What would you do?

[indycallaway]

The tranny needs rebuilt in the 87 TT... While its in there I want the motor yanked and gone through, nothing wrong with it, just want to freshin it up... it has 58,XXX miles on it... What should I have done for more power? What kind of boost levels are safe? I was thinking 18-20 lbs... is this too much? What else should be done to the motor to freshen it up? What else can be done for power? I talked to Joanne yesterday and they dont have any wonderbar's in stock and they "dont have time to make one":eyerole The car was supposed to go back to Old Lyme this year for freshining up, but again yesterday i got "they just dont have time to work on it" which I understand.... I am not *****ing, just venting!ad So, I am having a very well trusted/respected race motor builder here in town go through the car.... What should we do? BTW budget is looking like 5-7K including tranny rebuild so I think that leaves 3-5K for motor freshining..... what would you do with that kind of budget?

Thanks
RJ

 

[*89x2*]

RJ, yeah, from what I understand, the shop in CT is very busy gearing up the 2008 Supercharger program - I am sure if the manpower was available, they would rebuild your car in a heartbeat. That said, in your words, the " that leaves 3-5K for motor freshining" is a bit optomistic IMO. I do not think you could have a reliable engine freshening done for that. But I could be wrong

I do not think 18-20 psi of boost is safe for your car either. Not without major revisions to the fuel system. Then you still have the restrictive air inlet and small turbos. (the intake is another restriction)

Are you after a race/flat-out Callaway Corvette? The previous owner of my black 89 Twin Turbo wanted more power and may have had similar conversations with Callaway Cars. He ended up sending the car to LPE and $23,000 later, he had a very fast car! That BTW, is the Callaway I am currently selling and for someone looking for a fast twin turbo, it would be more cost effective to get into that car vs. bulding one yourself :cool It already has the BIG Wonderbar and a lot of engine work


I hope this helps and I look forward to what others have for advice on the matter - either way you go with your car, Enjoy it!!!!!!!

 

[indycallaway]

The motor builder I talk of just happens to be my uncle..... So the $ amount is pretty much parts only, labor is on him (mostly)..... I should have said that...sorry, that is an important part... We are not going to do anything drastic to the motor.... If more boost is not safe, i wont do it..... I just would like to have a little more power...doesnt everybody! thanks

 

[alinares]

Let me know if you want your 4 +3 rebuilt. I had mine rebuilt and had a new clutch put in this spring. The shop that did my rebuild is near Champaign, IL. If you need any assistance with this part of you project please let me know.

Good luck,
George

 

[89onlyZ51]

How is the car running (other than the tranny)? At 58k miles, what kind of freshening do you think the motor needs? The long blocks on these are very stout.

If the motor's not blowing smoke (check the intake for signs of oil from the turbo seals leaking) and otherwise seems to be running well, I wouldn't spend the money on a complete refresh. If you're looking for more power, this is where I would spend the money - probably in this order.

1) custom exhaust either w/o cats (if emissions aren't an issue) or with more modern high-flow cats
2) intake & cam (might as well do them together) - a TPIS "big mouth" setup with a "slightly" bigger cam to complement, something in the 210 deg intake duration range with around .500 in lift. You have to check the clearances on the valve spring/retainers - not sure what Callaway put in the '87.
3) turbo upgrade - I think you can get your stock IHI turbos rebuilt and modified for improved flow for a lot less than converting over to the later Rotomaster turbos. This is still going to be $$$.

Particularly if you do #2 above, you'll need to do a good tune - maybe disconnect the microfueler and run 42lb injectors with a custom chip. With a good tune and the stock 7.5:1 compression, you should have no problem running 14-16lbs of boost and still be within the limits of what the short block can handle.

I don't have any first-hand experience with the above, YET. But, that's basically what I plan to do to my newly acquired '87 with the exception of the turbos.

 

[TurboLuigi]

89onlyZ51,

Good Luck with that but #2 in particular seems like it has a high potential to blow up the motor and end up with a boat anchor. I think the connecting rods are a weak link. Pay attention in detail to what Callaway worked with in the 450HP upgrade.

