[sr71bb]

The reason we went with the LME 416 fully forged engine was pretty simple. I basically blew the LT1 up (LOL). LT1 has powdered rods and Hypereutectic Cast Aluminum Alloy Pistons. If you look at the PIC below you will see that the rods and pistons on cylinder 7 and 8 are GONE. In fact when they broke they damaged the oil pan and we had to get a new one which is problematic because they are on national back order.

The block was also damaged. Under NORMAL conditions and at this power level, they are adequate but when put under the stress of RAPID de-acceleration repeatedly they can fail. That happened here.

And since I can basically break a hammer in a sand box, they failed on me. So time to beef up the engine and make more power hence the forged LME 416.

[sr71bb]

The following parts were used on the NEW 416 engine install. I mention this because these parts can be expensive and you need to account for these should you ever go this route yourself.

NEW GM Oil Pan (Original pan was damaged)
NEW GM LT4 Oil Pump (NEVER reuse an oil pump on a failed engine)
ARP Head Studs (not required but advisable for 14:1 compression)
LT4 Head Gaskets
NEW GM LS7 Lifters
Chromoly Push Rods
NEW Front Seal
NEW Crank Bolt
NEW Cam Retainer Plate
NEW Timing Chain
CAM Phaser
AMS Break in OIL
OIL FILTER
NGK TR6IX plugs
LT4 Fuel Injectors
LT4 Fuel Pump

There was basically 48 man hours spent on this build

Currently I am still breaking the car in so that we can prepare it for the next track event which will be the APEX HPDE event at MSR Cresson May 28th.


`

[Baddawg53]

I gotta ask, why not put better lifters in? Rather than the LS7's. I ask because I had one start to push the roller out the side, started to score the lifter bore. I caught it just in time I think. So I just don't trust them, and I know many people are using them with no issues.

[sr71bb]

Originally Posted by Baddawg53

I gotta ask, why not put better lifters in? Rather than the LS7's. I ask because I had one start to push the roller out the side, started to score the lifter bore. I caught it just in time I think. So I just don't trust them, and I know many people are using them with no issues.

Great Question. When we asked LME that same question it was their suggestion that we go with the LS7 lifters so that's the reason.

[Puddin]

Originally Posted by sr71bb

Great Question. When we asked LME that same question it was their suggestion that we go with the LS7 lifters so that's the reason.

That's surprising especially if they're going to put a decent sized cam in and turn north of 7k. Btw that pic is gnarly. Where you still doing events while waiting on AMP to bring your car in?

[sr71bb]

deleted post DUPLICATE

[sr71bb]

Originally Posted by Puddin

That's surprising especially if they're going to put a decent sized cam in and turn north of 7k. Btw that pic is gnarly. Where you still doing events while waiting on AMP to bring your car in?

Well as you can see from the DYNO chart, the car makes MAX power around 6200 so I dont think we will go much past 6600.

If we switch out to MSD and 103TB then MAX power will be 6500-6600. I didnt ask what the limiter is set to but I will find out LOL

I tried to get my wife to let me run her Toyota Supra while my car was down, but that was a NO GO for some reason so I have been sitting on my hands for the last three weeks.

[sr71bb]

Ok Guys I am sure you have seen threads that talk about the PINCHED exhaust pipe that our cars come stock with on in the area just prior to the muffler section. The debate is ongoing whether or not this actually hampers exhaust flow to the extent that there is any type of power loss. Logically though it certainly CANT help so TODAY we modified it.

The FIRST pic is one of the PINCHED exhaust pipe in its stock condition. Magnaflow mufflers of course are NOT stock but the pipe leading to them IS in this PIC.

The SECOND Pic is of a MODIFIED exhaust where the PINCHED pipe was replaced with a 2.5 inch round pipe.

The THIRD Pic is what both the unmodified and modified exhaust looks like. Notice that the MODIFIED (on the right) side is also much higher up allowing for more ground clearance beneath both the muffler and the pipe.

