Sprocket's Competition

[clocker]

This car is good fun.

I'm happy for you, Kev.
Hope it all pans out the way you plan.

I probably won't see the Beast for two weeks- Sigfrid's wifes birthday is next weekend and I suspect flogging on the car isn't part of the festivities- so I'm gearing up for the (hopefully) last big project...the dash.

Given the sorry state of the rest of the car, we're assuming that the wiring behind the dash is shoddy as well, so the whole thing is coming out for an inspection.
The heater is not working and we hope to fix that along with cleaning all the ductwork.
Once the dash is back in we can install the new stock gauge panel and a stereo (amazingly, the car is quiet enough that a stereo makes sense now).

This will probably take place at my house so I can work during the week while Sigfrid is earning the big bucks.

During this time I have three sub-projects to work on as well, two of which will be considerably simpler with the dash removed.

-I think the clutch system would benefit from a larger (specifically, a 1" size) master cylinder. With the current 7/8" cylinder, full pedal stroke is required to move the slave far enough to cleanly disengage the clutch.
I've had to remove all freeplay from the system to achieve this, which is not a good thing. A larger master will push more fluid for the same pedal stroke and should allow for a wider range of adjustment.
I'd like to find a Japanese OEM part for this and dispense with the crude adaptor used to mount the Wilwood master we now have.

-I want to install the 929 brake booster/master cylinder/proportioning valve and see if the brake feel doesn't improve.

Both of these hydraulic jobs will be much simpler with the dash removed since I won't have to contort into the footwell to access the mounting bolts.

- Finally, I'd like to fabricate a real cold air intake.
We've already paved the way for this by relocating the radiator and making the trim panel for the rad.

The problem here is the MAF unit...it's big and bulky, making the packaging quite difficult. Hood clearance is quite an issue in this area.

Accordingly, I've been researching tuning options that would remove the MAF.
It's called "speed density" tuning and while not as sophisticated as MAF tuning, the real world performance is reputed to be nearly as good.
This is a totally unfamiliar area for me, I'm hoping our tuner can steer us in the right direction.
If the MAF must stay, I'll have to completely rethink my options.

After this final round of flogging, she should be capable of daily use and we can begin some fun stuff...have I mentioned there's a body kit in Sigfrid's attic, waiting to be installed?

[j2k4]

All worthwhile refinements.

A body kit, you say.

Huh...nice?

[clocker]

A body kit, you say.

Huh...nice?

Hard to tell.

It's already been painted- Mazda Montego blue- so it doesn't match our car.
We've had the nose mounted once already and the lip is very low, so we scraped a lot going into driveways etc.
Since we've gone back to the higher stock springs, this may no longer be an issue.

The sideskirts look OK, haven't even test fitted them yet.

The rear valance cannot be tried until we cut off the tow reciever- yeah, this thing apparently once towed some sort of trailer (??!!)- which is on the list to do...sometime.

Personally, the body kit is way down on my list of important things to do, Sigfrid may feel differently.

Car goes to the tuner on Wednesday and will be done on Friday.
I'm very curious what this will do for us.
I have zero background in American motors, so I can't tell if we're running well now or not.

Sigfrid has started to daily drive the car- to date, I've put about 5 times more miles on the car than he has- and he sent me a list of things he doesn't like.
I'm actually encouraged as most of his complaints have nothing to do with the swap and are little niggling issues that anyone might have with a totally stock used car.
If our biggest problem is now the speed of the power windows, I think we've crossed a Rubicon.

[j2k4]

This is a good thing.

As to the tune, while I would expect any power gains to be fairly significant, they won't be on the order of what one would expect from a turbo- or super-charged set-up, but certainly more than, say, a re-curve of the distributor...maybe 60-80 hp, maybe more - that's a bit of a blind stab on my part, but if you're running reasonably well right now, I'd think you're in the ballpark.

I can't wait to hear what the numbers actually are.

I'll tell you, some of the stuff I'm finding out with these turbo-cars...stock-block (over 100K mile specimens) cars with minor injector/fuel-pump upgrades, piggyback ECU controls, larger turbos and a good dyno-tune (by a tuner familiar with the platform, natch) are routinely yielding 600-700 AWHP - phenomenal numbers.

