Ok folks, not too much of an update, we're treading-water a little at the moment.

For a few short hours, it did look as though this coming Monday was going to be *the* day for taking the engine up to DTW and hooking it up to the dyno, then Tues & Wed to map. But...availability for Steve and (realistically) myself has thwarted that plan. In some ways a good thing, we definitely don't want to be rushed, in case there are a few glitches in the install, or any remedial actions that are required on the day.

There's also some homework for me to be doing, getting all the specs of the electronics together for Steve to have at hand (more of which lower down), and not having to search around finding stuff once the dyno clock starts ticking....5 x P's, etc....

So, at the moment I'm trying to socialise some mutual dates towards the end of the silly season of people wanting their engines done when it's hours before the racing starts. Hopefully will know more in a day or two. In the intervening period, Steve plans on populating the map sites for ignition and fuel so that we can get it fired-up.

In parallel:

• I've now got my tyres ordered for the new Cup1's
• Old tyres removed from the original wheels (original wheels will be ready for selling once cleaned)
• The Speedline replicas are now sold to a very nice gent over in Norway; I finally get some office space back after the weekend!
• I just treated myself to a new GoPro Hero4 Black Edition Motorsports, plus a whole tonne of brackets, spare batteries, touchscreen, etc. I thought it'd be great to get it rigged up in the dyno cell to capture the event. With that and the iPhone 6+ we should be able to get a few decent pieces of footage. The GoPro should be delivered on Saturday, fingers crossed.

Oil has been delivered; I retrieved an email from TK Chris from a few years ago where he recommended me the grade of oil to use, plus "chris_seven" and I had been having a chat as well about various things, and he mentioned that Joe Gibbs was a great choice with its high zinc content, the DT50 matching the viscosity that Chris recommends, and this also fits nicely with Charles Novarro's recommendation on his LN Engineering info pages, and his very detailed thoughts on current oil formulae.

Anglo American Oils in the UK sell Joe Gibbs....DT50 in 1qt bottles (no idea why Joe Gibbs can't package it in 5litre bottles; I know that one of their other products is supposed to be exactly the same formula, but just marketed under a different sub-brand, and is available in 5litres)

25 bottles and £213 later.....

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Now, an appeal for help please guys...there's plenty of you reading this, so hoping that somebody will have contacts they can reach out to...many vBeer tokens waiting...

I need detailed spec info for the Denso CoP coils. The part numbers are: 129700-3881

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...1D8059B12A.jpg

• First of all I tried Denso.com...nothing doing.
• Some general Googling for the Denso part number revealed a thread I found some years ago that has a few bits of info, winding resistance etc, but it's not official info, nor is it all that I need - we need dwell and voltage data (because we're not using CDI, we have to care about this)
• I phoned Denso's UK office and got through to one of their technical experts, but despite wanting to help, he's unable to. Since being on the receiving end of somebody divulging drawings to the Chinese, Denso HQ have locked down all access to tech data, even their employees outside of Japan.

His advice was to try and find the application for these CoP's then try approaching that manufacturer and see if we can get anything that way. Talk about a long shot.

The units came in Honda packaging; I *think* from a Fireblade, but I'm pretty sure they're common to the S2000 car as well (I'll check later)

A pal of mine who was at Le Mans last year used to work for Honda, so he's very kindly offered to see if any of his contacts can shed any light on them.

BUT...as a plan B, if anyone out there can also help, please shout. This could royally screw the schedule for the project at this point, possibly having to swap them for Bosch/VAG units where we can get data (but losing out on the fact that they're utter crap in terms of reliability), and then have to have another think about mounting them, then having to modify the harness Not what we need to be doing right before going on a dyno.

Thanks in advance guys
S

A little more Googling and I stumbled across this....again, it's not official from Denso, and it's not the same part number, but according to the post, "they all behave similarly"....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...2022.16.09.png

...still wouldn't mind finding something official and for the exact part....

Great Spencer, deeply the continuation! :)

Okay, not so much happening this week....a quick synopsis...