The fourth PIC is a shot of my rocker panels look like underneath with ALL those rivets I used (roughly 25 total per side). These were installed the other day. THESE are NOT flying off at any speed. FITMENT is excellent (EOS) Carbon Fiber. The MAIN reason again I installed these was to try and prevent debris being picked up by these soft tires and THEN thrown against the side of the car. The AREA Particularly I am hoping to protect is directly in FRONT of the rear tires. I will let you know if this a in reality a good solution after NEXT track day.

[sr71bb]

OK guys well today I hit 580 miles on the LME416 and here is my feedback:

Fuel Mileage is really surprising especially considering we are running E85. It is coming in around 13 MPG running between 85 and 90PH on the highway. The CAM we are using is GWATNEY's LT NFC cam.

We are running the STOCK convertor so there is a little surging at idle when at stop but we will be addressing that issue buy tuning the tranny. According to LME there is little to no breakin required on this engine and I found that to be true. We have been running AMS 30W breakin oil but on MONDAY we will switch that out with AMSOIL 15-50W racing oil.

I will have some more feedback after my first track date with this new engine after THIS coming saturday the 28th. We are running at MSR Cresson texas with the APEX boys.

IN the few times that I have let loose with it on the highway, the engime pulls VERY HARD but we will see what effect that has on lap times come this saturday,

[sr71bb]

OK first off, a REAL racing seat has a FIXED back and of course DOES NOT recline. I needed something with MORE lateral support on the track but wanted still some back adjustment for daily driving.

These PARTICULAR seats can recline back to 140 degrees and comes with sliders. They DONT come of course with seat mounts and I used PLANTED SEAT brackets for that.

These brackets are HEAVY because they are made of mild steel and weigh ABOUT 9 pounds a piece. The SEAT with slider weights roughly 25 pounds. Since the STOCK SS seats weighed around 54 pounds EACH then total weight saving is roughly 40 pounds (2 x 54 pounds ) - (2 x 34 pounds) = 40 pounds.

AMP mentioned that they COULD make a custom seat bracket out of CHROMOLY steel and they would weigh 2-3 pounds each if I was that worried about the weight (I am not).

The seats were attached to the PLANTED SEAT brackets with FOUR GRADE 8 5/16" 18 1 inch HEX Bolts per seat using Grade 8 Nylon Locknuts and GRADE 8 washers. The seatbelts were attached directly to the mounts that the brackets had provided using the same bolts as the stock setup. The TWO TORX bolts that hold the bracket down were reused from the stock setup as well.

You notice that we are using the STOCK seatbelt setup for now because this car CURRENTLY doesnt have a roll bar. Once we install a Chromoly roll bar then we will probably change out to a REAL racing seat and a FIVE point harness. This will work fine for now though.

Below are some pics. THANK GOD I am a much better driver than I am a photographer.

The seats that are similar to these but slightly different can be found HERE:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0?ie=UTF8&th=1


NOTE:

I know we have discussed this in other threads but you DONT want to use a fixed back racing seat if you DONT have a roll bar because in case the roof collapses down on you; you want the seat to be able to collapse down as well. In the case of a roll bar that is NOT an issue because the roll bar should NOT allow the roof to go lower than the bar structure which is ABOVE you head.

For you taller guys, these seat setup has MORE travel towards the BACK of the car providing a little more leg room. It also travels a little bit CLOSER to the steering wheel if you are shorter.

Since the STOCK shoulder belt goes THRU the hole in the seat, you will notice it will feel like the belt is tighter to your body which it is.

[dj6gen]

The question I have is, do those seats sit lower than stock for those who weren’t fortunate enough to get a car without a sunroof? The helmet banging the roof KILLS me.��

[sr71bb]

Originally Posted by dj6gen

The question I have is, do those seats sit lower than stock for those who weren’t fortunate enough to get a car without a sunroof? The helmet banging the roof KILLS me.��

YES they do sit lower than stock by 1-2 inches I would guess. I would think that if you are 6 foot 2 inches or shorter, then you would be fine. I am 5 11" but I am long waisted. Also with the back being adjustable you could probably adjust it backwards to give yourself a little more headroom.

