Gasser HotRod Forums banner

Ethyl Roars

89K views 554 replies 19 participants last post by  wrp 
#1 · (Edited)
Ethyl is a 2004 GTO I bought her new in November 2004. We put 95,000 miles on her with 80,000 of them being at 450+ rwhp. In May 09 we decided to go completely through it. First off the original LS1 running heads and cam for 85,000 miles only required honing, cam bearings, and rings and is back in another GTO making nearly 500 rwhp with forged internals, heads, and cam. In our build we initially started to put a 91 mm Borg Warner Turbo on but switched to a PD twin Helix Harrop HVT2300 supercharger. After getting it together we decided to go with the 4.0 Liter Whipple to see how far we could take the Texas Speed and Power built 408 LQ9 Engine.



The engine. We started with a LQ9 Iron Block built by Texas Speed. It has Diamond Pistons, Eagle Rods, and an Eagle Forged Crank. The entire rotating assembly is coated and the pistons are a -28cc dish. We put ETP 245 heads on the car and retained the 1 7/8 inch Kooks Headers.



Fabrication. We relocated the ECM to inside the drivers compartment and fabricated a coil pack relocation scheme with some modified GM Performance Valve Covers to clean up the appearance. We fabricated a reservoir with a front mounted heat exchanger. We fabricated the intake for the supercharger and the brace for the snout pulley,





Forced Induction. We started out intending to put a Borg Warner 91 mm Turbo on it but went with a Harrop HVT2300. Our goal was 20 lbs of boost since the engine was built to go to 1500 HP. The Harrop maxed out around 18 lbs so we went with the Whipple Sand Rail 4.0 Liter Supercharger Kit. That Supercharger is a beast. We have seen 19 lbs of boost on the engine on the Serpentine belts with the OEM pulleys. We also replaced the 2004 GTO radiator with a 2005 Radiator to eliminate the large fender mounted catch can.



Cooling Includes an 05 GTO radiator and a Moroso remote mounted electric water pump. We used an aftermarket heat exchanger off a Cobra and a Moroso Heat Exchanger Reservoir which is trunk Mounted. We wired three fans behind the heat exchanger to pull air through them. A Flex-Cool low profile fan completed the setup.



Cog Drive. The Serpentine belts could not hold so we added a custom foabricated cog drive using Procharger and some custom designed and fabricated parts. We had to work through a serise of issues including the snout not holding up to the demands. We designed and fabricated a unique cradle for the snout and top sprocket. Once we were with the cog drive it became apparent the 80 lbs Siemns injectors could not keep up. Also the IAT's were high and the car did not respond well to meth. We installed Bosch/ID 2000 cc injectors and converted the car to E85. We've been able to consistently hold the car at 23 lbs of boost though the Aeromotive A1000 is max'd out. The current setup is a fuill return system using a combination of Aeromotive and custom fabricated parts.



Transmission. We could not get a T56 to stay together so we had RPM transmissions build a T56 Magnum with a GForce 9310 dog cut gear set, micropolished by Liberty Gears. The setup was awesome and scheduled be installed with a Monster Triple Disk clutch. Unfortunately the Transmission took so long to deliver we had already gone to FTI for a Stage 5 TH400 by the time it arrived. Reluctantly we dissassembled the T56 Magnum and sold the parts for scrap. We have the TH400 in now.





Drivetrain. We overpowered the OEM drivetrain so We turned our attention to GForce1320's 9 inch Ford IRS. We are using a Wavetrac 35 spline differential with 200 mm GForce axles. The car has tubs, and a GForce1320 coil over kit, We will be running 14.5 inch slicks on 15 by 10 Holeshot Rims with 15 by 4 inch skinnies on the front. Currently have MT ET DRs, 295 by 55 by 15s on it.