In general (with few rare exceptions like in the Dallas area ), when people gamble for power on their own, it has not turned out very well. You can wait and pay Callaway when they have time or you can pay less, 2 or 3 times later on with dissappointments in between. You will find that in the long run, it would have been better if not cheaper to have it done right with the quality of work and experience that Callaway has.

If you play - you're gonna pay! :eyerole

-Luigi
:cool

 

[89onlyZ51]

89onlyZ51,

Good Luck with that but #2 in particular seems like it has a high potential to blow up the motor and end up with a boat anchor. I think the connecting rods are a weak link. Pay attention in detail to what Callaway worked with in the 450HP upgrade.

:cool

What I'm talking about is not that radical a departure from what Callaway did. In fact, I don't believe they changed the bottom end when they went from the 345hp '87 model to the 382hp '88+ models. My suggestions with a conservative tune should yield ~400hp. Keep the rev's to 6k, don't over boost or over spark, and all should be fine. There are plenty of 500+ hp pink rod motors out there taking abuse and doing fine.

No doubt Callaway does the best work in the business; I'm just saying there's some room in an '87 for a little more power with reversible mods.

I'll let you all know how it goes...

 

[*89x2*]

sounds interesting guys - really cool stuff however, as Luigi mentions, proceed with caution. The "pink rods" should not be confused with a forged rotating assembly, which is what I would do if I were to crank the boost up as mentioned above. While I am sure those rods are fine for a lot of power, are they known for forgiveness if there should be any hint of detonation?

For those that have gone down the engine rebuild path already, did you keep the pink rods, or did you go with a forged rod? :confused


Sounds like a new generation of Callaway owners are enjoying their cars in a different way than most have in the past, cool

 

[indycallaway]

We are going to start tearing down the motor next week and see what we find...I will keep everybody updated as to what we do from there..... Im sure I wll have a lot of questions to ask.... In reply to an above post..... There is nothing that i know of wrong with the motor. It doesnt leak a drop and does not smoke at all. It still runs very strong...:cool 50-60 lbs oil pressure at idle and around 70- 80 lbs at throttle....Turbos seem to spool fine and has good manifold pressure...Just want to make sure it will run strong for the next 20 years Thanks.... RJ

 

[MagicDragon]

Hello Indy, Sounds like your having some fun. More is always better when it comes to POWER. Over the years it seems to me that the factory Callaway engines are very stable. My experience with both of mine have been great and I use them the way they were intended. Since your removing the engine and taking a look at everything and looking for more power somewhere I would advise to use some of your budget on installing forged rods (Carrillo comes to mind). To me it would be "cheap" insurance for when you pure on the juice in the future. If you do internal modifications be aware of the specific tolerances for this engine. Callaway Cars can provide that information. Good Luck and keep us informed on your great project.
P.S. ever concider replacing the tranny with a 5-speed conversion from www.keislerauto.com/ -- It's something I've been thinking about for a while. From my conversations with them the cost is inline with a major 4+3 rebuild at approx 3K.

 

[indycallaway]

I have given alot of thought to the Keisler swap... Anyone done that here? How did it go? The tranny is out of the car now and has not been rebuilt yet so I need to figure this out soon.....

 

[*89x2*]

If I had an 87 or 88 and burned out the od, I would seriously consider this swap.

The trans gets great reviews and is a direct bolt-in (or about as close as it could get) :cool

If you drop the money on a 4+3 rebuild, the only known factor is that at some point, you will break it again.

Go big, go with the 5-spd

 

[kruzmisl]

I agree with that logic. Especially since you will be pushing the power! I don't think you would regret that decision.

 

[indycallaway]

Talked to Keilser yesterday and I think we are going to go with the TKO 600 (rated for 650 hp) The only question I have is they have two different ratios for that... One they call highway (.64) and one they call street race (.82)... What do you guys think? I dont care about MPG..... Its a hot rod!

 

[SurfnSun]

I would get the .64. Your 4th gear is a 1:1 ratio already...a drop to .82 isn't going to do much for your cruising rpm. The two available OD ratios for the 4+3 were .60 and .68.