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BLOZ UP


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Oil filter doesn't fit anywhere else, really. So I hooked it all up, put oil and coolant in it, had to redo a battery lead as it turned out to be too loose, and tried to prime the oil pump. After about 20 seconds I wasn't seeing pressure. I poured oil down the filter send and return lines, then tried again. I got maybe 1-2psi to register on the gauge then. Well I was about to pack it in (too late at night to start) when I noticed coolant and oil on the ground. I looked briefly, the coolant appears to be coming from the LIM or above. Maybe (hopefully!) one of the coolant lines on top for the turbo. The last time it leaked the most popular spots were the thermostat housing or housing outlet hose, but those are dry.

 

The oil is from the fittings on the side of the oil pump (surprise!). I didn't tighten them to the 30 ft-lbs. or so -10 AN is supposedly supposed to be at (that seems awfully tight....), so I will try that tomorrow. It could also be--I really, really hope it's not--the welds between the bung and the pump. If it is, it appears to be a forward facing, easy to get to spot. But it would still require cleaning all the oil out of the vicinity.

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It runs....

 

but it still leaks oil. Coolant leaks appear to have stopped. Crank pulley is hitting the timing cover. Going to pull it off and see if anything can be done. Might have to pull the turbo assembly out and/or the motor to fix the oil leak.

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I took the motor out. I rewelded the bungs, and put JB Weld over that to help ensure anymore pinhole leaks would stop. Really dumb idea to weld on the oil pump. Should have made a adapter out of some new, easy to weld plate and welded the bungs on that.

 

So, sorry, a ding on my gearhead card for using JB Weld but I want the best chances of zero oil loss.

 

The horrible noise in the video is the crank pulley hitting this small raised portion of the VG33 lower timing cover. I've tried pushing the cover a bit and whatnot but the best be would be to machine the crank pulley a bit. Or, better yet, to get the nice ATI pulley.

 

The motor is back in but not hooked up.

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I got the motor hooked up and running but found a fuel leak that required removal of the upper intake. After fixing that it ran alright and I tuned it just a bit to get it more driveable for a photo shoot. Around 3-4k RPM it stumbles quite a bit at any load percent, I think it's going too rich, as adding fuel doesn't seem to help. I haven't looked at it much though. I think this is due to the vastly different actual VE vs what it's tuned for since I have the turbo disconnected.

 

I've reassembled the interior and put the hood on. Also went to Autozone and got some crappy intake piping and joiner to be able to filter before the throttle body. There's still some wiring and cleanup to do in the engine bay but it's drivable as is. Definitely has more low-end than before. My right turn signal has stopped blinking (bulb appears to be out), and the hazards don't work. Really want to replace them with LEDs.

 

I'll be ordering a new intercooler shortly and selling my huge one. Then I can get some turbo boost.

Edited by BLOZ UP
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Thanks.

 

Thanks to a late night engine remove and replace, careful welding, and some JB weld I made my engagement photoshoot without losing any oil. I seem to have a coolant leak still but I cannot determine where from as it's very slow.

 

IMG_20140720_181516_zpspbv1tvwi.jpg

 

I've decided to use the slightly too large intercooler rather than getting a smaller one.

Edited by BLOZ UP
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I worked on it a bit yesterday. Cut off the ends of the intercooler, made and used some mounts for it, and made some pie cuts out of 2.5" pipe. Looks like it will fit, with the driver's side slightly easier to plumb than the passenger's. It's going to require some nasty pie cuts but I think overall it will not be much of a difference from a smaller but better plumbed intercooler.

 

Also, my right turn signal doesn't work. The left one works fine. The right: It stays on, the flasher switches zero times or one time until it reaches the on state and it stays there. The rear turn signal bulb illuminates, but the front one does not. I've measured ~12v at the bulb (though it is 0.25-0.5v lower than the parking lamp side). I've tested the bulb and another known working bulb and verified it's not the bulb. I attempted to measure current but forgot how ammeters work and blew the 10A fuse. My next guess is a grounding problem, since I did relocate the battery and moved some grounds around.

