Another theory that we discussed on the day, was whether we had an injector problem, and that one was either blocked or malfunctioning. I'd hope not, being Injector Dynamics ID1050X's, but everything needs to be checked.

Upon getting the car home and leaving everything for a week or two, I then removed the injectors and took them back up to Northampton for them to run on their ASNU injector diagnostic rig.

Just one of the many tests that were run....

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'Scuse Steve's mathematics error, lol....but the results we got from the various tests:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...954176E65B.jpg

The results, I have to be honest, were underwhelming, with 5.7% variation across the set of six injectors. I'd be satisfied with that for randomly manufactured, off the shelf injectors, but for the level of care and attention that I know Inj Dynamics put into their manufacturing, I'd have expected a lot closer spread. Of course, I've liaised with their support team, who said that a) there must be blockage due to unsatisfactory filtration (again, a brand new FueLab 818xx series filter was installed), and b) were dismissive of the ASNU test rig that Northampton Motorsport were using.

I do now have the original check sheets for each injector, but not had time to read, understand and correlate them to what we saw with the tests. At the moment, the offer is there from I.D. for me to ship over the injectors for them to test (f.o.c) and clean if necessary....

In honestly, I don't think this is the root cause for any of the problems we saw on the dyno day, but it's interesting nonetheless.

So....What's next?....
 

Well, in terms of fixing this harmonic issue, there are 3 options...the "Rolls Royce" solution, the "Ford Mondeo" solution and inbetween is the "BMW solution"....and this is something that I'm currently investigating...

My knee-jerk reaction would be to crate the whole car up into a shipping container, wave goodbye to it and send it over to Chris and Mike to sort out. The minute I start removing anything, I start removing potential evidence of what the problem is. the downside of this solution is the sheer cost of doing this. I'm waiting for final container costs to come in, but I know that Ro-Ro (roll-on, roll-off) shipping is about £1,500 each way, plus a tonne of port handling and onward shipping fees from port to Phoenix. Ro-Ro (ie., open deck) certainly isn't the method I'd choose to send my P&J, so the cost of a container is what I'm waiting for. I anticipate that it's going to be every inch £3k each way, plus significantly higher onward shipping and port handling fees....probably looking at £8k/$11k just to ship and return it. Chris and I have spoken about the strip/inspect/rebuild costs, so I can do the mental arithmetic on the "Rolls Royce" option.

The "Mondeo" option is for me to, yet again, do all the work myself. Pull the engine, strip, inspect and rebuild. However, this is the least likely of the options...

1) There are certain things happening outside of this project that mean my time will be extremely limited over the foreseeable future.

2) Frankly, I've run out of enthusiasm to do a 3rd (solo)rebuild. Sad but true.

3) I don't know what I'm looking for. If it was something obvious like a thrown rod sitting through the crankcase, then of course, easy to start going after it...but this is going to be something ever so subtle. Do I trust my measuring abilities? And even if I do, I certainly either don't have, or no longer have access to, the measuring tools to do the job properly (eg bore measuring equipment). Therefore, lots of sending parts out, driving around to deliver/collect, and finding trustworthy outfits to work with. Sometimes it's best to know your limits, especially when you no longer enjoy doing it as much.

The "BMW" option (or Mercedes, pick your poison) would be to find a UK based specialist who I trust, to undertake the work, perhaps with me assisting. The strip/inspect/rebuild costs are of course going to be the same, give or take, but it removes that huge $11k shipping overhead. That £8k/$11k would pay for a lot of parts, should they be needed.

Of course, with each of these options there's also the dyno costs to finish the job that Northampton Motorsport have done. I must add that the folks at Northampton Motorsport really are a good bunch. Amanda has been more than accommodating with me arranging and re-arranging (multiple times) my booking. Troy and his son were also very nice to work with that day, so I'd have no hesitation in returning there to finish the job.

When I know more, about not only the engine project but other "stuff" as well, I'll of course keep you all updated.

