Beretta.net

We are all waiting for you to try it since you keep suggesting it... LOL

I don't see that being a DIY application... ever.

The DOW stuff may not be...although it does say it cab done robotically or manually. But there is a thread rolling around of a guy doing this with his Nissan with good results...I have to find it again. We are getting off topic though, I'll post what I find in a new thread.

"J, L and N bodies have the structural integrity of a peanut shell.

Add 500 HP and 480 ft/lbs of twist and what could possibly go wrong?

And you want make the damn thing to ride like a Daily Driver, not twist so the windows won't go down. and it has to have AIR!!"

e-mail I received today from Smith Performance.

sounds an awful lot like the LS7 then..... not that there's anything wrong with that.

Going to be an LS-3 and they are right. I was just asking why it had to have an 8 point bar.

They are right!!

I can't wait to see this thing develop. There's a few key challenges that I hit that I am curious to see how they will go about it.

Brake booster/master cylinder mounting
Steering setup
Tunnel size to keep interior looking stock
Retaining a/c and heater under dash with that tunnel.

It's tough to keep the motor and trans tucked into the car so it looks normal yet not have a massive trans tunnel.

They will also see that beretta frame rails are not symmetrical which will make driver side header interesting.

"Looks like about $28 to $32K all in and running." Yeah, They start out like that.

Barry wrote:I can't wait to see this thing develop. There's a few key challenges that I hit that I am curious to see how they will go about it.

Brake booster/master cylinder mounting
Steering setup
Tunnel size to keep interior looking stock
Retaining a/c and heater under dash with that tunnel.

It's tough to keep the motor and trans tucked into the car so it looks normal yet not have a massive trans tunnel.

They will also see that beretta frame rails are not symmetrical which will make driver side header interesting.

Well Barry here is what I know. At least so far.
They use a Willwood brake setup exclusively now.
The steering column is modified to extend to a rack on the front crossmember.
The tunnel size is apparently not a major issue. Think V8 Monza.
The HVAC is going to be an issue!!!
Exhaust is also going to be an issue. Mufflers back is fine. The gas tank will be gone. It's getting it to there, but they claim manifolds will not be an issue at all.

The good thing is they have built a Cobalt and a Solstice before this thing came along so some of the issues have been dealt with. I have seen the Solstice. You would swear it is a factory build!

In for the updates. Going to be an epic build. Can't wait till spring. But i bet its even harder on you op!

If there is no run under the factory dash - put the HVAC in the trunk.

Vintage Air has a very nice remote setup that you can use.

bonecrrusher wrote:If there is no run under the factory dash - put the HVAC in the trunk.

Vintage Air has a very nice remote setup that you can use.

You are reading our catalogues!! LOL! A/C on the motor and room under the dash is not a problem though. Will probably lose the glove box however.

Also the Power Steering may be electric OR N/A.

The guys at Smith's laughed at the brakes on this thing.

Non-Power Willwoods will stop better than what's on the car now!

But the Detail List is growing.

ErichZ26 wrote:"Looks like about $28 to $32K all in and running." Yeah, They start out like that.

Erich you are right and I respect your input, but I'm doing this and trust Fred to keep it "close"!

Asylum wrote:Non-Power Willwoods will stop better than what's on the car now!

Well duh. A properly designed manual brake setup will stop just as well as a power version of the same with minimal extra leg effort. Increase leverage with bigger rotors and it will be even better than boosted.

Is this price/project timeline from start to finish completed with paint, interior..and even the a/c retrofit?

Your talking about next June dude...that is not too far away.

Have you considered one of the Pro Street's that have gone up for sale in recent times. I realize you may want an up to date certified chassis if you race his thing but some of these cars have come up for a decent price.


Also I have sold a few electric steering pumps from 2 gen's of MR2's and the Mazda/Volvo's for retrofit into custom trucks and cars. However it looks like Smith uses the Pinto rack which is manual.