CrazyHawaiian

Devianb did me a huge favor and made a concept drawing of what my car will look like when my planned exterior mods are done. The only difference is these pics have a front mount intercooler drawn in (which looks great!), but I am planning on a different design. I dont really have a time frame of when these mods will actually be done to my car, but I have talked with my clubs bodyshop guys and they have agree'd to do the work. The best part is, now I can show them the pics Devian drew up for me and they'll have a better idea of what I want. Here's a list of what I plan to do:

1. Shaved moldings
2. Shaved antenna
3. Shaved stock sidemarkers
4. Audi A6 sidemarkers in Audi location
5. Smoothed stock 91-92 ground fx (inc front lip and bumper)
6. Rear Monte, Malibu, GP door handles *good idea deadbird!*
7. JGT (JGTC) carbon fiber side mirrors
8. BMW E36 black projector headlight conversion (w/ true HID's)
9. Reverse V-Mount custom spearco intercooler.
10. Hawks 5 inch spoiler
11. Homemade custom sequential taillights
12. Suspension at full lock down (3.5 inch drop) but full dampening

Current pics:



Concept Drawing:


Lemme know what you guys think. Good or bad, I dont care. If you want to slam my ideas go ahead and I wont get offended. Or if you have any questions about why I want to do things, or how I plan to do them, just lemme know. If you guys are wondering about the motor/drivetrain, right now its a L98 w/ a S-trim @ 6psi and stock 700r4, but when the car is complete it will have a built low compression 377ci Gen 1 block fed by two HKS T04Z turbo's and a 6 speed Richmond Rod. Interested what you guys think. Lates!!

Zrated83

iTrader: (17)

hey Crazy, your car looks awesome! i love the color too! :hail: I think your plans are great and when everything is all done it will be one of a kind the five inch spoiler looks sweet! not too sure about how the smooth gfx will look but your car will look still look great!

Mike

19doug90

i like painted carbon fiber....

easySPEEDcamaro

i don't like the taillights

and i DEFINITELY do not like the audi side markers......... noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo i hate them... i hate i hate i hate i hate i hate

other than that... beautiful

Sonar_un

Do not put a 5" spoiler on there.. do not remove the Z28 one..

I don't think there is much you can do to your car now that could make it any better. Its perfect.

IrOcAbMw

I think it looks wicked what i might do is skip the audi markers and go with something like 2000+ impala fog lights and modify them to be blinkers and mold them to the front where the slop of the nose and the rest of the nose or "bumper" out to the corners and with that u can shave the original side markers and front lamps and add on the fenders 80 - 81 fender vents and also go with m3 mirrors or grand prix mirrors that go against the the corner of the windows instead. The taillights look SICK and i want a pair remind me of my beemer just stretched out

PS. Newbie here with first post what a feeling maybe i gained 5 hp's with this post (**** Hater)

25THRSS

looks good, but don't destroke it. Please dont buy into that crap.

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

yes definately keep it a 400 or 406 if you overbore.....please don't destroke it.

other than that....for mirrors you could also check out the "Street scene" mirrors made for mini-trucks....they mount in the window corners as well. look great on S10s...can't really picture them on a camaro though.

CrazyHawaiian

Thanks for the input guys. I do appreciate the responses. Just to let you guys know, these are exterior mods I have already decided on. Some of them I've been thinking about only recently (within the last year) like the 5 inch spoiler, others I've been thinking about for a long time (up to 4 years ago) like the homemade taillights. Some of my wilder ideas never made it to the final cut because I decided they were unreasonable or in bad taste. But even though I have pretty much decided on what exterior mods I want to do, I'm still interested in hearing what you guys think about it. I'd like to get an idea of what people will be saying to eachother when they see it at the local car shows. If you guys would like to check out my car club website you can see it at www.efiunlimited.com We won Best Team a couple of times at the local shows. Needless to say, I think I'm very fortunate to be a member of this club, being the only 3rd gen, and one of 5 or 6 cars under 400rwhp. If I can get my car together in 2004 I'd like to represent with my team members and maybe get into the 500+rwhp class. Thanks for the responses!!

