- 931
- Montgomery, AL
Hey guys! Some of you may remember a couple posts I've made about this in the "Post a pic of your real car" thread. I figure it's gotten to the point now where I should create one all-inclusive thread for updates and such, so here it is.
3 years ago, I bought my '01 S2000 with 50k miles on the ticker, bone stock, the only previous owner being an older guy who'd outgrown his midlife crisis. After I enjoyed the car for about a year, I decided it was time for a change... something a little less ordinary. About 6 months of solid research and option-weighing followed, the end result being an e-mail to a little shop just a couple hours up the road called Hinson Supercars. You may know them as the guys who played a huge role in popularizing the V8-swapped RX-7. I proposed to them the idea, shared with them what I'd learned and what the rough goals for the car would be, and after several e-mails back and forth, the decision to carry out the build was made. In late '08, I made a deposit to secure the S2000 a place in line.
In April '09, the time had finally come to deliver the car. Months of planning, measuring, designing, and fabricating soon followed, with the bulk of the prep and design work being completed in November. Fabrication came next, and as of today, the project is moving very swiftly toward completion. The front subframe is finished and installed, and steering rack solution is complete and mounted, the transmission mount is finished, and the mounting brackets for the new rear differential are being built as we speak.
But you know we all come to these threads for pics, so without further ado, here are some pictures to tell the car's humble story.
Stock in '07:
First waxing:
First taste of snow:
First taste of inspiration:
As it was in late '08:
Soon after delivery to Hinson, F20C removed:
Early test-fitting:
Now, I visited the car yesterday, likely for the last time before it's dyno'd, tuned, and on the road again. I can't say enough how impressed I am with Hinson's work.
Custom front subframe complete + steering rack (click below for larger pics)
Custom rack assembly from above
Hooked up the driver's side lower linkages (sans swaybar) to show how it all bolts up in the stock position
Last time I'll see my baby before driving it back home
Between delivering the car in April '09 and now, a handful of completed V8-swapped S2000s began popping up on the internet, and so did a forum dedicated to the swap, v8s2000.com. There are now 4 completed swaps (that we know about) in the world. One has a 5.3 liter iron block, one has an LS1 and was built entirely by one man in his garage, one has an LS2 with a powerglide trans and seems to be primarily a drag strip build, and one is a crazy widebody LS7-swapped monster of a car. They're all very unique, with a wide range of solutions to the same number of problems. Mine continues that trend as the first of the bunch to be developed with forced induction in mind. The manifolds you see in some of the pics above are the same ones designed for their single turbo FD builds, bolted onto the heads to test for fitment. They'll need to be slightly redesigned so that the middle section (where the turbo is actually mounted) will mount the turbo in some open space to clear everything else and leave room for routing the downpipe out. They've got header tubing on hand, so those manifolds should be complete soon.
Conservative estimate on completion as of yesterday is May, if no further obstacles or delays in receiving parts are encountered.
Basics:
'06 LS2, stroked to 402ci
T56 with Viper internals
Ford 8.8" IRS differential from an '04 Cobra
Turbonetics T-76
K1 rods, Diamond pistons
Spec flywheel and stage 3+ clutch
Full fuel and cooling system by Hinson
This is just the phase 1 of a long-envisioned project. After the powertrain swap is completed, I'll have lots of progress to make yet.
Stay tuned!
3 years ago, I bought my '01 S2000 with 50k miles on the ticker, bone stock, the only previous owner being an older guy who'd outgrown his midlife crisis. After I enjoyed the car for about a year, I decided it was time for a change... something a little less ordinary. About 6 months of solid research and option-weighing followed, the end result being an e-mail to a little shop just a couple hours up the road called Hinson Supercars. You may know them as the guys who played a huge role in popularizing the V8-swapped RX-7. I proposed to them the idea, shared with them what I'd learned and what the rough goals for the car would be, and after several e-mails back and forth, the decision to carry out the build was made. In late '08, I made a deposit to secure the S2000 a place in line.
In April '09, the time had finally come to deliver the car. Months of planning, measuring, designing, and fabricating soon followed, with the bulk of the prep and design work being completed in November. Fabrication came next, and as of today, the project is moving very swiftly toward completion. The front subframe is finished and installed, and steering rack solution is complete and mounted, the transmission mount is finished, and the mounting brackets for the new rear differential are being built as we speak.
But you know we all come to these threads for pics, so without further ado, here are some pictures to tell the car's humble story.
Stock in '07:
First waxing:
First taste of snow:
First taste of inspiration:
As it was in late '08:
Soon after delivery to Hinson, F20C removed:
Early test-fitting:
Now, I visited the car yesterday, likely for the last time before it's dyno'd, tuned, and on the road again. I can't say enough how impressed I am with Hinson's work.
Custom front subframe complete + steering rack (click below for larger pics)
Custom rack assembly from above
Hooked up the driver's side lower linkages (sans swaybar) to show how it all bolts up in the stock position
Last time I'll see my baby before driving it back home
Between delivering the car in April '09 and now, a handful of completed V8-swapped S2000s began popping up on the internet, and so did a forum dedicated to the swap, v8s2000.com. There are now 4 completed swaps (that we know about) in the world. One has a 5.3 liter iron block, one has an LS1 and was built entirely by one man in his garage, one has an LS2 with a powerglide trans and seems to be primarily a drag strip build, and one is a crazy widebody LS7-swapped monster of a car. They're all very unique, with a wide range of solutions to the same number of problems. Mine continues that trend as the first of the bunch to be developed with forced induction in mind. The manifolds you see in some of the pics above are the same ones designed for their single turbo FD builds, bolted onto the heads to test for fitment. They'll need to be slightly redesigned so that the middle section (where the turbo is actually mounted) will mount the turbo in some open space to clear everything else and leave room for routing the downpipe out. They've got header tubing on hand, so those manifolds should be complete soon.
Conservative estimate on completion as of yesterday is May, if no further obstacles or delays in receiving parts are encountered.
Basics:
'06 LS2, stroked to 402ci
T56 with Viper internals
Ford 8.8" IRS differential from an '04 Cobra
Turbonetics T-76
K1 rods, Diamond pistons
Spec flywheel and stage 3+ clutch
Full fuel and cooling system by Hinson
This is just the phase 1 of a long-envisioned project. After the powertrain swap is completed, I'll have lots of progress to make yet.
Stay tuned!
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Seriously though, is there any way to recalibrate it so that it works with the new engine?
