TurboRay
Probationary Member
- 10
- 2
- Aug 11, 2019
-
Placerville,
California
Hey guys and gals.....I'm sure this (question at end of post) must've been asked before and I tried searching, but apparently I didn't enter the correct criteria in the search engine. I'm contemplating the construction of a very light street roadster - powered by a 4G63T and a PowerGlide - to compete in NHRA Super Gas.
I did it a long time ago (3 decades) with a 2500lb home-built BBC Vega, but nowadays the class seems to be primarily populated with $60K Suncoast Corvette Roadsters, $22K Shaffroff 1200-ish horsepower 632-in motors, $6K Mike's Transmission 'Glides, etc., etc., ad nausea.......
It just makes me wanna throw up every time I see coverage of Super Class racing on "dragracer.tv" or FS1, showing these $100K rigs (cars + towing) blasting off the line for 10ft and immediately stopping the throttle down.....only to "let it go" at about half track so they can fly past the finish line (and, hopefully, the competition) at 160+ mph.
Anyway, enough ranting! I'm convinced that I can build a very lightweight (1200lbs "minimum" for 4-cyl cars) fiberglass roadster or "Locost 7" with a turbocharged DSM, a "Bill's-Adapted" homebuilt Powerglide (Munroe P/G book) with a 7 or 8-in converter and an 8-in Ford diff.....that will run (are you sitting?) 9-flat, for less than $8K. I would just LUV to stir the pot at some of the nearby (NorCal) Lucas Oil divisional races by running right along side of the V-8 "big dawgs" with a 2.0L 4-cyl engine, ..
Anyway, one of the "keys" to doing such a cheap alternative-car is to use a stock-ish 1G or 2G J/Y 4G63T ($300 @ P-n-P) with a Holset HX35W that I already have, along with bigger inj's, ARP studs and an MS ECU. Sooooo.......after this long diatribe (SORRY), my question is ~ how much boost can the stock pistons, rods and crank take on E85 w/o "ventilating" the block?? Also, what head gasket holds up best.....MLS, copper, or ???. My always-accurate <rolleyes> Power-Speed calculator sez it "only" takes about 400hp to push a 1400lb car to an 8.75 ET with good traction! <eek> TIA!
I did it a long time ago (3 decades) with a 2500lb home-built BBC Vega, but nowadays the class seems to be primarily populated with $60K Suncoast Corvette Roadsters, $22K Shaffroff 1200-ish horsepower 632-in motors, $6K Mike's Transmission 'Glides, etc., etc., ad nausea.......
It just makes me wanna throw up every time I see coverage of Super Class racing on "dragracer.tv" or FS1, showing these $100K rigs (cars + towing) blasting off the line for 10ft and immediately stopping the throttle down.....only to "let it go" at about half track so they can fly past the finish line (and, hopefully, the competition) at 160+ mph.
Anyway, enough ranting! I'm convinced that I can build a very lightweight (1200lbs "minimum" for 4-cyl cars) fiberglass roadster or "Locost 7" with a turbocharged DSM, a "Bill's-Adapted" homebuilt Powerglide (Munroe P/G book) with a 7 or 8-in converter and an 8-in Ford diff.....that will run (are you sitting?) 9-flat, for less than $8K. I would just LUV to stir the pot at some of the nearby (NorCal) Lucas Oil divisional races by running right along side of the V-8 "big dawgs" with a 2.0L 4-cyl engine, ..
Anyway, one of the "keys" to doing such a cheap alternative-car is to use a stock-ish 1G or 2G J/Y 4G63T ($300 @ P-n-P) with a Holset HX35W that I already have, along with bigger inj's, ARP studs and an MS ECU. Sooooo.......after this long diatribe (SORRY), my question is ~ how much boost can the stock pistons, rods and crank take on E85 w/o "ventilating" the block?? Also, what head gasket holds up best.....MLS, copper, or ???. My always-accurate <rolleyes> Power-Speed calculator sez it "only" takes about 400hp to push a 1400lb car to an 8.75 ET with good traction! <eek> TIA!