Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

I was talking with a good friend of mine and he suggested the 7163 twinscroll solution instead of the 6758 as the 7163's upgraded wheel design mitigates the spool delay significantly from the larger size and a twinscroll solution will make it even more responsive (re: faster than the 6758?). I have decided I'm OK with transmissions blowing up, it's just a part of the fun. I'll just keep spares on hand and bring tools to the track to pull my transmission if I have to until I get a 6spd.

I'm also very likely getting those high lift cams, probably from Maruha (maybe kelford?), though they do have a 256/264 duration camshaft, 264/264 should work well since I'll have less backpressure with a TS housing and the larger A/R hence reduced chance of reversion no?

Der_Idiot

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It's official! I've ordered the cams from Kelford and they'll get to figuring out the grind. I'll need to pull the head as I can't find anyone willing to shim the thing in the car, I'd do it myself but I want more precision and less guesswork in this build. I went for 264/264 and 9.1mm lift (.358268") - Going to fudge the overlap a bit and try the cam at their suggested timing and go from there. I've got a before dyno at my current setup, I'll be doing an after dyno once I get the cam on and timing+fueling set. I'll do a third with the IM and TB on as well so folks have a good idea of the transitions since we have a weird lack of proper CONTROL testing done on our comparisons (especially from vendors). My only changes will be cams, IM and TB. I'm going to shoot for an 8k redline and see how the HP/TQ move with the changes. The testing location will be the same, with same Dyno setup. I'll be quite sad if we can't find power and only end up losing it... :P

I've ordered the gaskets for the head->block and I/E gaskets as well. I'm using the 99 HG as suggested by others since I have the re-route. I also ordered Frog Arms from FM and adjustable cam gears as well. The only bits left are a squaretop that I'm waiting to get to the states and a Skunk2 TB. I'll be port matching the intake to the TB and taper off to smooth the transition like another user did.

I'm also still on the fence about 6758 vs 7163ts - I'm hoping there's more dynos out there of comparable engines so I have something to go off of other than conservative boost levels or improper testing. These changes wont happen until the car's parked for winter and I have some cash to play with but it never hurts to keep them in mind, right? Now if ONLY my Rivals could put the power to the pavement!

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

Progress update!

I received a bunch of parts, still have some to go though. I tried putting on the Singular Motorsports 3" brake ducts. The balljoint area impacts the rotor as well as two other locations that will require some massaging. Broke two of the heatshield bolts off too, even with penetrant. I'll be drilling and tapping the holes later, fun. I can see that the cooling should work great, though.

Bonus: My friend is swapping his rollerskate into an exxocet. I scored his chassis and claimed the radiator support. Hoping I can make enough off the parts to make it a freebie.

Now the wait for space on the frame rack so we can pull the front end out. Looks like the rails crumpled up a bit, but according to dad "Oh hell that's not bad at all, it's all cosmetic. That'll walk right out." - Pretty excited!

Ordered or have on hand:
-Viton CAS seal because OIL LEAKS SUCK (seriously Im on my 4th seal and it's weeping AGAIN)
-Replacement soft top
-New EBC from FM to replace the spotty Ingersol Rand unit
-FM Solid sway bar mounts
-Full setrab 25-row oil cooler kit
-Maruha 264/264 10mm lift cams (Kelford couldn't meet my window) - ETA 10-12 days (no 'shipped' confirm from Saiji yet)
-Maruha carbon timing cover (gotta cut my valve cover now...)
-Sliding cam gears because overlap
-Hard Dog single diagonal roll bar (used, no damage) and HD harness bar
-DIYRoadster door bars
-Boss Frog frog arms
-Trackspeed brake ducts
-Squaretop manifold (will get Skunk2 TB for over-winter project)

Luckily I have a great hookup on body work so this all came out of the insurance payout for the car. The rest will either go to paint when we fix the body or an EFR 6758 setup (fab9?) - I want to have my car up and running by the end of the month... better get to work!

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

Massaged the brake ducts some more and they fit rather well, I put the driver's side on after breaking two of the bolts over there too (I'll be a master at drill/tapping after this!) - Did an inventory to make sure I have all the parts to complete several parts install as well as gaskets I wasn't sure if I had. Forgot to look for the door bars, though.

And I finally got a tracking number from Saiji, better start pulling the head..

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

The head, squaretop and cams are at the machine shop for prep and installing. Lost an ARP grade8 washer at some point, may have been stuck to the bossing when I pulled the head off. I rolled the head over with the valve cover on to wrap it in cardboard. It's either somewhere in the valvetrain or got lost in the sea of crap in the garage. I advised the machinist and he's going to look for it while working. Will a factory washer fit over the studs if I cannot locate it?

Also took the radiator to a welder to have the inlet turned to the left and get it out of the way of the piping. I orginally was thinking a 45* to the left, but refreshing my memory on the video in post #21 you can see that would just point it right at the intake tube. I called him and had him make it a pair of 45* angles to make a full 90* swing to the left. Should have something to show tomorrow night.

