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

Evening folks, apologies in advance for a mammoth opening post! I'm anticipating this to be the opening gambit of a thread which I'll update (a-la "Odyssey") as I progress over the next 3mths, 6mths, year, whatever....

So, I'm sure that doing an EFI conversion is something I want to progress on my '92 3.3 964 Turbo, and I've been steadily researching, digging deep into the Pelican forums (fora?) to educate myself...or try :D

As part of the preparation, I rolling-roaded the car a few weeks back to "baseline" the engine. Despite it feeling far quicker than the numbers suggest (to me at least), it's pushing more-or-less stock numbers at 320.1fwhp with stock boost. Car has approx 84k miles and was running on regular UK Shell V-Max Super Unleaded (99 RON)

I've only had the car since March, and after doing some general maintenance and corrective work, the only engine mod I know about is the Haywood & Scott exhaust system (that retains a cat, although don't know the cell count). This probably offsets any wear and tear, and adds a little bit for good measure. The air injection assy was also removed by me a few months ago (the air pipes and injectors were rotted).

So, the approximate plan is:

- To convert to EFI; Although I like the concept of retaining CIS for it's "charm" and originality, I like efficiency, technology, and above all, accuracy. I also want to build a flexible platform for future tuning as/when funds permit....this is very much my keeper project car to amuse me over the next xx years. As much fun will (hopefully) be derived from the hands-on fettling as the driving itself.

- Drop the engine and run a leakdown and compression test. The engine looks healthy according to the numbers on the RR, but just to make sure.

- If it's OK, then remove the CIS components and replace with the kit I need for EFI.

- I may well look to replace the stock K27. This is not a track car in any way, so I'm not after mega boost at lofty revs, I'd far rather have a usable quick spooling engine that will demolish Britains finest tarmac without having to redline all the time. I'm also thinking single turbo to keep it relatively simple, although should it be a given that twin scroll is the way we roll these days?...with suitable mods to the turbo mating flange, of course.

- The engine management I'm planning on using is MBE - not sure how well known it is in the US, but pretty popular over here in the UK. A very good mate of mine is an extremely bright chap, superb at mapping and has been tuning and refining my Westfield track car since 1994 (which has used various generations of MBE systems over the years). Steve is a distributor for MBE SBD Motorsport but also works hand-in-hand with them to develop and test the code. He does also know MoTeC, and his thoughts are that the latest generation of MBE is very much on a par, but significantly cheaper....and I'll get a good price on it!

If all the tests go well, I'll probably leave a top-end or full rebuild for another time.

If all doesn't go so well with leakdowns, then I'll need to decide how far I go with a rebuild. If I'm in that situation, I'll probably be aiming for *about* 400-450rwhp, so will then look at cams and head porting. Depending on P&C condition, may well look to replace with a capacity increase set....and maybe shuffle-pinning...and boat tailing...and twin plugging...and head studs/conrod bolts...and....(see where this is going?!)

Crucially, in the spirit of being a fun and educational thing to do, I'm going to be doing the spanner work myself, and so I'm not looking to be experimental or bleeding-edge....well-proven build recipes for this venture into Turbo tuning are more than enough for me at the moment!!

Waynes book is, of course, a constant point of reference at the moment....very interesting it is too.

After reading many threads that involve Chris and the chaps @ TurboKraft's expertise, I like the idea of working with Chris. Toms thread is a true inspiration, and it seems that his vetting of partners has saved a lot of legwork/guesswork! But, the practicalities of me being in the UK and TurboKraft in AZ, mean that getting my car to him is a non-starter! So, looking for the parts I would need, TurboKraft looks like a great one-stop-shop, with invaluable input on here, and he seems like a very open kinda guy with his sanity checking and advice. I like that. I'm not out to bleed anyones brains then bugger off elsewhere, but this is my first aircooled project so may need a little hand-holding (in fact, it was because of Steve's enthusiasm back in 1994 that I went to SBD Motorsport for my Westfield engine build, and we became very close mates, racing together, etc, etc...very similar to how Tom met TurboKraft by the sounds of it)

So, I guess that brings me onto the assumptions and questions...sorry, a lot of these may be a little noddy, I'm still becoming familiar with this stuff, lol:

1) With my car being a 964, am I right in thinking that if I want to retain the OE intake manifold, this would work better than for the guys doing 930 conversions, which have less than optimal manifolds? In other words, perhaps not such a compelling need to upgrade to the Carrera intake manifold?

1a) If so, then I could swap out the stock CIS injector blocks for those that Chris sells?
1b) ....or would I still be best to go for Carrera intake manifold plus Chris's adapters to mate 42mm > 32mm? This would then mean that any future porting work to the heads could be catered for by swapping out the adapter blocks for larger items, but means a more complicated initial install...and costlier...
1c) I'm undecided on injectors...I run Peco injectors on my Westfield, they seem to be the favoured injector for my MBE-whiz mate (IIRC they have great flow characteristics for low duty cycle, easy to drive by the ECU) - at that point I may need to make custom injector rails rather than use the TurboKraft ones in the Injector Block kit?
1d) What sort of cc flow rate would I need, assuming a stock build?

2) Do I need a cylinder head temp sensor on the 964? Or is there one there already?

3) Crank position sensor...again, on the 964 is this something that's already present?

4) Knock sensors? One of my books references a knock sensor bracket but then says "Not Turbo", so I guess that's for the Carreras...can this simply be retro-fitted onto an M30 lump?

5) Assumption - I'm not going to be twin plugging - leave that for a future project - so TurboKrafts single coil/amplifier mounts look like a neat solution.

6) I'm pretty sure that budget will dictate me retaining the stock 964 intercooler for the time being. Is this ok, or a really ill-advised idea?

