Hi, Guest
08-19-2007, 10:52 AM
Finished putting the car back together on the weekend and ran it a bit on Sunday. I can't believe how long it took, but proves my thinking in wanting to buy kit parts instead of fabbing from scratch. It's much harder to work on things around here compared to down in Detroit, also compounded by the fact I'm only home on weekends. The big issue is, anytime I run across a situation where I need a special part of some sort, I pretty much have to order it, and wait. So work stops. In Detroit, I could source just about anything in 24 hours. Even if it meant ordering it for overnight delivery to my office. Ordering overnight into Canada is prohibitively expensive.
The issues I ran in to were: Wanting to use SS fasteners instead of zinc coated. It's just the right thing to do on hot parts, and reinforced by the fact I had to cut off some bolts on the exhaust system which weren't SS last time. You can't get SS metric fasteners easily. And then I ordered the wrong length. Twice. :o
I also thought I needed an SVT dipstick and tube since it's an SVT setup. I mangled my old tube getting it out of the corrosion swelled hole in the block. And then turns out you are supposed to use a Zetec tube anyway... The SVT guys have to switch over. No mention of this fact in the instructions. I put the mangled Zetec tube back in... so far so good.
I was terrified bolting up the exhaust, because I had the Xios manifold and downpipe, Random Tech high flow cat for SVT header on a Zetec, 2.5" aftermarket flex pipe, and then a Borla exhaust. I thought it wouldn't all match up, but that came out ok.
The new setup has dual SPAL low-pro fans, which seem to move a lot more air than the stockers, and sound pretty sweet too. ;)
I also took my time to heat shield some things that needed it. Hopefully this winter I'll actually get into the wiring harness and start pruning it, because there are a lot of redundant wires.
Anyway, I fired it up last night, and it ran well. I'm really surprised at how responsive it is compared to the AC. It's hard to tell exactly how good until I drive it more, but it's definitely in the same league as the AC, if not *maybe* a little faster spooling. I think maybe it starts making boost a little sooner (I was seeing almost 5psi at 1500rpm) but is not "all-in" as fast as the AC. In any case, I was worried a conventional turbo is destined to feel like the WRX (not good), but it's just not the case.
I was surprised at how well the car ran just on the existing tune. I also retarded the cams -2/-4 on the Ex/In just as a leap of faith that that's a reasonable setting. Some people go more, but it's in the right direction anyway. A little retard helps the Zetec at the top end, and spreading the lobes a bit is good for forced induction.
The issues I ran in to were: Wanting to use SS fasteners instead of zinc coated. It's just the right thing to do on hot parts, and reinforced by the fact I had to cut off some bolts on the exhaust system which weren't SS last time. You can't get SS metric fasteners easily. And then I ordered the wrong length. Twice. :o
I also thought I needed an SVT dipstick and tube since it's an SVT setup. I mangled my old tube getting it out of the corrosion swelled hole in the block. And then turns out you are supposed to use a Zetec tube anyway... The SVT guys have to switch over. No mention of this fact in the instructions. I put the mangled Zetec tube back in... so far so good.
I was terrified bolting up the exhaust, because I had the Xios manifold and downpipe, Random Tech high flow cat for SVT header on a Zetec, 2.5" aftermarket flex pipe, and then a Borla exhaust. I thought it wouldn't all match up, but that came out ok.
The new setup has dual SPAL low-pro fans, which seem to move a lot more air than the stockers, and sound pretty sweet too. ;)
I also took my time to heat shield some things that needed it. Hopefully this winter I'll actually get into the wiring harness and start pruning it, because there are a lot of redundant wires.
Anyway, I fired it up last night, and it ran well. I'm really surprised at how responsive it is compared to the AC. It's hard to tell exactly how good until I drive it more, but it's definitely in the same league as the AC, if not *maybe* a little faster spooling. I think maybe it starts making boost a little sooner (I was seeing almost 5psi at 1500rpm) but is not "all-in" as fast as the AC. In any case, I was worried a conventional turbo is destined to feel like the WRX (not good), but it's just not the case.
I was surprised at how well the car ran just on the existing tune. I also retarded the cams -2/-4 on the Ex/In just as a leap of faith that that's a reasonable setting. Some people go more, but it's in the right direction anyway. A little retard helps the Zetec at the top end, and spreading the lobes a bit is good for forced induction.