Jgolden314

I absolutely love the C5 door handles. The mirrors look good also.
I really do not care for the audi side markers. The 5 inch spoiler looks badass. I am not too crazy about the headlights, even though it may look better once its actually on the car.

JimmyG-91Z

Well honestly I don't really like it, it seems like there is too many round things on a square car, the side markers, the headlights, the door handles.I think 4th gen doorhandles look better on our cars then the C5's (Which are on half of GM's vehicles anyway). I'm not a fan of the 5 inch spolier either I'd stick with the Z28 wing. And the taillights look like they are from a Lexus ES300 which is basicly an upmarket Camry. Although it doesn't look great in the pic I think the smoothed GFX would look good, and the JGTC mirriors look ok if they are that size, I hate the really small ones

And if your going for a TT 377, why not make a TT 383. You wouldn't have to buy a 400 Block then. Unless your reason for doing it is to be different and go beyond the norm, which it seems like your trying for.

And although I don't like it, I hope you get it done the way you want so you can enjoy it the way you want. Good Luck with it

JimmyG

MrDude_1

are you going to take out the front bumper to fit that intercooler? just a bad idea for a street car IMO...

also, dont destroke it... why would you want less power anyway? you're not running it in a weight vs displacement class right? or did you mean stroke a 350 and just not overbore it?


i think you could find some nicer looking side mirrors to fit the car.... and i hate the oval side turn signal.


but i still like your car...


im undecided on the spoiler thing.. i love spoilers (better then the wings) but i donno... on one hand, the big one might be a lil too big.. but on the otherhand, it may fit the car with the cowl hood....
id probly have to see it in person, or a few good pics to really decide.

Jesus's F-Bird

5 inch spoiler is rockin. I like the idea..... Dont really like the idea of the round things, as others have said. Why stop at a 400 ? why dont you big block it up to a 454, or a 496 stroker ? I WOULD but i am poor. I know you can get less horsepower with a bigger engine then a smaller one, and i know it all doesn't depend on the size... but you could make a 454 really damn fast with all the proper stuff, not that i know what that is, but it would be cool. I dont know... i dont think i have ever seen a 3rd gen with a 454 or 455. Maby even supercharge it or something.... at this point i am just talking out of my ***, so i will stop now, because i really dont know much about really big engines.... Just a thought. I DO like the 5 inch

ES87iroc

The mirrors and headlights look plain awful. The headlights have the round ring, which looks stupid on a car with zero round features and so many square ones. The mirrors look like something someone picked up at pepboys and double stick taped on. Eww.

I would leave the car as is if I were you. Less is more, and more is less. Some folks around here can't seem to understand that concept. Remind you of another crowd, eh?

MrDude_1

oh yea....... leave the headlights alone.

19doug90

1. Shaved moldings-good idea

2. Shaved antenna-good idea

3. Shaved stock sidemarkers-totally pointless stock ones look better then the audi ones anyways and youll have to repaint that whole 1/4 panel just not worth it
4. Audi A6 sidemarkers in Audi location-see above

5. Smoothed stock 91-92 ground fx (inc front lip and bumper)
You mean smooth the line where the gfx meets the body...as far as i know it wont work those pieces just flex way too much and no matter what you do whatever you use to smooth the line will crack

6. C5 corvette door handles w/ shaved keyholes-no idea what those look like but i like the idea of aftermarket door handles

7. JGT (JGTC) carbon fiber side mirrors-whatever floats your boat

8. BMW E36 black projector headlight conversion (w/ true HID's) - youre call really i dont mind the look of the stock headlights or the bmw ones you want in

9. Reverse V-Mount custom spearco intercooler.-haha how could you complain about that one?

10. Hawks 5 inch spoiler-To each his own, im not a huge fan i think it disrupts the line of the car

11. Homemade custom sequential taillights-dont like the look

12. Suspension at full lock down (3.5 inch drop)-definitly!!!

MetalliCamaroRS

iTrader: (15)

I like everything except the taillights and spoiler.