• The dyno date, after much deliberation and discussion, is now going to be in April. Kind of disappointing, got my hopes up that we'd soon be getting some numbers, but it is for good reason, insomuch that Steve is just maxed at the moment, truly right in the middle of his busy season. He wants to give me his undivided attention, I want that as well, so we're looking at the weeks after the Easter period (assuming the dyno is free then) in mid-April.
  
• Homework well underway in terms of getting Steve the preliminary data to start building a base map, also get him familiar with the mechanics of the engine, crank sensor positioning vs cam position vs gap in the flywheel timing teeth....Google Drive is helping enormously here to share everything.
  
• I finally got around to using my Kirk Industries valve adjuster. Once you get the knack of holding it and tightening the locknut up, it is very quick indeed. Takes longer to rotate the engine around than to adjust the gaps. Money well spent, the fit onto the screw head is absolutely spot-on, the holding foot onto the rocker also nice and snug. Yeah, a good investment. Pleased.....They all felt pretty much there, except one that was a little looser than the others, and one that was (embarrassingly) on another planet. Christ knows how I missed that, but it was miles off, so a great catch before spinning the engine over.
  
• The temporary intake pipe is back from Pete the welder; almost too nice to use as a temporary piece of pipework. Needs a polish up, will do that over the weekend.
  
  http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...AEE5FADCAC.jpg
  
• Also ordered/received the 3" silicon hose joiner that will join the air filter to the tract.
  
• The wastegate pipes are also welded onto the V-band flanges for the Tials; again, a temporary measure to enable exhaust ducting in the dyno cell to be fixed onto them, they'll need reworking once the engine's back in, bumper on, etc.
  
  http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0E78C018A6.jpg
  
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• The new tyres are on the Cup1's, and now mounted onto the car after a couple of coats of wheel wax application. Easier to do it now rather than clean off brake dust later. They don't fill the arches quite so well, but are lighter (ca.4kgs/rim on the fronts, about 1kg on the rears) and I have to say, glad I've now got what Porsche designed the suspension with. Reduction in unsprung mass is a great thing, and the slightly narrower track at the front should help us dial in the chassis setup as I want it.
  
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• And finally, I received my GoPro Hero 4 Black Edition...plus a tonne of accessories that you inevitably end up also buying....
  
  http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...63D5ACF232.jpg
  
  -Touch screen back (not shown)
  -Spare internal battery
  -BacPac battery (longer life)
  -Rollbar mount kit (of course!)
  -Suction mount kit
  -A couple of 32GB Class10 cards

...what a cracking bit of kit! Went indoor skiing with Lucy over the weekend, set it to 1080p SuperSize (it also has a couple of 2.7k and 4k settings!), and the quality for the first time out was amazing. Have been meaning to buy one for ages, very pleased I now have, another recommendation.

Seeing as I've got plenty of time now before mapping the engine, I may well have another attempt to get the engine/'box into the car this weekend for a dry-run, make sure everything clears and take dimensions for the largest air filter I can squeeze in. I can then put another call into the guys at ITG to get a custom one made (unless a stock one happens to fit - unlikely with a 3" intake).

Actually, that was a longer update than I thought....

Hello Spencer,

Your project moves forward very well, even if you would like that it moves forward faster, I am in the same case! Of the evil is born the good(property), this time(weather) which appears to you too much allows you on the other hand to reflect well about your project and to choose the best elements. Courage! :)

For your coils, if you can't find the data, it seems fairly simple to measure them up.

Like this:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/640218-crane-xr700-capacitive-discharge.html

PM me your email and I'll send you the Excel I used to figure ignition energy from amperage, inductance and resistance of the coils I measured.

The Denso coils are a different form factor but they are still coils. You don't need much specialized equipment just an inductance meter, a precise ohmmeter and a signal generator to drive the input (at a low voltage level, no interest in welding at the kitchen table!) and an oscilloscope to measure the output.

See also here (this is a study I did of ancient coils but the principles of inductive ignition haven't changed since the 1910 Cadillac.

A lucky eBay find: NOS SWB Coil

Thanks John...PM sent...will have a read through those links later on with a cuppa. ;)

A quick update in-between races at the first round of WSB from Phillip Island...

