Time for an engine fettle
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From: 11.23@127mph second drag vw beetle with a stock subaru legacy engine and a 50 shot of gas
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as interesting as it is, this is about the sohc heads and not what we are running here, i.e dohc i can't see how it is of relevance? or did i miss something?
Are they saying that its better to run a sohc than what we have? i can't see that it would be if they are
Are they saying that its better to run a sohc than what we have? i can't see that it would be if they are
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From: 11.23@127mph second drag vw beetle with a stock subaru legacy engine and a 50 shot of gas
Originally Posted by scoobysmiff
as interesting as it is, this is about the sohc heads and not what we are running here, i.e dohc i can't see how it is of relevance? or did i miss something?
Are they saying that its better to run a sohc than what we have? i can't see that it would be if they are
Are they saying that its better to run a sohc than what we have? i can't see that it would be if they are
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fair point
tbh though i wan't really looking for massive gains when i started porting the heads, all i wanted was to just clean them up a bit and smooth out the flow both in and out, when i first looked inside and saw all the steps and obstructions the engineer in me said that it would just work better if nothing else if i took it all out, any power gained will be a bonus really but all i'm looking for is smoother running and it working as well as it should be.
By doing what i have i will be confident that i have done all that i could to make it work well so i will be happy when it goes back together
tbh though i wan't really looking for massive gains when i started porting the heads, all i wanted was to just clean them up a bit and smooth out the flow both in and out, when i first looked inside and saw all the steps and obstructions the engineer in me said that it would just work better if nothing else if i took it all out, any power gained will be a bonus really but all i'm looking for is smoother running and it working as well as it should be.
By doing what i have i will be confident that i have done all that i could to make it work well so i will be happy when it goes back together
Last edited by scoobysmiff; Oct 30, 2006 at 08:51 AM.
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Well i hope to have the heads back this weekend so progress will be swift after this, the problem was that i needed some special shims that had to be ordered in as they wern't in the std pack issued to your av dealer! they should be here tomorrow and fitted shortly after. ho hum!!
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Chuffed to bits today also a bit miffed and frustrated as well though!
Got the heads this morning so was happy with that, however on the start of the build up i noticed that the rear cam belt covers that i brought second hand are not correct! so i am now stuck in the following position!


i guess it will be a trip to the local stealer then tomorrow and see how much they are from there
Got the heads this morning so was happy with that, however on the start of the build up i noticed that the rear cam belt covers that i brought second hand are not correct! so i am now stuck in the following position!


i guess it will be a trip to the local stealer then tomorrow and see how much they are from there
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well they have been ordered as they wern't that much at all, 20 euro's for the left and 26 euro's for the right, happy with that, just need to wait for them to come in and the rebuild can commence.
Also got some P1 shox and springs for 75 quid off ebay the other week - result i believe
Also got some P1 shox and springs for 75 quid off ebay the other week - result i believe
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Cheers Graham,
I have a local nut and bolt specialist available where you can just pick and mix off the shelves, which is nice, i shall be visiting them this afternoon for sure.
I have a local nut and bolt specialist available where you can just pick and mix off the shelves, which is nice, i shall be visiting them this afternoon for sure.
are those cast iron headers you've wrapped? if so i would unwrap them tout suit if i was you. the cast iron cannot cope with the heat retention and will crack, you should only wrap stainless steel really, due the the temps involved.
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Originally Posted by 911
Well done, a magic moment for sure. 

