running plenty of antifreeze. I'm not blowing lines or anything, but I also noticed that the coolant is rising up and down in the radiator. I figured it was due to a slight oscillation in engine idle rpm. It doesn't bubble, though.
Progress Thread 331 Turbo Project - at shop for Paint & Interior
- Thread starter FastDriver
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wheres my props
I found and fixed his coolent leak. hes been very very polite in reference to the lack of attention to detail by the builder. several connectors for his braided steel coolent lines were finger tight but at least they used teflon tape so it wouldnt leak noticeably unless you put pressure on one of the lines causing the connector seat to move. then it poured out like a water fall.
I found and fixed his coolent leak. hes been very very polite in reference to the lack of attention to detail by the builder. several connectors for his braided steel coolent lines were finger tight but at least they used teflon tape so it wouldnt leak noticeably unless you put pressure on one of the lines causing the connector seat to move. then it poured out like a water fall.
1991notchbackLX
Active Member
Chris, do you have some kind of pathological aversion to posting pictures of your car? 
This is a text-only progress thread!
In all seriousness though, I'm glad to hear your car will be in good hands while you're overseas. Rick should have that beast running like a top in no time flat. Keep us posted and safe trip.
Chris
This is a text-only progress thread!In all seriousness though, I'm glad to hear your car will be in good hands while you're overseas. Rick should have that beast running like a top in no time flat. Keep us posted and safe trip.
Chris
Ok, fine. It's definitely a work in progress, but I guess that's the point of these threads. The front of the car looks terrible, I know. I'm planning to replace those lights with either darker lensed lights or those euro looking lights that are similar looking to the ones on the new vettes with like 3 lights in one. The front fascia will eventually be replaced with the saleen one. It'll help to cover the intercooler without that ****ty looking cutting. I'm thinking about replacing the 2" cowl with a cervini heat extractor if it fits. If not, I'll repaint and straighten out the hood on there.
- I adjusted the front-mounted intercooler so that it actually looks straight, and I moved it forward cutting a little more out of the bottom front fascia to give it the room I needed. I replaced the condensor, compressor, hoses, accumulator, and lines. The old condenser was taking up the space the new radiator needed. So I pushed the intercooler forward with the condenser and that gave me enough room for the radiator, shroud, and fans. A mechanic nearby flushed the system and installed the lines. All it needs now is a charge and to hook up the electrical connections and the A/C will be fully functional. The mechanic used and heat-wrapped metal line from the condensor back to the firewall/evaporator since it ran right next to the exhaust tubing.
- The Ron Davis Radiator with this really trick-looking metal shroud, and twin spal electric fans is also installed. I heat-wrapped the exhaust side of the turbo so it wouldn't melt the passenger side fan. Plus it'll keep the A/C line a little cooler.
The attachments show the intercooler from the front. At least it's level and affixed on both ends, now. The other pic shows the stack from right to left: intercooler pipe (best I could get with the camera from above), the condenser, and the radiator from the front.
More to follow...
- I adjusted the front-mounted intercooler so that it actually looks straight, and I moved it forward cutting a little more out of the bottom front fascia to give it the room I needed. I replaced the condensor, compressor, hoses, accumulator, and lines. The old condenser was taking up the space the new radiator needed. So I pushed the intercooler forward with the condenser and that gave me enough room for the radiator, shroud, and fans. A mechanic nearby flushed the system and installed the lines. All it needs now is a charge and to hook up the electrical connections and the A/C will be fully functional. The mechanic used and heat-wrapped metal line from the condensor back to the firewall/evaporator since it ran right next to the exhaust tubing.
- The Ron Davis Radiator with this really trick-looking metal shroud, and twin spal electric fans is also installed. I heat-wrapped the exhaust side of the turbo so it wouldn't melt the passenger side fan. Plus it'll keep the A/C line a little cooler.
The attachments show the intercooler from the front. At least it's level and affixed on both ends, now. The other pic shows the stack from right to left: intercooler pipe (best I could get with the camera from above), the condenser, and the radiator from the front.