Finishing touches. SNL put a Kook's afterburner 3" exhaust on the car. We added a FireCharger fire suppression system and Prosport AFR/Boost gauges. We've installed an RPM Rollbar and B&M Quicksilver Shifter. We also installed a 100 shot on top of everything as it seems to help IAT's a bit. We have a shop standing by to do the hood when we get everything else finished.

Suspension. Lovell's suspension components from Kollar Racing will replace every component in the suspension with new bushings, and fittings. We are also going to the Lovell's 90/10 struts as the car will work mostly on the strip once completed. We still need to complete the hood, add the Roll Cage, and completely repaint the body to finish the build.

Here she is putting down 969/1110 on the dyno with a failing clutch



A few more pulls with the serpentine belt



Prolly my favorite pulls



Any constraints on activities posted?
 
See less See more
3 10
#5 ·
Some more shots from the build

Fuel System



We modified the bucket





Damned Injectors cost more than some cars



But they sure are pretty



Aeromotive Regulator and A1000 Pump



Bottle in the trunk


We used a Ford Solenoid when we relocated the battery to the trunk



There comes a time when you realize you just totaled the car









 
#6 ·
Wow, this is a pretty amazing build. I am having impure thoughts about that engine/trans setup! :eek: If I had access to something like that I might be forced to rethink my stubborn "old school" ways! great job so far, I look forward to seeing more.
 
#7 ·
The LS series engines are just great. I may have never owned one, just newer Ford Mod motors, but the design just works. Who would think a 5.7 liter engine could pull down almost 30mpg in a vette and 430hp?

The build is great. There is actually a lot that can be learned for our older cars in the setups.
 
#8 ·
+1 I have a post about the Tennessee Boweevil and Ray Godman's cars elsewhere. Preston Davis the motor builder wants me to run Nitro but of course he has a bottle of nitro on his supper table next to the Louisiana Hot Sauce. Preston recently worked a late model Procharger onto a 350 Chevy engine in a rear engine dragster. They could not use the modern EFI as they ran in the nostalgia class at Beech Bend so Preston worked the Hilborn system in. The ran 7.20 @ 194
 
#11 ·
Was that my "brother's house" you just went past????

You know..... the one who told me the WRONG NAME of your GTO...... L o L

Thanks for the pics & videos.

Hope to see the Goat on our next trip to Plano.
 
#13 ·
Now I understand..... I was confused.

I have met "Dorothy" before!!!! My brother had her at a pool party when we were visiting. Hardly recognize her "all-dressed-up!!! Ha!!!!

What a "wild" threesome that is!!!!! L o L
 
#16 ·
Put in the drivers side harness today, well mostly, still have to work on the mounting on the right side of the car. We also got the fuel pump filters right. Thanks to RUQWIKR on LS1GTO for pointing out the fire suppression bottles need to be horizontal to function properly. That will be my next project.

 
#18 · (Edited)
To be honest I have had two goals; 8 second timeslip, and a 200 mph+ standing mile pass. I initially bought the car as a daily driver that I intended to destroy commuting 70 miles a day to work. I noticed the son in laws began to bring the grandkids over so we all went to the drag strip one night. Let them drive it, got to see the grandkids more. One night coming home from the track a guy in an older, pre termi Cobra pulled up beside me. The boys were following in a chase truck. When it was over, I was re-hooked. We put nearly 90,000 miles on the car 1/4 mile at a time. Eventually they got scared of me and the car and I was standing there one day drinking a beer with a friend that owns a shop here. With piston walls so glazed you could see your face in them the car still made 430 to the wheels on the stock LS1. My friend told me TSP had a built 408 they were trying to unload. It had been put together for a professional team, built for boost beyond the typical specs these kids run out and buy as crate engines. I looked at Steve and told him to "hold my beer and watch this."



