The Bronze EFI bits.....

Post by **Byron510** » 29 Jan 2007 18:42

More progress, not so much on the EFI side, but the head is now assembled. Last week I did a pre-assembly, everything checked out good as far as lash pad wipe pattern, valve clearance, coil bind with the "big" cam, ect. All's well, so I spent about three hours this morning cleaning the head and all the bits, polished up the valve spring retainers to add a little bling bling to the whole works, and assembled, for the last time, all the bits with the valve seals. I did leave the rockers and lash pads off until the head is installed on the "real" block; mostly a precaution to avoid a bent valve during transport.
So I then drilled the location holes for the SDS crank trigger in the mount, and laid out and drilled the holes for the three magnets (two trigger, one sync - each is installed with reverse polarity so the ECU can tell them apart).
I also had my co-worker weld on the bung for the EGT thermocouple (EGT = Exhaust GasTemp). Man I don’t know what I’d do with out him around to do his awesome welding. I located the 1/8” NPT pipe bung in the #4 header primary just outside of the port. I should be able to get a good reading here.
Now I've started the final mock up of the motor. I punched all the necessary holes in the Z22S head gasket for the extra water holes I've drilled between the block and head (mirroring the L20B head and gasket), and I also trimmed the in/ex gasket to clear the ported head/manifold as well as punching the relief for the injectors in the same gasket.
Next up? The fuel rail. I'm thinking I'll be getting the car in the shop very soon, and start the exhaust as it's all got to be changed out – no doubt making it even louder inside!! At this point I don't think that it can get any louder, but we'll see.
Byron

zuum510 · Post by **zuum510** » 29 Jan 2007 22:24

damn fine... hoo wee...

Post by **rnorrish** » 30 Jan 2007 23:40

what are the plans for the exhaust? stainless? give it that extra special tone!

what did you use to set up the cam timing? which whole? how far off the mark is it?

Post by **Byron510** » 31 Jan 2007 21:24

The cam timing hasn’t been done yet, as I'm only swapping the head this time around. I'll have to wait until I mount the head on the block to see which dowel hole I use on the cam.

As for exhaust, I'd love to do stainless, but it's costly. Does anyone know where I can buy stainless 2-1/2" "U" bends so that a guy can make up his own system here in the Vancouver area?

I’m moving the car tomorrow to the shop, so the “morph” to EFI will begin…
Pics to follow, no doubt.
Byron

zuum510 · Post by **zuum510** » 31 Jan 2007 22:40

I know some of the "race" parts online outfits used to I believe summit... or jegs I think is more likely

Post by **duke** » 31 Jan 2007 23:59

Check out http://www.chassisshop.com they have a bunch of stainless U bends, donuts, 90's...pretty much all that anybody could ever need. If time is not a huge issue you might also consider getting the exhaust ceramic coated. My dad had it done for his hot rod. For the header and full exhaust I think it was like $150, maybe more. It was some shop in Oregon, and it looks really good, I could proboably find the number if you are interested.

Post by **rnorrish** » 01 Feb 2007 02:00

yeah... scratch that cam question... i just saw the picture of it on a block and got excited and ahead of you. feel free to answer that later when the time is right :S

as for the exhaust, ask Andy where he gets his... i'm sure he'll tell you.

Post by **S15DET** » 01 Feb 2007 20:09

burnsstainless.com

Post by **Byron510** » 02 Feb 2007 06:39

Well, I bought $240 worth of exhaust stuff yesterday; 2 1/2" stainless tube (10'), 3X 45 Deg elbows and 1X 90deg elbow. I'm going with a stainless Dynamax muffler, so from the comp header rearwards, it'll all be stainless. I bought all the tube and elbows from a food machinery place in Langley; Inland Machine. They have lots of neat stuff, most of it for food and dairy applications. The stainless is completely polished inside and out, because it's food grade stuff. Awesome find, thanks Rob. I just hope I can do it justice when I tig it all together.
So there'll be the better part of $1000 into the bits for the exhaust including the header...eek.
Good news is that The Bronze is out of storage, and now in the shop - time to get at 'er.
Byron

Post by **bertvorgon** » 02 Feb 2007 06:57

That's great Byron, no more replacing stuff. I used to burn out the mild steel down pipe from my waste gate once a season.

