Hi, you've just stumbled upon my humble word-jumble, so let's get ready to rumble!
Before I go any further, (well, a bit further), I'd like to thank Cardomain.com for a great website and advise you to bookmark this page for future reference as I have loads of amazing links for you. I could give many, many more but I think you'll have enough to be getting on with here already! You're probably already aware of http://www.syty.net/ and similar pages. If you're not, it's the number one forum for any problems you may have, as well as general discussion. I guarantee that someone on there will know the answer. You'll be in good company.
I'll continue by highly recommending an excellent, no-nonsense website I found for all Sy/Ty owners, although the general philosophy applies to all vehicles; that is, get it running properly in stock form before upgrading it with expensive aftermarket components and then do so in the right order.
Obviously if you're well funded and experienced, you'll be building from scratch and not have any problems. I bought a modified truck to begin with that ran unreliably so I may as well upgrade any parts that need replacing while I'm at it and the list is long. I am also very mechanically minded and keep wishing I worked for the manufacturers so things would be better designed and didn't need improving quite so much!
Anyway, here's a great tuning and mod stage guide, esp. for those running Ultimate Chips etc. and Moates Ostrich Emu's. I'll probably be getting one of the latter myself, once I know what I already have! Basically, it's an emulator black box that connects to your ECM and allows real-time datalogging and tuning via laptop for around $300.
Definitely go there now and bookmark Josh's page for later and/or this one, as I'll be keeping it posted for my own use;
http://www.powertuneplus.com/
Lots of Datamaster info too ( http://www.ttspowersystems.com/DataMaster.html ) and don't forget to come right back as there are more excellent links for you down the page;
Well done and welcome back. I hope you find it as interesting as I do.
Errrr, Hello? Anyone there? I knew I shouldn't have directed you away from here so soon!
Ok, well incase anyone does return, I'm writing this as much for the previous owner's interest as anyone's so please forgive the excessive detail as I may end up selling it back once I've restored the truck (yeah, right! ;-) and I'll be posting a few pages of photos, before and after as I go, again for my own records if nothing else, as proof of the work done to the engine and to give me a place to put my thoughts down while I remember them.
I'm rather prone to spontaneous inspiration and every time I edit this page it grows by leaps and bounds!
Now, being English and very critically minded and fussy, (I'm a Joiner/furniture maker 55 hours a week so I have to be), this page is for those with an eye for detail and as we all know, that's where 'The Devil' is. I need to have an Eagle Eye as CAD/Contract Management at our company are so error prone and we get the blame for not spotting their frequent mistakes! Sound familiar anyone?
You might even learn something here, (whether you're new to these trucks or not) or have comments or (polite) suggestions so PLEASE feel free to correct me if you think I've got something wrong and your experience has been different. There are many more knowledgeable owner's out there than I and you're most probably one of them. Put it this way; if you've driven your truck more than 5 yards, you're a more experienced owner than I am!
All I know is that I need to get this baby back on the road where she belongs and out of my damp garage but these vehicles have so much potential, it's hard to know where to draw the line. The money never really runs out when you have several credit cards and a steady job so it has to be a conscious decision at some point and when you're aware of the countless goodies available, it requires real discipline to stick to what you've got when you have a positive attitude and think you'll be able to afford it all.
I'm also highly 'creative' and have trouble limiting myself to the subject in hand, i.e. the truck, since there's so much more important stuff to know about, (like 9/11 being an utterly obvious inside job, among other things). I could link hundreds of sites and videos etc. but it's way off topic and you know where to look. If you're not really 'into' thinking much (as many seem to think it's an optional extra these days!) or don't already know full well or even care, you're certainly not going to read all this and probably didn't make it past the above pictures before moving swiftly on.
Sure, there are better Trucks on here (most of them at the moment, infact) but you won't find my level of detailed 'analysis' anywhere else on here. You may not want it either but I have a passion for teaching (or should that be Preaching?), that's all and I think there's a lack of detail in most people's pages; a few photos and a basic mod list perhaps. Some are very well designed but I don't know how yet. Probably best left plain vanilla for now.
To know my truck, you must first know me, for I am it's Guardian and Protector!
"My sword grows restless - show me the enemy!"
Errrrrrrmm, yeah, sorry........been playing 'Warhammer 40,000, Dawn of War' too much lately!
Oh and if you don't know the meaning of the word 'verbose' already, you soon will.....
They say a picture paints a thousand words but why stop there? I'll probably end up putting a thousand pictures on here as well! You can never have too many thoughts in your head - (voices maybe) - and words are just thoughts expressed, right?
As you can tell, I have lots of those, about lots of subjects.
Now, you won't find any unintentional smelling pistakes or typos (and God knows I've tried) so if you're really annoyed by poor spelling and no punctuation etc. you can relax; you don't need to feel like you're waiting for the next dumb-assly obvious error to trip you up as you read, (that is, unless you're genuinely dyslexic and think I'm wrong, in which case, you're in for a real bad day!).
I mean, what's the difficulty in reading what you've typed? Surely people aren't dumbed down to the point of still not spotting that you've spelt 'than' as 'then', or the most common, 'you're' as 'your'. If in doubt, just copy and paste your text into MS Word or a similar processor and run a spell check. It's just laziness.
Be tough on yourself so that others don't have to be. Let's raise the standard here folks!
Probably wasted words but there are some differences in U.S. spellings so I've used those where appropriate, to the best of my knowledge, since 99% of you reading this will probably be 'American', (a looser term by the minute), which includes every race on Earth like England but you know what I mean.
I'd love to live in America (after the revolution) and I bought an American truck but Jeez do you guys suck at English. Mind you, even the English suck at English these days!