Spdfrk1990

I like the side markers and i say keep the high rise i wouldnt drill ne holes for the 3 peice. I was thinkin that those side markers would look good on our cars also. I just bought a new mazda that has them and thinkin the camaro needs somethin in that area. The molded gfx do look good also and opening up the grill opening would look good so u can see the intercooler. I like it also if u get ur headlights to look like that i wanna know how cause it looks sweet. Dont like the tail lights either and hmmmm maybe u should keep the other turn signals on the fenders just get the clear ones i dunno just a thought.

FLYNLOW92rs

iTrader: (53)

I really like it, you've taken care of one of my major complaints about the door pieces of the gfx, that damn line on the rear 1/4 panel......

Shaved handles, look good, and the turn signal idea is good as well......

I like the projector headlights (a little biased, lol, but they look good....) and who can complain with true HID's....

My .02 of constructive criticism.....

The wing, I say stay with the Z28 highrise.......

Other then that small detail, I say rock on, the car looks nice......

1bad91Z

iTrader: (1)

LEAVE THE CAR ALONE!!!!

It looks awesome the way it is!! If you just have to do something custom, do the C5 door handles.

Other than that, dont hack up a perfectly good ride!

Just my 2 pennies......

NEEDforSPEED

hrddrv

I like your ideas. Not sure how it will look all together in real life. A drawing is one thing but true life is another. I say do it. It is your car and should look good.

PontiacRacing

I think it will look really bad ***. I especially like the projectors and intercooler. I can't wait to see actual pictures of this.

deadbird

Not much on the mirrors but, they aren't too out there... might be better body color (less obvious they aren't stockers) and, I really don't think the oval handles would fit the Camaro style well at all.
Use rear doorhandles from a new(er) Buick 4 door or Monte, Malibu, GP (or anything else GM loves to recycle crap on).. they are the same handle w/o keyholes... no need for the extra work.
*edit... credit to devian on yet another great concept drawing.

BLACK ICE

SWEET

CrazyHawaiian

Not quite the responses I expected, but thanks for the input guys. I actually expected to get flamed really bad (hehe!) for the "Import Style" mods or whatever. You guys are going easy on me! I'll give some more info about some of these mods so you guys can see where I'm comming from.

First the headlights. I know Hella makes good quality glass enclosures that would work with the stock light bezel for $129 a set, but they dont have the look I want. The enclosures need to be high quality glass pieces (with the right optical pattern for true HID's), and the dimensions need to resemble the pair of headlights on each side of the car. But for my personal tastes, they need to have a certain projector look. Quite a few people have done the square headlight conversions, but I didnt like the way the actual projectors looked. I did like the way the enclosures filled the space though. I wanted projectors that were inset, with a black background, and a glass enclosure over the front. 86IROCNJ and ChevyKen both mentioned BMW or M3 enclosures in previous threads (here and here). I decided to go with the E36 projector housings after seeing them in person and looking at the build quality and output from a friends 95 M3 with true HID's. The E36 enclosures are european quality (made for HID's) with glass instead of plastic, they have very close dimensions to the pair of enclosures that come stock and fill the space good, and supprisingly they cost around the same as a complete set of stock replacement Hella glass enclosures. I'm not gonna take credit for the idea but I am gonna give it a try and see how it turns out. And keep in mind the actual enclosures are not round, just the projectors themselves.

Next the intercooler. The reverse V-mount is almost the same as a front mount but the intercooler lays almost flat but at an angle, allowing air to pass over it, and directing it up into the radiator. A true V-mount requires you relocate the radiator lower and forward, move the engine back a bit, and install the intercooler in front of the engine. I did not think all this work was necessary but I liked the concepts, so I just adapted the idea to a front mount intercooler, and left the radiator in the stock location. Since my current front clip is badly damaged (melted and cracked), I plan to use it as my template to do this conversion. I will be leaving the front crash beam for safety, but the rest of the front clip will be gutted, support rods welded to the front, and final product removed. I will then use this template to modify the second front clip which I will buy brand new and install before the ground FX get smoothed and paint re-done. I plan to keep the stock front clip mounting methods, but build my own supports. I will also incorporate two oil coolers on the sides (one for the engine oil system, second for the seperate oil system for the F/I components), and fill the empty spaces with sheet metal (as ducting).

