Chris's Dyno plot

Posted by BuckeyeSVT, Nov 14 2008, 08:16 AM

Here's a quick entry about Chris's completed tune with dyno graph. The graph is in SAE, the smoothing is 5(standard). The run could've been a bit stronger without the main cat starting to fail (was seeing flecks of converter material in the exhaust stream under heavy load. Chris is aware and I imagine will correct over the winter and possibly even better numbers can be obtained. Not bad numbers though for a full oval port 3L! 206 / 206 FTW!

Chris's setup:
2005 Sable 3.0L
All Oval Port!
MSDS Headers
Modified Stock Y-pipe
Trubendz Exhaust with One Magneflow
Short Ram Air Intake (Open Element)
Fuel Rail w/EPR and custom fuel line.

That's it... He had some other goodies to install but either they weren't compatible with his setup or they were a failure in the engineering department before they were shipped.

-Dom

Update 11/5/08

Posted by BuckeyeSVT, Nov 5 2008, 07:03 PM

This update is chock full of goodies (not really... just sounded good). Let's start with Chris's car... Backstreet tuned it, however it's not quite right. The engine surges at part throttle and I can see it on the datalog that everything is heaving when it's acting up. Spark advance is jumping around, fuel pressure the same.. Weird driveability. Great plots on the dyno, crappy engine feel stoplight to stoplight.. Still working on resolving this issue (main priority right now).

Jim's car is coming along.. I have some pics of the engine in the engine bay:

I think the silver looks good.. Don't you?

-Dom

Shop update 10/26/08

Posted by BuckeyeSVT, Oct 26 2008, 11:14 PM

Well, another week down and another update. Where do I start????

Chris's Cougar is now in the hands of Backstreet Performance, they are the dyno shop for Corsa exhaust and Mallett's LS1/LT1 cars. I was going to stick around and ask about the Solstice, however I was already late with Richie waiting for me at the shop to install stabilizer links. More on Chris's car when I get it back.

Jhurd's subframe is complete (everything transferred over and reinstalled into the car). Looks like the previous owner went aground on the passenger side. Anyway, it's all reinstalled and complete. Once everything is buttoned up it's off to the tuners!



The Chrysler T/C I have at the shop for a no-start/fails to keep running I figured out. Turns out the TCM sits under the front bumper below the drivers side headlamp. When you think of a no-start you normally don't associate the Transmission Control Module. However, after following every trouble tree and diagnostic test for the crank and cam sensors and they all passed with flying colors I had to look a little further out. Turns out in the wiring diagram that the crank signal is split between the PCM and the TCM. The TCM was rotted sitting behind the bumper and shorting the crank signal out. Removed the harness connector and the engine fired right up. Figures it would be something totally un-related. Oh well, at least I know what it needs and I'll order the TCM in the morning.



The 95 LX has gone to the big metal graveyard. We cut the car in half (because what else is fun to do on a Friday night?). So, enjoy the pics below - My ears only stopped ringing today from the air chisel cutting the sheet metal and the sawing of the reinforcements....





More later when I don't feel like dozing off....lol.

-Dom

Short update, long day....

Posted by BuckeyeSVT, Oct 19 2008, 08:37 AM

I had someone email me about the "other" car in the shop and if it's coming along like Jhurds... Yes, it is coming along nicely. The engine and trans are mated and all that is left is to install the wiring on the engine and graft the fuel and COP harnesses to the engine.

Here's a few shots:

Moving along, I was at the shop early yesterday to receive a tow-in local 99 Contour 2.0L with a bad oil leak. Apparently the customer lent the car to a neighbor and when they brought it back it was 3.5 quarts low of oil and dripping from the engine compartment. The whole belt drive side of the engine is completely soaked with oil... Something I have yet to dive into today,

The scrap Contour SE is getting down to it's final curtain call - Billy decided it would be a good idea to see how a Contour would look as a Convertible... Since I don't care about that car and it's stripped anyway we started cutting necessary areas. It's not finished and I discovered the car was rotted a whole lot worse than I originally suspected then the passenger B pillar started to pull away when it was cut. I have some pics of the destruction and of the body rotted.



I've still have other projects on the backburner... The Vibe is almost finished (the totalled one) and I have a damaged Town and Country on my hands for a no-start... All in play.




That doesn't include the 95 Contour LX for a transmission nor the Mustang GT that needs a convertible top (that I just picked up). So when people think I'm just sitting around doing nothing and blowing them off....

I Wish.

