Member Profile - James' GT spec B Wagon - GTB013

[jamescd]

Not as big of an update as I was potentially hoping for, but it means that it won't be quite as long.

First up, I realised that I never actually posted a photo of how my steering wheel ended up, it was only out of focus in the foreground of my shift knob photos.


I got a 3D printed washer cover, then got some adhesive chrome and covered it, it is better than nothing, but I will get around to buying a real one eventually.

I also bought an alarm system, nothing fancy, just senses if doors are open when the car is locked/armed
I had some initial problems after it was first installed with it not disarming properly, but after a few days after work double checking the wiring and probing for where signals were happening I got it sorted.


My engine arrived







Unfortunately I soon discovered that getting it to run on the stock ECU wouldn't be as easy as I thought due to the cam sensor type


I was left with the option of different heads, or a different ECU, given how built the heads are, and some fortuitous timing I ended up buying a secondhand Link Thunder


The link came with a patch harness, but I have had to find what every wire does, and cross check it



I printed up a better version for when I get the car tuned


I have also made a harness for all the additional pressure/temp sensors, and to interface with the cruise control



I have bought a lot of parts for the long block itself as I am replacing most gaskets while the engine is out. I am also doing the timing belt and water pump.


I have replaced the water pump, the old one was a 3 port, with the 3rd outlet blocked off


To replace it I bought a 2 port cast impeller unit


I fitted an oem thermostat


and then installed it


I also wanted to replace the coolant crossover pipe o-rings, but while removing two of the bolts pulled the threads out with them


A quick trip to supercheap for a helicoil kit and problem solved



I also bought a lot of sensors, fuel lines, boost solenoid, AN fittings, just a lot of parts in general to install.




I also bought an NPC clutch kit, so I'll see how that goes.


In amongst all of this my jdm folding mirrors arrived

I re-pinned them into the audm plugs so that the indicator and adjustment is plug and play
This left the two fold wires to deal with.
I ran wires through from the doors to behind the mirror control panel

They went into the blue plug like this:


All installed, folding jdm mirrors with Prova blue convex lenses


A few weeks later iilumo released their sequential indicators, so I ordered a set

Pretty easy plug-and-play installation



That's pretty much it for now, next update will likely be the pointy end of the engine swap.

[jamescd]

I put the final touches on the engine

Fuel rails and injectors on


Timing belt


I realised after putting the t-belt on that I had mismatched triggers on the crank and cam
I had a 36-2-2-2 trigger crank sprocket and a 7 trigger cam sprocket. I either needed a 6 trigger crank sprocket to match the cam on the engine, or a 2 trigger cam sprocket to match the crank on the engine. I went with swapping the crank sprocket as it was easier to swap and the correct type was easily sourced.
Photo for reference of the sets


Another pre-swap job I undertook was making the expansion tank.
I used a piece of tube and made a bracket for it

Then I cut out the other pieces

Finally I drilled holes for the AN fittings and then welded everything together.



Finally with all the gaskets changed and everything ready to go I was ready to swap the engine (huge shout out to my mate Jackson for a lot of help on swap day)

Old engine out (for reference I haven't had AC for months, and haven't had it regassed specifically because it meant I didn't have to worry about it during the swap)


NPC clutch installed


Lots of jiggling and wiggling and the new engine was in


Now, onto all the little jobs

First, catch-can time
Bracket first

Then basic layout

Baffle how it will sit, it received many holes before the can was welded shut


I also needed to sort out fpr and fpd positioning and fuel lines
In behind the manifold made sense

Time for another bracket, everything sitting where I want it


Catch can, fuel setup, and turbo in (IT ALL FITS!)


Turbo went in to be clocked so that I could finally run the hot side under the manifold
New pipes tacked, some breathers and coolant lines also sorted


Hot pipe fully welded, coolant lines made, turbo boot barb put into hot pipe, oil lines made/run.



Time for a first start...

Problem 1:
a few fuel leaks
Fix:
Make sure all AN fittings are tight

Problem 2:
Throttle body wouldn't calibrate
Fix:
Scratch head for a long time.
Check wiring, check wiring on old engine, discover this plug is missing from new loom

Swap loom


Problem 3:
While trying to calibrate the TB realise that the injectors have been open the whole time and that the intake is full of fuel.
Fix:
Slowly use breaker to crank and release fuel from intake and out into the headers, leave overnight to make sure had all evaporated.

FIRST START
The car actually started, and sounded great, but was obviously running a bit rough due to not having a proper tune on it.
http://youtu.be/KXfZLKWOV90

The car ran for a while, then stopped and I couldn't get it started again.
This lead to a lot more diagnostics, part of which meant I discovered that the cam sensor wasn't quite right (easy enough to fix, out to get another one). I also discovered that the cam trigger was wired backwards and not quite getting the right signal, so I ran a new set of wires straight to the ECU which fixed the problem.

I also had a feeling that the battery being on the verge of death may have been contributing to the issue, so I bought a new battery (it cranked way harder, but still wouldn't start).

