After much discussion around the shop we have decided not to put the 2.2 Long Rod Engine in my street car. It just seem counter productive as it will never see its true potential. We will be putting it in the shop track car and building another engine for my street car. I had a similar engine in this car before but we decided to make a few changes. (Changes) BR Track 1 BRED Street Series 2618 alloy pistons (BRED Race Pistons and Rings 10cc dish) BRED H-Beam Rods OEM Nitrided Subaru Cranks (Micro Polished Used Crank) King Race Bearings Pinned Deck MLS Depth O-Ring Custom Oil Passage Modification Torque Plate Bored and Honed Line Honed Here are some pictures of our Previous Street Piston Design vs the first test version of the Race Piston. The first revision has already been made and we will have the new version in time for Andrews engine build. Even though the production part will be different these pictures still give you a good comparison. Below you can see the tops of the pistons, the race piston has been ceramic coated. the street piston is a 22cc dish. Here you can see the bottom of the pistons. More bracing and material removal on the race piston keeps it stiff and light. Ill go into more detail about both of these later. UPDATE 4-05 Sorry for the complete lack of updates I know this build isn't as interesting as my other 2.2 closed deck engine but this car will see lots of track time and I drive it every day so its really the perfect test platform for our parts. The next two pictures of the oil inlet is a simple before and after picture, when we do our oil passage modifications on our blocks we always remove the step here. Before After This is what a properly decked block should look like. This particular deck has been pinned. There are many different schools of thought on this, some think it doesn't work, while others love it. We have always done it on our Track 1 engines and it has never caused us an issue so we continue to do it. (We have also never lost a head gasket on one of these engines)((we o-ring these as well with a "MLS" Depth Steel Oring)) I'll try and get some more pictures of the finished products later this week.
4/20 Here is a little update for the guys that are actually keeping up. This is the original dyno chart from when I built this car the first time. The setup on the car was GTX30R, Invidia Race Header, Tial.63 backside. Front Mount, BRED Track1 engine(prior to us having our own pistons), stock heads and cams. AEM Series 1 EMS. Engine is on the stand and assembled I ordered a few more things that I've been needing. Parts ordered today AEM 0-150psi pressure sensors for Oil pressure and Fuel pressure. This way I can datalog pressures and its easier to diagnose problems. AEM Oil Temp Sensor, again this way I can datalog oil temps at the track. A few AN fittings for the valve covers so I can run braided line to the Moroso AOS, its going to be recirculated back into the oil pan, Normally I wouldn't do this but this car will see quite a bit of track time over the next year while we are finishing the shop track car. I got a few fittings for the oil cooler setup. Ill shoot some more pictures tomorrow. Also Ill try and do a full build journal on the car as I'm about to do a little bit of Aero work as well. Update 4/25 Getting ready to put the engine back in the car and decided to make a few additions. I'm tired of the crankcase breather vents and all the hoses running everywhere so we decided to machine a couple of AN fittings to go in there instead. Here is a simple 8an to 8an fitting I machined to fin inside the block. Here is the port after I removed the factory fitting Here is the fitting installed in the top of the block. For those that are interested in doing the same, the easiest way to get the fittings out of the block is a very large easy out. It will destroy the fitting but its the only reasonable way to get it. Everything else you will try will end in screaming and throwing of tools. Ill post some more later in the day.
Reserved 1Another little update. Cam gears. You have to take them a part and clean them out. They get bearing material in them if you spin a bearing and eventually it makes its way back into your engine. I only got two pictures of the process and they weren't very good ones but you can still see how dirty they get. If you don't clean these out you could lose a brand new engine because of it.