Basically, if you wonder, "Why bother?", you don't know the truth; that nothing really matters - but after a few hundred lifetimes you realise that there is no point living like that and you're gonna keep coming back, (whether you like it or not), so live your life as if you must re-live it until you get it right, (like Groundhog Day). Seek perfection, for that is the ultimate goal and why you spend so much time on your truck in the first place!
I've always known this truth; that if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well.
Dare to be different. Master atleast one thing in your life.
In yet other words, 'Art' (or rather 'heart') is the meaning of life, be it in music, painting, sculpture or vehicle design. Every form of expression is worth perfecting unless it harms another. Whatever moves you emotionally.
SyTy's really move you - physically!
Note that I said 'you', as mine ain't movin' anywhere!
We all learn from eachother collectively so be an inspiration to others where you can and learn from others where you can. Keep an open mind and examine evidence before dismissing it because of pre-conceived ideas, otherwise evolution (or creation - it's both) cannot happen and things will stay as they are, obviously. For progress to be made, someone has to light the way. Be that person. Together we can and will change the world for the better. For now, I'm just trying to change my truck for the better!
Some existing mods.
The blue thing is the coil. I have a better picture somewhere.
Above is the Moroso pressure gauged oil filter adaptor with Earl's fittings and braided hoses from the external electric oil pump under the driver's seat floorpan. All being removed and cleaned thoroughly of course, if not replaced. Who knows what crud lurks in those hoses?!!
Everyone is unique and by now, almost every SyTy is unique, so celebrate and encourage diversity, don't condemn it. There's more than one way to skin a cat, as they say around here. I've seen practically every video and probably every other Typhoon on the Web (including your awesome truck!) over the last 14 years since I owned a 1988 Jimmy 2.8L and was forced to sell it at a 50% loss in 11 months due to my employer going broke. I'd have it back in an instant as it already had a newly rebuilt engine that sounded more like a fan, it was so well balanced. Cherry red with a white side stripe and immaculate red velour seats.
Lovely looking Truck but I'd never have discovered Typhoons without owning her as inevitably, while researching online for a replacement someday, I discovered the mysterious 'Sport' version, although the 2.8L 4WD Jimmy was no slouch from a standing start, I can tell you. Just way under-powered above 60, being like driving a brick! These trucks even have that as a nickname. Since then I wanted a Typhoon badly but being only 3 or 4 years old at the time (the trucks, not me!), I couldn't hope to buy one. Back in '96 the cheapest price was around $19,000 though you can still pay that much and more for some lower mileage, relatively 'mint' examples. I also have a printout of a white Ty with my handwriting at the top saying, MY NEXT TRUCK.
That was written in 1995 so it only took 12 years and a change of color. No-one said goalsetting was a quick fix! Anyhow, I think they look a lot meaner in black, don't you? Especially with tinted rear windows.
I still have some other laser printouts from TheDupontRegistry.com and I kept a general eye on prices over the years but kinda forgot about them while I drove a couple of Supras but 18 months ago, this truck came along at the right price. I paid £2600 (US$5000 at the time) but I'll have spent atleast that much on restoration (and tools!) before it drives again, let alone an alarm, fuel, tax and insurance........wheels, tires, respray, even bigger turbo, new gearbox etc. etc.
The blue Z28 Camaro above belongs to the previous owner's friend, who went round for the 'priviledge' of washing and polishing the truck. It still scrubs up pretty well, despite a few nasty scratches around the rear bumper as you can see. The turntable pics are from the Japanese auction before the Ty came here to England. I remember seeing this and two other Typhoons on the website of the importer who sold it to the guy I bought it from. He had it less than a year but was forced to sell it while moving house. He's always regretted it but the truck was only just driveable due to engine timing and compression problems. I think the fuel pump is also a major suspect so it may still have the same problems even after a full engine rebuild.
(Don't worry Ian, by the time I find out the running costs, you will be welcome back to it. I can always buy another and start all over again. Hey, we can race eachother and I'll know exactly what I'm up against..........Hmmmm, now where do you get those remote engine kill switches? Mwaahahahaha!).
I've read that a worn out original fuel pump can cause the strange 'second time only starting' phenomenon as pressure doesn't apparently reach the injectors properly the first time. More likely though, since it ran and revved well once started, is an electrical issue so we'll see. Anyone else had this problem? I think the engine also needed to be flooded a bit before it would fire as carbon deposits soak up some of the fuel.
That's why engines run so much better when they're freshly de-coked. Knocking is reduced too so the ECM won't retard the timing as much. Also, of course, re-lapping the valves and re-adjusting the lash is usually the biggest improvement you can make to a well worn engine. In my experience, piston rings are never an issue. I've had cars with much more cylinder wear than this truck (which actually has none but a polish and some ring end scratches) and once the valves are done, they're always like a whole new engine until the valves need re-doing or the exhaust starts blowing.
You can get a general feel for the state of an engine's internals by looking at the amount of oil externally......
You'd think it would atleast prevent all that rust! Time for some high temperature paint.....
I don't even know if the ECM has been chipped yet as the truck is in a narrow, single garage with no engine and I can't really get under the dash easily (being 6'5"). I've tried but it's a real beehutch. As for stalling in gear, I can only put that down to poor cylinder compression. It's a classic case of needing a good overhaul as stalling at low revs is a valve lash or leaking spark plug issue every time. Check your plugs and if there's a ring of brown carbon around the white insulator as it meets the metal body, it's blowing. You can usually twist them once they're doing that. It may not seem like much can get out but trust me, it will make a big difference to the performance. The slightest leak anywhere will ruin compression.
