I thought I'd make a quick update. So much has changed so fast on this car.

Gone are the B23E, K-Jet, M46 and exhaust.

New to the car are:

Fully built B230FT - completely rebuilt engine. Balanced and blue printed. H-beam rods, new pistons, new everything.
2.5" stainless exhaust from the turbo to the tail pipe.
TD04H-15G (ported sitting on a 90+ manifold, also ported and all ceramic coated).
Bosch Green Giant injectors
LH-2.4 conversion (much more on this later).
T5 Transmission (with completely new internals and 0.80 5th gear)
New drive shaft with a proper centre bearing.

What an adventure - the good news is that after doing a complete analysis of the pile of "information" on various boards, the EFI conversion fired and ran on the first touch of the key! Once the air in the fuel line was purged, it idles nicely between 750 and 800 RPM (which wouldn't have ever happened before) and it purrs like a kitten.

I've decided that I'll write a definitive how-to on the K-Jet to LH 2.4 swap to clean up some of the chatter and silliness that I found.

http://youtu.be/VzfyYnDgJBI

NICE, congrats on getting it done!!!

Absolutely love your attention to detail on this project Craig. Really looking forward to your reports on how the motor behaves once installed and running.

Also looking forward to the how to article - I'm interested to see if the steps could be used as a guide for installing 2.4 as an upgrade to the L-Jet in my Peugeot. :) I bought VEMS V3.3, but if I could retrofit LH 2.4 I would be happier I think.

Rabin

There are still a few little issues that have cropped up. When we first started it the JY starter was not really happy, so I got a new one...it was the only part I hadn't changed. Lessons learned. I then moved the monster grommet and re-taped the harness (using harness tape, not electrical tape - please get this stuff) as well as adjusted the fitment of the O2 sensor wiring position so that it's neat and tucked and secured away from the very hot exhaust. I basically spent a day working on details after we fired the car. There are three small issues from the first road test:

1. Starter wire from the new harness (8 plug connector) has deteriorated, so while it looks plugged in, it isn't. Interesting that the old plug is MINT. So I'll replace that from my parts harness (get harnesses from the JY).

2. The speedometer is reading 20 KPH high. Should be a simple fix next week. I can probably get a gear locally. Changing is a few minutes (please keep me honest and make sure I do this).

3. Power steering rack had ingested some water and needs to be flushed.

There is also an odd ticking noise that I've traced to the air idle control motor. It's more noticeable in the car that outside...due to diesel motor mounts on the engine and poly mount on the trans. So basically the NHV is being transmitted. It goes away off idle (duh), but it's sort of annoying - I'll look into it.

The car is completely transformed. It's got a ton of power at only 7 psi. I really didn't have this in mind, but the way the car responds to everything is so different when you have power under your right foot. The steering feel is better with the new pump (even with the frothy fluid) and the car seems pretty happy. It's got about the same power levels as the 122 at this point, but how it gets there with the turbo is very different. It's really quiet, it just moves.

My standard procedure for engine break in involves a self-imposed redline of 4.5K rpm for a thousand KM run on dino oil. Then switch to synthetic. So who knows what happens at 5 and 6K rpm. It will get a chip tune and 12 psi once broken in. It was either LH figuring things out or just me thinking that it was, but the idle from run was first a little variable, then was rock solid. I like to think that it was the computer, but it may have been just burning oils off of things. The trans is wonderful - no crunchy shifts, it whines a little in first (which I like - reminds me of my M41 in the 122), it's smooth and feels fantastic. Not sure the centre bearing drive shaft custom deal is mounted up properly yet, but it's tuneable.

Fitment problems have cropped up, there was an issue with the hood release cable. It got stretched when I had to move the battery as far as it would go to the drivers side fender to clear the IC piping. So when I tried to get the wire fitted, it broke. Much religion was lost. It doesn't seem like much, but I had installed the grill and only just got away with getting the hood open. If your hood locks in the down position, you're pretty much screwed. I do no better, but I'm learning to be more humble...this car is teaching me that in heavy dollops.

The biggest problem continues to be the shifter. I picked up a B&M Ripper shifter from one of the guys on TBrix for cheap and it's got a cranked (goose neck) style shifter. The factory shift boot is putting too much tension on the shifter because of this bend in the shifter and popping it out of 2nd, 4th, reverse. So I stupidly cut the boot and thought that my leather boot would be sufficient to make seal it up. No such luck. I've ordered a new boot and will pull that shift arm out and take the bend out of it on my press today.

Details, details - the residence of the devil and the source of all future problems.

