Blasphemed 308 gets redemption with upcoming F355 heart transplant

All of the engineering work is done so the engine came out one last time in order to paint the compartment and clean the powerplant. Tim made a new shifter plate thanks to Russ's project car and I believe we have a solution for the water flow / capacity dilemma but we wont know for sure until we drive it around.

We went with a borla muffler but as I study the pics Tim just sent.......Hey, I see space back there for my Tubi!!
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God bless you.

 

We finally wrapped up the project so now I'm awaiting the trucking company to deliver my car. Tim went through the entire car and drove it several times to ensure there weren't any cooling issues or hot spots within the engine compartment. After tweaking a newly made oil line and replacing some ball joints, the car is now really tight and sounds great. We ended up having to use Magna Flow mufflers as the Borla product was not gonna work out too well. At some point down the road I'll change out the plain tips to something more attractive. Thank God this project is over!!
The video is poor quality but I'm attaching the vimeo link so that you can hear the sound it makes. The Gator is going almost 60mph when my car passes it up like it's sitting still. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

That sound. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

Hmm. Yeah, you'll be having some fun with that

 

By the way, am I missing something? You basically conceived of this whole endeavor in May and executed more or less to completion by August (with some fine tuning for the last month) ?!?! In less than five months, you developed a ground-up 355 transplant solution? I'm gonna need a floor jack for my jaw.

 

Jeez, it took off like a startled gazelle, and that sound!

 

That's basically what happened but I don't get any credit as all I did was finance the project. Tim did get some guidance/ideas from Bob Norwood as he had a parallel project that in turn helped us work through challenges. Some things we did differently like the suspension (I kept my existing suspension), ECU management, shifter box, etc but I guess that's what makes these car builders unique.

 

Ops, we did a TRIAL run, not a trail run!

 

That's the prettiest rear end I have seen on a 308 ... bar this one.

Difference here is normal wheelbase (Cirorci's car had already been stretched) but wider track (we used the 355 subframe and thus stock 355 rear suspension without the automatic ride adjust) and GTO bodywork. Modify fuel tanks to clear. Custom oil cooler and lines. Custom air ducting. Custom fuel filler. Custom water line hookup. Custom shifter assy. Switch a/c and heater hoses left to right. Wider wheels (348 Speedlines). Custom triple muffler exhaust w flap. Dumbed down alternator. Motec engine management. Supposed to be all done in a two weeks.

In order to use the 355 subframe the bodywork has to be widened As well as the bank account.

Norwood did mine but a guy in CA blazed the path, Carl Steuer.

I have some left-over 308 rear suspension parts that we could not use as well a bunch of 355 emissions plumbing/wiring/computers that we elected not to use, if anyone is interested. Also some very wide (as in F40) Speedline Mistral wheels that we could not use, they are 5x120 bolt pattern so you would need to use appropriate hubs, or adapters (which are not a problem for the front but the 355 suspension does not lend itself to the use of adapters due to the design of the hub as well as the track which is already wide).

 

That came out nicely Russ, congratulations man. The second pic is fuzzy but that install looks really clean.

 

I want one

 

Me 2. Badass car.

 

Me 3, this thing is sweet!

You might consider trying an x-pipe for a more high pitched sound.

 

excellent! if you ever want to sell it give me the first shot? what did you do with the ZF by the way?

 

Hyenahf, that ZF sold on Ebay in less than a day which surprised me although I had a good price on it for $5000. Another surprising fact was that little block of metal was very heavy weighing in at 185lbs.

 

thats a great deal for a working ZF. those things are getting expensive.

 

Steven, great project in record time! We will have to meet up and hit some back roads together.

 

Sounds good Chris

 

Congrats! I love this project. Owning both, I love the power and sound of the 355, while the looks of the 308 will always be rolling art. This project really utilizes the best of both cars to make something really perfect.

 

Whoa!!!! This sound is sick! Congrats!

 

Thanks guys. My only problem currently is that we couldn't get the speedometer to work going from analog to digital. Tim recommended Momo in Mexico but I'm not having any luck finding them. Any recommendations on a reasonably priced company that can convert over? Thanks

 

That would be MoMa .. you should be able to google them ... I have to say they sat on my gauges for almost 3 months and were very condescending. They also failed to disclose, at the time I sent the gauges, that they had lost their films in a fire and they did nothing during that intervening time to get new films made. Their excuse was they were working on other cars for Monterey. Eventually I had to retrieve them and send them to Palo Alto. MoMa wanted $1200 to repair my clock. PA did it for $300, turnaround was about a week. I would not use MoMaunless I had no option.

 

Thanks Russ, understood.