Also, always hand lap valves. I use a cordless drill and thin oil for final honing. Don't just grind the faces and seats with machine stones and expect them to seal well. My $125 ebay 're-built' Vortec heads are a case in point. I can see frickin' daylight through some of them! I also pour white spirit into the valve bowl to check the final seal while rotating the valve. Paint thinner is better but nasty stuff to use.
So anyhow, when I bought the truck I could either start it second time cranking and then stall it as soon as it went into gear or crank it for ages and drive it away but it was a choice of one or the other. No matter how I adjusted the distributor, it wouldn't start and drive away reliably so I couldn't even take it out for a test drive to have something to compare the new build to, which I wanted to do anyway, just to make sure it was all in good order. I was more curious to find out what rods were installed as I was hoping to have H beams already, given the amount of work done to the heads etc.
An engine that stalls every time you let the revs drop below about 1000 can be quite dangerous and frustrating - especially if it won't start again! Losing brakes and power steering is no fun either. Eventually I gave up with it and just tore the whole engine down and boy, am I glad I did.
I don't think the oil had ever been drained, atleast not in the last few years while it was in Japan. After warming up and draining, then adding a can of Wynn's Engine Flush and re-filling, warming up and draining again, it still came out black. The crank and big end bearing wear is severe. Maybe oil is very expensive in Japan!
Cool, a built-in cleaning cloth dispenser..........oh, hang on.............errrrrrr, what's that?
Hmmm, more like K & Ended than K & N and what's this thing covered in orange silicone?
As you can see, the poor thing was desperately in need of some heavy duty TLC and I was the one to give it. Thanks God, you sadistic MuthaF**ker! Sometimes you just know that this is how it was meant to be though. You always get what you wish for, just not always in the form (or condition) that you hoped!
This is my current restoration project (unintentional as they always are) but due to the generally cold and damp weather between October and May here in The UK, I have a thousand and one excuses not to spend hours in the garden shed every evening and weekend, so please be patient as it will all be worth it.......eventually.
Looking on the bright side, the only limiting factors are time, discipline, the weather and money!
What could possibly stop me apart from the occasional global economic collapse?!
I'm sure things will soon 'pickup'. (More of a Syclone joke, that one).
Speaking of picking things up, I tried lifting this lump and seriously ruptured one of my discs. The block is ok on it's own but with the heads it's just asking for trouble.
Three heads are better than one! Vortec casting 772 is the most common.
As you can see, I've got myself a pair of rebuilt Vortec heads (which will be properly rebuilt by me later) so they'll be fully ported and blended with Iskenderian (ISKY) springs and I've had a new single pattern Isky camshaft ground. I hope to be ordering a new balanced and nitrided crank and new pistons and Eagle H beam rods when finances permit. In the meantime I'll do the porting and prep work. It could easily be another two years before the truck drives again but it will be done properly and will be a practically new engine. A four bolt main conversion might be unnecessary though. Who's ever broken a main cap in one of these trucks? I thought nodular iron couldn't break? It can? Ok then, just incase, some ProGram billet steel caps are back on the chopping list. See, that wasn't a mistake.......
This, however, definitely was!
Ok, so maybe the block can break but only with some serious detonation. We'll see; I just don't want the hassle (read, backache) and expense of having the block align-honed etc. and drilling and tapping the splayed bolt holes.
I'll be expecting over 400hp at a gallop with the current Mitsubishi 20G turbo (your experience, anyone?), double sized ATR air to water intercooler via an additional very nice air to air 1000hp rated intercooler by XSPOWER (will start without it to compare performance) and all my insane porting work etc. so I just hope the gearbox holds out but I'll be adding a seperate B&M trans cooler with fan and pod gauge to keep an eye on temps.
"Honey, I 'invisibled' the engine!" - Looks like it's still leaking oil though....
Damn! I hoped it'd be a new 4L80E......... Hanging by a thread. That's going, for starters!
In England we have 103 octane pump gas available, at a price. It makes a huge performance difference to my 599cc Smart car so I can't wait to try it out with THE BLACK BEAST!
We mainly run 98 unleaded and above here in The U.K. so knocking has never really been such a problem and I'll be fitting a stand alone sensor system anyway, if Datamaster or TunerPro convince me I need it. Direct link to an example unit below;
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=MSD%2D8964&N=700+115&autoview=sku
Still, it's the least of my worries right now. If I spent as much time working on the engine as I have on here, I'd be done by now! Stay tuned for the full rebuild as I update this frequently now, pretty much every day. I'm not sure how many of the hits are mine or yours!
If you haven't already done so, why not check out Brisk spark plugs,
http://www.briskracing.com/home.php and Nology Hotwires http://www.nology.com/hotwork.html
Brisk tell me that Nology wires work fine with their plugs. You can see a Mustang video on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syT3LyO_Q5o&feature=channel_page
They're the coronal discharge type, i.e. a ring instead of a bent tab and a silver center electrode. Nology also make silver plugs. Also, because Brisk's don't have the single thin electrode, they're supposed to be far less prone to detonation and run cooler.
MSD type ignition is also a potential candidate for the truck but should be unnecessary using the above wire/plug combo. I mean, how much spark do you really need? I'm getting way ahead of myself here but thought you might like to know. I'm convinced anyway.
So, when converting to the much better flowing Vortec heads, some people raise the stock intake manifold with custom made aluminum or PLEXIGLAS® type shim plates, (approx. 1/4" thick plus Vortec gaskets), to bring the runner roofs back into line and then re-adjust the distributor mounting height by re-positioning the seating collar further up the shaft. For me though, the chosen method is welding more height onto the manifold intake runner roofs to overlap the higher Vortec head runners again. Having said that, I've never actually welded aluminum before but using HTS 2000, it should be a doddle right? I don't wanna buy a MIG welder just for this job, although I could always find other uses for it, I'm sure!
