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It has been a crazy couple months. We built our display and held the tech session at the Pantera Owners Club of America Annual Fun Rally, and continued development on our new cable short shifter, and finally finished the dry sump oil system for the Pantera.

To figure out the dry sump system, we had to first find a tank. We ended up going with the OEM tank out of the ZR1 Corvette. While it is a very nice tank, it was hard to find a location and a way to mount it because it is a very awkward shape with very few mounting locations.





We fabricated a mount for the dry sump tank that mounts it upright on the passenger side of the engine. This allows us to use very short oil lines into the engine.

Here are some pictures of the block that we fabricated for the oil input and output:



Now we are finishing up the Oil Cooling/Filtering system that will be located on the driver’s side of the engine.

Lot’s of fabrication work going on in the SACC shop. More updates to come shortly!

Check out more pics on the blog: zr1pantera.com
quote:
Originally posted by PanteraDoug:
I am ordering a Smithy! What you guys do with it is unbelievable! Nice work. How are you ever going to fit headers in there though? Its getting very crowded in there.


The Smithy is a great machine! Thanks a lot!

And it is getting a bit crowded but we are being sure to leave enough space between all of the components and where we are going to run the headers. Stay tuned Wink
quote:
Originally posted by Rocky:
Very cool.

So your alternator is driven off the Rotary Compressor, or is that one huge belt?

You need to consider one of those amazing "overdrive" water pump pulleys for the serpentine system!

Rocky


The Alternator, AC, and the Crank are on one, 6 rib belt, and the Supercharger, Water Pump, and Crank are on one, 11 rib belt.
The last two weeks have been jam packed with finishing systems. Our car is getting very close to being able to be driven. We are probably about five weeks out from having a drivable car.

Front Drive:

For the Front Drive system, we ended up having to find two custom belts due to the placement of the pulleys. For the supercharger serpentine belt, we actually had to buy a 12 rib belt, and cut it down to an 11 rib as they didn’t make the correct size that we needed in the 11 ribs. As far as we have found, the only 11 rib serpentine belt readily available, is the stock belt that is used on the LS9, which was too long for the amount of pulleys that we are using. We decided to forgo the power steering pulley and pump for easier fitment in the car. Plus, who needs power steering? Also, check out the little block that is in the pics below. While it seems little, that block is very vital for the engine to run right in our application. It is used to plug the hole where one of the emission sensors goes.

See more pics here



Cooling System

For the LS9, we decided to go with all molded water tubes. You wouldn’t believe the amount of time we spent searching for different shapes, sizes, and lengths for these water tubes. We ended up ordering 6 or 7 water tubes, and 5 of them fit absolutely perfectly in the car and look like they were made for our installation. We couldn’t be any happier with the cooling system.

Here is an overview of how the flow in the cooling system goes: Radiator > Electric Water Pump > LS9 > Oil Cooler > Radiator.

For the LS9, we decided to go with a water-to-oil cooler instead of the air-to-oil cooler that we used with the LS3. (Actually, one of the only Ford parts in our engine system LOL). It should be interesting to see what the water and oil temps look like with the use of the cooler.

See more pics here



Oil System

The oil system is now complete as well. As you saw in our previous post, we got the dry sump system all connected to the engine, but to finish the system, we needed to get the oil filter and oil cooler connected. In order to get the lines connected, we needed to make custom hose adapters to connect the AN style lines with the design on the oil cooler. (As a side note; it’s insane how many special adapters we have had to make to get the engine running. Thank goodness we have a machine to get all these parts pumped out quickly). We got all the braided steel lines put in and connected, and the engine is one step closer to being started.

