Wynona the wagon's resurrection!

[Taterhead]

Now that you posted that I do remember seeing it. And a wagon too.

[HRH]

Got my turbo back today!!!

[Taterhead]

Is it on yet?

[HRH]

It is not. When will then be now? Soon!

[HRH]

You know, I've been doing calculations for how fast I want the wagon to be. Realistically I need that 400 hp. Also realistically, I don't think I'm going to have this car together by the end of the year. Especially if I want a bulletproof high boost RB.

[wayno]

I really liked my 1965 Nova, it had a 350/350 hp??/small block high compression engine/4spd/850 holly carb, it would do 13s in the quarter mile, I only ever lost one race with that car and the guy would not lift his hood to show what was in his car(mid 60s Chevy also), and he barely caught me, that was the funnest car I have ever owned in my life, a great car for an early 20s kid, I am lucky I survived that car, the Nova body did not survive, everything was creaking/making noise when I shifted gears, the doors were the worst(2 door no post), I sold it without the engine/transmission, I did not miss the gas mileage, it would empty the tank in 4 races, it likely would have killed a person in 5 minutes running in a closed garage as standing behind it made me gag while it idled.

400hp is fun, but dangerous when wet outside, at least a high compression engine is, as when one lets off the gas pedal the rear wheels quit turning no matter what gear one is in, it takes a certain type to drive something like that on the street, where your pedal is is how fast you are moving up or down hill, my Nova would start jerking at a steady speed, the jerking was caused by the sloppiness in the drive train, it got the same mileage everywhere except the strip where it got way less mileage.

[HRH]

The good part about this is I have a clutch pedal. I can dump all that power quite quickly. Plus it isn't going to be off the line like a torquey V8. I'm going to have to hit 3500 rpm before it really starts increasing power. Below that and it's still pretty docile. One of the good things about a small displacement turbo car. It's also fairly low compression, which makes it a lot easier to handle on the street. Interestingly, I don't know if it will get much better mileage than your Nova. Probably at light cruise, but then 400 hp is 400 hp, it's going to suck fuel pretty decent.

[HRH]

Welcome to the dark side! As mentioned everywhere else, I thought it stupid to ask the smallest motor to make the most hp to move the heaviest Datsun. (Aside from the hardbody) Anyway, this is now going to be a much longer project due to all the plans. I figured two-three years before I have the wagon running again, but maybe I'll suprise myself. However, it's welcome. As much as I love the wagon, this will allow me to focus on the race car and the D21 and then I'll have two reliable Datsuns. One for racing, one for daily driving and off-roading.

What we have here is an LM7 5.3 iron block GM V8. It has only 248,000 miles from an '05 Sierra. Planning for 10:1 forged pistons and some new heads with a nasty cam. Going for 450 engine hp. Basically, I don't want anymore than 400 hp at the wheels since I only put the 8.8 in it. 370-400 whp should make it so I don't kill the nearly bulletproof axle. I will likely put c clip eliminators in it, and also truss the axle.

As far as transmissions, it's either run a 4L60E or a CD009 6 speed. Both are doable behind the LS. I would like the 6 speed, but I'm also tempted to auto it as this is just gonna be a cruiser and maybe an occasional drag race. Definitely a lot of sleeper stoplight burnouts. I need to see if I can fit a bit wider tire in the back too, otherwise I'm going to go through rubber really quickly, lol.

The other thing is I'll need chassis stiffening to not twist the Maxima into a pretzel with all the torque. It's not weak, but repeated abuse with that amount of torque will screw the chassis. I may farm that out to someone smarter than me who has done a few unibody strengthening jobs. We shall see. This is another reason I say 2-3 years. There are a lot of things I have to change/modify since I'm completely redoing the car.

Oh yeah, did I mention it's only 40 pounds heavier than an RB20DET? Seriously.

[DRIVEN]

You won't/can't hurt the 8.8

[Taterhead]

I know it’s not the same but to help motivate…




Can’t upload videos for some reason but trust me, this bastard screams around the track.

[HRH]

You won't/can't hurt the 8.8

Clearly, you haven't seen me abuse shit.

[HRH]

Nice!!! Is that yours tater?

[Taterhead]

Oh, I wish. Nah, I went to a little drifting thing couple weekends ago and it was one of the cars running.