Best Car Engines of SEMA – Car Show Roundup

Roundup of Best Engines of the 2010 SEMA Car Show in Las Vegas:

SEMA Engine: Twin Turbo Viper: The most outrageous racing Viper in the K&N booth at SEMA 2010

SEMA Engine: Fuel Injected LS Chevelle: Unique Stand-up Hilborn Injection on an LS Motor at SEMA 2010

SEMA Engine: Ford DOHC 4.6L in a beautiful custom Fastback Mustang: Every Detail NAILED Perfectly on this Mustang at SEMA 2010

SEMA Engine:  SEMAPure Vision built Boss 502 Fastback Mustang: The cleanest execution of a Boss Mustang Fastback ever at SEMA 2010

SEMA Engine: Blown and Fuel Injected Front Engine Dragster: Time for some nostaglia drag racing at SEMA 2010

Not a SEMA Engine, but hot enough to show off in this roundup: Best Hot Rod engines at the LA Roadster Show: Hot Rod Roadsters all polished up: Here’s the best!

Graceful yet Powerful Fastback Mustang at SEMA 2010

SEMA Car Show – Our Favorite Muscle Car Engines

Feast your eyes on a little on cubes 4.6L DOHC Ford modular motor that’s long on horsepower. The valve covers read “720 HP”. What looks like a Kenne Bell supercharger rests on top of another super clean, not-a-wire-outa-place layout that totally makes the engine bay for me. That’s the detail you’ll find at the SEMA Las Vegas Car Show.

Outside the convention halls, I spotted this slick custom Mustang Fastback. Maybe some can say if it’s a 1967 or 1968 Mustang. It’s got the 68 side scoops, but doesn’t have the side marker lights of 68. I could see those shaved off for this car, but I’d also say the 67 side scoops aren’t as attractive as the 68′s. So in the best of both worlds custom car scenario, let’s call this a 1967.5 Mustang Fastback!

I’d like to tell you more about this car, but unlike most cars at the SEMA show, there was no show card and I didn’t notice any sponsor stickers. Clean execution all the way! (too clean?)  Too busy trying to get the best coverage online, I didn’t hang out to talk with anyone with the car.

So if you have any more info about this car, or just want to give a “thumbs up!” please leave a comment below.

Best Engines from SEMA Las Vegas 2010 – Anvil Mustang

SEMA Car Show – Our Favorite Muscle Car Engines

Steve Strope from Pure Vision built this subtle but nasty 1969 Mustang Fastback with a Boss 502 stretched to 521 cubes and a mind blowing 805 ponies on pump gas. The motor is an all aluminum Boss 9 built by Jon Kaase Racing Engines. Kaase took the original Boss 429 head design and improved on it. Bolt it to a Ford 460 and have some fun! Couple the unmistakable Ford Boss looks with the ultra-clean under hood layout that’s sitting completely under the Mustang’s hood and it’s no wonder it’s a favorite engine at MyRideisMe.com.

Learn more about the Boss 9 head design from the Kaase “Boss 9″ page.

Built for Anvil, makers of Camaro and Mustang carbon fiber body panels, this new Boss Mustang Fastback should be as fast as it is beautiful. Congratulations to the Pure Vision Crew and Anvil on a great new ride!

The crew at Pure Vision did a great job documenting the build of the Anvil Mustang.  I’ll start with the video of the the engine, then step back to the intro of the car. Enjoy!

Anvil Mustang Video #2 – Kaase Boss 9

Back up to the intro:

Anvil Mustang Video #1 – Intro

Anvil Mustang Video #3 – Widened Rear Quarters

Anvil Mustang Video #4 – Electric Power Steering

Anvil Mustang Video #5 Mick’s Paint 1

Anvil Mustang Video #6 Mick’s Paint 2

Mustang Rear Gear Swap Part 2: The Install

So, if you missed Part 1, The Tear Down, read that first, then come back for this, Part 2: The Install.  So, at the end of Part 1, we had removed the old ring and pinion.   Now we’re ready to install the Ford Racing 3.73 ring and pinion gear set from AmericanMuscle.com.

First, I wanted to show you what the Ford Racing 3.73 Gear Set comes with.  Ring gear, check.  Pinion gear check.  Crush sleeve, nut and shims, check, check and check.  But remember, its SUPER DUPER HIGHLY recommended that you ditch this crush sleeve and get yourself the Shim Spacer Pack for easier preload setup.  You’ll thank yourself later, trust me.

OK with Ford OEM/Racing gears i have found that they are pretty much ground on the same centerlines. So if you measure the pinion and shim after you’ve removed the pinion bearing and match the length to your new gears by adding the correct shim to equal the first measurement, you will be very close.  Now that being said, I always have to check the gear pattern and add or subtract shims to get the gear pattern correct. it is recomended to change the shim in .003″ increments. I ended up with a .027 ” shim.  I started with a .024″ shim.

