Hello everyone. I will apologize in advance for the long read.
So I've been lurking here for a while, while I churn through all the stuff in my head about my next project, and I figured if I start to put some of it down on paper and the internet, I will probably get it started faster once I get some advice.
So for a little bit of background and introduction, my first car was a 1979 Camaro Berlinetta V8, that I loved, but the body was poor even though the engine was good. After a few years of driving it around, I found another 79 Berlinetta with a great body and a shitty engine, so I combined them both and turned it into a very nice budget ride. I sold that car to move, and regretted the sale for years.
After a lot of reminiscing about my old car, I got a hold of a 79 Z28 I had asked the owner about for 5 years or more, and he finally gave in, and this time I spent my time fixing it from the bottom up. After nearly a year and half of building, I was left with a flat black Z28 with a 350 H.O. putting out 425 hp and 450 ft/lbs. I loved the car, every part of the engine I had put together myself, and everything was exactly how I wanted.
I moved to Denver a year or two after finishing the car, but it was my only car at the time, so the prospect of a good job outside walking distance in the winter was really slim. I decided to sell my Z28, knowing full well I would make it about a month before I missed tinkering.
This is how we get to today. For the past few years, even while I had my Z28, I knew I wanted to try something a lot more difficult. For any of the early chevy's, smallblock and bigblocks are all over the place, and are pretty straightforward and easy to do. Every car you see at a car show is just some slight variation of the last, with a bit of color thrown in here and there. It had been years since I saw something really special.
With my last 3 Camaros, when I said I was gonna do something, I put my nose to the grindstone and did it, no matter how long it took. I decided a few years ago that my next project was going to be the best I had built so far, but this one was going to be the most unique.
I settled on putting an LBZ into 4-Door Nova. After seeing some diesels at Bonneville drive to the track, push a few programmer buttons, do a drag race, and then drive on home like it was nothing, I've never turned my back on this idea.
For my Z28 I worked a lot sourcing parts through Steve at Camaros Plus in Arvada, CO, and it just so happens that he shares the building with ATS Diesel. After seeing the look on the guys face at ATS when I told him the project I wanted to do, I knew I had to see this through till the end, and I couldn't pull any punches, just to get more reactions just like his.
The worst thing about building a high-powered musclecar, especially one from the 60's or 70's, is that for most you could only take 1 other person along for the ride, because the backseat only seems to fit people 4'-5" and shorter. Hence why I picked a 4-door. Not to mention since everyone hated them (even though they had the same engine packages as the 2 door for many years) even the Novas in great shape sell for very little because they supposedly have 2 doors too many.
Here is a lovely 1967 4-Door made by user DrBob1967 over at StevesNovaSite.
I've always liked flat colors (you see the car itself, not reflections of every shiny thing in a 2 miles radius), so I'm almost set on Matte White with Matte Black accents, similar to this car...
I chose the LBZ because it seemed the highest amount of upgrades to the Duramax line was done for that engine series, and after reading as much as I can it sounds like, as long as you keep it cool, a lot of people had wonderful durability and performance with it.
A few of the people I can find in the US that have built diesel muscle cars are recording 35+ MPG. My ultimate goal with this car is not only to make a totally unique car, but also make the Duramax the focal point, and do it right. I believe that, through programming and planning, that 40+ MPG is not outside of the realm of possibility, all while being able to press a button on the programmer, and have a tune that can keep up with any of your standard muscle cars.
I spent nearly $12k on my last gas engine, and with the 11.5:1 compression I was always fighting predetonation, and I couldn't vary a lot in altitude without having to pull the carb and change jets and rods. The prospect of the stability of a diesel is incredibly appealing, not to mention the look on truck drivers' faces when I pull into a gas station surrounded by semis while I fill up.
I plan on start with a totalled Duramax as a donor truck, so that I can take the wiring harness along with the engine and adapt it to the car. I will drop the Allison in favor of a TH400/700R4 (I'm told all GM bellhousings bolt right up to the Duramax!) for now, and then a TCI 6x Custom Transmission later for 6 forward gears to maximize the MPG.
I've fabricated engine and transmission mounts before, and done my fair share of wiring (this project should be really complicated), but it's really going to be interesting fitting 4 1/2" exhaust under such a low car.
ATS will probably be routing my turbo, as well as handling my differential. All 4 corners will be bagged. Subframe connectors and a roll cage so the body doesn't twist in half the first time the turbo spools up.
I'm drawing a lot inspiration as far as cleanliness and simplicity from this thread for the 1967 Camaro RS.
http://www.duramaxdiesels.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44381
Above all I want to hide the fact that it has a diesel as much as possible, other than some "Duramax Diesel" badging underneath the Nova badging. This means no visible 5" tip, as little smoke as possible, and a quiet idle (hopefully with a hellacious WOT
). I will make a working A/C unit, and have full electric windows and locks. Oddly enough, I can't wait for someone to pipe up at a redlight with "that piece of crap engine sure has a bad knock, and it's smoking". For some reason the thought of that brings me a lot of pleasure. Either that or someone running up to me at the diesel pump telling me to stop before I ruin my car.
Let me know what you guys think. I have a feeling I am going to be able to use a lot of the trial and error you guys have found putting Duramax's into trucks that didn't originally have them, but instead this time it will go into a car with a curb weight of 2,800 lbs....
Well thanks for reading, I look forward to the feedback, and I can't wait to hopefully start the car this winter!
