POS Mighty Max

[kjewer1]

I'm balls deep in this project now, might as well start a thread on it. Basically, I have the RWD as a "race" car, the EVO is getting sold as soon as I can find the heart to do it, and I'm getting rid of the old diesel for a newer tow vehicle and an enclosed trailer. To provide a fun street car that won't attract attention from the cops/Nazis and the local thieves, the MM is getting upgraded.

Clean truck with ~45k original miles. Just pulled the g54b and 5 speed trans to make room for my Edgar built 6 bolt, 1g head, BC 280s/springs, EVO8 turbo, 2g DSMlink, etc. Trans will be a GM 4 speed Auto with a lockup TC eventually, but in the mean time the spare Glide (2 speed) from the RWD is gonna have to do.

Most of the old crap removal is done. Need to gut the wiring harness so it only includes lights and crap like that, the engine harness will be a gutted 2g harness. Trans adapter plate, flex plate, and torque converter will be in on Thursday, so I expect to have the motor and trans hangin by a couple mounts next week. Then I can see what I need to do for a trans crossmember, cooling system, etc.

Pics here.

[vanilla gorilla]

I hate the color, lol. Sounds like a very involved project. Good luck.

[kjewer1]

I love the color and it's staying. That 70s tan is awesome. Not to mention how much it adds to the sleeper effect.

[TalonEclipseMixGsx]

Nice project man. Was the old engine a 1.8? That almost looks like a 4g37 valve cover. Any reason for not sticking with a manual tranny? Either way, thats a crazy ass sleeper, I'm sure a few ricers will learn that the hard way.

[kjewer1]

Motor was a 2.6 liter carbuerated G54B. I would have ran the 5 speed for a shor ttime, but the g54b is a "wideblock" motor, won't bolt up to a 4g63. It wouldn't have lasted long with the extra power. The only 5 speed I would consider is a T56 out of a camaro or something, but they're ~1500 used, and I'd still have to deal with clutch issues. I want to get away from clutches. The 4 speed auto will take the power all day long, no clutch to replace every year, good ETs, etc. After getting some firsthand experience with a GM auto in a DSM with the RWD, I fell in love with the idea.

The glide in the meantime will be a pain in the ass. If I stick with the stock 3.55s first gear will go to about 100 mph, LMAO. Pretty tall. But highway RPM will be doable. If I swap to a montero 4.64 gearset, first gear makes much more sense, but highway cruising in second will put me over 4k rpm. The glide and the future TH200r4 are/will be manual valve bodied, so they still have to be shifted manually. Like a clutchless manual in a way. I ran a TH700r4 setup like this in my old 5.7 liter swapped S10 and a TH350 in my Monte SS (they was an auto/manual hybrid, could od it either way) and I liked the way it worked. In this case I need the manual control to keep it from shifting at a much lower RPM than would be appropriate with a reving 4 cylinder.

But now I'm rambling again.

[Thor06]

Why not go with a wideblock 4g63 or 4g64 and a Starion tranny? I know the motor is a direct swap and I would imagine the tranny would be relatively easy. Just the same, I really think the auto is the way to go.

My buddy's RX7 is getting a 350 or a 383 and we're teetering between a T-56 and some auto. I think the auto is going to win though, I dont think Mike really wants to shell out $1500 and waste the time looking for and traveling to get a T-56. With all the red neck dirt track racers around getting an auto wont be hard at all. He's got an 85 GSL SE that we were going to put it into, but he decided to put it into his 83 instead.... its getting stripped, gutted, and motor is coming out tomorrow .

[vanilla gorilla]

I'm also a huge fan of GM auto trannys. Especially the turbo 350...you can build it to hold as much power as you'll ever need.....well I know one guy who can....

[gthompson97]

So aahhhh....how exactly do you plan to get all that power to the ground with those 2" wide tires while still keeping it a sleeper? Just a thought...

[vanilla gorilla]

Put some big-and-littles on it...be pimpin

[kjewer1]

I would smash a starion tranny before I even got out of the driveway. We all know how well I get along with manual trannies, and the starions are still weak, only a little better than the original mightymax tranny. I'd also rather go with a regular 4g63 since I have so many at my disposal locally.

It will eventually get some better rear tires, but still on plain steel wheels. People that know what they are looking for will be able to spot them from behind still, but the cops and other general assholes won't know the difference. I'm not looking for a sleeper in the hardkore street racer sense, just something that the cops and thieves won't recognize (the EVO is a nightmare in this regard).

[kjewer1]

Alright motor and powerglide are installed. Or at least sitting in the engine bay. Pics at the bottom of this page. I'll have to modify those motor mounts to make them work, so I might as well push then engine forward a little too to provide more room for that (relatively) huge tranny.

[SilvrEclipse]

Looks great Kevin, cant wait to see it once the truck is done.

[kjewer1]

Made a little progress last week. Radiator and FMIC are installed (upside down EVO8 ic). Cooling system is coming together, half a day's work left on that. Then there's wiring, exhaust, and driveshaft. That's about the bulk of it. Tons of little stuff of course... Couple more months hopefully.

Pics posted, same link as first post.

[Killa]

Originally Posted by kjewer1

firsthand experience with a GM auto in a DSM with the RWD, I fell in love with the idea.
.

, same but mine is v8 . very nice project.

[kjewer1]

Making incremental progress on this in between working on and running the RWD. This week the cooling system will be all finished out. Next week on the mock up turbo the upper and lower IC pipes will all be done, probably the custom O2 housing/exhaust as well, at least as far as the downpipe.

Can't wait until this thing is done. My friend Chad is going to drive it out to Ohio and run it in the Q16 class along side the RWD for me. If I break or get eliminated early, I have a backup.

Edit> The EVO8 turbo looks AWESOME in the engine bay, but I'm just not happy with the fitment and all of the hoops I have to jump through to make it work. The car is getting a mitsu based turbo flipped on a 2g mani. If I go used it will be a EVO3, if I go new it will be the new FP 18gsl2 for testing (more likely, still have to talk to Robert). The larger hotside goes well with a high reving 2 speed auto car, especially since I ordered the JMF RWD intake manifold with nitrous bungs.