We will both have to be VERY carefull if we do the dyno day, NO crinking these pipes.

Yellowcar · Post by **Yellowcar** » 02 Feb 2007 08:51

I got tired of replacing mine too and did the same thing. I suggest installing a flex pipe between the header and the exhaust to help prevent any cracking. ( I think mine came from vibrant) also V-band clamps are a geat way to hold it together. It is really nice to not have to fight the exhaust to get it apart later.

Post by **bertvorgon** » 02 Feb 2007 09:36

Yes, I wish we had done a V-band where the exhaust goes through my cross member. I only had one cracking issue, where I had too small a supprt bracket to the exhaust from the transmission. I used an expansion joint on my wastegate pipe. So far, after 10- years of use, I have had no other cracking issues. The stainless grows alot, so the system can expand through the crossmember no problem, and I have one rubber isolater at the back.
I of course use lots of never seize on the joints, and found the best way to take it apart is to warm the engine up, NOT try to do it cold. I have the classic V-band at the turbo, so that is no issue. I use the motrocycle style of springs to keep the exhaust together at the crossmember. I use a sip joint at the engine end of things, with two tabs welded on and a small bolt to hold it together.

Post by **duke** » 02 Feb 2007 17:25

What are your plans for TIGing the stainless...are you going to purge the tube with argon?

Post by **Byron510** » 02 Feb 2007 19:15

I will be TIGing it together at work, and I will purge the tubes before welding. We have two argon tanks at work and two regulators so we are set! Actually, it'll be the first time that I do this right and purge the system before welding. But since I will be fitting the exhaust at a different shop than I am welding, I'll be forced to tack weld the whole thing together with steel mig wire (as small a tacks as possible), then I'll bring the tubes into work, tack them with the TIG, grind off the mig wire and do all the final welding all at once with the tubes purged. I'll post the results, wish me luck as it'll be the first stainless system that I do! Thankfully I've practiced on a few steel systems first, but I won't clain to be an expert.
Byron

Post by **Byron510** » 02 Feb 2007 19:31

New bits,

Finally, my Innovate LC-1 and XD16 kit has arrived in the mail. This was a hugely anticipated package, and I'm happy to be holding it in my hands! This wideband/gauge combo will make setting up the EFI a much easier task.
Since I'm into spending money I really don't have this week, I bought some more stainless steel bits, this time a 5X8 Oval, 18" long Magnaflow muffler. Not a bad buy at $167 buy the time the governments get in on it!
I also bought a pile of weather pack electrical connectors for every single plug that is EFI related under the hood. I will be systematically exchanging every one of the plugs on the SDS wiring harness very soon. Rob ordered me in the proper crimp tool for these connectors (thanks Rob); cost for the tool wasn't too bad, but still $75 by the time it was in my hands. The end result will be absolutely waterproof connections on everything that is EFI related under the hood.
You guys were mentioning a V band clamp earlier. I also bought one of these the other day at Inland Machine where I got all my tubing and elbows. The V bands were very reasonable - $6 a ferrule and $8 for the clamp. I have to admit that the clamp is very heavy! It'll never break, but it’s just a huge chunk of stainless steel, hard to believe that it was only $8, the metal must be worth at least that!
I'll post a pic.
One draw back to the clamp is that it is made for the food industry, and that shop only supplies a gasket for cooler applications. The fella that helped me with buying the stuff said the guys purchasing the V band clamps from him often made up a copper "O" ring. Being short of copper at work, I made one out of aluminum. Hope this will work.
Anyone see an issue with this aluminum “O” ring?
I'll be mounting the V band clamp assembly right in front of the rear X member, with a slip joint at the header and another slip joint on the back side of the X member to the muffler.
Byron