LS1-KART : a brutally simple C5 corvette based build/hack

I have separated the drivetrain and given things a look over... Not surprised by this, but things look pretty good!   

As i had suspected, the clutch has been replaced. It and the flywheel look good'nuff. they will be going back together stat!

Got another minor win inside the torque tube, it had been previously rebuilt too!

The trans seems to be weeping from everywhere... except its input and output seals, which is great, bc i think those arent easy... i am going to separate the case and reseal it, call that done.

Diff is filthy too, but no visuals on the gears. bought a full seal kit for it. 

So, no big jobs or expenses.... Hopefully, reassembly of the drivetrain is in full swing next week. 

This week i am still painting and prepping the frame. Painting the cradles too while they are out. 

Well.... darn... found the unsurprising driveline failure point... when i cleaned the muck off the bell housing there was a crack nearly all the way across it. 

what sucks is manual bell housings on ebay are $400, whereas auto trans are basically scrap metal priced... They seem the same except dont have the reliefs for the clutch hydraulics and autos are one piece... 

nothing on the interwebs will confirm that fitment is the same... obviously, notching the reliefs doesnt scare me, but i am not sure i want to gamble the fitment at the moment.. 

In reply to Go_Gators (Forum Supporter) :

Can your wizard welding buddy fix it for you? If they think it's worth a shot, I'd try it and keep a close eye.

Is there any risk transmission internals could also have been damaged in that hit?  And if so, any easy way to test without tearing into it?  Maybe checking runout on the input and output shafts?

Is the torque tube flange still flat?

If the auto bellhousing goes for basically scrap, why not snag one and see if notching it will work? If it won't, get money back out of it...by scrapping it.

If the thing werent impossible to see when installed and require dropping the entire suspension / drivetrain to replace when it fails i would attempt the weld repair... but, it does.. so i am not going to risk it.

I bought one on ebay, seemingly gold plated... 
 

The rest of the drivetrain appears to be fine, havent done any elaborate testing. Before disassembly i had run it in 1st and Rev. Internet suggests the bell housing is the weak link, even breaks when these things get rearended. 

This weekend, i worked through the electrical, eliminating the ABS. (before pic)

Got insulation up on the firewall and hung the pedal box and column. 

Kinda looking like a vehicle again. 

Go_Gators (Forum Supporter) said:

Well.... darn... found the unsurprising driveline failure point... when i cleaned the muck off the bell housing there was a crack nearly all the way across it. 

 

what sucks is manual bell housings on ebay are $400, whereas auto trans are basically scrap metal priced... They seem the same except dont have the reliefs for the clutch hydraulics and autos are one piece... 

nothing on the interwebs will confirm that fitment is the same... obviously, notching the reliefs doesnt scare me, but i am not sure i want to gamble the fitment at the moment.. 

 

 

Looking at that crack gives me a strong urge to hit it with a die-grinder for the entire length and then try and weld up the crevice.  Not sure it'd work but I'd like to try 

If the crack happened at the time of the accident, welding might work, because the crack would not be full of oil etc, and might weld good.  If the crack is old getting it clean enough for a good weld might be a problem.   Sometimes baking in an oven might burn out the stuff that would upset a weld.

I got to wondering if the crack really matters if everything is bolted up to spec on both ends of it.

Yea, agree with yalls thought... just cant live with the risk considering the sizeable consequences.

in other news, fuel system is 100% in. Wiring is only awaiting reconnects with the drivetrain. New soft brake lines are mocked in and drift brake is installed.

Should replace the diff seals and tranny sealant this week. Plan is to reassemble drivetrain and reinstall early next week. from there i need to complete the coolant line pass-throughs near the engine and figure out how to mount the battery. Thinkin i am about a couple weeks from making noise...

while in the process of swapping the two-piece (with improved racing baffles) onto the engine i replaced the oil pickup tube o-ring....

^ thats what was in there...  the previous installer failed to get the o-ring to seat into the hole... suspect this contributed to my sub-optimal on track oil pressure...

Drivetrain is sealed, assembled and in. Though not in this picture suspension is on too. Many, many smaller tasks still remain, but the big bits are in!

Amazing progress, I'll be excited to see it in action. I'll probably miss the February event but I'm going to be running with you a lot this year. 

Damn, I wish I had seen your post about the bellhousing. I think I have one in the basement sitting on a shelf. 

In reply to nsogiba :

hang on to it. that thing is a great investment! 

SITREP. ... .. 

other than lights, wiring is complete. drivers seat/belts are mounted. brakes and clutch are bled. exhaust is fully installed. cooling system is complete except for rewelding the radiator bungs. 

hope to at least test start it, if not drive it around a bit this weekend. 

Man, your pace is just... IMPRESSIVE.

finally moving under her own steam.

just drove around the hood. everythign feels fine. def still a bit of air in the clutch and brakes to work out.  only leak was water from the thermostat, going to have rework that.

this weeks focus will be a front bumper. there is still nothing up there but two cut frame rails. 

i bought a kit of prebent exhaust tubing to fabricate something out of... so that should move quickly. 

bell housing new or did you weld up the original.....or I didn't see the fine print in your previous posts?

You don't fool around do you? Who welded the cage to the frame?

759NRNG said:

bell housing new or did you weld up the original.....or I didn't see the fine print in your previous posts?

You don't fool around do you? Who welded the cage to the frame?

i bought one on ebay, ~$350... decided not to risk undoing all this again!

My buddy who did the cage originally! He came down from NC to lend a hand on the big lift and land day. 

The pic from the rear, intentionally! Still lots to do up front, hopefully, that will get mostly done tomorrow.

Sweet!

Another line item for the could timing be worse list... my welder feed liner shorted while trying to weld out the from bumper... so theres a  couple day delay on all things welding. 

Did get the bumper tacked completely. fortunately. think this looks a lot better in person than it does on screen. headlight placement will hide the ends of the chasis. 

In reply to Go_Gators (Forum Supporter) :

I'm seeing Bugatti nose. 

OHSCrifle said:

In reply to Go_Gators (Forum Supporter) :

I'm seeing Bugatti nose. 

ha! yea, had that thought too, from the horseshoe.. chiron-ish... 

Did you keep the old Bhousing?