The Lamborghini Pages
"A clear and ancient harmony
Pierces my soul through all its din,
As through its utmost melody,—
Farther behind than they—farther within.
More swift its bolt than lightning is,
Its voice than thunder is more loud,
It doth expand my privacies
To all, and leave me single in the crowd."
--Henry David Thoreau,
Inspiration
Yet the latest symptom
of my lack of restraint is crouching in my garage. The
Lamborghini Countach has been my dream car, ever since the days of the
Farrah gracing my bedroom wall.
This is more than a car.
I'm
not even sure it qualifies as a car. It is something that a bunch of
Italian
car guys dream up after too many espressos. Like it or hate it, the
Countach
is hard to ignore. It is an exercise of what is possible, an assualt on
all things practical. It is bold, primitive and exhilerating all at
once. To demonstrate, simply press the accelerator....the RPM needle
whizzes over to
the red line....children cry.....dogs bark....the acrid smell of
burning rubber
perfumes the air...this is no "run of the mill" Countach. We're
talking
Motec fuel injection and ignition control, custom plasma coated
stainless headers, stainless Tubi exaust, kevlar clutch, heavy duty
alternator, 10:1 JE pistons, custom cams....suffice it to say this car
has recieved lots of $$$ and love. It drives effortlessly (for a
lamborghini) and will pull in
any gear from 1000 rpm to redline while you swallow the seat cusion .
Loads
of fun out on the road, which is where it belongs. My lamb, vin
#HLA12101...enjoy!
Notice how open the engine
compartment
is when lacking distributors, air pump & vaccum controls, crap
bosch
FI etc...Custom breathing system for negative crankcase pressure. The
only fluid this motor consumes is high octane
gasoline.
Conical K&N Filters.
Spank me. Custom Ground Cams and
blueprinted motor.
Electronics bay
Motec M48pro wideband lamba and data logging. State of the art.
Every aspect of motor operation is controlled by the ECU. No kid stuff
here.
Oil preluber installation.
The oil filter has been relocated to a ventilated location.
The inverted position causes it to drain resulting in a few seconds
of delay before pressure builds during cold starts. The preluber was
the perfect solution, and oil changes are a snap.
Custom plasma coated SS headers. Tubi Exaust.
What I've learned about Lamborghini's and how to buy one. TBD....
My favorite Links
Dyno Day
Read
about the tuning runs performed on the dynojet
Dyno Day II
Second dyno session. pictures and video.
Modification History
restoration completed
at FAI in Costa Mesa, CA June 2002 at over $80k.
Professional intallation of MoTeC M48pro engine management system, with
wide
band lambda and data logging. Complete new interior with dynomat
thermal
and sound insulation, in-dash K40 front/rear radar detector. New
exterior
paint - fly yellow. Kevlar clutch, hoses, slave cylinder. New syncros.
Adjustable
gas shocks on front suspension, new heim joints and 4-wheel alignment
performed.
Blueprinted motor - line honed, bearings, 10:1 J&E coated pistons,
camshafts
indexed and ground by Webcam (riverside CA), valves & bronze
guides,
engine mounts. CV boots. Rebuilt radiators, cooling fans under control
of
MoteC, all new silicon coolant hoses. Rebuilt starter and high output
alternator.
Custom plasma coated stainless headers and Cat bypass pipes with
Tubi
stainless exhaust (unbelievable sound!). This motor should be good for
about
500 HP. It easily passes 2003 emissions standards (with cat) and gets
16mpg
when cruising. Stay tuned for dyno results.
Custom engine breather and air intake system. Conical
K&N air filters replace stock absurdities. PVC valve draws engine
vapors from the motor, throught the catch can into the intake plenums.
A check
valve acts as a dump to atmosphere when engine crankcase pressure goes
positive.
Engine oil preluber and Greddy oil
catch can. Dash operated drainback valve from oil catch can to sump.
HVAC helper fan (190
CFM) installed to increase airflow from the vents. Fan courtesy of Eric, now honorary lamborgini brethren.
MoTeC PLM for realtime lambda viewed on the
dash. Also replaces early style bosch LSM-11 O2 sensor (expensive!).
More accuracy and much faster warmup. The PLM analog out drives the ECU
lambda +/- inputs.
In The Works
stay tuned ???
Maintenance History
BMW
series 7 are similar to countach lug nuts. Not quite
identical. (unverified)
BMW
3/5-Series exaust joints are correct, and much higher quality.
The
engine and trunk compartment release latch (in the door ledge) are same
as Fiat X 1/9. The release cables are standard bicycle cables.
gas cap
is reported to be Fiat X1/9. Also Ferrari uses the same cap. Part
#113401. Check the picture of the part at
www.sodacoms.com
alternator
toothed belt is gates 210L100. A/C belt is dayco 17305
clutch
modifications - Historic Race Engineering in Costa Mesa, CA
949-548-1323.
clutch
slave cylinder is exactly the same as alfa sud 1980's about $40.
The
brake pad for the Countach is a Girling part number D292 std pad, or
D292GPM(semi-metallic), orD292GPX (premium-metallic).
Pepboys part number PD163 around $20.00 in metallic. Fits BMW
5(1977-1981)6(1976-1982) and 7 series 1978-1986) cars. Fits 528i, 530i
front '80-'81, 530i '77-'79, 730 '78-'81.
firing
order: 1,7,5,11,3,9,6,12,2,8,4,10 where:
1 2 3 4
5 6 Front of
12 11 10 9 8 7 vehicle
Oil
filter purolator L30255, napa 1231, Bosch 72175.
Strut
measurements: Doors 510mm, Engine cover 500mm, Front trunk 320mm.
Spark
Plugs Champion number A59G(gold pladium), this from the Lambo manual.
The Champion book says RA6HC, but you can get a hotter RA8HC or colder
RA4HC and RA2HC. In Autolite you can use the 4164 (hot), 4163 and 4162
(colder) plugs. Or available from NGK 0.025"-0.035" DPR9EVX-9
(platinum) or DPR9EIX-9 (iridium)
81 - 89
Countach, front wheel bearings are SKF # NU2207ECP (OUTER) and
#62207-2RS1 (INNER)
PICTURES
Tire + HP = duh
ok, the tire was dry rotted and I should have changed before this
happened. Still is a cool pic
A stunning LP400 "periscope". This is an early model.
LP400s
that's all;) vroom vroom
