TitaniumTT's I hope I make it to DGRR '09 Build

[need RX7]

How does the XJ take towing the FC? Coincidentally, I'm about to buy an FC in Texas and tow it back with my dad's XJ. What engine is in yours and is it all stock? Do you think we'll have any troubles with the 4.0 I6, using the same U-haul trailer you used?

Sorry to threadjack

[WE3RX7]

Jeeps have plenty of power for towing w/ the I6 4.0L. I have a TJ and the only issue is the wheelbase, stupid laws - they won't let me tow a car trailer even though it can easily pull that much weight!


Glad to hear you got it running, so close to DGRR though, I'm sure you can get it ready for the trip though. Sounds like that was the only issue (albeit a big one) but still.. one big issue is better than 5 little ones.

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by WE3RX7

Jeeps have plenty of power for towing w/ the I6 4.0L. I have a TJ and the only issue is the wheelbase, stupid laws - they won't let me tow a car trailer even though it can easily pull that much weight!


Glad to hear you got it running, so close to DGRR though, I'm sure you can get it ready for the trip though. Sounds like that was the only issue (albeit a big one) but still.. one big issue is better than 5 little ones.

Well.... there's a few things that still need to be done. The fuel leak is a big issue, we're hoping the solution is quick and easy and hopefully I'll be able to get a look at it tomorrow. If the solution I have doesn't work, the trip is pretty much off. If it does work, than the list is only

Refinish my 4 BBS's and get a new set of tires
Build a Belly Pan
Vent the fuel tank
get an S4 A-pillar and stereo surround
Finish breaking in the motor
Dyno Tune
Emmsions & registration (the worst part)
and an alignment

I SHOULD be able to get everything done in time, it's really the emmsions so I can reg the car. Stupid CT retarded emmsions laws

[TitaniumTT]

1000 plus miles is tough. I don't think I'd do 1000 miles though. There has to be a lighter trailer. Penske's are aluminum and MUCH nicer than the u-haul garbage.

Yeah, I'm pretty stoked she didn't go up in flames either. It would really make all those, "Fix it with fire," or, "No, it's fucked! Torch the car, collect the insurance," jokes/comments really ironic

[classicauto]

Man random fuel leaks bit the both us in the ass lol

Car looks awesome though, congrats and best of luck with the tuning and break in.

I'll mail you a CDN beer if you don't make DGRR

[Whizbang]

i am scared to pressure my system for the first time.

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by classicauto

Man random fuel leaks bit the both us in the ass lol

Car looks awesome though, congrats and best of luck with the tuning and break in.

I'll mail you a CDN beer if you don't make DGRR

Yeah whats up with that? I dare say that a leak in the middle of a braided line is cause for a little more concern though... WTF?

Thanks on the compliments. I spoke with Tim Marren and he is sending me a handful of grommets and spacers and new o-rings so HOPEFULLY I'll still be able to attend. SO up in the air right now though.

Originally Posted by Low Impedance

i am scared to pressure my system for the first time.

Before I fired her off I turned the fuel pump on and cranked the FPR to 80PSI. I'll be running ~40 +14lbs boost so we ramped her up to 80 without starting the motor to look for leaks. I would do that first before you fire her off. The first leak we found was on a gauge, yes a mechanical gauge that I had @ the end of the rail. So we pulled the gauge and put a plug in. Then the injector worked it's way into the LIM boss and popped out of the rail.... Cars.............

[EJayCe996]

Originally Posted by Low Impedance

i am scared to pressure my system for the first time.

Ari from RP just called me about my injector order and what I was gonna do and I basically immediately asked if he could do the proper injector modifications (1600cc secondaries) so I didn't have to do it myself like I was going to.

Hopefully one less thing to worry about when I get my car's swap underway.

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by nolimitind

Wow man, at least you're driving yours. I'm still pulling things from mine. Glad to see you are nearing the finish of the car and looks like you are going to make to DGRR with ease. This week will consist of many long nights for me. I have two major hurdles to overcome....the first being my fuel setup (I have to build a new tank w/sump to run the A1000 pump) and the FMIC setup. The rest is just putting the new stuff on.

LOL!!!!!! I wouldn't say with ease, there have been many a long night since the last update, so much that I haven't been updating the thread. It's been wake up, go to work, go home play with my dogs for a bit, hit the shop, the shower, bed, wash, rinse, repeat. Good luck with your project.

Originally Posted by nolimitind

I needed some encouragement as it is almost overwhelming what I am trying to accomplish. Your thread has provided me the kick in the booty that I need. We need to try and hook up in NC. You've done a nice job on your car!

Yeah we do

Originally Posted by EJayCe996

Ari from RP just called me about my injector order and what I was gonna do and I basically immediately asked if he could do the proper injector modifications (1600cc secondaries) so I didn't have to do it myself like I was going to.

Hopefully one less thing to worry about when I get my car's swap underway.

Yeah, I don't like to mess around with fuel, I'd rather let the pro's do it. Good call.

[jtbshaw]

Wow man, at least you're driving yours. I'm still pulling things from mine. Glad to see you are nearing the finish of the car and looks like you are going to make to DGRR with ease. This week will consist of many long nights for me. I have two major hurdles to overcome....the first being my fuel setup (I have to build a new tank w/sump to run the A1000 pump) and the FMIC setup. The rest is just putting the new stuff on.

I needed some encouragement as it is almost overwhelming what I am trying to accomplish. Your thread has provided me the kick in the booty that I need. We need to try and hook up in NC. You've done a nice job on your car!

[TitaniumTT]

So I guess it's time for an update -

Many a long night has been spent sorting out little issues but most of them are dead and gone.

