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  #1  
Old 03-10-2011, 07:04 PM
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I'm addicted to tire-spinning off-idle acceleration, kind of tired of the lag-boost acceleration in mid-range, so I'll live with a little smoke.

I am having problems getting above 4700rpm, so my timed runs are pretty much useless. I have to lift my foot to get it to shift into 3rd.

It is pulling strong, have only ALDA smoke which is completely avoidable by pressing the pedal down instead of just stomping on it, but what great off-the-line pep! Other than a puff from initial stomp I have no visible smoke, which makes me happy.

I'm hitting the wastegate at 3000rpm / 18psi which is what I wanted, only able to tap on 1200* if climbing which is acceptable. Idle seemed a bit loud at first which I was expecting with the 13.5* timing, but now seems normal so I guess it was just getting the air out of the injector lines.

I'll have to look at my linkage again, find out why I'm limited to 4700rpm, and give it another go.
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Old 03-10-2011, 10:44 PM
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That's Awesome Jeff! It's cool to see the combination of parts and thoughtful engineering to make a quicker car! Keep tweaking it and posting. Love it!!
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  #3  
Old 03-11-2011, 12:58 PM
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Thanks, and I hope to get my car to look as nice as yours also, have the cladding, hood, bumpers, etc but haven't had the time to get it all installed and painted.

Ultimately Dave is doing it the way I'd like to, with the 6mm (or 7mm) elements. I am keeping my original IP on the shelf for this modification eventually. Dave's trial is indicating that the 6mm is an excellent "stage 1" choice for a daily driver.

Fortunately Dave has been going about his mods with taking notes and measurements, I wish there were a chassis-dyno near here so that I could get something instrumented other than just timed runs. His data is extremely useful to me for my future plans, as larger elements are IMO a requirement for giving the car more guts without making a mess at the tailpipe.

It has showed me that the 6mm elements are probably maximum for the engine without an aftercooler, and that the turbo I'm using is adequate also without an aftercooler. An excellent option if you have access to 6mm elements and a .55 trim turbo.

If you need to buy elements and spend the $$ to have a pump set up however, it seems that the cost would be the same for 7mm elements if you're ever going to install an aftercooler. It seems that the small jump to 6mm elements like Dave has done is a great driveable solution, as the Cruise Control will probably not be too aggressive and fuel control is probably still pretty efficient at low flow rates (typical highway cruising) and thus fuel mileage won't be hurt. The 7mm might pretty much make the factory CC useless and I'd expect that the fuel mileage (as well as idle) will deteriorate a bit.

So thanks, and I'm enjoying participating in this thread, even though it is really more of Dave's project that interests me and I feel that I'm offering a useful comparison to 5.5mm elements if I can ever get to a dyno.
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Old 03-11-2011, 01:50 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by babymog View Post

If you need to buy elements and spend the $$ to have a pump set up however, it seems that the cost would be the same for 7mm elements if you're ever going to install an aftercooler.
I believe on the Myna pumps there are external screws for setting max power, you could keep it scaled back until the intercooler was installed.
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Old 03-11-2011, 01:15 PM
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I should also mention that part of my goal, besides more available power, is better fuel mileage.

I drive fairly aggressively, and run 75mph on the highway, but am still disappointed with 25mpg average in the wagon. Seems that it should be closer to 30mpg.

So the inclined-injection, balanced injectors, advanced timing, should all help the car to get better mileage and I'd rather not spoil that with rediculously large elements and aftercooler, ... yet.
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Old 03-11-2011, 07:40 PM
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My RPM woes continue.

The lever on the pump is traveling from the idle stop to the full-load stop on the outside of the IP casting. I will have to stare at the drawings to see if the lever can travel further (by removing the full-load stop bolt) rather than binding internally. If so, I will have to devise a new stop mechanism, and remove lots of stuff to get to it. I will still have to deal with the cruise-control's lack of travel also.

It seems that this is the shortcoming of the 3.5L 603.970 pump; RPM range. It sure gets out of the hole nice but I need the RPMs for more power.
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Old 03-11-2011, 08:30 PM
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Jeff,

Send or post the Bosch blue plate numbers off the pump.
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  #8  
Old 03-11-2011, 11:20 PM
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Kurt: It is the one with the yellow plate in post 30. Sorry but I haven't figured out how to cut & paste on the Droid.
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Old 03-12-2011, 01:58 PM
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Got it. I will try to find out the differences
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  #10  
Old 03-12-2011, 07:24 PM
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Figured it out. Some dislexic mechanic (me) had made a second adjustment to the IP, CCW instead of CW.

It now revs freely beyond the 4800rpm shift points.

I have had to adjust the VCV quite a bit to get rid of part-throttle flaring, I still have soft shifts but no flare (it takes quite a bit less pedal to accelerate and drive normally).

The pump can probably be turned up a bit more than it is, no smoke currently at full-throttle. Since I've had the cruise control out three times already, I'll probably drive it as-is for a week or so before trying another adjustment. The cruise control seems unaffected, still works smoothly.



