EXIT

TL I am of the same school of thought as BCL in this regard ( maybe cause we are both old farts- relatively). I want the fully rounded driving experience not just quick times down the strip. I would rather boil my nuts in oil than drive an auto.

My car is Blueprint but I would much , much rather a yellow one. In fact rapid is the best car colour in the universe!

This is a fictional story that I wrote for you. I hope you enjoy it. We went to my mates place the other night for a birthday party. There were quite a few people there, many of whom I did not know but there were a few old friends . So I was chatting to them while sipping my lime and soda and kinda thinking to myself that parties like this have less to offer to one who’s sole objective is not to get smashed off his head and see how much havoc he can cause. I was watching with interest a group of ladies getting progressively more smashed and less inhibited, particularly the recently separated tight little number who’s interests include pole dancing classes. It was not hard to see how she had become estranged from her husband. The more she drank the more she introduced pole dancing moves into her repertoire and the more ambivalent she became about the sex of the people whom she was fondling. I smiled as I thought of all the trouble that I would undoubtedly have gotten into with a belly full of rum…… or lest we forget…Tequila. Anyway, suddenly Scooter appeared with his car keys in hand, the warm glow of alcohol about him and a wry smile on his dial. “I need a driver to pickup the pizzas, we can take my car? “ he grins. “Sold “ I exclaim and I feel my heart beat a little faster at the idea of piloting the 500 rwhp Millennium Falcon. ( which is actually a 3 litre Skyline not a Falcon but you know what I mean) Along the way to the car Shaun gets a whiff of what’s up and piles in the back seat. After a few instructions and preflight checks and a couple “seriously joking” requests from the boys not to kill them, we are off. I drive very sedately as I try to get the hang of the huge cams, notchy race shifter and the very unforgiving twin plate clutch as well as the assault of instrumentation, boost gauges, bright led readouts on the electronic boost controller, oil gauges etc etc. I am asking Scooter about the function of each but he says to me “There are only two things you need to worry about…. don’t let the f*cking car swap ends and when that huge orange light shines in your face, shift as fast as you can! “ He is referring to the big shift light on the steering column that literally shines in your face. It’s set to come on at 7400 RPM to give you time to react before you hit the rev limiter at 7800 rpm. In due course I feel sufficiently at home in the cockpit to feed it a bit. As we pull out onto the highway I ease it into second and hold it until we are completely out of the corner and traveling straight then squeeze the trigger. BOOM! We have been fired from a cannon and as we accelerate exponentially up the boost curve I feel the massive hit of adrenaline. After 2 seconds we are at full boost and the rear wheels let go and the rear end begins to assume what it believes is it’s rightful place at the front. I instantly back off and change and it snaps back into line. I hear “F**k!” from the back seat as I gas third gear and now we enter the surreal world of hyperdrive. Road markers start to blur out, my vision is distorted by the myopia of the G forces squashing my eyeballs back in the socket. I can feel the tyres desperately trying to hold traction but slipping alarmingly with every little bump in the road. The whole experience lasts only a few seconds but time is stretched by the hyperactivity of my brain ( possibly some relativistic effects there too) and then ZAP! my brain has registered that the huge orange light has come on. Instantly I shift into 4th and back right off to resume normal consciousness. “A little too slow on the shift” says Scooter. “See” he points to the boost controller “ you hit the rev limiter @ 172 kph”. I’m thinking if I hit the limiter on the 3rd to 4th change what hope would one have on the 1st to 2nd and I ask Scooter. He tells me it’s impossible not to hit the limiter in first. So we drive down the road all the way to somewhere and then turn back towards the pizza's we are supposed to be getting. I’m periodically gassing it and getting the hang of the beast. We race a 250 road and trail bike and blow him to the weeds. As we come to the toll road exit Scooter says to take the exit out onto the toll road and I can get a feel of 4th gear. I seriously consider chickening out of this as 4th is a world that I’m not sure that I’m ready for. Then as we come off the ramp out onto the highway a very tough looking Clubsport Late model camira passes in the right lane and on seeing us, he downshifts and a sound like someone has opened the door to hell spews forth from his ride as he blasts past. I instantly change lanes and send the signal down to Mr Scott to prepare for hyperdrive and we leap into pursuit. As we come up to warp speed the first thing I notice is that we are not closing the gap instantly as I had expected. In fact we are not making a great impression at all. Then some civilians get into the field of combat and we are forced to brake hard and take evasive action. He’s back to 80kph now in the right lane and as I edge up into position beside him he gasses it too early and is gone. But he soon realizes that he has jumped the start and backs off for the restart. I have the window down a bit thinking we may exchange a few words and now I here the telltale whine of a blower and realize at once why we hadn’t reeled him in with ease before. So it’s up with the window and my already adrenaline pumped body feels the jolt of a fresh hit as my amped brain realizes that this is the real deal. There is a buzz of chatter in the car now as Scooter and Shaun issue battle instructions but I hear nothing, I am all amygdala now, just a cave man going to war at the head of a spear. As we draw up nearly even, I downshift into 3rd and I can hear the big 350 chev holding 4000 revs next door. The second that we hit dead level with him it’s on. We are not quite on boost at this speed (80km) in 3rd so he gets the jump and seems to be pulling ahead but very soon the massive dose of amphetamine hits our trusty steed and we start to surge up on him fast. We blow by and are a length in front when the huge orange fireball erupts from my steering column and like a CNC machine I yank 4th and resume the assault. The change point is sweet and in a nanosecond we are back at full boost. I am a robot now, I have only two functions . Keep the car from swapping ends and shift when the orange light comes on. The highway is narrowing fast now. The once vast expanse of blacktop is now a tightrope though the night. I make infinitesimal adjustments to the steering to keep between the lines but my primary receptor is my ass. Every fibre of my being is focused on the adhesion of the back tyres to the bitumen as we are now deep into the alien world of 4th gear and swapping ends is 100% fatal. Flash! The shift light comes on! Robotically I slam it into 5th. But for a split second my consciousness imposes itself and I see that the Clubsport has been totally vanquished and suddenly I feel the fear. Now that I am not controlling the car purely from the subconscious I am no longer at one with the machine and it’s violent twitches and floaty feeling are alarming. I ease on the brakes but there is no response. Harder and harder I push and at last the needles start to retreat on the dash. When we get down to the speed where I can afford to look about I notice that there is much jubilation in our car and that my two partially pissed passengers are in a highly euphoric state! Scooter is banging on the dash and yelling excitedly that “we toasted that motherf**ker!”. Shaun calls from the back that he can’t believe that I had actually pulled 5th and was very glad when I had backed off. The boost controller told the tale. 99.4% injector capacity, 1.36 Bar boost, 7816 RPM and 217 KPH.