The rest of the stuff. The side markers, shaved stuff, smoothing of the GFX, the door handles, the spoiler, and the part I left out (the GAS CAP doh lol) are all personal preferance things. I wanted to smooth the lines of the car, and give it a little GT style feel (like a Corvette Cr5) but not go overboard. I like those mirrors because I have seen them in person and the view angle is extremely wide even though the actual part is somewhat small (no more blind spot). They are actually designed for racing and not available at Pepboys (LOL!). I did get the idea for the taillights from a Lexus (Japan model Celcior or LS400 in the USA with JDM taillights), good call! Thanks for the heads up on those door handles deadbird, if they are the same then I can save some $$ there. Who knows, I might not like the idea after seeing them in person next to my doors (though I did like the handles on my friends Z06).

As for the motor, well the honest reason I want to destroke is because I want to build a high revving motor. I am buying into the big bore / small stroke concept of motor building. I'm not building this car to race at the drag strip. I'm building it for my own personal enjoyment. The only type of racing I will be doing with this car is controlled short freeway runs on the street while cruzing with my club and friends. Keep in mind now, there are alot of top end powerband type of cars in my club ... Ferrari's, Lambo's, High horsepower Supras, Z06's, etc, etc ... I want to build my car to hang with them at the top end. Its no fun when everyone else takes off and my car lags behind because the gearing and powerband are not top end oriented. I want a SBC that will pull to 8,000rpm on boost with a 3,500 - 8,000 rpm powerband. Combined with a correctly geared 6 speed and final gear, this is going to be a freeway monster. Put it this way, I wont be happy untill I walk Busa's on the freeway. Pretty far reaching goal, but I think I can do it.

Devianb made another kickass drawing showing the front from a different angle. Looking at these pics makes me want to sell all my furniture and clothes (you know, stuff you dont NEED) and send the car to the body shop (LOL!). Joke!

Spdfrk1990

have u seen the vid of the lingenfelter vette walkin a busa off of kazaa. Its a ls6 stroked to a 427 and TT its top end is around 240 sooo did yah think about that option in a camaro would be sweet.

grngryoutmyway

iTrader: (1)

Rockin man I pretty much like everything. Pretty close to stock but still completely custom at the same time! Really like the side markers and pretty much everything else. As for mirriors I would def get some hott rod type polished billet pieces, since you have so much on your car already, it would look bad as$ and blend in too. Not sure about the grill but you said you were doing it diff anyways. Would go with something different than what you have but still keep a unique polished billet design, maybee a cross hatched custom piece that matches the design of your wheels?

CrazyHawaiian

I have not seen that vid, but it sounds like fun!! One of my club members with a highly modded Supra (dyno'd 701 rwhp) walked a bunch of bikes here in Hawaii (Busa's, GSXR1000's, etc). I didnt get to see that either, but I do believe him. And after riding in his car I got the top end speed bug. Its more of a rush that drifting!! Nah the Gen III blocks are cool and all, but a Gen I block will give you the same power with the right combo. Much easier to swap the motor too. Cant wait to get this car completed!!

scottland

2 things,

1. 8000rpm is a tad bit high of an expected power band. very few engine can see 8000rpm on a regular basis and live long, 6500-7000 is much more attainable.

2. DON'T buy into the big bore/small stroke concept. just the fact that it has a big bore, and small stroke, doesn't change the simple fact that a 377 simply CAN NOT fit as much fuel and air into the cylinder as a 406 can. fuel + air =power. the more fuel and air you can get into and engine = more power. the ONLY difference between a 377 and a 406 is that the piston in the 377 is not going to go down as far in the cylinder, therefore it can not take in as much air/fuel into the engine.

