This is how the Wraith GT project
started. I picked up this very straight bodied 97 Probe
GT as a repo at a used car dealer. The original purchase
price was $600. The engine was shot as seen in the
photos below and it had a few other problems but it was a
solid starting point.
This is the factory front end which will be
totally modified and restyled with all original work.
None of the changes or modifications will be from kits or
pre-existing design.
This is what happens when a car is repossessed
by a sinister repo man. I guess they have to get the car
started somehow but this is butchery at it's best. A
week later I was able to locate a complete set of locks with
matching keys to replace everything.
This is where the battery tray was located
and this is what happens when one of the mount screws corrodes
away leaving an opening through the tray exposure to battery
acid. Fortunately this car ceased functioning before the
acid could completely destroy the frame. This is mostly
just surface rust.
The window was cracked and the seal was gone. So it
looks as thought the previous owner used household silicone
glue as a temp seal.
This was the wiring mess before starting. It will be
completely redone and unnecessary wiring will be discarded.
All remaining wiring will be replaced with Teflon insulated
aircraft grade wiring.
This was the very sad engine that looked as though the oil
hadn't been changed since the car was new. Notice the
broken #6 piston just as most dead 2.5L V6 engines suffer.
This is how you size up the front end for a MX8 partial
transplant. I have been re-engineering the front end to
be more functional and have a little European
flare. This is not exactly how the front end will
look. The actual look is under wraps and Top Secret
until an undisclosed future time.
This is the KLZE engine build at the start. The crank was
micro-mirror polished well beyond factory specs without removing
the Nitride finish.
Above is a stock KL rod then a Millenia S rod and finally a Lunati 5.4 rod for a Small Block Ford 347 stroker. Note the increased piston pin
size and the tremendously stronger neck section on the Lunati
rod. And
believe it or not -the Lunati is considerably lighter than the
stock KL rod.
This is the KL engine's weak link. Port flow can be
improved dramatically with some tricky porting work.
See what I mean?
Mazda 626 SLA's (Solid Lash Adjusters) replace the hydraulic
versions and will provide a far greater accuracy in lift at all
RPMs and will reduce differences between cylinder due to varying
HLA pump up.
Polished valves reduce flow restrictions and possible hot
spots in the combustion chamber
This is a custom turned adapter hub to adapt the Peterson 8mm
HTD pulley to an Eaton M90 Supercharger.
The HTD pulley provides far superior non slip belt performance
as compared to standard ribbed serpentine belts.
Direct drive vs. Jackshaft drive reduces overall rotational mass
and friction. Jackshafts help to create the correct pulley
ratio for optimum speed near peak engine efficiency. Since
the PEE is much higher in a KL motor the jackshaft pulley
becomes un-necessary to spin the supercharger at it's own peak
efficiency. The hub design allows quick pulley size
changes to enable fine tuning of the ratio.
This is the crankshaft HTD adapter hub that I designed and
machined for the project engine. It is designed to accept
industry standard 2 inch center HTD pulleys..
Since the adapter hub is made from 7075 T651 aluminum it
is a little softer than the stock cast iron harmonic balancer.
So I machined a recess into the existing crank sprocket and
left a matching extruded surface on the hub to provide a
little more crank area for the hub. This will help to
insure that it runs closer to true and balance. The hub
was machined in one complete process at 1,800 RPMs to insure
the hub remained true.
This is the finished hub adapter with a 65 tooth HDT gear
attached. This adapter hub fits onto the crank with less
than .005 tolerance which is a tad tighter than the stock cam
pulley gear. This close tolerance will help the gear set
run straight and true.
Click on the photo for larger view.
This is the back side of the adapter hub showing the extruded
area which fits into the stock pulley. This allows more
crank contact for the adapter hub. This photo also
shows the custom laser cut 36-1 EDIS crank ring. The
EDIS will be integrated with with MegaSquirt/MegaJolt.
These started life as a set of Porsche 968 Monoblock Brembo
Calipers. Beauty eh? Actually the candy purple
looks far better but for some reason digital cameras will not
pick up the candy effect.
19 Inch wheels and Nitto 555 Xtreme Racing tires fit nicely in
the wheel wells.
Adjustabe coilovers and silver vein powdercoated struts
Silver vein powdercoated nuckles and other suspension pieces