Whilst doing a bit more homework for the dyno session, and measuring the rotational angles between the 60-2 toothed FW and the crank sensor, I also needed to take some pics (and measure) the position of the cam sensor vs the pickup, all whilst #1 is a TDC on the compression stroke.

The position is configurable in the MBE, that's no problem, but the one place you really don't want the pickup to be @TDC is right over the sensor.....

.....no prizes for guessing where mine was.....

God know's how I managed to do this; the position of the sensor boss was something I chose a couple of years ago, got it fabricated, etc....the pickup I drilled/tapped into the boss of what was the smog pump drive pulley, and I can see why I mounted it where I did, it's right in-between the two drive lugs for the oil pump....logical enough...but by happenstance (I think) the sensor is exactly in the wrong place. Leaving it like this, it can present an indeterminate position.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...C4D993C24D.jpg

Good job we checked now. So, time to re-engineer it.

I could've drilled and tapped another M8 hole at a 45˚ offset, but in hindsight M8 is way too big.

Time to make a new boss......

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...9BA6D105_1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...B430752B_1.jpg

This time, knowing that if we do need to move it whilst on the dyno, I've pre-emptively drilled and tapped 6 holes to give us complete flexibility. Of course, only really needed 3 holes, as the boss itself can be rotated 180˚....but by drilling the other 3, it looks symmetrical and is probably balanced better.

Also made a new pickup that has squared off leading and trailing edges...again, no idea why I made the last one from a machined down cap-head with round pickup. New position with #1 @ TDC/compression....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8C6C4EE919.jpg

Something else I checked was the position of the drive pin for the pump in relation to the capheads that drive it; it *probably* would've been ok, but it was a tad borderline with the pin only just engaging deep enough between the heads. So, a couple of 1.5mm ally spacers now sit under the bolts that hold the boss onto the end of the cam.

Can't believe that this has taken the best part of the day to re-do. Oh well, will try and modify the chassis lifting plates first-thing tomorrow (see one of the early pages; the Pelican supplied plates that come with the engine lifting bar, I presume are for earlier chassis than the 964; they're far too small to bolt onto the chassis' engine mountings). Dad's then coming over to assist with the installation of the engine/box....hoping to show a few pics of the engine sitting in place, and the car looking a little less 4x4, for a short while at least.

Really REALLY productive day today!

Bright and early start to make the chassis lifting plates, mentioned yesterday. Some lovely weather this morning meant it was time to any the neighbours with the angle grinder, and after an hour or so, got them made --->

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0939DC93E1.jpg

The asymmetric design of the slam panel on the 964 (is this the same as the early chassis?) means that the LH eye is completely inaccessible if mounted on the rear-most bolt hole. Ridiculous. So, some re-drilling and re-positioning of the yellow plate onto the new base plate has got it a bit better, but certainly wouldn't start hoisting the car without packing the slam panel well with some rubber matting, the chains and hook are far too close.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...72D2C4ADF6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...952801985B.jpg

The RHS is fine....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...30EBCB6E93.jpg

Then it was time to give my Dad a call and for us to get cracking with the dry-run installation. A good opportunity to practice the procedure, and had a great afternoon together, on the same wavelength and making steady and careful progress.

Car rolled halfway out in readiness....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...33336EA54E.jpg

The engine and gearbox all bolted up and ready to manoeuvre.....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...433BB84889.jpg

...and, er, Dad getting ready to move the unit ("no, not that bit Dad..."). Actually...this pic looks a bit strange now.... :eek:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...CE27F06A94.jpg

Fear not, the engine was chocked from underneath, it wasn't about to fall off the ATV jack.

Slowly but surely....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...42495C19FD.jpg

Gradual lowering of the chassis, and raising of the ATV jack, literally millimetres at a time...check, double check, lower, check again. A bit like patting your head and rubbing your stomach, checking 4/5/6 things at once to ensure no cock-ups.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...A3713C068F.jpg

And once the gearbox mount is bolted, it was a little easier knowing that dimension had been taken care of, time to just square it up, raise a bit more and....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...30CDF5653D.jpg

Dad looking very pleased with progress. Actually, think he was more pleased with the fact I hadn't subjected him to a barrage of ill-tempered swearing and spanner throwing!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...3B74C1D4F6.jpg

Then time to find that box of engine mounts I bought over 3yrs ago from Gert at Carnewal ...very nice guy, and a day-trip that Dad and I went on, over to Belgium for a car parts shopping spree.

