Free Raffle Car - Q45-2020 Challenge

Cut the very top of the strut off and measure the inside diameter.  I am almost positive that you can make a bilstein insert work.

In reply to Patrick :

Ok here is my issue and why I think we want to do a front end swap.

1. We are going to be changing the weight and balance of the car significantly over any stock configuration, by removing sheet metal and moving the engine back.

2. Even if I can find a strut that will work physically in the tube, how do I find one that is going to be valved for the spring I will need? My plan is to reweigh the car after most construction is finished to determine the proper spring rates for the car.

So here is our thought on solving this problem, yes it is a bit complicated but I think it is within our ability to fabricate.

Looking around you can buy used circle track shocks with a 9" stroke for very little money, the advantage here is they are racer rebuild able and re valvable so they can match the spring rates needed based on calculations. Even if it takes a couple of trys at getting valving correct only one set of parts will be on the car and on the budget so this should be affordable.

Now these shocks would be way too long to run in a C4 front suspension and they would be too long to run in the rear as well, so we want to build a bell crank suspension system for both the front and rear like this.

We can do this in the front because we are setting the engine behind the front cross member. so there is plenty of space that is normally taken up by engine. In the rear the plan is to replace the large fuel tank with a smaller one and have the shocks mounted just under the package tray area.

So yes this looks like a big project, and it is, but the guys want to tackle it so I think we should give it a try. Last year we were given the constructive critique that our build lacked innovation, and they were correct. This year I think the guys want to change that perspective and do something way outside the box.

Given the builds I have seen so far for this years challenge, it gonna be a tough crowd to stand out in.

In reply to Fladiver64 :

While your making space up front you could fill some of it with turbo and intercooler. Just saying. 

In reply to Stampie :

I think if we can get the final wieght down to 2800 lbs and 340 hp, should be enough for teen drivers.

The other problem is I can run the engine on MS but what about transmission? Might be a 2021 problem to solve.

Fladiver64 said:

 

I approve of this idea and I sell cars for $50 so they can later be raffled off for free. 

In reply to Fladiver64 :

Might want to double check but I believe that year is the only year that the engine can be run separate from the trans. I know it's the only year without canbus. 

Edit just a question but if you're moving the engine back and doing a custom front suspension, are you going to shorten the wheelbase also?

In reply to Stampie :

Possible a little, we looked at sectioning the car in the middle, but there is not much can be removed and have the floor line back up. we thought that the amount of work needed to section the car to make it shorter was not going to be practical for our skills. Working that out is how we came up with the engine set back scenario that would allow us to improve the balance of the car for less effort.

Mostly as a way to keep track of progress and to help that work ont he car a little every day mode.

Worked some more on labeling wire harness in engine bay, seams like this motor as two sensors for everything. A bit more to go but  need to take some more apart to ge to the connections..

I am trying to pull the wire harness out of the rest of the car as we will not be using anything but engine, trans and gauges. I started at the trunk and working forward. still trying to label things and take it apart at the connectors so that if something needs to get wired back in, there is a possibility of finding it in the wire harness. Got the harness split and cleared through the the back seat. Next challenge is the dash and main fuse panel.

Got some more work done on disassembly, most of the dash removed as well as much of the wiring. Trying to avoid cutting any wiring so I can thin the harness later.

Pile of parts removed is growing

Picked up a donor C4 today, we will be using the front suspension, wheels, steering column and maybe seats. Total purchase price was $350, so I think we should be able to get that out of the rear suspension and other misc parts for a $0 budget hit.

Add

Trailer pick coming home

Someone tried a great hack job of putting a Mustang hood in the middle of a Corvette, makes you wonder what some people are thinking

What wheels are those?

Edit. IIRC the GRM hand model made some money off the headlights. 

In reply to Stampie :

I think they are off a Pontiac Firebird, might not be the final choice but it gives us something to work with.

Maybe you've already thought about this before, but why not just put the Infiniti V8 in that Vette?

maschinenbau said:

Maybe you've already thought about this before, but why not just put the Infiniti V8 in that Vette?

Oh,  I like that idea !

Indy-Guy said:

maschinenbau said:

Maybe you've already thought about this before, but why not just put the Infiniti V8 in that Vette?