Here's a link to a very impressive HTS 2000 welding demo from their site,
http://www.aluminumrepair.com/video_new.asp. Amazing looking stuff but quite pricey.
You could - and might as well - simply fill the Vortec intake runner roofs with Moroso A+B or similar epoxy putty for an inch or so to bring them down to meet the stock intake runner height, since, as you'll see in a moment, the manifold injector mounts are so intrusive that you won't gain anything unless you cut them back as I'm doing or re-position them like Race Proven Motors do. Check them out; they're a one stop shop for these trucks @ http://www.sytyperformance.com
I'd buy every item they sell if I could afford it. Got some nice turbos too. 10's anyone? No problem, that'll be $2295 including 4 piece stainless downpipe! Oh, and you'll need the stainless headers, of course, for another $1850. Ok, maybe later.........much later!
Back to my Vortec conversion......
By using a pair of standard thickness Felpro 93346-1 and 93347-1 intake gaskets (shown in blue, above), the runner floors sit flush (level with eachother) and the roofs need only a small amount of additional aluminum to be welded or otherwise attached to the intake manifold roofs, while there's still enough height in the gaskets to cover the runners after opening the gasket roofs up an eighth of an inch or so. They already have the L35 top notch cutout. I got mine as part of a full set. You may know of other, even taller ones. Let me know if you do. Vortec gaskets are out of the question as they're too thick and require the aforementioned distributor adjustments etc. and there's really no need for it.
A stock sized Corteco gasket is bolted on but doesn't have the necessary width to properly cover the runner roof, once cut to the same height. Red heads are modified stock LB4's with inch and a half double springs and dampers (all removed), stainless valves and hardened retainers/locks. I was going to use those but my new ISKY springs are stiffer at stock diameter than the modded double coils on the old heads and machining would be needed for the seals and spring seats. I'll be buying new stainless valves once I know the length as it's a shame to seperate the old ones from the LB4's. The intake seats and faces are still perfectly polished with zero wear. Anyone wanting the LB4 heads please ask.
As for my 'new' '99 Vortec's, Stainless roller rockers on new ARP studs, as well as hardened pushrods and guideplates will be fitted. If anyone knows of any shaft mounted roller rockers that fit Vortec heads, please let me know. Again, RPM sell 3/8" ARP Vortec studs as they're 10mm metric screw in threads. All for much later.
My '99 Vortec head intake runners are 54mm by about 32mm wide which is actually slightly narrower but 4-5mm taller than stock LB4's. Pointless for a SyTy as the stock head ports are too high as it is, or rather, the manifold is WAY too restrictive of the airflow past the injectors. Here's the beginning stage of my intake porting, showing the amount of material removed, compared to the stock injector bosses on the left. I just did this one to see how much could be taken out and to get an idea of the shape required to flow into the head. I'll do the same thing soon to one of the pair on the left to show more clearly the contrast between them. On the left, you're looking more directly down the middle, from a slightly lower angle. I'll try to replace the left photo with a brighter one. I've added some plenum chamber shots below, as I've hacked into that good and proper with my Black & Decker Powerfile. It was like something out of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, although I never actually SAW it!
Note the steel putty showing through where I took off too much and went through the wall above the injector boss. I was trying to achieve a straight line but there's a ramp down to the injector which follows the outside profile. You can't quite see it in the lefthand photo as you're looking straight down the ramp. Infact, the runner floor is curved anyway so it's not even desirable. I've only smoothed the walls and haven't begun the floor, although as stated before, they won't need much work, (top of image as these are upside down for clarity). Gasket matching will be done later and that will be a very precise, 'in situ' job with the heads bolted down and intake bolted on for final finishing. I'll remove a head at a time for blending with the intake bolted to it, exactly as it will be once finished. Might as well get it right while I have the chance. Looks like this year is gonna be a real grind though; I've been putting it off for months since I did this last summer '08 and filled (filed?) the kitchen with aluminum dust. The above port was done in the shed with my 6" carbide burrs, held in a jacob's chuck on a Wolfcraft flexidrive, powered by my variable speed woodlathe. Tons of torque, total control and hardly any noise except the ringing of the casting.
Scribed and ready for some serious abuse!
BTW, don't bother removing the areas I have above as it's actually counterproductive, unless you're going all the way like me and blending it into the manifold by welding material where necessary to create a better flow and to repair some corners that I squared out too much with the B&D Powerfile. The stock plenum has a tiny 'waistline' and it seriously screws up the transitions into the intake manifold. It was obviously designed to fit into the available space and give easy airwrench access for factory assembly, rather than a high flowrate as from that standpoint, it's a total disaster as far as I'm concerned; well it is now anyway! Hehehe!
As you can see, I got quite carried away and I haven't even finished yet.......
Trust me, I'm a professional !!!
Just wait until you see the heads......errr......maybe next decade......
The whole idea is to create an ever-decreasing cross-section so that the valve remains the only (unavoidable) bottleneck and not the enormous turbulence and resulting much slower airspeed in the intake system caused by the many steps and small-to-large transitions and the gaskets and casting roughness/mismatches. By making sure that the intake starts at it's greatest volume and gradually decreases as it goes, the airspeed increases as it's forced further down the runners into the heads and valve bowls which then receive a relatively higher pressure for a given boost psi than they would otherwise have seen. What you don't want is for the intake charge to be expanding and contracting as it goes, as this will cause pulsing, which may or may not help matters.
