Custom 500+ Horsepower LS6 1972 TVR Vixen Wide Body build
Discussion
I figured I would put this TVR Vixen build here, because it is Stanced Out in a way with the new ride height and new custom wheels and tires. There is a lot of styling and fab work going into this car to get it to look right and perform right, so it is being converted to a General Motors 500+ horsepower LS6/TKO600 5-speed along with a lot of other necessary custom treatments to ensure the car will hold the power. The original chassis is being modified to accept the LS6 and 5-speed combo, along with retrofitting new custom control arms and C5 Corvette outer Hub/Spindle assemblies to allow the better geometry and lager brakes, and the power is being supplied to a 2005 GTO rear center section and custom axles to hold up.
The car has been lowered about 4 inches over all, and is running custom18x10 and 18x11's Boze Forged Wheels with 275/35/18 front and 315/30/18in rear Falken Tires, so this under 2100# car should kicks some ass. This car will be driven on a regular basis, along with perform on the Autocross/Road Courses for fun, so it is being built as a comfortable double duty car.
I have included some pictures of what I started with, and pictures of where I am up to date, but the car has August completion date for a race date. It was a pretty clean car to start with, but it really need to be restored anyway, so why not do it just a bit differently? LOL
Here is the original chassis and powerplant, and as you can see, it was begging to have something done with it.
The car has been lowered about 4 inches over all, and is running custom18x10 and 18x11's Boze Forged Wheels with 275/35/18 front and 315/30/18in rear Falken Tires, so this under 2100# car should kicks some ass. This car will be driven on a regular basis, along with perform on the Autocross/Road Courses for fun, so it is being built as a comfortable double duty car.
I have included some pictures of what I started with, and pictures of where I am up to date, but the car has August completion date for a race date. It was a pretty clean car to start with, but it really need to be restored anyway, so why not do it just a bit differently? LOL
Here is the original chassis and powerplant, and as you can see, it was begging to have something done with it.
Here are a few pics of the LS6 and the 5-speed fitting into the original chassis, and as you can see, it is actually a nice fit. The really cool thing is that the car weighed in at just over 1900 pounds with the original 6cyl power plant, and the LS6/5-speed package is a little over 80 pounds lighter than that, so it will give me some room to play with to stay under the 2100# completed goal.
Here are a few rough in pics of the new control arms and C5 Corvette spindle conversion, and in these pictures you will see that I had to add an additional upper chassis rail to the front due to the new ride height and taller spindles, but this should also help make the chassis a bit more rigid by the time the fabricated cross brace is added in...
Here are a few pics of the 2005 GTO center section set in, and as you can see there will be a lot of modifications to get this done also, but the original rear would never hold up..Not only does it have to be functional, but it also has to be serviceable and removable if need be, so that will be a task in itself.
Here are a few pics of the 2005 GTO center section set in, and as you can see there will be a lot of modifications to get this done also, but the original rear would never hold up..Not only does it have to be functional, but it also has to be serviceable and removable if need be, so that will be a task in itself.
Here are a few more pictures of the current chassis setup, and you will also see the new Boze Forged wheels and Falken tires on the car, along with the Awesome Motor position that really cant get much better.. The owner of the car is sitting in the factory drivers position short of sitting a little higher on the bucket, but I wanted to demonstrate how small this chassis is, along with how all the layout should be great balance wise when completed.
The exhaust is also all run through the chassis as tight as possible for ground clearance purposes, but I am also working on what I think will be a very unique sounding center body exit exhaust that will be both Black Widow performance mufflers dumping transversally into a large chamber that will be inside the bodywork and have a mimic cut out exit at the back of the body work. I am not sure what the overall sound will be, but I am doing my best to not make this sound like a LS Corvette or a typical LS built car.
The exhaust is also all run through the chassis as tight as possible for ground clearance purposes, but I am also working on what I think will be a very unique sounding center body exit exhaust that will be both Black Widow performance mufflers dumping transversally into a large chamber that will be inside the bodywork and have a mimic cut out exit at the back of the body work. I am not sure what the overall sound will be, but I am doing my best to not make this sound like a LS Corvette or a typical LS built car.
