Update after some more time on the car today.  Finished putting rack boots on and bled the brakes, so wheels could go back on.
First fit-up of the new dry sump tank and booooyyyyyyy is it close to the tire (275/35/18's currently, other tire is a 295/30/18 that's very similar).  About 1/16" of daylight between the tire and the lower clamp, so will keep an eye on that as I start driving it.





Also had some fun with the power steering setup - I've enjoyed a Turn One pump and Variflow fitting with the blower setup (which ran 5th Gen Camaro accessories), and realized that neither the pump, reservoir, pulley, or brackets swap over haha.  So I bought a Turn One Corvette pump and swapped my Variflow fitting over... except I couldn't figure out an exit direction that worked.  Tightened all the way down it wants to point forward into the pulley.

Ended up hogging out the bracket below/behind the pump and making a shim/spacer so the Variflow fitting could tighten down pointing aft, and run a 90* 6an hose end down to the rack.  The pulley baaaaaarely clears the fitting, but it looks like it works and didn't leak (yet)!




Got it running long enough to warm up the oil and the water (takes FOREVER to come up to temp with the oil-to-water heat exhanger) and tightened down a couple fittings that looked like they might be contemplating leaking, and was thoroughly happy that all the accessories are on and everything looks good.

Wife safely filming the warmup - couple free-rev's in there, tiiiiiny throttle shoots up to 4k rpm instantly.  Sexy.
https://youtu.be/5kMOItzqgAM

Exhaust looks terrible, but I've got some more 3" stainless and will hook that up next and try and terrorize the neighborhood a bit

Modded McLaren?   Brave, brave man.

You ain't wrong!  I guess life's just been a little boring and predictable?    Not sure my wife, or anyone on here for that matter, has ever accused me of being a smart person haha.

Wow long time since I updated this, but only a couple days worth of work have taken place haha.

I really was excited to run the COPO LS7 just how the GM boys set it up - Katech dry sump, oil-to-water cooler (from a Z28 Camaro I guess?), and an oil tank right up next to the engine with factory 12an lines.  Recipe for success they said - exactly what they raced in American Le Mans and all that... so I figured I'd give it a go.

Problem 1:  The subframe and oil pan fittings couldn't be any worse aligned haha.  I drilled/tapped/chamfered for O-ring threaded fittings ($50/ea or something, oof) and got 'er done right into the pan.  Still had to clearance the subframe.


Ok, ok, not too bad. What about the oil/water cooler? 

Ended up having to cut and box the subframe to clear, and then because the steering rack needs to come down about 1/2", had to scallop out the subframe there too


Obligatory weld porn (clean metal and small gaps is so easy even a monkey like me can lay dimes)


But got that to fit, and got the steering rack arms re-welded too:




Yay!  Time for headers!  I'd already clearanced my swanky Ronin headers for the oil-to-water cooler (RIP first runner lol) so went to install 'em on the Hinson subframe that I'd just put multiple days into
No chance.
The factory 'boxes' that hold the rear suspension mounting points are way too far in. 

So I found a Ronin subframe and got to work making all that work.  First the motor mount bracket:


Then the biscuit itself haha


Success!


Other side was a piece of cake:


Steering rack still had to come down 1/4" or so, even without the spacers.  Bump steer is gonna be fun, but we really love that Katech drysump and factory LS7 pan right?   


I'm sure my neighbors in Rancho Santa Fe loved the "ode du epoxy" aromas wafting around that morning...


Anyway, headers are in, and all's well if it ends well.   



This Friday we'll be buttoning up the mechanicals and seeing if I can play connector bingo to plug enough of the right stuff into the right places to hot-wire this thing.  I still haven't done my new chassis harness and don't think I'll have time for a while.  But it'll at least look like it could start!   

I figure I'll throw my hat in the ring on this one.  I had an early Hinson subframe and now run a Samberg/Ronin subframe which changed the engine position very little (kept the same trans mount), and no brake lines across the firewall.  The COPO LS7 comes with a custom Hi Ram:


... that comes nowhere close to fitting anything haha


So I had Tony Mamo make me a ported + shaved MSD manifold that only needed a tiiiiiiny trim and hammer tap off my already-trimmed firewall lip (see black sharpie mark):


and looks like it'll clear the hood just fine once I figured out I had to run the Earl's steam port adapters:


I'm also running the MSD fuel rails (with LS3/LS7 style ID1000's) that they recommend for it, since my old billet rails for factory LS7 manifold didn't seem like they were going to work.

I'm starting to take that 120day warning personally haha.