7) Is it worth retaining the OE wastegate? I've stripped this down before and it looks fine, but as good practice, I'm more than happy to buy a known spring (I have an old receipt on file for a 1bar unit, but it's clearly only boosting to ca.0.7bar) and new diaphragm....or shall I invest in a more modern unit? Pretty sure I'm right in saying the MBE ECU will handle boost control, so I guess I'll need a solenoid for it to control - any stand-out recommendations?

In order to get started building a map, we would need a base ignition timing spec - I found the thread on here that discusses that, so hopefully I can tick that box.

Now, the good stuff....what can I remove from the engine when moving away from CIS?

- Fuel distributor head
- WUR
- Vacuum limiter valve?
- Oxygen sensor control unit?
- Acceleration enrichment control unit?
- Auxiliary air regulator?
...what else?

Thanks guys, really looking forward to getting stuck in once all the homework and pricing has been done ;)

Cheers
Spencer.

Spencer,
That's a really straight-forward conversion.
TurboKraft can ship you any/all of the conversion hardware.
Also, we just worked with another gentleman in England on converting his C2T to EFI (using locally sourced Motec) and with stock head ports and upgraded 964 cams he's making respectable power on the engine dyno running premium pump fuel:
0.7= 370hp
1.0= 450hp
1.2bar= 500hp (499.7hp)
I'll post more details on the conversion later, cover your specific questions -- but have got to do an (overdue) update on Schnele's job first.

Hi Chris, just the man I was hoping would stick a quick post up there :)

Yup, it does seem, in my own little mind, a straightforward conversion I want to make; even if I need to do some rebuild work, my confidence is growing with each page I read, lol!

I may well go the cam route as well - not quite the same level of work needed as stripping it down for a rebuild - I'll add another column in the Excel spreadsheet. I presume they were FW horsepower readings from your UK guy?

Look forward to hearing more, cheers Chris

S

Spenny,
You are on the right track. So many folks just dive in, you have this well-thought out and with help from the folks at TurboKraft, you will end up with a fantastic build.

I would like to ask if you would be interested in selling off some of the CIS bits if you no longer need them. I already have the Euro injectors (and someone will pay a pretty penny for yours) but I am looking for the fuel lines (I think they flow more) and the Euro fuel head. Someone else who is having WUR problems will certainly be looking for that item, but mine works fine.

As far as advice I would offer this: Keep the original wastegate, they are bullet-proof, different springs are available. You could get an aftermarket Tial, but why. The stock 964 turbo intercooler is very effective, no reason to change that. There is no cylinder head temp sensor but the timing on our cars does consider the engine temp and the air intake temp. There is no knock sensor, with the lower base compression and the high octane you are using, you probably don't need it. Our flat-top pistons really don't benefit much from twin-plugging, plus it is a hassle with our cars, so much other stuff competing for room under the bonnet. I like the flat intake manifold for our boosted cars, the injector blocks that Chris sells are a work of art, I would invest in those.

Good Luck Sir,
Mark

I converted to EFI and used the stock 930 manifold. The conversion works fantastically well. No regrets. Perhaps I passed on some power gains by not going with a Carrera manifold, but to be honest, I had a simple bolt on upgrade with no hassles and that is what I wanted. Runs like a watch now. I do need to dyno it to get a baseline.

Good luck with your conversion!

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the post - very interesting. Agree, with my limited experience, the stock waste gate does look to be very solid and certainly would like to keep it if it makes sense; I guess I was wondering whether the stock unit had a ceiling w.r.t. the amount of discharge it can flow? But for my more-or-less stock engine running EFI, I appreciate this isn't really worthy of consideration.

Upon closer examination and conversion of the dyne tables, my engine looks to be peaking at 11.96psi/0.82bar, so would the recommendation be to simply to keep the spring I already have, then use a controller to fine tune?....This spring is of unknown origin installed by one of the previous owners, so would you guys replace with a known factory spec 0.7bar spring for additional safety margin?

Handy to know it's probably not worth the complication of adding knock and cylinder head temp sensors, although the MBE management unit will have plenty of inputs that could accept a feed, but I'm all for working to the "K.I.S.S." principle!

In terms of selling the CIS stuff, I'd probably consider it, and if you're interested, then I'll by all means get in touch - I was wondering whether to keep it on the off-chance that somebody does want to put it completely back to stock one day, but in reality, by the time I'm done with the car (and that's a big "if ever...") there'd be more work to do to put it back to stock than just replacing the EFI back to CIS, as eventually the internals are going to get upgraded.

Thanks Emery!

Yeah from what I've read, the 930 intake is different (flatter) than the 964 Turbo item...hopefully someone will confirm, but if so, then I think the 964T intake is a halfway house between the 930 and N/A Carrera unit?

Cheers
Spencer

All the 911 Turbos 1976-94 used basically the same intake manifold. All the ports were 32mm to the heads (except the rare '91-'94 Turbo S).

An advantage of the flat Turbo manifold is it makes for a very responsive engine, ideal for street driving. You cannot run as large a camshaft as with the Carrera manifold (no GT2) but again -- a really big cam is not responsive and good for the street anyhow. Stick with cams that have less overlap, like SC- and 964-based profiles. Having that quick boost response gives you more torque at lower rpms, and thus a wider useable power band and a car that feels really quick.

Don't be concerned that the flat manifold won't make big power, either: we have done several engines that make 600hp at the wheels with moderately ported manifolds and heads (38mm) and only 964-based Sport cams.

Full Reply - 1991-92 C2 Turbo EFI conversion
 

Flywheel horsepower or rear wheel horsepower? Is this a full H&S system with headers, or just a muffler?