Now for some of the Cool Styling changes to the body.. I sourced an Old School rear quarter Wide Body kit out of Europe, and this is not only a cool factory looking mod, but it will allow the 315/18 Falkens to be run in the back.. Another feature that I think will put this car over the top, and matches the Wide Body kit very nicely, is the Swan Style APR Rear Wing I had made for the car, so this this is going to be Low and Nasty looking once it all done, and should be able to really tear some cars up... LOL
In this picture, you can see the hint of the rear Tail Lamp modification back to an early TVR/Ford Tail Lamp, and I did this because I felt it looks much better than the inset rectangular, plus they would look better with the rear wing setup and exhaust.
In this picture, you can see the hint of the rear Tail Lamp modification back to an early TVR/Ford Tail Lamp, and I did this because I felt it looks much better than the inset rectangular, plus they would look better with the rear wing setup and exhaust.
Now here are some pictures of the wing, and the guy that I am building the car for really didn't like the idea of it when he saw the picture, but now that it is on the car he loves it.. In these pictures is may appear that the wing is very massive height and width wise, but it is actually much lower than the roof line and is still narrower than the factory Front Body Work, so these pictures are very deceiving. There is one picture in the group that will really demonstrate the size of the car overall, and it is the picture of the car down on the ground and you can see the door knob to the back shop, so make a reference that when it comes to the overall size of this car.. The wing is also completely removable with just a few bolts remove at the back brackets, and the frame work mounting the wing is all hidden and molded into the back bodywork, along with all of it being extremely braced for the potential forces the wing will add.
I also really like the early tail light conversion, because the original rectangular ones really took away from the styling of the car, and I personally think it was a mistake of TVR to go that route..
I also really like the early tail light conversion, because the original rectangular ones really took away from the styling of the car, and I personally think it was a mistake of TVR to go that route..
Put the body back on the chassis for a what seems to be the hundredth time so far, but it comes off easy enough when needed, so it is best to be safe than sorry with fitment testing after each step. I am working out the rear muffler/fuel tank situation that has to all fit in the rear body work for space and design issues, and after this I am about home free with all the questionable have too's involved with this oddball project.
As you should be able to see in on of the rear view pics, I have great ground clearance overall by running the exhaust work through the chassis as much as I can, so that is why it is important for the Black Widow mufflers to be mounted transversely up inside the rear body work with a center exit exhaust coming out of the body work somewhere about the black painted area of the rear
As you should be able to see in on of the rear view pics, I have great ground clearance overall by running the exhaust work through the chassis as much as I can, so that is why it is important for the Black Widow mufflers to be mounted transversely up inside the rear body work with a center exit exhaust coming out of the body work somewhere about the black painted area of the rear
Working on the muffler mock up until the Black Widow shorties make it in, so I figured if I made the longer Flowmasters fit in place, I will have more than enough clearance. The overall plan is to have both the Black Widow shorties mounted like it is pictured here, but then they will dump into a collector box between them, and it is this collector box that will have a cut out to exit at the back body panel. I am hoping this will change the over all exhaust tone to something a bit more exotic, along with taking the LS corvette sound out of it, because I want this car to sound unique. It is also being done this way because we don't want exhaust tips coming out of the body, and we are very tight for space if we want ground clearance by not mounting the muffler under the frame.
To help with heat and to separate the exhaust and fuel tank, I will be building a thick structural floor above the mufflers and also cutting away the bottom body work below then to give the mufflers plenty of air space and fresh air. The factory fuel tank was mounted where the mufflers are now, so it will really just be raised to a higher location, and it appears it may be better to relocate the fuel fill to the top center of the rear body work.
To help with the rear wing support, the rear of the body will be built like a boat transom and the whole rear will be beefed up, along with the inner side panels that it ties into it, plus there will be other brace supports that tie all of this into the chassis to.
To help with heat and to separate the exhaust and fuel tank, I will be building a thick structural floor above the mufflers and also cutting away the bottom body work below then to give the mufflers plenty of air space and fresh air. The factory fuel tank was mounted where the mufflers are now, so it will really just be raised to a higher location, and it appears it may be better to relocate the fuel fill to the top center of the rear body work.
