Andrew & Tamra's 818SR EM Autox Hybrid Destroked Long-Rod Build

[xxguitarist]

Ours are actually 1" ID hose, 1" OD aluminum pipes along the sides.

[Tamra]

Ours are actually 1" ID hose, 1" OD aluminum pipes along the sides.

Jinx!

[Tamra]

Well last monday we had some disappointing news... finally got the tune modified to run the car long enough to get up to temp, and found out our oil pressure was dropping to 10psi and probably would have kept going if we wouldn't have shut it off. We had our Prosport gauge hooked up, so we were worried that perhaps we had a bad sender. Switched to a STRI gauge and sender that we have for another car, and it verified that we were approaching dangerously low oil pressure. We also had a coolant leak at the water pump, which meant we had to drain the system in order to fix it. Ugh. I guess it worked out though, since we had to remove the coolant hoses to access the oil pump anyway...

We dug into the car and removed the plunger in our 10mm pump, assuming that our relief valve was stuck open. It didn't seem to have any problems, and the piston was sliding freely. Our assumption was that our pump just couldn't flow enough oil for our loose bearing clearances plus our journal bearing turbo with -4an unrestricted lines (recommended by Borg Warner).

We picked up an 11mm brand new Subaru pump today. We checked the plunger for any burrs and sanded it with fine sand paper (known problem on the 11mm pumps - the relief valve can be stuck open from the factory), and also added 4 shims to increase the bypass pressure. The shims don't affect idle oil pressure, but they do increase the psi point in which the pump starts bypassing the oil pressure at higher RPM's, reducing the risk of aeration (leads to sudden oil pressure loss). The 11mm pump has an oem 75psi bypass (vs 85 for the 10mm), and the more shims you add the higher the psi has to be before the bypass opens. This puts more pressure on the system overall, but with our high rev goals, it makes it safer and decreases the risk of aeration.

We decided against the 12mm pump because we read that it actually drops off over 6500 rpm (meaning the 11mm flows more oil than the 12mm after that point). We haven't seen any data on exactly how much each shim increases the bypass psi, so we are hoping/guessing that 4 is about right. Most people do 3, but with us increasing the red line, we figured 4 would be better.

We had to remove the timing belt to change the pump, unfortunately. We were a bit faster at installing the timing belt the 2nd time around though We installed the new pump (note: new pumps do not come with new seals, so that delayed us a day in order to get them). We disconnected the electrical connectors to the spark plugs and the fuel pump in order to avoid having the car fire up without priming the oil pump. We also removed the oil filter (can make it harder to prime the oil pump), and started turning over the engine until we saw oil gush out. Put the filter back on and turned over the engine until we saw 100psi on the gauge. Reconnected the spark plugs, and success! 25 psi of oil pressure at operating temperature!



We did not expect to see our oil pressure increase from <10psi to 25 psi. Our suspicion is that either our relief valve in the 10mm pump was stuck open (although upon inspection it did not appear to be stuck), or that our 10mm pump was just worn out (donor car). The 11mm pump should not have increased our idle pressure that much. Regardless, it is better now!


We also came up with our own coolant burping solution. We added the equivalent of a faucet to our coolant crossover pipe. This would have been much easier to do BEFORE having the engine completed... as it was, we attached a piece of hose onto the end of our shop vac, sliced open about 4-5" of the hose at one end (basically creating a scooper), and slid it into the end. While we drilled and tapped, we just kept the vacuum running and it caught basically all of it.



As this is the high point of the engine and where all of the air passes through coming from the radiator, it worked like a charm. While filling the coolant from the radiator, we left the faucet open and kept filling until we saw coolant start to spill out of the hose we had running to a bucket, indicating that the engine was full of coolant. Once we started the car, we periodically opened it and it released air out. It worked flawlessly, and our only remaining bubble was actually at the radiator itself! Opening the cap, wiggling it back and forth a bit, squeezing the rubber connections on the radiator, and we got the air out of it too. HUGE success! Overall, we put in over 4.5 gallons, losing maybe 1/2 gallon to the burping process.

We ran the car for around 30 minutes, maybe longer. The temp would heat up to just over 200, and the radiator fans would kick in and cool it back to 190 in about 15-30 seconds. The oil pressure stayed steady at about 25psi at idle, 180 temp. What a relief!!!


We've also been hard at work on our rear facing shifter. We got the first in car prototype of the shifter side set up, using oilite bronze bushings and a bracket for the bolt on cables. It moves very smoothly with no binding. Andrew expects to finish the bellcrank and rear bracket this week, so we should have a finished shifter by next weekend.






It won't be long before we'll need to set up an appt with EFI Logics to get a real tune!

[Scargo]

Very nice. Reminds me of my front-end with the C-clamps.
I have a 12mm oil pump if you need it.. You guys are good...(doing your homework).

[Hindsight]

Looking good. I feel guilty for starting my donor cars engine without priming the oil pump. It had been sitting in the auction lot for probably 6 to 9 months. It didnt even cross my mind... I was just so excited after all the wait to see if it would run.