The record holder is a fellow named Matt Monett, who runs in the eights at over 165 mph-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqRpJeMvM08

-but there are scads of guys running low tens.

Hell, I'm only looking to run mid-to-high-elevens...probably do it for about 7K.

BTW-

Check out the size of the snails on this thing...can't figure out what it is, 'cuz the video is so damn dark, but there's no mistaking that serious shit is going on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ8pU...layer_embedded

[clocker]

BTW-

Check out the size of the snails on this thing...can't figure out what it is, 'cuz the video is so damn dark, but there's no mistaking that serious shit is going on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ8pU...layer_embedded

From the comments below- and the relatively low redline- I think it's something American.
But Jeebus on a pogostick, those turbos could suck a small child right out of a stroller.

As for our tune...
I'm very curious to see what happens.
I've not met the guy in person- and not likely to- so I sent along a few questions for Sigfrid to ask.

His response was not good...something along the lines of "If your friend knows so much about it, why doesn't HE tune it?"

I had prefaced the remarks- and have stated here- that this is way out of my experience zone, so I didn't think I would be stepping on anyone's toes but he apparently brooks no inquiry...he's gonna do what he's gonna do.

I'm sure the car will run better and just smoothing it out (she runs like crap till warmed up now) will be a major improvement, even if the power level stays the same.
She is after all, a street car and driveability trumps absolute speed.

I'll know on Friday...

[Detale]

Well I never saw anything wrong with questions, I mean hell you're only asking right? The guy sounds like a dick. Best line in this whole thread BTW

"Jeebus on a pogostick, those turbos could suck a small child right out of a stroller."
I really laughed out loud

[j2k4]

BTW-

Check out the size of the snails on this thing...can't figure out what it is, 'cuz the video is so damn dark, but there's no mistaking that serious shit is going on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ8pU...layer_embedded

From the comments below- and the relatively low redline- I think it's something American.
But Jeebus on a pogostick, those turbos could suck a small child right out of a stroller.

As for our tune...
I'm very curious to see what happens.
I've not met the guy in person- and not likely to- so I sent along a few questions for Sigfrid to ask.

His response was not good...something along the lines of "If your friend knows so much about it, why doesn't HE tune it?"

I had prefaced the remarks- and have stated here- that this is way out of my experience zone, so I didn't think I would be stepping on anyone's toes but he apparently brooks no inquiry...he's gonna do what he's gonna do.

I'm sure the car will run better and just smoothing it out (she runs like crap till warmed up now) will be a major improvement, even if the power level stays the same.
She is after all, a street car and driveability trumps absolute speed.

I'll know on Friday...

Well, tuners tend to be pricks...they don't want to impart knowledge to anyone, and I suspect your questions were probably a bit too on-point.

Suffice it to say (in my case, anyway), a good guess is still naught but a guess, but hell, he probably gets all sweaty when someone else wins the fucking Lotto, so.

[clocker]

The tuner just dropped the car off at Sigfrid's.
Apparently, she runs quite well, despite the fact that we have a few issues to sort out.

One O2 sensor is dead, we'll just replace them both with new.

The Holley 58mm throttle body is too large for our setup and the ECU cannot set a steady idle, so I'll put our stocker back together and we should be fine.

Our crankcase venting is not right, there is excess pressure- probably the cause of our oil leaks. He's going to send us diagrams of the factory layout and we can adjust accordingly.

The fuel tank is not vented/recovered properly.
Everything is right in the engine bay, so the problem is back at the tank...oh joy.

Sigfrid has gone for a short test ride and says she's a whole new animal, acceleration is markedly improved, she'll pull to 6K RPM, no vibration and idle is (slightly unsteady) at 600 RPM.
We had one bad fuel injector clip, the injector worked but not as it should...the tuner replaced it and all is well.

So, with the exception of the fuel tank venting, we can fix all the problems in about an hour and have a fairly decent runner.
We found a Corvette intake snorkel- it's on it's way- so I can begin to finalize our cold air intake.

The light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to blind me.

[j2k4]

All hail the tuner.

I wonder how much power you picked up?

[clocker]

I wonder as well, too bad dyno time is so expensive.
I'd be happy with 300 at the wheels, Sigfrid probably would not.

I'll be getting an update later after he drives to work.