Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Porsche 917-30 vs. Ferrari 612 vs. UOP Shadow Turbo?

[Hans E. Hansen (FList]

At the time, I don't remember the ZL1 as "marketed" at all. I have
an old 1969 Corvette showroom brochure, and the ZL1 was
just another entry on a very lengthy powertrain chart.  That chart
had 3 small block and at least 5 big blocks.  Listed was the trannies
available with each (some had 3 manuals: wide ratio, close ratio,
and HD), and the rear end ratios available with each engine/tranny
combo.  The L88 was available with anything from 2.56 to 5.13.
A friend ordered a 435hp tri-power with TH400 and 4.56.  Hard
to keep rear tires intact.  He later swapped it for a 2.73 (kind of
a lessen in extremes......) and it would peg the 160mph speedo
with power to spare.

It was a great era to order customized drivetrains.

I don't think that the ZL1 as installed in the Corvette was anything
other than a way for Duntov to lighten one of his racing projects.
They were basically impossible to get, as only a few were made.

I never really heard anything about turbo testing.  I think the engine's
era was closing about that time, as was interest in the racing
series.  Seems money spoils all racing series eventually.  Once
big money moves in, the rest of the competitors leave and the
series folds.  I suppose that is the rational of spec series, actually.

Hans.

On 8/8/08, LS <lashdeep [at] yahoo.com> wrote:
> Great tech Hans. Didn't GM market the ZL1 as "Can Am" based or inspired or 
> something?
>
> I knew the cam in the L88 and Z were a bit different as well.
>
> Any insight on whether the turbo testing on one of these engines was 
> successful?
>
> LS
>
>
> --- On Tue, 8/5/08, Hans E. Hansen <FList [at] hanshansen.org> wrote:
>
> > From: Hans E. Hansen <FList [at] hanshansen.org>
> > Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Porsche 917-30 vs. Ferrari 612 vs. UOP Shadow Turbo?
> > To: "LS" <lashdeep [at] yahoo.com>
> > Cc: "The FerrariList" <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
> > Date: Tuesday, August 5, 2008, 12:19 PM
> > I used to sell aluminum big block Chevies.  Technically, the
> > motors used
> > in CanAm were not ZL1.  The ZL1 was the alum motor fitted
> > in the Corvette,
> > and was nothing more than an iron sleeved alloy version of
> > the cast iron
> > 427.  ie - the castings resembled each other and the
> > internal parts were
> > the same.
> >
> > The CanAm engines were available in 430, 465, 495, and I
> > think 510
> > cu in.  Initially sleeved, some were available, as I
> > understand (never
> > saw one...), in a sleeveless silicon etched alloy, like
> > used in the 928
> > and some (many?) BMWs.  The blocks were A LOT different
> > than
> > the regular big block, being gusseted, reinforced, etc.,
> > and with
> > different internals such as much bigger bearings, etc.
> > Heads were
> > different, and not interchangeable with the rest of the big
> > block
> > lineup.
> >
> > Externally, they probably were a bolt-in replacement for a
> > regular
> > big block.  I say "probably", because I never saw
> > anybody put one
> > in a Chevelle, for example, simply because the parts cost
> > was Ferrari
> > level extravagant.  Like $20K - $25K in 1980 dollars.  I
> > have no idea
> > what an assembled race-ready motor would cost, but it was
> > certainly north of $50K.  Still cheap by Porsche/Ferrari
> > race car
> > standards, but way out of reach for the street rodder.
> >
> > New Chevy pickups use a 495 cu in motor.  I've
> > wondered, but never
> > bothered to look, if might be a cast iron version of the
> > old CanAm
> > motor, complete with the bigger bearings and other
> > internals of
> > that motor.  If done to production car specs (not race
> > spec...), the
> > cost would only be marginally higher than the original big
> > block,
> > but it would be much sturdier than the regular big block.
> > The pickup
> > 454 was not well suited to truck use, especially in our
> > area where
> > full throttle for 10 minutes at a time is needed to pull
> > big loads
> > up our mountains.  The 495 seems to be holding up much
> > better
> > in this application, suggesting that it might be a
> > "civilian" version
> > of the old race motor.
> >
> > Hans.
> >
> > On 8/5/08, LS <lashdeep [at] yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > Does anyone have any good info on the potential of the
> > turbo ZL1 that McLaren and Shadow were developing for Can Am
> > when the series was cancelled?
> > >
> > > I'm reading the Unfair Advantage by Mark Donohue
> > and was intrigued at the possibility of some sort of
> > competition from the McLaren's for the almightly 917-30.
> > >
> > > The Aluminum ZL1 was an impressive engine...did it
> > have the architecture to handle a 2-3 hour road race with
> > forced induction? I'd like some info on what setup some
> > of the teams were experimenting with.
> > >
> > > BTW-What was the real power output of the 712 Can Am
> > Ferrari? I've heard 680-750bhp.
> > >
> > > LS
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
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