I don't have a whole lot of pictures for this update. There were a few interesting things that happened during break in and Ill get to those. The engine went back in the car at the beginning of the week, with just a few changes over the previous setup. GSC Beehive Springs and Titanium Retainers (These replaced an un-named brand of springs and retainers(upon removal said brand had inconsistent spring rates)) GSC S2 Cams (These replaced stock cams, we debated on going with S1s and normally with this size setup we would especially on pump gas, however after talking with Greg at GSC he felt that we would see some benefit at higher pressures with E85 with the S2s) Injector Dynamics ID2000 (The car had ID1000s in it but obviously with this size turbo the ID2000s are a better choice) Ball Racing Engine Development Race Series Pistons (Our normal street series pistons use what I would consider to be a mid tension oil control ring, for these new pistons I wanted to test something with a higher tension and a slightly different profile)((I'm not discussing the profile or the actual tension at this time, Ill consider it once we have finalized the new piston design)) We finished up the install and I put a few miles on the car back and forth between the shop and the house(less than 100 miles). Everything seemed fine on the street, I tuned it for wastegate pressure which is 12.5lbs. The car seemed a little slow to spool but I haven't driven it in two months so I reviewed my logs and it looks like I lost just a little bit going from stock cams to S2s. Not really surprising but it is noticeable. The AVCS is still not active, I've been having issues with the driver side cam single, I originally thought that it was wiring but after going through all the wires and testing everything its clear the issue is in the AEM. Ill be getting a V2 box soon and Ill send this one back to be fixed. I made a couple of pulls to dial in the new injectors and got everything looking ok, with the increase in compression I had to pull more timing than I thought I would out but the engine still feels strong. I did a few pulls on virtual dyno just to get an idea what it was making and at 12.5 lbs it makes about 350hp with a 1.0 correction factor. Fast forward to last weekend a good friend of mine and a well known Subaru tuner Scott Siegel was having a driver education clinic at TGP Raceway. He asked me to come out and do some in car instruction with a group of students. Scot's schools are always a good time and I always feel like the students have learned a lot so I really enjoy instructing with him. One of the benefits to instructing is free track time and that's always good when you are trying to dial in a car. I took the car out first session and everything felt ok, I didn't beat on it really hard. Just a couple of laps so I could log it and check for knock. I went back out for my second session and when I came in I noticed a lot of blow by coming out the vent tubes on my AOS, not a good sign. I currently don't have it set up to drain back because I wanted to be able to quantify what we were doing with the oil rings. At this point I'm already getting nervous about the new setup and I'm thinking about what changes we are going to make. Regardless I soldier on and go back out for another session this time I get in some full throttle pulls and I actually drive the car pretty hard for the whole session. Much to my surprise after this session minimal blow bye(virtually none). Engine feels and sounds good but I need to get it on the dyno for a final tune soon. I'm hoping for just over 450whp on a conservative pump gas tune and 550whp on E85. Ill try and update with more pictures and details soon. Sounds like there is a magazine that wants to do a feature article on the car when we get finished with it. The next time the engine comes out for part testing will likely be cylinder head port design testing. When that happens we will paint the engine bay and repaint the car at the same time. Sorry for the jumbled mess I just typed this out as it came while I had a little free time. Matt
The skirt is less friction for sure but I'm not planning on going over 8000rpms with this one. We are testing a few changes in clearances with this engine. That was really the only reason for the change. Just a little R&D
less friction for sure, but think of the reduction in mass. the mean piston speed can increase with much less force exerted on the rod and crank when it changes direction (valvetrain issues aside)
Oh no doubt. We wanted to test a few things on this engine vs the old one. Piston Crown Design Skirt Wear Oil Ring Package (this one is the most important) We will have an engine together soon that is really more appropriate for these pistons but the testing on the oil ring package can't wait. I need to know if what we are changing is going to be an improvement or not so I can include it on our next series of pistons.
Nice to see mahle following the same footsteps as cosworth and wiesco offering a lightweight small skirt design at a better price point too. Pretty cool block bracing, I have never seen that before.
I'm not sure I would say its following in the footsteps of anyone, Mahle has had the ultra light slipper skirt style pistons for a while they just aren't offered as a off the shelf part. We had them build our new race series piston off of that forging as far as I know we will be the only ones stocking them. The Cosworth piston is a very nice part as well, its the only other piston on the market currently that is even in the same class. The Wisecos, CP, Manley, and JE pistons just aren't on that level. Oh I'm sure you have seen that pinning before since its done to the RR1s, Turbotrix does it and David has been doing it to the open deck Porsche 968 engines for years. Although I don't think anyone was doing it to Subaru blocks before you did.
Are the pins pressed in? What's holding them in place (just wondering if it's the machining that's only holding it in)?