If the gear pattern is “heavy” on the toe side of the gear (contact on the inside of ring gear) you need to add shim. If it is “heavy” toward the outside edge (heel of gear) you need to remove some thickness of the shim.  Now this is where having the pinion preload shim and spacer kit really makes life easy.  Crushing the the crush sleeve is a major gig and really takes a torque multiplier to do the job right and a serious bar tool with a flange to hold the pinion drive flange.  Check out my homemade tool shown in the picture below.  As you change the pinion shim you need to add or subtract from the preload shim pack to compensate for the pinion shim, as it will change the preload on the pinion bearing. 

These Ford Racing 3.73 gears have a lightened ring gear that should decrease 60ft times due to less rotating mass.

So, now you will install the pinion gear with the pinion preload shim pack and spacer.   Tighten to 125 ft lbs.  Again, check out the homemade cheater bar that comes in handy (this is the 5th gear set for this Mustang, its had 3.08′s, 3.55′s, 3.90′s, 4.10′s and now the 3.73′s.  Not much else to try.  haha).

Once you have the shim pack dialed in, set the preload to 25 in-lbs for new bearings or 18 in-lbs for used bearings.  Dig the big ‘n’ little wheel/tire setups in the background.  Also peep the stock mufflers.  Connected to an off-road H pipe there aren’t many automotive sounds that are more music to my ears!

Next you’ll bolt the gear onto the diff and torque ‘em down.  Torque value depends on bolts you’re using.  These are ARPs.  They’re around 50-60 ft-lbs.

Install the diff ring gear, put the shims back in.  It should have a tight fit preload.

Next step is to install the right shim. 

Then you can put the caps back on and torque them to 75 ft-lbs.

Measure and adjust the side shims to achieve a backlash clearance of .008″ to .012″.

Install the axle and re-install the C-clip.  Push the axle out to seat it.

 

Here the axle is seated with the C-clip and you’re ready to install spider gear drive pin.

There’s the drive pin.  Simply line it up with the hole in the diff.

Fasten the bolt and tighten down.  Now you’re ready to replace the diff cover.  Dont forget the gear oil!

Not a great picture here with the flash, but this was to show you the gear pattern on the drive side.

And this is the gear pattern on the drive side again.  Use gear marking compound.  Yellow works better!

Well, there you have it.  Please ask questions or make comments below.  Thanks to my pops for supplying the Mustang, tools, pictures and commentary, oh ya, and the wrenching.  Nice work!  Pops might not know how to work a camera too good, but he sure knows his way around the garage.  Even if people don’t wanna venture into doing a gear swap themselves, this gives you a good idea of what goes on when doing a rear gear swap. 

Thanks to AmericanMuscle as well for sponsoring this How-To feature.

Hechtspeed

 

67 Camaro ‘Sweet ‘n’ Low’ and Covered in Candy

Steve McDonough’s  ”67 Camaro

Pics by Chuck Vranas
Words by Keith Harman

Steve McDonough, an electrician from Pembroke, Massachusetts, had the right idea when he contacted his local hot rod shop, Competition Specialties (www.competition-specialties.com) in Walpole, near Boston, about carrying out some work on his Chevy Camaro. Originally, Steve approached C.S. owner Peter Newell, about simply laying some flames on the car once a friend had painted it, but that plan was soon to change however, once he saw just what Competition Specialties were all about.

Peter formed the company over ten years ago and since then through quality construction, fabrication and paintwork, it is now regarded as one of the top specialist car builders in the North Eastern USA, with many show winning cars to its name. After a few ideas were discussed between Steve and Peter, it was decided to turn the old Camaro into a total show stopper, nothing was to be too good for this car, and all the stops were definitely going to be pulled out!

It’s difficult to know where to start when describing this car as so much has gone into it, but let’s start with the body as that is the most visual part. The brawny pony car lines of the Camaro’s bodywork have been cleaned up considerably by completely de-seaming the car and smoothing the bodywork, losing any unsightly lines that would distract the eye also including the removal of the standard drip rails on the roof.

Along the flanks, the stock door handles have been replaced with flush fitting C5 Corvette items, but more significantly, the wheel arch apertures have been cut out and relocated to make sure that the wheel sits dead center in the arch, something you might not realize but a subtle and cool aesthetic all the same.

Obviously the front grille has been swapped for a custom-made aluminum item that the headlamps, that have been moved forward, now shine through without problem, and beneath this, the bumper has been discarded and air vents in the smooth front valance duct cool air up thru custom fabricated pipes to the induction set-up.  Speaking of which, the chrome induction plenum and flamed air feed pipes surface through the opened-up custom hood, sinisterly hinting at what lies beneath.

