Papa's MKIV Roadster Build - #9115 (Post Grad) - One million + views!!!

[Papa]

The Terminator X arrived today!

[Higgybulin]

Ooooooo booooooy! Here we go

[cgundermann]

Great! Now I have to start all over convincing myself that I don’t want one.

I know right - my Gen 3 comes in days!

Absolutely gorgeous Papa!!!

Chris

[Papa]

Step one: Harness modifications

I need to change a couple of the connectors on the Holley main harness to put the proper plugs on that mate with the sensors on the stacks. Specifically, the IAC and MAP sensor plugs. Jim also points out the TPS sensor, but the harness I received has the correct connector and pinout already. Thankfully, the harness wire diagram is very detailed, and Jim's instructions identify what the pinout for each plug needs to be and he provides the connectors. His instructions are kind of a mess with stuff covering a couple of different designs of his stacks all jumbled together, so it takes a bit of deciphering to figure out which parts apply to the specific configuration. This will definitely be a "take my time" sort of project. I may rewrite his instructions to be cleaner and offer the revised document to him for future customers with the same setup. It will be good to have a clean document of the system for my own records.

[Papa]

I tinkered a bit with the new harness this weekend. Everything was cruising along great until I got to the MAP sensor. It uses a connector that has Metri-Pack pins, which I've never worked with and don't have the proper tool to crimp the pins to the wire. I gave it a go with a standard crimper and then tried to fit the pins into the connector. This is where I stumbled, and I couldn't get the pins to seat fully. So, I ended up ordering a connector with a pig tail and will just splice the wires with the heat shrink solder butt connectors. So, since the car wasn't getting torn down, my wife and I took advantage of a beautiful Saturday afternoon and drove into town to get a shake at Sonic, which was pretty busy, and the car got a lot of attention with several people asking if they could take a picture.

[bobl]

Make sure you get the IAC wired correctly for the IAC provided. There are 2 configurations, but I'm guessing the instructions address that. If you get it wrong it will certainly make you scratch your head. I've had to rewire Holley harnesses a couple of times.

Bob

[Papa]

Make sure you get the IAC wired correctly for the IAC provided. There are 2 configurations, but I'm guessing the instructions address that. If you get it wrong it will certainly make you scratch your head. I've had to rewire Holley harnesses a couple of times.

Bob

Thanks, Bob. If the instructions provided are correct, that one should be good. It uses a square Weather-Pack connector, which I am confident working with. Each pin location in the plug was identified, and the instructions listed A as A-Hi, B as A-lo, C as B-Hi, and D as B-lo.

Dave

[Papa]

Okay, the harness mods are complete and I've procrastinated long enough. I plan to start the upgrade on the car this coming weekend.

[GoDadGo]

Okay, the harness mods are complete and I've procrastinated long enough. I plan to start the upgrade on the car this coming weekend.

We All Can't Wait To See The Completed Upgrade!
........This Is Going To Be Cooler Than Cool!

[BRRT]

We All Can't Wait To See The Completed Upgrade!
........This Is Going To Be Cooler Than Cool!

I can't agree more! A beautiful setup!

Jeff

[Papa]

Here is the wiring laid out on the floor:



Everything is pretty much plug and play now with all the proper connectors and the correct injector harness.

[460.465USMC]

Hope it goes well this weekend, Dave!

[Papa]

The upgrade is started. The car is in the shop on the lift. I'm waiting for it to cool down now and I'll drain the coolant and start removing the Sniper and other parts. It's going to be interesting to see how the harnesses lay out on the car and what I need to do to do have a clean install. I reached out to Holley and the ECU can be mounted in the engine bay as long as it won't get sprayed directly with water and the connectors are facing down. It's looking like a firewall mount will work best and the CDI on the passenger footbox.

[Papa]

A couple of teardown pictures:







Tomorrow, I'll get the heads cleaned up and ready for the new intake. I want to dry fit it before mounting it for good. I will chase the threads in the intake bolt holes as well.

[Papa]

Dry fit.