It was indeed, i was a bit twitchy on initial start up but it all sounds good at the moment and drives just fine, had an engine check light on first of all but that went when i topped up the oil to the correct level!
The heater so far is chucking out masses of heat as well so thats another good sign.
There are (as yet) no visible oil leaks from any of the replaced gaskets, which is nice, lots of smoke/steam though from the wrapped headers but that had subsided now.
What it is doing though is idling high and hunting slightly, i think i will have to check the postion of the throttle sensor tomorrow.
I can't actually believe how well it seems to have gone so far tbh, i just have this nagging thought in the back of my mind that something is waiting to go wrong - i hope i'm just being paranoid!!!
None the less, i am chuffed to bits today, all is well in scoobysmiff's world of scoobs
I have however, been bitten by the dreaded feature creep
, i am seriously toying with the idea of getting a TD06-20G for it now, it will only need injectors to compliment it so i am thinking why not! (i am still going to get a FMIC regardless after crimbo)If i can get one on it, I hope for a road car the P1 suspension will be ok for the time being, in due course it will all be changed anyway for something more suitable to very fast road/track use
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right then, all seems to be ok apart from, it still idles high, it is sitting about 1200 rpm, temps are ok, oil level is ok, ecu has been reset, i have tried moving the throttle control valve/sensor and it dont change a bit, what you say please gents?
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It's normal heat wrap in a sheet but on one side it has a foil covering, i got it from work! we use it as sheilding on the bulk heads on the APC's can't seem to find the part number again for it though, bugger!!!
i just cut it to size, have done the top of the down pipe with it as well now, will prop also use it as a turbo blanket i think.
It is really effective as well, when i ran it up and took it out for a little test, all temps were correct, oil was ok etc etc, but to touch the injectors pots when i got back, they were cold, not the slightest bit of heat in them at all! which is nice.
i just cut it to size, have done the top of the down pipe with it as well now, will prop also use it as a turbo blanket i think.
It is really effective as well, when i ran it up and took it out for a little test, all temps were correct, oil was ok etc etc, but to touch the injectors pots when i got back, they were cold, not the slightest bit of heat in them at all! which is nice.
Last edited by scoobysmiff; Dec 6, 2006 at 06:59 AM.
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I can't seem to sort the idle out! It will sit at about 1300rpm fine and drives ok but, last time i took it out it threw up a CEL, i stopped straight away and checked it with the diagnostics plugs and it came up with no fault found (continuous steady flash of the CEL)
I took apart the idle control valve and gave it a clean, this worked for a bit, it sat at 800 rpm for about a min or 2 then after i revved the engine a little bit, it settled on 1300 again. I took the connector off and the engine ran poo till i put it back on.
I took the ICV apart again and it seemed to be stuck in the open position this time, i am thinking i need to replace this and maybe the lambda as it will run fine on WOT (thus i am thinking it's not the MAF)
Anyone like to hazard a guess? or do you think it could be attributed to the following deliberate mistake
Oh, and i have sodded up the butterfly disc in the throttle housing, when i tried to knife edge it i got a bit carried away at one point and now there isn't a positive seal for about 15mm, in fact you could even call it a gap!! i am tring to source a new one but dealers can't supply this bit seperately, bugger.............Anyone got one
I took apart the idle control valve and gave it a clean, this worked for a bit, it sat at 800 rpm for about a min or 2 then after i revved the engine a little bit, it settled on 1300 again. I took the connector off and the engine ran poo till i put it back on.
I took the ICV apart again and it seemed to be stuck in the open position this time, i am thinking i need to replace this and maybe the lambda as it will run fine on WOT (thus i am thinking it's not the MAF)
Anyone like to hazard a guess? or do you think it could be attributed to the following deliberate mistake
Oh, and i have sodded up the butterfly disc in the throttle housing, when i tried to knife edge it i got a bit carried away at one point and now there isn't a positive seal for about 15mm, in fact you could even call it a gap!! i am tring to source a new one but dealers can't supply this bit seperately, bugger.............Anyone got one
Last edited by scoobysmiff; Dec 11, 2006 at 12:22 PM.
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right then i have a butterfly on the way but has anyone else got any ideas as too my little problem with the idle?
i guess i will just have to fit this when it arrives and see what happens after that.
i guess i will just have to fit this when it arrives and see what happens after that.
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Hurrah, Significant progress.
I was fortuitous enough to find another butterfly for my throttle body, thanks Murray
There was a slight problem with it though, it came off a MY96 i think and my car is a MY99, i didn't think there would be much of a problem but there was.
When i tried to fit it, it was obvious that it was too thick and wasn't going to go in! Not Murrays fault i hasten to add.
I got the mic out and measured them both to find out that the MY99 butterfly is 1.5mm thick whereas the new one i had was 2mm thick. The dia was fine so i had a choice, i could go and see if i can find someone to make me a new one out of the correcet thickness of brass plate,
OR
I could get my files out and see if i can "adjust" the thickness myself by use of my manual dexterity
Well i went for a drive too see if i could find the requesite engineering firm to see if i could get another manufactured but it was closed and as i'm so bloody impatient to get this sorted i went home and dusted off the files!!!
It has just taken me 3 hours of patient filing to get it down, i was overly cautious i think as i was quite concerned about sodding it up again, i was lucky to find this one i think and didn't want the hassle of trying to locate/manufacture another again.
I now have a uniform thickness of 1.5mm and it fits a treat.
The best bit though is that it has cured the idle problem like i had hoped it would and now sits perfectly at 800 rpm.