Just noticed your joke in your signature Trough Lolly- that's funny! But I'm pretty sure 328rwkw takes you up the food chain a bit from a sheep

Definitely the T56. Just trying to get one at a decent price is the drama!

I thought I would write a bit of an update and give some credit where it's due while I'm at it. First- I had my suspension done by Fulcrum Suspension this week. After discussing my needs with the guys at their Moorooka workshop I settled on Bilstein struts and Kings standard lowered coils ( approx 20 -25 mm) on all 4 corners and Super Pro polyurethane camber adjustable lower inner control arm bushes. The results are truly unbeleivably fantastic! The car has been transformed from a wallowing sh*tbox to a car that handles and rides superbly. The ride is firm but with considerably less small bump harshness than the standard suspension. The road feel and steering response is much crisper and the steering is lighter. There is less road noise. It corners like it's on rails and it even behaves much better under brakes. According to the Fulcrum guys much of the improvement comes from replacing the lower inners with the camber adjustable poly bushes. Apparantly the std bush is way too soft and deforms badly under hard cornering or braking causing the wheel alignment to go to peices. Also they allow enough adjustment to get the proper alignment settings in the first place. The service was excellent too. They were very helpful and prompt. 10 out of 10. Second- My engine is almost ready for assembly. I bought a non turbo engine with approx 38 000 k's from a wrecker to use as the core. I had the head fully recoed, fitted stainless exhaust valves, Nizpro springs and new retainers and some light cleanup porting. The block has been sonically tested, bored 1st o'size, fitted with ARP head and main studs. Crank nitrided and balanced ...usual stuff. I now have a big pile of parts to put in it and on it - Wiseco forged pistons, Spool H beam rods with ARP rod bolts, Kosteki oil pump gears, 6 Boost exhaust manifold- yada yada. Still a few more things to get yet then it starts going together. I had a chance to severely thrash a very very fast car recently so I have the bug badly at present which is influencing the build up. Decided to buy the external w/gate manifold to keep options open depending on the budget. I think the big turbo will probably end up in the mix but this is getting exy and I have a long way to go yet!! I'll take some pics when I get a chance and post them.

Brian, Can you give any more detail on the CV upgrade and maybe some photos? What did you use, who suppied them, approx cost etc? Thanks.

Thanks Brian, I'll take that on board. All good to 500 rwkw........I think I can live with that...

