2006-Present Engine/Driveline Recap

The soul of the car is of course the engine.  Depending on the type of experience wanted out of the car, the engine/transmission combo will change drastically.  From truck engines and transmissions to super bike engines and transmissions, locost builders have built it all.  I’ve even heard of a tractor motor being used in a fuel sipping locost.  For someone like me that wants a great car to drive around town and that is somewhat reliable the S10 combo is hard to beat.  Probably the most used combo in the US is a S10 engine with a S10 T5 transmission.  The reason for this is the huge quantity of dirt cheap parts available for this engine type.  The 60 degree GM V6 is one of the cheapest motors to be found at the junk yard today.  Along with being cheap it is very compact.  These are the two most desirable traits for a locost engine.  The best part is that there are so many configurations.  From dirt cheap 100hp/110lb/ft 2.8L engines to more expensive 280hp/260lb/ft supercharged 3.6 Buick engines.  For the most part, they all bolt up the same (there are a few types they are a bit different, please research your combo before buying.)  I’ve heard of people finishing their locost on a budget with a 2.8L S10 motor and enjoying the car for a couple of years and then dropping in a new engine over the weekend to rekindle their love for it.  An extra 100hp dropped right in sure can reignite the passion! 

That is the main reason for me choosing the combo I bought:

• 1994 Camaro 3.4L V6 190hp/210lb/ft 100,000 miles
• 1991 S10 T5 Transmission
• 1990 S10 Rear Axle

190hp in a car that is going to weight around 1200-1400lb is going to be insane.  Roughly 6.5lb/hp!  To put that in perspective, a Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano that has an Enzo engine in it has a weight to power ratio of 6.1lb/hp and does 0-60 in 3.3s!  Let’s just say I can not wait to try my car out.  Before I get ahead of myself…

The first thing I did when I brought the parts back from the junkyard after spending roughly 900 dollars for everything including ECU and wiring harness was to give them a good bath and hit them with a fresh coat of paint.  I spent a full day cleaning the engine, transmission, and rear axle.  It was a mess!  I used a combination of Mean Green, soap, and course haired brushes to cut through the years of grease and dirt.  Here are some before pictures of the dirty parts:

 

 

After cleaning everything, I went to the local hardware store and picked up some heavy duty rust proofing primer and metal paint.  I used ceramic based engine paint on the motor.  After getting all the dirt and grease off of the motor it was still not in shape to paint.  I had to spend a couple of hours sanding it down so the paint would stick.  The heads were probably the worse.  The transmission did not need to be painted.  It is bare aluminum and is very resilient.  The axle needed to be painted as the old black paint laid on over ten years ago at the factory was non-existent.  I primed the axle and brushed on many coats of grey Rustoleum paint.  It turned out quite nicely.  After getting the engine prepped, I painted the block silver and the heads black.  The valve covers were actually in great condition after I cleaned them up, so no painting was necessary on them.  The last thing I did was purchase a new oil pan and give it a matching paint job.  Check out the after pictures:

 

 

The next big thing to decide is whether or not to stay with a electronic fuel injection system or switch to a carbureted setup.  I am very tempted to switch to a carburetor because it makes it 10x easier to get the thing going, however in the long run a EFI setup would be better since it would start easier in the winter and such.  I still haven’t settled on a setup yet.  I need to figure all the costs involved and go from there.  I also think a carbureted set up would be less of a mess in the engine bay.  There isn’t much room in there to begin with and a mess of wires would really become a pain to run and even to look at.  There are some tid-bits I still need to buy as well, such as an alternator. 

I bought a radiator off of ebay that was for a Honda Civic.  I was told that it would mount up great to the book chassis.  I ordered it from an aftermarket company and was pleasantly surprised by the quality for the price.  It mounted up perfectly, I couldn’t have asked for better fitment.  It should also have more than enough cooling capacity for this engine as well.  Here are a couple of pictures of the radiator and fitment:

 

 

The last thing I bought and setup was a clutch and flywheel kit.  I just bought a basic S10 kit from autozone for around 75 dollars.  I installed the flywheel and clutch then pressed the transmission onto the engine.  It was a bugger trying to get everything to line up correctly.  Finally everything meshed up correctly and it was all set.

My buddy also hooked me up with an electric cooling fan, distributor, and spark plug wires.  That saved me about $100!  I will have to chop up the fan a bit and haven’t quite figured out how I will mount it yet.  It is nice to get freebies every now and then though.  I don’t have any pictures of the fan and other parts, but will be updating the Engine/Driveline section periodically when I make progress.  My next step in this section will be mounting the radiator and finishing the transmission mounts.  The engine mounts are done, more on that in the chassis section.

 

~ by subyman on March 18, 2008.