Update for this year - I pulled the plug on the turbo motor.  I still have a Dart CCW crank, Dart CNC heads, and a bunch of other stuff but no block.
When I started down that path, I was getting great help from the marketing director at the parent company to Dart, supply chains were full, and timelines were limited by me.  As time went on, the prices ballooned and even if I were willing to pay retail, delivery times went from "6 months" to "who knows" for some of this stuff.  Depressing, and I've had other cars to spend money on:

The Hummer will forever stay with us - still haven't swapped the Duramax in. 
New Cayenne Turbo for the wifey, downpipes and a tune. 
911 Turbo S is what I drive most days - stock turbskies but upgraded everything else on pump gas + methanol. 
Trackhawk is getting sold eventually. 
RX7 is getting moving again finally, and not pictured is one last GSXR1000, all sharing a 4-car garage.

In the end, I went sentimental and 'simple' over "huge power" and 'massively expensive' - I nabbed a COPO LS7 customized by GM Racing for Conrad Grunewald's Formula Drift Camaro a bunch of years back, which was the team I was closest to (personally and professionally) 2009 to 2014.  Those early seasons flying around sleeping on couches and doing my thing, growing my business will always be nostalgic for me, so having a piece of that really feels good.

My girls have no idea how loud this thing is haha.

It's a max-effort N/A monster that I didn't particularly like driving in the Camaro, but I think that's because of the 7.25" button clutch and non-existent flywheel that car used. 
427ci Wixom-stamped block, billlet main caps, 13.5:1 forged Mahle pistons, I believe Callies forged rods, CNC LS7 Wixom-stamped heads, GMPP LS7 stage 3 cam, CTSVR lifters with 1.8 trunion rockers, Katech dry sump pump.  Word is they took a COPO LS7 and did every little grey-beard trick to make more power because this wasn't limited by NHRA rules. 
As I recall, they originally made something like 740hp on race gas, and I'm hoping for ~650whp on E85.

I got a set of Ronin headers since I sold my JTR's and a Tony Mamo-ported MSD Atomic intake will replace the Hi-Ram since I'm fond of running a hood lol.

At the advice of GM Racing, I'm going to run the Katech dry sump and Camaro Z28 oil-to-water cooling block which both use the LS7 pan, so I'll be modifying my Hinson subframe to lower the steering rack and clear the oil-to-water setup.  I bought the pinto bump steer kit that Cryptic and some of the rest of you awesome guys talked about to replace my Samberg bump steer correction stuff.

I got a deal on a Peterson 6in x 19.5in dry sump tank that will fit just in front of the passenger tire, above the diffuser.  I've got some nice 1.75" tube structure up there so hopefully I can package it and the lines above the lowest parts of the car.  Stoked on the short lines running to LS7 dry sump pan on the passenger side.


The pile of parts grows...


On the electronics front, I already have an AEM Infinity and CD7 dash w/vehicle dynamics module I'm very fond of, so added the 8x EGT kit and a ECU Master PMU16 (thanks for the keypad deal Blake!). 


I've got brake pressure sensors and a string pot I'm going to attach to the steering shaft under the dash for steering angle, so just need to figure out how serious I am about shock pots and I'll have a good set of data.

I'm downsizing from my 2k hp fuel setup to a single twin-screw Fuelab 500lph in the fuel cell, and trying just the 15x15 Hydramat in the cell for slosh control.  Now that my fuel needs are ~1/3 of what they were, I'm hoping I can ditch the surge tank and the lift pump setup and simplify my life.  The new pumps need an external brushless controller (still PWM'd off my Fuelab 529 regulator's feedback signal) and a bulkhead passthrough for the wires into the fuel cell, but still less power, quieter, and more efficient (fuel used to get hot with the old setup in traffic)


SUPER stoked to get this thing together and have fun with it again. 
I've really enjoyed seeing the FB updates from some of the crew here and look forward to adding to the collective knowledge as I push this heap a little further down the road.

I bought something like this for my 997.2 Turbo S (originally PCM 3.0) after it was recommended by about 100 other 911 guys haha:  https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005001797490381.html
The guys who'd done it first figured out all the options (screens, cpu, ram, cameras, fiber optic for factory Bose amp+sub, etc) and it came out to about $400.
Absolutely incredible value for what it is.

Aliexpress is the "retail" site where you're essentially paying double to be able to order qty 1 and get it shipped quickly.  I've had good luck, but it can certainly be tricky to ascertain exactly what it is you're buying, and support after the fact is a crap shoot.

How's it going fellas? Ive started tinkering with the car a bit lately.

I decided to back track a bit. The project seemed to be going the path of racecar and I really just want to get back to refining what I have and making it a nice driver.

I bought a t56 magnum with fbody tail and a monster triple disc, haven't had time to install the transmission yet.
The seals in one of the hydraulic cylinders of my maxjax lift started leaking really bad, but I should have the lift back in working order this weekend.

I want to get the Air Conditioning project finished up too before summer.

Also planning to fix the broken gauge cluster with a new set of speedhut gauges.

Nice dude!  Street cars ftw.