not much of an update...

But yesterday I couldn't find any universal fan mount kits anywhere...go figure?! So I was unable to mount the fans to my oil coolers. I am confident that my car is almost 100% leak free. EXCEPT i have 2 small leaks. The first one is one of the bolts that holds the Exhaust side of the turbo to the center chra...I saw a little bit of smoke coming from that area and noticed that smoke is coming out of a tiny pin head sized area between the bolt and threads.. Sucks because I can't get get a normal wrench in there. I'll need a thin head wrench... so I may look for one today. The second leak is coming from my Oil feed from the front Iron. It seems to be coming out of the AN Flare area...not a hard fix..just need to get to it. It is however coming out very very slowly... either way I hate leaks so i'll be fixing both of them soon enough. NEXT is to check for boost leaks.

I dont have a smoke machine...nor do I want to bother with a DIY one

But has anyone used the Carb Cleaner method to check for boost leaks?
Or the Baby Powder method?
Any cheap suggestions?

Also, I FINALLY was able to trace down the Oil Pressure Sender Wire!! so now I have a visual on my Oil pressure! Man the previous owner really did a number on this Charge harness. Might just be easier to find a nice used one that hasn't been un-cut. The wire was again...tucked away, wrapped up in the loom. Had to cut about 6 inches up from the Starter to find it... What a joke. Anyways....glad i'm able to fix all these little quirks, that way when I get to the dyno...we won't have to mess around with the set up...we can simply tune

 

I thought the carb cleaner method only worked on vacuum leaks.

I have heard of leaks that don't show up unless under higher pressures. But hopefully those are only pinhole sized.

 

Thanks G haha. I agree completely!

Hey guys this is a big one. What Bar Pressure caps are you guys running? I've heard of a few people running 1.8-2 bar pressure caps But I was planning on running the 1.3 bar or 16psi cap. I'm going to be running 100% distilled water and a Bottle and a half of Water wetter. Also...have any of you guys Drilled your oem thermostats?

and is this still relevant?
65C (150F): too cold. According to service manual, EGR valve is non-operational below 150F, "to improve drivability when cold."
82C (180F): getting warm. Thermostat begins to open, circulating coolant through the radiator. Some coolant is still bypassing the radiator.
95C (203F): fully warm. Thermostat is fully open, not bypassing the radiator at all.
100C (212F): boiling point of pure water at atmospheric pressure.
105C (221F): getting hot. Stock ECU will activate fans to cool the car down. Fan speed will be low, or medium (if A/C is already on).
108C (226F): hot. Stock 93-95 coolant thermoswitch activates, changing fan speeds from low>> medium (or med>>high if A/C is already on) (switching to an FC thermoswitch will change this temp to 203F)
115C (240F): getting dangerous. OEM temp gauge begins to rise.
117C (243F): dangerous. boiling point of pure water with 13psi pressure cap.
121C (250F): too hot. OEM temp gauge will point to white line. Boiling point of pure water with 16psi pressure cap.
124C (256F): way too hot. Boiling point of pure water with 19psi pressure cap. Boiling point of 50/50 coolant mix with 13psi pressure cap.
127C (260F): way too hot. OEM temp gauge will point to red line.

 

Just running 0.9 here. Used to run 16 pound cap, but switched back. Also used to run straight distilled water with 1.5 bottles of water wetter, but changed to my current setup of ~30% prestone with the rest distilled water. Reason being that Steve Kan warned against running straight water and WW due to rust he had seen in fairly low mileage cars upon teardown. Although straight water and WW provides the greatest amount of cooling capability, you're also at greater risk of runaway temps (IMO) if your temps climb above 115C. Again, never witnessed this myself. Just felt on the corrosion issue alone it was worthwhile to keep 20-30 percent EG in the system.

 

Hmm.. Well I don't like the idea of the insides of my motor rotting out...and have been contemplating going with a lower percentage....such as yourself. how did the coolant look last time you flushed it?

 

I flush mine on an annual basis. No problems for me, but I'm not hammering on the throttle like I "think" you'll be doing. I'd just keep an eye on the color and change it out if it starts changing.

 

Good idea! Will do!

 

Very inspiring build thread. I had originally searched for guys who have painted their chassis and engine bay and this is what I got. I have spent about 7 hours today just reading this thread beginning to end. It's really got me thinking about what a person can do when they put themselves to it. As soon as I get back from Afghanistan I'm going to start tearing my car down a little at a time. Though, I'm probably not going to fabricate as many things as you did I'm sure I'll have my fair share. Thanks for the build thread.

 

Awesome build. What is your opinion on those egt gauges now?

 

^......Thanks guys!!! I absolutely love the EGT gauges. It's nice to be able to see the temps in real time whenever I need to. I would HIGHLY recommend them.

 

Just ordered.... seriously, based on THIS thread.

