Leaderboard

Now that we have a rolling (non-rolling) chassis, time to install the engine and add the radiator and charge air cooler. It’s a squeeze, but she fits. There’s a lot of extra parts adding to the overall engine width, like the serpentine bracket, so I made sure to measure and test fit beforehand. To connect the driveline, I made three driveshaft carrier bearings from styrene. Onto the CAC: There’s a void in the aftermarket for a proper charge air cooler/air to air aftercooler. Italeri tried in the 378 kit, but it leaves a lot to be desired. I used the Italeri kit parts as a basis for creating an aftermarket CAC in the style of a Duralite. I added photo etched radiator mesh and modified the side of the kit radiator. Then, adding putty to create the shape needed. The kit’s radiator coolant reservoir was added to the top at this point, but I will replace it later with a better version. On the front side, I added a parallel flow AC condenser unit, made with photo etched mesh. I’ll add the lines to and from it later, as well as the air intake connectors and pipes to the turbo and engine block.