 

Some more lists:

 

Before I can drive it:

  • Fix turn signal
  • Fix hazards
  • Fix horn/fix some other PO wiring hacks I discovered
  • Plumb and fix intercooler
  • Weld in new blow-off valve flange.
  • Plumb boost lines/replace with push-to-connect fittings
  • Rough in the tune
  • Secure/cover all wiring and crap

Before I can race it:

  • Dyno tune

Would be nice:

  • LED bulbs all around
  • Add Headlight relay
  • Add relay for hazards/turn signals/brake lights
  • Fix low-hanging exhaust hangar
  • Laptop mount
  • Fix dash
  • Replaced seat(s) and add harness bars/roll cage
  • Fix/replace stereo and speakers
  • Get race tires and wheels and a cute trailer for them

 

Here's a shot before I started work on the intercooler:

IMG_20140729_185248_zpsyud9kigy.jpg

Edited by BLOZ UP
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  • 3 weeks later...

Got my intercooler installed and the piping done. Do have vroom-psh.

 

The intercooler is a tad to wide, so it needed to be modified.

IMG_20140816_131519_zpsnipdmani.jpg

 

Cut off the intercooler ends at about 10 degrees and cut a lot of 15 degree pie cuts out.

IMG_20140816_131542_zps9nbiura3.jpg

 

IMG_20140816_131549_zpsqqzn3lqn.jpg

 

After deburring and cleaning up the pieces, I attempted to fit it all together, one (or two or three) piece(s) at a time.

 

IMG_20140816_132059_zps8c9etiqe.jpg

 

It turned out I needed one 22.5/15 degree pie cut to get the passenger side inlet the work.

 

IMG_20140816_133138_zpsplweicqt.jpg

 

An hour or two later:

IMG_20140816_174321_zps47eq7mas.jpg

 

It was fun to weld some aluminium tube again. I haven't welded it in years.

 

Welded the pipes on to the endtanks, which went extremely well due to the quality casting on the endtanks. By 'quality', I mean not oil and carbon soaked for 20+ years. Also gave a quick double coat of black rattle can on the front. I'll take a slight performance hit for not being gaudy looking.

IMG_20140816_193259_zpse0myf2gl.jpg

IMG_20140816_193254_zpsceafitqt.jpg

IMG_20140816_193247_zpsphp3e9sh.jpg

 

Next up is fixing the piping to/from the intercooler on the turbo/engine side. I did keep in mind that the intercooler should be removable, and it is just so. After disconnecting the silicone couplers you have to slant the right side forward and up to clear the core support, then tilt 90 degrees around the axis of the passenger side inlet, then remove it. Simple!

IMG_20140816_213802_zpsormpempj.jpg

 

 

IMG_20140816_213813_zpskghdfgag.jpg

 

Luckily both ends just need simple extensions, one weld on each. The turbo outlet pipe is flipped around (from how it was with the last intercooler) so the 90 bend is closer to the turbo, and it sits lower into the engine bay. Then I just welded on a couple extra inches to make it to the 90 degree silicone reducer. For the other side I cut off a 45 bend from the old piping and put that on the end. Then I spent the next couple hours drilling and grinding and waiting for my air compressor for the hole for the new BOV flange.

 

I only got a couple vroom-psshh's out of it since it was late and I just zip tied stuff up out of the way. Just have the BOV and wastegate hooked up, no boost controller since it needs to be relocated. I did use my new quick-connect boost line to the wastegate though. Nice stuff. 8psi spring, IIRC but I only hit 6 psi and is a bit too lean building boost. I also remembered I have higher compression so I should take it easy, and called it a night.

 

Before this, I had also cleaned up some of the wiring and ran new grounds to the alternator, engine block, and battery disconnect switch. Still don't have a working turn signal. :(

 

I need to figure out where to mount my stock coolant overflow or get a new one, and fix the rest of the vacuum lines but the bulk of work is done. Ooh, I did find where the coolant leak is from, the thermostat housing. Shouldn't be too hard to replace...

