tag. When your stainless pipes blow out, put flowmaster slimlines on!
 
#4 ·
A friend of mine in Louisiana is building a Bowtie Cobra too. I give him a hard time about it at every opportunity! But, he is doing a super job, and he is as pumped and happy as any Cobra owner - so that's the way it should be.

Good luck on your build. Just expect that you will receive a ration of crap from every Cobra owner you meet! (or most anyway)

Have fun!
 
#5 ·
I have the LS3 engine in my 2008 Corvette. It would make an awesome Cobra engine, lots of torque, lots of power (485 hp after a few minor mods and tweaks), and great gas mileage too (30 mpg at 75 mph).
 
#6 ·
While I wouldn't do it, I have no problem w/ your Chevy engine plan. One warning though- be sure to get a good road race pan w/ good baffling. A guy I met a couple years ago at an autocross had an LS (I have no idea which one) in a super wild 66 Mustang that he did a lot of track stuff in until oil starvation blew the engine into a million pieces and oiled his rear tires. Fortunately the car was repairable and the engine was replaced w/ one w/ a good pan.
 
#8 ·
While I wouldn't do it, I have no problem w/ your Chevy engine plan. One warning though- be sure to get a good road race pan w/ good baffling. A guy I met a couple years ago at an autocross had an LS (I have no idea which one) in a super wild 66 Mustang that he did a lot of track stuff in until oil starvation blew the engine into a million pieces and oiled his rear tires. Fortunately the car was repairable and the engine was replaced w/ one w/ a good pan.
I haven't decided on which pan yet, but a factory bat-wing or custom race pan are definitely in my future. I think I'll have to get the engine mounted with the stock pan and then measure to see just what will fit. I may build the LS427 as a dry sump right from the start, so I just need the 376 to last until I finish that engine. Then the smaller one will go to light duty in a '65 Willys Pickup tow vehicle.

Sounds like a super build plan -- enjoy! What he (Steno) said on replacing the FFR pipes: 7 liters of bow tie power will make short work of them. Lots of us opted for GasNs since they bolt right in, sound great and look more like jewelry than plumbing. --Norm
That's why I'm leaning towards getting my money back and just keeping the uncoated ones. Put some high temp paint on them and use them to shake down the car on the road and track. I may have to worry about dB levels on the race track, not sure yet.

-TJ
 
#7 ·
Sounds like a super build plan -- enjoy! What he (Steno) said on replacing the FFR pipes: 7 liters of bow tie power will make short work of them. Lots of us opted for GasNs since they bolt right in, sound great and look more like jewelry than plumbing. --Norm
 
#9 ·
​After the car was fully photographed and marked I stripped of all the interior panels. I quickly dug right into the front suspension. My plan with both front and rear is to do a mockup to make sure I everything works, see what changes I want to make, etc... Once satisfied I'll be pulling everything back apart to prep and grease bushings, powder coat spacers, and prepare for final assembly.

Like others have seen and expected as a part of the frame welding process, many/most of my suspension tabs were pinched to close together. The first lower control arm tab I hit with a rubber mallet quickly chipped the powder coating. Idiot... powder coat is durable, but not indestructable. I built a quick tab spreader with 1/2" all-thread, 2 washers, and two nuts.



Works like a dream and although tedious it really is the best way to spread tabs in a controlled manner. After my first newbie mistake chipping the powder coat, I told myself to take my time and think things through better.

My Mevotech upper ball joints were also similar to others. One screwed in extremely tight but seated, the other wasn't going on even after cleaning threads, etc... Since the car will see a decent amount of track time I decided to upgrade to the Howe Racing joints. Overkill and will require slightly more maintenance, but it is a very high quality part. The joints move effortlessly but the tolerances on the inside are so tight that greasing them doesn't let grease spurt out and around the ball joint. This requires you to be more diligent about using the right grease(not just all-purpose) and keeping them lubed. But they are also rebuildable so easy to keep in good shape. Did I mention that they are overkill? The rest of the front went together without issue.

To move too far forward in the rear, I need to POR15 the iron Ford factory diff but it's awfully cold in my WI garage. The diff reads about 49-50 degrees, which should be warm enough but will take extra long to dry. I also noticed that the sleeves for the front diff mounts aren't sized right. They are way too small and sized for a 3/8" bolt, so they don't fit in the poly bushing and are too small for the carrier bolt. Not a big deal but also not something I can easily pickup in the correct size locally. I'll call FFR tomorrow, it's unfortunate since I just received a box with my back-ordered front pedal box panel.

I took my rear spindles to my friend's Tool and Die shop. Instead of hacking the extra tab off with a sawzall then cleaning up the cuts, we mounted them in a fixture and put them on the CNC. No real advantage to doing it this way, just a little cleaner of a process. I then mocked up most of the rear except for the diff and CV axles. Like the front it will get pulled back apart for final prep and install, then brake work and alignment.

-TJ
 
#10 ·
Next steps

As mentioned earlier, I didn't plan on making this a well-documented build. I'd only post things that are unique and others may find useful. There are plenty of extremely thorough builds for the routine stuff.

