a PDF of the full article

720hp BLOWN AND STROKED LS3
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016
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720hp BLOWN AND STROKED LS3
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016
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Recreating
a Lost
Concept Car
Phenomenal
Ferrari
Transformation
1000hp VetteRod
What’s
Underneath
an Enigma?
COOL CARS
“My Way” on a GTM ................................................22
Recreating a Lost Concept Car ............................34
What’s Underneath an Enigma...........................46
Phenomenal Ferrari Transformation ..............58
Midwest Muscle from Shell Valley .....................68
Royal Blue Bugatti ..................................................92
Raging Rat Rod ..................................................... 100
Reno Rodder’s Red Camaro .............................. 112
1000hp VetteRod ................................................. 122
EVENTFUL EVENTS
Petersen Auto Museum’s Grand
Re-Opening ...............................................................72
UK Classic Car Show ............................................ 104
DEPARTMENTAL MATTERS
Throttle Steering: No Assembly Required ........ 8
FYI: Win This Cobra! ..............................................12
Sideview: Imperial Stormtrooper .................. 139
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016
Car Builder Staff:
Steve Temple – Editor/Publisher
Larry Weiner – Marketing
Deb Murphy – Art Direction
Tina Temple – Maven of Morale
Jim Youngs – Editor Emeritus
Car Builder magazine
(formerly Kit Car Builder Magazine)
is published bi-monthly by
SCT Communications, Inc.,
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Reno, NV 89521
All Rights Reserved
Free Subscription at
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Editorial and Advertising inquiries
should be sent to
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Cover photo courtesy of Factory Five Racing (See FYI Department for link to sweepstakes); Inset photos by Steve Temple
Contents page photo by Steve Temple
Magnu
Text and Photos by Steve Temple
um, EV
Private Eye
Thomas Magnum
Never Imagined Such
an Electrifying Experience
in a Ferrari 308
W
ho didn’t
feel a
twang
of envy
when actor Tom Selleck,
playing a private detective
in Magnum PI, flashed that
mustachioed grin and then
peeled out in a Ferrari 308,
spinning its wheels on the
lush grass of Hawaii? Truth
be told, the 308 sure looked
60
cool, but hot it was not.
While the Euro version’s
2.9L V8 delivered 252hp ,
the U.S. model, hampered
by emissions equipment,
was good for only 240
horses in the mid to late
Seventies. By 1980, the
output had dropped to
a meager 202 hp. Exotic
styling to be sure, but the
performance was entirely
mundane.
Another drawback of
the car was a tendency for
the carbureted engine to
breach a fuel line and catch
fire when gas hit the hot
manifold. Which brings
us to Eric Hutchison’s ’78
308. When he came across
the car at a junkyard in
September 2014, it was
partially burnt and with a
salvage title.
Rather than try to
restore the Ferrari to
original, which would
have likely cost more than
it would ever be worth
as a collectible, he took a
different approach, worthy
of cracking a convoluted
case on Magnum PI.
He happens to be a
close personal friend of
Michael Bream, who heads
up EV West, a company
that we’ve highlighted
in previous issues for
its work on electrified
Speedsters and Factory
Five’s 818. In addition
to selling all sorts
of EV components
for electric vehicles,
EV West handles
electric conversions
for a wide range of vehicles,
everything from VW Beetles
and buses to BMWs and
dune buggies, plus pickups
and a Porsches.
“Classic cars benefit the
61
most from conversions,”
Bream points out, “as it’s
easy to double the power.”
His personal ride is a funky
VW microbus/pickup that
can smoke a sport sedan
(see sidebar).
The Ferrari project
came up over a beer in
early September 2014 on
a random Tuesday. “He
had been trying to get me
into a car project with him
for some time,” Hutchison
relates. “Not to mention
I really wanted to make a
cool electric daily driver!”
They were joking around
about converting a Ferrari
62
and Bream then asked,
“What model?”
“As if there was another
better choice than a 308?”
Hutchison responded. It’s
an iconic, performance-built
car with a race-inspired
chassis that was clearly
capable of a much more
power. Really a perfect (but
technically challenging)
project.
Hutchison jokingly
mentioned $10K as a wish
number to acquire one,
and they found it two days
later in Copart in San Diego
of all places. “Impossible
coincidence and it was
a perfect donor car!” he
relates. “A salvage title with
melted belts from a fuel line
leak and fire.”
The guys at Autobahn
Auto Parts in El Cajon,
California helped out
(since they have the
business license needed
for acquiring a salvage
title car), and also
sourced the Porsche G50
transaxle. After some
negotiation, they rescued
the stricken Ferrari for
the low price of $13K,
plus acquisition fees, a
good deal considering
the escalating values for
308s.
After the car arrived
at the shop on Monday,
everyone stood
around head
scratching
their heads as
the wheels of
engineering
were spinning
fast. They first
stripped out the
motor and all unnecessary
systems from the car and a
conversion plan developed.
It wasn’t possible to mate to
the existing transmission,
which was transverse
mounted, so they opted for
a G50 Porsche transmission
and built the car around
that.
