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S197 3V Fabman's build; How did we get here? Build Thread

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Fabman

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NOOOOOOOOO. Another 3V goes the way of the dodo bird. I understand, but it's getting lonely out here. Good luck with the Coyote, and glad to see you back.
3 valve parts are getting hard to come by, and for the money it would cost to replace this one I can have a brand new used coyote, lose 140 pounds and have a pile of money left over. It was a tough choice, but at this point, I'm committed.
This is going to be an interesting upgrade/downgrade?
 

Fabman

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I definitely like the form factor. Getting hot in Texas - definitely need some cooling.

Can't seem to get the code to work. Bummer!
Yeah, that was a limited time deal.
 

Fabman

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Fabman

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Keep us posted, Coyote swap details can be a little tricky to come by. Most of the builds I see usually go from steps 1 & 2 and then skip to step 10 and I never see how they get it to work in-between.
I'd love to read a comprehensive swap thread myself about now....if you find one, let me know!
 

Fabman

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Good thing you've got a photographer and videographer

It’s perfectly Frank!
Yup somebodies gotta chronicle these things....I’m too busy trying to figure out which end of the screwdriver to stick in my eye.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

racer47

Still winning after 30+ years
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The car looks great. Its too nice for SCCA :). Sorry about the motor, that sucks. What rods were those?

How were you doing in the races prior to this?

Good luck with the Coyote. The electronics alone would put me off of that swap. Are you sure you don't want a good used nascar engine with a nice simple carb and jerico?

This is my latest project, 4 cyl stock car on a 1/4 mile oval for my kid. He is a Nissan fan. His street car is an early 350Z. This is a Sentra 2.0L. Its like I'm starting all over again but it should be fun. Remember $30 entry fees? $75 tires? and getting paid on your way out of the track? I really like road racing but the costs are a 1000 times more than circle track.
racecar.jpg
 

Fabman

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The car looks great. Its too nice for SCCA :). Sorry about the motor, that sucks. What rods were those?

How were you doing in the races prior to this?

Good luck with the Coyote. The electronics alone would put me off of that swap. Are you sure you don't want a good used nascar engine with a nice simple carb and jerico?

This is my latest project, 4 cyl stock car on a 1/4 mile oval for my kid. He is a Nissan fan. His street car is an early 350Z. This is a Sentra 2.0L. Its like I'm starting all over again but it should be fun. Remember $30 entry fees? $75 tires? and getting paid on your way out of the track? I really like road racing but the costs are a 1000 times more than circle track.
View attachment 8153
You don't know how close I came to that.
A friend of mine has a 347 ford stroker and a jerico for sale. (seperate pieces, not a unit) The motor was pro built and sitting for years-fresh, but un-fired so I'd have to disassemble it and repair whatever needed from sitting for so long. Plus I'd have to buy all the clutch/bellhousing stuff, starter, alt, pan, a carb/pulley's/water pump etc and build a custom set of headers. I talked to a guy with a similar motor in an s197 and also another local pro builder and both said i could only expect about 350/375 HP at best....but the final nail in the coffin was the Jerico. It is too wide for the trans tunnel, and while that would have been no biggie to modify when the car was being built, at this point with the door bars welded in and all the sheet metal done and painted I just didn't want to go through all that crap again and have to work on my head with my feet sticking out of the window so I opted for the Coyote. The motor made 430 rwhp before being pulled and I expect with a good manifold and e85 to be somewhere north of 450 rwhp. Maybe more. Maybe not. Also, that stroker needed to be freshened up every 40 hours so it just didn't make sense for me.

Maybe I will come to regret that decision, but it's too late now.
At this point it's destined to be:
FRANKENYOTE!

Wish me luck.
 

Fabman

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Smart swap! Should be reliable and a hoot to rev.

A friend's friend just blew his supercharged 3 valve in a fully built 07 out at VIR.. we tried to convince him to swap a coyote but he's a glutton for punishment so he's rebuilding the 3 valve and throwing it back in with the heavy huffer on top.

Good luck with the rebuild. Tell Frank hello.
I was actually going to order another 3V from JDM Engineering but they didn't have any motors built and it was going to be a while to get one done, then as I was taking the blower and hoses off this thing I thought: "What a bunch of complicated heavy ass crap!"
So that was it....I'm trading about 200 hp for 140 pounds of weight savings....wish me luck.
 

Fabman

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I could have done the Coyote when I had issues, but my motor had too many performance parts for me to go another direction, and I didn't have the carnage that Fabman experienced. Hoping to avoid Fox34's storyline.
I loved my 3V and I wish I still had it....but time to move on.
My brakes will thank me for it.
 

Fabman

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The car looks great. Its too nice for SCCA :). Sorry about the motor, that sucks. What rods were those?

How were you doing in the races prior to this?

Good luck with the Coyote. The electronics alone would put me off of that swap. Are you sure you don't want a good used nascar engine with a nice simple carb and jerico?