Now, there is a 'logical' argument that would say that if the valve seat/short turn radius etc. is the least flowing area, why bother increasing the rest anymore if it already flows 'bigger numbers'? Well, logic (generally) has a fatal flaw. It is a linear (serial) deductive process and is therefore limited by the 'bandwidth' or capacity to consider all of the available variables in parallel, (simultaneously) and that data's accuracy (your assumptions) in the first place. Errors become multiplied as one step is based on the steps before, compounding all the way from the beginning. Garbage in = garbage out squared!
This blinkered vision turns otherwise unfathomably intelligent people into hopeless morons on a regular basis, atleast in terms of wisdom and their danger to the rest of us! Take Julius Robert Oppenheimer and his team of 'Genius' Atomic Physicists during The Manhattan Project for the ultimate example; anyone clever enough to build an atomic bomb should have reasoned that it would be an exercise in futility and nothing but a curse forever more, since from that moment forth, it's widespread use would someday be absolutely inevitable, like every other invention that has ever been created!
"Oh, but if everyone has them, no-one will ever dare use them!"
The rest is history. Cheers guys!
Oppenheimer et al or rather, I think, their 'Masters' apparently failed to grasp that everything is ONE, that is, intimately connected on some higher frequency or level of energy. EVERYTHING! It takes an open mind to see this fact but it is indisputable, nonetheless. I'll debate anyone under the table if you think we're all seperated by anything more than a thin veil of illusion. If it were not so, gravity could not hold the Cosmos together, for there would be no 'strings'. Think of it as a magnetic field, which is what gravity essentially is. Instead of being the polar opposite attraction or repulsion of two or more magnets, it's the 'net' or sum total charge of all atoms as they push and pull on eachother for stability due to the relative mass (and sum pos/neg balance) of the various clumps of matter and their relative proximity. Compared to the Sun, the Earth must therefore have a net weaker field (being of a net lower atomic mass) and so it is attracted to the Sun, despite being of no apparent charge atall, since it's made up of 'stable' molecules, for the most part, that apparently balance eachother out perfectly.
The truth is of course, that no molecule is completely stable if you apply the correct frequency of energy to it or bring it into proximity with the right elements, (same thing, since all elements have a characteristic frequency of vibration due to their different composition). They are all open to outside influence, all of the time. They can 'see' eachother no 'matter' where they are. Shielding takes place and causes predictable results but atoms and their subatomic parts are to one degree or another, conscious of eachother's location as they can 'feel' the pull or push of their charge.
Let's say that the Sun's greater negative charge overcomes the repulsion of the electrons in the Earth's atmosphere or overall mass and attracts it. Maybe the Sun's protons overpower the Earth's positive repulsion (as a whole) and thusly attract it's electrons also, despite the Earth's protons repelling the Sun's protons. This is gravity! The relative domination and capture into it's magnetic field of a more massive body over a body of lower atomic mass.
You can argue the mathematical details but effectively, Planets and even Galaxies are just like atoms, only larger clusters of sub-particles. As above, so below.
Relatively speaking then, Earth is like the dust that you can see floating around on a sunny day that is pulled toward your T.v. screen so faithfully! We are also like dust to the Earth. More massive people weigh more! Go figure! Dust is of course, what Galaxies are actually made of, after billions of (Earth) years of electrostatic attraction. As they clump together they produce ever increasing gravitational forces which ultimately crush the original Helium or Hydrogen atoms together into all the elements on the Periodic Table. All matter is the result of the degree to which hydrogen or helium was originally crushed together by gravity during the formation of the Galactic dust clouds.
Between Galaxies, 'empty' space still contains all the building blocks (hydrogen atoms presumably) and it's being consumed into all Galaxies all the time as their fuel. More about Hydrogen as fuel on my Smart car page.
So, to cut a very, very long story short, somewhat after the fact, I'll explain again; the higher the pressure at the valve, the more air will flow through it, so although it may seem to be the limiting factor on the one hand, if you increase the air pressure (airspeed) up to the valve, it will obviously flow more air once it opens. Now Imagine having a million psi of boost. Would any of it get through the valve without increasing it's size? You bet but it needs a much smoother intake system, free of interruptions to handle it without seriously blowing a gasket!
Gaskets blow by the way, due to the mismatches inherent in production intake systems. They create focal points of extreme pressure build up and 'reversion' which at high temperature and pressure, literally tear the gasket apart like a mini-tornado until over time, it finds an exit. I'll be taking steps to prevent this before I assemble the engine. So, whenever trying to solve a problem, take it to it's extremes and see if it still makes sense.
Works for me!
Note that this is only the first stage. Here I'm just taking out the flat sections to even up all the runner widths exactly. It's quite tricky, hence the narrower than intended dividers. Corners and internal surfaces will be later, once I've determined the appropriate transition profile into the manifold, as it affects the amount of material to remove or rather, NOT to remove.
Naturally, the intake manifold will have to be matched perfectly and that has even thicker dividers than the plenum......so that should be a laugh! Funny thing is, I only work a mile and a half from home and don't even need a car really. Still, this is what life is all about, huh? Trying new experiences and learning something new from each one.....a bit like Oppenheimer when he wasn't really sure that the first atom bomb wouldn't blow a hole through the Earth's atmosphere and vapourize it all in a runaway cascade reaction. They obviously went ahead and exploded it anyway to find out.
Since then there's understandably been a lot of UFO activity around earth. If you still don't believe that, get this dvd http://www.secretspacedvd.com/
I can't say whether or not my intake system will be of as much interest to our Galactic Neighbours but it might just be crazy enough, don't you think?
