Mid engine homebuilt supercar (Gruppe B meets Group 5 meets Grassroots)

In reply to GTXVette :

The Corvair guys have a few different people building the adapter plates.

Again, you'd have to have G-Force wire EDM the splines in the Corvette pinion to a 32 spline, which I don't know that they actually do, their FB page only mentions the 30 spline option. 

I'd consider building my own chassis using the C4 components. Why cripple yourself with existing deficiencies, if you can build around them?

2x3 or 2x4 rectangular tubing is $80ish for 20 ft. Use your existing C4 chassis to measure all the points the current suspension uses. 

In reply to VetteGraveyard :

Yeah, that's actually the hardest part for me. I'm seriously considering hiring an artist to draw my interpretation and building a modeling buck based on a finished drawing (overhead, side, front and rear projections). I can wheel, planish, wirebead, etc. I'm just not artistic in the manner of creating the look from my mind to my hands, the way that I can create a part by eliminating everything that's not the part (machining) or adding components to make the part (fabrication and welding).

I'm with you! As I've mentioned at least once before, I fully intend on keeping this car for the rest of my life. I actually plan on continuous improvement throughout it's existence. The odds that I'll be happy with it's looks by round 3 are still against me, but hey at least I'll have a hobby!

Thanks for following, hope you keep commenting!

Gingerbeardman said:

In reply to mke :

I have to admit, 180* OR 8:1 headers for me, are ALL about the sound, no other reason!

There you go then, no issue.  Tube the primaries to the 2nd pulse instead the more common 3rd to get the lengths and go to step design to minimize the flow losses in the longer pipes.  My headers are tri-y but still basically that way.  

8:1 collectors really don't work that well either.  The collector normally is adding power int he midrange and you just don't get a whole lot of help when you merge more than 4....just too much volume ot too much area change so something but they don't give the normal bump you get from  4:1 collectors....tri-Ys work even better.

Interestingly enough, Ford sells the flat-plane crank and the special cams (different firing order) for the Voodoo engine, but not in a crate motor. It IS possible to build your own GT350 engine using factory parts, but you can't buy the specific ECU...so there would be the need to use an aftermarket ECU to make it work.

hmmm.... would think you'd just need to change the wiring harness so the ECU outputs are matching the engine firing order vs needed a different ECU....but there is still nothing wrong with an LS :) 

I'm aiming for 900kg...I'd be happy with 2500lbs! So far with the parts I've chosen to use, and some estimations based on known weights of other components, I'm going to be just over 950kg. Considering I'm not willing to go for exotic materials, I'm ok with that.

Sounds very doable and should be fantastic with the power an LS kicks out.

I just ran across a "factory built" car that's somewhat similar to what you're shooting for. Apparently some crazy guy in Australia decided to make a company splicing together Alfo Sprints and Holden V8's with some new body work. Called it the Giacattolo. He used the ZF 5-speed that's in DeTomaso's. The front end looks a little bit like an old Escort, which is an improvement on the Sprint front end to me. Just thought it was interesting and slightly relevant.

Any updates?  I joined the forum since I saw many parallels between this thread and a long project I've been working on.  I was really pleased to find out about the Weddle transaxles, they look robust.  Right now I'm using a G86.20 with a Kennedy LS adapter.  Challenge at the moment is triangulating the rear frame to work with the C6 rear suspension.  I also have the Dobbertin rear mounts, but I'm not sure if I want to use them since they're ~40lbs for the pair ( that's the same weight as 38ft of 1.625" .120 wall DOM tubing), on top of the C6 lower crossmember.  For a ladder frame car/truck they would work well.  The Corvette rear crossmember would allow me to use the leaf spring, but also limits how low I can mount the transaxle/engine assembly.

In reply to phy6 :

No updates, work picked up significantly this fall, then the holidays and enjoying time off with the inevitable end-of-year slowdown. Been working on insulating/sheeting/organizing the shop, hoping to have that done before work picks up again this spring. I've learned to take advantage of seasonal slowdowns as my "vacation" time, since I'm slammed spring thru fall.

It's interesting to hear comments from someone who has spent dosh on the Dobbertin mounts. I had no idea they were that heavy, seems that puts them about 50-70% of the weight of the subframe. Unless you're building an all-out track monster, I really wouldn't worry about the last Nth" of drivetrain lowering, because if anything containing fluid is lower than any structure, it WILL find a way to get hit by road/track debris. Holing an oilpan won't get you around the track any faster!

The Weddle HV25 is the gearbox I was looking for 25 years ago and didn't exist. Sure you could get an Albins or Fortin, but those were big bucks even then. Porsche transaxles were more affordable then, but still not anything I could afford as a high school kid. Mendeola were just coming onto the scene in the mid-90's and nobody was running one on the street for sure! The gearbox was always the sticking point for a lot of home builders and even as a teenager, cobbling stuff together didn't seem as good of an idea as stuff that was meant to work together.

As I've mentioned before, my build goal is more of an allrounder street/road rig, rather than a track car. The lack of track venues reasonably close to me really saps the desire to invest time and money in a vehicle that will spend most of it's life sitting in the garage. Between work and other life duties, the opportunities for me to take a weekend and get to the track with any regularity, just aren't there. Whereas I can find several hours every week to head off on various county, state and BLM/Forest Service roads for some fun and exploration.

I'd love to hear more about your build and pics are even better!