Wow, Dexter... Great job with all those updates...
What a jerk!
Whatever, you don't even care. I mean, look at all the people asking for updates.
[crickets]
In my defense, I started another project while I was finishing up my car. I was supposed to do a drop-in SR20DET swap on my father-in-law's pristine S13 convertible. Well that quickly spiraled out of control. You can check it out
hereif you'd like to see it. Then just after I finished my car, I started thrashing on a stupid Volkswagen. Long story short on the VW, Bill bought an MKII rally car that needed some upgrades that turned into a lot of work that involved me not getting a lot of sleep for weeks on end while we tried to get it done in time for a rally race. We made it, the car totally sucked, we finished, and Bill was discouraged. It's floating around on the net somewhere. You can also find some pictures and stuff on Facebook by searching for TCERally.
Enough with the excuses, here's the rest of the story...
I installed the lower half of the intake manifold on top of one of those plastic "thermal gaskets" because I had some heat issues the previous year at the drag strip. I heard decent reports on these things, so I gave it a try. Then I dropped fresh insulators in before installing the fuel rail and injectors.
Before I got much further, I test fitted one of the pig-tails to make sure they would connect. They didn't. So that led to modifying all the connectors. I put a how-to together for that project as I didn't see a lot of good information available. If your curious or want more details on that steep of the build, you can find the thread
here. Once I finished fitting the connectors, I ended up rebuilding the injector harness as well. It turned out all right, but I'm not super happy with it. It got the job done.
If you have a keen eye, you may have noticed the blue, anodized fitting at the end of the rail where the original fuel regulator used to be. The factory regulator was suspected to be failing due to some of the inconsistent fueling issues I was having the previous year. The 255lph Walbro in the tank probably wasn't doing that tired regulator any favors either. I purchased a Tomei AFPR and installed it with a new fuel filter and all new lines in from the supply to the return. I did not snap any pictures of that part, but you may be able to catch a glimpse of it in a later picture.
I then switched my attention to the exhaust side. I started by wrapping the Tomei header. That was a terrible experience. I was covered in fiberglass fibers - inside my shirt, inside my gloves, inside my eyelids, and inside my nose and throat. I'll never do that again. I'll just send it to Swain Tech. I guess if you wet the wrap, you'll have a lot less airborne fibers. It turned out really well, but it wasn't worth the trouble. I also wrapped the Tomei turbine outlet after I plugged the o2 bung hole.
After bolting the turbo to the manifold, I hung them on the head to start fitting the coolant and oil lines.
Then I pulled everything out, adjusted the lines a bit, and then I put the assembly back in again. Then I pulled it out, adjusted the lines a bit, and then I put it back in again. This process repeated a few more times before I decided it wasn't worth the trouble and ordered a new set of braided lines.
Another one of the pieces that I suspected was causing some issues was the Greddy BOV I had. I felt like I was always tinkering with it. It was one of the pieces originally on the S14 when I bought it, and I had installed guts from a knock-off to limp it along for a while longer. I purchased a second-hand Tial Q from a buddy after he grenaded his SR again. I don't recall what prompted me to take it apart, but it was full of some nasty, fuel-enriched blow-by.
If you recall, I had a Vibrant modular blow-off valve flange welded onto my intercooler pipe when I installed my high-mount intercooler. Vibrant makes a modular flanges to fit an array of BOVs. I wasn't sure if the Tial flange was going to be the same threaded diameter, so I ordered another kit with the nipple and flange. It turns out that they're all the same so swapping flanges is as easy as unscrewing the old flange and screwing on the new one.
I was hoping this new setup would fit. It just barely cleared the fuse box and the hood without any adjustments. I did order and install a new diaphragm assembly before I put everything back together.
Another benefit to running Nistune is the ability to run a larger MAF. Besides running out of fuel, I had also been maxing out the SR MAF when I was pushing 15psi. I have collected a few J30/Z32 MAFs over the years with my frequent trips to you-pull yards. In order to use one of those MAFs, I needed to upgrade the rest of the intake. I ordered a new intake piping kit from Parts Shop Max as well as a Z32 MAF adapter for my Greddy Airinx. As you can see, it was a noticeable upgrade. SR setup on the left and Z32 setup on the right.
From there, I just needed to rewire the MAF. When I purchased a Wiring Specialties SR harness for my father-in-law's car, it came with pigtails for both SR and Z32 MAFs. I stole the Z32 pigtail for my car since his is running a stock MAF.
The very last thing I addressed in this round of upgrades was heat management. I was concerned that upgrading the exhaust manifold would expose everything on that side of the engine bay to way more heat. I ordered some DEI sleeves for the turbo lines and PCV hoses. I also installed a heat shield for the brake master cylinder.
After it was all said and done, I was pretty happy with how everything turned out.
One last touch was a Tomei Duracon shift knob. It was inexpensive and I heard good reviews. I was happy.
The only issue I had at startup was a few minor fuel leaks. I tinkered with fuel pressure regulator a bit to set it. Then I plugged in my laptop and changed the injector sizes and MAF in Nistune. Everything was running good so I set it to "HI" (15psi) and it ripped. My AFRs actually richened under boost (like it should) and didn't sputter as the RPMs got higher. I turned it up to 18psi and it just ripped. I know now that the turbo is my bottle neck.
I took the car on a cruise in July with a couple buddies. We went to West Virginia and drove around on some mountain roads for a few days. It was a good time.
Here are a few more shots of my car from last year that I had posted on my Instagram.
On that cruise, my Innovate wideband was acting up again. I put a brand new sensor in it when I did all the upgrades, so it wasn't that old. I was so angry I almost ripped the gauge out of my dash with my bare hands. Before I even got home, I ordered a new wideband setup from Zeitronix. I didn't get a chance to install it until mid-October. It has been working great and is better than the Innovate in every way - easier to install, fewer wires, easier to use, and most importantly - it actually works.
So that brings you up to speed again. I've got some pretty big plans for the car this year. Thanks for following along. You can always follow me on Facebook (dexter.clark.5) or Instagram (dexters_auotlab) if you're interested in actually keeping up.