Ready to get some work done

[diceman469]

I was in a few weeks ago and talked to Mike about bringing my car in to get my turbo and intercooler all plumbed in. I PMed Mike about it a few times and he was very helpful, however now that I'm ready to bring the car down I guess he's gotten busy. I'd like to get the car to you guys before I go up north next week. How's the schedule looking? I'd call but I'm work right now...

-Austin

[SpottedMango]

Austin, when you get a chance, you can drop off at any time. If I remember correctly, you might also need a trailer, you are more then welcome to come by and us ours.

Thank you,

Ian

[SpottedMango]

Also, I spoke to Mike, he was looking up the scheduling this morning and was about to reply to ya. In any event, bring it in any time and we will have everything ordered up!

Thanks again.

[diceman469]

Thanks guys

I'm going to be bringing the car in Friday when you guys open. I'm going to use another trailer, as it'd be too much of a PITA to come out from Clearwater just to pick it up and go all the way back home....etc

Looking forward to seeing the finished product :D

-Austin

[Griffin400]

We can pick up for additional fee:D :D :lol: :lol: :crack:

[diceman469]

Bump for the guys at DC...they couldn't get my car done in one day as promised. So they're going to look after it and bring it to me when I get back, so I don't have to be any more inconvenienced.

I knew I picked the right guys for the job! Thanks !

-Austin

[manifoldmike]

Bump for the guys at DC...they couldn't get my car done in one day as promised. So they're going to look after it and bring it to me when I get back, so I don't have to be any more inconvenienced.

I knew I picked the right guys for the job! Thanks !

-Austin

sorry about the timeline. guess there was a little more work there then i planned for. thanks for the business.

-mike

[back2Nissan]

The car is looking great boys. She will definitely be a sleeper. (if you can get it to hook up that is)

[diceman469]

The car is looking great boys. She will definitely be a sleeper. (if you can get it to hook up that is)

The tranny will def be next year's project. Until then, yes, it will be a peg-legger lol.

I got home today instead of tomorrow, so I can take delivery tomorrow if you can get it to me. I'll call you guys in the AM

-Austin

[back2Nissan]

The tranny will def be next year's project. Until then, yes, it will be a peg-legger lol.

I got home today instead of tomorrow, so I can take delivery tomorrow if you can get it to me. I'll call you guys in the AM

-Austin

I have destroyed my fair share of 16V gearboxes and then when I couldn't find any more of those I tore up some 8V ones. lol Definitely has always been a water cooled VW issue. Quaife sequential?? ;)

[manifoldmike]

The tranny will def be next year's project. Until then, yes, it will be a peg-legger lol.

I got home today instead of tomorrow, so I can take delivery tomorrow if you can get it to me. I'll call you guys in the AM

-Austin

tomarrow afternoon would be a good time to come pic/drop off.

[diceman469]

tomarrow afternoon would be a good time to come pic/drop off.

Did you do the intake tube as well? I'll call you when you guys open

[diceman469]

I have destroyed my fair share of 16V gearboxes and then when I couldn't find any more of those I tore up some 8V ones. lol Definitely has always been a water cooled VW issue. Quaife sequential?? ;)

Quaiffe or Peloquin and probably an O2A FTW

[back2Nissan]

Quaiffe or Peloquin and probably an O2A FTW

BIG $ but well worth it.

[diceman469]

Just got the car back today. I gotta say I'm glad I chose these guys, they really hooked me up after the work turned out to be more complicated than originally thought. Here are some pics of their work:

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0766.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0767.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0768.jpg

Right now I've removed the intercooler pipes and the compressor housing to get powdercoated while I'm away on business. I'm looking forward to getting this on the road when I get back.

If I'm still living in FL when the transmission project is ready....you guys will def get my business :D :D :D

[Shadytrixta1]

lol that car is gonna be a blast to drive! I also want to apologize if we destroyed any speed bumps in you complex with the trailer!

