Kilo Racing 3 Rotor FD Conversion
12-03-04, 12:50 PM
#527
Originally Posted by Swolbynos
bearings arent aluminum neither is the crank shaft
An oil analysis is the only way to go here. Running a magent through the oil won't pick up anything other than chunks of iron or steel and won't tell you anything other than the engine is self destructing currently.
Oil analysis will show amounts of different materials like copper, lead, aluminum, iron, etc. That really shows what is wearing in the engine, rings, bearings, cylinder walls, etc.
12-03-04, 03:23 PM
#528
Super Snuggles
Originally Posted by turbojeff
The bearings aren't steel either. Usually they are made of several materials in layers, base metal, copper, lead, etc.
12-03-04, 06:35 PM
#529
Originally Posted by jimlab
Actually, the backing plates of bearings are steel, and the softer metals comprise only a very thin layer or layers on the surface. Any debris large enough to become embedded in the surface layers and remain exposed can score the part riding on the bearing surface, which is almost certainly steel.
12-04-04, 06:41 AM
#530
The Results!!
Sorry for the delay yesterday. Didn't realize I had family (read: in-laws) committments. But showing my dedication to you guys, I'm up early this morning posting before I take off again for the weekend.
First, to cut through the anticipation, the results of the initial dyno:
The car makes 340 RWHP and 315 ft. lbs of torque at a little under 6 PSI and with the RPMs limited to 6,000. Note the map above has the car running a little lean between 5,000 and 6,000 RPMs. This was corrected before I left. I'm pleased with the initial results of the engine and can't wait to see what the car will do when I get to take the "training wheels" off so to speak. As we should get a RWHP gain from the above dyno by running the the car to max RPMs (max RWHP should be between 7,000 - 8,000 RPMs) and by having added fuel at the 5,000 RPM mark, I'm easily expecting to get well over 400 RWHP at 9 PSI (the 3 rotor should do a gain of about 25 RWHP for every extra lb. of boost).
Also notice the increased torque of the car over a 2 rotor. The torque is also available at an earlier RPM level (at about 3,000 RPM). This makes for one hell of a ride! The torque level will also rise when the car is tuned after break in.
Okay, now that the dyno is out of the way, let me fill you in on the rest of the story. Feel free to browse ahead if you're bored! I arrived at Pettit on Monday afternoon, totally filled with excitment. I spent about an hour of so with Cam reviewing what had been done to the car and what needed to be finalized. I can't thank Cam, Kandi, Tyler, and the Pettit crew enough for all of the hard work that has gone into the car. I know they've all spent numerous hours doing the conversion and their hard efforts show in the quality of the work on the car. Here are the first pics of the car, taken as i first saw the car:
Notice the sweet lines of the body work and the excellent rear wheel flares. Almost looks like good old American steel, doesn't it? Okay, so that was my rental car for the trip down. What a piece of **it! It did have XM radio though.
He is a shot of Kandi (Pettit engine builder and Cam's significant other) picking me up from the rental car lot:
She's a fantastic person and an excellent mechanic. Cam, don't let that one get away!
First, to cut through the anticipation, the results of the initial dyno:
The car makes 340 RWHP and 315 ft. lbs of torque at a little under 6 PSI and with the RPMs limited to 6,000. Note the map above has the car running a little lean between 5,000 and 6,000 RPMs. This was corrected before I left. I'm pleased with the initial results of the engine and can't wait to see what the car will do when I get to take the "training wheels" off so to speak. As we should get a RWHP gain from the above dyno by running the the car to max RPMs (max RWHP should be between 7,000 - 8,000 RPMs) and by having added fuel at the 5,000 RPM mark, I'm easily expecting to get well over 400 RWHP at 9 PSI (the 3 rotor should do a gain of about 25 RWHP for every extra lb. of boost).
Also notice the increased torque of the car over a 2 rotor. The torque is also available at an earlier RPM level (at about 3,000 RPM). This makes for one hell of a ride! The torque level will also rise when the car is tuned after break in.
Okay, now that the dyno is out of the way, let me fill you in on the rest of the story. Feel free to browse ahead if you're bored! I arrived at Pettit on Monday afternoon, totally filled with excitment. I spent about an hour of so with Cam reviewing what had been done to the car and what needed to be finalized. I can't thank Cam, Kandi, Tyler, and the Pettit crew enough for all of the hard work that has gone into the car. I know they've all spent numerous hours doing the conversion and their hard efforts show in the quality of the work on the car. Here are the first pics of the car, taken as i first saw the car:
Notice the sweet lines of the body work and the excellent rear wheel flares. Almost looks like good old American steel, doesn't it? Okay, so that was my rental car for the trip down. What a piece of **it! It did have XM radio though.
