Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Tell us about your Beretta and Post an Image
User avatar
woody90gtz
Registered User
Posts: 4698
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 8:45 pm
Location: Walton, NY
Contact:

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by woody90gtz »

Yeah, just had to get the rack closer to the balljoint so the steering arm length and geometry could be within reason.

Now I'm putting a bend in this 1948 Ford steering arm and redrilling the tie rod hole. I marked off 4 and 5in. 5in would get me the same steering angle as a 2000 Camaro, and 4in would get my 20% more. Once the bend is in I can C-clamp and test.
Image


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
GEARHEAD dezign youtube
User avatar
Rettax3
Registered User
Posts: 1805
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:34 pm

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by Rettax3 »

woody90gtz wrote:Yeah, just had to get the rack closer to the balljoint so the steering arm length and geometry could be within reason.

Now I'm putting a bend in this 1948 Ford steering arm and redrilling the tie rod hole. I marked off 4 and 5in. 5in would get me the same steering angle as a 2000 Camaro, and 4in would get my 20% more. Once the bend is in I can C-clamp and test.
Image
:shock: Are you using that aluminum rod-end ball-link instead of an actual automotive ball-joint? Seems.. Very light-duty to me. No grease fittings or dust-boot? Seems like in the wheel-well area, this will get destroyed from constant loading force and weather. Also not sure, is the ball-end's pivotal range sufficient to work under all suspension-loading conditions? Or is this just a temporary mock-up?


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
User avatar
woody90gtz
Registered User
Posts: 4698
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 8:45 pm
Location: Walton, NY
Contact:

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by woody90gtz »

Chromoly steel, but I have wondered about the angles as well.
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/QA1-MHFR ... 62942.html

I was hoping to find something like this in M14x1.5, but never did.
https://www.zoro.com/qa1-female-stud-ro ... /G5201393/

Running one with a boot would be a nice bonus, and cheaper, but most race stuff is a 5/8 heim anyway. And the Camaro tie rod for this rack is a 12mm nut, so even the tapered stud will be less than or equal to 14mm. If it does turn out to be too limited in articulation or a very short lived part I can revisit it.


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
GEARHEAD dezign youtube
User avatar
Rettax3
Registered User
Posts: 1805
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:34 pm

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by Rettax3 »

I hope the angles work out for you on it, and glad it is steel -I swear that thing looks like aluminum in your pic... You are definitely a step (or three) in front of me on suspension mods, so no disrespect was intended at all, that just looked really light duty to me. I think about the massive block of cast steel the typical outer tie-rod is made from, the size of the greased ball-join on the end of it, and the contact area the tapered shaft has inside the massive cast arm attached to the stock struts, and had to wonder. Thanks for shedding a little more light on it, and for acknowledging that I may not be completely nuts to worry about the geometry of the articulation... :good:


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
User avatar
woody90gtz
Registered User
Posts: 4698
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 8:45 pm
Location: Walton, NY
Contact:

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by woody90gtz »

Well. Already failed before assembly! haha. The rod end wound up right where there was a hex on the inner tie rod. I had to run a die down the inner and chop off the end, and just didn't like where the threads landed. But! It ends up better anyway... I'm making my own conversion tie rod sleeves (M14x1.5 RH to 5/8-18 LH) to use these. Hopefully it all comes together this weekend and I'll have more info.
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Steel-5- ... 24259.html


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
GEARHEAD dezign youtube
User avatar
woody90gtz
Registered User
Posts: 4698
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 8:45 pm
Location: Walton, NY
Contact:

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by woody90gtz »

Ok, it's connected from steering wheel to tires now. 6061T6 tie rod sleeves are done and just finished my firewall bearing bracket where the rack was and pushed it around outside. A lot easier with the tires pointing the direction you want and not flopping all over!

It does look to me like I have some reverse Ackermann, so the arms will need some more modification...bring the tie rod hole just outboard of the ball joint hole. Right now with the mostly unmodified Ford steering arms it is just inside the ball joint location. I just built a steering angle gauge to see where I'm at so I'll know what to modify. Looks like 35ish degrees of angle right now, but I'll know a lot better once I use my DIY gauge. And when I move the steering arms laterally I'll also move them down. They have a slight angle up at the current ride height, and I'm going to bring the ride height down by inches...so they'll need to be better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPuoVV1pJHo

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
GEARHEAD dezign youtube
User avatar
woody90gtz
Registered User
Posts: 4698
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 8:45 pm
Location: Walton, NY
Contact:

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by woody90gtz »

Oof...the Ackermann is bad. 27 degrees outside wheel and 15 inside. And that only averages to 21 degrees steering angle. So I'm going to cut those arms and offset toward the outboard side, while sliding underneath the stub. That will move them down for better tie rod angle, out for the better Ackermann and back for more angle. And to get 40+ degrees steering angle, I'll have to cut the distance in half from balljoint to tie rod hole...so I may actually cut the lower control arm and move the balljoint forward. That will keep the tie rod angles happier, and also add some caster. Which would be welcome since FWDs have less caster than their RWD counterparts typically.