The next victim of my hamfisted brutality! Note above left, that the high speed side is the runner floor, so the benefit of paring back the injector lugs in the roofs may not be all that much at low speed but who cares? It will certainly increase flow massively at high speed! Bottom right (above and below) is the runner I showed you earlier. Here are a couple more shots below, side by side, at a lower angle and again, it's nowhere near finished.
Now, my current injectors are Lucas 42 lb which must be shorter than stock as even after removing all this metal, they don't stick out into the airflow. You can see where the 'O' ring groove has been cut away in the righthand photo and on this one, the ring does break the surface a 1/16th but there's plenty of contact area left and I'll be using another ring, probably custom grooved into the injector body somewhere above the bottom one, just to make sure it seals. I won't be going quite this far with the other 5 runners as I did get a bit overzealous on my first attempt! Also, the roofs still need to be welded with more meat and then cut to the same opening size as the existing edge, as it is exactly here, that the cylinder head runners reach up to, inline with the existing outside edge of the stock manifold at the bottom of the photos. You need to extend the face another 1/4" beyond that for a good seal, so it looks like the uncut one on the left again, only longer by 4-5mm (3/16" ish).
The main difference between the two models of heads is in the shape of the runners down inside and having directly compared the two, (photos to follow), the stock LB4 heads are like very high, flat roofed chambers full of casting bumps and flashing with nothing directing the airflow down into the intake valve bowl except a narrow helical ramp up the back wall of the bowl, (which would be much more appropriately named 'Vortec' than the later heads, as it does indeed create a vortex), whereas the '96 upward Vortec's are much smoother past the pushrods, (although still allowing FAR too much rod clearance at the expense of flow and bench tests may not show an improvement on normally aspirated engines) and much rounder along the roof, curving the air downwards perfectly into the valve bowl, which is why they flow 270cfm @ .50 lift (standard 28 inches pressure) when ported, apparently, compared to 'only' 165cfm for LB4's. I guess L35's are somewhere inbetween but are a direct bolt-on replacement, unlike Vortec's, that is, the intake to head bolt pattern, as both are the same fit as stock LB4's on the block with no modifications necessary.
Vortec's need to be drilled and tapped for the manifold or the manifold slotted which only gives 4 bolts anyway, as opposed to 6 in the stock manifold. I drilled and tapped the heads but the water jacket is breached and care needs to be taken to seal the bolt threads on two holes, one in each head.
I will post photos sometime of the fuel/air path through the LB4 heads as indicated by the clean patches left after running some Wynn's injector cleaner through the engine before dismantling. You can clearly see where the mixture is only entering the intake valves at one point as it comes up the ramp and hits the combustion chamber wall opposite the spark plug, from which it must spin around the cylinder at high speed as it's compressed. The problem is that the air coming up the backwall ramp is brought into the path of incoming air/fuel through the larger, straighter intake runner at the top as it enters the valve bowl, thus slowing it down and interfering with a crosswind in the opposite direction. It's amazing they flow atall. My LB4's were cleaned up quite nicely around the valve bowls but not gasket matched, which is a shame.
Due to the higher airspeed of the ramped portion of the mixture and the fact that it has to eventually go somewhere, the process obviously does funnel air into the cylinder, just not in a particularly efficient way. I'm sure it does however give great fuel atomisation as by the time the mixture gets into the chamber, it's been bounced off every available surface several times! Now, if the intake runners were curved down toward the valves like the Vortec's, a much higher speed flow would surely result but the ramp idea has been superceded by the Vortec or typical V8 runner profile. It's quite exciting to see for the first time though, that someone had the balls to try it and that it does indeed work, as frankly there are stock SyTy's with practically the same times as highly modified trucks when it comes to street performance. I don't know what my efforts will gain me but atleast I'll be safe in the knowledge that the engine won't need any more work, only ancillary items upgraded like proper tube headers, which are probably responsible for the biggest power increases, along with thorough porting work and a decent turbo. Maybe by the time I'm done porting, I'll be able to afford them!
The other alternative to drilling the heads (or buying them pre-tapped from Mike Lee's RPM Racing etc.), is a Vortec TBI or custom intake but RPM can also cut off and re-weld the stock intake manifold injector bosses to make use of all the available runner height in your new Vortec heads. They also angle the injectors better while they're at it. Mine is the cheapest option though, if I can still use the stock fuel rail. I may end up having to use seperate billet rails to align the injectors, as raising them in the mounts will cause the angle to shift more vertically and to aim them down at the runner floors even more than they already do. By the way, stock setup aims the fuel jet about an inch into the head runner floor. My LB4's show clean patches here.
A sidenote about 'fuel puddling' apparently caused by overly polished intake runners, while I'm on the subject............
The way I see it, (and you can too in the video a bit further down), the valve atomises the liquid fuel on opening, and as fuel gets injected before the valve opens, it will collect for a split second anyway - and better that it ALL flows easily into the chamber than getting stuck in all the scratches (however small) which also quickly attract coke deposits, soaking up more and more fuel with use. To help avoid this, I would absolutely recommend Wynn's injector cleaner though. They probably all work the same. It turned my truck from running smoky and spraying black soot deposits onto the floor under the exhaust pipe, to running pretty cleanly, after just a blast on the accelerator a few times and letting it idle while I was tweaking the distributor with a timing light gun. The tank was about a third full and I used a full bottle, so it's a fairly concentrated mix. Definitely does the job! Purple bottle about 6-7 inches tall as I recall.
I even thought I'd be able to avoid a head rebuild, the effect was so dramatic. I had the timing just right so I could start it (yes, second time!) and even put it in gear without stalling. It was at this point that I decided to take it out for a spin round the block, if only before taking the heads off anyway. However, after tightening the distributor clamp bolt, it got a few yards and stalled again! I thought, "Ok, it's just not gonna happen" and backed it into the garage for the last time, probably after several more stalls.