This is critical. Obviously, converting to EFI will not remedy any underlying engine troubles. Leakdown numbers on a cold engine should all be <6%, and compression valves should be even, +/-5psi.

Very sensible approach for the street. If twin scroll, that only helps response even more. I posted a dyno on another thread about a CIS 3.3L 930 with a GT35R that we converted to twin scroll, and his gains at 3,000rpm were just incredible. Power was all done by 6,000rpm, so no need to rev it high and reinforce the engine's bottom end with built rods, etc (unless taking it apart anyway).
If you have headers, they can be converted to twin scroll (ex: Tom's Odyssey 930), and you'll use 2 small wastegates.

We have heard this was very good from another client in the UK, nice drivability. It will definitely work with any conversion hardware (hardware is universal, accepts any engine management system).

Going into the engine is a separate project. The MBE should be flexible to accomodate any future modifications. Keeping this in mind, you can pre-wire any future functions into the harness in the beginning (then you never have to get into the harness again).
With stock 32mm port heads and stock 930/965 cams, expect power to max around 420 at the wheels (about 470hp flywheel).

Our EFI Injector Blocks are the easiest way to convert any 1976-94 Turbo to EFI. They will allow you to re-use teh current manifold, throttle body & linkage, intercooler, air intake... They are the K.I.S.S. solution and available in any bore size from 32mm (stock heads) up to 42mm.

No need to go overboard on injector sizes. The Siemens Deka injectors we use on 90% of our builds are a 660cc (60#) injectors with a nice wide 30-deg spray cone for excellent atomization and fuel distribution in the port. This helps with getting excellent idle and low-speed engine behavior. They are high impedence injectors.
YES! This is the correct way to get engine temperature for an EFI system. It's how the factory did it. We sell a simple billet adapter kit that allows you to use a stock Bosch head temp sensor.
If you use oil temp, expect very long warm-up times, with the engine running too rich for most of that time.
You have a sensor and bracket for the EZ69 ignition control unit. Re-use the bracket; the rest goes away. We offer a billet adapter and hall-effect sensor that reads the flywheel for the ECU's engine speed input. Hall-effect is a digital signal, cleaner and more reliable at higher rpms than a mag (magnetic) sensor.
Then use a standard 1990-98 Cup/RS flywheel (or 993TT dual mass if you want a more mild cruiser, totally quiet). If the MBE does not like the Bosch 60-2 flywheel tooth pattern, you can easily re-machine the 60-2 into a 12-tooth pattern -- which is exactly what many, many ECUs mathematically convert other timing patterns into, anyway.
The stock cylinders have no provision for this. If the heads are off, they can be machined to accept a 964/993 knock sensor assembly.
Thanks! That is a clean setup for distributorless conversions. We sell the plug wires, too. Other ignition options:
- distributorless with CDI: more spark energy, no dwell timing to program; but more cost for 3-channel CDI unit
- distributor with CDI: more spark energy, simple, re-use distributor + wires, just add CDI and new coil
We have found the stock 965 intercooler supports about 470rwhp (about approx. 525hp flywheel) before it begins to heat-soak.

The stock WG is fine, unless:
- it is damaged and needs remanufacturing -- then it is less expensive to replace with a 46mm Tial WG
- you go twin scroll -- then 2x small wastegates (Turbosmart, Tial -- we sell and use both)
If you keep the stock WG, replace the diaphragm and retain the soft spring if you're going to have the ECU control boost.
The solenoid valve used most (AEM, Greddy, Autronic, etc.) is a commercial pneumatic valve, <$50 (yes, we stock and sell those, too.)
Depending on the MBE's software, it may offer 2 boost levels, 3, or full boost trim.
- 2 position: we use a small OEM switch ($20) for a clean look, goes right in the dash in a factory cutout.
- 3 position or trim switch: source locally from electronics supplier, or AEM (12 Position Universal Trim Pot) or Motec
Anything CIS goes away. Check out Bruce's conversion: 1991 Porsche 965 Carrera 2 Turbo | Bruce (apologies for gallery thumbnails being fubar).
Basically, strip the manifold down to just the manifold and throttle body.
The only wiring that stays is the instrumet harness -- and even half that can be cut out.
The oxygen sensor system is deleted, plus it's wring harness and controller under the seat. The other control units under the seat are removed, too.
The EZ69 unit and wiring is removed.
The fuel accumulator and CIS lines is removed, leaving just the fuel supply and return lines leading into the engine compartment.

Chris, thank you so much for taking the time to pen such a comprehensive reply...I know (by reading the other threads) that you have very little time in-between other projects, so again, cheers ;)

The UK evenings are now pulling-in, despite the weather this weekend being better than our summer (!), autumn's started and the long winter nights aren't far away....now I have the perfect winter project!!...Just need to find a temporary home for the Westfield and I have a garage space free to get the engine out and converted....just need to finish a couple of mini-projects, including putting new Bilstein HD's & bushes on and a Centre Gravity geo setup applied, all scheduled for 2 wks time.

God I love this car!

Hi Spencer.
I had the engine that chris was refering to on my dyno and the numberes were all good car drives like a dream, the grate think is the low down boost well below 3000 if you have any questions just pm me. Neil;)

C2T EFI Conversion - prices
 

Spencer,
Glad to help. To help make your planning more concrete, here are some prices.
Some OEM parts can be purchased directly from our host, marked with an [a]: CHT, idle motor, FPR, etc.
Other parts are universal and you can source them yourself if you wish: braided lines, metric and AN hose ends, etc.
Other parts are exclusive to TurboKraft.

