Monday, June 13, 2016

Speed: The Supra

Well, I'm going to miss this beast. Probably going to sell it this Saturday for a song. I was so pumped when I bought it, thinking that buying a nearly finished project would get finished faster than my earlier self -build projects (power steering delete, aluminum driveshaft, weight cut, on a JDM 1JZ Supra for example). But it's been modded enough that the few 'little' things it needs to be perfect are still more than I want to spend. At least on a car.

The idea is that the piddly amount I'm selling it for (under half what I bought it for, ugh...) will go towards most of a bench-top CNC milling machine. And that will be back to the Time aspect of the blog.

The problem with project cars in a place like GVRD is the cost of space to work on them, plus the added cost of larger industrial equipment. Those issues are one reason I veered off to Horology, as bad as I want to make a Locost 7 with a North-South aligned Yamaha 3.4L 60° V8, twin turbocharged power plant. And I have the knowledge base to make it grip, respond, and balance. Motion ratios, damping curves, weight transfer, suspension frequency, camber curves, etc... all down. Just nowhere to apply it. Funding limited.

Oh well, I'm working on the black arts of Horology now. And if I can sort out damping curves and acoustic header/exhaust tuning, I should be able to wrap my head around amplitudes and beat errors.

10 comments:

Andrew said...

Oh no you're selling it?

Re the Locost, can that V8 even make much hp? It's got short stroke and is very light, but the stock hp isn't promising.

Dimman said...

The cams are bad on the motor (hollow shafts with the lobes swaged on) but the oversquare, short stroke, compact, light design makes up for it. Plus nothing a couple turbos can't fix. Pretty much anything can make power if you know what you're doing, so long as the basics are covered.

Andrew said...

Are there no hard-to-fix reliability issues? I've seen 2 people who put 10k into modifying a 2ZZ (basically rebuilding the entire thing with aftermarket stuff) to develop 240hp at 9000rpm. One had his Ferrea valves snap off a few years ago, the other had his billet oil pump explode recently. That changed my mind about an engine having potential only for having a good rod and stroke length.

Dimman said...

The aftermarket parts were hardly the 2ZZ's fault, though. I thought it was the aluminum treatment of the cylinder walls and valve seats (was it some metal matrix ceramic thing?) that made the 2ZZ unfriendly to excessive work.

If I were to do a serious Locost with the end intent of a Yamaha V8, I'd just start with a Ford Duratec 2.5 V6 out of an old Contour. Yammy is basically just this with 2 extra cylinders added on. It'd be a cheap prototype. Any headwork, boost limits, fueling, etc.. would transfer over. I'd also need it to sort out transmission, bellhousing, and oil pan stuff for turning it from transverse to longitudinal anyways.

The Locost even with a twin turbo Duratec V6 would still be pretty awesome. The V8 would be to be different just as much as any power gains.

British maker Noble used to use a twin turbo 3.0L Duratec V6 in one of their cars, rated at 365 crank hp. I think.

But unfortunately this really is not only a fantasy at the moment, but a retired fantasy.

Are you from FT86Club.com, btw? The Andrew something from up Northern BC (Ft St. John?) who had a 2ZZ Matrix XRS, or Serialk11r, or Exage (2ZZ Corolla)?

Andrew said...

The reason for the aftermarket parts is that the 2ZZ's stock valves break off at the notch, but the aftermarket ones did too, and the valve guides aren't very durable either I think. Cylinder walls were MMC which would get some scoring, but I don't think it would really cause problems for a really long time (there's direct oil jets to the pistons so the lubrication and cooling is pretty good). The shortblock was pretty good oil pump aside, but the valvetrain seemed to have trouble, certainly not as robust as Honda engines.

If I did a Locost I would do the Miatabusa swap when they finally have it for sale.

An Eaton TVS would be a nice addition if 190hp doesn't suit my taste :) I think you can figure out who I am on ft86club with that statement.

Dimman said...

Serial it is, then. Found this from Watchuseek?

In all honesty I've been focusing on learning the watch details lately. I've found a precision laser cutter that I may make some test cuts and engravings in the upcoming weeks. The car stuff just eats up too much space. And space is a lot money here. (Probably worse for your part of Cali, too.)

The 60° V8 idea was more about uniqueness. But given the Duratec family block's bore limits it can be bored out to a 4.0L V8 (based on Duratec 2.5L to 3.0 difference) with a short stroke, which says 'All the NA RPMS!!!' to me. It also has the dual intake runner/rpm dependant second butterflies for intake velocity control. It would need a lot of custom work, but would probably be awesome. And waaaay too expensive for the results. ('Dude, why didn't you just put an LSx in it???')

Oh well...

Andrew said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Andrew said...

I was curious what you were up to so I searched "Dimman" on google actually.

Yea I gave up on the 1NZ idea because it would need a transmission rebuild, a custom fabricated intake manifold, separate belt drive with supercharger, and close to 5 figures invested in the engine, for 20 pounds of weight savings, and I don't even get piston oil jets like the 2ZZ has. A 2NR would be nice if I could somehow source one, but that would need a custom adapter plate and much more fabrication.

I'm itching to pull the trigger on a 2ZZ swapped Spyder because it's just so much bang for the buck, and it doesn't depreciate like this dumb FR-S does. The one thing that's stopping me is that I don't know if I can get a custom hardtop made. I'd like one with a "tunnel" and recessed window, so I wouldn't end up constantly having to polish the rear window, which I would be doing with the VIS top, and the OEM top is just way too much money.

Dimman said...

I've been doing more manufacturing research, and I can think of a way to do a custom hardtop, but space and money limits. As usual.

My Supra's hood (still got it, guy sorta flaked) was made by my buddy, using the original as a plug for a mold. You would need to make your plug first. I was thinking about doing it by plotting out some full size templates in paper then hot wire cutting them out of foam. So you'd need a 3d model, then slice it into pieces the thickness of the foam, cut the foam sections out, then glue them all together and sand the steps out of the finished piece until smooth. Seal with epoxy, sand, wax, and use it to make a mold.

Or do something sturdier by getting sections r
CNC routed out of plywood (probably not cheap, and more sanding work, but would be a pretty durable plug.)

Andrew said...

Yep, it's a money thing. This old guy on Spyderchat made his own hardtop 2 years ago, but he sold his car and the top, and only has molds, so he can't fit the pieces that attach the top to the car.

I definitely don't have the experience to do that kind of work. A 3d printer could probably produce the parts with a carbon fiber infused plastic, but I also have no experience with a 3d printer, and have no car to make measurements off of. The thing that mounts to the windshield would need to be made in multiple pieces too.

I'm trying to contact the guy in Thailand who makes the Lambo look-alike body kits, see if he has anything reasonably easy to install. I think he made a top that you have to remove part of the windshield frame and probably the front quarter panels to install, which is probably too difficult.