Ken's SLC build thread

[Eric Teeter]

Does 2 jugs of antifreeze and 2 jugs of distilled water sound about right?

Any recommendations on which brand?

Thoughts on DexCool? Anybody using it?

I was thinking of Zerex G-05.

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <woNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> I'll put my two cents worth in.

Dex-cool has a boiling point of 108.9 C 288 F. The reason I mention it is if you go racing the cylinder heads get vary close to that temperature and water based coolants have a tendency to cause micro-bubbles. Over time in a race this means less cooling in the heads, long races would show more of a problem than short. If you see small bubbles in the over flow you know you have a problem.

You may want to use waterless coolants as the have higher boiling point (Evens is 191 C 375 F) less tendency to micro-bubble. There may be others with higher boiling point that I may not know of.

 

[Don V.]

Problem with Evans is the very low surface tension. It is very very hard to keep Evans from weeping out seals and gaskets.

When you get Evans on you, it is forever to wear the smell off.

Great product but it also has it's draw backs...

If you read up on the product, any water pump with a weep hole. The recommend sealing it off...

Good luck.

Also boiling point is affected by Pressure. Hence radiator cap.

 

[Eric Teeter]

Problem with Evans is the very low surface tension. It is very very hard to keep Evans from weeping out seals and gaskets.

When you get Evans on you, it is forever to wear the smell off.

Great product but it also has it's draw backs...

If you read up on the product, any water pump with a weep hole. The recommend sealing it off...

Good luck.

Also boiling point is affected by Pressure. Hence radiator cap.

If you are on the street don't use Evens.

What I was talking about was cracked heads during racing or head gasket leaks.

That is what is nice about forma-gasket low surface tension is not a problem.

I just put a water pump in my mini-van and it did not have a weep hole, I believe most newer pumps don't have them as the don't use a packing, they have better sealing.

 

[Ken Roberts]

I replaced all my nylon coolant transition and tee fittings with machined aluminum fittings from Jags that Run....also called Stealth Conversions. Here is a picture of the various sizes used on the SLC build. The inside of the transition fittings are smooth without a step for less turbulence. I had enough made for two cars.

The 3/4" to 1" fitting is only needed if you plan to use the plastic Dorman tank supplied in the kit.

 

[Mark]

Ken, you never seize to amaze me with the cool parts that you discover on the net! I think one of these would work great as the fuel filler hose transition piece. Your best find however IMO is the OEM idler pulley for PS.

 

[Ken Roberts]

Thanks Mark. Their prices are very reasonable too for such low volume custom made parts.

I'm just about to retire in 8 weeks. Hopefully I'll have even more time to devote to this hobby.

I've got a cool solution to running the LS9 engine without a power steering pump or a substitution idler for the accessory drive. I just ordered a laser pulley alignment tool to aid in setting up the new 12 groove pulley I discovered from a Caterpillar. It replaces the smooth idler on the drivers side. You then buy a 12 groove belt and cut one of the grooves off it. There is a much better selection of 12 groove belts then there are of 11 groove belts.

 

[Ken Roberts]

I'll be retiring in a couple of weeks after 36 yrs with the same company so I'll finally be able to devote some time to my build. Here is a picture of one of the last engines I help build. It's worth about $300000.

 

[Ken Roberts]

Work continues on gathering parts for the GT-R build. I finally got around to making a light robust mount for the Dorman tank if I choose to use it.

The second picture shows the LS9 supercharger intercooler fill point. These are from the Cadillac CTS-V cars. Part number for the reservoir is #25884797 and the cap is #15076936. Together they were about $37.

 

[Ken Roberts]

The fuel tank design will include the CTS-V fuel module. A separate electronic control module monitors fuel line pressure and uses a PWM signal to spin the twin pumps in the fuel module faster or slower depending on demand. The benefits are quieter/cooler running and longer service life. A Ford truck vent valve will be used for the evap system and roll over protection.

