All Wheel Drive Swapped Supercharged 1971 Trans-Am?

morning guys it is 543 a.m. we are at speed Vegas and my buddy Greg ken block's lead mechanic was nice enough to bring out his personal project for us to shoot this is the first time I've seen this since it was basically a bare shell so cool can't wait to shoot it this is seriously the perfect backdrop we got speed Vegas here there private track perfect pink sunrise gotta take advantage of the line oh my god we should just look at it just look at it you know what I see a car like this first thing I do is I say what y'all look at there [Music] I love everything about the shop [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] he did it this is it this is the one it's like what two years more than two years in the making it's been two years thank you so much for bringing this share everybody what it is yes being tucked away for so long this is my friend Greg and the thing is I never actually get to see him in the US and the reason why we travel all over the world is because Greg is ken block's lead mechanic whenever ken is filming whenever ken is racing or anything to do with Ken and his vehicles you're there yep you're there all the time and then you have such a extensive background in rally racing to stage rally right I've been rallying for ages was it TTE for a little bit and a wee bit of pro-drive what long time I pray Drive back UK and then move through the states at a time at Vermont sports car followed ken and our team manager Derek we went to Ford so and we've been doing that for a long time now how long have you been in the racing industry as a mechanic 30 years 30 years yeah okay and how long have you been with ken block's Hoonigan racing team since 2011 but before that it's a very since 2005 oh okay so you were with Ken when he was still a Subaru even yeah [Music] Wow okay it's so crazy to me because we became friends just over time everywhere I traveled since I follow can a lot you know during his adventures you're there too you know and then we're both car guys so kind we kind of hit it off yeah we've hung out a lot of car parks we've hung out a lot of pits a lot of late nights and a lot of early mornings we kind of started talking and then you told me that you have this Trans Am built but not this one you built another one that's so clean that actually legitimately went viral yeah right that was a surprise it's it's a cool thing that one the cool thing to me is with your other Trans Am build the fire chicken as you appropriately call it you modernize it you know you gave it a modern look you put some your own touches flares a lot of power clean interior clean paint everything and you kind of just made it your own which for some reason I don't know why more people don't do that and maybe that's why people really appreciated this car because it's like a modern interpretation of what a TransAm should look like if it came out new I mean I just like being stuck away McGary yeah she doing what everybody likes right it's sort of fun but this is not that at all it's the complete opposite of that right as you put it earlier you already have a very clean car now you want something that you can beat on you get tired of looking after paint everybody knows and the patina thing ya know but it's it's just nice not to have to care about the outside of it and just focus on the mechanical side of it tell me the story about this car because the last time I saw it it was a bare shell you kind of told me what your concept was in building it but I just I didn't I just couldn't wrap my head around it it's one of those things where why would you do that you know so like tell me about the car where did you find it field and Sandy Valley just outside of Vegas are sitting there for 10 years or so just full of dirt and stuff and I think of River had been through it at one point it was fairly nasty yeah it was cool and I wanted an early fire because I have everything for fire birds or in general so that's that's why this happened and it just happened to be on Craig's List with the patina that's on it you can't really recreate that it just happens over time yeah it's it's that Nevada desert that just cooked it so what year is the actual car see if anyone let's let's do a little quick walk around it's just so crazy well I mean what was your concept with it was kind of like a Mad Max look or like just with this super low splitter there's a couple of things about that you have to make it look nice and it's sort of nice to make that shape look better you know whatever that is I'm not whatever characters and then this one it just it needed it you know it's not that I set out to build that splitter yeah but you know you think well you look at it for a long time you think well it needs this or there and you just you make something you try you like it and it sort of evolved it was never it was never been rendering there was never a drawer and it was just a just an idea yeah yeah you never quite know where it's gonna go let's pop the hood on this thing unbelievable so what what motor is it it's a 5-3 Alice out of a Silverado Tahoe something like that down in the junkyard really yeah yes a junkyard engine okay now it's got crank and rods in it and then it's got a city heads so I mean what's the blow so how much power are you thinking it's putting out well I hope it's 600 ish being on a donor yet hopefully around there somewhere but over there with a bit of like just this is how far back is the motor it's like 18 inches you really had to cut into it one of the engine back because of you know a bit of weight distribution but you need it to fit everything else in the front so it was a big hole when you first mark it out and cut the hole in the middle of the car you sort of have to commit to it that's awesome alright so let's just get it out of the way let's just get it out of the way this is all the drive this is probably the first all the drive Trans Am ever right yeah it's one that's not on a Chevy pickup right Jesse what the heck like it's crazy you could see the well what diff is that it's out of a q45 that Nissen 4-door va Oh what do you whatever that thing is yeah yeah yeah it's just a big difference there's and it seems to be a few in the junkyards around here yeah yeah so you got a q45 front diff rear diff in the front what's the suspension the suspensions all cobbled together from bits and pieces there's Corvette some frames core go up right then handmade everything else the shocks are just bespoke for this and I made the rocker arm suspension in it because you can't fit the shocks where the drive shafts are so it's all a bit of everything yeah so