Thats odd, Paul you should be able to see it. You're my friend on facebook.

zayyuuummm!

Just wait until it moves.

BTW in case you can't tell. Not only will this car make BIGZ horse-powahz, but it will retain A/C and power steering.



BAWSE.

Downpipe came in today. Makes me wish I worked harder on it before so she'd be ready for the Toy for Tots cruise tomorrow.... Ah well.

Nice pics. Engine looks purrtttyyy! When do you think it'll be up and running?

Probably never.....

I keep finding stupid little hiccups.

The Fidanza adjustable cam gears had one of the bolts backed out before the nut was put on on the intake side. Despite this, one of the assemblers (or the machine that did it) still put the lock washer and nut on it. It didn't catch the threads right.

When I looked at the cam gear I could tell that this one nut was flush with the bolt, while all the other bolts stuck out about 4-5mm. So I tried to tighten the nut. And it just fell off. I guess the lack of that ONE bolt was enough and the cam gear is showing -1 cam timing. But instead of the gear staying put and adjusting the camshaft. It looks like the cam gear shifted back and it put too much slack on the timing belt between the two cam gears.

Yeah thats rough. I'm sure you'll get it done, just unexpected little problems. Wish I could help with the problem or offer some assistance but I got lots to learn in motor building and engine internals. Good luck with it all though man!

Haven't been on here in a while, been busy with life. Some really heavy things have happened. But I've slowly been getting my life back under control. With things back under control. I started back on the car.

So more kinks reared it's ugly head. Some of it required so custom solutions. And I ended up taking quiet a few steps backwards. Specifically I started to take apart my interior in order to run two 2 AWG wires through my interior to relocate my battery to the back. The new intake manifold put the throttle body lower and further towards the battery tray which made it impossible to have the battery in it's OE location. Most people like to run the cables through the harness where main engine harness goes through, but having an small electronic background, I know that this could alter signals on these tiny wires. So I elected to run the cables through the shifter cable bushing. I must say. This is NOT as easy as I thought it would be. So far I got one of the two wires ran to the trunk. Also got the Fuelab fuel filter mounted and the braided nylon fuel feed line cut and installed. Also got the GM AIT sensor installed and I soldered my own connector.


In this photo you can see where I installed the GM IAT. This sensor and all vacuum sources are under the Intake Manifold to keep it looking clean.


(In this photo the two lines going down are the shifter cables. The one going kind of up is a power cable).


In this last photo you can see the thick 2 AWG cable to the left of the passenger seat. It will eventually be tucked on the right side to keep it away from the main engine harness and ECU.


Installed both radiator fans, due to the turbo setup being so big, I had to install the A/C fan in front of the A/C condenser core. The 12" fan will not fit in front of the condenser so I had to buy a 10" fan. Also, because the fan is NOW in front, I had to solder the fans swap the power/return cables. So that the fan runs backwards. Also got the air-to-air oil cooler mounted. (in picture to right of fan). I had to make my own lines. -8AN nylon braided.



Check out my uber soldering skillz. lol


Last but not least, I had to figure out a solution for some more gauges. Right now I have a electronic oil and fuel pressure gauge. The fuel is too big so I mounted it on top. The oil pressure gauge will go in the vent. But the problem is the only gauge pod they sell for the vent is a two gauge pod. I also have a pyrometer guage, but not sure if I want to go through the trouble of installing it... I mean I don't really need it, I tune the car off of knock and A/F ration.....but I will have a hole where a gauge normally goes so I may as well use it.... I dunno.
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Things I did that is not pictured is cut and soldered the COP harness into the factory ECU harness, so it no unplugs like the OEM. I installed all the bushings that I wanted to and installed the lower lateral arms...kinda wished I hadn't installed them yet as they keep getting in the way. That's about it.

Things I got left to do

Power
I need to running my battery cables. This should not be hard. I already got all the connectors I need for it. 30 feet of 2 guage wire and a battery terminal that can accept two, 2 gauge and two, 8 gauge wires. (8 gauge will be used for my fuel pump rewire later on and a methanol/water injection kit later down the line). The last part of this equation is figuring out how to run the OEM power cables to this new setup. The current plan is to have one 2ga wire run from the alternator straight to the battery harness. Then have the starter and accecories each run 4 gauge to a splitter (which I already have) mounted in the cabin on the other side of the splitter is the other 2ga wire. I also will be installing a 175amp circuit breaker on each 2ga line and a 150amp fuse on the alternator before it goes into cabin. This will give me a failsafe in the even something grounds out for any reason.


Fuel
I need to finish up running the fuel feed line from the pump to the fuel filter. I need to figure out where I am going to install the adjustable fuel pressure regulator(AFPR). This is going to be harder than with most other cars. Mostly because my car is going to retain power steering, A/C and Cruise control (CC). The CC box is normally removed and the AFPR is installed in it's place, but that's not going to work with me. So I am making my own bracket. After that I have to install the dual fuel pump setup, which is a bolt in affair, so no hardwork there.

Drivetrain
The entire drivetrain is out as I need room to figure out the Power solution. But I've pulled/installed the drivetrain on this car a few dozen times and it LITERALLY will take me less than an hour to install it. However, I'm hoping to sell some parts in the next few weeks so I can get a 6-puck clutch disc. Even at moderate boost levels, my current organic street disc will not hold close to any of the power. Long term plans calls for a twin disc clutch.

Suspension
Well I am intentionally leaving out the front sway bar to get the car to oversteer more. Other than that I got new shocks for the car. I just need to install them.

Button-up items
Gotta install the Power steering pump. Install the gauges (oil/fuel pressure). Double check the torque on the cam shaft gears (since the intake cam already slipped 1 degree). Also got to remove the turbo compressor housing (again) and have it drilled and tapped for 1/4"NTP so I have a boost source for the AEM Tru-boost controller. Install and gap spark plugs. Install the piping, fill the fluids and start her up.

Tune
I will be tuning it myself, but I must break in the engine first. Idle/cruise tune will be done on the streets. WOT tune will be done at a track. Hoping to run 27-30psi on pump gas, maybe 11.4:1 A/F. And advance the timing as knock will allow.

Glad things are turning around and allowing you to get back to normal. Doesn't sound like to awefully much left. Hope to see it up and at it soon. That is a pretty solder.

Yea, I got 3 options right now.

1) Finish now. I technically have everything I need minus spark plugs and fluids.

2) Finish OK for now. I would need the fuse/circuit breakers and a 6-puck clutch disc... Less than $200 worth of stuff. Car would make in the area of 400-500 AWHP.

3) Finish right! Twin-disc clutch, meth/water injection kit. Over $1500 worth of stuff. And I'd make in north of 600 AWHP, maybe even break 700 AWHP if I swap to a T3 manifold and the .70 ar turbine housing.

I'm a big advocate of doing it right the first time. It's not like its your daily. You have time.

Well you don't want a fresh rebuilt block to sit too long. It's been close to a year. I want to get those rings wearing on the cylinder walls before they start to oxidize. And with me being a business owner.... $1500 may not come around for a few YEARS!

Oh word. If it's going to be that long then just finish it up so it's safe and get it running. Then when the money comes around finish it up right.