Oddball 20b conversion

[stezhead54]

So, i'm currently in the middle of a 20b build. There's a lot more people on this forum who have done the build than the others that i'm on, so i'll post some of my questions/issues on here and see if anyone can help me out. First question/issue would be, if i want to keep the stock turbos what do i have to have controller wise. I've got a Microtech ltx12s to do the ems stuff. Second question....can i hook up the stock knock sensors....if so, how? If not what do i have to have to have a knock sensor that works(so i know if the engine is knocking or not) Third and final question for now, Has anyone used cop(coil on plug) coils on there build? If so, how did they work, or didn't they? So, i guess that's all for now, if you have any questions for me, just let me know and i'll be happy to answer. Here's a pic of the engine sitting in the car to see how far it is. I've still got to fabricate some mounts and do the driveshaft welding yet, but other than that it's almost ready to turn over. Just a couple more parts, and a couple more fabricating issues and i'm ready. On a side note, i'm doing all of the fabricating, and all of the construction myself, so if it doesn't look professional, it's because it's not. When it's done though it'll look as if the engine was meant to be in the car. So, until i do get it finished, here's one picture of the car.

[djmtsu]

What the hell car is that in?? The GM master cylinder has me thinking Camaro.


Which would be awesome.

[stezhead54]

That would be correct. It's an 86 iroc z the engine died on me, and i had the 20b on hand(was going to put it in a v6 firebird, but that didn't work out) so i decided to drop it in.

[FerociousP]

i had the 20b on hand, so i decided to drop it in.

I get so tired of saying that... :o11: /sarcasm

[Bryan@BNR]

I'll trade you an LQ4 motor with all its sensors and EMC for that 20b

[stezhead54]

and explain why i would want to do that? I took the 305 out of it to put this in.

[djmtsu]

and explain why i would want to do that? I took the 305 out of it to put this in.

He wants another 20B.

Bryan is a whore.

:)

[classicauto]

Damn thats a sweet swap.

We want more pics, I don't care if its not done yet.

And please put one of those "out of a job yet keep buying foreign" stickers on the back when its done :lol:

[stezhead54]

I'll take some more pictures today and put them up for everyone to see. Anyone have any answers to my questions though?

[Herblenny]

LMAO!!! This is awesome! Can't wait to see it all finished up and 'beating' V8s on the road:)

[need RX7]

Holy crap, that is awesome. :rofl:

TitaniumTT may be able to help you out with the turbo stuff, he has a 13B-RE running the twins sequentially. Not sure about the similarities between 20B twins and 13B twins, but it's worth a shot.

[Herblenny]

If you want to run 20B twins, call BNR. He does an upgrades for 20B twins and people are making great power (In AUS)!

[Phoenix7]

well first he needs to get info on the knock sensor then info on the "coil on plug" thing....he seems to have the EMS covered already...

I've heard of people using FC coils or LS coils but don't know about teh specific type you mentioned.....your best bet is to chill for a bit here and wait for the other 3-rotor peeps read this thread and tell you what they used.

[stezhead54]

So i took some more pictures tonight. They aren't much better than the other ones cause it was dark out....maybe in the near future i'll have to roll it outside and take some pictures. Also, the coils i'm using are coils from a v6 where they sit down a well right on top of the plugs. I went this route so i don't have to worry about wires or anything. All i have to do is wire up the coils, plug them in, and start it up(very simply put) As for the knock sensors, they're just the stock ones that came with the engine. What i'm trying to figure out is how i'm going to hook them up to either the ecu, or say a light inside the cabin to tell me if there's any knock going on.

[classicauto]

As far as the knock sensor's go, you'd have to check the outputs/inputs on the microtech to see if there's a channel that can read them. Most good ECU's have this feature, but I'm not sure on the microtech. However, what I do know of the microtech is that it has EXTREMELY limited inputs/outputs available, IIRC, the LTX12s only has 1 auxilary output to be used for a fan, fuel pump or whatever. So if I had to guess, I'd say you can't hook the knock sensor(s) up to the box.

But check in your manual.

You really can't hook up a light to the sensors themselves, they just create tiny amount of voltage based on the level of knock. And there will be a threashhold where you have "knock" but not enough to worry about and this level varies between engines and sensors.

[Bryan@BNR]

whats hillarious is your taking a front engine car and making it a mid engine car by putting the engine further back than the strut towers. That thing will handle much much better.

[stezhead54]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I've got a major issue to tackle now though. I've got a couple of pictures of the issue....anyone have some ideas?

[rotaryextreme]

whats hillarious is your taking a front engine car and making it a mid engine car by putting the engine further back than the strut towers. That thing will handle much much better.

Does that mean that the RX8 is a mid engine car, it's engine is basically behind the strut towers...lol

[need RX7]

'Front-Midship' FTW

[Bryan@BNR]

Does that mean that the RX8 is a mid engine car, it's engine is basically behind the strut towers...lol


That is correct.

[classicauto]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I've got a major issue to tackle now though. I've got a couple of pictures of the issue....anyone have some ideas?

Your tire is hitting your fender? I don't understand what the problem is.

[stezhead54]

The problem would be the fact that the tire is sitting on the bump stop right now, so i've got no where for the tire to travel but down. So i'd be riding on the frame, which is not something i really wanna do for a daily driver.

[stezhead54]

So I've come across two more questions about my install. They can both be answered at the same time though. They would be...which set of injectors are the primary, and which are the secondary? Also which rotor is considered the first one?

[classicauto]

The problem would be the fact that the tire is sitting on the bump stop right now, so i've got no where for the tire to travel but down. So i'd be riding on the frame, which is not something i really wanna do for a daily driver.

Raise it up a bit? Maybe some spring blocks if you're feeling ghetto :)

So I've come across two more questions about my install. They can both be answered at the same time though. They would be...which set of injectors are the primary, and which are the secondary? Also which rotor is considered the first one?

Primaries are located in the irons on the engine, the secondaries are in the lower intake manifold.

First rotor = closest to the front of the car.

[stezhead54]

Thanks....i'm all wired up now except for the coils. those will be hooked up and ready to go in a couple days. So it looks like things are gonna go pretty smoothly for the next week or so. I've got the engine out of the car again so i can weld in the engine mounts. Can't wait to get them built and in place :-D Then it's just exhaust, and drive shaft, and i'm set :-D

[stezhead54]

For all those who are interested, the car is about 3 steps away from completion (drivability wise anyways). I only have to put in a small section of exhaust pipe, and some oil cooler lines, and finalize the gauges and wiring for the engine, ant it's all set. I'll be putting the updated pictures on here tonight when I can get to an actual computer. I've still got a lot of work to do on the car yet though. I've got dents and dings that I need to fix, along with the final paint job thats going to go on it. Then I'm also redoing the inside, so that's going to be some more work. I'm excited though, I'm actually able to see some progress.

[NoDOHC]

Have you had it running yet?

Is the 20B really heavier than the 305 that was in there? The suspension being on the bump stops would tend to indicate that it is. A fully assembled 305 weighs about 450 lbs, surely a 20B doesn't weigh that much... even with a turbo.

[RotorDad]

Now this is an interesting swap, I would like to see the finished product. The look on the faces of the American car guys will be priceless.

[D4rw1n]

ive always wanted to put a rotary in an american ride. Seems like pay back for all the v8 fd swaps.