To help with the rear wing support, the rear of the body will be built like a boat transom and the whole rear will be beefed up, along with the inner side panels that it ties into it, plus there will be other brace supports that tie all of this into the chassis to.
Working on a Very Rough Mock Up of the rear Cantilever Coil Over mounting to plot some mounting points and ratio's for the actual bench constructed piece, and this setup is mainly being done to save some room for the CV axles and exhaust that runs between the rear upper and lower control arms. I am thinking that the apparatus will be exposed through the rear glass, and what better way to show off some RideTech Coil Over's than through the large back glass, plus I think it will have a nice technical touch to accent the rear wing?
It will be built in a way that will it allow the unbolting of the coil over frame work to allow the body to be removed, and with this position you will only have to reach backwards behind the seats to make some easy on the fly adjustments.
It will be built in a way that will it allow the unbolting of the coil over frame work to allow the body to be removed, and with this position you will only have to reach backwards behind the seats to make some easy on the fly adjustments.
We received the Black Widow Exhaust and I am starting to work with them and found it was necessary to make them about 4in shorter to allow a center chamber. Luckily these are quality muffler with great metal, so it was very easy to remove the end caps and remove some of the chamber length without affecting anything. Thanks guys.
The pictured box isn't the actual size or air volume I will have, but it is the width allowed between the mufflers, so I hope the pics of the assembly together and the template for the body exhaust cutout will offer some sort of representation of my goal here. I removed the tubing extensions on the chamber side, and there will be some sort of baffle to direct the exhaust exit toward the back of the chamber and also keep the two mufflers exit from beating against each other, so I hope I get the sound I am looking for with this setup.
Tight spaces in a compact car leaves a lot to be desired, and to top that with the importance of ground clearance, really made this chore necessary. The black mufflers pictured are a longer muffler I used for mock up, and the new Black Widow Exhaust mocked up with the chamber is the overall same width as the pictured black mufflers, so it will all work out great.
The pictured box isn't the actual size or air volume I will have, but it is the width allowed between the mufflers, so I hope the pics of the assembly together and the template for the body exhaust cutout will offer some sort of representation of my goal here. I removed the tubing extensions on the chamber side, and there will be some sort of baffle to direct the exhaust exit toward the back of the chamber and also keep the two mufflers exit from beating against each other, so I hope I get the sound I am looking for with this setup.
Tight spaces in a compact car leaves a lot to be desired, and to top that with the importance of ground clearance, really made this chore necessary. The black mufflers pictured are a longer muffler I used for mock up, and the new Black Widow Exhaust mocked up with the chamber is the overall same width as the pictured black mufflers, so it will all work out great.
Here are some pics of the exhaust resonator box and how it fits the TVR now, and I think it looks damn good for free hand angle grinder cuts and over the knee hand bending, and will only look better with the finish welding and final trim bezel made.
I just hope I can tune in the more Exotic Car raspy tone I am looking for, and it will be a total win. I am going for a sound something like this, but I know there are factors like firing order and other things that come into play.
[video]http://youtu.be/z6yeQifAu0o[/video]
I just hope I can tune in the more Exotic Car raspy tone I am looking for, and it will be a total win. I am going for a sound something like this, but I know there are factors like firing order and other things that come into play.
[video]http://youtu.be/z6yeQifAu0o[/video]
I have the Black Widow Mufflers tied into the resonator box/exhaust tip, and it all looks like it going to work out perfectly. The mufflers will be fixed to the body, so I will have some sort of Turbo Connectors strategically placed to still allow the body to be removed easily, and this will also allow me to fab/weld both mufflers and resonator box into one complete unit. I am going to play with the resonator boxes internals or lack of, and will have to start out guessing what to do or not to do when it comes to sound tuning.