I added a video, not a real 0-60 run but a quick roadside romp. Not the best way to introduce a new engine to the world probably. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZCI0BTWKx8 Sorry about the shaky beginning, got a bit sideways and had to steer with my camera hands.

Anyway, this is the wagon which has an extra 300# over the rear wheels, almost SDL weight, and the penalty is an additional 1.1seconds 0-55 in the original specs. In this "quick and dirty" run (yes the speedo checks out with the GPS) I'm at about 8-8.5seconds 0-55 (to the original 9.8) and closer to 10seconds 0-60, and that was allowing the auto-trans to decide where to shift (around 4800RPM). I suspect that a good run shifting at 5200rpm would put me under 9seconds, especially if 2nd gear carries it to 60mph.

Not bad for a car that doesn't smoke (other than the initial half-second ALDA puff). 18psi (from ~3000rpm up) and 1-turn up on the full-load screw, staying under 1200*F EGT (only up to 85mph so far, no top-speed runs) on winter diesel that's been in the tank since October.

I'd like to try larger elements, since Dave seems to have demonstrated that the engine can handle the 6mm without an aftercooler, and I'd also like to try turning my pump up a bit to see what the limit is.
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Last edited by babymog; 03-12-2011 at 09:53 PM.
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  #11  
Old 03-13-2011, 11:48 AM
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Originally Posted by babymog View Post
I have had to adjust the VCV quite a bit to get rid of part-throttle flaring, I still have soft shifts but no flare (it takes quite a bit less pedal to accelerate and drive normally).
Were you adjusting the VCV at the IP, or the modulator at the transmission? The VCV setting is not really adjustable, it should be set to factory spec... I dialed in the modulator.


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Originally Posted by babymog View Post
The pump can probably be turned up a bit more than it is, no smoke currently at full-throttle.
With my stock pump maxed out, I never got full throttle smoke, ever. As long as you have enough airflow, you won't get any.



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Originally Posted by babymog View Post
I'm at about 8-8.5seconds 0-55 (to the original 9.8) and closer to 10seconds 0-60, and that was allowing the auto-trans to decide where to shift (around 4800RPM).
Not bad at all! Does it improve any with light power braking? My current setup launches a LOT harder if I powerbrake for a couple seconds to get the boost needle off zero before letting off the brake & pinning the throttle.



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I suspect that a good run shifting at 5200rpm would put me under 9seconds, especially if 2nd gear carries it to 60mph.
Yeah, I experimented with this too, and in general it's not worth the hassle. I tweaked the tranny to upshift at more like 4900-5000 and called it good enough. I had previously done some testing with manual shifting and IMO, the improvement in times (if any - it was tiny) wasn't worth the hassle.



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I'd ...and I'd also like to try turning my pump up a bit to see what the limit is.
Casey and myself both ran into problems when going past 1.5 turns on the full load screw. At 2.0 turns it wouldn't always return to idle, had starting problems, and had all the power with half the pedal travel (and nothing more happened when you used the last half of the travel). Adjusting the linkage rods was also a real pain. That was one thing I really liked with the 6mm pump... no idle problems, no start problems, no linkage problems!


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Old 03-13-2011, 03:31 PM
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I adjusted the VCV, advanced it a bit so that the vacuum would be more in line with the new power curve. With the VCV where it was I had great full-throttle shifts, but at light throttle the VCV was allowing the transmission substantially full vacuum as if there were little engine power, and I'd get flaring. Advancing the VCV about half of its adjustment range cured it. I don't seem to have any full-throttle slipping so haven't adjusted the modulator (again the video, you can hear good balanced shifts). How much did you turn your modulator adjustment? I am curious how much adjustment is necessary to make the shifts more sporty-feeling.

No smoke = good, agreed. However, since I'm running 18psi and you 22, it seems that there is more air available and therefore I can add more fuel if I want to try it, ... and increase boost accordingly.

Light powerbraking is where I started, if you watch the video you'll notice that as soon as I hit 3000rpm & get good boost the speedometer jumped to 20mph, had to release the brake and go to save the new Michelins (plus the crowned road was sending me sideways). I like your numbers better, but with an extra 300lbs and 5.5mm elements, I'm not expecting to keep up. The changes I've made so far in the new engine have made driving this car a completely different experience, so much low-end grunt that it never had, throttle response like a gasser, yet with short-shifts it has such smooth torque (yes, I even lengthened the Bowden cable for earlier shifts), it feels more civilized like the Prevost and its big Detroit w/ allison, it is quite enjoyable to drive. No more mashing the loud pedal and waiting for downshift and boost. More power is there I'm sure, but this is already such a grin, even with 2.65:1 gears it spins fresh 215 rubber.

