That car is going to weigh 4000 pounds...lol. How are you going to get the driveshaft out? What tranny are you using? Those wheelie bars are certainly.......sturdy. I assume the chute lines are coming out under the cross brace?

Before you go any further, I would highly advise you to have an NHRA tech inspector come by and look the car over. If any changes need to be made now is the time to do it. You also better get all the tire you can under that car, such as some 16x33s.

 

GreyGhost - if you remember - we spoke about my 6 Speed Tremec previously - and you even commented on how someone in Australia was using one. Also the cross members you see are not permanent (some were installed for support purposes only)- not sure which will stay or go or be moved or replaced at other locations - but if you take a close look at the welds they are only tac'd in - that design has not been determined yet - the driveshaft will be removable. . And as far as the weight goes - we will weigh the car once it is complete. And the chute lines - I have not spoken to my builder about that at this time. They run Pro-Mod as I previously mentioned and they use chutes all the time - so I can only assume they know what they are doing and won't get me killed.

 

Yeah, I remember now. I think you are going to regret a Tremac with a blower but we shall see. You have a long way to go, as you probably know. Then at least 30 passes or more to sort things out. Hopefully the motor has been dynoed and that isn't a problem. You might even consider a test engine to get it all sorted out so you don't use up the good motor. If it plants with 800 hp it will plant with 1500.....

 

GreyGhost - I am step ahead of the tire issue. We are changing the brakes to do exactly what you have suggested try and get 16 x 33's in the wells.

 

Love them pictures!

 

Thanks for posting all of those pictures (and taking them Greg)! Its great to be able to see all of the cool details! I like being able to scroll through all the different angles to see all of the work that went into it.


The one question I've got for you and GreyGhost - why the hard push for a wider slick? Outlaw 10.5 cars are doing high 3s at 200+ in the 1/8 pushing 2000 hp at the absolute bottom end of the food chain through a 10.5W. The pro 275 radial guys are putting down similar numbers.

I'm not trying to say this car isn't going to make a lot of power, it just doesn't seem like it should need a big tire to go hook. The cars that need that much tire are running much higher power - more than any of the top LS builds.

 

Depends on the track, time and temperature. Anytime track temp is under 80 degrees it is very hard to get a car to hook. While I agree most times a huge tire is overkill, you have to be ready for any track you go to. For example, if you run Memphis in the fall, the air is so incredibly good (sometimes MINUS 500 feet) that the air is just dripping with moisture. If you go 3 or 4 rounds, you might be running at 8 pm. Not only is your car making lots more HP, but you have a slick track that is not very warm. On the other hand, I have been to Indy in September, and the track temps were up to 140. I barely did a burnout because of the heat. That said, in my class a lot of people ran hard chassis with no rear suspension. With a 4 link car you have a better chance of getting the tires planted. The final answer is if there is no rule that says you can't put any size tire you want, then put all the meat you can under there for the times when a track won't be so great.

 

Well Sam it sure was a treat to see your very special RWD 7th Gen build. What an incredible build, that is one serious Monte you are having built, its a no joke car. The structural engineering, master welding are art work on wheels. Then to make this beast come alive is 10 levels above and beyond that of a typical automotive garage. Matt has his hands full, it has to bend his mind going from concept to production . Is Painless going to make your a harness or is Matt fabricating it? Does building a car from scratch have to be submitted to a State D.O.T. facility to be inspected and deemed road worthy? You ever settle down and come up with a name for your car, bad luck to have a car with no name. No doubt about it this Monte has gave the Monte Carlo badge its ***** back. What will it be, since it was never an SS, some special badging "SSOB" some set of *****? You still expecting about 1800whp from this build? Take care bud, this is the Monte that could have ruled the track, Jeff Gordon would want this should you ever decide to sell it, what? He may want it, you never know.

 

I call my Monte Carlo this, but he can certainly borrow the name. Being a money pit, I tend to call mine a Money Carlo. The SS stands for Spending Savagely. Everyone should build a car from scratch once in their life. It's an experience and expense you will never forget.

 

I'm curious about that as well along with how he plans to handle insurance on it.

I know some folks with DIY RWD conversions that just register / insure it under the original VIN and lie to say the car is stock. But I'd imagine for the huge amount of money into this you'd want to do it all the right way to make sure a) it doesn't get impounded b) you don't lose all of your money in a wreck.