Andyrews Progress Thread, 1/16/22 A Trip to The Red Barn - Lets fab a Firewall! Options

[Andyrew]

This past month has been full of a lot of driving. Im trying to get my tune going but Im still facing problems.

Lately it has been a hunting idle that my tuner is sure is a intake leak. I cant however seem to find it and its intermittent not consistent. Other tuners think its a tune issue.

Debating on working with another tuner or to tell my tuner to suck it up and leave the idle the way it is.

I've changed out my coils to a stronger type coil as well as changed out my plugs to plugs my tuner prefers. Also I installed a wideband AFR guage which is giving me a very lean idle reading which I can only imagine is incorrect (Calibrated correctly...)



On another note, I HAVE made some progress on the dash. See below. About 3 nights of fiberglass and 3 nights of bondo/sanding work to get it where I am OK with it.



Im laying out some test pieces of vinyl and will start sewing/gluing it down.

I have some special stuff coming in tomorrow which I am super excited to reveal as well (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)


And for those that like more video's. This is about 11psi in first (You can still hear it spin a bit) 13psi in 2nd and 3rd. I did a couple runs with ~16 just to test it out and it had a tire spinning all through second while pulling pretty hard (Not video'ed). Much faster than the v8 at this boost level I imagine that I will tune the boost for first at 10-11psi, second to ~15psi, and third/4th to about 20psi. 5th will probably be dropped down to about 15psi just for safety, but i'll tune the curve so passing rpm's still build enough boost to not have to have me drop a gear.

Also, I can assure you this vid was only up to the speed limit (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyvYJuyYtDI

[914forme]

sounds very good. Your tests runs are done with gearing reduction boxes (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

On to the hunt.

Leak, yes very possible, but should also show up, when you apply boost, unless it seals under boost and then, opens under vacuum. Being said, 20 PSI will tend to pop somethings loose, If you have intake pressure tested plugs, I would install it, and run it up in PSI, and see what you get. Should have a noticeable leak, you can also draw vacuum on the test rig, if it holds vacuum and pressure, then no leaky. Pretty easy to see, a little shot of soapy water will clean the engine and tell you when you see bubbles you got a leak. Of course the huge sucking sound under vacuum might be a pointer also.

Beyond that, calibrate your wideband, and make sure it is not truly lean at idle. Your engine might be hunting for a real reason. Tuners are just like anyone else, they can be drawn in via their own biases, and not find the true answer. Or Ego steps in the way, and they do not want to admit their mistakes. Not a big deal, your just going to have to disprove all his issues first. Costing you time and money.

The flip side of the coin is like dealing with any contractor in the tech industry, we all have our opinions, and we are trained by the system to find whats wrong in others work, point it out, then do it our way. The true key is finding the tuner that can see the value in others work, and then add their knowledge to make the final product even better. Good luck with that hunt, these are a rare bird.

[Chris H.]

Timing issue was the wrong timing sensor pick up. Timing was dead on.

Yeah I knew it. It was running way too smooth. And the turbo would amplify the problem. That's an interference engine. They don't tolerate much.

Hunting idle is the WORST. I still have it occasionally. Are you using the stock ECU? If so I would lean towards tune. A sensor needs to be deleted, something like that.

[Andyrew]

Figured out my idle and top end fuel mixture issue...




Going to get new fuel injector seats and o rings, teflon tape the seats and try again.

I should be back on the road by 9/14 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)



Also this just came in. I am extremely excited about it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Its my brown vinyl with the factory basketweave (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Mark @914rubber did a great job on this and it looks fantastic! I dont think the impression is lasting enough to use as a seat bottom or back but I'll get a test sample and do a stress test on it. Im going to do the door panels, the dash accent, the center console sides and possibly the seat backing/bottom in it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif)

[Mike Bellis]

The instructions for the billet seats call for red locktite and no tape. I have the hex socket to remove the seats if you need one. Socket comes in the billet kit I bought. I also used larger (thicker) O rings to seal better. I found with the stock O rings, the injector can go to far in and trap the injector and loose the seal. Then you have to fish out the injector and hope the O ring does not pop off in the process. BTW, the O ring will be ruined if this happens...

[Andyrew]

Very interesting. Where did you get the larger O rings?

[Mike Bellis]

Very interesting. Where did you get the larger O rings?

FLAPS

[Andyrew]

Gotcha

[Andyrew]

Replacement injector seats came in. Broke the very first one getting it out... Im now going to vacuum the intake and then make sure the valves are closed and punch the plastic into the intake. The rest of them I used some PB blaster to make sure they didnt snag and break.