They are interference fit, the pin is slightly larger than the hole so they have to be pressed in. It has to be done before any other machining is done.
The car has a Moroso AOS on it so Ill be running AN lines to the valve covers and to the AOS. Haven't decided if it will be hard line or soft line.
Another little update. Cam gears. You have to take them a part and clean them out. They get bearing material in them if you spin a bearing and eventually it makes its way back into your engine. I only got two pictures of the process and they weren't very good ones but you can still see how dirty they get. If you don't clean these out you could lose a brand new engine because of it.
I don't have a whole lot of pictures for this update. There were a few interesting things that happened during break in and Ill get to those. The engine went back in the car at the beginning of the week, with just a few changes over the previous setup. GSC Beehive Springs and Titanium Retainers (These replaced an un-named brand of springs and retainers(upon removal said brand had inconsistent spring rates)) GSC S2 Cams (These replaced stock cams, we debated on going with S1s and normally with this size setup we would especially on pump gas, however after talking with Greg at GSC he felt that we would see some benefit at higher pressures with E85 with the S2s) Injector Dynamics ID2000 (The car had ID1000s in it but obviously with this size turbo the ID2000s are a better choice) Ball Racing Engine Development Race Series Pistons (Our normal street series pistons use what I would consider to be a mid tension oil control ring, for these new pistons I wanted to test something with a higher tension and a slightly different profile)((I'm not discussing the profile or the actual tension at this time, Ill consider it once we have finalized the new piston design)) We finished up the install and I put a few miles on the car back and forth between the shop and the house(less than 100 miles). Everything seemed fine on the street, I tuned it for wastegate pressure which is 12.5lbs. The car seemed a little slow to spool but I haven't driven it in two months so I reviewed my logs and it looks like I lost just a little bit going from stock cams to S2s. Not really surprising but it is noticeable. The AVCS is still not active, I've been having issues with the driver side cam single, I originally thought that it was wiring but after going through all the wires and testing everything its clear the issue is in the AEM. Ill be getting a V2 box soon and Ill send this one back to be fixed. I made a couple of pulls to dial in the new injectors and got everything looking ok, with the increase in compression I had to pull more timing than I thought I would out but the engine still feels strong. I did a few pulls on virtual dyno just to get an idea what it was making and at 12.5 lbs it makes about 350hp with a 1.0 correction factor. Fast forward to last weekend a good friend of mine and a well known Subaru tuner Scott Siegel was having a driver education clinic at TGP Raceway. He asked me to come out and do some in car instruction with a group of students. Scot's schools are always a good time and I always feel like the students have learned a lot so I really enjoy instructing with him. One of the benefits to instructing is free track time and that's always good when you are trying to dial in a car. I took the car out first session and everything felt ok, I didn't beat on it really hard. Just a couple of laps so I could log it and check for knock. I went back out for my second session and when I came in I noticed a lot of blow by coming out the vent tubes on my AOS, not a good sign. I currently don't have it set up to drain back because I wanted to be able to quantify what we were doing with the oil rings. At this point I'm already getting nervous about the new setup and I'm thinking about what changes we are going to make. Regardless I soldier on and go back out for another session this time I get in some full throttle pulls and I actually drive the car pretty hard for the whole session. Much to my surprise after this session minimal blow bye(virtually none). Engine feels and sounds good but I need to get it on the dyno for a final tune soon. I'm hoping for just over 450whp on a conservative pump gas tune and 550whp on E85. Ill try and update with more pictures and details soon. Sounds like there is a magazine that wants to do a feature article on the car when we get finished with it. The next time the engine comes out for part testing will likely be cylinder head port design testing. When that happens we will paint the engine bay and repaint the car at the same time. Sorry for the jumbled mess I just typed this out as it came while I had a little free time. Matt
This happened to my new race motor too. After driving it hard, almost all the blow-by stopped. I even had a little bit of white smoke come out on start-up for a few days before it went away. I guess breaking-in a race motor involves 'racing' it...
Yeah I've never been one to baby a engine by any means. With the new ring package on these pistons though I wanted to see what it was going to take to get them to seat. The truth is a lot. Which is good and bad. What we learned from this is that for a race engine this ring will likely be fine, we will however stick with our current package on street series engines.