Lastly I shipped my DW1000 injectors off to be cleaned today. It's been a few years so I figure it's about time.

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

Hello thread followers. Been busy working on the chassis and getting things squared away. Took a bunch of pictures and figured I'd add a few here.

I've added heat sheilding to the transmission tunnel as well as the firewall and along the downpipe area to cut down on radiant heat bleeding into the footwell. I used the DEI heat shielding with fiberglass backing and scrubbed the tunnel down. Things are looking pretty well in there, I got everything up to the top of the transmission. When I blow the next 5speed and pull it I'll finish the tunnel work and probably make a shield for the transmisison to protect it from exhaust heat as well.

Next up I've had an aluminum welder cut off the inlet from the radiator and turned it left and angled it up enough to clear the fan attachment so I can still use it. The height is low enough to keep it from creating an air pocket. In the picture you can see the radiator has a slight twist to it, we've since set it on some 2x4's and carefully torqued it until it sat flush. Looks like the oil cooler will fit between the radiator and the sway bar, too. Thanks for the idea for placement Aidanaj.

Had to cut the FM frame rails to make room for the frame rack hangars so we could pull out the twist. Applied some heat and pounded out what we could but ended up cutting windows to finish it up. It's ugly, but it'll work.

-Right rail was 55mm down and 8mm to the right
-Left rail was 4mm down and 9mm to the right
-Both are within 1-2mm variance from factory

Added in 949 racing adjustable endlinks (front and rear), the FM sway bar mounts and the Frog Arms (painted red). The sway mounts didn't sit flush with the bottom of the frame (slightly cockeyed) but were as far up as they could be topping out on the attachment bolts. While adding things I noticed I lost a shock adjuster. Since I'm under warranty FM has shipped me a replacement but I'll hold off on installing it for now since I'm sitting pretty with my current settings.

Lastly, in preparation for receiving my head back from the shop I have crafted a spacer from some Ace Hardware bits. The crank bolt is a 14mm x 1.5 fine pitch bolt, but is far too short to clear the water pump for the crank degree wheel. I added in 2x 1" steel sleeves and two washers. The first washer keeps the sleeves sitting flush on the crank. The back sleeve keeps the degree wheel flush on the sleeves. The bolt is 90mm long, providing just enough length to get things spaced out properly. The wheel is flat and stable, now I just need the head so I can dial things in. Total cost: $12.09

To install before the head arrives:
-Roll bar
-Door bars
-Top
-Dash

Der_Idiot

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Look what just came in the mail! I forgot the outlets on these are all vband (even the t25) - this should make disconnecting the exhaust massively easier.

Der_Idiot

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Got the top and package shelf panel pulled, mock fit the roll bar to see how things fit. Looks good so far, though I have to figure out what I'll do with the ECU...

In other news, the machinist found my missing ARP head stud washer and he put in an order for shims to finish installing the cams. So far it looks like I'm on track for finishing project work to coincide with getting the head back to put the engine in. Hopefully if all goes well I will have things finished before the end of the month.

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

Over the weekend I installed my roll bar, door bars and started the swap of my top. Cutting the trim panels was a lot of work, but they came out looking acceptable. Not looking forward to pulling the top off the frame again, but hopefully I can get this finished and installed before too long. It's like nature's fighting me with this 70%+ humidity out there..

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

Built a mount for the oil cooler last night, some aluminum angle material and stainless hardware from Ace to get things rolling.

1.5x1.5" 1/8" thick angle aluminum
4x 5/16" Bolts
4x 5/16" Nylock nuts
8x 5/16" Washers
12x 5/16" Rubber washers

I assembled the mount like so, using rubber washers to help isolate most of the virations:

Bolt | Washer | Rubber washer | Cooler bracket | Rubber washer | Angle aluminum | Rubber washer | Washer | Nylock nut

Seems to be pretty solid, there's about 3/8" in between the sway bar and the oil cooler in the picture though it may look like less. I intend to shave 1/8" or so off the fan studs as needed to clearance the hose as it appears to be a hole waiting to happen. Thoughts?

Next up: Pull the old off and install the replacement top

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

Got the interior all buttoned up last night and trimmed the floor mats to clear the door bars. Installed the MOMO bucket seat, just BARELY cleared enough to get the bracket bolts attached. Sat in the seat and found the door bar works very well as a left leg rest and does not interfere with the dead peddle at all.

Also shaved 3/32 off the upper radiator stud to clear the pipe from the cooler install, also shaved some off the bracket where it was contacting the tube. Had to shave 1/8" off the bolt as it was just barely too long for the stud+bracket and it bottomed out in the stud. Still touches the coolant tube but not nearly as bad as before.

