chuntington101

That's great news! What features has the holly got? Just thinking it might be worth spending a little more and getting a few more bells and whistles now so you have them in the future. Are you going to be running any kind if traction control? What about ABS? I know these are often not required on race cars but few racers face the unique run off areas you have on pikes peak!

I'm sure the engine will have all the bells and whistle. Although it might be worth looking at a new block as they are stronger. An LS3 would be a great starting point, allowing good heads and the ability to turn the engine into a monster in the future (new liners etc.).

2bridges

Absolutely keep as much of the liner thickness as possible. The factory LS1,LS2,LS6 liners are already a bit thin for big boost applications.

For piston selection pic your desired manufacturers and look for the specific piston offerings that meet your bore, rod length, desired compression (accounting for actual head cc and gasket CC - not just the generic published manufacturer number).

For what you are doing there is no reason to go full custom on pistons when numerous off the shelf offerings will more than do the job.

Also you may consider the steel top piston ring as well. Several builders recommend boost over 15psi to run steel top ring to deal with the heat

Tooley is awesome, but be sure you emphasize your durability requirement when you chat with him about cam selection. Some of the real high lift and duration stuff will really be a detriment to your overall durability requirements

slow ride

In most cases yo really don't bore unless you are going over .010" over. The hone will take care of up to that much and more if you want to waste the stones. So pick say a piston that's .005 over or so as long as your bores look good now. Most of the aftermarket rods will hold what that block will anyway so use what you want. Build some clearance into the bottom end and run a good oil and you should be good. I still believe at the elevation you will be running you can go over 10.0:1 unless you plan to come back down to sea level for anything. If it's going to be a street car at all I understand wanting to keep compression down a little.

ratt_finkel

So it looks like we are moving forward with a built short block from Thompson Motorsports. Should be good for well over 1000whp. More than capable of providing the solid foundation we need.

We met with him in early December. Kyle has an impressive operation. And it's obvious he knows his way around built LS's. Really looking forward to adding his input to this project.

ratt_finkel

For those of you not following the road racing/autox thread.

Got the motor in on Friday from Thompson Motorsports. Have to piece together the top end now. And I have a custom cam coming in sometime this week.

GM LS6 Blueprinted core block
King Racing main bearings
King Racing rod bearings
Thompson Motorsports single piece cam bearing set
GM Nodular crankshaft turned core
Forged 4340 Scat H-beam connecting rods with ARP 8740 rodbolts
Forged Diamond pistons flat top -2cc
TMS performance rings
Extreme duty upgrade
ARP main stud set
Thompson Motorsports Lifter set LS2/LS7 style HP lifters
BTR .650 KIT Brian Tooley racing dual valvespring kit
Titanium retainers, spring locators and high lift seals
Chromoly pushrods custom length

I don't think we will have any issues with the motor
Kyle was great to work with @ Thompson Motorsports. I had a chance to meet him and tour the facilities back in December. A few minutes with him and you will realize how knowledgeable they all are. This is one major component I won't have to worry about. And we are excited to have them partner with us on this project.

Once the motor is in. We will be notching the frame for the side exit exhaust. And modifying the front frame rails for brake ducts. In addition, fabricating mounts for the custom radiator that should be in sometime early this week.

Transmission and diff should be in hopefully no later than 2 weeks from today.

In the interim, we are still mucking with the fuel system. I think for the sake of ease we are just going with a standard 15 gal cell in the trunk area. And when we have time later on. Possibly next season, we will look at better options. Really really hoping to have it running the 21st or 28th.

chuntington101

Things are coming together! Can't wait to see what you do with the turbo kit.

schpenxel

Just curious.. do you know where the main bearing and rod bearing clearances ended up?

ratt_finkel

We are going to push the stock kit to its limits. Someone more knowledgeable than me thinks they may not make the power I want. But we will try. If they don't then we will look at upgrading other areas. Turbos will be upgraded last, if they even need so. But I am hoping the custom cam will make up the difference.


TMS keeps this information confidential. As it is part of their distinct edge over competitor offerings.

schpenxel

If it were that big of an advantage anyone with the right tools could buy one and open it up/measure.. but I understand everyone has their own way of doing things. All that really matters is it works and customers are happy

Plenty of builders give that info out with the engines so I was curious.. good luck with the rest of the build

5 Liter Eater

Double secret bearing clearances...

dougrodriguez

that's awesome you went with Kyle Thompson. we've been doing our build around the same time. We're about to fire off this weekend with our fully built setup from him. in regards to the turbos you should give james performance Teknique a call. he was able to upgrade mine and they fit fine. if I remember correctly you were a APS kit right

ratt_finkel

I'm just repeating what they told me. I'm free flowing with all of my other set up information. I actually believe that the less secrets in car set up. The better.

Triple actually

My only concern with upgrading the turbos at this point is increased lag. I'm really curious to see how they will do at full tilt. And then we will look at options if we need to. But thank you for the recommendation

slow ride

I'd look at making new inlets for the turbos to really get the most from them. That and a high flowing or dumped exhaust should really let them shine.

ratt_finkel

It's always a good day when new car parts come in. Received this massive radiator from #aldowelds out of Houston. They approached me last year to partner on the project. In addition to the radiator. They will also be doing our intercoolers, catch cans, tranny and diff coolers as well as the engine oil cooler.

He was going to do our custom fuel cells. But pikes peak won't certify them. Anyway, on to the pics!

LedfootLarry

In for more pics

4DRUSH

Rubber coolant hoses on a boosted race car ?

chuntington101

Think it needs a bigger radiator! Lol what are the dimensions of the new one? Look great!

braknl8

Good choice, going with Kyle at Thompson Motorsports. I purchased a forged 5.7 a bit ago and got it together and fired last week. Kyle is always a pleasure to deal with.

ratt_finkel

I can't believe it's been so long since I last updated. Time flies!

Here is what's been going on.


4/13/15 Valvetrain delivered from BTR.


Also pictured is a few grand worth of miscellaneous items for the build.

4/18/15 Transmission is delivered from Liberty's Gears. Fully Built T56.



4/24/15 Fuel cell is delivered from Pyrotect. Aluminum Bodied, 15 gallon, with lots of cool features I can't remember at the moment.



4/24/15 Heads come back from Machine shop.


5/1/15 Engine is buttoned back together ready for install.





5/6/15 Racepak Data IQ3 Digital Dash and Data Acquisition arrives. I love this USB key!



5/8/15 Engine is installed



The Holley ECU/Fueling system is supposed to arrive this week. And that is the last of the major components. (minus aero)

Still have lots to do. Including some top secret fabrication pictured below.



But the updates should be a little more rapid now. As the event is coming up quick and we need to get this thing in to testing ASAHFP.

schpenxel