Before I remove all the exhaust for final welding and Jet Hot Coating, I need to start fabbing the rest of the rear bolt on tube structure that will tie the wing assembly, rear body work, and coil over/cantilever setup into the main frame structure, while still allowing all the necessary service work. At the same time I am going to see if I can incorporate a roll bar loop and rearward bracing to tie it all in, but space is always an issue with this car,
Before I remove all the exhaust for final welding and Jet Hot Coating, I need to start fabbing the rest of the rear bolt on tube structure that will tie the wing assembly, rear body work, and coil over/cantilever setup into the main frame structure, while still allowing all the necessary service work. At the same time I am going to see if I can incorporate a roll bar loop and rearward bracing to tie it all in, but space is always an issue with this car,
Well I have the first rough mock up of the rear suspension layout, and it appears that I am going to make it so it is all exposed under the rear glass. I am too visual, so I had to build a rough in that had all the components in place to see if it all works mechanically and aesthetically, and this layout seemed the best over all with the limited spaces offered..
This whole assembly will unbolt as a complete unit including Coil Overs and Rear Sway Bar Assembly, and with a few more decorative support bars and some nice gusseting, it should look pretty cool exposed along with being able to see it all working in real time? Another nice thing is, adjustments will be very easy on this low sitting car, because all can be done from inside the car.
Now that all the components fit in their place, I will have to start all over and actually build the final assembly that will bolt in place. I will also be adding a few cross braces and some nice drilled gusseting to make it look better, along with an arched crossbar running from left to right with the TVR logo cut into it..
This whole assembly will unbolt as a complete unit including Coil Overs and Rear Sway Bar Assembly, and with a few more decorative support bars and some nice gusseting, it should look pretty cool exposed along with being able to see it all working in real time? Another nice thing is, adjustments will be very easy on this low sitting car, because all can be done from inside the car.
Now that all the components fit in their place, I will have to start all over and actually build the final assembly that will bolt in place. I will also be adding a few cross braces and some nice drilled gusseting to make it look better, along with an arched crossbar running from left to right with the TVR logo cut into it..
Ok, I have two potential roll bar layouts, and both have their Pro's and Con's, so it is really a matter of visual at this point. I am partial to the center mounting because they are running the same as the wing brackets, because there is actually less of a BUSY look, and seems to offer a better view of the exposed rear suspension workings.
Well, I went with the narrow/centered bar location, and I have the Roll Bar integrated into the bolt on suspension cradle, so this whole cradle with coil overs, sway bar, and roll bar assembly will unbolt as a complete unit once the 16 bolts are removed from the chassis and the back glass is removed.
That might be hard to see at this point, but once I have the assembly out for final welding and detailing, you will see that it all just bolts to the chassis through the new rear floor, and then have 4 adjustable Coil Over and Sway Bar links passing through sealed holes to the lower control arm mounts. It all sounds good in my head, and I am sure the out of the box thinking will work just fine, along with look cool exposed also.
The whole assembly will be raised a little over a 1/2in once I get the the mount pad plates added to it, and at that point it will with the roof line much better than it does now.
That might be hard to see at this point, but once I have the assembly out for final welding and detailing, you will see that it all just bolts to the chassis through the new rear floor, and then have 4 adjustable Coil Over and Sway Bar links passing through sealed holes to the lower control arm mounts. It all sounds good in my head, and I am sure the out of the box thinking will work just fine, along with look cool exposed also.
The whole assembly will be raised a little over a 1/2in once I get the the mount pad plates added to it, and at that point it will with the roof line much better than it does now.
Here are some pics of the Roll Cage/Suspension Assembly, and now you should be able to see how it all comes together and works. It bolts to the main chassis through the floor on some custom plates that i have added to the chassis, and the only thing going through the floor with be the Coil Over and Sway Bar Linkages that pass through rubber seals and attached to the lower control arm.
I still have to do some finish welding and the addition some nice detailed gussets and cross bracing, and from there I should have a nice and unique setup to showcase under the rear glass, and here are some pics of the TVR with the back glass set in place. From here I think the madness starts to make a little more sense due to the cars proportions getting cleaned up with smooth lines and contour, along with taking some or the bulk out of the rear wing assembly.
