Got any photos of a small block Ford powered Roadster?

[spl310]

I have heard about several 289 and 302 powered Roadsters, but no one has produced a photo of one yet. Has anyone got a picture of one that they could share with me? I really want to see how it fits...

[Minh]

Yes, there is a SBC swap photo on the web. When I get home I will post the link. There is also a guy here with an SBC swap in Sacramento. The guy on the web had to a custom jointed steering column. I forgot if the rear mounted distributor had any accessibility conflict.

The SBF I would more interested in seeing. I very curious abd interesed in seeing the 209 and 289 photos and/or details if anybody got any.

[SLOroadster]

The Janurary car of the month has a ford V6 swaped into it. A couple of guys on the Grassrootsmotorsports forum are building one with a SBC. That should be interesting...

Will

[spl310]

I used to have a car that was being converted to a SBC. It was going to take a LOT of cutting to do it. From what I am told, the SBF is a much easier install since it is narrower. The oil pan would probably interfere with the crossmember though. On the other hand, a 302 is MUCH lighter than a 350. Add aluminum heads and intake and tubular headers and it gets even better.

Mark Sedlack is doing a fantastic job of putting a V6 Chevy in an early car. It is a LOT of work though....

[TR]

I'm extremely biased, but...

Why put a heavy, low tech engine into a roadster? It would make the car so front end heavy...

Now if it is all Aluminum, that would reduce some of the weight...

With the torque a V8 produces, the rear tires would spin all of the time unless the engine was mounted in the passenger compartment...

I guess it is the HP to weight ratio of the V8 that is very undesireable to me...

Just my take on it and I guess the details of why I chose the engine I did...TR

[SLOroadster]

TR,
You have a wheel spinning monster, have you done any timend runs yet? Any idea how many horsepower you are pulling? If I had your car, I'd be in jail for drag racing ` some yahoo in a rice burner. So far I have only had one person try, and I didn't bite. The guy nearly killed someone anyway. I have to agree, why drop a v8 into a roadster, it just makes a mess of a nice car.

Will

[TR]

No timed runs as of yet...For the jail reasons you stated I'll wait till I can take it to a course...I did surprise a guy on a harley, he had it cranking passing a car and was surprised to see me pass him. There is a place on my commute where one lane merges into a three lane highway that can be vacant. There was a car merging really slowly even though all three lanes were open, the harley guy jumped on it and passed and I did likewise. When he later caught up, the look on his face was priceless.

The engine is rated at 200hp. I would bet that I am getting at least 200 considering the miles on the engine and the improvements I have made over stock. Of course, a bit more boost and it would make a lot more...

TR

[SLOroadster]

TR,
You also don't have the drag from a power steering pump, or AC, as well as not having any smog stuff. I'm also guessing you have a free flowing exhaust as well. Is your fan belt driven, or electric? That will free up some more HP as well. I would bet you have more than quite a bit more than 200 Hp.

Will

[TR]

Hello Will,

I have thought similar thoughts...That lead me to thinking, when the manufacturer rates a car's HP, is it with all of the ancillaries? Or do they truly measure it at the crank (and eliminate the belt driven items to improve the numbers)? Who knows...When I get the chance and some spare cash, I'll take it to a dyno...TR

[70MTroadster]

Hey there TR,

If you guys will go to Jeff Shoeman's site at http://members.ozemail.com.au/~shoeman/ you will get a wealth of info on SR20DET stock and modified horsepower ratings, dragstrip times as well as a link to Cam McCinnons site for his SR20DET powered 510.

Since our Roadsters are considerably lighter than the 510, they should really haul the mail.

See why I was so stoked that you were doing the DET in your car TR?

Enjoy

Scott

[70MTroadster]

I called the Aussie Shoeman, his name is Jeff Shoesmith. Anyways, if you will go to his site you'll see that his stock DET was making 178 hp back in '99 when he put it in. That's AT THE REAR WHEEL HORSEPOWER on a chassis dyno. If you add 25% for drivetrain losses that's about 222 honest to goodness HP There is a guy in Virginia who's site is no longer active that is putting a DET into his 510 who plans on over 350 horsepower when all his mods are done to the engine.....bigger injectors, a bigger MAF throttle body, etc. The neat thing too is that Jeff has been driving this originally "used" engine around for 6 fulll years now, so he has got to have a ton of info for you TR and anyone else that is interested.

Enjoy

scott

[TR]

Thanks for the info, I like reading about other people's projects!

I have looked at lots of stuff on SR20DET's (before installing mine)...The number of people out there modifying them is very surprising, especially the numbers in the US since it was never imported by Nissan!

I have seen magazine articles claiming 600HP. They even go as far as saying that it is still very streetable!

What I have found so far, but haven't tried any of...The way my setup is currently configured, I cannot safely get much more than 50HP above the stock numbers with boost changes. When I decide I need to go faster, I can change the injectors and ECU and MAF and throttle, then I can really get to the bizarre power to weight ratios safely.

We'll have to see if I ever decide I need to get to 60 any faster...I doubt it...TR