L67 in a Sand Rail

[Crazy Curt]

This site has been a great resource while installing a 2001 Grand Prix SC engine from a junkyard into an off road vehicle. Since questions and answers on this site have contributed to the progress I thought you might like to see how it is coming along.
Since we like the looks of the blower we have moved components around to help show it off. Some of the things we have done are:
1- Moved the alternator down to the lower right side of the engine
2- Moved the Ignition Module to the left side
3- Re-routed the coolant from the base of the old alternator mount so it would go directly from the water pump to the base of the intake manifold
4- Rerouted the belts for the new component locations
5- Mounted the Throttle Body at a 90 degree angle and rotated it so there would be room for the fuel cell
6- Changed the orientation of the engine from traverse and mounted it to a VW bus transmission with the help of Kennedy Engineering
7- Made headers for the different engine orientation
The frame is not painted since it is a work in progress. I seems that the farther we go the more welding and cutting need to be done to make things fit.
To complete the project we just need to plumb the brakes, finish wiring and bolt in the seats. The current challenge is bypassing the PCM?s Theft Deterrent Control signal so we can get the fuel pump working.
My son-in-law and I have had a great time trying to make things fit because there are not many aftermarket parts available for this application. Since we have fabricated most of the parts we have managed to accumulate a lathe, TIG and MIG welder, Plasma cutter and tubing bender so there is less and less room in the garage for the project.
If I can figure out how to post a photo we?ll be glad to show the progress
_________________
Curt

[brianteel]

do you have some pictures or videos of all the parts that I can post up

[Crazy Curt]

Here are photos of the alterations made to convert the 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix engine into the sand rail.


[IMG]

1- Moved the alternator down to the lower right side of the engine
2- Moved the Ignition Module to the left side
3- Re-routed the coolant from the base of the old alternator mount so it would go directly from the water pump to the base of the intake manifold
4- Rerouted the belts for the new component locations



5- Mounted the Throttle Body at a 90 degree angle and rotated it so there would be room for the fuel cell
6- Changed the orientation of the engine from traverse and mounted it to a VW bus transmission with the help of Kennedy Engineering




7- Made headers for the different engine orientation. That header paint did not last very long.



Test ride before disassembly and painting. It was cold and windy but we had a blast and everything worked perfectly
_________________
Curt

[brianteel]

how fast do you think it is. it does not look very heavy

[GSXMEN]

Curt - If I can go off-topic for a minute.....

Do you go out to Glamis?

My aunt & uncle were setup on Gecko Rd. for about 16 years.....SWEETMARIES was her business. Doug was out back at the welding trailer.

They sold the business about 2 years ago, so I have no idea how things are now.

Just curious if you'd been by there.
_________________
Scott

[Crazy Curt]

Hi Brian and Scott, to answer your questions, from a technical perspective, I don't know how fast it is. We don't have a radar gun in our group but it feels faster and more powerful than our 2-seat buggy. Here is a photo of what I mean.



Scott, I go to Gordon?s Well & Superstition and have not been to Glamis in more than 32 years. It is a little too crazy, even for me, so we go to the safer locations so the kids can play without being run over. I'll try to get some photos of the place next time we drive by so you can see if things have changed since your aunt and uncle were there. Hope you are staying warm in NY.
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Curt

[cstmgp]

Hello curt, great buggy. Which frame did you use, or did you bend your own? I have often looked at the Kennedy site, I would like to try the L67 in a baja bug.
Did you have any trouble with the orientation, and have you had any tranny trouble with all that HP??
Thanks,
Shaun
_________________
02 dodge 1500 4x4
07 pontiac G6 GT
61 volkswagon baja bug
51 chevy 3100 pickup

[Crazy Curt]

Hi Shaun, the frame is a Big Boy that you should be able to find in any buggy magazine. My son in law and I did tons of alterations but the basic frame should work for you. It was designed for a VW engine so the compartment was a bit short and I had to move a tube up a couple inches to miss the oil filter. I think you would have a screaming fast car if you put it in a Baja, The only issue I can think of would be locating the radiator and routing the coolant lines. I did have trouble locating aftermarket parts for this engine in this orientation. We wound up doing all kinds of custom parts in the garage. But then that is why we do this, right?
I did break second gear on the January trip and had to rebuild the 091 with close ratio Weddle gears. Tested it this weekend and it worked very well. The transmission shop recommends buying a Mendeola but I?m going to try this set-up out for a while before spending the $5,000 on a gearbox.
Take care and please post photos of the car when it is done.
_________________
Curt

[cstmgp]

picked up a 61 with a bus swingaxle in the rear. Should work nicely for the project, I'd rather have the irs, but the king link front is great. It's going to be a slow project, but I'm working on the body and pan now.
Shaun
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02 dodge 1500 4x4
07 pontiac G6 GT
61 volkswagon baja bug
51 chevy 3100 pickup

[Crazy Curt]

Hi Shaun, that?s great news and thanks for the update! It took us about 2 years to get ours going but like fine wine, good things come to those who wait. I?m sure your 61 will be fantastic when completed. Best wishes with it and please post photos. I would be fascinated with the before and after pictures.
We where going to head out this weekend for the opening of desert season and shake the cobwebs out of our V6 but the San Diego fires have put a kibosh on everything. One of my camping buddies is just 4 blocks from the mandatory evacuation zone and my kids are packed and ready to go if they have to. Even the freeway to the desert was closed for 2 days because of high winds and smoke.
_________________
Curt

[rdpriceus]

Curt looks great. Could you expand on the belt tensioner used and or moded for this setup. I running the same setup in a front engine race car and your tensioner looks cleaner and neater than what I'm using.
Richard Price

[cstmgp]

Thanks Curt. Unfortunately, the Baja will be on the backburner for a while, while I work on my 51 chevy pickup.
Delayed, but by no means forgotten.
Shaun
_________________
02 dodge 1500 4x4
07 pontiac G6 GT
61 volkswagon baja bug
51 chevy 3100 pickup

[Crazy Curt]

Hi Shaun and Richard, hope everything is going well for you and that you have great plans for your long weekend. Shaun, best of luck to you on your ?51 truck project. My son in law and I hope to be starting on his 53 Ford at some time in the future so we would be interested in seeing your progress.
Richard, changing the orientation of the pulley was a bit of work. It?s been a while so I hope to remember everything. The originally pulley route for the super charger is a total of 5 pulleys around the water pump. I started by making a 1-inch spacer and shimmed the water pump pulley out and removed the 2 stationary pulleys. One located at the base of the coil pack and the other is bolted to the engine block. I replaced the smooth tensioner pulley with a grooved one to help keep the belt in place and routed the belt as you see in the photo. For the belt length I compressed the belt tensioner and measured around the outside of the lips of the pulleys to make sure I had enough length to put the pulley on and off. This engine uses a NAPA 25-060520 belt for the supercharger drive
Since we have altered the front to rear placement of the water pump pulley, we needed to relocate or remove everything to the left side of the engine so we removed the power steering pump and alternator. Then we built a bracket to mount the alternator lower and tension that belt. The adjuster for the alternator was removed from a Honda and that pulley needed to be converted from ribbed to smooth. Oh, almost forgot, because we move the coil packs to the other side I was able to cut a lot of material off the coil pack to save some weight.
Richard, if you are planning to make this change you may want to make sure you have some time to finish all the fabrication, especially to fabricate the bypass hose that takes the place of the alternator bracket. It was not difficult but it was time consuming.
I hope this helps, Curt