Over the weekend there was a bad drivetrain vibe that developed while I was getting some breakin miles on her. I knew the rear wheel bearings were bad so we went ahead and replaced those, what a fricken nightmare. The bearing wistle was gone but the vibe remained. So we started jokeying around tires because mine are about 10 years old, literally. Vibe remained... now we're getting annoyed. Swap the driveshaft (mainly because it was on there so tight we had to beat the piss out of it to get it off the pinion plange, I figured we might have done some damage....) a little better but it was still there. Now we're pissed. So right after we swapped the driveshaft my buddy and I went back to the annex, back up on the stands she went and he helped out until midnight and I carried on until 2:30 in the morning swapping the rear out and double checking EVERYTHING else on the fricken car. Vibe was finally gone. So I went to sleep.

Woke up around 8:30 and got on the road. Plan was to meet Ihor @ IRP @ 10 and pick up my 140 amp alt, and then head over to meet Dave @ KDR for some dyno tuning.... well driving through Jersey I started to get this nasty rotten egg smell. I figured it was just Jersey When I got to IRP I shut the car off and heard this sizzling noise coming from behind me. The Optima redtop that I relocated to the passenger bin was scalding hot to the touch, fuming and just a generally unhappy battery. Soooooo we let the car.... and bat cool down a bit, did a little troubleshooting and said eff it.... Ihor swapped the alt right there for me. Great guy, pleasure to deal with and the alt of course kicks ass. Where as before I had 14.5+ volts and the voltometer neddle bouncing with whatever music I had playing at the time, the new alt holds 13.5 volts rock steady regardless of the lights, wipers, heater, fogs, stereo it doesn't matter, it just stays.

So with Ihors help I got back on the road and off to KDR. While we were swapping the alt I noticed that my charge pipe had broken in half..... cheap chinese aluminum didn't like the temps used for the ceramic coating I guess and it became brittle and cracked, then broke. HUGE boost leak. So I nursed her over to KDR where we put a coupler on it so we could at least tune her.

After sorting through some mechanical issues with the TB sticking EVER so slightly and a few calls back and forth to Motec to figure out why the BAC wasn't turning off and keeping the idle at 1600.... we started making some pulls. First pull..... 131 hp @ 1lb After some troubleshooting (like 2 minutes) we figured out that in my sleep deprived state I got the lines from the boost and vac chambers crossed. (Good to have EVERYTHING on hand. I brought the wiring schematics for the Motec, all the pin-outs and even the schematic for the twins with ALL the vac boost lines color coded - that was the saving grace) The end result was the turbo control valve was closed, the charge control valve open, and the charge relief valve open. What that means was turbo control was closed and NOT proving exhaust to the secondary turbine, the primary turbo was boosting to atmosphere through the charge relief valve and backspooling the secondary turbo through the open charge control valve.... and still making positive manifold pressure.

So after a few hours working through various driveability issues and and other things we made some REALLY nice pulls. End result was 313 RWHP @ 7.5ish PSI and 7k RPM with conservative timing. I'll be back in a few weeks after some hard miles to and from DGRR to up the rev limit, up the boost, and MAYBE play with the timing... probably NOT play with the timing though.

My first time meeting Dave @ KDR and I really can't say enough good things about him. Very proffessional, VERY thourough and not at all afraid of the new software. Between the two of us working together it went incredibly smooth. I'm really looking forward to getting back on his dyno in a few weeks to turn up the boost and start playing around with the sequential turbos... like REALLY looking forward to working with Dave again. GREAT experience with both IRP and KDR today.

Some food for thought though..... and think about this.... stock FD makes 215 RWHP @ 10lbs...... I made 313 RWHP or 146% of RWHP at 75% of boost level, and with a lower redline. The torque curve KEPT CLIMBING strait to ign cut. Brian is very pleased. Brian is also making ~5lbs @ 2400 in 5th running NON-sequential. There's alot left to get out of this motor me thinks

So left to do on the "I Hope This Is the Last Fucking List," list that I have tacked on my wall is

install FTP lenses
Mount Inverter
Wire Inverter
Refinish my 3 other BBS rims
cut and buff the FR fender and bumper
glaze the entire car
Mount new tires that should be here tomorrow.... err today actually
get hub rings machined down
and my brakes still suck, they start off good and get squishy after a few hundred miles... so Thursday morning I'm going to install a new master and see if that helps it at all.

Looks like tonight is going to be another all nighter. I'll take Thursday off, work through the night Wed, nap a little on Thursday morning and then take off for DGRR. Thursday night in VA where we're stopping will be my first real nights sleep in probably 3 weeks.

[vex]

Originally Posted by TitaniumTT

Looks like tonight is going to be another all nighter. I'll take Thursday off, work through the night Wed, nap a little on Thursday morning and then take off for DGRR. Thursday night in VA where we're stopping will be my first real nights sleep in probably 3 weeks.

Where at in VA? If you're heading through Blacksburg you're welcome to swing by and I'll show you around town and you can see my project that's about ready to get kicked into overdrive in the next few days.

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by vex

Where at in VA? If you're heading through Blacksburg you're welcome to swing by and I'll show you around town and you can see my project that's about ready to get kicked into overdrive in the next few days.

We're staying in winchester along 81. Don't know where blacksburg ius and there are 3 in VA

[Max777]

Wow, I'm glad you got it done in time!

Unfortunately, not all of us had the same luck.

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by Max777

Wow, I'm glad you got it done in time!

Unfortunately, not all of us had the same luck.

That's a shame.... these cars are never "done" though