964 3.3 Turbo EFI Conversion using Syvecs (Life Racing) Engine Management

[brainz01]

I'd missed a bunch of updates. Very happy to hear. Great progress!

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[jsveb]

What a great read to end a good day.

Cheers

[Spenny_b]

Hey folks, long-time no-chat!

Sorry, it's been a hectic few months with lots of diving activities and a fantastic trip over to Rennsport Reunion VI with the Turbokraft krüe!

In fact, that's probably the best place to start this update, and work backwards(ish). First of all, it was GREAT to meet a number of you folk who are following this project, but also so many of the Turbokraft customers, existing and future. I admit to being truly humbled that Chris invited me along and entrust me with conversations about his projects.

It was an amazing experience, flying out to San Francisco on the Tuesday then driving down the PCH to where we were staying near the Laguna Seca track on the outskirts of Monterey...windows down, music playing, sun shining...perfect.

I won't bore everyone with the detail, but we had a right laugh with the four of us hanging out, Chris and Mike from the shop, and the unbelievably lovely Celina from UMS (who are just up the road from TK). First laugh of the event was trying to manoeuvre and park the million-foot long trailer that they'd towed up from Mesa, AZ; a 12hr journey and I'm sure the logistics of trying to "hide" this trailer at 1.00am in a quiet suburban estate was the last thing they needed....but unavoidable and eased with a few beers afterwards!

An early start the next morning to collect the trailer (before the Police did!) and get to the track and set everything up.





Into Booth 9 we went, and unloaded a fantastic display of engineering.....most obviously was a customers 930 with an ITB setup that had just been rebuilt hours before leaving, following the owner missing a shift on a 1/2 mile event and buzzing the valves. No harm, no foul, car finished and sounding awesome as we reversed it off the trailer. This car attracted a LOT of attention, quite rightly, pushing 620whp to the road (about 700'ish at the crank). 180mph across the line form a standing start? Yeah, not at all shabby, eh?





Next up were the engines; a display-only unit with the long neck intercooler fitted, along with an EFI kit that maintains the pancake intake system, plus a few other goodies that are required. The real star of the stand though, was the Gucci-tastic flat-fan ITB 3.45 litre engine that is destined for a 934 slantnose homage, being built in Florida. Again, it was a late finish on this engine before leaving for the show, so it's not yet been on the dyno. The spec is very similar to that fitted into the aforementioned car:

Carbon fibre flat-fan housing and fan, gearbox system with lubrication, drive assembly, carbon fibre shroud, alternator and alternator mounting bracket (It's beyond gorgeous)
2x Turbokraft Water > Air charge coolers
XTreme CNC heads, twin plugged with smart-coils
Turbokraft desgined CP Carrillo pistons and steel rods
GT3 crankshaft and associated oil pump
98mm LN Engineering Nickies
6 x Turbokraft Jenvey throttle bodies
2 x eGas throttle pots, 1 per bank.
Garrett GT3582R turbo with custom s/s turbine housing (T4 input, V-band output)
Turbokraft twin-scroll exhaust headers with heat, and twin Turbosmart wastegates
MoTec engine management

The only differences between this engine and the one in the car are the cooling system and therefore the intercoolers; the car uses the same IC as mine but with a divided outlet to feed the pair of plenums sitting atop each trio of ITB trumpets. The turbo's are also different, the car using a Precision Turbo. Finally, the car uses AEM Infinity management.









So, a great event, much interest in the Turbokraft goodies, the weather was just awesome, great company, the only thing was, it was over too quickly and I'm now back in the UK typing this.

So, the reason I've gone back-to-front on the update, is that I was able to lay-to-rest a concern I've had for the last few weeks, namely what I *thought* was an unnatural vibration in my engine. Because of this, I've not driven the car much until we could ascertain what it was, if indeed it was anything at all to worry about.

When we were moving the car back into the trailer as part of the packing up, I sat in the drivers seat and immediately felt what I had been trying to describe and capture in a sound file. In other words, what I'm feeling through my seat is absolutely nothing to worry about....Chris and I discussed at length, and this really is the downside of my project taking so long, and only having driven it for 6mths before tearing it down; I do have a very sensitive ear for noises and vibrations, but I simply don't have the driving experience of aircooled motors, to be able to identify what's-what and know if it's normal or not.

You can't believe the relief of having felt exactly the same sensation, knowing that (unless I've got it really wrong) rebuild no.3 isn't needed. So it's game on, time to get more mileage under it's belt plus an oil change before next Wednesdays dyno session.

