Boosted Bandit Build Thread
 

First Installment:
OK, here goes. I'm going to try to post our Boosted Bandit build from start to finish. The Boosted Bandit will be aHot Rod Drag Week 2020 car competing in the Super Street, Big Block Power Adder class. We hope to have it at Norwalk to do shake down runs. It is a 1976 Trans Am that we are converting to a 77/78 Black Bandit tribute car. It will be powered by a 461 cu.in. Twin Turbo Pontiac engine. 4L80E transmission and fabricated 9" rear with 3.00:1 gears.
This build starts out with tear down of the car, Dustless blasting of the shell and 25.5 cage/chassis install. More pics to come.

Erik

Body was mounted on a rotisserie and media blasted then welded to our frame table.

More pics
 

So this is how the weekend is starting out. I'll post more on Sunday.

Subscribed! I love following drag week. Sounds like an awesome car in the making!

Progress
 

Some progress was made this past weekend. Got the floor cut out to make room for the cage. Floor will be reconstructed after chassis/cage is complete. Cleaned off rockers to install 6X6 plates for cage attachment.

More Progress
 

So the LH Quarter is not looking so good. Rust in the door jamb and lower section ahead of the wheel. Rust in the window channel and god knows what awaits me under that Bondo. So I ordered a new full replacement quarter panel. Driver's door skin is pretty rusted at the bottom so I'll be skinning that door too. We removed the inner door braces before we had it blasted but I wish we had waited. Would have been easier with the skin off. (FYI the door braces weighed 21 lbs ea. if anyone is interested.)

More Progress
 

So the rules for Super Street call for factory frame rails from the firewall forward to the bumper. So, we cut the subframe just after it tucks under the toe board. The ends will be plated and 5/8" 4130 .095 wall tubing will join it to the rear x-member that the main hoop will be built upon. We had a chance to mock up the engine also. It will be level with the chassis. lowered and moved rearward about an inch or so. We will be cutting out the center of the engine x-member and installing a TRZ Motorsports rack and pinion kit.

Looking good!

With a 29.4" tire and a 3.25 gear my car cruises at 2000rpm @ 70 mph with the converter locked in the 4l80. Might just be my car but going below 2000rpm and the car starts to chug a little.

So maybe 3.00 will s a little too high? We've got 308's in my wife's TA with the 4l80e and it's not too bad, but that's a little shorter tire. Just don't want too much gear. Maybe we'll reconsider. Thanks for the heads up.

Progress
 

More progress. Working on main rails and trans x-member. Trans x-member will be welded in at first, then after the entire cage is finished it will be cut out and 4 bolt flanges will be added on either side for removal.

I can't wait to see this car at Norwalk/Drag Week!

Subscribed
I love these kinds of builds!!

Weekend Update
 

Some progress over the weekend. Motor plate mounting finalized. Cage construction under way. Making it fit tight to the body.

More Pics
 

Test fitting the TRZ Motorsports steering column kit and huge 4L80E trans shield and more cage shots.

So, as you can see, we will be making our own front motor plate out of 1/4" aluminum. There will be a lot of aluminum fab going on in this build. My son Nick is doing all of the Tig welding on this project, he also just acquired a new mill and will be doing a lot of the machining and lathe work. So stay tuned as we make our own stud girdles, EFI top for the Gutsram base, injector bosses for the secondary set of fuel rails (We will have a gasoline set of rails and a methanol set of rails stacked on the Gutsram base) Fuel rails from blank fuel rail stock, Lower crank pulley and drive mandrel from a 6" round billet among other odds and ends. Lots of work ahead of us! Next up we are going to install the mini tubs while we can still get back there before putting too much cage in the way. More to come.......

Mini Tubs
 

Started the install of the DSE mini tubs. And, my quarter panel came in!

I'm not sure what cam you're running, but if it's a drag car, I would agree 3.00s are no where near steep enough. You're going to want somewhat of a tall tire for a better contact patch especially with big power, so I would think you want something like 4.11, 4.33, 4.56, or maybe even bigger.

With a 7500 rpm, 29" tire, 3.73s, and a .75 OD, you're at a top speed of around 235mph.

4.11 = 210mph
4.33 = 200mph
4.56 = 190mph

Figure out what your power band is, peak RPM, and tire height is before you decide on a gear.

With a tall soft-sidewall tire, anything over 160 is a handful. 200 and you have to have a chute. It's a rule, but you need it to help keep you straight as you slow down too.

When I was doing my 2nd gen boosted build for ECTA and standing mile, I did calculations on 7200-7500 rpm, 3.25 rear, .82 OD, with a 26" tire. I didn't care about 1/4 mile, and knew it would just blow the tire off if I tried, but my calculated top speeds were in the 220 mph range. My goal was the 200mph club.

If you're over 1200hp, I hope your trans is fully built, and if you plan on lockup under full throttle, you need a stout converter, like a 3 disc billet unit.