Cam selection, intake selection, head selection, top dollar valve train parts, and a top dollar rotating assembly will allow you to make power up to 7000-8000, not destroking an engine. a small stroke will do nothing for a hi-reving engine other than make less power.

a 406 has just as much potential for high rpms as a 377.

with the you'll spend on a high rpm 377, and a 400 block at hand, put the same parts into a 434 and it will make more power than a 400 would, and would definatly make more than a similarly equiped 377.

message RB83, he said he built a 434 for someone using a factory 400 block.

im not trying to shoot down your ideas, i just don't want to see you spend all the money on that engine, and lose free horsepower because your cheating yourself cubic inchs.

Friends don't let friends destroke engines

CrazyHawaiian

I'm gonna be ditching the grill completely. The part where the stock grill usually mounts will be gutted and an intercooler will be installed in a reverse v-mount design (or whatever you want to call it hahah). Instead of having a grill there will be a huge gap which will hopefully force air into the intercooler, two oil coolers, and the radiator.

CrazyHawaiian

I appreciate the concern. I dont take it as shooting down my ideas at all. I wholeheartedly agree that bigger displacement motor will always make more power, its a no brainer. Like you said, more cubic inches allow more fuel and air to be processed. If I were going for a N/A engine build and light to light racing, I would go with the biggest displacement engine I could afford. Period. But since I am using forced induction and aiming for top end power, I look at my engine building choices from a different perspective and everything becomes relative. I wont need the most cubes possible to make a nice ammount of power. I can build an engine that matches my desired style of driving (or in this case, desired powerband), and still make the power I want with forced induction. I'm buying into the big bore / small stroke idea because I believe in it. Over-square motors will always produce more power at higher RPM's. The whole idea is based off of Newtons Second law and I agree with the concepts. Long stroke engines will produce more torque, but the drawback is the piston must travel a longer distance creating a physical limit to how many RPM the engine can achieve. Because of this, the natural characteristics of a stroked motor do not match with the type of powerband I want. I'm not saying its impossible to rev high with a bigger displacement large stroke motor, but considering my goal of a 8,000 to 8,500 rpm redline (which some might consider impossible), large bore/ small stroke seems like the better way to go. I need as many advantages as possible, and the natural characteristic of revving higher will probably make this a little easier on the engine. So yes it wont make as much torque as a 400 or 406, but thats OK with me. It will still make more torque than my current 350 which means daily driving should be OK with the correct gear selection. But at highway speeds this setup will really open up and should be a good match for the type of racing I want to do.

Spdfrk1990

I think ull figure it out crazy i have the same love for the top end also. Plus ide hate to drop a 600 hp engine in my car and get beat on the freeway. A engine like the 69 302 ran good one of those rollerized would prob be great.

MrDude_1

i can understand the desire for a smaller motor on a boosted daily driver... i mean, no loss in power, and better fuel economy...


but that whole bore/stroke thing on a small block chevy is moot BS.
its like saying, hey the larger bore makes the flame travel longer to burn all the fuel and that makes the pressure take longer to build....

sure that statment is kinda true.... but when you come back to reality, you find that it doesnt make any diff if you have a 400 bored to the max, or a tiny 305 bore...

if you get a 400 block, build a 400... it will have ZERO impact on how high you're capable of reving the motor... unless you cant get enough air in there... and if you cant get enough air in there, then you wernt going to make anymore power then that anyway..

if you want to save some money, go build a 350 or better yet, go build a 302 and blow that... heh. atleast then there will be some measurable diff in stroke compared to the 400/350...

19doug90

ooo a motor debate im in. Personally i love the idea of small stroke big bore with forced induction. One of my dream cars is the koenigsegg (crazy sweedish supercar) and they use a 4.7L V8 with a superchargere that makes over 600 hp i believe.

Heres another thing to consider. Based on the fact that with forced induction you can pretty much make as much power as your internals can hold where is the necessity for the larger stroke? Sure it makes more torque but wouldnt that added stroke put more strain on engine components? And if you can make the kind of power you want (i see no reason 700 hp isnt fully achievable with the kind of stuff hes doing which is more then you could ever use on the street anyways) then where is the necessity for a longer stroke. He also said its not a drag strip car he doesnt want lots of torque to get him off the line, he wants more of a race car setup where you have a high revving engine that pulls really hard coming out of a corner or down a long stretch.