Arron Johnson in his excellent and must see 'Power Building Videos' series at http://www.enginevideos.com describes fuel puddling like the water vapour in the shower only forming droplets on the mirror, as it's smoother than the walls etc. (untrue by the way as it collects everywhere, regardless).
Well, for a start, condensation is a different matter entirely. Last time I burnt myself on an engine, the heads were pretty damned hot and also, how the fuel will somehow condense into large droplets at 14.7psi (stock) boost I'll never know. There is the argument that a slightly rough surface will create a turbulence that will help in atomisation but in reality, it's not a significant effect with a heavy jet of fuel, compared to the moment the valve begins to open and the air rushing past carries the fuel in with it at extremely high speed and pressure through the aperture thus created. Why can't injectors have a gauze mask to spray the fuel into a vapour? It's really all very crude, when you think about it. I mean, SyTy's aren't even sequential injection FFS! Multi-port maybe but all 3 injectors firing at the same time per head? No wonder they only get 14mpg!
Here's a Youtube video from inside a combustion chamber as the engine fires, showing the cloud of fuel/air blasting past the valve. You can even see the ignition but note the incomplete burn, as it goes yellow from the carbon deposits causing a slow flame; the main reason to recommend coating the chambers and to prevent knocking from left-over slowly burning deposits shown here,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz31eCym2iQ&feature=related
To me it just stands to reason that the smoother the walls of the intake system, the less obstruction it will have and being a fluid, the fuel/air will find every possible obstruction there is. We'll see how enthusiastic I am about polishing everything by the time I'm at that stage. I'll certainly do the plenum and intake manifold runners down to the injectors but maybe not the heads as the teflon coating starts there. It's not so much for horsepower, just to keep it clean burning. Find these at http://www.techlinecoatings.com/Engine.htm (Requires baking of the cylinder heads so don't throw out that old oven just yet or the wife will bake your head in it!).
This truck was built in September 1991 (No.0117) which makes it a '92 Typhoon and has covered 54,235 miles according to the clock. I'm not so sure, however. Either way, it's had a tough life!
Probably less than average corrosion for it's age (body or underside) but almost all of it was likely caused while it was in Japan until recently and the worst wear is a cracked passenger side rear corner cladding that needs repairing, a very oily and dirty engine (currently stripped down to a clean bare block with cam bearings removed) and a rusty aftermarket high flowing exhaust system and back axle/diff case, brakes and suspension etc.
The exhaust is about 3+ inches diameter and makes it burble like a V8 at idle. The 4.3L (262ci) V6 block is basically a 5.7L (350ci) Small Block Chevy V8 in all but cylinder count and firing order. Same 4" bore, 3.48" stroke, 5.7" rod length, valves etc. except the V6 has slightly thinner rods at the big end because the crank is even firing whatever that means and the throws are offset 30 degrees, meaning there's a step between them, whereas the V8's have a common throw for each pair of rods so they can sit closer together and be thicker, so don't go buying V8 rods thinking they'll fit, as apparently they won't.
Recently imported from Japan in 2006 since 1995 when it left Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the truck was originally from Sarasota, Florida. According to the Carfax report it had 3782 miles on the clock on December 28th 1991. These may have been delivery miles plus some. How much must the original buyers have loved these trucks?!
I'd really like to hear from the original owner or anyone who may have any information on this truck's history or past performance stat's as it's been modified a fair way from stock and was most likely thrashed to within an inch of it's life on a drag strip in West Palm Beach. Unfortunately, I have a sun damaged example with blisters on the roof and a partially melted front bumper cover. It has the classic appearance of being buckled and dented and the very common misalignment where the ends meet (or rather DON'T meet) the wheel arch cladding. Anyone wanting replacement cladding might look here:- http://myworld.ebay.com/ebaymotors/pauls-select-parts/
At some point very early on, the engine was removed, rebored to 4.030 (the maximum recommended for this block apparently) and rebuilt with TRW forged pistons using the stock forged rods and completely sprayed red and it's been fitted with a larger ATR charge air cooler, slightly larger 650cfm 20G 'Bad Dog' Mitsubishi turbo (stock is 550cfm), Lucas 42 lb (red stripe) injectors and an additional electric oil pump with pressure gauged remote filter and Earl's braided oil hoses to name the main modifications.
It's also been lowered 3 inches at the back and maybe 2 at the front. Definitely used for drag racing very early in it's life. The camshaft was also custom ground but all I have are the specs etched on the end and the lobe sizes as measured. There's a 'CPC' number stamped on the shaft but I don't know who made it. Probably Comp Cams.
The battery has been relocated to the rear, as is common, to allow for a cold air intake box with K&N filter behind the right headlight. Among the photos you'll see the cloth that was wrapped around the filter. A lot of road crap obviously gets in it so that will have to be shrouded off again and maybe a side vent cut instead.
I found out the hard way that you can't remove the heads without lifting the whole engine out as they're on studs instead of bolts and there's not enough clearance under the brake booster and aircon fan housing to lift the heads off the 4" studs. Otherwise I'd have just rebuilt the heads but it all needed doing.
Still, atleast I can change the mounts to red ES polypropylene and it's a good job I caught the crank and cam wear before it ate into the steel backing on the clevite 77 bearings. There's the full range of wear patterns from galling and severe particle embedding to grooves, scratches and tapers. The only thing that didn't happen to them was spinning in the block or rods.