[Spenny_b]

In the last few weeks, it's been a case of sorting out the snagging jobs list. A few remote sessions with Sam to iron-out a few things I;ve noticed while driving, and to also enable the water cooling circuit for the turbo.

I bought an IR Pyrometer a few weeks ago, so that I could use it's laser dots to aim at the very little header protrusion from the cylinder heads, and get an idea of exhaust temps individually rather than at the collector for each bank. Quite interesting, insomuch that Nos.3&6 were running a good 70-80ºC hotter than the middle pair. The front pair, 1&4, were somewhere inbetween. With some quick adjustments to the duty cycle of the IDX1000 injectors, we've got them all a lot closer now. Whether that transpires into something we needed to be worried about, I don't know, probably not but it can't harm.

I still have a missing tach signal, which is an annoyance. More work needed to trace the wire in the harness and make sure it correlates to the correct ECU output.

If you remember back to a few posts ago, I thought I heard bearing rumble on the alternator or cooling fan. To this end, and to correct something I didn't do the first time around, I stripped the assembly and replaced all 3 bearing; 2 in the alternator, 1 on the fan. In addition, I also refurbed the commutator copper contact slip-ring, and bought a new set of brushes and regulator. I did also buy a new slip ring in case mine was too far gone and needed to be replaced; it wasn't, and being a soldered on part, I left well alone.

I must give credit to Pelican'er JWPATE who took the time to write-up his refurb project, here

This made it a far quicker process; although absolutely not difficult, knowing what will fall out of place next and potential sticking points where extra tooling may be required, was invaluable.

So, some pics of the stripdown and refurb of the slip-ring on the lathe.....



















Not too much to add to this, all self explanatory and described very well in the above linked post.

[Spenny_b]

All very straightforward on the reassembly, no tricks or gotchas....











The only pain in the bum, was that the nose bearing on the cooling fan is a right sod to get out. No traditional circlip here, instead Porsche have used a split ring that's nigh-on impossible to get out. I had a go, but damaged the waterseal on the ballrace, so a whole new assembly it is from Porsche....



All back together and in the car, and things sound smoother.

In addition to this, my paranoia led me to checking all the plugs, making sure things look okay, as well as checking the correct firing order of all 12 plugs. A speedy purchase of a Gunson timing light (just a basic one, no timing readout required) was perfect, and allowed me to check they're all firing in the correct sequence (they were, of course).

The trouble is with plug checks, is that the whole water cooling assembly on the 1-2-3 bank needs to be removed. Such is life, but it's not a 5min job...mind you, neither is getting the tinware off, to access the top plugs from underneath!

And that's where I'm up to. Now that we've established what "normal" sounds like, I need to press on and get another couple of hundred miles - at least - under it's belt, then quickly change over to the proper oil ready for the dyno day. Gulp.

[Costa P]

Originally Posted by Spenny_b

...
So, the reason I've gone back-to-front on the update, is that I was able to lay-to-rest a concern I've had for the last few weeks, namely what I *thought* was an unnatural vibration in my engine. Because of this, I've not driven the car much until we could ascertain what it was, if indeed it was anything at all to worry about.

When we were moving the car back into the trailer as part of the packing up, I sat in the drivers seat and immediately felt what I had been trying to describe and capture in a sound file. In other words, what I'm feeling through my seat is absolutely nothing to worry about....Chris and I discussed at length, and this really is the downside of my project taking so long, and only having driven it for 6mths before tearing it down; I do have a very sensitive ear for noises and vibrations, but I simply don't have the driving experience of aircooled motors, to be able to identify what's-what and know if it's normal or not.

You can't believe the relief of having felt exactly the same sensation, knowing that (unless I've got it really wrong) rebuild no.3 isn't needed. So it's game on, time to get more mileage under it's belt plus an oil change before next Wednesdays dyno session.

Awesome news Spencer!
[fetching popcorn in preparation for the next couple of weeks]

PS. Totally jealous, the RRVI + Turbokraft experience must've been awesome!

[Pat RUFBTR]

Satisfied to reread you Spencer, you found the morale, it's great!

[Spenny_b]

Originally Posted by Costa P

Awesome news Spencer!
[fetching popcorn in preparation for the next couple of weeks]

PS. Totally jealous, the RRVI + Turbokraft experience must've been awesome!

Thanks buddy, yeah the RR6 trip was awesome, just gutted it's over and I'm back in the UK...over far too quick

[kevinbodman930]

Spenny i prayed to the Porsche gods that everything would work out for you.The look on your face knowing that you might need to go into round 3 made my own stomach sick.Thank goodness that you don't have to go down that road.It was a real treat meeting you and that goddess you were with,talk about hot chickens she is definitely a beauty.Haha.Turbo kraft was definitely my favorite places to be,with all the turbo goodness i wish for with my own build,haha someday.Really nice to have finally met you,and can't wait to see the numbers with your motor.

