Ha! I'm feelin' the pressure now! Make sure I don't do anything dumb along the way. (That goes for the rest of you too.)

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Here's the latest from this weekend. I hope some of the parts from Suncoast come in this week. As I mentioned in a previous post, having to cut the crash beam lip off justified my purchase of a 4 1/2" DeWalt grinder. Turned out pretty dang smooth after a last smoothing with 120 grit wheel.

I really need to install the new injectors, but I've been stalling, cause I heard it is one of the most difficult tasks. Hmmm, come to think of it, I should have done that before tightening the carrier to the motor mounts.

Front crash beam without the top lip. Reciprocating saw, grinding wheel, and 120 grit turned this into a beauty! The coolant reservoir fits now!




Supporting the engine for replacement water pump, thermostat, motor mounts.


My trusty assistant "dad" feathered the MaxJax pressure release lever with one hand, the other hand was for coffee drinking


Motor mounts removed. Carrier shown below the hole. After much research, I will be replacing them with.... wait for it, wait... read on.


Water pump removal. Who says Android mobile app developers can't wrench!


The water pump is in great shape.




Part of the OEM gasket is used behind the component to the right of the waterpump. Have to snip it away in 3 places before installing the new one.


OEM waterpump on the left, aftermarket ($100ish) metal impeller on the right. Learning from the master technician in KC, I checked the bearing would actually spin (although it took a bit more force to do so). There's been some debate about using metal impellers. In the end, it was almost $200 cheaper. I hope it doesn't become the achilles heal. LOL).


New low temp thermostat. The bolt torque for the waterpump and thermostat is 7.5 ft/lbs


If you're read this far, you're probably wanting to know what motor mounts are going in.


RSS Semi-Solids. From my research, it's a good compromise between hydraulic and solid (for the price). http://rss.rpmware.com/rss/rss_perfo.../i-533242.aspx Torque top bolts to 25 ft/lbs, bottom nuts to 63 ft/lbs

 

Looking good Doug!

 

I had planned on working from the front of the car to the rear. That changed though. Early last week, I struggled with connecting one of the coolant hoses (from the SC coolant reservoir to the top inlet of the center radiator), and came to find out, it was the wrong length! So... what to do... oh yeah, the dreaded fuel injector swap.

Lessons learned:

• Drop the engine down a bit to gain more access. Your hands and knuckles will appreciate it. Swap the injectors when replacing the motor mounts, not after (duh)!
• Use a 5/16" socket to remove the two torx screws holding the fuel rail. An E10 socket's wall is too wide, and bumps against the intake. I replaced the torx with 8mm hex head screws (with thread lock goop).
• As many have suggested, lubricate the injector o rings for easier "seating" into the rail.

Driver Side: disconnected the fuel lines (marked with red circle). There are two E10 torx screws holding fuel rail (yellow circle). I used a 5/16" socket to remove, and replaced with 8mm hex head (see above for reason).




OEM injectors


VF Eng. on left (4 spray holes), stock on right (2 spray holes).




New injector installed. Assured the snap ring was securely fastened (and that the metal tab was sticking through the ring. I had bent one earlier while removing the OEM injector).


Was easier to disconnect the injector closest to the front of the car by accessing it from underneath.


All three injectors installed into the fuel rail.


Here's the inline MAF resistor. As evident by the electrical tape, this MAF connector had been spliced into before (probably EVOMS when installing the 1st prototypes of the SC).


Solder the white wire/blue stripe.

 

Glad I could help.

Cheers
Aaron

 

wow cool project.. !! good luck!

 

Ok Doug,

Since the weather has been complete crap for 2 weeks, you should have had time to make some good progress! Update!

 

Oh, you mean the 20+ inches of snow over 6 days? Here's my update. On the 3rd day, I finally got the carburetor on the snowblower un-gunked and pushing gas into the cylinder.

I managed to accomplish some other tasks as well. Remember a few posts back, where I mentioned suspending the SC coolant line hoses that run parallel to the aluminum supply & return engine coolant pipes? Here's what I came up with -- rubber clamps with a welded top nut (from zorotools.com). This is overkill, I know... but pretty cool idea, if I must say so myself. The photos and commentary below speak for themselves.

Question: Is the hose from the driver side coolant tank to the Bosch water pump supposed to travel *above* the transmission brace? I have it that way now, but when I move the tranny back up, the hose gets pinched. I could run it underneath, but then I would have to disconnect the hose anytime in the future the tranny would need to be dropped for service. I forgot to capture a photo

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I didn't like the idea of the coolant reservoir just being wedged between the front bumper bar and the body of the trunk. Using the two nuts, molded into the reservoir, it is now securely fastened to the body of the car with bolts. The hood latch mechanism is easily removed to gain access. (These mini-tasks is what is eating up all my install time! LOL)




Coolant reservoir securely fastened.




If you want to use the OEM radiator shroud, do NOT position the hose this way.


Instead, position the hose like this. Zip ties help keep in in place.










This is the assembly for suspending the two SC coolant lines in the transmission tunnel. The nut is already welded onto the clamp.


Remove the center console and drill a hole here (in green).


And fasten the assembly. So far, only the top aluminum coolant pipe is installed.


Drill another hole underneath the parking brake cables. Insert bolt.


The hole should be approximately 2" from the fuel filter electrical line (as shown by the black gromet).


Lastly, the water pump was mounted to the aluminum crossbar. I still need to hook up hose, but first want to find out if the hose should be run above the transmission, or below (see blue text question above).

 

nice updates and great attention to detail with the support for those coolant lines!

 

Are you going to change your spark plugs. If so, what are you going to go with?

 

I decided to leave the current plugs in. They were just changed out 6 months ago, and barely have any miles on them.

 

It's been a while since I posted. The supercharger is in, and the car is running great! No CELs after 300 miles. The car pulls really hard, starting at around 4500 RPMs. Here are some photos from the last several months. Next on the project list is installing an AFR gauge, boost gauge, and IAT gauge. Also, I've contacted the shop that did my initial dyno (post #1) about doing another dyno session. Enjoy!

VF's version 3 has a thermostat threaded into the cold side of the chargecooler. This thermostat, when wired to the MAF, provides a more accurate IAT to the DME.


This is the bracket that holds the overflow/refill tank.


The DME is located back here on cabriolets. Put the top in the "service position" and prop it up with a jack handle


The DME. Remove and send to VF for flashing.


DME removed.

 

This is the 12V relay (blue) for powering the Bosch water pump.


Beside the batter, find the black and yellow wire that will power the relay when the ignition switch is turned on.


Run the red wire from the relay to the water pump.

 

997 pulleys fastened to the supercharger.


Extra long bolt and spacer.


Mounted


Supercharger compressed hot air (via silicon tube) photo 1.


Photo #2


The overflow/fill tank. On the chargecooler, you can see the IAT thermostat mentioned in a previous post.


Used a UView to vacuum in the coolant. Capacity was a little over 2 gallons.

 

Final Photo #1


Final Photo #2


Washed up, and ready to run!

 

Next on the list:

1. Drive the car and enjoy the new power!

2. Dyno session.

3. Install catch can (http://store.42draftdesigns.com/Stea...Can_p_289.html or http://jlttruecoldair.com/ZenCart/in...ndex&cPath=378 or recommendations.

4. Custom Exhaust (TIG Welded T304, no cats, exhaust will exit same side as head -- no crossover)

5. Install AFR gauge, boost gauge, IAT gauge