kind of tell me some of the other things that you did here like it's just the tubing everything is just so cool it's a factory subframe that I've cut and modified and added everything to it uh-huh and then it all goes through to the roll cage so to tied into everything yeah there's a ten point roll cage or whatever in there I really like that you matched the patina almost you know like you went out of your way to to kind of make it look old even though it's not all I said I wanted it to look like it like it was sort of like a barn fine like you could have just popped the hood and think you know maybe that was there and I don't sort of it looks like it should have been yeah yeah doesn't look out of place amazing with a blower and everything it just looks great I mean the flowers just go yeah that's cool yeah so what else the header work here is just something else yeah this I mean there's not a lot of room in there so we point the hitters forward and then make some pipes to get it out yeah I'm behind the wheel it seems like a lot of the the parts on this car you kind of just had laying around or you just kind of put together from from a junkyard like that's kind of the cool thing about it it's more of a backyard home garage build more than anything else I didn't want it to be just spoke fancy pieces you know you could clean your stuff out there that's cool yeah so I tried to pick and choose from various things what like than what might work and then it's more or less walking around the junkyard and having a look in thinking and measuring and then hopefully it goes in and it's easy to modify something else than it is to modify some part what is it brake master cylinder from even that's a will word floor-mounted kit floor-mounted thing the rocker arms are all handmade obviously the suspension and push rods and everything what about the radiator radiator is somewhat racing thank you very much yeah and then couple of a couple of fans are fern I think it's the Corvette fans cuz they put quite a lot of ear and the quiet mmm look at the cows quiet no not at all it's very loud get side pipes to obviously cuz yeah just cool yeah no that's really cool that's kind of a interesting way for a farm and function on the outside see keeps all the heat out from underneath the car yeah you know yeah instead of trying to route it through everything and they sound good and they look good yes so tell me about the brakes these are insane brakes zi6 brakes offered you know 2008 Corvette mm-hmm so see the will look discs but standard Corvette calipers front and back there's six parts on the front and four parts on the back wow that's some serious stopping seems to stop all right yeah it's a little squirrely but it stops well tire wise how wide are you are all the way around 295 all the way around absolutely insane yes good and but they needed to stick out a bit yeah yeah that was one of the goals yeah that's super cool but you did that on purpose I really do like it's like it's not not how everyone would do it but it's actually looks cool yeah yeah well you build for yourself so that's the point the patina on here seriously like just don't touch that I mean no it's like couldn't make it no you couldn't okay so let's look at the back here oh this is this is one of my favorite parts here you put a GTR badge and the best part is it's not a real GTR veg you just probably got one off but that is so funny if someone sees that in a parking lot parked on the street they would just laugh they would laugh because like look at this sucker look at this guy for putting a GTR badge on his Pontiac like why would you even do that but what they don't actually realize is there are GTR parts on this thing yeah so what did what is this about what is this your name for it for Formula 400 are sort of the name before me or 400 sort of fits it's what it is yeah combination of both yeah I think that works out because this was originally called the forma 400 it was yeah this is a actually if actually Formula 400 yeah yeah I just seem fitting to put that on there all right so let's just pop the trunk what what is this actually well that's the control unit do the same to do for the center diff so it's basically like that SS system or what yeah so Nissan r32 all-wheel drive system in this thing I think it's out of now 33 it's the one that had the or whatever it was with the active oh okay it's got the second solenoid right so but yes they're all similar right yes so this one just controls the same to do so this is a r32 GTR 5-speed transmission with the r33 attesa center diff control system control yes system and then I have a separate diff control unit you know frame for it and you can set it to what you want and it can be active as a G sensor C and that's the actual original Nissan one no it's not it's an aftermarket oh okay IRA granite this is just crazy this is just too much my head is getting overloaded but like what else is in here what is that thing right there so that's the fuel tank or one of them it's got three fuel tanks just to split moved because the what you know standard five it has a fuel tank right at the back mmm so tried to move the weight forward this one's a little high but that's life and so there's two in the backseat area and then a third one up here oh okay paint it to look like a bomb because where where this is the stock filter okay tank it's under your just a pump there Oh as long as a great boost 20 gallons hanging out the back there move it in yeah but like this is because this is all power steering fluid right that runs amazing I just can't believe you've added all the work oh yeah it took a bit it's salty now yeah I didn't just fall into place but it works but it controls the rear diff also no this one doesn't that the rediff is passive in this it's a viscous rail oh okay all right control the red diff but this one doesn't and this the rear diff is out of a what 300 yeah that's the coolest part of this car that blows my mind my favourite bit actually is the dashboard cuz it come out of a toy v silly kettle Celica oh okay so it's it's the dash out of one of those and there was a whole $38 at the junkyard you're just so proud of you're proud of getting all these things that were not meant for the car also you're saving money you're repurposing junkyard parts but that's the such a cool part of this build it's actually a really nice - it's a coucher which yeah you know it looks great so it looks really good I like it Wow so it's it's all function inside oh yeah I actually really like the raw look no door panels it doesn't learn to it doesn't ask for it and the thing is the last time I saw this car you just finished