gemellocattivo.com

1-4-2008
Here it is back in the car and sitting forward 3" and down 3" and I don't see any major issues, in fact it looks like I could get away dropping it 4 inches. There is still plenty of room to the front firewall. At 3" the 7.25" clutch pack easily clears the frame, but I think if I go any lower I'd want to make sure the clutch sits outboard of the frame rail, the ring gear would definitely need to sit outside the frame, but that doesn't look like a problem.

This might be the way to go.

1-4-2008
What fun would actually driving by spring be when I could still be working on it into next winter instead?

1-5-2008
It a lot. I don't know how much the forward part helps, but the down part has got to be good.

It doesn't appear to make servicing anything more difficult, but it makes more work for me right now when I'm already in overload.... hate to take on the extra work, but I know I'll be kicking myself later if I don't....so I guess down the engine goes. It looks like the problem/work start to go up exponentially as I hit the 2.5"-3" drop point, I'll spend a little more time looking at it before I decide, but most likely I'll stop right there and make no effort at a 4" drop.

1-5-2008
that or "Let's see....what kind of foolishness can I come up with today"

Years ago when I was in the air force I got called into the 1st Sargent’s office (the guy in charge of discipline) and we says “Mark, why is it that each and every time I feel I need to ask “who’s stupid idea was this!”, the same name keeps coming up over and over and over”. Some things never change I guess.

1-5-2008
I spent most of the day pondering what my plan should be. I think I’ve got one that will work without requiring a ton of work from me. If I just don’t get greedy about how far I drop the engine I think it works. I can drop it about 2.5” and forward a bit over 2.5” then simply rotate the bell/drop gear housing. I need to adapt the engine and bell housing anyway so it’s no extra work to rotate the pattern. There is a little extra work to correct the bolts and second trans shaft locations so it fits back on the trans, but that look pretty straight forward.

The other thing is I’m not certain the standard diameter flywheel will clear the frame. I may need to use a reduced diameter, which is fine, but I was worried about getting a starter touched in tight enough to engage it. The solution I found is a compact (and very light weight) gear reduction starter that tucks in tight enough to work with a flywheel as small as 10” I think. This particular one is off a harley, but they are also commonly sold for chevys and fords.

Now that I have a plan, maybe I’ll actually DO something tomorrow.

1-6-2008
I think my only hope of finishing before you is if you get distracted by your new boxer cams.

The header are going to be a real chore. The set I did for the fiadillac took me 40 hour I think. But that was before I knew the header secret....appearently the foam floatly pool things are about primary tube diameter. You cut them to length and stuff a piece of heavy wire inside it so it will hold it's shape and you can have a set of headers with exactly equally length tubes laid out in a couple hours then you get to do all the welding on the bench instead of trying to tack everything in the car. I'm probably 2 months out on the headers I guess.

1-6-2008
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spasso View Post
Check aftermarket competition catalogues like Jeg's for small reduction type starters. Drag racers use them alot.

Here is a hi-torque mini starter, found on Google, good selection, http://www.db-starter-alternator.com/Starter%20Motors/
http://www.db-starter-alternator.com...20Performance/

They are really cheap!

1-6-2008
Brave or foolish......

The 308 is under sprung to begin with so adding 100 lbs to the engine will only make that worse. The goldsmith car was claimed to be lighter when he was done, apparently due to removing the AC and installing an after market exhaust. The engine sits quite high though and the muffler quite low, so even though the total weight may work out, the center of gravity had to have gone up which would induce more body roll.

I would expect that to be very similar to what I had with my supercharged engine. I had about 100 of stuff, 50 or 60 lbs mounted up on top of the engine. I never ran that set-up with stock springs in the car, I went to 350F/250R mounted on the stock koni shocks and it was pretty good, but still under sprung I thought, particularly in the rear. I then replace the shocks with Ohlins shocks set up with 450 F/400R springs set to lower the car about an inch and it was good….really good….win the SM2 class at autocrosses good. It could still use heavier anti-sway bars I think, that would be my next change.

My case is a little different than the Goldsmith type conversions because I’m doing the whole thing a bit different. I’m getting the engine a bit more centered right to left, I’m moving it forward about 2.5” and moving it lower by about 2.5”. I’m also thinking the AC compressor (if I keep it) will move from the top corner to the lower corner of the engine. The net effect should be a lower center of gravity than even a stock V8 car. Between the engine move and the lowered suspension, my CG should be a little over 1.5” below stock I think.

1-6-2008
I think they call them "pool noodles" or "water noodles".....basically they are pipe insulation in bright colors I guess.

They have them in every store in the summer, here's some, but these are a bit large at 2 1/2" OD
http://pooltoy.com/casof20nood.html

1-6-2008
Atlantaman is the expert on what's been done in the past, but I think 4 is the number including his and they are all 365s. I know they are all SOHC engines.

The 400 engine is very slightly longer than the 365, 0.19” it looks like. The problem is the 400 heads (and thr TR heads I’m using)are DOHC and the exhaust cam on the rear bank will hit the right rear shock if you try to install it the way the 365 SOHC cars were done. The engine has to sit 1” further left in the car to clear. To do that requires some additional work to shorter clutch assembly to keep the drop gears form hitting the inner wheel well. I guess you could simply move the wheel well, but I’ve already installed 10.5” x 18” wheels that rub the wheel well on the other side, so moving it is not an option for me.

Lowering the engine can be done with either the 400 or 365, but requires messing with the bell housing among other things and makes the install a little harder to do. I think it will make a better job in the end, but it’s more work.

I don’t know if I’d call my car a beater, but it's far from a show car. I was planning to freshen up the supercharged engine and add a bit more power before I got side tracked with the v12. The old engine was making about 520 hp and the plan was to bump it to over 600 at less boost with head and cam work.