I got in on a $500 discount GM Performance Parts was offering for "Connect and Cruise" packages purchased before Dec 31st. WAY earlier than I needed my motor, but $500 is $500. I got my LS376/525, T56 Magnum, and bellhousing/clutch package delivered after Christmas but before New Years.





I then thought it was a good time to break a couple ribs and lacerate my right lung on New Years... :(
I don't recommend this to anyone, it hurts. A lot...
My injury left me with lots of time, but no ability to work on things. I received my engine mounts, I decided to buy BRP mounts instead of fab'ing my own since I'm already a little behind on my plans. They look good, the anal person in me wishes some welding flash was cleaned up before powder coating, but not a huge deal. Not something I'm go cleanup and re-powder coat for a non-show car.



I've been putting together my Levi-sourced Wilwoods while my ribs are getting better, pretty routine stuff. Doing loctite and safety-wire for the rotor to hat bolts since the car will get track time. Decided the best way to save on garage space was to install the engine in the chassis instead of sitting on a pallet. It would also give me the ability to see how far forward I can move my firewall, where to bring the fuel line to, how much room I have to expand the passenger footbox, etc... I got the motor hoisted off the crate, removed the stock exhaust manifolds, and covered the open ports. I installed the motor mounts and went to slide the cherry picked under the chassis when I hit an issue. I didn't build enough space under the chassis dolly for the picker legs so it's a no-go. I'm going to have to finish all the suspension and make it a roller or get creative jacking up the front of the dolly.



At least I got back quite a bit of space, the motor is just going to have to wait to get installed later. I may look at mounting the bellhousing and tranny as well to get an initial fitment, measure for driveshaft, etc...



I'll post more pics once I get the engine in to show the spacing, alignment, etc... for any potential or curious LS roadster builders.

-TJ
 
#13 ·
My friends all said it was blasphemy to put anything but a Ford engine in the car, hence the blasphemy build... Traditionalists will hate my decision but I firmly believe these cars are meant to be built to the owner's preference.

-TJ
Just remind the naysayers that Sh*lby's first choice for engines was Chevrolet and he only went with Ford because Chevy turned him down (they didn't want to sell engines that would be put in cars in competition with the Vette).

If I didn't have a really tight budget I would be building a car almost exactly like yours. The LS is the lightest and smallest late-model V8 and doesn't give up much in power to a Ford or Mopar engine. And the 2015 IRS is supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread in the handling department. The only difference is that I was going to be using a TKO 5-speed which reportedly fits easier and also weighs less than the T56. I keep dreaming that it might be feasible to make an FFR come in at just under 2000 lb by using an aluminum LS, other lightweight drivetrain parts and a carbon fiber body... I'll definitely be interested in seeing this project progress.
 
#14 ·
If I didn't have a really tight budget I would be building a car almost exactly like yours. The LS is the lightest and smallest late-model V8 and doesn't give up much in power to a Ford or Mopar engine. And the 2015 IRS is supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread in the handling department. The only difference is that I was going to be using a TKO 5-speed which reportedly fits easier and also weighs less than the T56. I keep dreaming that it might be feasible to make an FFR come in at just under 2000 lb by using an aluminum LS, other lightweight drivetrain parts and a carbon fiber body... I'll definitely be interested in seeing this project progress.
I agree on the LS being a great platform based on size, weight, and other parameters. I'm not sure it gives up anything in power to it's competition though. I'm admittedly biased so I've never done the math, but I believe the LS HP to $$ ratio is in parity if not better than a Coyote or late-model Hemi.

I have the 5.7L Hemi in a Grand Cherokee and I'm a huge fan. The 6.2L SRT Grand I tested was IN.....SANE.... I've driven rental 'stangs with V8's that I assume were Coyotes, but not positive on the models. In the end they are all phenomenal engines. The amount of R&D that the big three have put into these engines is amazing, and the results are impressive. Through displacement on demand and other systems, the fuel mileage, HP/torque, and overall weight/size of all 3 motors would have been unheard of only a few decades ago. I seriously think you can't go wrong with any of them.

It comes down to things like personal preferences, overall needs, $$, and what I think is important, aftermarket support. This is where GM does actually shine. The GMPP(GM Performance Parts) division sets the standards on offerings, availability, support, etc... Ford comes in a distant second, and Mopar is still barely a player in availability of crate packages, options, etc...

Blah, blah, blah, I'm not trying to convince anyone or change their mind on "who's best". There is no such thing. We all love our own creations, that's what matters.

-TJ
 
#15 ·
I really so no blasphmey here at all. After all AC was using Chrysler V8s in the AC Ace before Sheldy put Fords in them. Then again, I could care less. Pistons know no logos. If Hyundai made a 3 cylinder that cost $2000, produced 600hp, and makes pepto bismol bubbles out of the exhaust, I would use it.
 
#16 ·
Pepto bismol bubbles? Whatever you are on, send some my way! :grin2:
 
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