But I did get pedals mocked up! Gotta make a seat mount and tack the front floor in to see how the ergonomics are. Then it can go back inside on the lift to mess with the steering. Project keeps dragging...I was really excited when it seemed like I was making fast progress. I went from fully FWD to rear axle, engine & trans mounted than I have with these little steering and pedals...

Image
Image
Image


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
GEARHEAD dezign youtube
User avatar
Rettax3
Registered User
Posts: 1805
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:34 pm

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by Rettax3 »

Added caster-angle will certainly make it more stable in a straight-line, probably turn smoother for you in a corner too. You are definitely re-inventing the wheel on this one, but it will probably roll better than the original, and yeah, if you can remove the repetitive joke that is "turning radius of a Chevy", that is all good. LOT of work going into this -if I had known you were getting this far into the bones, I might have tried to beat you with my twin-engine Z build, I may have stood a chance! :lol:


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
User avatar
woody90gtz
Registered User
Posts: 4698
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 8:45 pm
Location: Walton, NY
Contact:

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by woody90gtz »

It has required more reinventing than I was hoping it would require, and I'm past my $5k budget already. But money-wise it's almost done. Still eating up time though...

Worked on the seat fitment today and that's also being less than easy. The Beretta tracks are very tall, so I figured I could keep them about the same spot with slim universal tracks, but the seatback adjuster may actually require a notch in the factory sheetmetal crossmember to function. haha. Just another adventure to solve that problem...

Image


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
GEARHEAD dezign youtube
User avatar
woody90gtz
Registered User
Posts: 4698
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 8:45 pm
Location: Walton, NY
Contact:

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by woody90gtz »

Pedals in, seat in, column moved, shifter sorted. All seemingly minor things that eat up time.

https://youtu.be/LOlVVI7qerY

Image
Image
Image
Image


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
GEARHEAD dezign youtube
User avatar
woody90gtz
Registered User
Posts: 4698
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 8:45 pm
Location: Walton, NY
Contact:

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by woody90gtz »

Nerdy stuff: PCM pinout changes and tune hacking to run a non-stock engine/trans combo. In this case, changing a truck harness and PCM to camaro style to run a camaro tune with T56 reverse lockout functionality, but with engine calibration for 4.8 rather than the 5.7.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4we7ESsRHQ
Image


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
GEARHEAD dezign youtube
User avatar
woody90gtz
Registered User
Posts: 4698
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 8:45 pm
Location: Walton, NY
Contact:

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by woody90gtz »

Working on steering angle and Ackermann now. Anybody know how many degrees of steering angle a factory Beretta has? Mine hits the inner fender at about 35.
Image


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
GEARHEAD dezign youtube
User avatar
woody90gtz
Registered User
Posts: 4698
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 8:45 pm
Location: Walton, NY
Contact:

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by woody90gtz »

Ok. Steering is done for now. Current limitations keep it from being perfect...but I'm gonna roll with it for a bit! I need to do some more research on different racks, but I'm too far behind to keep pissing away more time on it. haha
I got the pedals completely finished and made some progress on the radiator too. Been taking some stuff home to work on during the week to try and get more accomplished quicker. So far it seems to help a little!

https://youtu.be/q__XA1CGj7g

Image
Image
Image


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
GEARHEAD dezign youtube
User avatar
Rettax3
Registered User
Posts: 1805
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:34 pm

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by Rettax3 »

Nice, great to see the tunnel covered up again, and of course pics (along with the Sept vid) of the Flintstone Floor deletion -aka an actual FLOOR. :P
Gotta be getting close enough to itch by now. Are you going to see pavement under this before the snow flies?


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
User avatar
woody90gtz
Registered User
Posts: 4698
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 8:45 pm
Location: Walton, NY
Contact:

Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

Post by woody90gtz »

There are a TON of little things to do before it's right. But the 10-day forecast looks amazingly good for November, and I'm gonna try like hell just to get it running and moving before it comes back to my garage in the very near future. And if it moves, there will be tire smoke!


91 "SS" - WOT 3400/5spd - 13.29@101.6 - World's fastest N/A FWD Beretta
96 "T56" LS/6spd/8.8 RWD swap - 13.45@104.7 lol
GEARHEAD dezign youtube
Post Reply