For now though, today I spent the day replacing the injectors and reworking the intake system (per previous post). The battery is charging at the moment, and I'll fire her up tomorrow and perhaps take it for a drive....fingers crossed the roads will again be dry and I can see what it feels like under W.O.T. ;)

Sir Spenny, I just caught up with your story. Less happy of a read than the "pale Brit hooks up with gorgeous California girl" chapter, I must say. All the awesomeness of Rennsport and then some.
Sorry that I cannot provide any brainwaves to fix the vibration (is the fan balanced, aligned?). Maybe ship it to Chris, then once it's fixed, fly over and do an epic roadtrip afterwards, across this vast country over hill (Rockies) and yonder dale (the Great Prairies) to here on the East Coast and ship the car back to Blighty via the Port of New York...cheaper than Los Angeles.

Either way, best wishes, keep you chin - and your end - up. Haha, one Brit to another. John/Connecticut.

Haha!! Hey John, that did make me chuckle, thanks for the spirited words of encouragement. Blimey, I didn't know you're a Brit! Actually, considering this is a real "sackcloth and ashes" situation (I think that may be a British-ism term) I'm not feeling as downbeat as you'd imagine, or should be.

Yup, I did remove the fan/alternator belt back in the summer and briefly fired up the engine - noise was still there. I did, however notice that it sounded a bit rumbly, so while the belt was off I removed the fan assy and stripped it. New regulator, brushes and bearing into the alternator, as well as a cleanup. As to whether it's in balance, I would presume so, but no it's not specifically an item I had balanced when the rods/pistons/flywheel/clutch/pulley was done.

I spent this morning washing the car and firing her up, get the fluids warm and then a 15mile trip up the road to get some fuel. I have to say, every time I wash it and stand back and look, I absolutely love it, in fact I still pinch myself after 8yrs of ownership. It's been a glorious winters day here today, barely a cloud, roads are bone dry...and she does go well. Feels coarse (we know that, eh?) but in terms of shove, yeah, very nice. Not otherworldly fast but certainly enough to squirt past cars on the dual carriageways.

Need a few things to happen this week (hopefully) to then get the next steps underway.

Well that sucks for sure. If I was you I would be close to taking five gals. of "petrol" and a match to it..

I guess I would start at the beginning again with a comp. and leakdown check.

Haha...nah, it'll be fine in the end....admittedly, this project has fought me EVERY SINGLE INCH of the way, but the best things in life don't come easy. Once it's done, it'll be amazing. I have to say, my enthusiasm is high at the moment after driving it again yesterday on dry (daylight) roads, the road manners that Troy has dialled into the calibration are a world different from anything I've driven with this EFI'd engine. I always feared that I've gone and royally cocked-up a perfectly good (and now valuable) CIS car, and made something that was massively compromised in terms of its behaviour....but....this part is nailed.

Yup, a compression test hasn't yet been done, but I did a leakdown test when I pulled the engine out, immediately before the dyno day. Numbers looked very good, 1-1.5% across all 6 pots.

Hi Spencer, I have another option for you, to invite Chris to your place! :)

We have discussed that option Pat, however...the time that Chris would be over here would of course be finite; there would be two options...

a) Either I need to have the engine stripped, inspected and ready to rebuild with every single part ready in my workshop. Anything that needs re-machining or any new parts needs to have been done in advance. This also means that by stripping the engine myself, I could well remove any evidence of what the problem is. It also means I need to be very selective about which specialists I use to do this machining work, as well as spending a lot of time driving around delivering and collecting parts (and without doubt, being frustrated by me not being their highest priority customer)

...or...

b) We strip the engine when Chris is over here, but then we're going to fail when we identify what the problem is. Any parts that need ordering are (at best) 2 days away plus half a day driving around collecting them once they're with my OPC. At worst, it could be parts that come from Germany and take 3-4 days to arrive. This also means that I need to have all the measuring equipment needed to inspect the components. I have a lot of it, but for example bore measuring tools that are deep enough to measure the line bore of the crankcase, are big money. Any corrective work is weeks to get done, meaning Chris would be back in the US before I'm ready to re-assemble.