Oh,  I like that idea !

X3.

Even if you're going to rebody it, start with the Corvette architecture. Much better than reengineering everything.

Robbie said:

Indy-Guy said:

maschinenbau said:

Maybe you've already thought about this before, but why not just put the Infiniti V8 in that Vette?

Oh,  I like that idea !

X3.

Even if you're going to rebody it, start with the Corvette architecture. Much better than reengineering everything.

I think the biggest issue is making it fit, the VK45DE is much wider than the SBC that lives in the engine bay and the 5 speed auto transmission is much larger that the 700r4. I am sure it could be made to work but then that brings us to some other reasons for not doing an engine swap.

When we talked about swapping the engien into another car, the guys really felt like they wanted to do something with the Q45 other than steal the engine out of it. In addtion they want to build somehting that has more inovation, because last year we were told a simple engine swap was not enough. 

I challenged them to think big and outside the box and I think they have. So even though this is not the simplest, easiest, smartest way to proceed with this project, I would like to see the guys rise to the challenge and see what they can acompllish. For me the challenge of the build and seeing the boys willing to stretch beyond what they think they can do is more important than what place we come in at the challenge. 

We still have the MR2 and will be bringing that back to the challenge as well so they will have at least one car to compete with if we cant finish this one. 

I thought several people had told me the 2002 q45 was unique in that it did not have a canbus interface that required everything to talk to each other. In looking over the wiring diagrams there is a canbus line that goes through the ecu, tcu, bcu, gauge cluster, nav screen, etc. Now the wiring I have is for 2002 to 2006 but there is no note on the 2002 being different. Where did you come by this information?

Trying to plan my strategy of rewiring the car but eliminating much of the harness as possible. If I have to keep the canbus and all of the modules it connects to then the project becomes a bit more difficult. Any knowledge or if you can point me to some resource would be appreciated.

In reply to Fladiver64 :

I know that I've said it. Best I can recall I asked Andy about the car and did a little research. Couple of weeks later Paul posted a thread asking about that particular engine. I said oh E36 M3 Paul might buy it before me so I called Andy and did the deal. I'm sure I learned that in my research during those couple of weeks. I can't find it now so I'm going to see if I can find Paul's thread. 

Here's that thread. Nothing about canbus. 

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/decoupling-a-q45-from-its-tether/110514/page1/

More disassemble today, the Q gave up her engine, but not without a bit of a fight. One of the motor mount nuts rounded over instead of braking loose so we had to unbolt from block, but the top bolts are very hard to get too, they just don't allow enough room for a socket.

Boys working on finally getting it out

Finally clear.

I want to see the head gasket. Did you find it which side or are you guys just going to do both?

In reply to Stampie :

We are going to do both, and I will have the heads milled flat. Engine disassembly will be a couple of weeks out as my engine stand is currently occupied b the V6 for the mr2. We are going to try and get that put in this weekend but that may get pushed off due time. Sammy's Eagle Scout court of Honor is Saturday so we will all be there for that.

Got home a little early from a trip to Miami, so Brandon and I finished pulling the front suspension and cleaned up the firewall.

Now we have to think about where to cut to move the firewall.  Two options as I see it:

Cut the whole firewall and trans tunnel out, move back to new location and weld back in. Can get a bit tricky where the front sub frame is attached to firewall ut could probably drill out the spot welds and then weld a plate back in the space that used to be taken up by firewall.

Option 2 cut a hole in firewall and trans tunnel, just big enough to slide the engine back . Then build a new dog house to cover the engine and  connect back to stock firewall. This would have to be made removable to service the engine.

More study is needed to choice the right path.

Do you want to keep the stuff on the firewall? Like pedal mounts and brake booster and steering column stuff? Moving the whole thing back might be the right option if so. I think building a removeable doghouse will be much faster and easier though.

Are you keeping it front engine? Maybe you can move the engine back far enough that the driver could sit in the stockish location in front of the motor?

The transmission is too long to make it rear engine. Part of me wants to keep the firewall for brake and steering mounts, but then I'm not sure those locations will work for new driving position and part location.

I might lean toward cutting a hole in the firewall for engine to go through. Then decide on either building a dog house or a replacement firewall.