The SLODRIVE '92 SS Build (Now with Dyno Sheet!)

bmxpunk · Post by **bmxpunk** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 6:38 am

asc_up wrote:Maybe it's just the angle of the picture, but it looks like you might have a clearance issue fitting a BPV/BOV on that intercooler.

If you look close you can see he has a hose running from the intercooler to the bpv which is under the intake manifold.

SLODRIVE · Post by **SLODRIVE** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 12:40 am

^^^ The man is correct. Look back through this thread and you'll see how.

The throttle cable bracket was a success...I have full throttle! The cable lays just under the coil bracket, you have to look closely in the third pic.

I'm currently fighting with the clutch hydraulics to get a decent pedal before I install the intercooler and whatnot. I'm about to by-pass that silly damper thing and see if that helps. More to come soon...

bmxpunk · Post by **bmxpunk** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 12:57 am

Nice bracket. I will be making my own saturday. The thing i was worried about was the cable falling out of the side of the pulley after cutting off that tab.

GodSquadMandrake · Post by **GodSquadMandrake** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 8:26 am

Very clean with the throttle cable, I love how it's tucked away.

Are you going to use the EJ20H "Twin Turbo DOHC" engine cover? I was tempted to and then cross out the twin with a sharpie lol.

SLODRIVE · Post by **SLODRIVE** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 10:19 pm

I thought about using the cover, but it won't fit anymore.

Making more progress...all vacuum lines are connected now, including the charcoal canister. I also got the power steering lines all sorted out and mounted.

The turbo is now mounted and completely plumbed. Note the DIY downpipe bracket and various heat sleeves.

I also deleted the clutch hydraulic dampener...it was really easy. I just took the hose from the master off and ran it to the slave cylinder. The clutch feels MUCH better now.
More coming soon!

Post by **Legacy777** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 5:18 am

Yeah I did away with the damper as well.

Looking good!

SLODRIVE · Post by **SLODRIVE** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 8:24 am

Whew...I'm done for today.

I mounted the intercooler for real. No clearance issues after I shortened the nipple on the brake booster a tad.

Next came the downpipe. I was a little worried that it might not fit for whatever reason, but it sat perfectly on the hanger down at the trans, and left plenty of room all around. I welded in another bung for the wideband and bolted it to the turbo.

Last but not least...I finished things up in the front. I added a second cooling fan after modding it to fit the taller turbo radiator, and hooked up the hoses and wires.

The intake's all trimmed, tightened down and ready to go...I like how it turned out. I'm going to run the Hitachi MAF at first, just to make sure everything works okay. After that, I'll switch to a JECS MAF I have here and wire in the piggyback.

GodSquadMandrake · Post by **GodSquadMandrake** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 12:31 pm

I like the filter too. I wonder if you could get another silicone piece and put the filter inside the fender? It looks so clean without the ABS pump there!

SLODRIVE · Post by **SLODRIVE** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:36 am

GodSquadMandrake wrote:I like the filter too. I wonder if you could get another silicone piece and put the filter inside the fender? It looks so clean without the ABS pump there!

No way am I going to put the filter in the fender...this car's going to spend a lot of time in the dirt. I want to make an insulated box around the filter later on though.

After the Easter fun ended today, I went under the dash to clean things up and wire in all the gauges. I was greeted with more horror...the fusebox and the ECU were dangling loose, along with a bunch of harnesses. Worse yet, it looked like the PO attempted to hook up a FCD and failed. The signal and ground wires for the MAP sensor had been hacked right at the ECU plug, and repaired by twisting bare wires together. Even better, I pulled the plug to find that the pin for the MAP's power wire was bent over. Not my kind of FCD!

After some soldering, splicing and cussing, all was well. I wired up the wideband, and hooked up an oil pressure gauge, an air/fuel gauge, and a boost gauge. I put them all in an old WRX triple pod I scored for free...it fit pretty well after some very minor trimming.

Here's my motley assortment of gauges. The boost gauge is actually an ancient German-made VDO manufactured in 1984. My UPS guy gave it to me over 10 years ago, believe it or not. I have a matching EGT (AU made in 1985!) that'll go under the radio later. The air/fuel came with the LC-1 wideband, and the oil pressure is a Suntune mechanical I picked up for $17 at Advance Auto Parts. They don't match at all, but who cares? The car looks like ass anyways, lolzzz!