This is the old one that i fubar'd, you can see at about 10 o clock where the gap was, it was only about 1.5mm but enough to allow too much air in for the ecu to cope with.
I was fortuitous enough to find another butterfly for my throttle body, thanks Murray
There was a slight problem with it though, it came off a MY96 i think and my car is a MY99, i didn't think there would be much of a problem but there was.
When i tried to fit it, it was obvious that it was too thick and wasn't going to go in! Not Murrays fault i hasten to add.
I got the mic out and measured them both to find out that the MY99 butterfly is 1.5mm thick whereas the new one i had was 2mm thick. The dia was fine so i had a choice, i could go and see if i can find someone to make me a new one out of the correcet thickness of brass plate,
OR
I could get my files out and see if i can "adjust" the thickness myself by use of my manual dexterity
Well i went for a drive too see if i could find the requesite engineering firm to see if i could get another manufactured but it was closed and as i'm so bloody impatient to get this sorted i went home and dusted off the files!!!
It has just taken me 3 hours of patient filing to get it down, i was overly cautious i think as i was quite concerned about sodding it up again, i was lucky to find this one i think and didn't want the hassle of trying to locate/manufacture another again.
I now have a uniform thickness of 1.5mm and it fits a treat.
The best bit though is that it has cured the idle problem like i had hoped it would and now sits perfectly at 800 rpm.

This is the old one that i fubar'd, you can see at about 10 o clock where the gap was, it was only about 1.5mm but enough to allow too much air in for the ecu to cope with.
Last edited by scoobysmiff; Jan 5, 2007 at 03:40 PM.
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Small update,
Car is running really really well at the moment, which is nice, still waiting to get the 20g on it but it already feels faster than my mates V4 Sti (might just be me though wanting it to be)
It's boosting to about 1.15bar without a remap (yet) or any mechanical/electrical device to increase boost is this going to cause me issues in the short term, it don't get that wound up that often for too long so i am thinking i will be ok?
Car is running really really well at the moment, which is nice, still waiting to get the 20g on it but it already feels faster than my mates V4 Sti (might just be me though wanting it to be)
It's boosting to about 1.15bar without a remap (yet) or any mechanical/electrical device to increase boost is this going to cause me issues in the short term, it don't get that wound up that often for too long so i am thinking i will be ok?
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i have noticed today that i have a small oil leak, it is comming from where the dipstick tube goes into the sump, now location dictates that this will drip oil onto the headers and create an unpleasant smell, any ideas other than silicone to square it away?
I also have an issue with the radiator, top hose is nice and hot at normal operating temp, but the bottom one is cold, and so is the bottom half of the rad, to my mind this would point to an air lock but i get nice hot air from the heater so i am questioning it now? what say thee please gents???
I also have an issue with the radiator, top hose is nice and hot at normal operating temp, but the bottom one is cold, and so is the bottom half of the rad, to my mind this would point to an air lock but i get nice hot air from the heater so i am questioning it now? what say thee please gents???







looking good that!!!