After some thinking I figured that it seemed like spark was the issue, so the next morning I pulled the front 2 plugs.
Yep, that looks like the problem

I gave them a clean and double checked they were working before putting them back in.

Then, the car ran again.

Now, I just want to get it to Autocraft for a tune (fingers crossed for Friday this week).

Thanks for staying tuned, not long now.

[Yowie]

Nice work - especially with the fabrication.

Although that water-to-air intercooler above the gearbox will need larger diameter air pipes going to & from it...

[bigBADbenny]

Its an aos iirc

WOOOOT!!!

[Yowie]

Its an aos iirc

Cheers Ben. The italics and an ellipsis wasn't there to indicate irony/sarcasm

---

JamesCD - it's probably all welded-up by now, but if you took any pictures of the guts of the catch can, and/or have a diagram or description of the internal guts and internal/external hose routing, I would be quite interested to see that.

Also, once you've been running the car for a while I'd be keen to hear how the catch can is working out. Eg collected contents, cleanliness of downstream parts, etc.

[bigBADbenny]

I missed ALL the signifiers and intent so the joke really IS on me

This swap blows my mind entirely!

Its like subalegos on steroids

No need for or desire just yet for adjustable cam gears?

[jamescd]

Its an aos iirc

JamesCD - it's probably all welded-up by now, but if you took any pictures of the guts of the catch can, and/or have a diagram or description of the internal guts and internal/external hose routing, I would be quite interested to see that.

Also, once you've been running the car for a while I'd be keen to hear how the catch can is working out. Eg collected contents, cleanliness of downstream parts, etc.

I just threw this together which is how the internals of the can are laid out

There is no balance pipe on this style heads, and only a single outlet on the block itself on my engine.

Along the face of the "v" inside the can I have drilled holes running from the bottom to the top (to make sure oil doesn't get trapped at one level or block the only path the air has), it also isn't welded all the way along the top/bottom inside. That way air should flow nicely, but still have enough baffling to catch any oil vapour.

No need for or desire just yet for adjustable cam gears?

I haven't had the need, but if my tuner suggests them being a good idea I might go down that path.

[bigBADbenny]

I’m loving your ability to do practical everything diy with the swap!
Plus the opportunities seized and accomplished.

Its highly motivational.

The race/rally style aos is awesome: very efficient
Any staino wool inside? Drain port?

[jamescd]

I’m loving your ability to do practical everything diy with the swap!
Plus the opportunities seized and accomplished.

Its highly motivational.

The race/rally style aos is awesome: very efficient
Any staino wool inside? Drain port?

I also enjoy being able to look and see all the parts that I've done/made


No wool inside, I considered it, but have heard that heat from welding near it can cause it to melt, so opted not to. It has a drain port in the bottom.

[TMP243]

Always great seeing others taking the DIY route. I lack the courage to dare weld anything for my build and chicken out by dropping everything off to the welder once fabbed up (sure i’ll weld a structure for work but that’s different).
Nice work!

[jamescd]

Always great seeing others taking the DIY route. I lack the courage to dare weld anything for my build and chicken out by dropping everything off to the welder once fabbed up (sure i’ll weld a structure for work but that’s different).
Nice work!

I have wanted to be able to tig for a while, and while my welds definitely aren't internet worthy, they hold stuff together.


Also, dropped the car to the tuner today, so hopefully no bad news, and hopefully tuned in the near future

[jamescd]

So, I sent the car off for the tune, a few issues sprung up.

A few oil leaks which were fixed by the Rob, but unfortunately my overflow tank had some issues.
It had some pinhole leaks which would have been fixable, but it also had some design issues.
The lowest fitting leads to the water pump, and it was too far up the tank, this combined with the size of the tank meant that the level would easily drop leading to the water pump drawing air through. This lead to the car overheating at idle (higher than Rob was comfortable running for longer than a few minutes)


Due to this, I just decided that the easiest solution would be to replace the tank. I went for an Aeroflow unit as it has threaded fittings allowing me to keep my AN lines, it was also only $160.


I got it fitted and immediately the overheating issues went away.

Otherwise, I have had the car back for a bit under a week and I am enjoying it immensely. The tune is injector limited, with the turbo at about 22psi at 90% injector DC. There is a little bit of timing gains to be had, but for the amount of difference that will make I am going to just upgrade the injectors to 1700s and then worry about power gains in general. Based on the butt dyno it has maybe 220-230kw atw, but plenty of room for more once I get bigger injectors (and maybe a bigger turbo too).

[bigBADbenny]

That’s awesome
From reading around, diy fabbed cans, oil lines etc are best pressure tested with water prior, but kudos on it not ruining your day

[jamescd]

Yeah, I didn't have any AN blanks to blcok the ports for pressure testing, but it wouldn't have solved the design issues anyway, so no big loss. I just need to sort out a mount for the aeroflow.

[bigBADbenny]

I was looking for your injector specs, Re running out of them lol.

Where’s the up to date list if any?

Still a 3071? Looks very twisted regardless:P

I mean in my humble dreams 230 is kinda sweet spot for a street car, but when there’s so much more on the table given various things…