While repairing the MAP wiring, I installed the TurboXS FCD that came with the car, but was never correctly installed (see above

)

Whew...What's next, you ask? I dunno, I'm tired. Check back soon!

SLODRIVE · Post by **SLODRIVE** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:39 am

(Build side note...I discovered today that this car's previous owner was a member here...Gonzoturbo. Ring a bell with anyone?)

I went in the garage today and remembered what was next...exhaust. The original exhaust system was totally wasted, but no worries-I already have a stock WRX cat-back that looks nearly brand new. (Another freebie

) It took a little modding, but nothing too awful...I guess.

Starting with the muffler, I cut off the front hanger and cut/re-welded the left rear hanger to look like the right side. Fits perfectly. Please excuse the giant welding bead, lol.

Then I went to the midpipe. I have heard a lot of people say that a WRX system is about 3" too long, but that wasn't the case at all for me-it was almost 8 inches too short. Heh. Whatever-I chopped it in front of the cat, bolted each section to the flanges, and fired up the Millermatic again.
Pipe with extension welded on:

Just for giggles, I re-attached the heat shield to hide my silliness. Oh yeah, if you look closely, you can see that I had to move the hanger almost 4 inches to the front.

Yeah, I know my cat-back is less than optimal, but (a)it was free, (b)it fits perfectly, and (c)it'll be quiet and look OEM. There'll be something a little bigger under there another time.

Haha, I'm almost at the moment of truth...

GodSquadMandrake · Post by **GodSquadMandrake** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:40 pm

Looking good as usual. I think that exhaust is fine, who cares if it's cut and modified? Yeah the pillar gauge looks really modern but it sticks out. It isn't matched to the rest of the interior and the gauges don't match. I mean that old VDO gauge is cool though. I guess it doesn't matter though, the car isn't for looks it's for speed right? All your going to run is 15 pounds of boost?

SLODRIVE · Post by **SLODRIVE** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 7:45 am

15 pounds of boost? I'm going to run wastegate pressure for a while...remember, I'm starting out with a 9:1 compression engine. I'm going to take it easy at first while I get the EM sorted out. Also, the VDO gauge was free...We can upgrade if we want as soon as we're ready to up the boost, and even then it may well be under 15 pounds until we can get the EJ22T short-block built, and that may be a while....but I digress. We'll see

Alright...Tonight was the big night. I bolted the exhaust together...filled the trans and the coolant...and that was about it. Ready to go. I gotta say, I was a tad bit nervous...

After initializing the wideband, we cranked it over a few times with the coil unplugged to pump some oil into everything, then re-connected the coil...

And it fired right up! The valves stopped clattering after a minute or so, and it sounded nice and smooth. Check it out...

Lots of oil pressure, "ok" AFR for now, good steady vacuum.

The idle was stuck at 2200 RPMs until I tapped the side of the IAC with a brass hammer, and it dropped to a nice, steady, normal idle from there on out.

The oil pressure gauge still read 70 PSI @ 2000RPMs hot (5W-30 oil), both radiator fans came on at around 185F or so, and better yet, no CEL so far. The turbo spools up and the boost gauge moved when we stabbed the throttle. The A/F ratio was hunting around somewhat after it warmed up fully; there were a few scary lean spikes that went away after turning the car off and re-starting it. I suspect the computer is doing its best to re-learn, what with all the changes. I kinda wish I had a Select Monitor, haha!

Unfortunately, the car wouldn't go into gear, even with a much-improved feeling clutch pedal, so no driving it out of my garage yet. I guess I'll bleed the crap out of it again tomorrow and see what happens. Still, woohoo!

I'll give it a road test as soon as I can and report back.

Post by **Legacy777** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 6:38 pm

What's written on the steering wheel???

SLODRIVE · Post by **SLODRIVE** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 7:12 pm

Legacy777 wrote:What's written on the steering wheel???

LMAO, I forgot all about that...it says "SPRAYERS". I guess it was a reminder for Gonzoturbo to turn on the sprayers for his goofy front-mount intercooler setup. It won't come off, but I want a new wheel anyway since it's thrashed.

beatersubi · Post by **beatersubi** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:39 am

Are you running the ECU w/ the narrowband output from the wideband controller? There was anther thread somewhere around here about clutch bleeding problems, if that helps at all.