The project scope was
soon obliterated. (An entrylevel conversion typically
runs about $20K in parts,
plus installation.) “How
can anyone do a conversion
without a total restoration
on a Ferrari 308?”
Hutchison asked himself.
It had a great chassis with
just a little bit of crunch, but
nothing major, so they had
the perfect foundation.
To defray buildup costs,
it turns out they were
able to liquidate parts to
308 owners globally. After
breaking down all systems
and the engine, they were
able to sell everything on
eBay in about a year.
Not surprisingly,
converting the very first
Ferrari 308 to an EV
has both pros and cons.
Aside from offending
purists (which actually
turned out to be a nonissue, as we’ll see), the
configuration as shown
here increased the car’s
overall weight by about
150 pounds. (But lighter,
more expensive batteries
are being considered
for a retrofit.) And not
surprisingly, the range of
the car is reduced (see
below), but the plus side
is that, as Bream already
63
TH
A VW Microbus
With Macro
Electric Power
•
Power Output:
3 x 72.5 kW from
the 3 x HPEVS AC-51
Electric Motors
•
Battery Pack:
48 x 200 amp hour
batteries in the pack
with 28.5 kWhr
(current config =
28,500 100-watt light
bulbs for an hour) 158
volt system
•
Range: approx.
80 miles +/- due to
driving conditions
noted, the power output is
roughly equivalent to about
double the original engine!
(That’s the effective electric
horsepower, because all of
the torque is available from
zero rpm, rather than the
peak of the powerband, as
on an internal combustion
engine.)
Here are the tech specs:
64
This estimated output
flows through an ’05 G50
six-speed transaxle. So
doing the math on the
power/weight ratio and
gearing, both acceleration
and top speed calculate out
to way more than original.
We weren’t able to verify
these numbers directly
with track testing, but we
did enjoy a drive up to the
EV West’s Michael
Bream drives an
unassuming ’65
HE SLEEPER
VW Microbus/pickup
(commercial truck) that’s
been converted to an allelectric vehicle with a
150kW output twin motor
and a 54kWh Tesla battery
pack. It will as about 200
miles of
range, and
250hp.
With
than much
power on
tap, it can
catch fellow drivers by
surprise, as he relates:
“My wife Julie, son Eli,
and Eric and I went out for
sushi the other night. As we
left the parking lot, the car
exiting behind me swung
wide on a three-lane road
and passed me, revving the
crap out of his motor.
It was a brand new Audi
A8, still wearing dealer
plates. “Hutchison gives
a, ‘You going to take that
crap?!’ look to me. Knowing
that I don’t shy away, I
punched it and proceeded
to pass him in a 50-year old
car that is typically known
for holding up traffic.”
“We were all pretty
certain that he was trying
to figure out how his brand
new luxo-sedan was getting
spanked by something held
together by 50-year-old
rust, and no engine noise.”
“I literally get stopped
everywhere I go in the
truck,” Bream says. “Can’t
even grab a cup of coffee
without being stopped in
the parking lot, or coming
back to the truck with folks
checking it out.”
tallest peak in the San Diego
area.
In addition to relishing
a spectacular view of the
ocean, we were exhilarated
by the performance of
the Magnum EV. With
100 percent of its torque
available off the line, it
climbed up like a mountain
goat (note the smokey
burnout in the video link
below).
While we missed the
66
rarified exhaust note of an
Italian V8, the quietness of
an EV has its own virtues.
The acceleration comes
on with a hurried hush
rather than a high-pitched
whine, and you can hold a
quiet conversation with the
silent propulsion of electric
power. As it carved through
the curves, about the only
sound emitted is the squeal
of rubber meeting the road.
As one Ferrari forum
member commented about
converting a 308 to an EV,
“My only advice is make
sure to use plenty of sound
deadening material and
ensure everything is either
isolated or screwed down
really well. The 308 is a bit
flexy and you don’t want to
take away from the driving
experience by constantly
hearing creaks, chirps and
rattles coming through the
chassis. Electric cars are
quiet. You hear every
freakin’ noise the car
makes, intended or
not.”
What’s it take to
get it legal for the
road? The car is
currently registered
in CA with an E
(electric) status on
title, the first ever
“E” Ferrari at the
California DMV.
As for reactions to
an electric 308 from
Ferrari aficionados,
here’s another telling
comment from the
forum mentioned
above: “My visit
started at EV West
where I got to meet
the team of electrical
geniuses responsible for
electrifying this 308, as
well as seeing much of
the hardware that will
eventually find its way into
this car. These are not a
bunch of yahoos strapping
a bunch of car batteries
together, but rather a very
serious and accomplished
group of EV converters who
are applying a lot of science
and experience to the
project. The hp and torque
numbers are staggering and
this 308 will likely leave
a 458 standing in a drag
race.”
Which would certainly
give Thomas Magnum an
even bigger grin.
SOURCE:
EV West
1788-107 La Costa Meadows Dr.
San Marcos, CA 92078
http://www.evwest.com
videos:
Short track shot 1st day out of shop:
https://youtu.be/VziuP6-va0s
Torque Demo (smokey burnout):
https://youtu.be/cDHZ-04LOLM