So, as much as it would be absolutely great to fly Chris over here, the practicality of it means that getting an engine rebuilt is extremely unlikely to be completed. A typical strip/inspect/rebuild is reckoned to be between 60-70 hours; that in itself is 5 x 12hr days to work, assuming everything is here in front of you ready to build with.

If it were me I would sort the control issues before taking on any kind of disassembly- surely the mechanical issue is separate?

Seems you could test that vapor return theory, leave it disconnected for a while and see if the control stabilizes. On the other hand, if your leakdown is 1-2% and you have good droplet filtration, there shouldn't be much flow, and hence no issue. If the problem resolves well of course you know what to work on.

Air flow to the intercooler looks pretty weak- I would want to have a standalone blower *on* the whole intercooler, not that little hose. Maybe spray a little water on there too. IC temp will definitely affect advance and high rpm power.

Dan

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Hi Dan, thanks for the thoughts.

As you say, the breather return is an easy one to check; I have now removed the breather outlet/intake inlet from the system. The intake "snorkel" now only has the air filter on the end of it. I'll play around with the Syvecs SW and see if I can get the same dashboard metrics displayed, and see if there's a reduction in fuel trim.

Believe me, that IC cooling hose almost knocked me off my feet, it was tremendously powerful! By preference, I'd rather have had a fixed manifold on top of the IC, but these guys aren't doing Porsche every day, so it'd have to be something I fabricated and transported up there. (The previous engine dyno cell facility that I used did have one, designed and made for a previous client...and annoyingly it put the tiniest of witness marks into an otherwise prestine black anodized finish on the IC)

Of course, while holding it for each run, I was moving it constantly to cool the various parts of the IC. Fear not....the AIT's were stonkingly good, just as they were 2-3yrs ago on the engine dyno....and again, the guys at the Dyno raised eyebrows as to how stable (and low) they were. Testament to Chris/TK's intercooler (as if anyone doubted it...)

Hi Spencer, I really doubt you made a mistake in making your engine, given all the care you’ve given it, if you made a mistake then I can freak out a lot for mine!

Another thought-

I have had cars with vibration that turned out to be bad injector connector, bad temp sensor, failing coil-on-plug. One way to confirm mechanical vs other source is to coast down from speed, in gear (engine braking). That minimizes any contribution from fuel or spark- if you don't feel vibration then, it's likely not caused by the major rotating bits.

Whoever said it should be smooth is right, my old 3.0 feels like a turbine when revving, accelerating, or engine braking. Lumpy at idle of course. :)

Dan

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I had a bad injector connection and just unplugged one injector at a time when idling the one that didn't make a change was the bad one.
Mike

Haha, thank you for the vote of confidence my friend! I'm certainly not above making mistakes, or even at best, I could have installed a new, but sub-standard part...I'm thinking timing chains, or bearings, or...

However, I'm less confident of other elements of the system that I've not built myself. :rolleyes:

All very good points, thanks chaps. I'm not saying it isn't a fuel injector or CoP (because I've not tested them individually, yet)...however, when I've removed them, all 12 spark plugs look identical to each other. No evidence that one isn't firing, or that a cylinder is devoid of fuel.....but pulling plugs and swapping CoP "heads" (I have a spare unit) is certainly something worth trying.

Thanks for the update. Improving these old cars is sometimes incredibly frustrating!

I'm sure you'll get there and it'll all be worth it.

Thanks Merlin. Yup, we'll get there...Dunkirk Spirit etc etc....

Evening folks,

Ok, just a short update. In post #1122, I mentioned "other stuff" outside of this car project which was currently in play. Well, as of Monday evening, I resigned from my current job so that I could accept a really fantastic opportunity with a competitive company. As such, I'm now on "Gardening Leave" for a month.