SLODRIVE · Post by **SLODRIVE** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:57 am

beatersubi wrote:Are you running the ECU w/ the narrowband output from the wideband controller? There was anther thread somewhere around here about clutch bleeding problems, if that helps at all.

No, I've run widebands like that before and I don't like how it responds vs. an actual narrowband. I have both sensors plugged into the downpipe.

The clutch...I bled it some more and it goes into gear now, but it makes an awful grinding sound, as if the center of the disc let go (I've had that happen before). Still looking into that...grrr.

GodSquadMandrake · Post by **GodSquadMandrake** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:55 pm

Nice! I hate that nervous moment where you don't know if it's going to blow up or just purr like a kitten. There's so many little things and it seems like if even one of them is screwed up you've wasted everything even though that's just a fear and not usually true. But sometimes it is true!

SLODRIVE · Post by **SLODRIVE** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 3:17 am

Update...

I figured out the clutch issue over the weekend. I had used the EJ20H flywheel, which is a one-piece unit as opposed to the EJ22 dual-mass unit. As it turned out, the center of the EJ20H flywheel was thick enough that the bolts were hitting the springs in the disc.

Luckily, the disc wasn't really hurt, and the EJ22T flywheel was in great shape, so we swapped flywheels.

The motor was also throwing codes, so I removed the FCD (one code was for the MAP) and re-set the ECU. It soon threw a code 24 for the IAC, and the idle goes scary lean when it conks out. I may try the EJ22T IAC among other things. Not too sure whats going on...but I'll figure it out. I hope

Still, I drove it down the street...it shifts fine, and when I stabbed the throttle, it went up to 7+ ponds of boost before I let off, and the motor felt great. A/F seemed okay for that short burst too. Once I fix the code 24 issue, I'll see how she really runs then.

ericem · Post by **ericem** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 3:59 am

Nice! Maybe try just pulling the IAC and cleaning it with some brake cleaner, and possibly lube it up, or maybe just leave it dry. You should get some vids up =D

GodSquadMandrake · Post by **GodSquadMandrake** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:02 pm

The EJ20H IAC valve looks the same as the EJ22 one with the exception of how the outlet is turned. I'd be interested in seeing the result!

SLODRIVE · Post by **SLODRIVE** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 6:56 pm

Good news...I think. After chasing the code 24 (IAC valve), including ohming circuits, replacing the IAC, and getting pissed, I did some searching, and ended up checking the TPS adjustment. It was actually off a ways, and when I put it back together, the car seemed much happier. It still idled high at first, but that calmed down after I tapped the IAC mounting screws lightly with my brass hammer. (Don't ask me, lol)

I took the car down the street, and held the throttle down until 5k or so...Wow, this thing scoots, even just running wastegate boost! I'm not sure what max boost was, I didn't look at the gauge long enough. A/F was around 11.5, and better yet...it didn't blow up!

Coming soon...engine management nightmares, more boost, and some more (MUCH-needed) bodywork. A mixed bag of pain and excitement

jeffast · Post by **jeffast** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 9:11 pm

so are you gonna make it to the next rally-x????

dropdfocus · Post by **dropdfocus** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 11:02 pm

Great to hear she's getting healthier!!!!

Matt Monson · Post by **Matt Monson** » Sat May 02, 2009 4:48 am

I've got a TT IAC if you want to swap it out and give it a try.

n2x4 · Post by **n2x4** » Tue May 05, 2009 9:49 pm

SLODRIVE wrote:Good news...I think. After chasing the code 24 (IAC valve), including ohming circuits, replacing the IAC, and getting pissed, I did some searching, and ended up checking the TPS adjustment. It was actually off a ways, and when I put it back together, the car seemed much happier. It still idled high at first, but that calmed down after I tapped the IAC mounting screws lightly with my brass hammer. (Don't ask me, lol)

My project (ej22t in a impreza) does the same thing. Idle's high, throws code 24 which then drops the idle really low, seems to climb up to normal, and then the code goes away and the idle is high again.

If I figure out my issue, I'll be sure to share - probably is the same thing!

Good build though, glad to see it come together!

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The SLODRIVE '92 SS Build (Now with Dyno Sheet!)