This is my latest project, 4 cyl stock car on a 1/4 mile oval for my kid. He is a Nissan fan. His street car is an early 350Z. This is a Sentra 2.0L. Its like I'm starting all over again but it should be fun. Remember $30 entry fees? $75 tires? and getting paid on your way out of the track? I really like road racing but the costs are a 1000 times more than circle track.
View attachment 8153
Manley rods.
This was the first W2W race for this car so I didn't get any track time.
Track days I was typically the fastest car on the track....but that doesn't mean much.

I did however finally cure the crippling push I've had since I went with the big wing and big tires. I wish I would have had some laps at speed to see what the potential was with both good handling and a good motor. Now we'll only have speculation.

I've done a lot of 4 cyl racing both stock bodied and tube chassis and had great success and tons of fun with it. It's a great sport.

Knowing what I know now I would never have started this project and gone straight to a tube chassis and back to oval track, where men are men and there isn't a lot of crying, but I'm so heavily invested in this turd I can't stop now....besides, this is a new challenge....and I like new challenges.
 

ChrisM

Mostly harmless.
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I think you made the right choice just from a supportability perspective. Like you said, not a lot floating around any more for 3vs. If mine ever goes I'll probably end up swapping to a Coyote as well just to keep it running. I wonder if any of the Aim dashes would make the electronics piece easier? A lot of the stuff I've read seems to get hung-up on making the gauges and stuff work.
 

Fabman

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I think you made the right choice just from a supportability perspective. Like you said, not a lot floating around any more for 3vs. If mine ever goes I'll probably end up swapping to a Coyote as well just to keep it running. I wonder if any of the Aim dashes would make the electronics piece easier? A lot of the stuff I've read seems to get hung-up on making the gauges and stuff work.
I don't have any factory gauges.
My only concern is making the ABS work.
I'll get back to you when I know something.
....and unfortunately, that time is not now.
 

racer47

Still winning after 30+ years
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SE WI
Manley rods....

Knowing what I know now I would never have started this project and gone straight to a tube chassis and back to oval track, where men are men and there isn't a lot of crying, but I'm so heavily invested in this turd I can't stop now....besides, this is a new challenge....and I like new challenges.

Yeah, I understand that. There is something about road racing that sucks you in....just run your street car it will be fun, then, I need better brakes, I need stiffer springs, I need coilovers, I need bigger wheels, gee more power sure would be nice, maybe I'll add a 4pt, then maybe a race seat, etc, etc. Before you know it you are in too deep.

There are no such problems at the circle track. You start with a p.o.s. 4 cyl stock car (see pic above), everyone knows its entry level, there are no expectations of turning this junk into a late model. You learn how to race door to door, bumper to bumper, you beat it up a bit, sell it to next guy and move up to a higher class with a better car. There is no emotional attachment like many guys have their street car turned race car pride and joy.

Don't take me wrong, I'm in no way knocking what you are doing. You've been to the pay window many times. And I certainly agree with the new challenges aspect.

Good luck with the yote. Sucks about the Manleys. I thought they were damn near bullet proof. Thats what I got too.

ps. I ran across this a while back and was able to find it again. Its a good read.
https://www.windingroad.com/article...ouldnt-upgrade-your-street-car-to-a-race-car/
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,519
8,154
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
I think you made the right choice just from a supportability perspective. Like you said, not a lot floating around any more for 3vs. If mine ever goes I'll probably end up swapping to a Coyote as well just to keep it running. I wonder if any of the Aim dashes would make the electronics piece easier? A lot of the stuff I've read seems to get hung-up on making the gauges and stuff work.
I don't have any factory gauges. My only concern is
Yeah, I understand that. There is something about road racing that sucks you in....just run your street car it will be fun, then, I need better brakes, I need stiffer springs, I need coilovers, I need bigger wheels, gee more power sure would be nice, maybe I'll add a 4pt, then maybe a race seat, etc, etc. Before you know it you are in too deep.

There are no such problems at the circle track. You start with a p.o.s. 4 cyl stock car (see pic above), everyone knows its entry level, there are no expectations of turning this junk into a late model. You learn how to race door to door, bumper to bumper, you beat it up a bit, sell it to next guy and move up to a higher class with a better car. There is no emotional attachment like many guys have their street car turned race car pride and joy.

Don't take me wrong, I'm in no way knocking what you are doing. You've been to the pay window many times. And I certainly agree with the new challenges aspect.

Good luck with the yote. Sucks about the Manleys. I thought they were damn near bullet proof. Thats what I got too.

ps. I ran across this a while back and was able to find it again. Its a good read.
https://www.windingroad.com/article...ouldnt-upgrade-your-street-car-to-a-race-car/

Agreed on all counts.
As far as the manley's go, it's been confirmed by two engine builders:
The motor died of Oil starvation.
 

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