It's working now.

I talked with Griff and he said it might be the starter slightly touching the flywheel. I did some searching and it seems like this is a common problem with the LS and aftermarket flywheels, nothing related to the LFX. Many of the comments I read were people saying the problem went away with time. So I guess I'll see what happens.

Edit: Just spoke with Spec Clutches who made the flywheel and they said there isn't really anything to do and it may go away over time.

Is there a way to confirm it is the starter and flywheel just to be sure? I'm a bit hesitant to try and remove the starter or loosen it while the engine is running and that's really the only way I can think to confirm it.

have you tried a stethoscope?

No, but I like that idea. Wow, I had no idea they made them for mechanics. Too cool!

Remove starter, dial gauge, check flywheel/starter ring runout cranking the engine over by hand?

Yeah, super useful for finding weird noises and such

Assuming the noise stays constant with RPM speed? or is it double the RPM speed? At least that would let you know if its top or bottom end. Mechanics stethoscope is also always a great tool to add to the toolbox for things like this (as already mentioned).

...

Well, I can confirm that the car will run with the alternator connector plugged into the high pressure fuel pump LOL

My bad on this one and fixing it now. I clipped the wrong plug thinking it was the alternator and then plugged the alternator connector into the HPFP. That probably explains the chirping noise coming from the HPFP as well.

For reference, alternator plug is gray and purple wires and HPFP is purple and yellow, but the connectors are interchangeable.

Problem fixed. It was the connector. The baffles I welded into the exhaust made a huge difference. Sounds great now and no more raspiness at higher rpm's. I'm pretty sure I can drive it without earplugs now too! Woohoo! Engine is running great with no more misfires and holy shit it revs fast with the spec aluminum flywheel that is way lighter. So stoked to drive this thing, but it won't happen until this weekend.

Next up is a dyno baseline and then the mace cams are going in with a post install dyno tune. Griff is coming out to help with the install and do the cam tune.

First drive on the new motor today and everything was perfect. Such a relief. No misfires, no accelerator pedal cutting out, just perfection.

The new spec clutch and flywheel took some getting used to and I have also upgraded the clutch master to a 1" cylinder. I realized quickly I needed to remove as much of the slack as possible in the clutch pedal since engagement/disengagement happens now in about 1" of travel. After adjusting the pedal it now feels great.

I need to put some miles on it and run through a tank of gas to make sure everything is broken in. After that, dyno and cam time.

Oh, and the Tillet carbon seats just shipped.

Congrats Luke! I know how much that accelerator pedal cutting out was causing you pain! Awesome that everything is working well!

Thanks Brother! I believe it was from the high pressure fuel sensor at the back of the motor. Learned about this from Andrew Keisler. He recommends replacing it no matter how few miles are on the donor motor and I believe it was my issue as well even though the motor only had 12k miles. One of the symptoms is sending the car into limp mode when it randomly acts up and it is very hard to diagnose as it doesn't throw a code.

Very excited to see this thing around Austin, congrats on getting things sorted.

Thanks!

Starting fab work on the base plates this weekend. I'm thinking I'll use 1/4" 6061 for the base plates, should be plenty overkill.

I'll get comparison weights of the seats and mounts in the car now versus the Tilletts. They are ridiculously light.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...bc5709f592.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7822f0f1a6.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d39b9b50ab.jpg

Got the seats on the scale...

Corbeau Forza Sport Seats with Brackets and Sliders... 37.4 pounds each (74.8 pounds for the pair)
Tillet B6 Screamer XL Seats with Brackets and bottom cushion... 17.4 pounds each (34.8 pounds for the pair)

Damn, one of the corbeau seats weighs more than a pair of the tillet seats. Saving 40 pounds with just a seat swap is mind boggling.

Got the brackets back. Everything lines up good and I'm going to measure for the proper belt length tonight.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9458c9eccd.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3f42b60c1b.jpg

Just weighed the OEM alternator and bracket versus the racing alternator and billet brackets.

OEM = 15.8 pounds
Racing = 10.8 pounds

Woohoo! Another 5 pounds off the car with this swap.

Seats are in after building the mounts from scratch. Made them out of steel, so it negated some of the weight savings, but for something my life heavily relies upon (like seat mounts) I like steel.

Found a pinhole coolant leak in the upper aluminum pipe. Need to drain the system, throw some beads down and then it should be good. That's it for now and she is ready for the road after the pinhole fix.

Looking at some dyno time next friday to finally get an idea of this motor versus the last and see if there is anything worth noting in the data.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d16fa3887e.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d4afdbea20.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4da4891cb3.jpg