Robbie said:EvanB said:My plan: Opel Kadett Wagon (1800ish lbs), engine TBD, look cool and be slow.
If you keep it 1800 lbs and running you won't be THAT slow with even a really small engine. I thought you were planning bike power?
That's the plan if I can find a suitable donor that fits in the budget.
In reply to EvanB :
Suzuki is the answer. There was a busa powered bike at the challenge 2017, and I've bought 3 1000s (01,02,03,04 range) for between $150, $300, and $420, with varying levels of other stuff and brokenness. The $300 one had trashed internals but came with a wiring harness and ecu, etc. I'd sell you one of mine but I still need to test two of them to make sure they are both ok. Even the almost 20 year old literbikes make 165 HP.
Interestingly enough, I find ebay to have the best deals on motorcycle stuff. (My $150 motor was an auction that listed 'absolutely no shipping' so I won it at $20!!! No one else even bid. A fellow grmer agreed to go pick it up and ship it back to me at a cost of about $130).
In reply to Robbie :
Maybe I should start looking for that. I have been trying to find a complete bike to part out after taking the engine but haven't had much luck.
Im suprised down south no one ended up with a cheap foxbody wagon. Can find them factory v8 powered, the suspension works on a dragstrip really easy and you can get them under 3k lbs fairly easily. The mustang aftermarket is everywere. (Disclaimer, i have no idea how to make a car turn well)
Another route could be ghetto-cet an LT1 Roadmaster or Caprice Estate. Mine went 15.5s at 4,440 lbs. At 3,300 lbs that's a 13 second car. It would have to be gutted to hell though. Basically just skin on a frame.
maschinenbau said:Another route could be ghetto-cet an LT1 Roadmaster or Caprice Estate. Mine went 15.5s at 4,440 lbs. At 3,300 lbs that's a 13 second car. It would have to be gutted to hell though. Basically just skin on a frame.
And even if it’s a pre lt1 engine that frame can take everything to a big block in it.
I'd personally go with a 305 swapped E36 wagon.
Gut it and you're golden.
I personally love this lingenelter oldsmobile wagon 
FuzzWuzzy said:I'd personally go with a 305 swapped E36 wagon.
Gut it and you're golden.
Where-o-where do you find an e36 wagon in the US? Did you mean e34?
EvanB said:In reply to Robbie :
Maybe I should start looking for that. I have been trying to find a complete bike to part out after taking the engine but haven't had much luck.
I have not found motorcycles to be like cars. The individual parts seem to be stupid cheap, but the complete bikes seem more expensive than they should be. At least in the literbike-and-up world. Stuff like plastics, grips, levers (hand and foot), mirrors, and frames (with titles) are the expensive parts of bikes. Good for recoup, but means bikes with all of that intact already are expensive.
Also, if you can get away with a lower-powered gsxr 750 motor, those are 'pick em up off the curb' cheap because the hot mod for a 750 is to swap in a 1000 motor.
I could strip the plastic panels off a Saturn wagon and turn last year's Miata Challenge car into a shooting brake. If a Miata can win the pickup truck class it can win the wagon class,too !!
In reply to DeadSkunk :
That thought has crossed my mind as well.
Robbie said:EvanB said:In reply to Robbie :
Maybe I should start looking for that. I have been trying to find a complete bike to part out after taking the engine but haven't had much luck.
I have not found motorcycles to be like cars. The individual parts seem to be stupid cheap, but the complete bikes seem more expensive than they should be. At least in the literbike-and-up world. Stuff like plastics, grips, levers (hand and foot), mirrors, and frames (with titles) are the expensive parts of bikes. Good for recoup, but means bikes with all of that intact already are expensive.
Also, if you can get away with a lower-powered gsxr 750 motor, those are 'pick em up off the curb' cheap because the hot mod for a 750 is to swap in a 1000 motor.
I have found some promising candidates on IAAI, now to see what the bidding goes for.
Hornet Sportabout and whatever V8/trans combo you feel like? I'm seeing weights for automatic trans, inline six Sportabouts running under 3100 pounds, stock. Like 3050 for a mid-70's model.
OP, that build is doable, but on the LL0 you will only see around 140whp with that work. In your theoretically ~2100lb wagon, that'll get you to low 14s maybe?
I still think the answer is to ecotec swap one. LE5 should get you into the 13s, maybe 12s. LSJ even faster.
That said, people have done very low budget turbos on the LL0 before. 220-240whp would be plenty in a car that light.
For suspension, get discarded coilovers from a Subaru and redrill the tophats to make them work on the Saturn. Weld something to the rear swaybar to stiffen it.
Mod a set of front fenders so you can fit 15x9 275 hoosiers for the autox. Run 15x8 or 9 225 in the rear.
Pinto wagon were as low as 2283lbs.
ProDarwin said:OP, that build is doable, but on the LL0 you will only see around 140whp with that work. In your theoretically ~2100lb wagon, that'll get you to low 14s maybe?
I still think the answer is to ecotec swap one. LE5 should get you into the 13s, maybe 12s. LSJ even faster.
That said, people have done very low budget turbos on the LL0 before. 220-240whp would be plenty in a car that light.
For suspension, get discarded coilovers from a Subaru and redrill the tophats to make them work on the Saturn. Weld something to the rear swaybar to stiffen it.
Mod a set of front fenders so you can fit 15x9 275 hoosiers for the autox. Run 15x8 or 9 225 in the rear.
Is the ecotec a bolt in affair?
Not at all, but some people have done it. It seems well within the realm of a normal GRM challenge swap. Basically you adapt a Ion/Cobalt cradle to fit the front of the S series. Then you make an adapter bracket for the upper engine mounts.
As a bonus you get the Ion/cobalt front hubs (better), the LCA (better), and of course the ecotec and its tuning options (better).
For year one a bolt on LL0 might be fun. I forgot you had mentioned nitrous though. Not sure how cheap you can get that, but I'm sure you can make a pretty solid drag pass with that.
I wish I had a good wagon around (and more importantly teammates interested in building this). I kinda want to build this car.
Robbie said:Also, if you can get away with a lower-powered gsxr 750 motor, those are 'pick em up off the curb' cheap because the hot mod for a 750 is to swap in a 1000 motor.
Since they are curb side trash may as well have one 750cc motor for each wheel. Should be fun figuring out the throttle control. :P
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