He is a shot of Kandi (Pettit engine builder and Cam's significant other) picking me up from the rental car lot:
She's a fantastic person and an excellent mechanic. Cam, don't let that one get away!
Last edited by David Hayes; 12-04-04 at 07:10 AM.
12-04-04, 07:16 AM
#533
Originally Posted by M104-AMG
The torque curve is beautiful. Why stuff a LS1 when a 3-rotor has so much possibilities . . .
:-) neil
Last edited by HDP; 12-04-04 at 07:20 AM.
12-04-04, 07:21 AM
#534
Originally Posted by David Hayes
Here are the pics I shot as I first saw the car:
I must say my heart skipped a few times as I was very pleased with the quality of the conversion. I'm a stealth kind of guy so this is about as wild as I wanted to go. I guess the 18 X 12.5 Forgelines on the rear are not exactly stealth, are they? I was also surprised I liked the "bolt on" fenders so much. I might keep them instead of going the molded route. We'll see.
12-04-04, 07:24 AM
#535
Pettit Pics
Here are a few shots of the the Pettit facilities and the great people that work there:
Outside of the shop. On any given day, you'll see 10-20 RX7s in various stages of repair. The MR2 belongs to the girlfriend of Matt from Arkansas. I'll show you his "extreme" RX7 later. The MR2 was having a turbo kit installed.
Here is Cam the man saying don't take my pic.
The ever lovely Kandi in the engine shop. Kandi was kind enough to spend about an hour with me describing the engine building process and the advantages/disadvantages of different types of components. As an ex drag racer, she really knows her stuff. The engine room is so clean you could almost eat off the floor. JJ the shop Jack Russel terrier does!
Here's Tyler, the Canadian (aye?). He's the guy that you'll probably get when you call the shop. Extremely nice and cool dude.
Finally, Bob in shipping. I put this picture in to show you the meticulous work he does whn packing items. He was shipping out a Pettit 99 spec front end and he was building a frame out of wood to insert into the box so the front end didn't get damaged. You can see the screw in the box just to the left of Bob.
Outside of the shop. On any given day, you'll see 10-20 RX7s in various stages of repair. The MR2 belongs to the girlfriend of Matt from Arkansas. I'll show you his "extreme" RX7 later. The MR2 was having a turbo kit installed.
Here is Cam the man saying don't take my pic.
The ever lovely Kandi in the engine shop. Kandi was kind enough to spend about an hour with me describing the engine building process and the advantages/disadvantages of different types of components. As an ex drag racer, she really knows her stuff. The engine room is so clean you could almost eat off the floor. JJ the shop Jack Russel terrier does!
Here's Tyler, the Canadian (aye?). He's the guy that you'll probably get when you call the shop. Extremely nice and cool dude.
Finally, Bob in shipping. I put this picture in to show you the meticulous work he does whn packing items. He was shipping out a Pettit 99 spec front end and he was building a frame out of wood to insert into the box so the front end didn't get damaged. You can see the screw in the box just to the left of Bob.
Last edited by David Hayes; 12-04-04 at 07:39 AM.
12-04-04, 07:45 AM
#538
Other shop pictures
Here are a few other shop pics.
RX7s and 8s on lifts as well as a Mercedes from Carlsson (high performance kits).
The Pettit Racing RX8. I'm not a big fan of the 8s but this is one that I would drive!
Finally, the dyno room. Yes that's my car on the dyno.
RX7s and 8s on lifts as well as a Mercedes from Carlsson (high performance kits).
The Pettit Racing RX8. I'm not a big fan of the 8s but this is one that I would drive!
Finally, the dyno room. Yes that's my car on the dyno.
Last edited by David Hayes; 12-04-04 at 07:47 AM.
12-04-04, 07:56 AM
#540
The Road and Track photo shoot
While I was a Pettit, I hung out with the Road & Track guys who where shooting pics of Matts extreme RX7 from Arkansas. Check out some of these pics. As I am a stealth car guy, the car is definately not for me, but, hey, to each his own. Also note that his car and his girl friend's (the yellow MR2) match! The track shots were from Morrosso (SP?) in West Palm and the cars in the backgound are from the Skip Barber driving school.
For those of you thinking of getting the Lambo door kit, my advice is don't. The kit on Matt's car is one of the most expensive one's on the market and it is a piece of **it. Trust me on this one.
Karl, the Road & Track photographer.
The Skip Barber Racing School:
The Indy style cars use a tweaked engine from the Dodge Neon SRT. At 1,100 lbs., they move around the course! Am thinking about taking the course to improve my driving!
For those of you thinking of getting the Lambo door kit, my advice is don't. The kit on Matt's car is one of the most expensive one's on the market and it is a piece of **it. Trust me on this one.
