My lil Bugeye

Timing has a HUGE role in all of that but ya gotta be careful with that.

 

Yup been looking at that and afr's. I noticed that at around that time the afr's take a drop to about 11.2 from over 13. Thinking that has a lot to do with it as the power level for 93 is like 10.xx-11 depending on the blend.

 

Noticed a new issue arise tonight. Since my TMIC was rubbing on the wastegate actuator I put a couple spacers on it to raise it up enough to clear the actuator...NOW my GTspec splitter is eating into the top of the intercooler...had to do some bending and cutting. This was on the list of things to do anyway as it did not distribute air over the entire intercooler. Also of note, the aftermarket bov is slightly touching the intake...once I get a new ic->TB hose I plan on readjusting the intercooler a bit so that this will not be an issue. :/ This was not an issue with the stocker, but it does touch and it is heating up the bov some causing the spring pressure to change some when it is hot and cold. This was not an issue when I first put it on there, but since spacing the intake it changed the angle some and is now causing problems. Going to SOG for an alignment tomorrow and will check to see if they have any hose like I am looking for (who knows) and if not I found a shop in Gainesville that can get it quickly.

 

what shop?

 

Atlanta Speed Shop

 

0800 I hope, leaving in a minute or two. Gotta be at work early this afternoon so gotta get crap done this morning.

 

I hope you mean touching the intake manifold and not the intake itself....that puzzled me for a second. Just so you know mine has been rubbing on the intake manifold since I had it and it's not gonna go far....that manifold is thick.

 

Yeah I hear ya. I still want to space it out. I also think I am gonna get rid of the GTspec splitter as well. I know it is supposed to help and all, but with this huge top mount and clearance issues it is just becoming a hastle. Also gotta find a local plastic supplier and start on my lexan box for the short ram.

 

So today my car takes a literal beating and keeps on going! Dang these Subarus are tough!!

 

Well installed my "pipe" today. I noticed a drop in spool up rpm by about 250 rpm so far over the high flow. I have not logged it officially yet, just a friend watching the gauges...could be even lower as the factory tach seems to read about 250 low...could be full spool 500 rpm lower, not sure. The old cat had been on there a while and it could have been slightly clogged...never actually looked in one before, but it was hard to see any ligth through it. Not sure if that is normal or not.

Also got in my Autometer C2 afr gauge that I will soon hook up to the lc-1 analog out. Wideband accuracy on a narrow band gauge!!

Lastly I tried to hook up my el cheapo dynasty auto catch can tonight and realized 2 things...one I don't have enough hose. Two I am going to have an interesting time finding a place to mount it! The suby engine bay is just packed!! I am not sure where the hell to mount it.

 

Wow! I just got in touch with the original owner of my car! Kinda funny. He also was able to tell me a little more about the car. He said that it has had transmission problems in the past. He said that at 40k he had the transmission rails and clutch forks replaced along with some other stuff. I thought that it was pretty cool to be able to talk to the guy who did all the stuff to the car and find out some more information on it.

On a side note, the C2 AFR gauge was a big disappointment. It looked kinda silly as Autometer has decided that they no longer want to make the gauge light up blue like all the other gauge so it is just a bouncing light at night with no way to see where exactly on the gauge it is. I did not like it at all! I am now debating going with another gauge and trying to match it as best I can to the color of the c2 boost gauge...crappy solution, but I really don't feel like buying a new boost gauge too. I am trying to find a gauge that will actually give me a numerical display rather than just a bouncing light and one that will not break the bank.

 

AFR gauges are just plain and simply USELESS. Get a wideband guage or something useful like oil pressure or something.

 

Well, this will actually be hooked into my Lc-1 Wideband output so it will in effect be a wideband gauge...it is mentioned in previous posts.

 

Cool but is it a blinky light show or does it show actual digital values. My point is a guessimation of a range isn't efficient as the slightest variance can be dangerous when tuning.

 

Well when actually tuning i data log with the street tuner software. It displays the actual value that the wideband is displaying in the software....well it did until the lc-1 somehow got reset and went to it's stupid little custom value (resets to some weird value that is of no use...not sure how it reset but it did. Now I have to drive back out to Athens to reset it on a comp that has a serial input). So for tuning I got that basis covered.

The gauge that I am looking to find to hook up to the lc-1 output I want to have a numerical value. I thought that the autometer had both blinky and a numerical output, but I was incorrect. I am going to have to try to find on that somewhat matches the color of the boost gauge and has a numerical display. I am looking at the Dakota gauges and some of the others that summit carries. For street use I am not as worried about it. It's just like the boost gauge...if something goes REALLY wrong it should show enough information for me to figure it out.