ARP headbolts are on my shopping list now and for those of you who want to know how to remove the head studs the cheap (but more time consuming) way, just put two nuts on and tighten them together firmly and use a spanner on the bottom nut to unwind from the block. Easy enough but took me about an hour.
The timing marks were way off but this was because of the balancer ring walking on the crank. A nice neat white painted line has been applied to the balancer and timing mark bracket/plate at the zero degree line. The way it was running though, I couldn't even get the crank timing line in view without stalling the engine! The distributor had to be shifted clockwise 1/6th of a turn to even get it to start.
I suspect that the camshaft wasn't degreed properly also, as it looks aftermarket but not particularly tall.
The gaskets are all Felpro. There's a great ATR L.E.D. fuel/air ratio meter under the dash which has already proven itself useful as I accidentally pulled off the vacuum hose leading to the top of the fuel pressure regulator, right behind the intake where you can't see the junction - that is unless you spend two hours hunting round with a torch with the ignition leads off the cap. There was a strong hissing coming from the distributor area so I knew it had to be there somewhere!
I even saw oil dripping onto the intake valve on No.1 cylinder when I rotated the engine with the intake manifold off. Smoking during startup and then going away is usually caused by bad valve stem seal wear but if it smokes on throttle too, it's more like blow by past the rings or unburnt fuel, which is brown, as opposed to blue oil smoke.
The gearbox seems fine but I have yet to drive the truck further than in and out of my garage a few times, as it would stall easily when shifted into gear but pulled strongly when it wanted to.
By the way, three spark plugs were not even hand tight, which didn't help matters. They'd apparently worked loose so keep an eye on yours.
It would eventually start after draining the battery if I was lucky. Having charged it 4 times I decided that the battery was indeed worn out so I invested in an Optima Red Top RT U 4.2 which has 815 cold cranking amps.
Most people buy the yellow top version for serious audio/visual installs as they have a little bit more capacity for deep cycling but the red top has more cranking power for starting and also handles seasonal or occasional use better (I hope!) and I won't be using this beast as a daily driver. My Smart is perfect for that, though the AWD would have come in handy with the snow we're currently having but rust is a major problem here because of the road salt so best left in the garage.
Now, some bright spark at GM also decided to press fit the power steering pump pulley. Maybe they're all like this but what's wrong with a key and nut? Not bothering to buy the GM puller (as who's to say it would work anyway since the pulley is a rusted interference fit), I wrecked the pulley with my three legged gear puller but luckily managed to warp it so badly that I could get a cranked ring spanner behind it to remove the 3 bolts to release the pump and finally allow access to the bracket bolt so thoughtfully positioned behind the pump into the cylinder head. What a nightmare! Then there's the lower rear bracket;......don't even get me started!
Now get this; if you read the manual it says to remove or replace the power steering pump (which is required to remove the driver's side cylinder head because of one badly positioned bracket bolt), first remove the left wheel and arch lining etc. to access the pump from the side! These guys must have been on acid when they designed this truck!
As for the buried distributor clamp bolt, I resorted to sawing out a 2 inch section of the base plate to allow direct overhead access in future. You have to remove the cap but it's easier than any other alternative I can come up with. Cranked spanners are available though so I'll try one of those next time for tuning as it's easy to move the timing while removing and replacing the cap and leads if the clamp bolt isn't firm enough while you're tweaking it.
I replaced all the shocks from Bilstein's to KYB Monomax's and it's sorted out most of the nosedive and some of the roll but as I say, I haven't yet driven it further than a few yards but it's already obviously much better. The Bilstein's are far and away better build quality (welds, fit, strength etc.) and may have been a better choice for renewal but I know the KYB's are firmer now and I've read many reviews giving 9/10 or better. A Belltech rear sway bar is on the cards too for the future.
Tons of photos to follow, so stay tuned and if there's anything you'd like to see photos of, say inside the engine before you strip yours, just let me know. I'll create a page dedicated to the Vortec head swap once it's done, detailing the simplest and most effective way to do it and where to get the parts. Race Proven Motors sell new Vortec heads with hardened seats, pre-drilled for the stock manifold and I wish I'd gone for those myself as it ain't easy. My heads aren't hard seated either so I hope they last.
The letters denote stall speed and other specs. This appears stock at 1400 stall. I'll probably keep it as I'm told it drove very nicely, when it wanted to!
The gearbox and torque converter are remanufactured GM units and still have the service labels on them. To me, this says the truck was raced in it's infancy and wrecked the original gearbox and could do it again, so I found a good looking company called http://www.BowtieOverdrives.com and they do an up to 600hp 700R4 unit for 'only' around $1500 plus $350 to England. That's their best Level 3 Extreme/Street/Strip version as I want to take the finished truck to one of our English tracks called Santa Pod Raceway. I just have to get a quarter mile timeslip but that won't be happening any time soon, I can tell you!
Might have the gearbox out too for inspection (like I have a clue what to look for) but the driveshaft squeaks when the truck is moved and the cardon joint crosses are dry and rusty. I've got this Dynotech (extremely) heavy duty front propshaft on it's way when the owner next passes my town on business,
I just filled a 'wishlist' shopping cart on http://www.sytyperformance.com/ and it stands at over $10k.
Anyone got a few grand they don't need? Donations are most welcome!
Go on, it's for a very good cause ;-)
More pages later with pics of progress and thanks for taking so much of your time for looking and pop back soon for more porting photos around March/April '09. I'm just getting myself psyched up for it now.
Hey and before you leave, please sign my guestbook too? I promise to return the gesture!
Our boring UK license plates. Handy ATR LED air/fuel meter.
First ten photos plus engine bay before engine removal and these last two courtesy of Ian Page, the previous (and quite possibly the next) owner. Thanks Ian!