Just my .02 cents. Id really like someone to comment on the difference between strain on components between strokeing the motor and destrokeing it because i dont know much about it and i would consider that an important point.

EDIT: and i still dont think you can smooth the gfx into the car whatever you use will crack those pieces just flex waaay too much

MrDude_1

heh, i fear we're going to clutter his thread with engine debate soon... ah well.



for a given power output, more displacement will put LESS strain on the motor compared to a smaller higher boosted motor.

in anycase, id go for the easy power and fuget about it.... but im not going to keep debating it since it would jsut clutter his "Appearance and Detailing" thread...





i would like to know what happened to his car though..

obviously SOMTHING happened to make you decide that it needed to be repainted... and i noticed you said somthing like "Since my current front clip is badly damaged (melted and cracked........"

what happened?!

CrazyHawaiian

Hehe nah no worries guys. This isn't cluttering the thread at all. But if you really want to continue the debate, there is a post in the 'Engine Swap' section started by VashTheStampede asking if he should build a 383 or a 377 here. This is actually a really interesting debate. If you ask me, a de-stroked motor is only for someone who wants to push the limits as far as having a high powerband. You are giving up some initial power for peace of mind. Like I said, a stroked motor can also rev high with the right components, but the questions here is how much strain is put on the engine. Obviously there is alot of strain either way, but if you can put less strain on the motor, then it should last longer.

About the paint, yes it will need to be re-painted. I bought this car with the current paintjob and they did a horrible job. But since it was free I cant complain!! hehe. Flakes, Orange Peel, the works. I estimate it will only look good for another year or two. The front clip is melted because of the under hood heat generated by the blower. And its cracked because apparently the previous owner could not drive very well and he rammed stuff (alot of spider webs under the clearcoat). Someone also egged the car while he owned it (apparently) leaving bad scratches on the pass side door. And on the drivers side, one of his neighbors punched the car because 'it was too noisy' which I thought was really lame (and would warrant a beatdown if I were the owner at that time). So anyway, yeah the car is pretty messed up when you take a close look at it. Looks OK from far away though LOL. Definately needs to be re-painted to be show worthy.

bnoon

The only part of the debate that I disagree with. Given equal building materials, a "square" engine will always have a higher reliable redline. Since the 406 isn't square, the square, destroked 377 will have the higher redline and the higher power band. Of course this will also play into rod length debates as well...

Now, if you had a square 406, then of course the 406 would make more power and have just as high of a material redline... 454 stroker SBC anyone???

MrDude_1

heh, except.... the diff in stroke isnt enough to matter.


the sheer weight of the components and everything will cause it to fly apart before you can spin the engine fast enough for that 0.270 diff in stroke to make any significant diff.


what im saying is.

HES GIVEING UP POWER IN THE HIGHER POWERBAND AND THE LOWER POWERBAND! EVERYWHERE.

not one place... everywhere.

MrDude_1

btw, id like to point out that the parts and materials hes going to need to reliably spin a 8k 377 daily driver will be the same parts and materials needed to spin a 8k 406 daily driver.


fact is, there is no middle strength where it will be strong enough for a 377 and not a 406.


stop thinking in theory. look at reality.

19doug90

in theory the destroked engine for what you want is a good idea...
in theory communism works....
in theory....

86IROCNJ

The concept drawings look really good. But what about the EVO Kit you were going to get? I thought you were going that route or atleast said you were i think. Or maybe that was for another car/project you had? Please, now that you have posted this try to make it happen!! It would be sweet, i would hate for all of this to just be smoke being blown up our skirts. later

CrazyHawaiian

After much thought I decided against the Evo kit. I love the front and the sides, but the rear is a little too square for me. I'm gonna wait for their next rendition to come out (hoping it wont be ridiculous). I've talked with the body shop and showed them the drawings. We came up with a price, but now I need to decide if I'm gonna stick with this color. The current color is good, but the paintjob is bad. It will need to be re-done to be show worthy. If I do decide to change the color (a different type of orange), it will raise the cost quite a bit which means it will take longer to happen. I'll keep you guys updated on my progress.

