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Well, decided to start a build thread even though my car isn't anywhere close to being done. Doubt it ever will be, lol. When the mod bug bites, it bites hard.
Trigger Warning: The following words will be used and will likely trigger the purists among you, I'm adding them in spoiler tags
Spoiler
V8, LS1, LS Swap, TORQUE
... Read on at your own risk you beautiful snowflakes.
Let's start from Day 1:
Bought the car in Louisiana while I was getting my bachelor's degree about 6 years ago. It was a dream car for me from Day 1 and this Berlina Black AP1 came along owned by an older gentleman who took it out for date nights with the Mrs. on the weekends. It had about 38k on the clock at that time and was a real gem, hence the shit eating grin.
I ended up finishing my undergrad degree and moved to East TN to obtain a Master's degree. Which means I was working but even more broke than in undergrad. The car remained mostly stock...
However, after a hydroplaning event on the interstate, it was time to get rid of the 16 inch wheels and bald summer tires. I got these cheapo wheels and DWS to avoid further hydroplaning. Dat fitment doe... #stance
Lots of studying meant lots of computer time which inevitably led to lots of research on the S2000 on the breaks from constant reading. Found a picture of an LS in an AP1 and was caught hook, line, and sinker.
Had some money saved up towards the end of my Master's and bought these customized LED AP1 lights, silverstone hood, OZ allegerita wheels, and spoon (rep, obviously) front bumper. Car sat like this until I graduated.
After graduating, I took my first job in Western North Carolina and moved deeper into the mountains. Real job meant having actual money and things started picking up. Got a C West bumper, Enkei Kojin's in a square 17x9 +45 and RS3's. If you enjoy curvy roads, let me assure you that WNC is the place to move. There is no shortage of hidden gems.
Eventually I got an opportunity to move back to East TN and jumped on it. Better pay and more time off made it an easy decision. Upon moving back, I revisited some ideas that I had been researching for about 3-4 years and started looking for LS1 blocks to start a stroker build. In the meantime, I added coilover (finally getting rid of the awful wheel gap) and switched to michelin PSS.
While looking for bare blocks, this little number fell into my lap. It's stock cubes, but already had ported heads, cam, and intake and I got it for a steal. Especially compared to what I was looking to pay for the build from the ground up. After finding the rest of the pieces to the puzzle, it was time to get started.
Began the process in my one car garage. Pulling the engine was surprisingly simple, but the initial removal of the transmission was a kick in the dick since I was working with less than 18 inches of ground clearance. Less after the required 3 inch drop of the subframe.
Engine, transmission, driveshaft, and A/C removed. It's time for the shop to take over. I can't weld for shit... With the engine out, she has a nice Cali lean going on.
Massaging of the engine bay all done! Time for test fitting
Like a glove! Intake removed, time for a test fit of the new intake manifold(s).
ITBs! Fox Injection hooked it up for a sweet deal on this Jenvey Kit. Gotta love the Brexit tanking the British Pound. More to come as things move forward!
Engine pulled and a little respray over the areas that were massaged.
Great to hear you held your priorities while in school both in undergrad and thereafter.
Can't wait to see what else you have in store man, I know some are not too keen on motor swaps, but I personally love these types of builds, though I'd never do it myself.
Great to hear you held your priorities while in school both in undergrad and thereafter.
Can't wait to see what else you have in store man, I know some are not too keen on motor swaps, but I personally love these types of builds, though I'd never do it myself.
Thanks bud! It was definitely tough to be patient. I have had this spinning around in my head for YEARS. Here's a picture of the engine in it's final resting place. Battery is being moved to the trunk (weight distribution!) and still some tightening up of the wiring left. The air horns won't clear the stock hood... *le sad*
So when you doing carbon runners? Or a carbon intake bubble? Love ITBs. Let me know when you want a real big induction noise cam you can have my old one for a hundo
Exhaust all done! Dual 3" piping into a y pipe right before the axle. Comically large 4" muffler, I still lol every time I see it. Will look into oval piping to save ground clearance when it comes time for long tubes. Car should be ready to crank tomorrow! That bottom alternator bolt in the picture in post #5 is in the way of the belt. Will need to find a replacement tomorrow.
Pretty cool! Love the ITB option. Strangely enough however, the car comes with a dual exhaust and now has a real legit reason for keeping that in place and yet opted for a single exit?? wtf lol
...and yeah that 4" bend with the hanger looks like its going to be a 3" "oval" before too long with how low that's hanging lol
Last edited by s2000Junky; 03-13-2017 at 10:31 AM.
wow... great work so far.
Are you not going to run into any clearance problems with that exhaust though?
Originally Posted by s2000Junky
Pretty cool! Love the ITB option. Strangely enough however, the car comes with a dual exhaust and now has a real legit reason for keeping that in place and yet opted for a single exit?? wtf lol
...and yeah that 4" bend with the hanger looks like its going to be a 3" "oval" before too long with how low that's hanging lol
Yes, I'm probably going to scrap on that bend if I keep the drop that I have currently. But I'll be getting 18's and new coils in the near future so I'll be playing around with ride height soon anyway. But the car technically runs a single pipe and the splits at the axle in stock form, I just flipped the script. There's not much room after the axle, didn't think double the amount of 3" tubing back there would work. Who knows. Maybe the roads around here will give me my own cutout eventually
03-02-2017, 06:21 PM
Lol S2K's shitbox (Project DMSTC8D)