More to follow...
Attachments
1991notchbackLX
Active Member
Hah, I didn't mean anything by it, dude. I was just busting balls. I was just curious how the turbo kit came out and how the fans looked. I think the car is looking great. Besides, anyone who doesn't like the way it looks can line up against you.
I've been hawking out so many pics of turbo engine bays because I'll be installing my kit soon... custom Pony Down hot side with 1-5/8" primaries and all V-bands/MasterPower T-70/TiAl 44mm WG/TiAl 50mm Q BOV/ 3" DP/ebay a/a 27x11x3" I/C and 3" cold side. Hoping to make enough power to unzip my stock block and have it bleed green and brown all over the pavement, haha.
Hah, I didn't mean anything by it, dude. I was just busting balls. I was just curious how the turbo kit came out and how the fans looked. I think the car is looking great. Besides, anyone who doesn't like the way it looks can line up against you.
I've been hawking out so many pics of turbo engine bays because I'll be installing my kit soon... custom Pony Down hot side with 1-5/8" primaries and all V-bands/MasterPower T-70/TiAl 44mm WG/TiAl 50mm Q BOV/ 3" DP/ebay a/a 27x11x3" I/C and 3" cold side. Hoping to make enough power to unzip my stock block and have it bleed green and brown all over the pavement, haha.
Ha Ha 1991notchbackLX it worked finally starting to see more of that black turbo fox, couple little odds and ends to be tightened up. No worrys the way my stang kills the pavement cant imagine u turbo guys Power im jealous 1991notchbackLX your gonna go turbo wit stock block what
i gotta talk rick into burning a nitrous program on my chip i got the whole kit hooked up ready to go im only putting around 400RWHP i can squeeze a 75 nos shot in there, ur gonna be hittin that stock block with more how high are u gonna go with RWHP?
I backed up the earlier results with another dyno yesterday. I needed another tune because I lost the old one, and never really had good drivability.
The car made a best pull of 703rwhp SAE (724 rwhp uncorrected) at 14 psi. The tuner, Jonathan at XXX performance in pensacola, was very good, fun to watch, and was willing to talk me through the changes he made so that I can also play with the BS3 in the future. Jonathan kept the timing very conservative while he played with the AFR and ensured that it stayed in the 11.5 range. I think the car is still running a little fat in places, but I can work on that myself. He also kept the timing conservative. Starting at 16*, once he got the AFR close, he added a degree of timing and didn't see any power gain. That was surprising to me, because on the old tune, the car made best power at 21*. So, maybe he left some power on the table for me to tune out of it when I eventually take it to the track.
As a side note, we also found the problem that led me to almost lose control of the car very early on after receiving it. The first time they accelerated in the car on the dyno, they stopped everything and said, "something is very wrong in the suspension." The got under the car and watched it while driving it on the dyno and found the rear end noticeably moving around under the car. It turns out that the idiots who built my suspension for me (see earlier posts) left 3 bolts loose on the upper control arms. Though I'm not a suspension guy, you can see my earliest posts after receiving the car where I'm talking about almost losing control at very high speed. You know, I was very close to losing the car, and possibly getting injured back then because of this issue. Thank you Dayton Performance. Now that everything is tight, it's a world of difference, and there's still something that doesn't sound right back there. The guys at XXX think that the upper control arm bushing may be on the wrong bolt. It's ok, though. When they put a built rear in it for me, they'll take a look and correct it if necessary.
We recently found and stopped the coolant leak. It was a result of the thermostat housing being loose. The rear main seal still leaks oil like a seive, and there's also oil leaking up front from where the lower intake was installed. After the loose fuel line that left a puddle of gasoline under the engine bay while it was running, two loose coolant lines, billing me for but not actually installing rear shocks, low results in 5&6 after the compression test, the problems with the time it took to get everything done. The way the body was taken care of, and the amount of time it took to get everything done (about a year and a half - exceeded the 14 months I was deployed to Iraq). After adding the loose upper control arms to the laundry list of problems, I regard my decision to take it to Dayton Performance the biggest mistake I've ever made. At least the car is still in one peice, the motor hasn't blown up, and I never got hurt.
