I have a straight 6 turbo already, I wanted a challenge. The V8 single turbo was definitely a challenge... lol

The exhaust is double heat wrapped. It is close, but its survived so far (maybe 10 miles and 20 dyno pulls?). There is no where else to put it, looking back I wish I'd made the exhaust a little further away. Clearance is just as tight to the power steering lines though.

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Thanks for the suggestion, sadly I've got front mount fans and a front mount inter cooler. I wish I had the space to do fans like yours, pull always out performs push. I think my rad will struggle to keep up with the power I'm making with out adding any more obstructions. Side mounting inst the best, I think the fan will make up for the poor location though.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, its nice to be in such an active forum.

FMIC and Front mount fans. There is not much space to take a better picture


Insert trans cooler here:


Trans cooler and fan test fit, they have some space for airflow


My garage/shop is below 0C/32F, It needs to warm up before I go back out there.

 

It finally warmed up a bit, I got the garage up to about 17C.
Bits removed:


The goal was to install the new torque converter in the car. I removed the harness first, but the rear transmission speed sensor didnt want to seperate from the plug. I tried taking the bolt out to just remove the sensor, but it snapped from rust. After more struggling, the connector came off. For some reason this is the only rusted bolt on the transmission, the rest were serviceable just fine during the rebuild..

Drilling out the rusted bolt:


Tapping back to M6 and installing a new SS bolt:


Transmission out. It only took ~5 hrs this time vs 12 the first. The engine needs to be balanced on 2 car jacks, 1 at the crank pulley and one at the rear oil pan to keep it level. The transmission wont fit up nicely if you don't do this.:


Flywheel looks clean:


Level 10 TQ in!

 

I cut the dipstick off the transmission to clear my exhaust, and added a GM oil level sensor to make filling easier. Some how it didnt work, next up will be pulling the transmission pan to see what went wrong..

 

Wow I wish I had 2% of your talent. Just bought a 1998 Sc400. Getting it all sorted out. Look forward to what you are going to do next.
Henry

 

Pulled the oil pan to diagnose the oil level sensor. ATF is weird, it passes through certain plastics (very slowly) which would hold motor oil fine. A cheap oil container is a good example, the ATF will slowly seep out. It seems the ATF permeated the GM oil level sensor I added. It no longer floats in the trans fluid and won't register a level. The sensor housing seems to be reacting too, its finger tight even though I torqued it down.


Hyundai temp sensor left (it was cheap), GM oil level sensor right



Ordered a Stainless Steel Duckbill level switch from Amazon, I think I can re-tap the M20 thread for the GM sensor to 1/2NPT if I use some sealant on the threads. The major diameter of the M20 is close to the minor diameter of the 1/2 NPT. There is no load or pressure at this joint, it just needs to be liquid tight. Hopefully there is enough room in the tube for the sensor to operate.

 

The sensor would not fit in the tube, I shortened it and TIG'd on a new 1/2 NPT bung

Replaced sensor with a sight glass, its at the same level the dipstick use to rest at


Trans cooler fan mounted up. There's a thermostat switch in line with the fan ground



Cooler installed
Dash cluster removed and sent out to Tanin for repair. The needles would stick and a bunch of lights were out.

 

You're a G Kyle - love seeing updates on this thing.

 

Sight glass works perfectly, no more overfilling the transmission

Engine #2, or #3 if you count the one in the car...


This one was only 200$ because of the cracked oil pan. Good deal, I have a spare from the last engine.


Goodies are starting to arrive

 

Compression is good on this one, thank goodness. I'll lap the valves, that should bring up #3

Cyl# - Psi

1-230 5-220
2-210 6-220
3-195 7-210
4-230 8-215

All the goodies are in.



Moldy junk in the valley. Cleaned it all out and scrubbed it down with some kitchen cleaner.

Looks clean inside


Cams Out


Heads off

 

The forum is being funny and not properly uploading the pictures. Will try again another day.

Hand sanding the block, to remove the last bits of gasket, the picture shows it about 1/2 done. The cylinder sealing surfaces look perfect. The rest of the block is super smooth, a finger nail doesn't catch at all. The discolored parts are from pitting, but it should seal up just fine. This is a budget build at the moment, there is no budget for machine work. If the block fails, I will machine and build the block coming out of the car properly and install forged parts and new bearings.

Valves are removed and the cylinder head is sanded perfectly flat too. There is some build up on the exhaust valves and exhaust seats, the intakes look perfect.

 

The car is running good, there are some issues I'm unhappy with:

-The 1-2 shift is far to harsh from the trans-go shift kit. All the shifts are harsh, but 1-2 chirps the tires badly past half throttle. This will be a problem, breaking traction at the drag strip. The solution will be swapping the 1-2 accumulator springs back to stock next time I am under the car, and re-sealing the trans pan for the fourth time...
-The car is lean at cruise - needs more tuning
-The trans fluid runs through the trans cooler, then through the radiator. The radiator is heating the fluid and causing the trans cooler fan to come on even when the car is idling not being driven at all. Solution: Bypass the trans cooler in the radiator
-Trans cooler fan was wired right to the battery, and can run after the car is shut off. This was a brain fart on my part, I've bought a relay to fix this.

Random log of driving around

 

In for videos here soon!!

 

Kyle, "you are a Beast"!!!
keep up the good work

 

Took the car drag racing, it was very disappointing, 14.9 @ 105 mph.

There were a few problems, on crummy "Riken" summer tires, the car would do an 1/8th mile long burn out. When changing to slicks the transmission was having issues. THe stock ECU cuts timing during a shift, while I dont have that ability, the trans was not happy shifting under a full ~450hp, and slipped when engaging the next gear.

Last, I made a mistake taking forum advice and did not put an oil restrictor on the turbo. After a pass where I was banging it off the rev limiter for 2-3s waiting for the gear to engage, huge clouds of blue oil smoke appeard behind me. I removed the turbo, and the housings were both full of clean oil.



The seals look ok, I'm buying an overlapped turbine seal and an oil restrictor so this doesn't happen again.

 

I'm also making a transmission controller from scratch for race use only. The cheapest one online is ~500$, and it looks simple enough to control it. There will be a Relay to disconnect the factory ECU from the transmission, and allow for me to shift fully manually. The only downside is it is a "stupid" system and will not prevent me from choosing a wrong gear, for example first gear at 100mph...

If the relay's fail or are turned off, the factory ecu takes control back