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98K views 435 replies 111 participants last post by  Brazen Goat 
#1 ·
Got the car back yesterday now the fun begins

Rhode's Custom Auto did the chassis and body work the quality is second to none.

Current engine is a 383 small bore, compstar crank and rods, diamond nitrous pistons, with some old GTP heads. TH400, 9" etc etc - still need to decide on the direct port system and a few other things

Future use will be in a 275 radial class, current set up I think would qualify but not set the world on fire - gotta start somewhere to learn and get some seat time.














 
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#3 ·
Re: 02 Camaro Build

Wet sump oiling, with a moroso vacuum pump. Ignition is a MSD 7531
 
#6 ·
Re: 02 Camaro Build

Rhode's Custom Auto made the corners...

The corners are made from aluminum. The first step is to use some light aluminum 90º angle and form it along the edge of the fender and bolt it on to the fender lip. Then fab up the corner pieces, remove the angle piece, and weld to the corner piece, remove fender and bolt it all up. There is no way to get to the underside with the fender on the car
 
#9 ·
Re: 02 Camaro Build

Radiator is a custom Afco, with a meziere pump
 
#12 ·
275 Drag Radial Build Thread

So I posted something similar on the LS1 Tech and thought I would share this with the Yellowbullet community. I'm a bit of newbie on here but I'm looking forward to learning and hoping to be successful with the new combo. I think we have some great people on board and have had some key vendors step up to help sponsor the build.

Kurt Urban @ KUP is building the motor. He speced out the entire engine set up and I can't wait to see it when its done. Theo Dec @ Wizard Racing will be responsible for EFI and Suspension Tuning. Through Theo's great working relationship with Chris Alston Sr. and Chris Alston Jr., Alston Chassisworks is going to build the entire cage and rear suspension set up. They currently do not offer any 4th Gen F-body stuff and is going to use my car for R&D and develop a full line of drag race suspension, FAB 9" housings, and 25.2, 25.3, and 25.5 roll cages. Alston is very excited to enter the 4th Gen F-body market and is looking forward to provide the F-body community with some great stuff!

Car:
2002 Pontiac Trans Am WS6. Its being built for 275 Drag Radial classes in PSCA and WCHRA on the West Coast. We are going with a 25.3 set up. I believe this will make the car safer and more valuable if we want to go Forced Induction or sell it.

Engine (just some basic stuff):
485 Cubic Inch Nitrous LSx motor, 4.165" bore and 4.450" stroke
Dart LS Billet Block
Callies 4.450" Center Counterweight Crankshaft
Wiesco pistons
Dyers 300M Forged Rods
All Pro LSWr LS7 heads by West Coast Cylinder Heads
Jesel Belt Drive
Jesel custom shaft mount rockers
60MM camshaft in raised location
Custom Dailey 4 stage Dry Sump
Carl Fultz (CFE) Custom Tunnel Ram intake w/ 2 4500 TB's and plumbed for 2 Dry Direct Port Fogger systems

Trans:
JW Powerglide with Ultra Case, Ultra Bell, etc... built by Steve Casner

EFI Management:
FAST XFI with 8 160lbs per hour injectors to handle the fuel requirements for Dry Nitrous

Chassis, Suspension, and Safety:
25.3 Chromoly Alston Chassisworks and Wizard Racing

This is what I can think of so far and have include pics of the FAB work Theo @ Wizard Racing has done so far. Pictures are chronologic and looking good I think. Thanks for looking and will update as we make progress.

Some pics of what we are starting with.





In the first picture you can get an idea on how much stuff he took out. The bottom U shape brace is also coming out and getting replaced with chromoly tubing as well. You notice in this first pic a tube going between the frame rails and he put that there first before he started cutting the front off to keep things straight. Not a bad idea and it will come off when the front support is done.

The next 2 pics are of the left and right side of the front bumper support on the bumper of course. You can see how it mounts up and stabilizes the front cover.

The last picture shows the chromoly tubing he put together to hold the headlight covers on to retain the stock appearance. We completely eliminated all the OEM headlight mounting and put this in its place so the covers can stay attached. Pretty slick IMO. Hope you enjoy and more pics coming.






Here is more front end work from the chassis shop. The front end is going to be able to slide off as one piece when this is all done. Should be really slick. Anyhow, a lot more work to go but its coming along nicely.