The car made a best pull of 703rwhp SAE (724 rwhp uncorrected) at 14 psi. The tuner, Jonathan at XXX performance in pensacola, was very good, fun to watch, and was willing to talk me through the changes he made so that I can also play with the BS3 in the future. Jonathan kept the timing very conservative while he played with the AFR and ensured that it stayed in the 11.5 range. I think the car is still running a little fat in places, but I can work on that myself. He also kept the timing conservative. Starting at 16*, once he got the AFR close, he added a degree of timing and didn't see any power gain. That was surprising to me, because on the old tune, the car made best power at 21*. So, maybe he left some power on the table for me to tune out of it when I eventually take it to the track.
As a side note, we also found the problem that led me to almost lose control of the car very early on after receiving it. The first time they accelerated in the car on the dyno, they stopped everything and said, "something is very wrong in the suspension." The got under the car and watched it while driving it on the dyno and found the rear end noticeably moving around under the car. It turns out that the idiots who built my suspension for me (see earlier posts) left 3 bolts loose on the upper control arms. Though I'm not a suspension guy, you can see my earliest posts after receiving the car where I'm talking about almost losing control at very high speed. You know, I was very close to losing the car, and possibly getting injured back then because of this issue. Thank you Dayton Performance. Now that everything is tight, it's a world of difference, and there's still something that doesn't sound right back there. The guys at XXX think that the upper control arm bushing may be on the wrong bolt. It's ok, though. When they put a built rear in it for me, they'll take a look and correct it if necessary.
We recently found and stopped the coolant leak. It was a result of the thermostat housing being loose. The rear main seal still leaks oil like a seive, and there's also oil leaking up front from where the lower intake was installed. After the loose fuel line that left a puddle of gasoline under the engine bay while it was running, two loose coolant lines, billing me for but not actually installing rear shocks, low results in 5&6 after the compression test, the problems with the time it took to get everything done. The way the body was taken care of, and the amount of time it took to get everything done (about a year and a half - exceeded the 14 months I was deployed to Iraq). After adding the loose upper control arms to the laundry list of problems, I regard my decision to take it to Dayton Performance the biggest mistake I've ever made. At least the car is still in one peice, the motor hasn't blown up, and I never got hurt.
Well, I'm planning to have it taken back to them in a week or two to swap the rear end. After that, I'm going to have a TH400 tranny built and installed. Before it goes in, they will finish the tune by taking it up to high boost. I'd like to see if the TKO can make it through a high-boost abuse session. If it can, I might crack off a 1000rwhp run! So maybe a month or so. I'll let you know so you can come for the festivities. I'll be in Afghanistan by then. So it would be cool to hear your comments on the event.
So far, I'm impressed with Brad and Jonathan over there. Pensacola's XXX seems to be a good shop. I was pleasantly surprised that they were proficient tuning the BS3, and with how quickly they diagnosed and fixed the suspension issue. Hopefully, I'll fair better with them. This time, when I come back from Afghanistan, I'll have a car that has a finished drivetrain.
So far, I'm impressed with Brad and Jonathan over there. Pensacola's XXX seems to be a good shop. I was pleasantly surprised that they were proficient tuning the BS3, and with how quickly they diagnosed and fixed the suspension issue. Hopefully, I'll fair better with them. This time, when I come back from Afghanistan, I'll have a car that has a finished drivetrain.