Side note, the dash is coming along. I got some glue coming in Monday hope to have it done for 9-14 presentation (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Andyrew]

Last update for the 2016 Build Off Challenge. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)


I tried to glue the vinyl to my dash down but the glue reacted with the primer I had down. It ate the primer thus making it a slipery mess.

I sprayed it with high temp spray paint and let it out to dry in the hot sun to bake, but I cant get call the dash as completed (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif). Soon, but just not now.

I did get the injector seats fixed. I stuffed some rags in the holes and chipped away at it. Then I attached one of my fuel hoses to the vacuum and sucked all the little pieces out and finally blew it with compressed air and sucked it again. After replacing I let the car idle for about 5 minutes. I put gobs of teflon tape on the injector seats and that seemed to solve 99% of it. I still have a pinhole leak but its so minor Im not going to bother with it. There is no way thats going to have any affect on the drivability of the car.


I spent about 3 hours with my tuner last night trying about 7 different tunes. We found a couple of issues, but in the long run not a single one did any changes. He's now starting me on a fresh tune and we'll tackle it again today. I have a feeling my huge injectors are the root cause of my issues.

At this point it runs, drives, stops, and makes super loud noises. We'll keep going on it till its perfect. I have a track day at Thunderhill West for mine and my dads birthday in November and I want to make a local autox this month to shake down the car.


Happy 9-14 day all!

[Andyrew]

So the glue came in and I gave laying down the vinyl a try. It took a few coats till it wasnt just spreading the paint around. Im not 100% happy with the result, I thought I would be able to do the dash but this was an extremely complicated piece. I might have one more go at it as well as put some foam/padding under it but we will see.

Also took it to a local show again, big hit with lots of interested people.

I have a leed on a local tuner that might be able to help me. My current tuner is basically giving me the cold shoulder, he helps me once a week maybe...

[Andyrew]

Got a new development. Were pretty excited about it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Garland]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)

Congratulations!

[mgp4591]

This build thread is brought to you by PREGGO - the spaghetti sauce for expectant mothers... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
Congratulations! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

[rktmn247]

Congratulations!

[914forme]

Congratulations

[Andyrew]

Past couple months have been spent working on tuning as well as getting the car ready for my track day last weekend.

Things I did:
Spent a considerable amount of time on the steering linkage trying to get the notchiness out. I improved it but its still not right.

Replaced the 6 year old rear 400tw tires with some new Federal 595rs-rr tires. Went down from 285 to 275 but the tires are half an inch wider per side..... This meant I had to trim the rear fenders to prevent rubbing.

Before trimming

Got an alignment that didnt do anything

Replaced the pass side CV joint however to no avail, the knocking sound I feel and hear must be in the differential.

Tried as I could to help the trans shift better with adjustment and new fluid, but no luck. Im going to swap in my spare trani and open up this one. Not looking forward to the longer gears in the v6 trans. Its already really really tall gearing.

Did some more tuning on wastegate pressure, bumped up my redline to 7500. Going to bump it up to 8k as I feel the turbo still has lots of pull in it and it really likes the top end.

Changed the oil out from my break in oil to Royal Purple.

Nut and bolted it about 3 times..

Then I headed up to Thunderhill West with my dad coming down from oregon with his car. (I also brought 5 other drivers to the track day...)

[Andyrew]

Next we have some video of the track day. Remember I have an OBD2 port so I can pull live data to my phone. Used an app called Torque Track Recorder to record some of these. The data is delayed but it gives a good idea. Gforce data is on time though since the phone pulls that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z30efFVRMwI



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDDu7-iU92o



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymyGqg5HoTE



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm5XFVJgrFs

Last run of the day, rear tires started to grip at this point. I believe they were designed for a much heavier car as I only have 20psi in them and they were not rolling over like they should. I had an inch of contact patch on each side of the tire that was not being used.

You can see the gforces are there, the car is decently quick, the braking and my lines could use work, but I really couldnt use any power through the turns as it would just spin the inside rear.

Note I have hankook street tires up front which are considerably less sticky than the rears, however I still felt the grip lacking in the rear vs the front.

Photos uploaded in a couple days.

[dan10101]

There are bad days, meh days, and good days, this was a Great day!
We need more Great Days!

The best part of the day was running with Andrew in the video above with his mother in my car going at it pretty hard for us. (we have a ways to go...) I thought I would have to baby it around a couple laps at best then she would call it quits. She didn't, I'm pretty sure she wanted to go faster. Next time we'll turn up the boost and see how she does.

[Andyrew]

Recent track day pics from Thunderhill West








I thought this was cool, My car in the pic above and my dads car in this pic in the exact same spot. I've spent an hour going between the two cars looking at the difference in the tire widths, the angles of the car, ect ect. Its pretty interesting.