Topic: Sonoma V8

[socal1200r]

Looks like I'll be spending less time riding my CB650...just picked this up the other day.  It's a 2000 Sonoma, with an LT1 V8 rebuilt to LT4 specs, and a T56 6-speed manual trans.  Whoever did the swap did it right:  sway bar and coil overs on the front, sway bar and traction links on the rear, correct wiring harness and computer so all the factory gauges work properly, headers with a true dual exhaust, etc.  Interior looks completely stock, with the exception of the stick shift.  This thing is stupid fast, and sounds great!   

[ekpent]

  That thing is sick-looks like a ton-o-fun
  I have a friend who is also a CB750 owner and a past member here who does the ol' Corvette engine in the Miata trick. He has done several. I have personally ridden with him in this one and all I could say was - WOW    Every gear was quite the rush.

[socal1200r]

That looks like an LS6 in the Miata, I can only imagine how fast that setup is!  I was in the market for a truck, to haul one of my motorcycles, and possible tow a small utility trailer with another motorcycle in it.  Ran across this one, with the V8 swap, and it only has 74K original miles.  I can see hauling a bike in the back, but it's too nice in the back to put a hitch for the trailer, lol!  Maybe when it's time to replace that LT1, I'll look for an LS6!

[Terry in Australia]

That's a nice looking truck mate, any idea what the BHP and torque figures are? I like the Miata too Eric, but that must be a huge weight over the front end? I saw a Miata (called an MX5 here) with a big turbo and good for 380 BHP, which'd be a lot of fun in a tiny car. Cheers, Terry.

[ekpent]

That's a nice looking truck mate, any idea what the BHP and torque figures are? I like the Miata too Eric, but that must be a huge weight over the front end? I saw a Miata (called an MX5 here) with a big turbo and good for 380 BHP, which'd be a lot of fun in a tiny car. Cheers, Terry.

Actually Terry I thought so also but the engine in the Miata is very light as its mostly aluminum according to the builder. Think its only a couple hundred pounds more than the wee thing that came out.

[Terry in Australia]

No worries Eric, that would be a wicked ride!

[70CB750]

  That thing is sick-looks like a ton-o-fun
  I have a friend who is also a CB750 owner and a past member here who does the ol' Corvette engine in the Miata trick. He has done several. I have personally ridden with him in this one and all I could say was - WOW    Every gear was quite the rush.

The guy I worked while ago was shoe horning LS7 into old MG.  Not sure if he ever finished it.

[Duanob]

That's a nice looking truck mate, any idea what the BHP and torque figures are? I like the Miata too Eric, but that must be a huge weight over the front end? I saw a Miata (called an MX5 here) with a big turbo and good for 380 BHP, which'd be a lot of fun in a tiny car. Cheers, Terry.

Actually Terry I thought so also but the engine in the Miata is very light as its mostly aluminum according to the builder. Think its only a couple hundred pounds more than the wee thing that came out.

That looks like a fun ride! You could make up some difference by mounting a couple of batteries in the trunk. My buddy had an Autocross Miata with the original motor hopped up a bit. Even that was fun to drive.

[Terry in Australia]

  That thing is sick-looks like a ton-o-fun
  I have a friend who is also a CB750 owner and a past member here who does the ol' Corvette engine in the Miata trick. He has done several. I have personally ridden with him in this one and all I could say was - WOW    Every gear was quite the rush.

The guy I worked while ago was shoe horning LS7 into old MG.  Not sure if he ever finished it.

MG had a factory V8, so it wouldn't be too hard to install a modern V8, if the MG V8 was as most 1970's era British V8's, a modern American V8 would be a great replacement option............

[socal1200r]

That's a nice looking truck mate, any idea what the BHP and torque figures are? I like the Miata too Eric, but that must be a huge weight over the front end? I saw a Miata (called an MX5 here) with a big turbo and good for 380 BHP, which'd be a lot of fun in a tiny car. Cheers, Terry.

I want to get the truck on a dyno, so I can get the no BS figures on the hp and torque this engine's putting out.  There's a performance shop in town that I'm going to call when I get back from vacation.  Getting my youngest daughter settled in at University of Hawaii, so it'll have to wait a couple of weeks.  But when I do, I'll post up the results. 

[socal1200r]

Got some new wheels and tires.  US Mags Bandits, 17x8 / 4.50" backspacing / $165 ea from JEGS, 17x9 / 5.25" backspacing / $172 ea from JEGS, 245/45 General G-Max front tires, 285/40 Continental Extreme rear tires.  Looks good, kinda like retro Pontiac wheels, and with the bigger rear tires and wheels, gives me the stance I was looking for, with a very slight forward rake.

Had an interesting chat with someone at a car show I was at.  Older couple comes up and asks me if that was my truck, I said "yes", and they said they used to own it!  Gave me a bunch of info on the truck that I didn't know.  The original owner (he was the 2nd owner, and knew the guy) did the V8 conversion when the truck had 4K miles (it has 74K now), so the conversion's been running now for over 10 years.  The aluminum driveshaft, water pump, and electric fan are fairly new, and the fan is designed for an RV, so it flows a good amount of air for a single fan.  Also, it's an LT1 that was rebuilt to LT4 specs at the time of the conversion, and puts down about 360hp at the wheels, with similar numbers for torque.  Said it's got close to 400hp at the crank, and ran in the 12's in the quarter mile.  It's got a more radical cam than an LT4, so it has a lumpy idle, and helps the truck to pull really hard in 2-3-4-5 gears.  He's glad to see it went to a good home!

[Terry in Australia]

That's a nice truck mate.