the license plate thing you know that was a while ago and then you just started cutting out the transmission tunnel but and I think you might have had a motor sitting on some blocks but like to see it this far a running driving working car is just so cool the ton of Zohan might lose it join almost all in the car yeah yeah yeah I remember you got a CB radio in there so yell at people because it's smoking the Bandit we have a van that has a CB radio in it so we can talk to the van yeah that's awesome you have been to Jer and it actually shout out to these guys vintage Aaron hate because it's just hot here so you need a seat otherwise the cars undriveable in the summer this is usable yeah this is usable car so the who nakorn did inspire you that right officer I mean I'm lucky enough to drive that around a couple of car parks every now and then it's a cool thing and I really like the idea of the big old v8 and four-wheel drive and you know coming from that rally background the rally cars are super cool but you can't beat the noise of a v8 so I like that and then to have one for yourself it just had to happen that's so cool you say you built your own it's not a Huna corn it's a formula 400 are ya the one that's so cool so and that's the thing is you actually had a chance to drive the Hoonah corn you had a chance to shake it down because you were doing so much work to it right yeah to get it ready for the climb Khanna we spent a lot of time trying to get the oiling system right luckily enough I got to go and make sure that it was okay yeah yeah no good for you yeah very very uh man must be hard work poor guys so we needed one for myself yeah yeah no that's great I'm glad you built one for yourself and it's completely different but it's the same concept in a way yeah oh I like that little badge in there in the center okay so the badge is cool and it's all burnt up ha ha it's actually a mud flap it's the bottom of the fire burden mud flap that it was on the back of it for years and years and it's all baked by the Sun and it just it looks cool so he on the dashboard that's cool yeah I really like what you did with the field yeah I sort of fun to make yeah and paint often but but it's it's kind of crazy because instead of just doing like a fuel cell whatever you just decided to make these yourself yeah I mean it's the space ahead and I like making things yeah yeah I see that yeah yeah you don't get enough I'm working on Ken's cars you got to build your own project one-trick pony awesome alright let's put it on the lift and check it out [Music] our 32 transmission on a 32 centered if q45 rear diff in the front 300zx rear diff kovat uprights and arms and subframe front and back so many man-hours what's the steering rack in this thing but it just moved up in different brackets what a trip really what something else I mean like all these brackets so much yeah I remember seeing this transmission sitting on your floor like this whole piece and I thought to myself this is gonna be some challenge to put it in there because this is all new metal - [Laughter] it's crazy because this is so drastic like the way it looks pretty normal looking back this way but then when you see this driveshaft here is that this is when it gets crazy like it's so drastic this turn and then it goes here something else it looks so cool under here it's cold underneath yeah it's lying right on the ground and looking up at it yeah so let's start from the rear here what subframe is this it's covet rear subframe out of a 2008 model again let's go just some some things that are nice about it and then the differs from a 300 ZX Wow I mean the thing is you had to do so much to get it to fit right there was yeah there's a lot of chopping and cutting and making of a couple of extra subframes and but it fits in there I mean like and then you you try to match it - same thing yeah look like it possibly might have being that way and the suspension pickup points and everything very close to inherit isn't a cool thing just about fits under there quite nicely it's surprising actually and what coilovers did you go with you curate ones sound on the front different spit but saying I was trying to use the the Corvette leaf spring but it's just not quite strong enough it's just crazy how much I could see that you fabricated to get everything to fit everything everything you see under here is being made right tono every old amount yeah I think and then the front subframe all Corvette from some frames coffee again 2008 again I think all that year and then again fits in but it mates up to the factory 71 subframe as well kept that because it was it was an easy piece to keep an easy piece to modify and the Corvette subframe once you cut the whole load out of the standard form so frame fits in quite well yeah it's amazing to me to see I mean like you had to modify this just to fought for this to clear just front drive shaft I didn't want to offset the diff like you normally do in a four-wheel drive car I wanted to keep it Center and this was the way to do it and it means that all four drive shafts are the same right right I've got quite a lot of travel so you've you know even got that really short front shot yeah yeah yeah that's what you want to avoid because all of these shafts are the same went over four corners oh okay what are they out of I just got some their customers ones wow it looks so finished it's crazy I mean you even went out of your way to have urethane mounts on everything yeah so it's a little more comfortable a little bit yeah you don't want it to be so and if you're gonna sort of use it as a road car or a hot rod you know yeah um you want it to be nice ish the suspension really is such a highlight for me yeah on this I mean it actually feels all right - yeah yeah it it feels like a just a performance car high-performance car with nice coilovers on it yeah a few of the way it feels actually austere 17 around the track that's the thing is you with all your experience it's like you thought of everything I tried you know like something as simple as the shield I'm sure not everything is functional yeah yes oh they need everything that's under here surprisingly there's not a lot of room but it all fits in reasonably well I cannot believe how much bondo is here what came there it's crazy because I bet this whole piece fell off by itself just like at one time did you still have it yes even deeper there well thank you so much for showing it to me let's uh thanks for coming in and saying it yeah that's just so cool honey let's get loud stone the hard way there's a big world wait let's get lost on the highway and feel like we're going somewhere