See more pics here



We have three systems left, the fuel, intercooler, and air intake systems. For the fuel system, we are getting a custom tank made that will fit in the front trunk. We are hoping to get about 10-12 gallons out of the front trunk, with a 3-5 gallon sump tank near the engine. This will help balance the weight in the car and should hopefully help handling. For the intercooler, we are going to mount the radiator in the front of the car right in front of the large radiator. It’s funny; when we were looking for a place to mount it, as soon as we looked under the hood, it was like the intercooler radiator was made for the Pantera. It fits perfectly (pictures coming soon). For the air intake system, we will be building side intake gills that will direct cool, fresh air right into the engine. We still need to construct the gills and mount the air filter so that will be about two weeks out.

Of course after we finish those systems, we need to run all of the electrical to run this beast, plus get the headers constructed. We are utilizing the MAST Motorsports ECU and Control System which, with the headers, should deliver around 700HP at the crank.

It’s getting really exciting over here. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s approaching fast.
quote:
Originally posted by PanteraDoug:
I can see your need for the cable shifter. Smiler

Why are there two tanks for this engine?


Yes, definitely a need for the cable shifter... LOL

The tank on the drivers side is actually for the air suspension, while the tank on the passengers side is for the oil system.
quote:
Originally posted by comp2:
Looks like you can pretty much eliminate the bubble.


Yes the bubble will be almost completely flat. The only hump we will have will be for the air intake which will have to come out the front and then down to the drivers side near the oil cooler. There we will be mounting the air box with cleaner and ducting it to the outer gills of the car that we will be constructing.
Wow, the last month has seen so much progress! Where to start...

Electrical System:

The wiring of the engine has begun. We mounted the ECU and have started wiring the engine. Our MAST Motorsports wiring harness has so many options for controlling the engine and other systems. It is designed to control almost every system in the car, but since we already have a pretty good wiring harness in the car, we are only going to use it to control the engine. We ran the wiring as clean as possible, but we will probably construct a few covers to make the engine compartment look even nicer.



Intake System:

We finished relocating the throttle body and constructing the intake tube from the blower to the throttle body. We are just finish welding it, and it will be ready to install for the final time. (We will have more pics of the intake system when we get the final weld done on the intake tube). The last part of the intake system is to construct the airbox and the intake gill. The airbox will be located in the cavity between the outer panel and the inner engine bay panel.



Intercooler System:

With the stock intercooler, we couldn't fit the water line adapter between the window and the blower. To overcome this issue, we made adapters that would convert the intercooler to AN style fittings. Now that we have that done, it's time to plumb the water lines to the intercooler radiator located at the front of the car.

Speaking of, we finished mounting the intercooler radiator in the front of the car. The last thing we have to do is mount the reservoir for the system which fits PERFECTLY behind the drivers side headlight bucket.



Fuel System:

The fuel system is getting close to completion as well. We designed a custom fuel tank and had it built, and it is awesome! The rough capacity is around 15 gallons and the tank is built out of 3/16" aluminum for extra strength. This will help balance the weight in the car as well. With the great fuel efficiency of the LS9, that should give us a realistic 300-350 miles of range on the highway (although, I don't think we will be taking it easy with this engine so I am not sure if we will attain that figure ;-) ). Right now, you are probably thinking "where are they going to put the battery?" We have decided to move it to the back, near the engine. We are going to use our current Optima Red Top, but we are looking into a lightweight lithium-ion racing battery to replace the heavy lead-acid battery.

Since the fuel tank is now in the front of the car, we thought it was a good idea to integrate a high-flow fuel sump system in the car for high performance. Our friends over at Radium Engineering thought our project was really cool so they decided to sponsor and help us out with a Fuel Surge Tank (FST). If you don't know what that is, an FST is designed to prevent fuel starvation to the engine on vehicles with inadequate fuel tank baffling. The FST fuel pump feeds the fuel rail. The volume of fuel inside the surge tank acts as a buffer to always keep the FST pump supplied with fuel. In this system, we will have that pump supplying the engine with fuel, and a lower powered pump to keep the FST filled with fuel.




So I guess my original prediction of 5 weeks until the car is drivable was a little bit exaggerated, but we are definitely getting way closer.