Once the Roll Bar/Suspension Assembly is finished coated and accessorized with the RideTech Triple Adjust Coil Overs, the under glass will have the necessary added dimension to have it all make sense. Atleast I hope so. Lol
I still have to do some finish welding and the addition some nice detailed gussets and cross bracing, and from there I should have a nice and unique setup to showcase under the rear glass, and here are some pics of the TVR with the back glass set in place. From here I think the madness starts to make a little more sense due to the cars proportions getting cleaned up with smooth lines and contour, along with taking some or the bulk out of the rear wing assembly.
Once the Roll Bar/Suspension Assembly is finished coated and accessorized with the RideTech Triple Adjust Coil Overs, the under glass will have the necessary added dimension to have it all make sense. Atleast I hope so. Lol
I have the Rough Cut of the muffler air relief out of the rear body work, and it is cut so isn't noticeable when the car is sitting on the ground, but I wonder if it wouldn't look and work better just a bit higher and with some sort of mesh panel?
I also have a Carbon Fiber sheet of material laying around, and I wonder if it would look to busy if I added a bit of Diffuser accessory to the rear? It will help the performance of the car, and I think if I tweek the shape and positioning of them, I might be able to find a happy medium between Form and Function.
That first pics really says this car means business in my opinion. Lol
I also have a Carbon Fiber sheet of material laying around, and I wonder if it would look to busy if I added a bit of Diffuser accessory to the rear? It will help the performance of the car, and I think if I tweek the shape and positioning of them, I might be able to find a happy medium between Form and Function.
That first pics really says this car means business in my opinion. Lol
Working out some issues with the TVR's strange front wheel arch shape and how the top of the arch comes way back into the body work to become the narrowest part of the wheel arch at the top, and the fact that the original wheel arch shape wont let you get all the tire width potential that the rest of the body will allow . I wanted to keep the character and shape of the original wheel arch like I did with the rear wheel arches during the wide body mod, so I figured out a simple cutting procedure for the front bonnet that work allow it to kick out.
I also had to cut the rear fender skin from the body structure in order to allow it to pop out to meet the new bonnet arch location and profile, but that wasn't too bad either, and now the 18x10 wheels with the 275/35/18 Falken tires clear just fine.
I also had to cut the rear fender skin from the body structure in order to allow it to pop out to meet the new bonnet arch location and profile, but that wasn't too bad either, and now the 18x10 wheels with the 275/35/18 Falken tires clear just fine.
Real World Perspective time with the TVR today, because good ideas and proportions can look good in the shop in tight spaces, but sometimes don't look good in open spaces and off in the distance.
I have also pulled the wife's Mini beside the car on a few shots so people can judge how small this car really is, and I also did a couple of shots to demonstrate the wheel base/width compared to the Mini.
I have yet to sort out a front splitter that makes sense, and haven't given up on it yet, but I am only finding options that are an eye soar with proportions and flow. The rear diffuser fins looks like it might be the way to go, so I will dig just a bit deeper into making those out of carbon fiber.
I have also pulled the wife's Mini beside the car on a few shots so people can judge how small this car really is, and I also did a couple of shots to demonstrate the wheel base/width compared to the Mini.
I have yet to sort out a front splitter that makes sense, and haven't given up on it yet, but I am only finding options that are an eye soar with proportions and flow. The rear diffuser fins looks like it might be the way to go, so I will dig just a bit deeper into making those out of carbon fiber.
Please excuse the fact the Diffuser Fins aren't perfectly straight, but this is the first rough in for them. I uses a sheet of APR Performance carbon fiber and bonded two halves together to end up with two finished sides.
I notched the body to accept the fins all the way up to the last 1/2in of the top tip, and that way they will appear seamless in the original roll pan, along with allowing me to have a large mounting footprint on the backside to take care of any directional forces or turbulence.
The green fine line tap on the lower rear wing bracket represents what I think the final cut shape of the bracket will be instead of the flat bottom
I notched the body to accept the fins all the way up to the last 1/2in of the top tip, and that way they will appear seamless in the original roll pan, along with allowing me to have a large mounting footprint on the backside to take care of any directional forces or turbulence.
The green fine line tap on the lower rear wing bracket represents what I think the final cut shape of the bracket will be instead of the flat bottom
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