Last night, I played with a civic that had a turbo integra motor. The guy said his car ran 11.8@120 already, which in my opinion is a damned good time for that car, if it's true. The car did good. I lowered the boost to 8psi. It was cold out, last night, and he wanted to go from a 60 roll to try to keep traction. I lowered the boost to 8 psi. On the Dyno a couple of days ago, the car made 575 rwhp at 10psi. So, it seems to make 25rwhp per lb of boost - maybe 525ish at 8 psi. I started in 3rd, and still lost traction. I put a couple of cars on him before shifting into 4th at around 90. Finally hooking up, I really started to pull.
Chris
Chris
I'm in Afghanistan, again until December of this year. My bro back home is showing my car some TLC! Here's his work on the headlights... Even though I've done it several times on my mustangs, it still amazes me how much of a difference it makes!
Before (notice that the brackets are broken causing the lights to be misaligned):
After (all better!):
Does anyone know where I can find the replacement rubber to surround the lights with?
Plus, check out how well that hood fits! It has been 7 years since I bought this car and I still couldn't be happier with the Kaenen that came with it! I hope they can smooth it out when I get the car repainted. You can't see it in the pics, but the paint is a bit distorted on the driver's side over the head where one of the old twin-turbos sat. Plus, I left a ratchet on top of the throttle body and warped the hood a bit right above it when I tried to close it. I'm not a body expert, but if they can't fix that hood, I'm going to have a hell of a time finding another one. I love the Cervini hoods, but they're heavier.
Before (notice that the brackets are broken causing the lights to be misaligned):
After (all better!):
Does anyone know where I can find the replacement rubber to surround the lights with?
Plus, check out how well that hood fits! It has been 7 years since I bought this car and I still couldn't be happier with the Kaenen that came with it! I hope they can smooth it out when I get the car repainted. You can't see it in the pics, but the paint is a bit distorted on the driver's side over the head where one of the old twin-turbos sat. Plus, I left a ratchet on top of the throttle body and warped the hood a bit right above it when I tried to close it. I'm not a body expert, but if they can't fix that hood, I'm going to have a hell of a time finding another one. I love the Cervini hoods, but they're heavier.
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You can get that from LMR, i got myne with my headlights as a kit, but im sure they sell them.
Car looks good BTW, its cool you have someone to watch over it while your away
also on the hood, im sure a good bodyman can fix it, if not, look into boss inc, and i think kaenan is still in buisness too
Thought I'd post in a quick update and the current plans for the car since I'm reaching the end of my second deployment:
- My brother (Ford Moore, above) took the car and recharged the A/C. The system lost the freon from the overpressure valve because the wiring to the fans shorted and the fans didn't come on to keep the a/c system temps down. So, he also rewired the fans so that they are working with an extra relay. He's the electrical guru. Somehow splitting the load doesn't tax the wiring or require as much voltage. The last thing he's going to do before the car goes up to Rick is take it back to XXX performance in pensacola so that they can work out the cold-start issues, and figure out the reason the motor likes to die after going into neutral from a WOT run unless you tap the gas to keep it from stalling.
- I ordered a 91-93 Saleen front bumper and side-skirts, a '93 Cobra wing, and an LX grill delete kit (see the stangnet project car). I also ordered some interior trim: some two-tone billet knobs and trim to clean everything up a little
- I am working with a guy who has a complete original "mint" black interior, I already purchased a very nice looking black dash, kick panels, and carpets and intend to order a rear-seat delete kit that looks very nice. Clean grey interiors were always my favorite, but mine looks stained and worn, and black interiors have grown enough on me to try it out.
- Rick (RNH) will get the car within the next month, hopefully. He's going to work out some of the remaining kinks (leaking oil, excess exhaust pressure under boost, and figure out the weak compression test results in 2 cylinders). Then he's going to install a built rear (probably a fabricated 9") and a full rear suspension. With the new rear, a driveshaft speed sensor will also go in. It will be nice to have a speedometer again. He'll probably end up replacing the rubber fuel lines with something a little more robust, and the rubber boost lines definitely need to go...
- The last thing that needs to be done after Rick is complete is a new paint job w/ body work. It's just going to stay black with a nice clean quality job that will last forever.
