2.3i Trionic (Project Update)

So the much abused and neglected 2.3i project car got some attention.  Mostly a dyno mule, but we need to put more miles safely on the road this year.   Fitted airbags and washer system to get it road worthy.  This one with the fast steering and tuned motor is a blast to drive. My favorite lunch or mountain bike car.

While Dusty was in swapping the dash we added a Turbo instrument assy to go along with the t5 swap.  Unfortunately even though the Shift up and CE light are wired the Turbo gauge is not. We had to add 2 wires from the Bulkhead connector to the instrument. Signal from T5 and signal Ground from body.  Now we have a Turbo gauge  that never reads boost.. :)   We might even wash it!      Have to get it ready for the next project.  Will be intake related and apply to the Turbos as well.

Viggen Black Vert (project)

Another Black Viggen with a Top mount turbo fired up today.. With stock wheels it looks factory.  Dropped on the Koni Kit is the only sign.  The exhaust is even quiet, making a great sleeper, ( as much as you can hide a Viggen!)  This one is Gt2871 on a tubular manifold with 3in downpipe to Simons Catback. It is a Flex Fuel Setup with 750cc injectors and Walbro 255, t5 cams.  Nothing crazy just a great daily driver.  Upgraded from stg4 18t6cm.    Here are a couple pics.  Will post some more when it is finished.  After some miles on low revs/boost for breakin will tune it on the dyno.

Short Shifter for Universal Knobs

Just a rough first prototype.  I know there are a bunch excited about this part.   Also shown is a close version of the new shift knob.  Will also be available in a few thread sizes so you can run whatever knob you want. Mention the threads you want in the comments. The top of the rev lockout will be more rounded.  Compatible with stock shift boot.  Will sort out the little details first in a test car then get these headed to production in a few weeks.

New lighter wheels.

From the recent Saab accessory sale picked up these 17s real cheap.  Fitted some old takeoff 215-45 P-Zero Neros. Saving for some 235s in the spring. These are a bit small. The shorter tires further help acceleration and brake.  Had to fit a -99 brake hose without the extra venturi booster to take away a little brake assist, they were a bit too much in the city.  Most likely these will get the race tires, fair bit lighter than the CH.  But hey my Chs are all still true. Cant say the same for the lightweight OZs.

IMG_1238

Plenty of clearance without spacers even for the 330mm AP.

IMG_1240

Gearbox Oil.. Redline MT-85 (gasp)

This is the first fluid I have found to be better than the stock 0063.

In the cold it is noticeably better.  Will see what it does for the F40s crunchiness.   Interesting to see how the first gear on the drag car looks after a few passes.  They tend to take quite a beating putting down over 6000lbs on the launch.

Cheaper too!  http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=140&pcid=7

Not to be confused with their thick blue that is aggressive to the syncros and with that fluid I have witnessed a couple early syncro failures in customer gearboxes.

Anybody else running this?

Clutch line custom colors? Speak Now…

Sorting out the 9-3/900 clutch lines and wondering if anyone wanted another color besides Clear or the Deep Blue we use on the rear 300mm kit.   Only a couple days. Goodridge has some neat colors.  More on the hose post: New Clutch parts Update:  Red Blue and clear it is…

IFO Rules and Schedule for 2011 Season

http://www.importfaceoff.net/race_rules.htm#FWD  The new schedule will be up later in the year.

There is also a 67mm inducer turbo limit for true street.   This is the class we are working towards.  Outlaw street is 72mm

Short shifter without the cores!

Working around the fact that under 1/4 of the shifter cores are returned we had to work out a better solution. A core is just borrow, not for keeps. A little aspect most miss and causes lots of delays waiting on a certain core part number to return for the next guy in line.

The solution was to build a full new shifter from scratch.  They will be the same function as what we currently have but will require end user to enlarge the hole in the base of the shifter and assemble it at their end.  No big deal for always available and no core return, especially for our overseas customers. The shafts are made of the same metric dimensioned materials as factory.  The premium version will have a billet aluminum lockout mechanism and threaded top to accept aftermarket shift knobs!  These should be available starting next week.

Viggen tuning… 511wHp

Fitted the 1000cc Injector Dynamics nozzles from the drag car in my Viggen to help get a bit more fuel up top that was not there with the 750cc, the results we interesting.   Yeah that graph is 511whp.  ;)

Initially we were down on power ~470s , mostly a function of the gear ratio change.  No big deal, within a few percent.   Some a function of Ethanol composition compared to summer fuel and the rest to my temp corrections being a big off in T7 calibration.   Now the issue is we are up against the MAF calculation limit in T7.  Way past the traction limit anyway.  Tomorrow will start working down in power to get the rest of the maps sorted out. Pulled a little boost out the last run to keep the gearbox and clutch happy. Fuel pump is done by 5000.  Not really wanting to fit -6 line and second pump. Might make two pumps in the tank and see how that goes. .