Oh, and I forgot one last thing. We decided to go with the exhaust manifolds until we take the car back apart to paint and do bodywork. Because of this, we decided to polish the manifolds and WOW do they look great.



Our to-do list is dwindling.

For more pics, check out our post on http://zr1pantera.com
quote:
Originally posted by No Quarter:
Wow Eeker


Thanks!

quote:
Originally posted by JTpantera:
I hope that you will consider bringing the car to the 2015 POCA Lone Star Fun Rally. I am confident people would enjoy seeing your creative fabrication on the Pantera


We are currently planning on going to the next POCA Fun Rally. It's looking to be lots of fun!
quote:
so chris at one time in your build you said something about cheap and reliable 650 hp with good fuel economy. i was wondering how thats working out how much are you spending just curious.


I am pretty sure he said "reliable 650 hp with good fuel economy". Not sure where you got cheap from. If he said that, I couldn't find it...

Thanks for your interest in the project.

Regarding the cost of the project, it is right where it should be! We thanks our sponsors for the help and support of this project!

Scott
Isn't a project like this worth whatever it costs?

If someone really wants to duplicate this project, "ball-parking" the price tag is pretty easy. If I were Chris and Scott, I wouldn't say how much it cost because then they'll just have to listen to people's opinions as to whether it's worth it or not.

My "beef" with this engine swap is, not only is it probably less expensive than my Fontana aluminum block based, SVO headed, IR EFI injected engine, it's probably more powerful and more reliable too. Not fair you guys :-(

If I was starting all over ...

Anyone want to buy an all aluminum Ford motor???
quote:
Originally posted by 73 l:
oh by the way i was referring chris bell's post on march 16th 2014 09:52


Here is what I said...

quote:
It's not so much as finding the cheapest solution, but more about finding a solution that makes sense for us and the LS9 fits every single need we had. Was it expensive? Yeah a little bit. But compare that to a comparable Ford engine (Ford GT motor: over $30k) and it is relatively cheap.


I completely stand behind my previous comment. If you look at the retail price of both motors (LS9: around $20k; Ford GT: over $30k), it is obvious that the LS9 is cheaper. Even when you add electronics and everything to run the engine, etc. it comes in under $30k.

We are doing more than just an engine swap, as many can tell. Did we need to do all of these modifications? No, but they make the car perform better. I can tell you that even if we put a Ford GT motor in the car, we would be making many of these systems modifications.

quote:
Originally posted by David_Nunn:
My "beef" with this engine swap is, not only is it probably less expensive than my Fontana aluminum block based, SVO headed, IR EFI injected engine, it's probably more powerful and more reliable too. Not fair you guys :-(

If I was starting all over ...

Anyone want to buy an all aluminum Ford motor???


roll on floor roll on floor roll on floor
Considering the extent of the work involved, the amount of fabrication, the project is beyond most's capabilities and well beyond "very interesting" but the only thing it makes me want is a Smithy. Then, look out world, I'm comin'! Hide all of your aluminum billet! Razzer

I'll just have to be happy with my iron Ford block, aluminum heads, Webers, 180 degree headers and a measly 550hp and 500 ft-lbs or torque, BUT it sure is enjoyable following the project.

Still don't see that cable shifter in there yet though? Big Grin

After all is said and done, I'm just a yester-retro kinda guy anyway? Groovy. Peace man V! Smiler
quote:
Still don't see that cable shifter in there yet though?


It's in there Doug!!! I'll ask Chris to post some pictures...

I am having a hard time keeping Chris from wearing out my ZF while it sits there waiting to hit the streets.

He likes the shifter so much he just keeps shifting it and shifting it and shifting it. I keep telling him to knock it off but he has so much fun doing it I don't know what to do. Damm kids!!!
Is it fair to say that the vast majority of the mods required in your swap from the LS3 to the LS9 were necessitated by the supercharger and its related components? It seems to me, a Pantera owner could install a dry sump LS7 for about half the cost of a Ford based equivalent. By "equivalent" I mean HP, TQ, weight, dry sump and EFI. In 2006, Hot Rod Magazine did an LS7 dyno test and found they could increase the engine's HP to 600 @ 6,800 RPM with only a cam and exhaust change.