If you have a particularly wide body these seats may be too tight. I weigh 200 pounds and have a 35 inch waist but I used to weigh 235 with a 38-39 inch waist and I think my former size would be a little too wide for these seats. They are FIRMER than the stock seats but still are comfortable. They DO offer more lateral support than my stock SS seats but NOT as much as a typical fixed back seats like a KIRKEY.

There is roughly 37 inches of VERTICAL space from the seating area of the seat to the roof of my car (no sun roof). The seats are roughly 14 inches wide between the side bolsters. You have a MAXIMUM of 30.5 inches of legroom in FRONT of the seat adjustable to about 25.5 inches of legroom in FRONT of the seat (5 inches of seat travel). With the seat back in the most upright position there is about 3 inches of clearance between the top of the seat and the roof. The seat will adjust BACKWARDS until it is touching the front of the rear seat. If you pull the seat FORWARD you can adjust the back to lay down almost 160 degrees.

All of these measurements were done using PLANTED seat brackets. Here is link to DRIVERS side: https://www.plantedtechnology.com/pl...favp120b0e2gv5 and PASSENGER side: https://www.plantedtechnology.com/pl...ger-right.html

These things aint cheap at about 170.00 per bracket. The pictures they show of the bracket are not entirely accurate because they have a upright mount on BOTH sides of the bracket so that you can attach the stock seatbelts as I have shown in the pics of the seat.

If you order BOTH brackets at the sane time they give you a little price break (320.00 for both). I got mine form PHASTEK PERFORMANCE under part number PLANTED-6-SB284DR-SB284PA

[sr71bb]

[sr71bb]

Yesterday was first day to track since the upgrade to the track seats and LME416. I managed to go off HARD and I cut a tire on my AZENIS RT660 track 200TW tires so I had to switch to my street setup MS 4S 300TW tires. I thought the timing loop was ON at the track but it wasnt so my transponder was usesless so I have to go by my BUTT meter in regards to any comparisons to my PRIOR setup (an LT1). I will get back to that later.

First the track seats worked out REALLY well. I INTIALLY got some feedback from another owner that he didnt like the fact that they seemed to have a little GIVE to them under high G force. I personally did NOT find that to be the case at all. My guess that the attachment hardware I used which was all GRADE 8 bolts probably provided a stronger attachment base for the seats than what he used. I will say that these seats are fairly NARROW at around 14 inches of side to side clearance. If you are anything over 36 inch waist size, these may be too tight. They DO give you as I mentioned earlier another 1-2 inches head clearance as they do sit lower than the stock seats using the PLANTED seat brackets.

The EOS carbon Fiber side skirts JUST INSTALLED survived the track off experience without a scratch. As I suspected everything was kept BELOW the car. The 25 rivets that hold EACH skirt on NO DOUBT did their job. With tape only install no doubt these skirts would be OFF the car in SEVERAL pieces. The EOS front chin splitter DID sustain some damage but that is easily repairable because is painted a TEXTURED black. The CARBON Fiber version no doubt is better looking but probably NOT a good idea on a car that is tracked.

The LME setp has about 100 MORE RWHP than the LT1 it replaced. Can you feel that??? ABSOLUTELY. I was between 10-15 MPH faster on the straights and you could feel the car slide the car around momentarily on the rear at times before it would BITE especially on the 300TW Michelins. What I will have to adjust to is exactly where my POWER on points are because the car picks up speed faster. There are also some of the points on the track that I could go FULL SPEED on with the LT1 that I CANT now because of the increased speed capability.

After ALL of the upgrades the car comes in around 3620 pounds (SEE PIC) including roughly 6 gallons of fuel for a DRY WEIGHT then of roughly 3580. The seat replacement took 40 pounds off the weight and the exhaust system with KOOKS headers and MAGNAFLOW axle back saved some weight and the APEX wheels and tires are lighter. The CLASS 1 trailer hitch ADDED 20 pounds. ALL in ALL I am about 100 pounds lighter than STOCK.

The SECOND picture is what it looks like UNDER HOOD>