History
Lyyli's story with us begins around 2008. A few years earlier I had bought a new block for the Trans Am, a Dart Iron Eagle SBC. As the engine came together the project ran away with me, and I did not want to ruin the Trans Am given its fine original condition - it would have meant building a roll cage and the like.
So I started looking for a suitable race-car shell to drop the new engine into. Lyyli turned up near Harjavalta. The running gear was sold off and the existing engine was fitted in. For a transmission we got an API-built Powerglide with a lock-up converter. The rear end had already been reinforced with a Mopar 8¾", later swapped for a stronger Ford 9". The engine's breathing was improved with a Vortech blower, and engine management was a Haltech Platinum.
The blower was later changed to a ProCharger F3. To drive it we first built our own transmission, since we no longer wanted to snap belts. That gearbox - together with the then-primitive tools and conditions of our own garage - meant it never lasted the way we hoped. So we ended up buying a CDS transmission built by Chris Alton.
With this setup Lyyli ran under the chassis limit. The best time was, as I recall, around 8.3 with a trap speed of 280-something.
This is where the Supernova story begins. I did not want to start tearing Lyyli apart to build a faster cage inside it. I bought a rolling Pontiac racer from Hameenkyro and Tero Laukkanen's old twin-turbo engine, which had run in his pro mod car. We weighed up how to proceed. I ended up selling the Pontiac, because I had somehow convinced myself that I am a street guy. At some point Tomi had bought a wagon Nova as an organ donor, and its body had been left spare. That is where the Supernova story starts.
Lyyli's life goes on after its retirement. Right now it is in running order, the same engine as ever, but now twin-turbocharged. The ProCharger has moved over to the Supernova.