Pics of the Cowl area welded and closed up. I think it looks pretty nice.


 
#14 ·
Re: 275 Drag Radial Build Thread

very nice. I am going to see Theo on weds. to get my car scaled so ill get to see it in person. Can't wait. Ill snap some pics and tell your car you said hi. lol
 
#15 ·
Re: 275 Drag Radial Build Thread

very nice. I am going to see Theo on weds. to get my car scaled so ill get to see it in person. Can't wait. Ill snap some pics and tell your car you said hi. lol
Nice!!! I haven't seen my car in person since I dropped it off over a month ago. :( That would be great if you took some pictures and sent them my way. My e mail is ericg43@hotmail.com or feel free to post them on the thread. Good luck with Theo on Wednesday and he will get you taken care of!
 
#17 ·
Re: 275 Drag Radial Build Thread

Looks like some very good engineering on that front end. I like the thought that has been put into it. I've seen the build on LS1 and it should be a monster for sure. But one question: Why nitrous and not turbos? Is it the rules?
 
#20 ·
Re: 275 Drag Radial Build Thread

Looks like some very good engineering on that front end. I like the thought that has been put into it. I've seen the build on LS1 and it should be a monster for sure. But one question: Why nitrous and not turbos? Is it the rules?
Thank you and appreciate the comments. To answer your question on why nitrous... because no one has built an all out LSx nitrous F-body. We wanted to do something different and that hasn't been done. We feel we can build a winning combo and decided to go for it. Notice I left the door open for forced induction by going 25.3 chassis. If this doesn't work I have a home for this motor. :D
 
#21 ·
Re: 275 Drag Radial Build Thread

what is that slashed cut piece of tubing for next to the passenger side upper door hinge?
Good question. There is one on each side and its what the chromoly tubing that holds the fender slides into. The whole idea is that the front end will slide off in one piece and of course allow us to work on the engine or pull it easily.
 
#27 ·
Re: 275 Drag Radial Build Thread

Any idea how much weight was lost by doing that?
We will have exact totals when we are done with the build. We've been saving all the parts we take off the car and been keep tracking of the weight we are putting back in. For example, I know we shed 33lbs by taking the entire headlight assembly off the car and replaced it with the chromoly tubing to hold the headlight cover only.

Stay tuned...
 
#29 ·
Re: 275 Drag Radial Build Thread

Here are some new pictures sent by Kurt today. I know its kinda boring to look at it but I'm excited to see more parts rolling in. The ones that really interest me are the pistons from Wiseco. They look pretty robust. And we are going with twin TB's on our set up.











 
#32 ·
Re: 275 Drag Radial Build Thread

looks killer so far.subscribing.
 
#33 ·
Re: 275 Drag Radial Build Thread

Thanks for all the positive comments. Here a few more pictures of the cowl and the entire engine bay and cowl area will eventually get a fresh coat of paint too. Now that the windshield is out Theo finished welding the cowl area. The front and rear windows will be replaced with Percy's Speedglass too. Theo is also getting ready to start on the motorplate and midplate and install all the new Racecraft front suspension. After that the car is off to Alston Chassisworks to Fab the 25.3 cage and all new rear suspension and FAB 9" housing. Enjoy!

On another note, I've been thinking about the rims I want to run on the car. What do you guys think? I like the Weld Alumnastars 2.0. Oh yeah, we are also going to make it so we can run both a 275 and 315 radial in case I build a forced induction motor down the road. :p



 
#125 ·
Re: 275 Drag Radial Build Thread

Thanks for all the positive comments. Here a few more pictures of the cowl and the entire engine bay and cowl area will eventually get a fresh coat of paint too. Now that the windshield is out Theo finished welding the cowl area. The front and rear windows will be replaced with Percy's Speedglass too. Theo is also getting ready to start on the motorplate and midplate and install all the new Racecraft front suspension. After that the car is off to Alston Chassisworks to Fab the 25.3 cage and all new rear suspension and FAB 9" housing. Enjoy!

On another note, I've been thinking about the rims I want to run on the car. What do you guys think? I like the Weld Alumnastars 2.0. Oh yeah, we are also going to make it so we can run both a 275 and 315 radial in case I build a forced induction motor down the road. :p
What rim and back space were you thinking of running?BTW Awesome build!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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