TK EFI Injector Block Package with Fuel Rails = $1,500.00
* Billet Aluminum EFI Injector Blocks -- specify port size (stock is 32mm)
* Cylinder Head Insulator Blocks & All Gaskets -- blocks port-matched to Intake & Heads
* Machined Aluminum Fuel Rails with -6ORB threaded ports (4 ports per rail)
* Billet Aluminum Fuel Rail Mounts

Siemens Deka Hig Flow Fuel Injectors, High impedance -- set of 6 = $450.00

Complete Rear Fuel System = $550.00
* Braided stainless lines from chassis to filter, fuel rails, FPR, return. Metric hose ends.
* Includes filter ($50 [a]) and Bosch fuel pressure regulator (FPR, $220 [a])

OEM TPS (Throttle Position Sensor), sealed 3-wire + Billet Aluminum Adapter = $182.00

Bosch CHT (Cylinder Head Temperature) Sensor = $115.00 [a]
+ Billet Aluminum Adapter $55.00

3bar MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) Sensor = $110.00

IAT (Intake Air Temperature) Sensor + Weld Bung = $60.00

Hall-Effect Sensor -- Crankshaft position (REF) = $100.00
+ Billet Sensor Adapter = $37.50

Hall-Effect Sensor -- Camshaft position (SYNCH) = $100.00
+ Billet Sensor Adapter = $37.50

Bosch Idle Stabilizer Motor, 3-wire, with mount = $225.00 [a]

Boost Control Solenoid Valve with Low/High cockpit switch = $70.00

M&W CDI, 3-channel = $710.00
(Optional: Bosch 3-channel Ignition Module -- inductive ignition = $205.00) [a]
Wasted Spark Ignition Coil, set of 3 = $195.00
Coil Pack Rack -- for 3x coils = $78.00
Set of Ignition Wires = $90
Billet Distributor Plug = $32.00

Optional: simple single plug CDI ignition: new MSD 6AL2 CDI unit + high energy coil = $425
...or M&W Pro-10 CDI + high output coil = $675
NOTE: This requires modifying and re-using the stock distributor

If the MBE can read a high speed NTC temperature sensor for the air temp, like the stock 965 sensor in the intercooler, that is ideal.
It is possible the MBE reads the 60-2 flywheel pattern natively, and accepts a mag sensor (stock 965 flywheel pickup), but we still recommend changing to a Hall-effect sensor. Even Motec's M600 can have high rpm timing errors reading 60-2 with a mag sensor.
If you choose to run inductive ignition, and the MBE has built-in ignitors (ignition amplifiers), you will not need the external 3-channel ignitor.

That was FW horsepower Chris, I quickly scanned in the dyno sheet as a jpg which should appear below:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1315224567.jpg

Look "normal" and healthy in your opinion?

I was led to believe that the system (headers, cat and silencer) was an H&S item, but looking at their site today, it looks pretty much nothing-like!!...and judging by some of the other "creative" statements by the dealer who sold me the car, H&S was quite possibly plucked from thin-air...certainly nothing in the paperwork file to substantiate it.

Some pics below, but now looking at a) the latest H&S offering, it's significantly different, and b) then Brians RarleyL8 systems, mine looks to have anything other than equal length primaries.

At this point, I wonder whether I'd be best to sell mine on and invest in some new, known headers?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1315242107.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1315242155.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1315242202.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1315242264.jpg

The "silencer" (that actually looks to only have a cat converter contained in it) sits transversely approx behind the license plate, above and siamesed with the pipes you can see underneath the rear valance....strange design, not one that Brian has seen before....f'ing loud though!

I'm pretty sure that the MBE systems do now have everything built-in - certainly the (older) MBE system I have on the Westfield just needs external Bosch amplifiers that then fire Magnetti Marelli coils, one per cylinder....but even that ECU is now 4-5yrs old and thus "old" in technology terms.

Have tried catching up with Steve (re MBE) today on the phone, but work keeps getting in the way! Hopefully tomorrow morning for a chat about the management side of this.

Is the swap to either a Cup/RS or 993TT flywheel mandatory, Chris?...Assuming the MBE can read and resolve a 60-2 tooth pattern, can I simply bin the magnetic sensor, install your adapter and Hall Effect sensor, then use this with my stock 965 F/W? (sorry, speaking "blind" until I get to have a look at this.

Although I would love the idea of swapping to an RS F/W (IIRC, you supplied this setup to a mate/colleague of mine, James Markham for his 965), I've read what seem to be horror stories of stalling engines because the management can't deal with the reduction in inertia....or is this nothing to worry about in this context?...and it's another>$1k on the bottom line, with new clutch etc.

Spreadsheet looking more populated! Thanks for the link to Bruce's build - very helpful.

Cheers
S

Yes, it does, fairly typical for that boost pressure.

Maybe that's an older version of their exhaust? Some of it looks similar to their current offering. If the headers become a problem in achieving performance, they're usually straight-forward to swap out.

Yes, we shipped that package to James, too.
I do not know if the MBE ECU can operate in sequential mode reading the 3 teeth of the 965 flywheel. I know AEM doesn't like it -- it like 12 signals per engine cycle, not just 6. Check with Steve at MBE about this.
Otherwise, I would not hesitate at all running the Cup flywheel. Yes, you have to add revs to pull away from a stop, but to ask James about this and he'll tell you it's a non-issue. He told me he finds the car loads easier to drive and shift with the lighter flywheel. You do hear some minor gearbox noise in neutral with the pedal out, however, but may not hear it over your current exhaust. ;-)

We only ever had 1 car (1995 993 converted to Twin Turbo) that had a stalling issue with the lightweight flywheel. We simply took an OEM approach and connected a vehicle speed sensor to the ECU. Whenever the vehicle was in motion (V>0) with no throttle -- like coasting up to a traffic light -- it settled to a high idle of 1,100rpm. When V=0, idle slides down to whatever you set it to (we had it at 850rpm, no problems). Most modern ECUs have a similar function available.

