Tom's Turbo Garage

Non-repair car talk
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Adam
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

Tom's Turbo Garage

Post by Adam »

Found a new YouTube channel to watch. It is more in depth on the how-to than other "modify a car" things out there. He does a lot of fabrication, which is fun to watch. Plus he likes turbos and drag racing, which will annoy Kevin.

https://www.youtube.com/user/turbomiragedude

Some project playlists (in no particular order):
Mitsubishi Galant VR-4: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... Ew_f0WAB77

Buick Grand National: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 3CN-AIeNs9

Mazda Miata LS3 swap (in progress): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... JZ38lKFKI9

For all you podcast nerds, he has one with his DSM buddy that it pretty good:
http://www.tomandjoeautoshow.com/
kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Tom's Turbo Garage

Post by kevm14 »

I will have to check it out.

What I look for in LS swap documentation is a little nugget of something new. I don't like them so I can see the same thing over and over again. Usually folks have something different to say. A different perspective, a little twist. That keeps it interesting. What I don't tire of is the reaction after the swap is complete. It's always awesome.
Adam
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

Re: Tom's Turbo Garage

Post by Adam »

kevm14 wrote:I will have to check it out.

What I look for in LS swap documentation is a little nugget of something new. I don't like them so I can see the same thing over and over again. Usually folks have something different to say. A different perspective, a little twist. That keeps it interesting. What I don't tire of is the reaction after the swap is complete. It's always awesome.
He's referred to this build on his podcast as "his dream project he's wanted to do for the last 20 years or so". Seeing how far he goes with the car to do the swap the right way is a nice difference from a lot of these type of videos. Typical swap videos are "we pulled the original motor out" then "we put the new one in...somehow" then "burnouts" in the span of 5 minutes or so.

He also talks about why he chose each of the individual pieces he is using and what steps need to be done to make it fit in the car correctly. You'll never guess what diff he decided to go with.
kevm14
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Re: Tom's Turbo Garage

Post by kevm14 »

CTS-V1
kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Tom's Turbo Garage

Post by kevm14 »

I just binge-watched the Miata playlist. I honestly did not understand quite the level of obsession and attention to detail, because I don't think I could wait that long to complete the project. However, when he talked about the Cars & Coffee event, I realized that he's not working in a vacuum. There are probably enthusiasts all over the place that he'll be proud to show his work off to.
kevm14
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Re: Tom's Turbo Garage

Post by kevm14 »

New episode is out. He drives it.

I can't imagine who would NOT like this car. It's awesome. I want to drive it.
kevm14
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Re: Tom's Turbo Garage

Post by kevm14 »

Adam wrote: Mazda Miata LS3 swap (in progress): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... JZ38lKFKI9
Episode 13 is out. Contains The Dragon content!
In this episode we put Thunderbolt through a variety of tests to determine how it performs. Thank you for watching and for your awesome support!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACbyIrMvr7s

I REALLY like this car. You could DD it, although I wouldn't.

11.5 @ 130...Bill, this'll blow off Hellcats and run even with the C6 ZR1. You just need one of these. The fact that it's a Miata is actually a boon, in my opinion.

Now I don't know what he spent, but I know you could build the functional equivalent of this car for a LOT less money.
Adam
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 9:50 pm

Re: Tom's Turbo Garage

Post by Adam »

I like how it only gained 150 lbs from the swap. Not too bad for beefing up every part of the powertrain and adding some chassis bracing.

The weight distribution barely changed, so it probably still drives like Miata, except it now has 180% more power. Awesome.
Adam
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Re: Tom's Turbo Garage

Post by Adam »

I also like that the V8 has a higher redline than the stock engine.
kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Tom's Turbo Garage

Post by kevm14 »

Tom comes back after some number of years with a great recount of costs and time for the job.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy0X3X2B4Lk

This is really interesting.

One thing that got my attention was when he said the actual wrenching was the easy part. Then he listed all the other time/logistics/administrative/family things he had to deal with and you see why the Roadmaster is still stock...

9 months given all of that, by the way, I think is actually really good even though someone doing more dedicated labor could easily cut that down to 50% or even 25% of that.

Also note that the total cost w/ car is basically the full retail price of doing this swap (minus the used car). Pretty much the most expensive way to do it.

I'd also love to see this car tested against something like a gen 6 Camaro SS. Alpha is good and factory tuning is kind of hard to top when they are actually going for excellence. But this car is MUCH ligher and MUCH faster, and is still a Miata. So I would presume it would spank a gen 6, and probably start closing the gap with a ZL1.
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