On that coolant burp line... That is the same spot Wayne puts a fitting and permanently routes it to the degas tank. Is there any reason you chose to use the valve instead of having it go to the degas full time?

Looking forward to seeing the shifter all finished.

[Tamra]

Thanks guys!

Hindsight - we don't have a degas tank since our turbo is oil cooled. We deleted it. I didn't realize Wayne had a fitting there with his mod.

[metalmaker12]

Knew it was your coolant system, great!!

[Tamra]

Knew it was your coolant system, great!!

It was actually most likely the tune that was preventing us from getting the car up to temp to even try to burp the cooling system... it was running too rich previously and was not happy. With a modified tune, the car idled fine and we were able to focus on fixing everything else lol.

[xxguitarist]

Snow day, so I got some time to work on the rear half of the shifter. Plenty of improvement areas left, but this was a functional enough prototype to see what to change & make an actual sheet metal part next time.

[Mechie3]

Nice work.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Nice job Andrew and Tamra,
I suspect a lot less backlash than before.
In any scientific experiment measurement is important.
You can measure the backlash as a percentage. Shift handle movement (right/left) while in 3rd gear as a percentage of the total movement from 1st to 5th.
That way you can quantify your improvement.

OR, You could just say, This feels so much better, and I did it.

Keep up the good work.
Bob

[Ellimist]

Nice shifter!

[Harley818]

nice work... shifter looks good.
After i read your work on shifter slop, I am now re-aligning mine hoping for smoother operation.

[xxguitarist]

Thanks all,

Bob- We failed to get a measurement on the original setup, but at least we have the video that Tamra took to do a comparison.

Harley, Hope you have good luck optimizing the factory setup. There are areas to improve friction mostly, the backlash less so.

[R.Spec]

Steering wheel and pedals!

Did yours come with the reinforced metal piece for the brakes and steering column? If so when and how does that attach. Was I supposed to put it on before the firewall?

[xxguitarist]

Did yours come with the reinforced metal piece for the brakes and steering column? If so when and how does that attach. Was I supposed to put it on before the firewall?

Yes, there's a separate bracket now for the pedals.. This needs to be bolted in place before the contoured front aluminum. IIRC it goes on with some of the low pan head socket cap screws. 1/4-20 maybe?

I think it's actually properly updated in the I rev manual.

[Tamra]

I got what I asked for for Valentine's day... to drive our 818! I even got a little sideways in "Bug" and did a burnout... thanks to our snow day. If it wasn't for the snow, we could have taken him for a loop around the block.




We will be spending the next two weeks cramming in some more details... engine break in session and low boost dyno tune session scheduled with EFI Logics for two weeks from now!

[Scargo]

I knew you could drive! That's so cool.

[Tamra]

Thanks Glyn! Hopefully 6 weeks from today I will show you my driving on the autox course in Bug

[Hindsight]

Wow, so much snow! Hope you two get everything sorted for the first AutoX!

[metalmaker12]

Thanks Glyn! Hopefully 6 weeks from today I will show you my driving on the autox course in Bug

6 weeks,, a little optimistic are you. We might be out of the snow machine by then, at least I hope.

[Scargo]

I hope they're right. I have my first track day (north of them at Lime Rock) in the same time-frame. If it's too cool I may be running rain tires instead of my slicks...

[RM1SepEx]

Looking great Tamra, where is the autox in 6 weeks?

[Tamra]

The autocross is a local club, FCSCC, which is held only about 5 miles from our house. Low pressure and close by for a first outing. We'd better have everything sorted by then, since we have our first dyno session in 13 days!

Update:

We've got the shifter pretty well sorted out. We will be adding a few tabs to reinforce it to prevent some flexing (or go up a gauge of metal), but overall it feels really good. It is a significant improvement over the feeling with the FFR cables - no more guessing which gear, and a nice short throw. Our friend Tim, with the S2000 CR, said it's the only car he's seen with a shorter throw than his car... he loved the feel as well. The throw is adjustable in length as well.



Here it is in action, reverse is a little sticky when the car isn't running, but that's not the shifter:


When I backed it out of the garage yesterday, I was surprised at how easy it was to find gears. I thought it felt very good. Our placement under the console and behind the bar also put it in a very natural position.

Another pleasant surprise is that we are not going to have to modify our console much. Pretty much cutting out a hole for the new location and two cutouts for the shifter cables did the trick. Photos to come once we have it more finished. The e-brake looks like it will work in the FFR location put at a slight angle.

Once we get it a little more finalized, we will probably take an interest check and start working out pricing on the package.


We also bolted in the drivers seat. It was relatively stress free and straight forward. We believe the brackets are Sparco for a VW kit, per the person we purchased them from used. We are pretty sure the sliders are the standard Sparco ones, and the fit kit we didn't used was what pertained to a VW.



Finally, we also welded on brackets to mount the AWIC bracket (the new welder we picked up has been incredibly useful), started working on cutting and tacking the piping for the EWG's into the downpipe, and started on the center console. We also welded on brackets to mount the charcoal canister with (that sucker is ugly, but at least the mounting brackets are tidy).