The list of jobs to do in this spare month is long (and getting longer!), and I've now come to a decision on the next steps for this project.

I'm not going to be undertaking the rebuild myself, for all the reasons I explained previously. My new job will be extremely challenging, it's with a S/W start-up (although a relatively mature start-up, they're in Series E funding), and so it's all about getting out there and making a splash. All achievable, but it's going to need a lot of dedication. Added to which, I've been delaying a house project for almost 5 years now. My enthusiasm really isn't with the prospect of tearing down the engine again, but is with finally trying to get the house project underway, working with my Dad to do so.

Chris and I have spoken a few times the last couple of weeks about the "Rolls Royce" option, and much as I would love to send the car over to AZ, frankly, the money just isn't there to cater for that magnitude of spend. This project should have been done by now, no more spending, but after I received the costs from the shipping company, my estimated additional spend for this option would be approaching £20k/$26k by the time you take into account any parts needed (could be major), machining work and then the dyno time to presumably start again and complete a full calibration. I then need to fly over and test drive, make sure I'm happy, then wait another 50 days or so to receive it in England...Also, this is assuming the £/$ exchange rate doesn't tank due to Brexit. That's a significant risk with the level of uncertainty in the UK at the moment. Available funds also need to be spent on the house project...

So, the way forward for me has been for me to re-aquaint myself with the guys at Fearnsport, based up at Silverstone in the UK "Midlands". I've known Matt for over a decade; they PPI'd a couple of GT3's including the one I then purchased. They then looked after servicing it whilst in my ownership, and have since gone over the 964 Turbo very thoroughly for the insurance assessment a few years ago. They're a good bunch, and certainly look after some lovely projects; for those who use Instagram, you may follow "Andy74b"...owner of some fantastic toys, and currently having a Singer built for him. In addition Fearnsport are building Andy a rather trick 993, and I *think* may have worked on his F40. Other stuff that I've seen up there belonging to some of the well known PistonHeads guys include 993 GT's, C-GT's, the 'Ring record holder (in the day) 993 "Black Snake", some Ruf's, and funnily enough another F40 belonging to a guy I know of, which has just left the workshops (freeing up a space on the lift for my car). Oh, and a 997.2 GT3 Cup engine swap into a 996 GT3 Mk1, which looks fantastic, just like a factory install (and wasn't as simple as you may think!). I was up there once when Matt was midway through rebuilding a 959 engine, for a car with an anonymous owner that sits in storage. Think it's safe to say that he knows his stuff.

So, I think (hope) I'm in safe hands. I know Matt is a perfectionist, and someone I've always got on very well with over the years. The added bonus is that they're only a stones throw (15miles) from Northampton Motorsport, so when rebuilt, it's going to be very easy to get it across to Troy for dyno completion.

Tonights job is to tidy some stuff up, mount the ECU under the passenger seat and get it presentable (vacuum the carpets...) ready for a drive up there tomorrow. Weather forecast looks unbelievably crap, but hey-ho, a light right foot and plenty of time to get there. I have to say, it's almost a massive weight off my shoulders. I know I won't have the satisfaction of doing it end-to-end, but in fairness I have done most of it - all the fabrication and "ideas" on how to do things, I've got my hands well-and-truly dirty over 7yrs, become intimately familiar with the architecture of the engine, but to now know that it's someone elses (a Pro's) responsibility to get it finished is actually a huge relief. "I've served my time"!! And there's still the other chassis stuff to do at a later date...suspension refresh, etc etc.

Not such a short update after all....

Well thought out spenny...
I totally understand the what if brexit thing tanks the British pound and you are in the USA completing the project = read that could 2x+ make the cost...
Plus the car can be checked on after a half hour drive to give you a break from the mega job you are about to jump into...
Go get em... carry on... best of luck with all of this...
Keep the clear thinking on ALL fronts...))