The cost of competing in NASCAR is a moving and high-priced target. The teams carry an inventory of 15 to 20 chassis. Part of the COT was to minimize this inventory but you can't keep the guys from spending money. The chassis specs are just liberal enough to make the bigger teams go after that last little bit of performance that is afforded by running all of the dimensions to the minimums and maximums, stacking them up one way or the other to give the maximum performance at a given track. There is much less variance with the new car but it is still there.

Engines are impressive for what they are, even though they are purpose built race engines they are still carburetted 2-valves. I guess that the biggest reason that they still use the carb is the expertise that exists in Charlotte NC around them. The other thing that NASCAR is very against is any type of electronic aide to the driver. They currently feel that the Fuel Injection could hide some Traction control in various ways and they view that as bad.

Good point Dodge. I guess that my point is that there are hundreds, thousands or more examples of cars in such disrepair because of the lack of a true "safety" check that the few cars that are tuned up are of little concern, statistically. The days when you would see big block Vegas and Pintos have subsided all but at the drag stip because it is so much easier to mount the turbo off of the big rig on you Mitsubishi Starion. I still think that a guy that does a good job of installing an alternate engine maybe shouldn't have to jump through as many hoops as it sounds like youall have to.

Fortunately in the US if you can figure how to install a Small Block Chevy you can usually license it, with one of these older cars. The place that they trip you up in the US is on emmisions tests but most states no longer have a true safety inspection. I think Texas and California do and I'm sure that there are others but for the most part if you can build it you can run it.

I think the hot ticket may be a fuel injected A13. Do you have access to an A13? I think that the longer stroke coupled with the small bore diameter would yield better torque in the RPM range that you are seeking to run in. Other good suggestions that I have seen in this thread have been the 3.54:1 final drive and the 5-speed box to hold the revs down. The round port early A12 head with the quench chambers should yield a good compression ratio with reasonable pistons. Some of the things that make power also make an engine more efficient for the purposes of economy. Smoothing the short turn radius a bit (not polish as that will separate the fuel from the air mixture), a good valve job as cylinder filling will equate to less throttle position for a given power output to maintain speed. Good luck and keep us posted on the results.

So, what type of engineer do you have to consult with. Do these engineers specialize in looking at automotive related items or are they engineering the plumbing on commercial buildings for their real job and they moonlight at this?

Does this mean that a 13B is too big in the gov't eyes? I think that unless going with a huge turbo or something that a CA18DET is a more potent combo and there are a bunch of those in Aus by the look of things.

PD

Are you talking about having two upper links that mount from the frame to the diff and sort of converging so that it looks similar to a "V" if you could see it from the top?

If so I would worry about the differing arcs of the leaf spring vs. the upper control arms you plan to add. Just mock it up and run it through the travel a few times to assure that there is no binding that will stop the suspension. Since you are using this on the leaf rear susp it should have enough deflection to keep it from being a huge issue. Are you adding a rear sway bar as well?

This type of a set-up has some benefits, as it keeps the rear centered in the chassis and is "hella stout" (isn't that what you guys down under say) if done right.

Mild

If you go for the gasless wire feed I would suggest actually getting one that is equipped to go either way. Don't know what brand names you have down there, or which big box stores but if you go to Home Depot and get the Lincoln it can be used either with or without gas (read the info on the box) and gives you some flexibility later for nicer looking welds.

The gasless is actually a good option for ranch and farm where you may have to weld outside in a breeze as this blows the gas shield away and makes the welding really dodgy. Welding with the gasless wire (flux core) gives you a weld that looks pretty good and has plenty of penetration, it is just looks a bit like a stick weld when you're done. Clean it up with a wire brush on the grinder and it will look fine.

Anyway, I would suggest spending a little bit more to get a recognized name brand rather than getting a "cheapy" that will ber little more than a toy.

I used a Rabbit/ Scirocco rad in my 1200 race car. Had to use a piece of tube to transfer the water from left to right under the fan. Rabbit/ Scirocco rad is double pass all aluminum with plastic side tanks. Worked great. Needed to make custom mounting that consisted of a piece of aluminum flat stock across the bottom of the rad mounting to the front inner frame and some upper brackets to hold the top to the rad support.

Looking for SR16VE crank, head (possibly), maybe complete engine. Any leads?