Super Chevy – September 2019

TECH KITTING OUT

With the third member in place we were able to measure for a driveshaft and call the

guys over at GForce Performance Engineering. Originally we were going to go with

an aluminum shaft, but given the length of the driveshaft, two-plus ton weight of the

wagon, and high power of the ProCharged engine we would have had to run a 4-inch

diameter driveshaft to stay on the safe side. Our first problem was that the driveshaft

safety loop in our frame was 4.25-inches wide, which wasn’t enough room. The problem

with a 3.5-inch shaft was one of critical

speed, not necessarily strength. The best

option became one of their high-tech

carbon-fiber shafts. This allowed us to

drop the diameter under 4 inches, yet

clear all of the math hurdles in terms of

15 strength and critical speed.

We were a bit surprised that nobody

made off-the-shelf long-tube headers to

fit the Roadster Shop chassis. There were

mids and Roadster Shop often stitched

together pipes for their customer cars,

but that was it. Given our power output,

we really wanted long-tubes, so Ultimate

Headers (who make headers for most

all of the chassis companies out there)

worked with Roadster Shop and came

up with 1 7/8-inch long-tubes to clear

the Fast Track chassis. The headers were

beautiful with the cast flanges and

thermal-coated tubes. Best of all, they

fit perfectly and are now an on-the-shelf

part number.

16

While we were waiting for parts,

MotorTrend Tech Center Manager Jason

Scudellari got busy building stainless

hardlines for the fuel system. Of course,

some of this might change once we get

the body in place, but at least we had

a head start.

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Using a combination of 1/2-inch stainless

tubing and -8 AN fittings from Earl’s we

will have plenty of fuel capacity to feed

our blown LS.

18

64 SUPER CHEVY SEPTEMBER^2019