Twin Turbo '66

[bbluma]

Howdy,

I just now found this racing part of the forum, and thought i would stop in and say Hi.

I just started working on my '66 that I call Lucky Sock.

Is torn down, and starting to build the goods after driving it for about 2 years as a daily, 5.7 vortec swap truck.

Will be a twin 61mm Turbo, Aluminum 5.3 LS and Th400 build. Going to be a alot of street driving, some track, and a few trips to mexico here and there for fun.

As of now, just finished up getting the LS built and done and this weekend will start getting it set in the truck and finalize position and get the trans mounted up as well. From there will start mounting turbos, piping intercooler, radiator, new fuel system and all that jazz. It should be an exciting truck.

[71Dragtruck]

Right on nice build should be a fun setup, keep us up to date on it.

[Ronzo]

Very cool.

[WorkinLonghorn]

I like it! (except for the part about taking that baby down to Mexico)

[Heavymetl]

Originally Posted by WorkinLonghorn

I like it! (except for the part about taking that baby down to Mexico)

I personally don't go to Mexico, too much risk with my career.

(Mexico is slang for "acceleration contests" on "public hard surfaces.")

[BR3W CITY]

Mexico Illinois, St Louis Mexico, Mexico-St.Paul MN
And thats not even leaving the midwest yet

[bbluma]

We got the motor and trans dropped into the truck this weekend. Used new CPP perches, with Solid motor mounts bolted to Dirty Dingo Sliders. The Th400 tranny bolted to motor went in easier than expected. Its on a CPP tubular cross member with Polyurethane mount.

So shes in, and we have a whole lot room for turbo piping, especially since we are going to do a rear mounted radiator with external pump to put some weight in the back as well as clear up engine bay.

More to come!

[71Dragtruck]

Looking good!

[tinydb84]

Oooo Im in!

[bbluma]

Made it out to the shop today after work to work on the ol '66. First had to drill some holes for the new tranny crossmember and get that tight, then i could tighten up the perches after everything was straight.

The FTI stage 4 th400 with a brake looks pretty good sitting up under there!

Next started to pull apart the old fuel system. The line is -6 with like a 250lph pump, and that wont cut it at all for the new setup. So got it all torn out, and dropped the tank. For the tank i need to drain it, and drill a hole for a bulkhead fitting so i have the ability to drain it when i need too.

Since im running E85, and here in the midwest come winter time you cant get E85 for a few months, so need to be able to drain it and get pump gas for when i drive it during the cold.

The New system will be going in soon, a bigger in tank pump at 450lph and -8 line all the way to the fuel rails. sooner or later will upgrade to dual 450's, but single will work while we get the tune laid out and some driving time on it.

Slowly making progress on it!

[77c10bowtie]

sweet project! like the setup. what rear gears are you going to be running?

[bbluma]

Originally Posted by 77c10bowtie

sweet project! like the setup. what rear gears are you going to be running?

Currently it has 4.11's with a 275/60/15 tire. Thats probably same tire i will run in slicks, or radials since they fit. But we may leave it, or may regear it for some 3.73's. Havent looked to much into yet, need to do me some research

[Heavymetl]

Originally Posted by bbluma

Currently it has 4.11's with a 275/60/15 tire. Thats probably same tire i will run in slicks, or radials since they fit. But we may leave it, or may regear it for some 3.73's. Havent looked to much into yet, need to do me some research

With the turbos?

Anything 3.0 to 3.50 will work great, I personally love the 3.25's in my turbo truck. With boost, you don't need a deep gear at all and the high gear gets that heat in the pipes for the spool much more efficiently. Awesome build!

[bbluma]

Originally Posted by Heavymetl

With the turbos?

Anything 3.0 to 3.50 will work great, I personally love the 3.25's in my turbo truck. With boost, you don't need a deep gear at all and the high gear gets that heat in the pipes for the spool much more efficiently. Awesome build!

3.25's got it, i need to ask my Uncle who has LS turbo as well what his rear gear is to start out with and see. His runs well in the 9's, so would be wise to start there lol

the 4.11's we just through in there to have a little fun with the old Vortec that was in the truck when we bought it haha

[bbluma]

I have done some tinkering on Lucky Sock past week or so, but mainly just wanted to show off me new parts i got. 417 Motorsports out of Missouri makes some badass parts! Owned by Blake Hughes who has an LS Turbo S10, thats won dragweek and hauls some ass. One of the nicest and most helpful genuises you could find.

I got their -8an threaded fuel rails made for my edelbrock intake, which are nice quality and were the same price as Edelbrocks fuel rails. They utilize stock length injectors which is another plus.