I've read accounts of turning the full-load up beyond 1.5 turns, only went 1 turn. I figure I can always try more, but not this week I think I'll get the car out and put a thousand or so miles on it as-is first. I need to do some more reading and calculating so that I fully understand the interdependence of all of the pump's adjustments and linkages.
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Old 03-13-2011, 06:30 PM
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I adjusted the VCV, advanced it a bit so that the vacuum would be more in line with the new power curve. With the VCV where it was I had great full-throttle shifts, but at light throttle the VCV was allowing the transmission substantially full vacuum as if there were little engine power, and I'd get flaring. Advancing the VCV about half of its adjustment range cured it. I don't seem to have any full-throttle slipping so haven't adjusted the modulator (again the video, you can hear good balanced shifts). How much did you turn your modulator adjustment? I am curious how much adjustment is necessary to make the shifts more sporty-feeling.
I had to turn the modulator 2 full turns CW (firmer) which made the shifts just about perfect. I left the VCV adjusted per FSM procedure. The problem with tweaking the VCV is that it is designed to vary from 12" vac to zero between idle at WOT in a linear fashion. If you tweak it such that it reaches zero sooner, the internal mechanism binds at WOT, and I'm not sure that is desireable. I also noticed (years ago, on a different car) that I got intermittent weird part throttle shifts when the VCV was tweaked away from the FSM setting. Using the FSM setting for VCV has provided the best results on every car I've adjusted to date...




Quote:
Originally Posted by babymog View Post
No smoke = good, agreed. However, since I'm running 18psi and you 22, it seems that there is more air available and therefore I can add more fuel if I want to try it, ... and increase boost accordingly.
You can probably decrease boost to about 15psi if you wanted. I was able to run my maxed-out 5.5mm pump at ~13psi with no smoke. You can definitely add more fuel, but you'll hit the limits of the pump pretty soon. I doubt you'll be able to get WOT smoke with 18psi and 5.5mm elements.



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Light powerbraking is where I started, if you watch the video you'll notice that as soon as I hit 3000rpm & get good boost the speedometer jumped to 20mph, had to release the brake and go to save the new Michelins (plus the crowned road was sending me sideways). I like your numbers better, but with an extra 300lbs and 5.5mm elements, I'm not expecting to keep up.
Whooo, listen to that wheelspin! Time for limited-slip! I need to get on some dry pavement and fire up the video camera. I can't watch all the gauges simultaneously and still pay attention to where I'm going.



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The changes I've made so far in the new engine have made driving this car a completely different experience, so much low-end grunt that it never had, throttle response like a gasser, yet with short-shifts it has such smooth torque (yes, I even lengthened the Bowden cable for earlier shifts), it feels more civilized like the Prevost and its big Detroit w/ allison, it is quite enjoyable to drive. No more mashing the loud pedal and waiting for downshift and boost.
My complaint is that it skip-shifts at light throttle and just about bypasses 2nd and/or 3rd gear. Could be partly due to a worn (311kmi) tranny. I have the same thing with both the maxed-out pump and the 6mm hybrid. Manual shifting (when desired) is the cure for now. It's not a problem most of the time, just an occasional annoyance.



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More power is there I'm sure, but this is already such a grin, even with 2.65:1 gears it spins fresh 215 rubber.
As the power (mostly low-end torque) goes up, the need for LSD becomes less of a luxury and more of a requirement. Start saving now, it ain't cheap. But it is definitely worth it!




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I've read accounts of turning the full-load up beyond 1.5 turns, only went 1 turn. I figure I can always try more, but not this week I think I'll get the car out and put a thousand or so miles on it as-is first. I need to do some more reading and calculating so that I fully understand the interdependence of all of the pump's adjustments and linkages.
Good idea, when you're ready to up it more, I'd go 0.5 turn richer on the full load and also 0.5 turn (lower rpm) on the coarse idle. At some point you'll find that all you're doing is making the throttle more sensitive (using less pedal) while not actually making any more power.


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Old 03-13-2011, 07:16 PM
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Thanks for the info, I'll add a little preessure and reset the VCV.
On the LSD, it hasn't been a problem in a straight line as both wheels spin, but as you know it is a problem with one wheel in the gravel or accelerating in a corner. On the list, or maybe a gleason-torsen diff.
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Old 03-14-2011, 10:01 AM
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On the LSD, it hasn't been a problem in a straight line as both wheels spin, but as you know it is a problem with one wheel in the gravel or accelerating in a corner.
Ah, but in a straight line, you don't always get both wheels to spin. LSD helps there too. Accelerating while turning (mostly from a stop, on anything except clean/dry pavement) is the biggest annoyance with the open diff. LSD cures this. It's one of the few mods that I wish I had done years earlier. I really, really hate the "one wheel peel", particularly when trying to pull out from a side street on to a 55mph main road on wet pavement, and the car just sits and spins the inside rear wheel...



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On the list, or maybe a gleason-torsen diff.
The only bolt-in option is the factory LSD, which is a very straightforward install. I am not aware of any GT option for our 185mm diffs. You can get a Quaife (which is basically a GT design, but stronger) for 210mm diffs, but this requires converting the car to the 210mm setup, which isn't easy, and adds quite a bit of weight. My theory was to leave the stock diff alone until I blow one up under power, then switch to the 210+Quaife. AFAIK, many of the Finns have gone well past 300hp with the stock 185mm diff so this may never happen.


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