[DC Dave]

any full pics of the car! it looks sick!

[Shadytrixta1]

It is really one of the cleanest i've seen in person for how old it is!

[DC Dave]

pics or ban!

[Shadytrixta1]

You can kinda see it in the 4" exhaust thread lol.

[DC Dave]

haha well that doesnt help. damn i guess i just need to come hang out at DC more.

[Shadytrixta1]

Well we delivered the car tonight so its no longer there.

[DC Dave]

well i figured that! you should have taken a picture on your phone.

[DC Dave]

damn that is clean, i can see in the supra exhaust thread like you said cody! noice

[diceman469]

Wow, didn't expect all this interest! It's a 1992 VW Cabriolet nad I've done alot of work to it over the years to make it what it is. I apreciate how clean everyone says it is but honestly, it hasn't been washed in 6 months...it's usually alot cleaner.

I'll post some pics tonight when my internet feels like working.

[Griffin400]

This car is SICK! I love the exterior and interior color combo. The wheels even look good on the car, matches very well!

[manifoldmike]

that will be a fun little car when its done. thanks again for the business.

[diceman469]

Alright, here are some pics of the build over the last few years:

When I first got it:

http://hometown.aol.com/diceman469/images/dsc00701.jpg

http://hometown.aol.com/diceman469/images/dsc00702.jpg

My older wheels before I decided to go "oldschool"

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/yellowcab10.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/yellowcab11.jpg

The wheel build (14" with 195/45/14 Toyos)

The donor:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/image004MA17259126-0004.jpg

Painting:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/Newpics057.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/Newpics058.jpg

Sanding results:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/Newpics055.jpg

Polishing:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/Newpics056.jpg

Result:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/Newpics060.jpg

Coils to make her sit right:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/vmaxx.jpg

The turbo build:

The donor:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/newcabbie2.jpg

Dirty bay:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0622.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0616.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0648.jpg

The rusted battery tray:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0621.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/Picture010.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0644.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0719.jpg


http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0619.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0647.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0672.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0677.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0714.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0717.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0675.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0718.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0720.jpg


This is the car right before the teardown:

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/jasmine.jpg

The daily:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/07rabbit.jpg

[Griffin400]

You sure like you VWs.

Nice work man!!! Car has come a long way.

Glad we could be part of the bulid!

P.S Like the eyebrows, makes the car look very mean!

[GsT Racer]

Fixed... lol
http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/2423/vtecvwce4.jpg

[diceman469]

Ha...I'm going to have to show my buddy that one!

[DC Dave]

very nice man! come along way. It has a mean stance which is really weird to see from one of those.. If you dont mind me asking ive been on the look out for a vdub. How much did you pay out the door for your Mk5.

[diceman469]

I paid pretty much full boat for the car. I had a POS lemon of a GTI that gave me all sorts of problems. It finally took out the oil pump and was stuck at my house. I needed to get it towed. So...I traded it in on the Rabbit, one of the first two door models. They hosed me because they knew they had me. The votex kit really makes all the difference. I'm trying to convince the girl to buy some stuff for it for me for xmas, we'll see what happens...

[back2Nissan]

Now that is documenting a build! I love before and afters.

[diceman469]

It's been awhile so I thought I'd update you guys on what's happening in my garage.

Still not running yet! After going to baltimore for a week (and getting some parts powdercoated while I iwas gone to be sure it wasn't a total loss) I got the car mechanically back together, and began to check all the wiring I redid while the engine was out. I found that even though I was very thorough, some of it had to be redone.

Yesterday I finally got what I needed done to the point where it could be run. I plugged all my AFR, ignition, and VE tables in. I calibrated the wideband. I was ready to go.

Until I tried to get fuel pressure. The pump is shot! So, I'm coming in today to get me a nice walbro, and I'll continue to work on this probably on Sunday.

Damn holidays getting in the way of my progress :lol:

Happy Holidays!

[SpottedMango]

Damn, always that ONE thing!