The big beauty is their one of a kind designed water manifold block. With the rear mounted radiator and external water pump this easily allows you to only run 2 hoses back, as it is a crossover block. As well as having (2) 1/8" ports on top to easily dump steam crossover into as well as a pressure sensor or something else. It may cost more than just some adapter plates for the block, but you actually end up saving money after not buying as many AN fittings, and hose. Plus it just looks badass so thats a plus as well haha.

More to come, the Truck should go to Chassis shop in the next month or so to get a 8.50 certified Roll Cage and maybe some other work done.

More to come!

[bbluma]

Quick little update and photo dumb on the Truck. Haven't made whole lot of progress as we were waiting to figure out what and who to do the roll cage. Whether we want to do it and take a little longer but save some cash. Or take it to the local chassis shop and have them do it quicker but pay a good amount more.

We ended up deciding we are going to try it out and do it ourselves. My uncle is a good fabricator and welder and has always wanted to try it and see if he has the skills to do so. So im giving him the opportunity too.

First off we knew we needed to fix the frame from previous owner where they cut out the frame and just straight destroyed the front crossmember. So we cut that out, and then started patching up the frame cut outs. As well as we are going to box the frame in that area just for some extra strength, as well as were put in a chromoly bar for the new "Crossmember".

[bbluma]

While my uncle was welding up frame and working on that, i stopped at local yard store and got some 2 3/4" full aluminum round bar to make some solid cab mounts. Cut em on the horizontal band saw and finished off in the lathe so are all the same and a nice solid finish. They will help not letting the cab move at all with the roll cage.

I also was able to finally figure out the accessory drive, and find a belt that will work for it as well. Was a tad tricky finding how to mount and run everything while using an external water pump. Ended up using a tensioner from LSX Innovations that bolts to pass side head. I will clean it all up and get everything painted to finish it out.

Also attached a picture my uncle whipped up for his plan on the roll cage. He has one in his truck and knows what he does & doesn't like. So he added couple extra bars for extra safety and support. It'll cert to 8.50 and we will be good to go. I'm hoping this weekend we can get the main hoop going and start rocking on it. More to come as we build the cage in the coming months.

[PGSigns]

Find Super73's thread on his chassis. It was well thought out and looked good. I would blow the truck apart and box the frame and really think about a 4 link. The curved rear bars need to be straight to be effective at that length. Also you will want to ad a sill bar on both sides. I would do what ever you can with this cage that will allow you to update it SFI 25.5D. Some times you dont need the cage for how fast you go but for a stiff enough chassis to handle the power you have.
Jimmy

[bbluma]

Thanks for the reply, and the comments on what your opinion. i'm open minded about it all and will take it into account. This is my first build so im learning and others have done it and have the knowledge and im happy they are willing to help out! I will talk to him and see what he thinks

I guess i should point out i'm not building a full blown race truck either lol yes it will see the track and the occasional race on the street. But its may purpose is to daily drive it to work and i would really like to do Rocky Mountain Race week. I guess i care more about building a fast fun truck that i still drive everyday and on 100+ mile trips. Realistically if it goes into the 9's ill be happy. I may build it more race worth later in life, but i'm doing what i can afford now being straight outta college and paying that off and buying a house haha.

Appreciate all the feedback, it all is greatly appreciated!

[regan wilson]

That's coming along nicely. Why in the world did the PO do that to the crossmember?

[bbluma]

Originally Posted by regan wilson

That's coming along nicely. Why in the world did the PO do that to the crossmember?

Lol i wish we knew. I wish i took better pics of it. Looked like they learned how to stick weld on it. It was some sort of a masterpiece thats for sure haha. There were a whole lot of....lets go with creative and questionable things welded and built on the truck when we got it

[bbluma]

Another photo dump for the guys that care to see the progress of the '66. We started the roll cage not too long ago and have been making some good head way for mainly just working on weekends. We got the main hoop bent and in, as well as the under bar that it sits on going over the driveshaft.

[bbluma]

We also got the two pillar bars done and in, this was challenging as we decided to go through the dash instead of around it. This was based on me being huge (6'6" 300 pounds) and want all the legroom i can get lol. just had to cut up the dash and it all fit like a glove! We then dropped it all so we could weld the tops of the bars and create a nice foundation to build off of from there. The windshield bar was bent up next and thrown in. From here we can start the back bars back to the frame as well as the front bars going through the firewall. More to come as we continue to get the cage built!

[bbluma]

Little sidebar on the '66 project. 1956 Bel air that my father in law is building to be a drag week car. BBC with Twin 88's should be one hell of a car. It finally got its chassis certification and now we are mocking everything up to get it all finalized before we blow it all apart to paint stuff! Im sure ill post more on it in the future as its a pretty badass car, and going to haul some ass for sure.

[regan wilson]

The cage in the truck is looking nice. The 56 is Awesome