At that point, the car will be 90% complete, mechanically. That leaves a nice little stero system, a new trans, and some tweaks here and there to get the car exactly the way I want it to be. I imagine I'll never stop tinkering with it, but I really hope this keeps the demons in me at bay for the foreseeable future. I'm ready to stop tossing money into the pit for a while.
The pics aren't much, but the best I can do for now:
:
Dual fuses:
Here are the dual relays:
I'll try to get a pic or two of me from over here in afghanistan soon, too.
- My brother (Ford Moore, above) took the car and recharged the A/C. The system lost the freon from the overpressure valve because the wiring to the fans shorted and the fans didn't come on to keep the a/c system temps down. So, he also rewired the fans so that they are working with an extra relay. He's the electrical guru. Somehow splitting the load doesn't tax the wiring or require as much voltage. The last thing he's going to do before the car goes up to Rick is take it back to XXX performance in pensacola so that they can work out the cold-start issues, and figure out the reason the motor likes to die after going into neutral from a WOT run unless you tap the gas to keep it from stalling.
- I ordered a 91-93 Saleen front bumper and side-skirts, a '93 Cobra wing, and an LX grill delete kit (see the stangnet project car). I also ordered some interior trim: some two-tone billet knobs and trim to clean everything up a little
- I am working with a guy who has a complete original "mint" black interior, I already purchased a very nice looking black dash, kick panels, and carpets and intend to order a rear-seat delete kit that looks very nice. Clean grey interiors were always my favorite, but mine looks stained and worn, and black interiors have grown enough on me to try it out.
- Rick (RNH) will get the car within the next month, hopefully. He's going to work out some of the remaining kinks (leaking oil, excess exhaust pressure under boost, and figure out the weak compression test results in 2 cylinders). Then he's going to install a built rear (probably a fabricated 9") and a full rear suspension. With the new rear, a driveshaft speed sensor will also go in. It will be nice to have a speedometer again. He'll probably end up replacing the rubber fuel lines with something a little more robust, and the rubber boost lines definitely need to go...
- The last thing that needs to be done after Rick is complete is a new paint job w/ body work. It's just going to stay black with a nice clean quality job that will last forever.
At that point, the car will be 90% complete, mechanically. That leaves a nice little stero system, a new trans, and some tweaks here and there to get the car exactly the way I want it to be. I imagine I'll never stop tinkering with it, but I really hope this keeps the demons in me at bay for the foreseeable future. I'm ready to stop tossing money into the pit for a while.
The pics aren't much, but the best I can do for now:
:
Dual fuses:
Here are the dual relays:
I'll try to get a pic or two of me from over here in afghanistan soon, too.
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The car's going to look pretty sick with those new body parts. Can't wait to see it put together!
1990turbo
Member
Well, "brother" THAT is a sweet looking hatch. Love the wheels too. What kind are they? Also love the Cobra intake, and miss my old combo. To me, there is not a better looking intake under the hood than the one that says "Cobra." I love it when you open the hood and someone goes, "oh, you've got a cobra motor!" haha!
I see your thread about overheating. I'll get to it shortly.
Oh, and what the hell is that hanging off of your compressor piping in front of your PS pump?
I see your thread about overheating. I'll get to it shortly.
Oh, and what the hell is that hanging off of your compressor piping in front of your PS pump?
1990turbo
Member
You must be talking about the overflow bottle. And I have heard the cobra motor comment before funny as hell. No way would I ever take a cobra over the Dart.
Just a quick update. Over xmas break I went home from Germany. The car has been in the hot Florida sun for most of the last year, and the paint has gone from a 6 out of 10 to a 2-3/10 with a lot of peeling. Anyway, I got the car and moved it up to OH. I've been chatting with Rick @ RNH and he's talking about coming to get the car.
Looks like it's time for the badass 9" and a coil-over drag rear suspension to go in.
Chris
Looks like it's time for the badass 9" and a coil-over drag rear suspension to go in.
Chris
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