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[jsveb]

Hi Spence,

Great update on the car.

Also great to hear about RR. It was my neighborhood for a while, and I could see laguna seca fr my office. Great times driving over Laureles grade and into the valley.

Looking fwd to the coming updates.

Cheers

[Spenny_b]

Originally Posted by kevinbodman930

Spenny i prayed to the Porsche gods that everything would work out for you.The look on your face knowing that you might need to go into round 3 made my own stomach sick.Thank goodness that you don't have to go down that road.It was a real treat meeting you and that goddess you were with,talk about hot chickens she is definitely a beauty.Haha.Turbo kraft was definitely my favorite places to be,with all the turbo goodness i wish for with my own build,haha someday.Really nice to have finally met you,and can't wait to see the numbers with your motor.

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Hey mate, haha, yeah "emotions on sleeve" a little too much sometimes with regards to this engine project. Having driven another 100-120 miles the last few days on the engine, I'm still not convinced it's 100% as Chris would have it, but you know what, time to draw a line...it's going on the dyno, it'll either live or it won't....if a v3.0 is needed, then it may well include ITB's, new headers and different cams!!

Regarding RR6, yup, that was a fantastic event from start to finish and meeting Celina was a complete surprise that neither of us were planning for (obviously...that's the definition of a surprise...). But she's a great girl, I'm very lucky.

For next weeks dyno, we have a plan in place - travel up to Northampton on Tuesday and see a great customer of mine who are just down the road. It's been a few weeks since I've seen the guys there, and they've just gotten through a MASSIVE project that I've been working with them on, so it'll be great to catch up - without doubt some of the best customers I've ever worked with. A stay in a hotel overnight and I remove any risk of being stuck on the route up from my house on Wednesday morning; a good 130miles on some of the country's busiest roads.

[Spenny_b]

Originally Posted by jsveb

Hi Spence,

Great update on the car.

Also great to hear about RR. It was my neighborhood for a while, and I could see laguna seca fr my office. Great times driving over Laureles grade and into the valley.

Looking fwd to the coming updates.

Cheers

Hey Jesper! Thanks mate, yeah I had to stretch my memory back to what I've been doing for the last few months. How very negligent of me!

That part of the country is a lovely place, I can't imagine what it must be like to live and work there....well...apart from Sand City!!...not so nice...(you didn't live in Sand City, did you?!?). The house we rented was high up on a hillside, you could see the airport one side and hear the circuit on the other, fantastic.

[Spenny_b]

Originally Posted by Pat RUFBTR

Satisfied to reread you Spencer, you found the morale, it's great!

Thanks Pat!....yes, there's nothing like going to RR6 to boost ones spirit!

[brainz01]

Always love these updates. Congrats on the progress!

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[Spenny_b]

Originally Posted by brainz01

Always love these updates. Congrats on the progress!

Cheers mate! Hopefully a decent update coming by the end of the week, plenty of photos and maybe the odd video if I remember.

[jsveb]

Originally Posted by Spenny_b

Hey Jesper! Thanks mate, yeah I had to stretch my memory back to what I've been doing for the last few months. How very negligent of me!

That part of the country is a lovely place, I can't imagine what it must be like to live and work there....well...apart from Sand City!!...not so nice...(you didn't live in Sand City, did you?!?). The house we rented was high up on a hillside, you could see the airport one side and hear the circuit on the other, fantastic.

Nope, I actually lived in a really nice area across from Laguna Seca. A bit out on Corral de Tierra.

[Spenny_b]

Just a quick update - dyno session scheduled for Wednesday is postponed, as I'm flying back out to the US to see the lovely Celina again. Dyno can wait, some things are just more important!

[kevinbodman930]

Originally Posted by Spenny_b

Just a quick update - dyno session scheduled for Wednesday is postponed, as I'm flying back out to the US to see the lovely Celina again. Dyno can wait, some things are just more important!

Spenny,you crazy son of a gun.

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[kevinbodman930]

Why don't you do the dyno and i will go see her for u.Haha luv struck and i can see why.

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[Pat RUFBTR]

Originally Posted by Spenny_b

Just a quick update - dyno session scheduled for Wednesday is postponed, as I'm flying back out to the US to see the lovely Celina again. Dyno can wait, some things are just more important!

You are well right Spencer!