There is a huge advantage when
buying a car built by Mark
Stielow............. you get all the hard work and engineering already
done! He had already done the 3" minitub and
frame mods, and had sorted out the suspension. All I had to do was
clean everything up, have a few items re-powdercoated, and bolt them
right back on the car. Since I had the car apart and was going to
change the engine and wheels, I decided a color change was also on the
list. Not a huge fan of red, and since I was changing enough that
nobody would know the car was the same one Mark built, I decided to do
it the way I wanted it.
I had a twin turbo LS2 sitting
in my
shop, a leftover from a previous
project. Since I had to pull the car completely apart to paint it, I
figured I might as well swap over to the modern LS engine. So I sold
the
twin turbo small block the car came with, and started the installation
of the 402 LS2. Nelson Racing provided the 321 stainless turbo headers
and
I decided to run a pair of water-cooled Precision 6776RE turbos. Made
over 1000 HP on pump gas yet can be literally be driven anywhere.
Regularly got
over 20 mpg.
Boost is easily adjustable on
the
fly from inside the car. Nicest
riding muscle car I've owned or driven, very smooth, On the chassis
dyno we could only get a partial run as the dyno was shutting off due
to excessive torque. Still made 721 rwhp and 784 rwtq at only 4800 rpm.
This was at 15 psi and 91 octane fuel. As you can see the numbers were
still going straight up, so it should have been in the 900 rwhp range
with a full pull. Boost is easily adjustable on the fly from inside the
car. Retains power steering, air conditioning, all the comforts of a
car that's a pleasure to drive.
Quick
Specs
402 LS2
Callies crank
Howards rods
Mahle offset pin custom pistons
ET Performance full CNC 11 degree heads
Stock LS2 camshaft
Precision Metalcraft sheet metal intake with FAST throttle body
Nelson Racing 321 stainless headers and wastegate boxes
Vintage Air front runner, anodized black
Big Stuff 3 engine management
Ron Davis custom radiator
Custom air to air intercooler
4L80E overdrive trans with PCS programmable controller
Paddle shifter by Twist Machine
3" minitubbed frame. Sectioned inner fenders to look stock
Currie 9" rear end with aluminum center, true trac, 3.00 gears
Full custom 3" stainless exhaust with Magnaflow stainless mufflers
Custom stainless fuel tank
09 Mercedes silver paint by Jim Ramirez
Interior
mods:
Recaro seats upholstered to match stock rear seat covers
Carbon fiber dash with Autometer gauges
Carbon fiber wrapped steering wheel
Carbon fiber shifter knob
Carbon fiber panels in console
Sony stereo
4-point roll bar
