When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
before port matching. Rough position of turbo in the bay Turbo hard mounted to chassis, there is no good spot to mount to the engine. It weighs 46 lbs, too much to hang off the manifolds Port match, knife edged center divider First time fabbing something like this. I think it turned out good! Merge of 2x 90s Right side: Turbo exit. Bottom: to rear exhaust. Left: straight out the front fender with a cut out. Left side is fender exit flange
The battery no longer fit. Relocating to the trunk meant adding external shut offs per drag racing rules, which is expensive and time consuming. I 3D printed a few AGM options to see what would fit best. Ended up with a tiny Braille battery with over 700 cranking amps.
Braille wanted something like $150 for a mount. This custom one cost 18$ in mcmaster materials 3 bolts hold it down. 0 movement when installed I am very proud of this part. Getting a bit better at aluminum TIG, the welds could be a little cleaner though
some final wiring for the ECU Back on the ground after over a year on those jacks, lol... Sway bar clears the exhaust by a few inches, plenty of room. I was a bit worried, I could not cycle the sway bar in the air The iron LS has the front end riding a bit low. Bumper is staying off to load on the trailer for dyno tuning.
The engine build is a copy of one of Richard Holdener's that made 420hp NA and 920 at 17PSI. Hoping for 700 at the tires around 14-15 PSI. As it sits with no tune, it burns the tires no problem, and really gets moving. Cant wait to dyno tune and go drag racing this summer.
I am really hoping to break into the 10s, a goal of mine for close to 10 years now.
A glitch in the Megasquirt settings was causing it to loose the crank signal, and it would not rev over 5400 RPM
I thought I'd try and get away with no scavenge pump, but the turbo drain was near horizontal. The car smoked out the dyno shop with oil smoke, it needs a scavenge pump after all
Boost does not start to build till around 5000 RPM, and hits only 5 psi
The car made 518 WHP at 5200 RPM and 5 psi. Less than the previous iteration, however this is potential for more if I can fix the above issues.
This is the issue causing the ECU to throw away good crank signal data over 5500, might help someone running Megasquirt on an LS engine.
There is a noise filtering setting in TunerStudio that filters short crank pulses out to remove noise, seems it was set too large. Disabling the Tach Period Rejection lets the car rev perfectly up to the limiter.
The boost issue is likely the 150$ CX racing wastegate that came with my manifolds. From the start I was doubting if I should use it, or spend the 500$ on a name brand unit....
The CX racing waste gate does not have a fire ring, but instead builds the fire ring into the weld flange. Disassembly showed that the valve was not seating completely. I put some rough lapping compound between the valve and seat, and spun it with a power drill until I could see an even pattern around the seat. I re-assembled everything and added a motion race works scavenge pump (Jeez it was expensive, it cost more than the entire engine!).
Went drag racing with the above fixes and ran a 12.2 at 126 MPH. There was no boost at all in first gear, the car felt quite slow until I shifted into second. In second it took off like a rocket and pinned me in the seat for the rest of the 1/4 mile.
You can see in the time slip the 60' time is terrible for a car on slicks. Some issues became noticeable at the track, and on the drive up:
The trans temps creep up when stopped. There is a dedicated cooler and dedicated fan in front of the LH tire, but it seems to be undersized
No boost in First Gear!
Foot brake cant hold the car above 2000 Rpm in launch control mode
Trans brake was not working at the track
Trans temps rise fast on the foot brake at launch time
One wheel peel from the open diff
Brakes lack stopping power at 130 mph, almost went off the end of the strip. Its not a fade issue, they just don't have enough bite. My last sports car was a 2500llbs Datsun with 6-pot brakes, this is a 4000lb monster with stock brakes and EBC yellow pads - maybe my expectations are to high.
She's all back together in sleeper mode Switching to Slicks at the track. You know your wife is a keeper when she helps you change the tires!! 12.19 @ 126 MPH! I feel like this could be a 10.99 with boost in first gear and a working trans brake
Last edited by Kyleg250z; May 7, 2021 at 07:41 AM.
The transbrake solenoid need 15A of current. I'm using undersized wires (20ga), and putting the full current through a micro switch. Testing showed only 8V was reaching the solenoid
Will install a relay to put battery power to the solenoid thorugh a 14ga wire
Trans is hot
Installing a 24x3.5" cooler infront of the radiator fans, and behind the intercooler
No Boost!
Waste gate was still leaking and is getting scrapped
Installing a turbo-smart 50mm gate
Turbo mounting bolts shook themselves loose!! One had completly fallen out, the other three were hanging
There was a huge leak here. This combine with the crummy wastegate might explain why there is no boost, lol
Buying some distorted thread lock nuts to keep the turbo on this time
Brakes suck
Bleeding them for now
Will install LS400 units over the winter
One wheel peel
Will install Grannas Ford 8.8 with LSD and 3.08 ratio over the winter. 3.08 ratio allows for 200 mph with my set up
Grannas kit comes with 1000hp axles, I am a bit afraid to use the trans brake on the stock ones
Teardown pics Bleeding the brakes So much room for activities!! Was it leaking? Why is this such a common issue for me? Hahaha Cut off the terrible CX racing junk
Last edited by Kyleg250z; May 7, 2021 at 07:43 AM.
More Fun! The alarm now goes off randomly. The security ECU is just above the steering column. Removing it disables the power windows and power locks and is not an option. Opened it up and found the capacitors were leaking. Replacing them fixed up the alarm issue
The integration relay is failing, and triggering the "keys in ignition" alarm when I lock the doors. With the doors unlocked its making a "beep" and turning the interior lights on constantly almost like there is a ghost in the car.
A new relay is over 100$. Removing the integration relay disables power locks, dome light activation with door open, and the key warning beeper. I can live with out those things, my power locks dont work anyways
Opening it shows lots of leaking capacitors and corrosion inside, another common theme of this car.
Kyle - I love your build and your willingness to improvise and innovate. Sounds like you've found some good solutions to the issues your having and I can't wait to see the difference it makes. That thing sounds NASTY on the dyno. Keep it up!