-Dom

Shop update 10/18/08

Posted by BuckeyeSVT, Oct 18 2008, 11:09 AM

Just a quick update since most of my customers follow this blog, Chris's car is back from the exhaust shop... The owner said the Trubendz kit was the worst designed kit he had ever saw. Almost every pipe had to be manipulated or heated and moved. Honestly when I started fitting all the pieces together I thought it would never go all together. They made it work however, and it cost me a little to get it done right - Shame Trubendz has such poor quality control over the pipe fitment and bends.

Jhurd's engine is complete and almost ready to be reinstalled into the car. I have to do some quick work on the subframe and then I can get the motor and trans dropped back into the car.

Here's some pics of his engine sitting on the stand getting ready to be pulled down from the stand to the ground where I can mate it with the trans from Terry.

-Dom

Gum Ball Rally!! Fun Fun....

Posted by BuckeyeSVT, Oct 6 2008, 08:49 AM

Yesterday I entered the Black SVT into the Gum Ball Run put on by a local car club 330tuning. It basically is a 100 mile road rally (not race - however it did in certain parts become just that for quite a few of us)... That has 3 checkpoints near each 33.0 mile mark. It requires 2 people, one driver and one navigator. You are timed and mileage recorded and given an instruction sheet (basically a sheet with directions on it to follow to each checkpoint). We had some crazy points in that rally where we were sideways and chasing a couple of cars (S2000 and an Acura TL) which we did very well. At one point we had to take a 2 minute break - The car quit on us while in chase of the TL, the exhaust I just installed apparently moved from all the action and burned through the insulation in the main battery cable (I have a relocate). No biggie, I have plenty of slack under the car and pulled the cable off of the exhaust and re-routed it slightly. Opened the trunk, reset the breaker and we were on our way. At that point the TL was gone... So we were now behind a couple of other cars (Miata and older MR2) and just kept in the chase.

All in all there were 19 cars that entered the rally, all finished. For our first showing we did win an award for 3rd place in overall time. It was a great time and next year I will invite all interested FCO members to attend. It's a $10 entry fee and you need to have a navigator. I have pics from the meeting before the race - I'll post them later.. there will be more pics of us on 330tuning.com if anyone is interested in looking.

Thanks Billy (wantsansvt) for being my navigator! It was a fun time.

-Dom

Full 3L builds....

Posted by BuckeyeSVT, Oct 4 2008, 10:45 PM

It seems funny that we get so many questions on the forums about how the 3L's are built - But no one ever actually "see's" how it actually goes together.

Right now I am building and installing 2 engines for customers. I have some pics of Jhurd's 3L engine that is being prepped and readied for for installation. The engine mount is one thing that most people get hung up on. I make one channel cut on the top of the mount and that's all the modification it needs. Lining it up right and giving it a little tap slides it right in place without having to grind the whole mount up. Most engine builds we paint the blocks Ford Grey with 3 coats just to protect the surfaces and make it look more asthetically pleasing. Most people won't see it, but when you look at it from underneath it will look clean. Also if there ever was an oil leak it won't soak into the pores of the aluminum and will be easier to trace.

Here's some progress shots taken tonight...

New engine sitting on the engine stand in front of the car with the old (blown) engine sitting next to it.

Pic of old engine (locked up)


Clean engine!!


Pic of engine mount installed..


Old trans and new trans from Terry Haines..



I expect to wrap this build up shortly, and the other build is following at the same pace (which means they will probably finish up around the same time. Both will head off to Akron to be tuned and delivered to their respective owners.

-Dom

Working through a backlog...

Posted by BuckeyeSVT, Sep 28 2008, 08:28 PM

As Billy and I keep trucking along on engine builds I'm going to take a little time out to update a few things we have going on at the shop.

First Chris's (SlowCat) Cougar is for the most part finished. I need to drop it off at the exhaust shop (the Trubendz rear tailpipes are nowhere even close to lining up with the bumper correctly) apparently their jig is off on the rear pipes as they are severely off. Then after that drop it off at Akron Horsepower for a dyno tune. After that, deliver the car to Chris. I'll attach some pics I took today of the finished setup (the CAI will not work - Apparently Nautilus failed to realize the fusebox on the newer 2000+ cars is bigger and the CAI pipe will NOT clear. Plus the weight of the pipe (extruded aluminum would work 100% better than heavy steel)... Yuk. Even with serious fender modifications the pipe will not work correctly. Oh well... I used what I could and moved on. Keep in mind this engine is just built, it will get detailed and the underhood completely cleaned before it leaves the shop.

I'm in the thick of two more engine builds that are coming along pretty nicely. I'll post a quick pic of the shop tonight...



I'm going to try and stay on top of all this through the week and possibly have two engines ready to drop in next weekend.

-Dom

Cars getting older, but still running strong...

Posted by BuckeyeSVT, Sep 20 2008, 08:44 PM