[Geoff H]

I bet that right there makes it all worthwhile. Looks fantastic!!

[Bob Cowan]

Two simple pieces of advice for 8 stack systems:

1. Choose the right cam; wide LSA, minimal overlap. Otherwise, it doesn't run well at low rpm's.

2. Use a synchrometer to get the balance exactly right. Without it, you'll never get it tuned correctly.

[BadAsp427]

Dave, that really looks fantastic.... I'm grinning ear to ear for you..

[Papa]

Well, things didn't go as well as I'd hoped today. I got the gaskets set with sealant around the water jackets and set the intake in place only to realize that a couple of the bolts couldn't be installed and I'd need to use studs. So everything came back off and got cleaned up and I ordered an ARP stud kit and another set of gaskets. I did get the power harness run and may mount the ECU and other electrical components tomorrow.

[Mike.Bray]

Dry fit.

That is so sexy. What's even better is how well it will run with EFI. And the amazing throttle response you have.

I want to see how you handle the crankcase ventilation. I've never found what I consider a good solution.

[BadAsp427]

Dave,
You most like could pick up that APR stud kit at your local O'reilly or Autozone...

[Jeff Kleiner]

Nice Dave

Jeff

[Papa]

Dave,
You most like could pick up that APR stud kit at your local O'reilly or Autozone...

I ordered from Amazon along with new gaskets and will have them in a couple of days.

[Papa]

Two simple pieces of advice for 8 stack systems:

1. Choose the right cam; wide LSA, minimal overlap. Otherwise, it doesn't run well at low rpm's.

2. Use a synchrometer to get the balance exactly right. Without it, you'll never get it tuned correctly.

Jim had me send my CAM specs before I even made the decision to go this route and I'm right in the sweet spot. He also sent a synchronization tool and the procedure for getting the stacks synchronized.

[Papa]

Two simple pieces of advice for 8 stack systems:

1. Choose the right cam; wide LSA, minimal overlap. Otherwise, it doesn't run well at low rpm's.

2. Use a synchrometer to get the balance exactly right. Without it, you'll never get it tuned correctly.

Bob,

Here are my CAM specs:

Roller, .543 Intake
.554 Exhaust & 218 Intake
226 Exhaust duration @ .050 - 112 degree lobe separation

What are your thoughts?

Dave

[Bob Cowan]

Bob,

Here are my CAM specs:

Roller, .543 Intake
.554 Exhaust & 218 Intake
226 Exhaust duration @ .050 - 112 degree lobe separation

What are your thoughts?

Dave

That should work pretty well. I'v used "bigger" cams, but the performance isn't really any better.

112* is about minimum for an IR intake system. 114* is better, but those are hard to come by.

[Papa]

I got the ECU mounted in its new home today. You can see the main power harness right next to the socket it will get connected to when it's time.



I also made a new set of spark plug wires from a MSD 8.5mm Super Conductor wire kit. I had a couple of boots that were burnt on my old set and this was a great opportunity to make a new set.

I also did a little more harness tweaking after reviewing the "loose wire" bundle and Input/Output wiring. The loose wire bundle has an additional power and ground as well as the fuel pump control wire and points trigger wire that I'll use as is. The fan control is wired into the Inputs/Outputs connector. This comes wired on the main harness, but has a connector mated that was fully terminated. There is a second connector that has all the inputs and outputs wired, but I only needed the fan control output, so I de-pinned that wire from the fully populated plug and added it to the one connected to the harness.

I've been fiddling with a mounting bracket for the coil, but think I'll end up mounting it near the CDI ignition box on top of the passenger foot box. More to come.

[bobl]

Looking good. Can't wait to hear you got it going.

[Yama-Bro]

Schawing! Looks amazing!