We have Walbros in stock!

[diceman469]

Yea man I'm coming in later to pick up a 255.

Then I can spend the next three days cranking this thing over trying to get spark, fuel, and TDC to all hold hands in harmony. Good times!

[diceman469]

OK the new news-

DC didn't have the pump I needed. VW has an interesting way to their fuel system. They use a low pressure pump to move fuel out of the tank into a small reservoir. From there an inline pump pressurizes it and moves it to the front of the car. That's the VW way of baffling a fuel tank.

Soooo DC had a ton of in-tank pumps, no inlines. Ah well, I got it from another source and got fuel pressure. So now the moment of truth. I take a deep breath. I turn the ignition switch.

Nothing.

Nada.

Starter solenoid is dead. This car has gotten too comfortable in the garage. Keep in mind all this shit was on the car when I pulled the motor, so I know it used to work. Now I'm off to the store for a new starter.

Bastids!

Will keep informed.....

Oh and the final product (pre-running)

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m294/diceman469/DSCF0804.jpg

[diceman469]

So the latest news...car is completely wired and going to DC on Tuesday for a final tune. I'm so excited that this project is coming to a close and I can't wait to drive it!

[diceman469]

The car was picked up on tuesday to get worked on. I went to Sunshine last night and I'm telling you, I'm really missing NOT having this car. It's going to be something else to pull up alongside an unsuspecting racer with a yellow cabriolet and embarass them.

And reading about all these 500+ whp monsters is making me already contemplate my next setup.

Speed is a helluva drug

[diceman469]

If someone can give me a call from the shop I'd like to know what's new with my car. I came in there on Monday and way told I'd hear something by the end of the day. Just curious if Mike's rewiring for the fuel got him anywhere.

[diceman469]

3 days and counting!

[SpottedMango]

3 days till what..........






:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

3 days and counting!

[diceman469]

3 days till what..........






:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:



Thats just wrong on so many levels

You make babies cry.

[diceman469]

Bad day. That's all I got right now.

[manifoldmike]

Bad day. That's all I got right now.

good day. pretty sure that the cooling fan wasn't working. oiling issue seemed to clean back up.

keep your head up, you might be in the clear.

[diceman469]

Yea, I was feeling better after the visit last night. I guess in the absence of good data, my mind wanders to worst-case scenarios.

[diceman469]

Hey guys, I'm going to need to bring my car back in for a little modification to the exhaust. I can't install my lower suspension brace because it hits the flex pipe. It looks like about 3/8" needs to be taken out of the DP. Your workload permitting, I'll try to get it in there next week.

[diceman469]

Time for a "bored at work" update.

Mostly tweaking the megasquirt now, learning the full power of this system. There are alot of ports that are programmable to do just about anything you want, and I'm taking advantage of it. This is what I've got:

-The cooling fan is wired into the MS so that I can turn it on and off under any conditions I choose. Right now I have it set to turn on only when the temp is over 180 and the rpm is over 500 (so it doesn't run when cranking)

-I am trying to create a custom electronic boost controller that is adjustable through megasquirt. All systems now use what's called a pulse-width-modulated valve (such as the n75) to regulate the amount of air passing through it via duty-cycle. The system I'm going to use uses a vw egr vacuum solenoid with an "on-off" configuration. It's experimental, and I can't find any other people on the internet using it. I'll give a more detailed explanation if it works the way I expect it to. But if it works, I got EBC capability for ten bucks and NO modifications to the megasquirt circuitry....not so bad!

-Added security to combat thieves...complete with remote-turnoff capability....even if I get carjacked and the dude drives off with my keys. I don't want to get into it too much because after all, it IS security. But I'll tell you this....the parts involved cost me $15 SHIPPED to make it happen.

-Added an idle valve, although it's not working for me AT ALL at this point. Still trying to work it out.

