Bare block weight difference is 45 lbs. Recirpcating mass difference bearing in mid 302 stuff weighs less and I went ultra lighteweight on top of that 30lbs maybe even 40. Then heads intake etc all weigh less. So figure 100lbs or more. Most of which or say 60-70lbs comes off the top of the engine vs a 351. That top weight sits well above the roll centre of the car and does bad things to handling. The extra weight on a 351 is in the rear of the car, which does nothing good either.
On the track these weight distribution differences should be quite significant factors and as the power is more than adequate for track on my 302 build I dont think any extra power of a 351 based motor will help
Ac is still in the car, comprmises have to be made its a function of choices. Yes the compressor sits up high, but the condensor sits int he fornt, so its not too bad.,
Also doing the shorai battery which I have used before, 550 CCa 36 ah which should be Ok and it weighs only 5lbs
On the 302 block if you go radical like mine you can run honda journals and different mains, really light crank, 10lbs less than stock or scat, all of which leads to a more responsive revy motor, and even a anormal 302 is way more revy responsive than any 351. But you do have to be able to pull mnore revs than a 351 motor to get the desired power levels, a compemsation is a wide powerband to play with.
Bore and valve wear are going to be diferent to to a 6250rpm motor, but then after 15-20K on track most motors need fresehning whatever they are. Valve lash requires mainance, a drysump keeps things well oiled.
Hopefully it will have that big block kick on the street when hitting the torque peaks, and the revability and hp of a 302 race motor. Careful attention was paid to rod ratios and internal balance with knife edged counterweights, all rods pistons etc weighted to be equal, so hopefully its very smooth too. I am pretty sure though that it will be a bit soft below 2k rpm, but in a a manual light car one can live with that easily.
The 351 427s are great street motors, lots of TQ down low and plenty of HP for a very reasonable price. They weigh more, are more of a slugger, not as quick to rev, less broad powerband and are optimised for different conditions and utilise different gear ratios. Sucha mtor can comfortably pull less revs at highway speeds, and punch really hard with a downshift or even no downshift on the street.
Horese for courses.
I did considder a big bore stock stroke aluminum 351, something like 380 Ci or even 39o+. It would have been the same Hp with a bit more Tq and could have run hydralics easily to get there. If you have no mind to historic race its the best combo imo as it costs less than a fully worked 302 is more reliable and less maintance intensive and the weights when all is said and done comes out to the same.
Since I am plannign on using mine mostly on track, Dennis convinced me that its inevitable to go to a race here or there, and I got techincaly fixated on taking a 302 as far as it could go, and wanted to see what could be done, yet still maintain civility and pump gas.
As for exhaust will start with silencers and may have mgeaphones for occasional use. Even with silencers these cars are pretty loud.
I am guessing that compared to a regular 351/427 car I should save 120 +--lbs from the rear.
Have maybe a bit more Hp and a bit less TQ. Gearing will be optimised for the motor and the wide poweband should offer good options.
The adjustable shocks stiffer springs, canards, single nostril bermbo rotors, and pads will round out the track spec.
Roll bar race seat 5pt harnesses, fuel cells round out the safty/track upgrades.
It will be very interesting to see how it goes, while streetable the spec is skewed to track, once again you have to compromise somewhere, and comming from a street/track lotus light weight handling and durability are priorities. Still 60's chasis tech may be a letdown or maybe they got it right back then, reports seem to indicate thye got it right.
But if it becomes a street biased car, a seat swap, and stock shocks/springs shoudl make it as useable as any other Gt40.
This has been a project cooking in my mind since era came out with their rep in the 80's. Trackable is key to me because its was a race car in the day, and frankly its hard to use any fast car in the NE on street, there are plenty of local tracks and why hold back when you can just drive all out.
On the track these weight distribution differences should be quite significant factors and as the power is more than adequate for track on my 302 build I dont think any extra power of a 351 based motor will help
Ac is still in the car, comprmises have to be made its a function of choices. Yes the compressor sits up high, but the condensor sits int he fornt, so its not too bad.,
Also doing the shorai battery which I have used before, 550 CCa 36 ah which should be Ok and it weighs only 5lbs
On the 302 block if you go radical like mine you can run honda journals and different mains, really light crank, 10lbs less than stock or scat, all of which leads to a more responsive revy motor, and even a anormal 302 is way more revy responsive than any 351. But you do have to be able to pull mnore revs than a 351 motor to get the desired power levels, a compemsation is a wide powerband to play with.
Bore and valve wear are going to be diferent to to a 6250rpm motor, but then after 15-20K on track most motors need fresehning whatever they are. Valve lash requires mainance, a drysump keeps things well oiled.
Hopefully it will have that big block kick on the street when hitting the torque peaks, and the revability and hp of a 302 race motor. Careful attention was paid to rod ratios and internal balance with knife edged counterweights, all rods pistons etc weighted to be equal, so hopefully its very smooth too. I am pretty sure though that it will be a bit soft below 2k rpm, but in a a manual light car one can live with that easily.
The 351 427s are great street motors, lots of TQ down low and plenty of HP for a very reasonable price. They weigh more, are more of a slugger, not as quick to rev, less broad powerband and are optimised for different conditions and utilise different gear ratios. Sucha mtor can comfortably pull less revs at highway speeds, and punch really hard with a downshift or even no downshift on the street.
Horese for courses.
I did considder a big bore stock stroke aluminum 351, something like 380 Ci or even 39o+. It would have been the same Hp with a bit more Tq and could have run hydralics easily to get there. If you have no mind to historic race its the best combo imo as it costs less than a fully worked 302 is more reliable and less maintance intensive and the weights when all is said and done comes out to the same.
Since I am plannign on using mine mostly on track, Dennis convinced me that its inevitable to go to a race here or there, and I got techincaly fixated on taking a 302 as far as it could go, and wanted to see what could be done, yet still maintain civility and pump gas.
As for exhaust will start with silencers and may have mgeaphones for occasional use. Even with silencers these cars are pretty loud.
I am guessing that compared to a regular 351/427 car I should save 120 +--lbs from the rear.
Have maybe a bit more Hp and a bit less TQ. Gearing will be optimised for the motor and the wide poweband should offer good options.
The adjustable shocks stiffer springs, canards, single nostril bermbo rotors, and pads will round out the track spec.
Roll bar race seat 5pt harnesses, fuel cells round out the safty/track upgrades.
It will be very interesting to see how it goes, while streetable the spec is skewed to track, once again you have to compromise somewhere, and comming from a street/track lotus light weight handling and durability are priorities. Still 60's chasis tech may be a letdown or maybe they got it right back then, reports seem to indicate thye got it right.
But if it becomes a street biased car, a seat swap, and stock shocks/springs shoudl make it as useable as any other Gt40.
This has been a project cooking in my mind since era came out with their rep in the 80's. Trackable is key to me because its was a race car in the day, and frankly its hard to use any fast car in the NE on street, there are plenty of local tracks and why hold back when you can just drive all out.
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I may not hit it on the first try but I will figure it out one way or another. I'm not sure any roller profile will yield the sound.