[Papa]

The ARP stud kit arrived today, and they are too long for the four center holes that I need studs on. I threaded them into the engine and set the intake on and the four center studs hit the throttle body and kept the intake from sitting all the way onto the heads. So, McMaster-Carr to the rescue. I ordered some setup studs with the proper threads that are 2-1/2" (3/8" shorter than the ARP studs). I wish I could have found them in 2-1/4" length, but these should work. I may have to set the intake on over the studs and thread on the nuts before fully lowering the intake, but that won't be a big deal. I can use studs or my old ARP 12-pt. manifold bolts in the other eight holes.

Here is a picture of the intake showing the two center bolt holes on the driver's side. The machined portion of the intake over the holes is what I have to work with. It gives me just over 1/2" of space to work with.

[Bob Cowan]

I made my own studs out of Grade 5 All-Thread. I think I ordered it from Mcmasters. Then I used a chrome washer and chrome acorn nut to make it look pretty. That area is a PITA to get in to.

The intake manifold only needs about 25 ft/lbs of torque. No need for fancy high strength fasteners.

[Papa]

I made my own studs out of Grade 5 All-Thread. I think I ordered it from Mcmasters. Then I used a chrome washer and chrome acorn nut to make it look pretty. That area is a PITA to get in to.

The intake manifold only needs about 25 ft/lbs of torque. No need for fancy high strength fasteners.

Thanks, Bob. I ordered both black oxide and stainless steel studs and some stainless steel 12-point nuts. I'll reuse my ARP bolts in the holes I can and studs in the four I can't.

https://www.mcmaster.com/90997A800

https://www.mcmaster.com/92997A338

[Papa]

Today I focused on the EFI harness and ignition component placement. I ended up mounting the CDI and coil on the passenger footbox.all the wiring is connected from the loose wire bundle, output harness, CDI, and coil with the exception of the battery power connections. I have the main harness tied up along the top 3/4 tube under the passenger fender. I used a Y cable from Holley to split the CAN connection allowing me to connect the handheld and a laptop. The laptop connector as well as the fuel pump relay and fuse are all easily accessed. I'll post pics once I have all the wires wrapped and tied up.

[Papa]

The big brown truck delivered my McMaster-Carr order early! I couldn't wait to see if the studs were going to work or not, and with a little effort to lift the intake just enough to slip the nuts in place on the studs, it looks like these will do the trick.

[Papa]

Here's a peak at the main harness laid in place (still nothing tied, wrapped, or attached).



The branch at the left is for the O2 sensor. The next one over is for the distributor. Laying in the valley is another large connector for the injector harness and then all the various sensors.

Here is another (messy) picture that shows where the CDI and coil get mounted. Again, lots of wrapping and cleaning up of all the wires still to do.

[BadAsp427]

Dave, this is all coming together and in your normal fashion, looks fantastic...

[Papa]

I took a little time today to finish prepping the various electrical connections for the new EFI. I installed the throttle cable and injector harness and reinstalled the water neck and a new thermostat.



Next, I set up the new plug wires on the Dual Sync:



Finally, I decided to try to clean up the battery connections as there are now multiple wires running directly to the battery. I found a set of very nice terminals that accept two 4 gauge and two 8 gauge wires using insulated barrels that crimp the wire and hold it in the terminal.









I still have one more set of wires to run, so I left my battery charger wires connected using ring terminals that they already had installed.

[Bob Cowan]

I could use battery terminals like that! Tell me more, please.

[Papa]

I could use battery terminals like that! Tell me more, please.

Bob,

There are several of these types of terminals out there. These are the specific ones I have:

Justech 1Pair 4/8 Gauge AWG Car... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DFJP27D...p_mob_ap_share

I'll need to track down the inserts as I don't recall where I found those.

[Papa]

Looks like I got those on Amazon, too.

Baomain AWG 8/10.0mm² Wire Copper Crimp Connector Insulated Ferrule Pin Cord End Terminal Red E10-12 Pack of 100 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I7X480E...ing=UTF8&psc=1

10 Pcs Wire Crimp Connector Cord End Terminal Insulated Ferrule Red E25-16 4AWG 25mm2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FLHW29H...ing=UTF8&psc=1

I also got some 8 gauge that were longer from another source on eBay.