Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Videos of running, driving and launching

 I got the new engine together and installed then took it for a little drive. Everything was looking good so I bolted the fenders on and tested components by launching the car hard at 3000 rpm. The sparks coming off the tires are from bits of metal shavings stuck in the slicks. Also, this T5 transmission always grinds going into reverse but I later found out that shifting into 5th before going into reverse cures the grindage.

Video of first start up of new engine

Video of first drive

Video of first hard launch

Video of second hard launch

Video of third hard launch

Video of fourth hard launch

Monday, April 2, 2012

Epic Fail

I installed the fuel rail and  hooked up the wiring to the injectors and was bolting on the upper intake manifold when disaster struck. The book calls for 34 Nm torque on the intake bolts and my 3/8" clicker torque wrench has the gradients etched into the shaft (10,20,30, etc) and smaller gradients (1,2,3 etc) in the part that twists around. The top gradient in the shaft is 29 Nm so I turned the handle up to that, then added 5 more to get 34 Nm, the recommended torque. The wrench definitely clicked but then I felt a pop, the pictures explain the rest.
So, the intake is junk and it's cast aluminum that is difficult to weld.