We started with a 94 mm Turbo but I didn't want to cut the car up so we next went to a Harrop 2300 SC. Ran that a while but the belt slippage presented a brick wall at 800 whp, about half of what the motor was built to go to. We found a Whipple sand rail kit out in California, Steve looked at me and I looked at Steve and told him "hold my beer and watch this." Up to this point my real objective had been to get the car put together and go out to embarrass people with expensive cars. First few times out with the Whipple scared me, in that video you can hear the noise when the front wheels reconnect. I was cruising by a really exotic car one day, looking at him and looking a mile down the road and realized 60-120 was less than 2 seconds away...too much so I waved him off.

This car is a back half and serious weight reduction away from being a pro mod. I figure if I can make 1 or both of those two goals I can entice someone with a true gasser or a well mannered hot rod/classic car to trade. I'd really like a tri-five, 32-40 Ford Coupe, or for a classic, a 64-66 GTO. I guess if the truth were known, right now I am having more fun solving problems on the build than I did street racing it. Sorry for the rambling answer.

This was among the first videos when I just made my camera mount.



Then one night, this happened, it was like Karma



Which led to this



Then this



Every since this video I always wanted to ask a guy in a Bugatti Veyron why he was so down on power. It was hella fun to line up against him. I believe this is the one that later ran off into the bay down in Houston



Then my dream cars





This one is for you

 
#19 ·
Thanks, here are some shots of the car running. Matt was keeping it out of boost until he cen get the driveability sorted out.



Got Ethyl out for street tuning yesterday. She decided to show us who was boss and proceeded to kill the entire Alliance Air Show and Goodguys car show. All Matt and I had to do was get her to the right intersection at the right time. On the up side, we heard some cool insults, some of which are anatomically interesting though most likely impossible. Saw several vintage firearms and a couple of nickel plated Saturday night specials. I'd estimate we had 10,000 cars blocked for about 10 minutes. Once her point was made she fired right up and continued on the 60 mile journey home. Enjoy the video, the reason for the grey was I had ducked a 22 caliber pistol shot and dropped the phone on the seat camera side down. A couple of people from the Goodguys show followed us over to the nearest lot to tell us she sounded good. Three bikers came over to whip our ass.

 
#20 ·
Sorry I have been gone so long but we have actually done a lot to the car. We lost the 402 and the Whipple and replaced them with a Twin Turbo 430 Ci LSx.. The turbos are Precision 6266s which Reed Partridge at Work Turbochargers. We had a fire last October that burned the engine wiring harness. It has all been replaced now and we got the car out to the track on the 13th. Initial passes were traction plagued as the car now puts 1256/1504 to the rear wheels. We've added a Leashg II boost controller with Co2 activator and much of the weekend was spent trying to dial that in. The suspension needs a lot of work though and we have the car apart right now doing that. Also once we got into the low 9s and mid 150 traps we figure we need to upgrade the roll cage from its 10.00 cert. Anyhow we will be back to the track before too much longer and hope to be in the 8s pretty solidly.Enjoy the vids.



This pass was 9.29 @ 154.25
 
#23 ·
How about a ride.... ???? Will be in Plano for a wedding in a couple of weeks.

Staying at my brother's house (JOE - with the RED last-gen Supercharged GTO)
 
#24 ·
We are working off a gig list from the shakedown. Right now the heads are out being freshened up and the suspension is undergoing a pretty major tightening up. Hopefully she will be on the road when you are here, If so you bet on the ride :) On a different note, while analyzing the videos I found one run with a 1.55 60' which isn't that great but right at the end of the 60' the boost controller fired up and when 1200+ rwhp hit the car it slewed sideways out of the groove. Reviewing the video, it looks to me like the car lifted both front wheels around the 50-100' mark then slewed sideways when the driver lifted. Basing the guess on wheels lifting on the appearance of the shadow on the passenger side tire in 1-3 then the disappearance of said shadow in the next 2-3 frames, then reappearance in the remaining frames. No big deal if you don't think I am right but I thought it was fun anyhow. Keep in mind with the 10.7 he lifted completely, coasted back into the groove then ran it on out.



















Blow up of frame 5

 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top