Interesting...thanks Neil. Is your dyno cell all up and running now?

Hi Guys,

Lots of progress this last few weeks - been steadily getting on with removing the engine and gearbox; a little nerve-wracking for the first time but all straightforward. As somebody said in another thread, it's not a difficult job, but it is a big one!

I'll post some pics shortly once I've sorted some out.

Because it is a major chunk of time and effort, I'm now debating (as many do!!) whether to:

a) do nothing apart from clean it and "just" convert to EFI.
b) or to do a top-end rebuild; not been able to do a leak down test, my new tester looks to be faulty (gauge not zeroing) and I can't get hold of the supplying company....but there are signs of oil weeping from rocker seals, slight weeping of oil down the exhaust valve guides and between heads/cam housings.
c) do a full teardown.

The full teardown appeals in so much that it's then a good opportunity to fit not only ARP head studs, but also ARP rod bolts, for future safety and tuning. Engine has 84-85k miles, so is closer to needing a refresh than not needing one. I guess?

I'm running some numbers to investigate likely costs of this - it wasn't in the original plan - but looking into gasket and seals plus the items you would replace, one of the local independent Porsche parts companies can supply a kit of the following parts:

Rod Bearing Set (Standard)
Main Bearing Set (Standard)
Piston Ring Sets
Valve Guides (Exhaust)
Valve Guides (Intake)
Sumps Gasket Set (Lower)
Head Gasket Set (Upper)
Chain Rail - Right Straight
Chain Rail - Left Straight
Chain Rail - Curved
Timing Chains - Endless
Intermediate Shaft Bearings - Large
Intermediate Shaft Bearings - Small

My question is whether you guys would go for "OEM" items for the above? The supplier clearly states they are, but the same parts from my local Porsche dealer is almost $1,600 more expensive, (£1,200 vs £2,100)...not insignificant or even close.

Is this a case of "avoid at all costs" or does it depend?....Thoughts?

Cheers
Spencer.

Which EFI convertion is the most bolt on and the most easy way to do yourself?

TurboKraft. The intake(911 Carrera INT Man)on your web page what have you treated the aluminum intake with?

That brings back fond memories of my brick, rusted together and whistling like a kazoo through the valve guide. Switching to a Tial saved about 20 lb too :p

I may well be switching to a pair of Tials; a very good friend of mine may be giving (yes, giving!) me his GT35R, currently fitted to his Supra...he's about to switch to either a bigger Garrett or a BW as part of his quest for ca.650+ hp....it's a "thank you" for getting him a job where I work ;) Would want to get it rebuilt for freshness, but that would really step the project "up"!

Ok, update time….sitting here on holiday, the perfect time to start updating the thread with progress.

Firstly here’s some “along the way” pics, including the mandatory empty-engine-bay shot!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/P1010582.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/P1010584.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/P1010586.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/P1010592.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/P1010597.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/P1010608.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/P1010644.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/P1010664.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/P1010682.jpg

Almost 20 years of grime and some oil weeps along the way – the usual mess that everyone encounters, I’m sure.

It’s actually taken quite a while to get to the stage I’m at – I know that the engine/box can be dropped out in half a day by those that do this day-in/day-out, probably a days work for those that have done it at least once before. I deliberately took my time (after all, this is the fun bit for me, don’t want to rush through it and complete it ASAP), photographing as much as I could before dismantling, bagging everything and scrawling notes. If it was a bad day at work, then frankly, I left it well alone – too much to go wrong if working without a clear head.

So far, extremely pleased I bought some items in preparation:

The engine stand you see here is a second one that I have, Sealey and 900kgs capable. I also have one with a “T” layout leg arrangement, fine for my inline “4” Westfield engine – a lot lighter and is never on the stand fully dressed, but not robust enough for the full dressed 911 turbo lump. That’s going to be eBay’d at some point – this 900kg monster is going to be challenging to store when done, lol!

The engine lift bar, sold by our hosts proved very useful – nice and simple, chains are the right length, etc. The only comment that I have fed back to Pelican is that the supplied engine mount “eyes” that you can use to lift the chassis up with, are not suitable for the later cars; certainly not a 964, as the mounting bolts are further apart than the eyes. I only found this out once fully committed to removing the engine at 1.00am (it wasn’t described in the online catalogue, but may well now be fixed after my feedback). Thankfully, I was able to get away with just using 1 bolt per mount, then being very careful whilst hoisting the car up, keeping a couple of axle stands underneath, adjusting one hole at a time.

The full basket style engine carrier yoke. I did debate whether I could get by with just using the supplied mounts that came with the stand along with the half-ring available from our hosts…but decided to spend the extra few $$’s and have the SIR tools version (again from Pelican). Glad I did, very sturdy.

In addition to this, despite having acquired over 20yrs what I consider to be a nice tool set, there have been numerous trips to the local tool shop and many a late night eBay purchase, to get the stuff I’ve never needed before, not least of which my cam removal tool from a chap in Canada!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/P1010599.jpg

As you can see in the pics, the rear tinware is completely shagged, so that needs replacing (apparently vital for the intercooler to function, despite somebody tell me to just leave it off!)

Okay, so onto the project itself.

When I originally started, this was going to be a fairly straightforward CIS -> EFI swapout. Probably even possible with the engine insitu. However, I decided to get everything out for a look/see, and determine if a top-end or full rebuild was necessary.

As you can see above, I did all that. Ordered a leakdown tester that broke on first use (dial gauge won’t zero back down), the vendor looks to have gone out of business, and so I treated this as an omen.