Lots of viggen updates this weekend.

Some pretty major updates to the viggen power and handling over the weekend.

Installed the new solid strut mounts Friday evening. With the new design mount found an inch or so more compression travel and fitted 75lb stiffer springs. After making larger steps on rates now I am trying to find the sweet spot.  Always a balance front and rear, I seem to get stuck at what if…

Read on for the rest of the details. Read the rest of this entry »

New Prototype Strut Mounts

Now that we are done with the big CNC job we can get working on some new projects. One of the first in line was an upgraded strut mount for the 9-3 and eventually the Ng900 for use with 2-1/2″ coil springs.   Just trying to get some proof of concept parts in cars to rack up miles.  The cold weather and Race valved konis should give them a beating.   For now they are stock geometry but may make them with ideal geometry for specific uses.  Always hated the adjustable ones that slipped.

Machined aluminum with a Teflon lined bearing so they should stay quiet for a while. Cheaply rebuildable and use the stock strut rotational bearing. Base is setup for a 2-1/2″ Coil-over only, not for stock springs. The bolts are even replaceable if one gets messed up, unlike the stock studs.   Couple other features that should make for cheap coilover kits.

Should have them in my viggen tomorrow night.

BBS CH Wallpaper

BBs CH 18s on My Viggen. Nice dark wallpaper  in 1920×1200 Should be plenty for most.  If you need a different size let me know.  Comments welcome.

1920x1200

Found an F35 Unicorn! i=4.45

This first one will most likely will end up in my Viggen. Now that the drag car uses Vig axles I can have one spare for both cars.

The lower gears. 4.45 compared to stock 4.05 should help it jump a bit better. Get to third pulling earlier too.    Now to leave the short 5th too. And let it wind on the highway or go back to tall 5th and live with it…

factoryspeeds.gif< Stock gear ratio  445gears< 4.45 Gears

Now given that info and data from the latest dynorun (July 17 3076 r2) Gives us ground torque. Also known as thrust at the tire patch. One oversight in this chart is overlooking the necessary limiters in first gear and a bit in second.   If only it would hook that 6000lbs of thrust.. That would give nearly 2g of acceleration!   Ill keep the limiters.

DATA:  4.05 Tq and the 4.45 See how given the same engine power the shorter 4.45 makes more output torque. This is where the “pull” comes from in swapping gears. Same would apply when messing with tire diameter. Or it allows less input through the gearbox to make the same on the ground, always a good thing.

Performance Pre-Upgrade

Found this on the server.  Still applies 100% today.

Info
To: All Customers, Dealers and Upgrade Technicians
From: N. Taliaferro
Date: 04/10/03 , updated 08/13/03
Re: Upgrade Pre-Installation Procedures.

Install Requirements
Before installing any upgrades it is imperative to be sure the vehicle is in proper shape. This includes standard preventative maintenance along with proper fuel quality. With these ECM and hardware changes it is also wise to shorten the service intervals for some components. This is due to the increased stresses on the powertrain.

Read the rest of this entry »

New Clutch parts

Needing more precise control over the twin disk clutches the logical solution was to swap to a Braided hose.  There is no comercial adaptor available that I could find so decided to make them.  I ran a few adaptors for the clutch lines on the CNC Lathe yesterday.  Not final, Just a prototype  with closest available hose parts.  Price is nice too not starting with the factory hose like the 9000 parts.  Looking like about Thanksgiving time there will be enough free time on the CNC Mills to run some new project parts. That will be surely exciting.

Hugged your racecar lately?

My 1978 99 racecar. 16v turbo w 4speed and 1990 S/R suspension. This was my first “air clutch” car.  Had airbags in the rear,l Delrin suspension bushings and lots of other one-off parts. Been stored inside for the last 10 years.   That bumper sticker where the plate goes got me out of a couple tickets. ;)

My 95 v4

With the new 8gal fuel tank built and installled now it’s time to work on the wheel bearings and finish the airbags.

Once that’s done it really needs turbo. If only for the sound. Have to look at the numbers some more but thinking two gt12s or so. :) then vw gearbox. If anyone knows details on that swap let me know. I know the adaptor will be easy.

Like this:
nova on my Dyno a few times. Love when the turbos fight back and forth on the bov.