A set of genuine 964RS engine mounts, and amazing how much lighter they are versus the stock items. These with the firmer G50 gearbox tail mount from Chris @ TurboKraft plus the Golden Rod shift linkage, should tighten everything up very nicely.

Anyway, the mounts seem to work a treat, easy to line up..unremarkable in that respect.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...D81559FFAE.jpg

....and she's in....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...57142B2F27.jpg

And now I have something resembling what I remember my car looking like, rather than some horrendous monster truck thing....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...D6A85C87_2.jpg

Can't tell you how chuffed I am. Has the engine got to come back out? Yes, of course it has, but it was only 4hrs of work to put it in this afternoon, and that was with tea break, and some stopping and re-remembering the procedure, then having to remove the AC pump (to clear the slam panel) and starter motor (to clear the RH driveshaft). Getting it back out won't be a big job, there's not going to be any oil filling, just purely an opportunity to check everything but also, now I have a few weeks spare, I can look at fabricating the air intake tract to the turbo. And by God it looks bloody tight, so definitely not something you can do unless the engine's in.

Now...I may just be tempted to go back outside this evening and try fitting the intercooler....well, it'd be rude not to, eh?...

Intercooler fitted....IMHO, it looks bloody gorgeous....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...D4E7974BF5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...C407973B63.jpg

Some pics of the underside, need to install the Nimbus heat shield, then make sure the silencer and tailpipes fit ok. Got the LHS wastegate back on - needed to remove it earlier to squeeze the engine through the workshop>garage door (about 3mm clearance...)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...56A428298B.jpg


Hoooligan.... :D:D

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...81E4B39956.jpg

I think I've found a perfect candidate for the air filter location; I didn't realise that there'd be quite so much room behind the intercooler, and am now very glad I re-worked the BOV orientation a few years ago; as it happens I'd have had enough clearance between it and the rear firewall, but now that it's out of the way, I can use this space to hopefully get a jumbo filter housed.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...F266E35364.jpg

The other job I need to do is alter the AC lines; for the time being, they just about sit under the IC but they're not going to stay there. By my reckoning, if the ally feed and return lines are removed, then the U-bend interface to the rubber hoses removed, the new rubber lines could then run along the back of the engine bay right across to the RHS, then a 90º bend to bring them forward to the AC pump. Simple. I hope.

The air intake to the turbo - as mentioned previously - is very tight and not so simple. I may have to resort to what the stock 964T intake pipe has, with a squashed side. Hoping not, would look a little rubbish, but it's going to be tricky. The ducting hose form the shroud isn't in there yet either...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...416EF31B7A.jpg

Then run the 3" pipe from the front to the back, then a 90º bend to take it behind and parallel with the intercooler.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...DE81AAECA4.jpg

...should be *interesting*....

It looks amazing. All your attention to detail shows. Bloody gorgeous!

Btw, got tickets for my first Le Mans - stoked.

The lack of room for the air inlet of the turbo is very disturbing, I have the impression that you have some less of place that I! RUF had modified the tube to avoid a decrease of the section.
Courage Spencer, you soon arrive at the purpose!

Nope, the earlier chassis didn't look like that. They looked like this:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1424701596.jpg

Symmetrical.

Thanks Preston, yes, I can see now how they'd work far better. I did feedback to Pelican after I bought it 3yrs ago that the lifting bar is of limited use with the 964; no idea whether they've now changed the item description.

Super clean engine bay - very nice. Liking that polished AC pump!

It is a SINGER ! :)

Noooo, I thought Singer use the 964 as their donor?

Thanks mate...Le Mans....ahh, good man, you'll love it. What a year to pick, Nissan re-entering with a VERY trick LMP1 (that I think will get the other guys truly worried, if Radio Le Mans interviews are a good barometer), Porsche's second attempt...strong GT classes...my Brother's also coming along for the first time. Reminds me, need to buy tickets myself...