After two years of development on many other aspects of our shop 2013 FR-S – testing of coilover kits, big brake kit, giant wheels, flares, camber plates, battery relocation, and more – the V8 swap finally began in December 2018.
The latest 3-part Forum Build Thread update covers the last few months of work on this car, including some random things like a wheel bearing replacement, flare fab work clean-up, carbon front nose options, and other things.
But the V8 swap is what matters most! The FA20 2.0L came out, then we stitch welded a stock crossmember, modified the tunnel to accept the giant Tremec T56 Magnum XL, and got the mock-up LS and T56 installed.
We took a “starting weight” of the 86 chassis, which already has a BBK, coilovers, 18×11″ wheels, 315mm tires, giant Optima battery, and more. Then we weigh damn near everything we removed, and do some weight analysis. Lots to see in this 3-part update!