In addition, if you wanted to mount the engine lower in the chassis, you guys now have that all figured out too. It seems pretty "bolt-in" without the complication of the supercharger.

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quote:
Originally posted by David_Nunn:
Is it fair to say that the vast majority of the mods required in your swap from the LS3 to the LS9 were necessitated by the supercharger and its related components? It seems to me, a Pantera owner could install a dry sump LS7 for about half the cost of a Ford based equivalent. By "equivalent" I mean HP, TQ, weight, dry sump and EFI. In 2006, Hot Rod Magazine did an LS7 dyno test and found they could increase the engine's HP to 600 @ 6,800 RPM with only a cam and exhaust change.

In addition, if you wanted to mount the engine lower in the chassis, you guys now have that all figured out too. It seems pretty "bolt-in" without the complication of the supercharger.


For the most part. The fuel tank/fuel sump we did for better performance during track driving to ensure the engine doesn't get starved for fuel plus better weight distribution front to back. The only system that was done solely because of the supercharger was the intercooler system. Other than that, almost all changes would have been necessary for an LS7 swap as well (dry sump oil system, lowering the motor, moving the motor and trans back a couple of inches, airbox, etc.) because it is much better to leave the manifold in it's stock orientation and run the intake through the front.

The LS7 is a beast of a motor for sure. It was definitely a consideration when we were doing the original LS3 swap, but for this project, we wanted to go with the "cool" factor with the supercharger and get the biggest (in performance), & baddest motor. Wink
quote:
For the most part. The fuel tank/fuel sump we did for better performance during track driving to ensure the engine doesn't get starved for fuel plus better weight distribution front to back. The only system that was done solely because of the supercharger was the intercooler system. Other than that, almost all changes would have been necessary for an LS7 swap as well (dry sump oil system, lowering the motor, moving the motor and trans back a couple of inches, airbox, etc.) because it is much better to leave the manifold in it's stock orientation and run the intake through the front.

The LS7 is a beast of a motor for sure. It was definitely a consideration when we were doing the original LS3 swap, but for this project, we wanted to go with the "cool" factor with the supercharger and get the biggest (in performance), & baddest motor.


The LS7 would be a bit easier but not by much. Chris is correct that most of the changes would still be needed. The intercooler was a Pain in the a$$ and so was the air intake. The LS7 air intake would be much easier since that manifold could be swapped 180 like we did on the LS3.
quote:
Any update on when the cable shifter will be available to the public and the approximate cost?


Hi Richard,

I am very close to launching the product for sale. I made some geometry changes to the shifter end to improve the feel and am extremely happy with the result.

I am shooting for the price to come in under $1000.00. Early adopters may get an additional discount.

The unit is completely installed and functional in our project car for anyone that is close-by that wants to sit in the car and make rum-rum noises while shifting the car.

Take care, Scott
quote:
Originally posted by ZR1 Pantera:
quote:
Any update on when the cable shifter will be available to the public and the approximate cost?


Hi Richard,

The unit is completely installed and functional in our project car for anyone that is close-by that wants to sit in the car and make rum-rum noises while shifting the car.

Take care, Scott



....beda beda beda varoom, boom bada bada boom bada bada.

It's got a cam. Big Grin
We finally got back to work on the ZR1 Pantera project. I am happy to report we finally got the LS9 fired up last night for the first time. OMG did it sound GREAT. We had a couple of issues to work through but have now had the engine up to operating temperature a couple of times. Still not drivable since we have not yet built the hatch cover or the exhaust. We used the old LS3 exhaust to get the engine fired up. The sound of the blower whine is GREAT!!! More to come shortly!!!

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