 

Thats rad man! ....but seriously..how cool is it that you can monitor exact Exhaust Gas Temps Per rotor and see a digital number?!!, it may be my preference but I hate looking at analog gauges. I'd rather just see a real time number...not have to guess if its inbetween 225 and 235 ya know? The digi displays are nice and compact as well. Only thing I'd suggest is make sure you label or mark which sensors are in front/rear housing...and label the Gauge so you know which readout belongs to the front/rear housing. The wire length provides is like......twice too much so I kept mixing them up and finally labeled front and rear sensors and adjoining wires/readouts.

 

Is that price on PBM's website for one sensor and gauge?

 

Yes, $180 ea for digital gauge and sensor. $360 for 2 plus S&H, which was ~$18 for me here in Phoenix.

 

I'm pretty sure that price is for just one meter. It would be best to e-mail them. They're pretty prompt at answering. But you'll need 2x meters, and 2x sensors. Total came out to 330-380ish If I remember correctly...that could be off though. I'll have to look at my records..

 

Man that's a lot more than the Pineapple Racing setup.

 

^^ those are a bit cheaper, 240+s&h or so for the set, but then your stuck with the silly scissor gauge that looks like it should be in an old aircraft lol, .personal preference I guess, the digital readout puts a little more new age into the ol' cockpit IMO. Can't wait to see them installed,

 

manny, do you have some more pictures of that ignition coil mount?

 

I have already installed them!!! go back a page...or maybe they're on this page!!! Not sure if i'm going to keep them in this position or not but I love them!

My name is actually Aaron Looooong story with the user name
But I dont know if I have more pics of it. But Its theee most simple thing ever. an 8th inch thick piece of 2" aluminum strap. Bent on both sides. Thats it I've seen mounts that hold both sides of the coils...but I feel like thats overkill. I mean... theres no way they're moving and I figured it's simpler and less heat soak with less metal so it'll stay here.

 

Hey Aaron just caught up with your progress. Holy cow you've put a lot of work in. Those dump tubes are nuts... you will go deaf driving that thing lol! I like the steering wheel too. I was gonna hit you up last weekend after our track day but I was exhausted and sunburnt and just wanted to go home lol. Good to see your progress, it's phenomenal.

 

Small Update:

Yesterday my clutch slave speed bleeder came in. All I can say is you've got to be kidding me...and I can't believe how much time I WASTED trying to bleed the clutch without one of these. This isn't a "maybe I should do this" modification. It's an absolute must. I installed it and 5 min later I had a nice stiff, bubble free clutch throw. It was ridiculously easy. All i need to do now is adjust the piston to get the engagement point exactly where I want it. I'll do that when I get home today.

I also had a small leak on my turbo drain again. I guess the gasket was a little tight around the bolt so I "THOUGHT" it was tightened all the way..but it wasn't...so it leaked a tad on my nice gold subframe haha.

Was able to take her out for her Maiden voyage around the block to break in the diff.
Directions state: 25 min of figure eights or approximately 187 miles of street driving to break the diff in. Then your supposed to change the diff fluid. THis is for the Carbonetic Metal 2-way LSD unit. NOT the Carbon unit. It clunks a bit but I've been in much worse, and afterall I knew it would haha. Good news was nothing fell off the car when I was driving. Never went over 20 MPH because it's a rough base tune but I just wanted to make sure everything was fit and get some figure eights in. I did about 20 8's before the neighbors came out wondering why a top fuel sounding rice burner was doing circles in the intersection of my block haha.

It's sooo loud guys... I'm gonna need to wrap the exhaust and put some sort of muffler as a mid pipe or something because this is just....soo loud.

Coolant temps never went above 84 degrees Celsius and it was 85 degrees out. Set the fans to 86 just because. Never came on.. I'm happy right now because my Intercooler core converted into a radiator is working at normal low speed driving. Real test comes on the dyno..but that'll come in a couple weeks.

Fixed the oil drain last night, took it off, cleaned it, put a tiny bit of super copper around the edges for good measure and on it went again.

More figure eights today, I might even try to drive to the gas station around the corner because my fuel level sensor isn't working and I know I'm getting low.

More updates soon!

 

I figured you'd be tired.......It was a gorgeous day though. How were temps out there? I'd love to make the next one!

 

I've actually never really done an event. It would be fun though.

 

Aaron.... You think it's loud NOW, wait until your WGs open for the first time on WOT with those dump pipes venting through your hood. That F'r is gonna SCREAM!!! Be prepared for a HOLY **** moment...

It's a ROTARY for crying out loud. It's SUPPOSED to be LOUD!

A few years ago when considering Personalized license plates for my ride here in Arizona I almost chose LOUDAZ

 

Yea I know I know!! Well I was expecting it to be loud... and before it blew It was 3" straight through..but I had a Borla 3" in to (2) 2 1/2" outs.. and that was pretty loud with the single 50mm synapse gate vented to atmosphere.. But the 4" really opens things up. Just idleing in the garage and working on the tune I noticed that I felt like i'd been to a concert because my hearing was dampened. This is going to do some eardrum damage haha. I'm gonna use my In ear-ear plugs everytime I get in. Thats a great Idea. Maybe I'll look into getting a custom plate...something to lighten the mood in case I ever get pulled over.