-Liquid
So I've been lurking here for a while, while I churn through all the stuff in my head about my next project, and I figured if I start to put some of it down on paper and the internet, I will probably get it started faster once I get some advice.
So for a little bit of background and introduction, my first car was a 1979 Camaro Berlinetta V8, that I loved, but the body was poor even though the engine was good. After a few years of driving it around, I found another 79 Berlinetta with a great body and a shitty engine, so I combined them both and turned it into a very nice budget ride. I sold that car to move, and regretted the sale for years.
After a lot of reminiscing about my old car, I got a hold of a 79 Z28 I had asked the owner about for 5 years or more, and he finally gave in, and this time I spent my time fixing it from the bottom up. After nearly a year and half of building, I was left with a flat black Z28 with a 350 H.O. putting out 425 hp and 450 ft/lbs. I loved the car, every part of the engine I had put together myself, and everything was exactly how I wanted.
I moved to Denver a year or two after finishing the car, but it was my only car at the time, so the prospect of a good job outside walking distance in the winter was really slim. I decided to sell my Z28, knowing full well I would make it about a month before I missed tinkering.
This is how we get to today. For the past few years, even while I had my Z28, I knew I wanted to try something a lot more difficult. For any of the early chevy's, smallblock and bigblocks are all over the place, and are pretty straightforward and easy to do. Every car you see at a car show is just some slight variation of the last, with a bit of color thrown in here and there. It had been years since I saw something really special.
With my last 3 Camaros, when I said I was gonna do something, I put my nose to the grindstone and did it, no matter how long it took. I decided a few years ago that my next project was going to be the best I had built so far, but this one was going to be the most unique.
I settled on putting an LBZ into 4-Door Nova. After seeing some diesels at Bonneville drive to the track, push a few programmer buttons, do a drag race, and then drive on home like it was nothing, I've never turned my back on this idea.
For my Z28 I worked a lot sourcing parts through Steve at Camaros Plus in Arvada, CO, and it just so happens that he shares the building with ATS Diesel. After seeing the look on the guys face at ATS when I told him the project I wanted to do, I knew I had to see this through till the end, and I couldn't pull any punches, just to get more reactions just like his.
The worst thing about building a high-powered musclecar, especially one from the 60's or 70's, is that for most you could only take 1 other person along for the ride, because the backseat only seems to fit people 4'-5" and shorter. Hence why I picked a 4-door. Not to mention since everyone hated them (even though they had the same engine packages as the 2 door for many years) even the Novas in great shape sell for very little because they supposedly have 2 doors too many.
Here is a lovely 1967 4-Door made by user DrBob1967 over at StevesNovaSite.
I've always liked flat colors (you see the car itself, not reflections of every shiny thing in a 2 miles radius), so I'm almost set on Matte White with Matte Black accents, similar to this car...
I chose the LBZ because it seemed the highest amount of upgrades to the Duramax line was done for that engine series, and after reading as much as I can it sounds like, as long as you keep it cool, a lot of people had wonderful durability and performance with it.
A few of the people I can find in the US that have built diesel muscle cars are recording 35+ MPG. My ultimate goal with this car is not only to make a totally unique car, but also make the Duramax the focal point, and do it right. I believe that, through programming and planning, that 40+ MPG is not outside of the realm of possibility, all while being able to press a button on the programmer, and have a tune that can keep up with any of your standard muscle cars.
I spent nearly $12k on my last gas engine, and with the 11.5:1 compression I was always fighting predetonation, and I couldn't vary a lot in altitude without having to pull the carb and change jets and rods. The prospect of the stability of a diesel is incredibly appealing, not to mention the look on truck drivers' faces when I pull into a gas station surrounded by semis while I fill up.
I plan on start with a totalled Duramax as a donor truck, so that I can take the wiring harness along with the engine and adapt it to the car. I will drop the Allison in favor of a TH400/700R4 (I'm told all GM bellhousings bolt right up to the Duramax!) for now, and then a TCI 6x Custom Transmission later for 6 forward gears to maximize the MPG.
I've fabricated engine and transmission mounts before, and done my fair share of wiring (this project should be really complicated), but it's really going to be interesting fitting 4 1/2" exhaust under such a low car.
ATS will probably be routing my turbo, as well as handling my differential. All 4 corners will be bagged. Subframe connectors and a roll cage so the body doesn't twist in half the first time the turbo spools up.
I'm drawing a lot inspiration as far as cleanliness and simplicity from this thread for the 1967 Camaro RS.
http://www.duramaxdiesels.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44381
Above all I want to hide the fact that it has a diesel as much as possible, other than some "Duramax Diesel" badging underneath the Nova badging. This means no visible 5" tip, as little smoke as possible, and a quiet idle (hopefully with a hellacious WOT
). I will make a working A/C unit, and have full electric windows and locks. Oddly enough, I can't wait for someone to pipe up at a redlight with "that piece of crap engine sure has a bad knock, and it's smoking". For some reason the thought of that brings me a lot of pleasure. Either that or someone running up to me at the diesel pump telling me to stop before I ruin my car.Let me know what you guys think. I have a feeling I am going to be able to use a lot of the trial and error you guys have found putting Duramax's into trucks that didn't originally have them, but instead this time it will go into a car with a curb weight of 2,800 lbs....
Well thanks for reading, I look forward to the feedback, and I can't wait to hopefully start the car this winter!
-Liquid
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