At the back, the rear panel has been completely re-worked and is now a smooth flat panel with only the four Corvette C5 oval tail lights in evidence above a plain chrome bumper blade.

The incredible amount of workmanship that went into prepping the  body for paint extends to the underside and floor pan too where the whole lot was smoothed and filled to the same standard as the body while the body was suspended upside down on a rotisserie stand. This also made it possible for the floor pan to be channeled one inch for an even sneakier look, plus a custom cross member was fabricated to support the transmission.

Once all this hard graft was completed, Peter himself donned the suit and mask and proceeded to lay paint on the Camaro’s shell. A silver base coat went down first, followed by multiple coats of House of Kolor Kandy tangerine, a colour that really ‘pops’ in the sunlight, and along the way, Peter also laid down the flames in blue and purple ‘Chameleon’ paint, the licks changing hue depending on which angle the car is viewed from. But it wasn’t only the sides of the Camaro that got the flames that Steve had originally gone to Peter to ask for, you’ll notice from the pic’s that the induction air pipes to the engine also got the treatment, as did the steel ‘waterfall’ console between the rear seats. Oh, and the floor pan, yep, the complete floor pan is flamed from front to back underneath the car as well as under the rear wheel arches, you can see the pic’s on Peter’s website if you don’t believe us! Click on ‘Gallery’, and then ”67 Camaro’ and all will be revealed.

When it finally became time for the final re-assembly, once again, no stone was left unturned in sourcing the very best that the American aftermarket could offer. The front of the car received a Fatman Fabrications front sub-frame, complete with a Chris Alston manual steering rack and polished A-arms, Air Ride Shockwave air suspension system (also on the rear) plus Wilwood six-piston callipers on 13-inch front discs. DMC Racing supplied the custom built ladder bar rear suspension, Wilwood brakes also feature on the Strange 3.55 to 1 rear axle and all fuel and brake lines have been hidden within the frame.

Completing the frame and suspension details we come to the choice of wheels and tires, a critical detail that can make or break the look of a car. No worries of that nature here as the combination of 18 and 20-inch Billet Specialties ‘Rats Tail’ billet alloys fill the arches to capacity in fine style with Toyo Proxes 295/30 profile rubber bands on the rear and the same make in 225/40′s on the front.

Nothing less than a big-block Chevy motor was deemed good enough for this car, and it came in the shape of a 502ci Crate Motor, the block of which has been sanded smoothed and painted in matching tangerine candy, not that you can see much of it beneath the humongous Street and Performance chrome tunnel ram fuel injection system that dominates the fully detailed engine compartment. Street and Performance also supplied the stainless steel headers and full exhaust system under the car. The radiator is by Ron Francis and the transmission is a TCI Turbo 400 with a manual valve body and 3000 stall speed torque converter.

To produce an interior for this car that would be every bit as off the wall as the rest of the car was a challenge for sure, a few yards of crushed velvet and a chain link steering wheel just wouldn’t cut it here. Fortunately the plan for the interior had started at an early stage, while the shell was still on the jig, with a custom console being fabricated in steel that wrapped around the two separate bucket seats in the rear and extended down through the center of the car to meet the dash. Suffice to say, the console was also finished in Tangerine Candy, as is the way-cool ’59 Impala dashboard, now filled with Dakota Digital electronic instruments to blend old design and new technology together in one fell swoop. Incidentally, the screen in the centre of the upper console is an Icon TV Monitor system with full multimedia facility including Sat Nav and full internet access. Also housed here is the Alpine head unit,   that together with the Critical Mass amplifiers and woofers hidden beneath the molded panel in the boot kick out approximately 3700 watts of audio power.

The actual upholstery on the seats and doors etc was farmed out to Competition Specialties regular trim shop, Custom Creations who wrapped the custom bucket seats in a combination of leather and suede with stingray inserts to complete the outstanding interior finish.

It’s no surprise to learn that the Camaro has won almost too many awards to mention, and it places way up there everywhere it’s been shown, including the World of Wheels CASI cup, Goodguys Fab 5, as well as being twice featured at the annual SEMA show in Las Vegas. But don’t think this car is only ever trailered to events, Steve does drive it regularly and has covered over 15,000 miles in it since completion.

We bet that Mr McDonough has had a mile-wide smile on his face for just about every one of those miles too, the car is an incredible tribute to the talents of Peter and his team at Competition Specialties, and with the success of this car on the stateside show circuit, it probably won’t be the last we hear of these back East guys either!

Click on these pics to see full size.