 

[Ken Roberts]

Ideally I'd like to run dual inter-cooler circuits if there is room in the engine compartment. Heat sock can be a problem when you install a smaller pulley to increase boost. Each inter-cooler brick will have it's own pump, tank and heat exchanger. The tanks are being mocked up in this picture before I settle on a final height. They will most likely be made a bit shorter. The volume currently of each 6"x16" tank is 1.9 gallons. If I just go with a single system I'll use one tank and leave the height as is.

 

[Ken Roberts]

I decided to use the Ford F150 type of fuel tank vent valve for the next build. I like the OEM reliability aspect. The weld in bung can be purchased here: Ford F Series Aluminum Weld-in OEM Vent Bung

A 2" hole saw will cut the correct hole size. The Ford vent was installed in F150 and up trucks from 1997 to 2004. I purchased a Dorman #911-061 fuel vent valve (Ford F65Z9B593DA) Dorman Products - 911-061

The tabs on the weld in bung had to be filed slightly to get the valve to drop in smoothly. Push down and with a quarter turn to the left and it locks in place.

 

[Randy V]

I'll be retiring in a couple of weeks after 36 yrs with the same company so I'll finally be able to devote some time to my build. Here is a picture of one of the last engines I help build. It's worth about $300000.

Congratulations on the impending retirement Ken. It's been a long road - I know. I just retired my 43 year long career last October.
Soon you'll be enjoying weeks that have 6 Saturdays and 1 Sunday! :thumbsup:

Oh yeah - cool engine! More info??

 

[Ken Roberts]

Thanks Randy!

That's a GM Locomotive engine (645E3B). We rebuild some of our older Locomotives (CN Rail). That particular one puts out 3000hp. These types of engines are common in ships and as back up power in Industry. My last two engines before retiring will be twin Roots blowers which produce 2000hp.

 

[Randy V]

Amazing engines!!!!

 

[Keith]

I'll be retiring in a couple of weeks after 36 yrs with the same company so I'll finally be able to devote some time to my build. Here is a picture of one of the last engines I help build. It's worth about $300000.

Congratulations on your retirement Ken. Although I was "forcibly" retired through ill health, it was certainly a very welcome time and couldn't come soon enough! "Work" is brilliant of course, but highly overrated By the way, will you have to modify the rear bodywork much to fit that motor to the SLC?

 

[Mesa]

Ken,
I have always enjoyed the way you look at problems and find OEM based solutions. Good stuff.

Congrats on the upcoming retirement, where one of the benefits are ..... not needing to know what day it is.

 

[Bill]

I bookmarked that bung for a future project.

fueltankparts.com has lots of other useful fuel tank parts as well. For example, this aluminum sump would is 1.5" deep so fit under the SLC tank. A sump pick-up could be a good alternative for a street car, instead of the swirl tank.

They also have a good selection of safety rollover vents

I decided to use the Ford F150 type of fuel tank vent valve for the next build. I like the OEM reliability aspect. The weld in bung can be purchased here: Ford F Series Aluminum Weld-in OEM Vent Bung

A 2" hole saw will cut the correct hole size. The Ford vent was installed in F150 and up trucks from 1997 to 2004. I purchased a Dorman #911-061 fuel vent valve (Ford F65Z9B593DA) Dorman Products - 911-061

The tabs on the weld in bung had to be filed slightly to get the valve to drop in smoothly. Push down and with a quarter turn to the left and it locks in place.

 

[Ken Roberts]

Thanks for the well wishes fellow builders!

Keith the LS9 will be for my next RCR purchase. Hopefully a GT-R in the near future unless Fran tops that one soon. I'm in Canada so I'll wait till the exchange rate improves.

My thought is to pick away at it for now building most of the "fabrication" items.

 

[Scott Rowland]

Congrats on the retirement! Staying busy building cars is the way to go.

 

[Grant S]

Ken did you sell your SL-C ? or are you keeping both cars ?