Full rebuild it is!! Never somebody to do things by halves, the engine had done 84k miles and although it dyno’d well enough, I thought it a good idea to work from a fresh and known platform….plus, it’s all part of the education and so far, very rewarding. To do a top-end was ok, but without inspecting the bottom end, it could be that in 30k miles time, I need to then do it all again for the bottom.

So, again, it’s taken a number of weeks to tear the engine down – could have gone at it like a bull in a china shop, but wanted to be comfortable in my own mind that everything was inventorised.

Oh, and did I mention the weeks of constant research, conversations and pondering? And the spreadsheet from hell? No? Okay….

Firstly, big thanks must go out to Chris “TurboKraft” Carroll….many a chat in the wee small hours (UK time) to cover off ideas, pros/cons, etc. Last week, I finally (Chris must be thinking…) got the kit I need ordered, which should arrive some time early Jan. Hopefully Chris will remember to pack in some Arizona weather for us poor sods in the UK!

Jason @ Pelican has been great too, for the more run-of-the-mill shopping list for gasket kits, HW kits, sundry bolts and rebuild replacement items. He’s been very patient with a moving target list of requirements!

My pal Steve @ SBD Motorsport – he’s doing the mapping work, and supplying the ECU/loom plus a few experimental bits he wants to try out on my car…nothing too radical but stuff the ECU can manage and would be a shame not to play with.

Certainly between Chris and Steve, I know we’re going to get a superbly performing build.

Gearbox all nice and clean again - I've also just bought some Dinitrol (clear rather than the horrid brown waxy stuff the factory uses). I'll apply this when I get a spare few moments:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1324.jpg

Now, we all know it’s a dangerous thing to eBay late at night. After a beer. I did, and found a pair of 964 cams….the only pair listed…..5 miles from where I live! Hah, another omen! They’d done 20k miles less than my 930 cams, so I went along and had a look; in short, they’re in great condition, so were bought. The chap selling is also a complete aircooled enthusiast, so a nice contact to have for the summer blasts out. I also found that Halfords (nationwide chain of auto and bicycle retailers) also had very good deals going on their roller bearing tool chests...[cough]...erm....I treated myself to house the new tools!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1329.jpg

Another UK Pelicanite, Chris ("TheRevDay"), then contacted me out of the blue, offering me his Carrera intake manifold assy for a very reasonable price. You may have seen his unfortunate thread where his lovely 930 went up in flames on the side of the motorway? A really great guy, and feel completely gutted for him. He no longer needed it, as clearly his project has now changed. So, a midnight run back from Southampton, and I now had the genesis for a completely different project in my grubby mits!! Yeah, **thanks** Chris!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1359.jpg

The next weekend continued with me mocking-up the intercooler position with the 930 intake vs the Carrera unit…blocks of wood and lots of measurements to ensure I would mount it in the same place. Whilst discussing with Chris Carroll, I did get nervous about rotating the throttle body, and then trying to get the linkage to work nicely. At this point I was erring on the side of retaining the 930 intake, using Chris's injector bodies and keeping the intake in the loft for a future “phase 2” project. RC was very keen for me to use it; he far prefers the free-er flowing design, but then he’s used to the big number bhp projects….then I chatted it through with Steve; one thing he wanted to play with is fly-by-wire throttle controlled by the MBE management….linkage problem potentially gone.

Now, this may seem a little bleeding-edge and contrary to what I stated in post #1, but it does bring benefits:

1) I no longer need an idle control motor
2) No throttle potentiometer needed
3) No linkage fabrication
4) The ECU can now look after scenarios where, for example, you have the wrong gear exiting a corner – no engine bogging down, spluttering and coughing, the eThrottle and ECU will now manage this, delivering only what it deems possible
5) Traction control can use this in conjunction with spark cut (I believe)

Another late night chat with Chris Carroll and a nugget of an idea – use a late 996 or 997 eThrottle housing. I sourced a secondhand 997 Carrera one from a UK based breakers for £100 incl carriage. You honestly can’t tell the unit from brand new; no yellowing or gunk, immaculate. Again, didn’t want to buy brand new for what is an experimental piece of work. The unit bolts directly to the Carrera intake, 70mm between mounting centres, although I’ll need to either machine the OD to fit in the intercooler outlet or fabricate something for a larger interface on the IC outlet (not by much I don’t think – not measured it yet).

If the eThrottle doesn't work out, then it's not the end of the world. Swap out the eThrottle housing for the Carrera one, some fabrication of a linkage and possible re-use of the 3-wire idle control valve that came as part of the Carrera intake assy.

Echoing what Tom “Odyssey” said many times in his 2010 thread, Chris C has been nothing other than completely honest – there’s no doubt that he did himself out of business with some of the recommendations, but the upshot of that is that it’s free’d up money from buying “X” to then spend on “Y”….so, despite me potentially having the offer of a free Garrett GT35R from a friend, I’ve opted to buy a new unit from Chris that will be exactly what I need from the get go, not to mess around modifying the secondhand one. The “free” one was a 0.70 A/R, which works well on the Mk4 Supra its currently fitted to, due to the boost those guys are running (1.6 and 1.8bar in my friends case, dyno’d last week at 728fw bhp), but not ideal for us aircooled guys running relatively low revs and boost pressures. It also didn’t have a divided tubine inlet, so by the time all that’s replaced, it completely makes sense to buy a new one that’s fit for purpose.

Also on the shopping list from TK is an RS/Cup single mass flywheel and new clutch; this has the 60-2 tooth funtion we need for crank position timing. Didn’t want to try and interpolate timing using the existing DM FW’s fewer indexing marks, that would contradict everything I’m looking to achieve w.r.t. accuracy. The >20lbs weight saving is not to be sniffed at either! A cam position sender (also hall effect) will be used in conjunction with the new HE crank sensor.