[seanbarney41]

  That thing is sick-looks like a ton-o-fun
  I have a friend who is also a CB750 owner and a past member here who does the ol' Corvette engine in the Miata trick. He has done several. I have personally ridden with him in this one and all I could say was - WOW    Every gear was quite the rush.

The guy I worked while ago was shoe horning LS7 into old MG.  Not sure if he ever finished it.

MG had a factory V8, so it wouldn't be too hard to install a modern V8, if the MG V8 was as most 1970's era British V8's, a modern American V8 would be a great replacement option............

Terry, I am pretty sure that MG used the Buick aluminum block 215 ci...it is generally known as a fragile turd but I would guess other 1960's Buick small blocks might inter-change.  I think Rover might have bought the tooling for it after Buick gave up on it.

[Don R]

The aluminum 215 was also used in oldsmobiles. The aluminum was a new deal in the 60's and they had some issues with corrosion and also gaskets. I knew a guy that had 2 of them in a mini rod pulling tractor. They went by weight and the 2- 215's weighed less than a single small block iron motor.

 How about the hidden hitch that goes behind the trucks license plate? when you put in the insert the plate folds down.

[socal1200r]

I put a small "V8" badge on the lower left corner of the tail gate, to break up all that black on the truck.  Also ordered two small GM "SS" badges in red, I think they're for the new Camaro.  I plan on putting those on the leading edge of the doors, right above the moulding line.  I think the truck is "SS" worthy, lol, and those small red badges should help break up all the black on the sides of the truck.  Ordered a small "GMC" emblem with the red dot inserts, same as the front grill, and I plan on putting that one on the lower right corner of the tail gate.  So those red emblems should all tie together, and help contrast with all the black on the truck.  I'll take some pics once I get them all mounted...

[Terry in Australia]

  That thing is sick-looks like a ton-o-fun
  I have a friend who is also a CB750 owner and a past member here who does the ol' Corvette engine in the Miata trick. He has done several. I have personally ridden with him in this one and all I could say was - WOW    Every gear was quite the rush.

The guy I worked while ago was shoe horning LS7 into old MG.  Not sure if he ever finished it.

MG had a factory V8, so it wouldn't be too hard to install a modern V8, if the MG V8 was as most 1970's era British V8's, a modern American V8 would be a great replacement option............

Terry, I am pretty sure that MG used the Buick aluminum block 215 ci...it is generally known as a fragile turd but I would guess other 1960's Buick small blocks might inter-change.  I think Rover might have bought the tooling for it after Buick gave up on it.

G'Day Sean, I thought I'd replied to your post earlier, but maybe I forgot to press the "Post" button? Anyway, yeah, British Leyland bought the Buick V8 and refined it, and are probably still using it now. They used it in Leyland's and Land Rover/Range Rovers, with capacities up to 4.4 litres, and as Don has mentioned, they were very popular in racing applications due to their light weight. I hope Buick got lots of money from Leyland, the Brits have been using that design successfully for the last 40 years!

[seanbarney41]

  That thing is sick-looks like a ton-o-fun
  I have a friend who is also a CB750 owner and a past member here who does the ol' Corvette engine in the Miata trick. He has done several. I have personally ridden with him in this one and all I could say was - WOW    Every gear was quite the rush.

The guy I worked while ago was shoe horning LS7 into old MG.  Not sure if he ever finished it.

MG had a factory V8, so it wouldn't be too hard to install a modern V8, if the MG V8 was as most 1970's era British V8's, a modern American V8 would be a great replacement option............

Terry, I am pretty sure that MG used the Buick aluminum block 215 ci...it is generally known as a fragile turd but I would guess other 1960's Buick small blocks might inter-change.  I think Rover might have bought the tooling for it after Buick gave up on it.

G'Day Sean, I thought I'd replied to your post earlier, but maybe I forgot to press the "Post" button? Anyway, yeah, British Leyland bought the Buick V8 and refined it, and are probably still using it now. They used it in Leyland's and Land Rover/Range Rovers, with capacities up to 4.4 litres, and as Don has mentioned, they were very popular in racing applications due to their light weight. I hope Buick got lots of money from Leyland, the Brits have been using that design successfully for the last 40 years!

ha ha Terry, I had not heard of Brits doing anything with automobiles "successfully"...unless it says Lotus on it.  But anyway, I love Buicks.  My grandfather wrenched airplanes in WWII and afterwards was a mechanic at a Cadillac/Buick dealership for many years, so I grew up surrounded by Buicks.  I have always found the marquee to be strong performers and dependable, except for several notable exceptions, and that aluminum V8 was one of them...americans just don't generally do well with small, light, and aluminum.  Good to know that others in the world are not so limited by over-engineering.  I bet Buick sold that engine design cheap, as they just could not get it to work.  They sure had no problems doubling it's displacement with cast iron, as the 430 Nailhead is a legend.

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah, I know what you mean mate,when I discovered that the little 2.7 litre turbo diesel V6 in my shiny new Ford is straight out of the latest Jaguar I didn't know if I should be elated, or ask for a refund, such is the British car industry's reputation.

Big American cars will rust out before they'll wear out, and all of the musclecars of the 60's and 70's would flip if you pushed them too hard around corners, not to mention their woeful brakes, so I guess that's why Carrol Shelby's Cobra was such a success, a marriage of a lightweight British Sports car with a monster American V8! Cheers, Terry.

[socal1200r]

Just thought I'd post some updated pics...installed a set of Cobalt SS bucket seats, they look factory...also put a set of Mickey Thompson street drag radials on the back, 295/45-17...gives the truck a slightly forward rake, and nice looking from the back...