 

Well, the deed is done. I have a STI block out of an STI with 15k on it heading my way this weekend. I really was not ready to get it, but I just could not pass up the deal. It is much cheaper than going with a brand new block and SS has assured me that it should be good for over 400 whp with the stock rootating assembly. I may get the block worked over just as an in case kind of thing before putting it in. Right now it is time to save some cash and start piecing together all the various parts that I want to replace while I have the thing cracked open. I hope to get everything together first and do this in as little down time as possible. Liquid has a nice shopping list that looks like a great place to start. I am going to shoot for sometime after the first of the year for getting this thing in the car.

 

Congrats. Mind telling how much you got it for?

 

congrats! If you need any help (nothing to technical) I could probably pop over one weekend.

 

I paid $800 total. The guy had 15k on the engine with the VF-39 running 17 psi of boost the last 5k or so. He is switching to an Axis short block with a GT-35 turbo with a rotated mount. I am actually considering the same set up eventually as I just found out that a friend of mine is the sole distributor in the SE for a couple different brands of turbo...not sure which they are, but primarily rotated mount stuff like the Garrett turbos and such.

 

Well picked it up today! Such a beautiful site...engine looks pretty good from what I can tell, cylinder walls are good, pistons appear ok.

 

Will do, lot of stuff yet to get...I have decided to gt ppg gears and put them in at the same time...might as well do everything at once while the car is down.

 

Well just an update. Getting our wedding ceremony done in March (just went to the court house before as we promised her brother we would wait for him to get back from Afganistan for the ceremony) so all available money is going into the wedding But the good part is that it will make my wife happy as this has always been her dream to have a nice wedding and walk down the isle and stuff. So things are on hold for the swap for now.

On another note, I have been playing around with ST and based on the compressor map of the TD04-13t (stock turbo) I decided to play with the boost a bit. I ramped it up to 18.55 psi reaching full boost at 3300 rpm and then held it till about 5k then tapered down to 14.07 psi at redline. I had also previously leaned things out from the stage 2 cobb map and I am running 11.5 starting at 3200 then going a bit more rich to 11.00 at 5000 and holding that till redline. I only had to pull one degree of timing in one location and I am getting no knock (even with the short ram heating things up pretty good). The car now pulls like CRAZY all the way to redline. This is such a huge difference from the stock Cobb stage 2 map. Boost seems pretty steady even with the stock bcs.

My next project is to close in the short ram with 1/4" clear lexan sheet and have some duct work going to it from the fender for cold air supply. I am only seeing about 17 degrees above ambient right now while cruising, but it heat soaks like a MF and does so quick! I am hoping the lexan should keep things a bit better. It is rated to 270 degree heat deflection temp at 75 psi and 260 for regular duty. I think it should look pretty trick under the hood and cool things down significantly. The highest temp I have recorded for the intake is 190 degrees and that was on a 95 degree day. After talking to my buddies father who is a mechanical engineer who has dealt with plastic for 20 years I think it should be good.

 

Good luck with it man. I will one day redo my heat shield. How thick is your lexan sheet gonna be?

 

The lexan arrived today. It is 1/4 " sheet. It is relatively easy to work with. I have build aquarium projects out of it and it is 100% sealable. You can drill it, tap it, glue it, whatever. Great stuff and it looks so much better than the factory ABS crap. I don't anticipate that it will be to rough to build a sealed box with a removable lid. Just gotta think it through and do it. I am debating on going with a larger K&N filter on the AEM and cutting it down a bit kinda like the Cobb unit. I managed to pull a 4.5 MAF voltage yesterday on my log. Well, less than that, but with the 70 mm intake you have to multiply by 1.07 to get what it actually would be. Funny thing is I will have to totally redo the tune when I get the new engine in :/

 

Cool. The box won't be hard since you have TMIC. Get a FMIC and it's an entirely different ballgame.

 

I did think about that, but I figure I can always modify it if needed. Really it would just be some cutouts to the box then refill with lexan tube maybe? I have not even seen how the front mount piping cuts through the engine compartment, but I am not even sure if I could use the AEM short ram as it goes straight out from the turbo inlet tube rather than taking a 45 degree bend ack towards the firewall like the intakes I have seen used with fmic's. The nice part about using lexan is it really is not that hard to bend or form it into whatever shape you want. I think forming temp is around 375 F. Still that would be a much more involved process!

 

Baseline dyno before the 2.5 and new turbo. Not too bad all things considered.

 

It's really really choppy up top. Any reason why?

 

I heard you say that you had a 2.5 at the house, any plans with that soon ???

 

Since it has been cold I have been trying to fine tune the WGDC. It still seems to be overshooting the boost levels that I have set for it. So what you are probably seeing is the boost occilating from 19-18 psi. I guess I need to play with the turbo dynamics some, but I have been more concerned about getting a quick spool up. So far my best spool (no porting work done yet) has been at 2750 ish. Before with cobbs map it was somewhat higher.

As for the 2.5 yeah I have lots of plans, but also fear of grenading the 5 speed. I am trying to figure out the best option for a transmission right now. It all comes down to money