It's been years since I've dabbled in the MKIII world, since the abrupt end of my 1988 1UZ swap plans back in '09, but now I'm back, after finally finding my Moby Dick- A Cheap but solid White Package.
Car is straight as an arrow. Only cancer is cosmetic and typical of these, few spots around the door handles, Targa, and rear wheel wells. Chassis is otherwise the most solid I've seen in years.
P/O already fully gutted the interior, and as it was initially intended to be his next drift car, even came with some interesting additions such as the front minitubs. I was also happy for this, as the car's first stop is intended to be my buddy's shop for a full cage and chassis bracing, the rationale for which comes next...
I've decided against persuing my earlier plans of the UZ. Now before you purists crucify me, hear me out. My POS daily driver produces solid 400's at the wheels, I can't settle for anything less than 6xx-7xx's from a dedicated weekend warrior. Next, there is a part of my brain that balks at the concept of going through the effort required to swap, for a gain of a mere 1 liter of displacement. And lastly, budget and longevity wise, I want to toss this car together with the intentions of having it able to hold together as long as plausible, for as little as possible.
Where does all of this lead us? The GM LSx Vortec, naturally, with a large-frame snail and ethanol added to the mix. Current plans is for more or less a revised Sloppy Mechanics build. Aluminum L33's are currently going for less than their Cast 5.3L brethren around here, so the lighter block is the plan for now. Transmitting the power will be a mild-built T56, feeding the rebuilt OEM LSD. I have experience in using Mega-squirt products, so to make things as painless as possible, it will all be run by either my old MS2v3, or the Microsquirt. This is furthered by the fact that the chassis has no OE harness with which to splice a Vortec harness into.
That's all for now. This will be (much like most of the ground-up builds on here) a long, slow process. I can't get the Chassis into my garage until I finish two part-outs and a different engine swap, so there is going to be some lag in my start-up.
Still, look forward to some retarded fun.
Car is straight as an arrow. Only cancer is cosmetic and typical of these, few spots around the door handles, Targa, and rear wheel wells. Chassis is otherwise the most solid I've seen in years.
P/O already fully gutted the interior, and as it was initially intended to be his next drift car, even came with some interesting additions such as the front minitubs. I was also happy for this, as the car's first stop is intended to be my buddy's shop for a full cage and chassis bracing, the rationale for which comes next...
I've decided against persuing my earlier plans of the UZ. Now before you purists crucify me, hear me out. My POS daily driver produces solid 400's at the wheels, I can't settle for anything less than 6xx-7xx's from a dedicated weekend warrior. Next, there is a part of my brain that balks at the concept of going through the effort required to swap, for a gain of a mere 1 liter of displacement. And lastly, budget and longevity wise, I want to toss this car together with the intentions of having it able to hold together as long as plausible, for as little as possible.
Where does all of this lead us? The GM LSx Vortec, naturally, with a large-frame snail and ethanol added to the mix. Current plans is for more or less a revised Sloppy Mechanics build. Aluminum L33's are currently going for less than their Cast 5.3L brethren around here, so the lighter block is the plan for now. Transmitting the power will be a mild-built T56, feeding the rebuilt OEM LSD. I have experience in using Mega-squirt products, so to make things as painless as possible, it will all be run by either my old MS2v3, or the Microsquirt. This is furthered by the fact that the chassis has no OE harness with which to splice a Vortec harness into.
That's all for now. This will be (much like most of the ground-up builds on here) a long, slow process. I can't get the Chassis into my garage until I finish two part-outs and a different engine swap, so there is going to be some lag in my start-up.
Still, look forward to some retarded fun.