I would prefer to sell the XR6T motor from my car as an unopened running engine to get maximum $ for it so I had to sort out definitely what is involved in upgrading the N/A head to the same as the turbo head. So I went down to my Ford dealer today and did my research on the head components and was lucky enough to get a guy who was very helpful- he has a 400hp SOHC Escort so he was sympathetic to my cause. For the record here is what I discovered- The only differences between the N/A head and the turbo head are exhaust valves and valve springs. The seats are the same, all rocker gear is the same, collets same, and the big surprise for me- the cams are the same. The ex valves are $98 each list and even at trade the set would cost me approx $1050. Interestingly one can buy a new BF F6 head with valves and the better springs for about $1350 so if I can't find exhaust valves at a decent price that would be the way to go. Also of interest the conrod bearings have a part number that starts with XW- that being the first model on which they were used.

Thanks Hiddeous, I spoke to someone else this morning who agrees with you that the head gasket is fine without o'rings. So you think it is wise to have the bore wall thicknesses tested before machining?

I just read through all 24 pages of BCL's project thread. Fantastic- thanks for the link. Brian seems like the NASA of the xr6t world- spending trillions at the cutting edge of R&D and spinning off benefits to the broader community in the process- great that he is willing to share the info. I keep thinking what a wonderful research tool these forums are- they must have done more to make the world go faster than any other invention since the mobile phone. I still need to find an answer to my current question though- do I O'ring the block or not?

hehe. bcl is like budda to the XR6T............ ← I'm showing my ignorance already! Forgive me I have been over with the dark side of the force for a while.......

"Whereabouts in Brisbane are you?? " South east- why do you ask?

In the spirit of full disclosure I should tell you that Brad who owns Spool imports is my brother. He does alot of high performance parts mostly for Nissans but has identified the XR6T rods as a new market ( I wonder why?) He has been supplying direct replacement H-beam rods for the RB30 Nissans for a couple years and some of his customers are making 800HP with them at huge revs. He has used the same design team and manufacturer ( these guys are huge OEM rod makers) for the new XR6T rods and assures me they are even stronger than the RB30 ones. They retail for $890 a set- www.spoolimports.com Had to give him a plug, he's my brother

"Speak to bcl about 600rwkw..............................." who is bcl ? I should add that this is going to be largely a DIY project - partly because I like building stuff myself but mostly because that's the only way can afford to do it !

Thanks guys, I will follow those links and have a good read when I get a moment. I read a great thread from Xtreme on a stage by stage build up with dyno results at each stage which was very helpful. Unfortunately I am in fact in Brisbane so I can only talk with them at a distance. I have to go have a chat with Redcliffe Dyno as they seem to be well regarded with these cars.

Hi Guys, I started a similar thread to this in another forum but there seems to be a lot more people with heavily modified cars here so I thought I would introduce myself and see if you can assist me with my project. Until recently I had a V8 VY Late model camira one tonner. I had done the EDIT and exhaust and 4.1 diff and had bought a full twin turbo kit from Doughboy for it to go nuclear but no matter how many times that I did the numbers it just kept adding up wrong. Too many mods, too much money and most importantly too many legal / insurance/ resale issues for my taste. Then to seal the deal I sold my business and didn't need a ute anymore. So I sold the ute and the kit and bought a showroom condition 04 MK1 BA XR6T five speed manual in the sexy metallic blue- 26 000 kms. I also bought a cheap Magna as my daily driver at least until the rebuild is complete. So I'm ready to start. I've been doing some homework but I would appreciate some advice from people who know what they are talking about (as opposed to those that just talk a lot ) The more specific you can be the more help you'll be ( part no.'s help). I'll post updates as I go so it might be fun to follow. Here's the general brief- 400- 500rwkw ( we'll see how far the funds go) street sleeper - It has to be totally reliable and fairly civilized to drive around town. It will run a few test and tune passes but never see a circuit track. Engine- full rebuild I bought a n/a BA motor with 60 k's as a rebuild motor. It's on the stand and coming apart. Have ordered the gaskets, bearings etc as well as CP forged pistons and Spool Hbeam rods with ARP bolts. Spoke to Kosteki in WA about billet oil pump gears but they want $600 so I'm still shopping for them? I am puting off the hard decisions about whether I go for bigger turbo and external WG +manifold until the engine is built. One thing I have to decide now which I would appreciate informed advice on is whether to O'ring the block, use aftermarket head studs and what sort of head gasket to use? I did some searches and there seems to be no mention of this. I'm wondering if this is because the stock setup is bullet proof or what? I decided not to buy ARP main bolts as this seems like overkill.? I'm still trying to decide whether to use my XR6T head or bring the n/a one up to spec so I can sell my motor unopened (with 26k's on it I figure I'll get good money for it). Need to do more research/ costings on this. I'll have a billion other questions as I go along but if you can help with these I'd appreciate it a lot. I have no interest in impressive sounding parts lists- just reliable HP. Thanks, Jeff PS- any help on getting T56 six speed at the right price would be great too?