Took a few pictures of the passenger footwell, trying to figure out what we're going to do for the footwell sub we've been planning so roadtrips can have something to listen to. It'll probably be removable if we can make it happen. The box will be made out of Fiberglass and we're thinking of squeezing a JL 10TW3 down there as it only requires 3.5" mounting depth and .5³ft for a box. Looks like I have an easy 12" wide by 10" high, I'm going to remove the air conditioning box and put an AC removal duct in place. Should free up a few pounds and some verticle room for the box.

Now it's just the fenders/hood/bumper and engine to go! Just waiting on the machinist to gauge for shims...

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

I'm pretty patient as I have had side-projects to work on up until now, however I am fast running out of both projects and summer days. It's taking a pretty long time for what seems like a relatively simple task. I'd do it myself but there was some machining that needed to be done and I want the head dipped. Hoping this is the last time I need a machine shop to do work on this thing... The wait is always agony! Where'd I put my beer...

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

Lash caps ordered, they didn't have many of the sizes we needed so I ordered sizes up and will shave down the stems to suit, hopefully it wont be too much of a headache. Found a pair of valve stems were ground too short and may need to be swapped out so I have ordered an intake and exhaust valves as well. They should arrive by Wednesday, hopefully things line up and I don't need to order any more shims.

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

Pulled the A/C evaporator out and plugged the ports in the firewall as well as the drain in the transmission tunnel. It went remarkably painless, I was surprised. Just had to pull the glove box and the metal bracket the hinges attach to, then two bolts on the condenser box, a pair of wires and unlatch the clamps then pull. That thing has to be 6-7 pounds easily, and in a high spot too. Should open up the dash area and allow me to squeeze the sub further back in the footwell saving legroom. I've picked up the sub, should be in town next week. Excited to build the box and check out how it comes together while I wait for my head to be finished. For comparison's sake I added two images from google that show how the evap sits when installed.

By the way, raising the top with a bucket seat (or seats) and roll bar is a tight squeeze, no room between the headrest and bar at all. The price of safety I suppose.

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

Dropped off shims, seals and a set of intake/exhaust valves in case the shortest end up needing shims bigger than can be bought. He gave me an estimate of next week. Time to button up the front end and get it all ready...

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

Hey look what came in the mail! Some MSM sport brakes! Debating on if I want to install them this season or wait. The almost $300 in XP8 pads is a deterrent, that's for sure.

olderguy

iTrader: (19)

Put them in, it isn't a "Forever Project" until you go over 3 years

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

That's probably going to happen actually, I want to get the car moving first so that I can break in the cam but once the engine is ready and any kinks are worked out I'll swap the brakes out and go with a full set of carbotech pads. Trying to decide if I want the same pads front/rear with the sport setup, I've been using softer pads in the rear to date however the change in bias and rotor size has me wondering. Some research points to just using XP8 front/rear so that's what I'll likely do.

In other news, the subwoofer I ordered came in. I weighed it up and it came to 10lbs on the scale. Pulling the A/C evaporator freed up ~7lbs so I'm gaining a net 3lbs, the box will have to be calculated in but the added weight sits lower than the evap box so I think it's pretty reasonable compromise. I attached a picture showing roughly how it will sit in the footwell, I have a grill that will sit over the woofer so feet can be rested against it. The loss of leg room is relatively negligible so far and both I and the GF were OK with it. The woofer looks huge down there, but when the top goes down the extra surface area will be appreciated considering all the bass goes out the roof.

I might need a bigger alternator.

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

Worked on the car this weekend, mounted the bumper and fenders and found the fenders weren't quite lining up, go figure with all the smashed stuff we ficks'd. I also mounted the front tow hook as can be seen in the picture. Still have to torque down the fender/bumper PITA bolt. Have to mount the hood as well, might get to that tonight so that I can re-mount the latch and intercooler and reattach the boxing material. Note, fenders only have a primer/basecoat and jams. The whole car will get a respray at some point but for now the goal is driveable. I'll have Montego Blue headlight covers, trunk and bumper cover for now.

I also ordered a set of Cibie H4 housings and 90/130 bulbs. I'm excited because I've only ever used the OEM sealed beam bulbs in both of my cars. During rain I might as well not even have had headlights except for the other drivers so this will be an extremely welcome upgrade.

Sounds like I might get the head back this week. Only caveat is I can't seem to find the hardware to attach the maruha cam cover which is an unexpected expense. We believe it's at the machine shop with the head, worst case I'll run naked until I can get replacement hardware.

Der_Idiot

iTrader: (2)

Spoke to the machinist and he apologized as they had a regular client come in with some work they needed done. Sounds like early/mid next week now.

In the interim, I have finished installing the sheet metal and put the hood on, installed the new Cibie housings and those 90/130 bulbs. I also installed the Hard Dog leather bar/padding cover. Looks great and the install was fairly seamless. Car looks pretty good so far!

Edit: Oh and the valve cover came back, looks pretty spiffy! I kinda want to paint it now. But what color? Red to match the car? Black? A nice clean glossy grey?