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If you want examples of a cage in a 2nd gen, look at the Herb Adams VSE Cheverra:

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/chevy-vse-cheverra/

https://www.chevyhardcore.com/featur...heverra-racer/


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I enjoy the photos! Good luck with the project Sir.

Kris.

Thanks for all of the advice HWYSTR455, I'll take all of that into consideration. I think we're going to keep rpm down below 7000 for longevity. The cage has to meet very certain criteria and is being built using SFI's 25.5 Instructions. Not a lot of wiggle room for interpretation. But thank you for the pics.
Thanks Kris!

Frame mods
 

Tonight we're focusing on the front sub frame. From the factory the engine is shifted over towards the passenger side. So much so that the engine x-member is not symmetrical at all. It's way fatter on the driver's side. So, before we cut out the center we will even it out with the passenger side. This will help with clearance for the log style turbo manifolds we have seeing as we centered the engine in the chassis.

Frame mods
 

Cut the center out. It will be plated on either side and 4130 tubing will takes it's place. A pinto rack will be mounted to the tubing. Unwanted motor mount holes were welded up. More to come ..........

Nice. Often overlooked.

I like that the box tube was slid in there for strength.

.

You're about an hour from me, I should visit some time!

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Wow! Awesome build and really nice fab skills! We are currently building a 77 TA track car and you have officially put me to shame! Great work, look forward to more updates!

Posting more tonight. Stay tuned.

Engine X-member and steering
 

Finished off the cuts in the sub frame and added 1 5/8" and 1 1/4" 4130 tubes back in. Started to mock up the rack and pinion. As soon as we finalize the rack's position we are going to add 3/4" tubular gussets from the plate to the larger tube. We're going to need to put the mock up engine back in to determine if the balancer with the trigger wheel on it are going to be an interference issue with the rack. More to come...

In for the awesome build!

Saturday progress
 

Some work on the front motor plate so we can mock the engine back up for rack clearance. (Looks like we'll have to cut off the v-band flange off of the LH manifold and extend the log through the plate and reattach the v-band flange.) Then rack and pinion final welding.

More Progress
 

Rack mounting finalized. (crappy hose clamp on the rack is temporary. There is a really nice band clamp that goes there, just easier to take the hose clamp on and off ) Mock up of steering shaft also.

More Progress
 

Started on firewall bar and door bars today also. Tomorrow Nick will start on funny car cage and door X's

Very nice!! Are you going to be able to get the band clamp on the driver side header?

Who's Headers ..

No, we are going to cut off the v-band flange and extend the log.

Stainless Headers Manufacturing Inc.

https://www.stainlessheaders.com/pro..._Turbo_Header/

Sunday progress
 

Today Nick got the door bar X braces in and started on the funny car cage.

More Progress
 

More funny car cage progress today. So , these bars are all being tacked in and final welding will happen when all bars are in. Nick will drop the entire cage out of the car to facilitate complete perimeter welding of all bars. Then the cage will be raised back into the car and completely welded to the rockers and front subframe. Then he will run tubes to the front and rear to tie it all together. Still to be installed are rear shock x-member, leaf spring front buckets and rear sliders. Also, Nick will assemble the Fab 9 inch housing from a kit. Lot's of neat stuff to come. Stay tuned.

Did the headers fit without doing modifications to the subframe, and without the motor plates?

Yes, they did fit with the engine in the factory location. The only interference point was on the block itself. We had to grind the block a small amount where the header just touched it. (red circle, picture is just for illustration, not the actual block). As others have stated, I don't know if there would be an interference at the power steering pump. Thinking probably so, but if you have been working with Pontiacs for as long as I have you know that you are going to have to fabricate and modify things to get the result you want. These headers are still an awesome value and welcome addition to the Pontiac aftermarket!

Perfect, thank you! I have the same set for my 2nd gen but haven't started the build yet.

Thank You

Looking good Erik! Just curious what are your plans for mounting the leaf springs?

Leaf spring buckets will attach to the dropped x-member. We have some really nice adjustable ( multiple holes) heavy wall buckets. They will be braced into the cage also. Then the factory rear frame rails will be boxed and tied into the chassis as well. Stay tuned, that part is coming.

Leaf spring buckets

Very nice, looks like you are on the right track for a very fast ride!

More Progress
 

The cage is starting to get crowded! Nick adding more tubes. I take my shot at skinning the doors. Not as hard as I thought it might be. Took the holesaw to the door shell while I had it apart to do a little "swiss cheese" treatment. Trying to lighten up this old girl.

I knew you guys had skills but watching this thread is great!

Looking forward to the watching this progress.

Stay tuned, we should get a bunch done this weekend!

More Progress
 

Got the passenger door skinned and tore down the door hinges for new pins and bushings. I'm also going to put lighter springs in them to offset the new light weight doors. I found that 4L80E accumulator springs fit the bill nicely.