A pair of Tial wastegates for the divided input on the GT35R are also being suplied by Chris – this will allow me to of course get rid of the stock WG (save weight) but crucially allow me to now remove the LHS exhaust valve cover; I couldn’t do this before with the H&S system, as the WG input pipe didn’t allow the cover to clear the studs, so the whole exh system had to be removed before valve gaps can be checked…a complete PITA and something I’ll encounter at the first valve gap check/adjunstment in 1000 miles time.

A Tial diverter (dump) valve is going to be used – seems easier to accommodate one larger unit than 2 x OE valves.

ARP headstuds and rod bolts are being fitted, along with RSR rocker seals (the rocker shafts have been leaking, it appears). A TK cylinder head temp mount/sensor will be mounted at the back of #3.

The other thing we’re using are Denso coil-on-plug coils….I’ve been using Magnetti Marelli C-O-P’s on my Westfield since 1995, so am a big fan of keeping everything simple; distributorless and in the case of the MBE 9A9 ECU I’m using, the amp’s are all built in to the unit, so a very simple wiring loom. The loom will be made to be able to accommodate 12 plugs in the future (see below), without hacking it about (ie modular plug-in sub-loom using a MIL spec connector, probably)

Finally, we’re going to have 2 dials in the cabin, one for variable boost settings, the other for traction control. Once this is catered for, by default we’ll be able to enable launch control, although I’m not planning on using this unless I get persuaded to do a ¼ mile run somewhere. It’s a great function for the hillclimb and sprint community, and of course the rally/race guys, but will take it’s toll on the drivetrain, so won’t use it for traffic light GP’s!

We may try and get the function built into the MBE management to be able to control boost delivery based upon selected gears, eg, perhaps only permitting 0.4bar boost in 1st gear, maybe 0.6bar in 2nd, and so on. Potentially a nice feature to protect drivetrains.

Now onto the heads; this work will involve opening the inlets and matching them to the intake manifold. Depending on the tightness of fit, Richard @ CTR Developments will probably dowel the intake as well. We’re “going native” on the intake port diameters rather than using adapters. Per Chris’s advice, bigger just seems to work better on these engines.

After much deliberation, and seeing the consequences of a dropped valve in an engine Richard’s working on for another Pelicanite, I dare not replace the valves….of course, nothing can cater for pure bad luck, but if I do everything I can to mitigate it, then…..

Richard will be looking after the head build for me; upon closer inspection, it’s clear that the valves have not been running concentrically relative to the valve seats; there’s an uneven tell-tale on the seats. The seat edges on the valves themselves are also slightly concave, basically it reinforced my thoughts to replace all valves. The inlets stems are nice and tight still, the exhaust valves do have a small amount of play but nothing that you wouldn’t expect after 84k miles.

Interestingly, the very first valve retainer he picked up that I had removed, he found what looked to be either the start of a crack in the same place they always go, or a manufacturing defect – whatever, to my and his eyes, this wasn’t a good thing (not that I was going to reuse old retainers, but I had contemplated whether new stock pressed steel items were “good enough”). No point in magnafluxing to investigate, they’re bin fodder anyhow. I may well have had a lucky escape.

Unfortunately (for my wallet) “while-we’re-at-it-itis” has struck….Could I have sourced all the head parts independently and built up the heads once Richard had machined them and replaced the valve guides? Yeah, of course….but I feel far happier offloading that piece of work to him, where everything he does and uses is a known quantity, proven on the race track many many times over and crucially it all works together. Again, I kinda feel it’s all within the spirit of not bleeding information from folk then going elsewhere to buy it; it would be a bit “2-fingered” to source my own bits when I’m asking Richard to look after the head work.

So, the heads will have:
• Intake ports opened to approx 41.5mm & matched to the intake manifold.
• Fitted with Schrick valves; the intakes are going to be larger (ETA: pretty sure we'll be using 52mm vs the stock 49mm items)
• Schrick titanium valve retainers
• Schrick springs
• New valve guides
• Twin plugged (plus valve covers machined)
• The old air injector holes will be bunged, welded and flowed on the inside (got to be careful with just welding them up without bungs – potential to overheat the heads and lose the factory heat treatment, as it’s pretty close to the edge of the combustion chamber)
• Head>Cylinders re-faced and levelled to ensure flatness for cam carrier/cam.
• Heads lapped to the cylinders
• Vapour blasted
• Valve gear assembled and set-up ready for the 964 cams
• The 964 LH cam is also being modified to drive the turbo oil scavenge pump

Of course, there’s no such thing as a guarantee with engine building, but this seems to be the closest I can reasonably get to a known, proven and well put together set of heads….for my abilities/experience at least! Surprisingly, the Schrick items don’t work out that much more expensive than buying new stock OE hardware from my local Porsche dealer.

The cylinders all measured up great using a very nice (and presumably expensive!) set of Mitutoyo bore gauges and digital Mitutoyo micrometer, at my mate Steves place. Waynes book states Factory specs of 97.0mm +0.1mm tolerance. I haven’t got as far as transcribing my scribbled findings down into a spreadsheet yet, but the largest dimension we saw was (iirc) 97.023mm across one of the axis (I measured both at the bottom just above lowest ring witness mark, and 30mm from the top, in X and Y axis)…so good news, no cheque to Mr Mahle just yet!

I haven’t yet check ring lands in fairness, but should be ok given the general condition of everything else

The next step for me, once back from holiday, is to crack open the crank case. I seem to have been talking about this for weeks – Christmas shopping and work commitments all conspiring against me. The advice I’ve been given is to separate the halves before attempting the head stud removal, as it’s far easier to get the ally castings sufficiently hot when you haven’t got 2 of them heat sinking for each other, plus all the internals like crank and intermediate shaft assy also dispersing the heat.