As for the engine stuff, well all I can say is I dont agree. If you look at any engine built for high RPM powerbands (motorcycle engines, F1 engines, aka reality), they are all over-square. There must be some reasoning behind this, dont you think?

Mathius

I'm very curious about this mod? If you shave your keyholes are you going to a keypad keyless entry setup, or remote solenoids? If remote, then why leave the door handles? What do you have in mind with this mod?

Mathius

86IROCNJ

I'm not postive with this one since i do not own a C5, but maybe they have the key hole in the handle?!? Then he would have to "shave" the stock key hole on his stock door to make way for the new handle, other wise there would be two key holes on one door. This sounds like a trickey swap, but then again i really did not try to give it much thought since it does not interest me. But if i had to guess, that is what he is talking about i believe. If not then i would think he would go with some C5 handles and just a set of door popers. Thats not too bad of a swap i would think.

CrazyHawaiian

The main reason is because it is illegal to shave your handles in Hawaii. They say that it would hinder resuce efforts if I got into an accident (which I think is complete crap, just use the jaws!). Even though the car is highly modified, I will still try to get my reconstruction permit, which will make the car completely street legal (recon is an equipment violation in our state). So my plan is to just shave the keyhole, and leave the handle. But I wanted to do something that was flush with the body, and I liked the handles on my friends Z06, so I decided to give it a try. Changing the handle and shaving the keyhole will still accomplish my main reason for modifying the doors in the first place, prevent people from using a screwdriver to pop the lock (80% of the auto theft in this area happens this way). I do plan to use electric door locks, but I will retain the function of the handle. I will have to redo the rods in the door anyway because I'm installing 99 Trans Am door panels on the inside and the interior door handle will need to be relocated to retain an OEM appearance. So I basically need to keep the handles, but convert all the exterior locking and unlocking to remote. If the car wasn't a daily driver then I would probably just shave it all and go full remote with door poppers and all. recon sucks anyway ...

bnoon

You're right, it's not the weight that makes the difference, it's the time in which the piston changes direction that makes the difference. Difference in detonation, difference in reliable RPM band, difference in idle, difference in gas mileage, difference in the power band.

A square motor can get away with a lot cheaper parts than an over stroked motor can... Iron heads can run to 10.5:1 compression without detonation, better and smoother idle, more linear power band. All with less cam and head flow than a more powerful 400+ engine would need to make the same or more power... and get better gas mileage doing it.

Yes, the 400 makes great power, and can be made to rev just as high as a destroked engine can, but it takes a LOT more money to do it. The 400 vs. 377 or 352 will always make more power, but it will never be as linear as the engines with the better rod/stroke ratios.

MrDude_1

you missed my point.

i fully realize the theory behind it.

but once more, its theory.... we have small block chevys.

we are NOT designing a new motor here... we're using off the shelf parts.

therefore, you cant take full advanage of the theory.... you cant set the bore to a perfect size, and screw with the stroke some more... you cant run two plugs so you have 2 flame fronts, ect.....

lets look at weight. mass... the fact that the lightweight destroked crank is still going to be so fuggin heavy that you have to upgrade.
and then... look at the fact that the same upgrade can be done with a diffrent stroke, for the same price and make more power.



NO CHANGE IN MONEY
NO CHANGE IN EFFICENCY
ONLY A CHANGE IN POWER.


i also still want to emphisize... this is all because he wants it to spin to 8k for some reason..... personally for a daily driver i think he should just stop and shoot for around 6500... still high... more power then he can use on the street, and much more reliable.
we only have one cam... if you're tweeking everything to run great at 8k (and thats a good amount of air) you're costing yourself ALOT elsewhere.

MrDude_1

actually... there is a change in money.

its $70 or so for the spacers to put a 350 main crank in a 400 block.

ThraxXx

I like the stock spoiler you have...the one that in the picture not in the drawing. What spoiler is that. How would that look on a TransAm?