I go back to working 9am-12am tomorrow, so it's up to Andrew to work on the car this week. I'm really hoping I can take Saturday the 28th off so I can be there for the dyno session. Fingers crossed.

[chedda]

Looks great! Can't wait to see it on the dyno.

[Frank818]

So jealous about the shifting brackets.

[xxguitarist]

It's been a busy week of evenings in the garage, with less specific things to show for it than we might choose.

I've been spending a lot of time just getting things tucked into place, running gauge wiring, snugging up the AWIC lines, etc.

Last night I got the modified cross-brace about 90% done, I will still add some flat stock to increase the welded joint area between the diagonal and straight bars.
I also made a brace for the AWIC.

[Buzz Skyline]

You two have the best build.

[xxguitarist]

Thanks Buzz!

This weekend we spent lots of hours working towards finishing the exhaust. Our dual external wastegates needed to be plumbed into the downpipe. Easy enough to say, but boy that was a lot of work.
The welder purchase is definitely paying for itself.

We had to get from these three outlets, into the exhaust before the mufflers.


And here's how we did it...


More photos to come as soon as it's finished, currently I called it a night when it just needs the welds onto the downpipe. It's tacked as it sits.

We also mounted the AWIC pump and adjusted the location of the AWIC radiator.

[Hindsight]

Looking very nice and very elaborate! What kind of welder did you get? I may have missed the post where you mentioned it.

[metalmaker12]

Nice!!

[xxguitarist]

Hindsight, I'm not actually sure if we did announce it. It's the APH AlphaTig 200. Long name, one of the better reviewed Chinese TIG/Stick combos. AC & DC, and it runs on 110 & 220v. I have no clue about that stick thing, though... If we get a Jeep, maybe I'll try it out. Hah!

I'm very impressed with the DCEN performance. With 1/16 lanthanated tungstens, it holds a very low power arc beautifully. I prefer it to my work's Lincoln 275 square wave for steel.



Aluminum/ AC, it's OK. I think I prefer my work's machine for this. I ought to prefer it for something, it's over 3x the cost, and with a liquid cooled torch.

I need to upgrade to a gas lens diffusion on the torch for mine, but keeping short runs on the stainless and caution with heat, it's looking good. Gold to slightly blue.


Here's a timelapse from the last bit. I haven't been good about taking the footage, but Tamra is!

[Tamra]

So these arrived yesterday...



Our tune got pushed back to the 7th due to a schedule conflict at EFI. We can't wait

[RM1SepEx]

how you going to get those 245s to fit in the front?

[Tamra]

These are for the rear, we will be running 15's on the front. We would have chosen wider for the rear, but Hoosier had a closeout sale and they were only $90 each down from $280 each... so we couldn't resist the savings.

[AZPete]

Need 2. Good price. Buy 6.

[Harley818]

I like reading your build. Your attention to detail is great both in the theory and implementation. You are thinking it all through before hand whereas I'm just going ahead with it, and sometimes doing it twice. Great work.

Thanks for the info about the burping. I haven't had the time to successfully complete mine yet.
I kept adding coolant to my overflow tank every time I walked by and started it again on the weekend. I drove the car out in the street, and turned it around like you guys did so I could work on running it with the exhaust pointing out rather than filling up the garage with fumes.
Awesome wheelspinning power..... but then I had a small leak onto the manifold..... so shut it down. Luckily, just the clamp on the upper engine connection. I think I'll add a valve in and drain it into a bucket like you did till its full, then hook it up to the overflow tank.
looking forward to running it till the rad fans come on......

[Tamra]

Need 2. Good price. Buy 6.

Yup, that's about how the thought process went! The other was, buy two, get 4 free (because that was the equivalent savings).

I like reading your build. Your attention to detail is great both in the theory and implementation. You are thinking it all through before hand whereas I'm just going ahead with it, and sometimes doing it twice. Great work.

Thanks for the info about the burping. I haven't had the time to successfully complete mine yet.
I kept adding coolant to my overflow tank every time I walked by and started it again on the weekend. I drove the car out in the street, and turned it around like you guys did so I could work on running it with the exhaust pointing out rather than filling up the garage with fumes.
Awesome wheelspinning power..... but then I had a small leak onto the manifold..... so shut it down. Luckily, just the clamp on the upper engine connection. I think I'll add a valve in and drain it into a bucket like you did till its full, then hook it up to the overflow tank.
looking forward to running it till the rad fans come on......

Thanks Harley! Don't worry, we've definitely had to redo stuff too. In fact, last weekend we realized that where we had placed the AWIC radiator did not allow enough room for our fittings, so we had to weld on new tabs to shift it over an inch. Whoops.

[Scargo]

Wait till you see what I've done. Going to be hard to back-pedal out of this one.... Pics/details later in the day.

[Tamra]

uh oh... what did you chop off this time?!?!? Hopefully part of the car lol