Just out of curiosity when does the 13T start building boost?

And I realize the danger in asking - but any plans to run a little bigger turbo when you chip it?

Rabin

I'm running the 15G - so I guess that answers at least one of the questions. No plans on going much further for now. This is still the car that I drive in all conditions and pretty much everywhere, so no need for stupid amounts of boost. It is currently spooled by around 3000 rpm (not exactly sure, but it builds boost quickly with no lag). I could up the compressor housing - but with 12 psi (currently at 7) it'll be plenty of fun.

I'm liking the off boost performance. It's go so much more torque than the previous engine. It's really nice and drivable.

Sorry Craig - No idea why I read 13T, but thats why I asked if there was a plan to go a bit bigger. 15G makes more sense...

Sounds like a great DD package for sure.

Rabin

OK heres's a shot of the engine bay...I'll take more later.



My break-in procedure turns stainless purple fast.



Issues cropped up with the engine harness right away...the connectors looked fine but literally fell out (see them behind my finger). So I replaced that connector entirely with a weather pac unit.





Here you can see the shifter problem...a little too much crank on that handle.



And what can happen with a few minute of careful work with a torch.

First road trip with the new engine/trans etc today. Lethbridge to Fernie and back on 37 L fuel (430 km). Crazy power, great economy and so quiet inside. Rarely in boost going up some hills that had me down shifting in the past. Speedometer is about 18 k/hr high, so I have to fix that.

I'm sort of wondering where the lore about the Bosch Green Giant injectors getting poor fuel economy due to their sizing has come from. I figured they would work well, and they do. Now, I did unshroud the intake to take advantage of their spray pattern. Who knows.

Just putting this out there...lately the car is having the odd start/idle issues. It can be hard to start from time to time (usually first try, but not always) and then the idle is a bit rough initially then smooths out. This is also accompanied with a relatively high idle. It's telling me that its running rich. I've got no codes. I wonder if the IAC is getting sticky. Any thoughts?

My suggestion would be a dodgey temp (NTC?) sensor or connections to it...

Rabin

The fun continues with the car. The trip to the autocross gave me a look into the handling issues with the car. This is the cookbook 240 handling package (poly bushings, lowering springs, billy HD's, IPD bars) - heaps better than stock, but I was having some issues with the rear end getting loose with all the new power. The autocross also showed me that the car understeers at the limit fairly badly. So I've got the worst of both worlds, an understeering front end and a oversteering rear end. The front end pushes and the rear is loose in NASCAR speak.

So, a quick trip to the alignment shop will help out the front as much as I can without doing more modifications. The rear on the other hand was a combination of too much sway bar and the poly bushings in the lower control arm big bushing position leaving me with no roll compliance and no grip. The open differential was also not helping with wheel spin.

So, off to the parts stash I go as I'm sure I've got a LSD that will work (well, Matt said it would). I bought it for a car I don't own (is there a 12 step program?) - now I have an established need. Now, it's a used part that was used for racing. So all bets are off on how good this old Power Lok is going to be. So the LSD will get a rebuild with new clutches and I'll completely rebuild the rear end with all new parts and write a little how-to.

In the mean time, here's the fun parts.



Insides are cleanish. It's full of random goop that will be cleaned.



Side gears are in nice shape. Nice goop.


Neither cross shaft (they're mated parts - torque pushes them apart and they lock the clutches) was broken. This is a known weak spot due to the hole. I think the people that brake them are drag racing. They are covered in greasy goop. Nasty.



Bearings were pulled (cut the cages, release the rollers, then head the inner race and pull - not easy, but works). I made a set of set-up bearings (honed a set of bearings to fit without pressing them on, so I can shim the carrier properly). Here's the puller set-up.



I'll finish this on the weekend/next week. Feels good to do mechanical work for a change.

Camber to the rescue...my poor front tires are now a little round on the shoulders, so I decided to extend a set of lower control arms 40 mm and get a few degrees of camber for my trouble. Less than 1/2 day turn around from the powder coaters really does help get things moving. Big rush to get these done in one day, so there aren't many pictures of the build process. Boxed with 16 ga - coated inside and out.

Camber to the rescue...my poor front tires are now a little round on the shoulders, so I decided to extend a set of lower control arms 40 mm and get a few degrees of camber for my trouble. Less than 1/2 day turn around from the powder coaters really does help get things moving. Big rush to get these done in one day, so there aren't many pictures of the build process. Boxed with 16 ga - coated inside and out.

Ooooo! Purdy! Ahhhh...okay, I see how this works. Well done.