I problem I did run into though is that no matter what, I can't get more than 9psi...even with a disconnected wastegate. Above 6000rpm it the engine power tapers off, which leads me to believe my exhaust is too small for what I'm trying to push through it. I'm contemplating an exhaust cutout, because $800 is way more than I got these days for a full turboback.

Anyone got any suggestions?

[Griffin400]

Custom 5 inch exhaust lol!!!

[power2weight]

Time for a "bored at work" update.

-I am trying to create a custom electronic boost controller that is adjustable through megasquirt. All systems now use what's called a pulse-width-modulated valve (such as the n75) to regulate the amount of air passing through it via duty-cycle. The system I'm going to use uses a vw egr vacuum solenoid with an "on-off" configuration. It's experimental, and I can't find any other people on the internet using it. I'll give a more detailed explanation if it works the way I expect it to. But if it works, I got EBC capability for ten bucks and NO modifications to the megasquirt circuitry....not so bad!

Anyone got any suggestions?

Which verstion of MS do you have(I can see the relay board) and are you going to use one of the programmable outputs or the boost control feature to control this?

I have the fan control set up on mine, but I think its a little too slow for boostcontrol.

[diceman469]

I'm running MSII with a version 3 board. For some reason the boost control feature is only available for MSI...but I've got a way around it I believe.

[power2weight]

Boost control is available in MS2-Extra firmware.

[diceman469]

I'll have to look into that...I was going by the diyautotune website. But considering my luck with the PWM valves, I might want to take my time on that one..

I really need to work out my backpressure problem with the exhaust. Unfortunately as much as I want to spend money on the car, I need to save up for a wedding. Damn relationships! lol

[diceman469]

OK, started pulling some things apart and found some problems.

I found a few exhaust leaks. One was on the DP, fixed that yesterday. I pulled the WG off, and found that was leaking as well. Disassembled it and found the inside to be alright, although when I was applying vacuum to the top port (to check for leaks in the diaphram) all of it would bleed off quickly. I cleaned it up and put it back together, now it holds fine.

My course of action after doing some research is to remove all the SS gaskets, as they are proving to be worthless anyway. I may be losing power due to the turbo ingesting all this "dead air" from the exhaust in the bay...especially considering that the WG is right underneath the filter. I get occasional misses at cruise and my AFR is more unstable than I think it should be...this may be the cause of it.

The WG spring is a large blue/0.9bar. I should have 13psi and I'm hoping these fixed leaks give me my boost. This turbo is big enough for me to break something. 9psi is definately not all it's got.

***Let it be known DC didn't install any of these gaskets. In fact, I found it rather odd they neglected to install gaskets I provided to them. I guess they knew something I didn't!

[diceman469]

Problem found. It was the cat. Brought it in this morning....and problem solved.

Next problem? My blowby issue. It's getting pretty insane, Thinking I need to drop this off and get the bottom end rebuilt.

[diceman469]

Bottom end is toast. This is starting to feel like a marriage.

Made it to school to pick up my daughter, and was smoking like crazy. My catch can sounds like another muffler. If I boost for a few seconds at highway speed and let off, about ten seconds later blue smoke pours out the tailpipe. The crankcase gets so pressurized that it's forcing oil past the seals.

BTW, the vent tube is 3/4"!!!!

Pulled the head last night, and the you can actually push the pistons around inside the bore. The antifreeze that was in the cylinder from pulling the head was gone this morning. It actually leaked past the rings just sitting there. DAMN!

So this morning I hit LKQ. 1994 ABA block from a Jetta...going to make this one a hybrid. Forged rods, forged crank, better rod to stroke ratio, 8:1 compression ratio (no more stacked gaskets), built in 60-2 trigger (distributorless, anyone?) and still got the cross-hatching in the bores. The price including a few other things I got?

99 bucks. Clearwater LKQ FTMFW

Block needs alot of outer cleaning, so more brushes and aircraft cleaner. I'm getting a better clutch and arp rod bolts for insurance.

I will have to bring my downpipe into DC to have it extended. The deck height on this one is 16mm higher.