When I bought this car the VICS was not working in this car. So I was looking for a solution. This is what I came up with. First, I gutted the top half of the manifold. I had pics, but due to a wrong setting on the camera, I lost them ). Other threads show the same gut thing I did. To get the linkage working, I added a return spring to the VICS. Next I drilled a small hole in the VICS pivot to attache the shifter cable from a road bike. (A shifter cable works better than a brake cable cause it's more flexible) The main piece to make this work is the 90 degree cable adapter. This can also be bought at a bike shop. Then it was just a matter of fabbing a holder for the other end of the cable. Trial and error will determine how far to extend the cable from the throttle body. I set the VICS to open at about 40% throttle opening. For me, most normal driving doesn't require much throttle opening. Before I made this mod the VICS was always in the open position. Because the top half has been opened up and the VICS are now under my control, there was a noticeable increase in low to midrange throttle response. It seams like there was only a small increase at WOT. Maybe I just got used to it, I've got about 1200 miles on it now. A trip to ST. Louis got me about 30 mpg at 75 with the AC on. Overall, I'm happy with the project and recommend others try it.
Cheers,
-JB

 

So basically what you did is instead of VICS being controlled by a soldenoid that opens it at a certain RPM, you have it setup to open at a certain throttle position?

 

Dude, that's ******* cool.

 

Yeah, It's works great. The long runners at part load works as designed, maybe better with the top gut. Then you just roll into full power. Transitions perfectly.

 

Seems like a good idea to me. Its like the difference between a double pumper and a standard 4 barrel. One uses mechanical linkage and one uses a vacuum solenoid.

 

Do you know what the VICS characteristics are with the top half of the IM gutted?

IOW has anyone done a dyno sweep with the VICS closed, vs. open, with a gutted IM?

 

If only I could make a linkage for my boost controller. That way I could have more boost with more throttle and have a sick rotrex like dyno chart.

 

It's called TPS vs. RPM controlled boost target. It's what I do in my AEM.

 

I was not being serious. I have the same thing in my hydra except I failed at tuning my EBC.

Side question:

Does AEM have gear awareness? If so can you trim timing/fuel by gear?

 

[QUOTE=JasonC SBB;759811]Do you know what the VICS characteristics are with the top half of the IM gutted?

The characteristics described above are with the top half gutted. Before, it was stock, with the VICS not working, but in the open position. Because that was the way it was when I bought the car, it seemed fine to me. When I realized it wasn't working, this solution made sense to me. Since I have an unmolested top half and throttle body, It would be interesting to know the hp difference. I wonder what a dyno place would charge to let you take the car down, swap everything and resetup for another run? If you worked fast it could probably be done while it sits on the dyno.
Cheers,
-JB

 

This is an amazing Idea I may have to copy

 

I don't see an inherent advantage to throttle controlled VICS. VICS optimum switchover is RPM based, not throttle. Besides if you're at part throttle, why do you care what the VE of the motor is?

 

Yes the AEM can do gear-based boost targeting. I don't remember if it can do fuel or spark trim based on gear. It might.

 

+1. Nice implementation, but no power benefit like you'd get with an RPM switch.

 

You're actually loosing power at lower rpms at wot.

 

STFU TRHIS A. . argh t THIS I SBONER

 

You're actually loosing power at lower rpms at wot.

I know, all of this is true. It was broken, or I was too stupid to figure out how to wire it to the MS. I do have another 99 motor in the garage that has an unmolested intake. Maybe I can put this on in the future. I guess this will have to get me by for now. Not perfect, but it does feel better than when I first got the car.
-JB