I have some sketches of a long runner manifold to make hopefully have time this winter. Then it gets efi. Sick of the carb can’t break 40mpg with the distributor/carb combo. Sure there is someone that can work magic on the springs/weights but I can’t.
Plan is to drive the ugly beast to SOC2011 no small feat.

10,000 Rpm Continuous!

Hopefully headed this way soon.

SmokeClear Powdercoat

Couple samples of the Smoke Clear powdercoat.  Adds visual depth to the engraving. Will also eliminate corrosion etc.  Just over Machined finish on these Aluminum oil caps.  We could do this on any of the parts special order.

This is getting old QUICK! Or slow….

IMG_0918IMG_0913No doubt we have more torque and traction than in the past at this point.   Friday night first pass!    Going to upgrade to Viggen axles at this point and probably change gearing too. This will both lower the input axle torque and raise the margins.  Hope this works. Buggered the inner drive a bit also.  The outer is a bit crunchy so it may have internal damage.  Hoping the two massive overrevs are not too damaging to the rotating assembly.  Not touching valves at this point so crossing fingers.   More drag car axle carnage VIDEO   You can see the sparks from the axle at the end.

IMG_0919Here is a current underside shot.  You can see the spherical bearings in the suspension, Wastegate dump tube and downpipe. Std 6-point and not a lot of other special parts. Might run a batch of the spherical bearings if there is demand.

IMG_0911 Steven got my old Corbeau seat mounted on a stock base.  Only saved 12lbs but accommodates My  6’2″ and stevens foot or so less. ;)

Intercooler Ducting

Fully ducted the intercooler to the bumper opening. Never got to try this out  with the axle breakage. They whipped this up in an hour out of thin aluminum sheet.   Should have a decent effect on big end power. Looks nicer too.

Race report: Trying too hard?

Found the limit of the axle! Mo-Kan had some BA track prep going on!!!
Iphone locked up after that but you get the idea. The car barely rolled.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRRn1pfwgDQ

Axles out of a 40k 2000 9-3 Hot. Lasted 2 years. Will go back with another for now. Glad it was on the line, that would have been an experience at speed with the axle flopping.

Will get out the macro for some grain shots of the failure when it is pulled out.

Popped a wastegate hose off while busting on the dyno to get to the track friday night. So there is certainly a bit left in the turbo. Not so much with the fuel. Definitely a OhSh*$ moment!  The map sensors will need upgraded to run this much.  Target was the same power as the previous graphs. Just with less china junk and more Made in America! Tial Mv-s Cute little bugger. Might upgrade the Bov too. Not sure.  Picked up a Previous gen Tial blowoff.

Starting to look nicer too. You can see some room has been made for the next step.

Sure will do a heck of a burnout and stage.  Made it home around 2 am.

205 rods held! :)

Update:   Boost is a bit flatter and the power curve a little stronger.  Just dual injected not staged.  The china Wastegate let us down. When we pulled up to the line they almost called the night, Dew was falling hard and everything was wet.  We needed wipers!   Steve was shifting to 4th at the same mph as before, thats lots of spin at 130. ;)  This weekend is a big show so maybe we can get to another track.  First run scared steve it pulled so hard, wheelsipn and he grabbed the next gear bogging it.  Fun time anyway.. Nothing like working way past midnight for 4 nights to get kicked by weather.
IMG_0010 IMG_0011

————————
Wow. ~15 dyno pulls to 8500 tuning new setup. Injecting ~1400cc/cyl ;|
1.33AM Im out. Midnight Drags tomorrow for the real test. Lots of HD Video

Thanks Guys!

Fuel pump; China BS copy vs Genuine Bosch

In my drag car we have a  Walbro 255 in the tank with a -6 feed line through a filter up to a Bosch -044 on the firewall with another -6 to the rail.   We started having fueling problems above 500whp with the 100os @ 100dc. Fuel is E85 pump.  http://genuinesaab.com/gallery/FuelPumps

FuelPressure

You can see the fuel supply fall off. It should follow manifold pressure exactly.  Still not perfect.   We had about 30psi feed to the china 044 so it was just that pump.

And the pumps  China Junk is on the left. You can even see the printing is generic dot matrix not dedicated stamp.  There  are more in the album at the link.  They did a good job but there are some distinct differences. Steel vs brass terminals, the upper crimp, the inlet size and the sound running. The china sounded weak.

IMG_0782 IMG_0785 IMG_0778

Make sure you get a real one from a Bosch dealer.  There is too much junk out there from criminals that are stealing some others intellectual property.
Now we can work on plumbing the second fuel rail.