Channel: Hoonigan AutoFocus

Views: 651,907

Rating: 4.9161367 out of 5

Keywords: Larry Chen, Larry Chen photography, car photography, automotive photography, larry chen photo, speed hunters, speedhunters Larry Chen, canon 1dx, trans-am, AWD Trans-Am, Ken Block Mechanic, Pontiac Trans-Am, GTR Trans Am, all wheel drive trans am, supercharged trans am, larry chen trans am, 71 Trans Am

Id: XWKSUlectK4

Length: 24min 38sec (1478 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 02 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/DarkMatterM4]

It must be awesome having unlimited funds and resources to build awesome cars like this.

[u/BayshoreCrew]

So much respect. I agree with him so much. It’s so tiring keeping all my cars clean and perfect.

It leaves me wanting a car I can just drive, beat, and not care about so much.

[u/peanutbuttahcups]

R32 drivetrain

LS-powered

https://i.imgur.com/dhMeAzK.gif

[u/SweetWaterSurprise]

Love everything about it. Great build

[u/amcitesting]

Awesome project! Having been involved with rallying for a while, this confirms that rally mechanics get it! 

[u/Chatterboxj]

Thanks for sharing. Well worth the watch. I love seeing what talented people like this build for themselves. Amazing!

[u/Godzilla_ina_tux]

Wow that's crazy! Lol I don't know how I feel about it though lol 😂

[u/GoToSleepRightNow]

I don't like the look of the engine that far back but I'm sure it's good for hooniging.

[u/ThebusterevoX]

now that's sick!