Karl, the Road & Track photographer.
The Skip Barber Racing School:
The Indy style cars use a tweaked engine from the Dodge Neon SRT. At 1,100 lbs., they move around the course! Am thinking about taking the course to improve my driving!
Last edited by David Hayes; 12-04-04 at 08:00 AM.
12-04-04, 08:20 AM
#544
My Wolf EMS Tuning Saga!!
For those of you following this post over the past week, you're probably wondering why it has taken me so long to post pics and results. We'll my 2 day trip to pick up the car turned into a 4 day trip because of the Wolf EMS.
First, I'm not flaming Wolf. The unit is extremely flexible and has a massive amount of tuning capability. Unfortunately, Wolf hasn't done many 20Bs, hence my saga. On what should have taken an hour or so for final tuning turned into a three day event. For 72 hours (almost straight) Cam worked on the car, trying to get the unit to work and run the car properly. The car was always close but not quite right. Cam had many discussions with Chris (a very nice guy) from Wolf but Cam never really felt comfortable with the approach used by Wolf to tune the car. Cam's no slouch when it comes to tuning. He's probably done several hundred cars with various units but he was having a bitch of a time with the Wolf. Numbers kept automatically changing in his fuel maps (I witnessed this, had to do with the "resolution" settings on the unit). In fact, this is how Cam spent most of his time last week, inside my car trying to get the Wolf unit to work.
Even Rich from Ricardo Racing (6 sec car) tried to help out to no avail.
So, I spent two extra days at Pettit (yes, you can buy underwear from KMart aka Rainman) waiting as Cam figured out the problem. As a computer guy, my feeling is that the User Guide sucks and is not nearly complete enough detailing the operations of the unit. At 9 PM on Wednesday, after several days of speaking to Chris and Wolf Australia, Cam said screw it and decided to try to use the unit as he would with any other EMS. He built a base map using his process in about 5 minutes and the car started and ran better than in the previous 3 days. Needless to say, I was excited!
First, I'm not flaming Wolf. The unit is extremely flexible and has a massive amount of tuning capability. Unfortunately, Wolf hasn't done many 20Bs, hence my saga. On what should have taken an hour or so for final tuning turned into a three day event. For 72 hours (almost straight) Cam worked on the car, trying to get the unit to work and run the car properly. The car was always close but not quite right. Cam had many discussions with Chris (a very nice guy) from Wolf but Cam never really felt comfortable with the approach used by Wolf to tune the car. Cam's no slouch when it comes to tuning. He's probably done several hundred cars with various units but he was having a bitch of a time with the Wolf. Numbers kept automatically changing in his fuel maps (I witnessed this, had to do with the "resolution" settings on the unit). In fact, this is how Cam spent most of his time last week, inside my car trying to get the Wolf unit to work.
Even Rich from Ricardo Racing (6 sec car) tried to help out to no avail.
So, I spent two extra days at Pettit (yes, you can buy underwear from KMart aka Rainman) waiting as Cam figured out the problem. As a computer guy, my feeling is that the User Guide sucks and is not nearly complete enough detailing the operations of the unit. At 9 PM on Wednesday, after several days of speaking to Chris and Wolf Australia, Cam said screw it and decided to try to use the unit as he would with any other EMS. He built a base map using his process in about 5 minutes and the car started and ran better than in the previous 3 days. Needless to say, I was excited!
12-04-04, 08:27 AM
#545
Final tuning
So, I found a hotel for the night and got to drive the car to it Wednesday night at about midnight. I was very happy as the car ran pretty well. I went back to Pettit on Thursday for my final tuning on the dyno. Here are pics of the session.
The results of this session is the car now runs great and we achieved the dyno posted earlier.
I'll post more later, but I've got to head out the door now to Atlanta (not driving but flying) for the SEC championship game - Go Auburn, War Damn Eagle!
The story get more interesting but it will have to wait until Monday morning!
The results of this session is the car now runs great and we achieved the dyno posted earlier.
I'll post more later, but I've got to head out the door now to Atlanta (not driving but flying) for the SEC championship game - Go Auburn, War Damn Eagle!
The story get more interesting but it will have to wait until Monday morning!
Last edited by David Hayes; 12-04-04 at 08:30 AM.
12-04-04, 08:37 AM
#546
Two Short Video Clips
I have two video clips of the car on the dyno. They were taken with my Canon camera so they're not the best but they at least will give you some idea as to how the car sounds.
If anyone wants to host and post these for me, I'll email the files to you. Each file is about 3.7 megs. Thanks!
If anyone wants to host and post these for me, I'll email the files to you. Each file is about 3.7 megs. Thanks!
You are a lucky man David. 