Edited by BLOZ UP
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I got some more Vibrant 'boost connect' fittings (AKA: Push-to-Connect/Quick Disconnect). I have a bunch of 1/4" tube/1/8" NPT and a couple 3/8" tube/1/4" NPT.

 

I installed one 90 degree 1/8" NPT 3/8" tube fittings for the BOV and a 1/4" NPT on the manifold . Finally replaced my piecemeal rubber/silicone vacuum line with a nice hard polyethylene one. Not sure what heat rating the 3/8" line is, but my 1/4" is supposedly safe to 250+ degree F.

 

Earlier I replaced the wastegate line with 1/4", but I still need to figure out how to connect my Greddy Type S solenoid box, which just has smooth nipples. I might get some barb fitting to put on my straight adapters and use some short silicone. Ghetto but should work fine. The other problem is where to mount the solenoid box. I think I'm going to be making a coolant reservoir out of aluminum, and I'll have to put a flange on it for the boost controller.

 

Also, finally installed the 1/8" NPT boost/vacuum sensor with a 1/4" NPT adapter into the intake manifold.

 

Also also, am looking into modifying my MS to accept at least 2 extra sensor inputs: Oil Pressure and Fuel Pressure. The SpeedHut gauges use 'Sensata' sensors, as far as I can tell. I do not see the exact part number listed but I see very similar ones. The pressure sensors are 0.5v-4.5v output, so I should be able to tap or tee into that to give my ECU an idea of what's what. It would be real nice to log fuel pressure to ensure consistency.

Edited by BLOZ UP
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  • 4 weeks later...

So my last updates got nibbled. In short:

 

Took it to my wedding. On the way back it blew up after I tried to show my new wife how cool I was, in a somewhat not-shady part of New Brunswick. Waited with bride for tow truck. Got a few photos of that.

 

Coolant sprayed everywhere on the hood and windshield from a location I haven't been able to pinpoint yet. Misfired on 1+ cylinders. Massive white smoke out the exhaust. Suspect blown headgasket. Coolant spray might be from radiator. Not sure, coolant was covering everything in the engine bay. No obvious blown hoses or anything. Might have squeezed by one of the hose connections since none of the pipes are beaded.

 

  • Got it towed to my house.
  • Drained rest of coolant.
  • Got some LED bulbs for the sidemarkers and license plate lamps. Plan on replacing more.
  • Need to replace headgasket but have been lazy.
  • Fixed boost gauge
  • Been trying to fix right turn signal since the front isn't flashing, but bulb is ok. Hazards also not working.
Edited by BLOZ UP
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Welp, fixed the turn signal and hazards. Guess I can get started on the head gaskets now.

 

Turn signal was corroded C-3 connector. Cleaned it up and put some dielectric on it to help prevent moisture.

Hazards was bad fuse. Two bad fuses, both from a Harbor Freight pack.

Cleaned up a bit of PO wiring hacks. Refitted the firewall grommet.

 

Now I just need to get my +12v accessory working for the inverter and whatnot.

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12v radio/accessory circuit was another bad HF fuse. Looks like most of the 10A fuses I have are bust. That's OK, I used the dome light 10A, and replaced it with a 5A since my dome light is an LED anyway. Not sure why it wasn't 5A from the factory... what incandescant bulb uses more than 5A...

 

Now for the headgaskets... after further inspection, it appears my radiator cap might have been the source of all the coolant. Was it loose and did the car overheat? Possibly. Surely I would have noticed when trying to drain the coolant, and I don't recall it being loose...

 

Anyway, I pulled the plugs:

 

IMG_20140921_175341_zpsaxfamsqh.jpg

 

#1 is on the bottom. It looks like the gasket that blew was the passenger side one. They all are pretty clean and have water on them. The other side looks OK, except #2 looks a bit hotter than the rest.

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