If I were removing all the outer studs, I could clamp the crank case halves to the bench, but as I’m not planning on this, what I may do is:

a) Keep the engine on the engine stand
b) split the case open
c) remove internals
d) build up a small stack of steel and fibre washers on the outer case studs
e) re-assemble the two halves but of course now they’d be spaced/separated by washers to prevent a lot of the heat transfer
f) apply heat from butane plumbing torch (not oxy-acetelene)
g) take brave pill
h) cross fingers
i) undo the head studs

This approach make sense?

Spenny
This is just a terrific thread, and it keeps getting better. Very clear and entertaining, a damn good read. Glad you're working with Chris. He's a major talent and a veritable fountain of 930 knowledge. Wish I had your guts and brains when it comes to wrenching (or should I say "spannering"?) Best of luck!
Tom

+1.
This is a great read.
Nice work, Spenny

Cheers Tom, Vas, glad you're enjoying the read.

Tom - I don't know about the brains/guts compliment (but thank you) - misplaced bravery a lot of the time!!

Hoping that in the fullness of time, those that also choose to undertake such conversions can search out this thread in the future and benefit from the odd bit of information here-and-there, as I've done on so many other threads here....Tom, I think I've "virtually" worn out your thread with the virtual thumbing back and forth, scavenging for photos.

That's what I'm finding really rewarding; in the beginning reading your Odyssey thread just left me reeling, often thinking "Oh my God!!"....everything was new, nothing was familiar, head was spinning. Now, when I read, re-read, re-re-read all the bookmarked threads, Waynes book, Bruce Andersons bible, etc, stuff makes a lot more sense, to the point where I can now feel far more familiar and confident with what I'm doing.....I can even dip a toe into the Engine Rebuilding forum and identify random engine parts!!

BTW....it's sad when your vacation reading list includes A.Graham Bells "Forced Induction Performance Tuning" ...anorak on, zip fully zipped-up. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...leys/silly.gif

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I am half way around the world doing the same. :confused:

Lol...nah, I'm loving this....in Madeira at my folks place at the moment, nothing to do other than read, drink beer, go for a wander and keep hacking the tech to ensure I continue to get a network connection on the local mobile carrier ;)

Ahhh, now I need to open a beer. :)

Cheers. :)

Ok, more updates.

Got back home on Saturday, having pondered the head stud removal the whole time I was away! Went straight into the garage to start the case separation. Managed not to fall foul of the hidden nut inside the timing chain housing (thanks for the reminder Chris!).

The case came apart relatively simply - prob no more than 5-10 mins of gentle tapping with the hide/copper "persuader".

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1439.jpg

A short while later, the crank, intermediate shaft and oil pump were out and on the bench.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1440.jpg

Dug around in the washer box, found 8 steel plain washers, used them evenly around the perimeter of the RH case and placed the LH half back in place...now separated by about 1mm and absent of any internals, the heat sink issue should be greatly reduced. I'd hoped to find some fibre washers to isolate the heat even more, but not many hardware stores open in this sleepy little town on New Years eve @ 11pm! Gently nipped up the case halves to secure.

At this point, whilst all going rather well, decided to come back afresh in the morning to have a go at removing the head studs, conscious that once you start heating the case, you don't want to break off and lose that heat.

I'm going to do a separate writeup on my experience of this, in the Engine forum, simply for those guys in the future that want to search for another method; I hadn't seen this method before, but definitely worked out well for me.

So, having briefly had a quick attempt to remove a head stud before the Xmas break, whilst the case was full together and full of crank etc, I'd applied heat with my butane torch, probably for 5mins....but this was nowhere near enough. Predictably, I tried my newly borrowed stud extractor on one of them and got huge amounts of torsional twisting. At this point, I decided to put everything down, go wrap some presents and enjoy Christmas with my daughter, folks and brother.

Now, with the case separated, gutted and re-assembled with an air gap, armed with 3 large cans of butane (!!), fresh from a holiday and good nights kip, I was fighting-fit, lol!

This time, I gave it about 10mins of gentle heat, all around the stud housing but mainly in the spigot ID. When I tried to remove one from #2 cylinder, my heart sank when I saw the shank twisting, assuming it was just more torsional twist. Then I noticed that it felt smooth in movement...."hang on....this bugger's turning properly....ooh, wait....it's only coming out!!!!...wa-hey!!"

I cannot tell you the relief and jubilation!!! Hmm, 1 down, 23 to go.

Anyways, they all did come out and no snappages...I even got into a bit of a rhythm, but was very careful not to try and get cocky and shortcut anything....plenty of time, plenty of heat and lots of patience. And a cup of tea between the two case halves.

The air gap between the case halves worked perfectly; by the time I got the the 10/11/12th stud, the case was very warm indeed (as was the removal tool), certainly too hot to touch comfortably without gloves....the bottom case half was still cold...not warm or even cool, but cold. Bingo.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1471.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1470.jpg

As you can see, the case halves were filthy.

Waynes book talks about spending at least 3-4 hours cleaning them...I tell you, I spent about 4 hours just doing a preliminary clean in my paraffin tray, getting the gunge off.

I then took them up to my mate Steves place and spent another 6-7 hours cleaning them in his parts washer tank. 11 hours!! Very pleased I did though, they're now looking very nice (will take some pics tomorrow and upload).

The internals weren't caked in cruddy scorched oil, just a light golden colour staining.

The bearings and journals look in excellent condition, very pleased with that; a few wear marks on the shells but then you'd expect that after 84k miles. No pickup or abnormal wear on them, as you can see....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1454.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1453.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1443.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1444.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1446.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1447.jpg

Great job!
Is that wear on the large timing gear, or just a reflection?

I've measured the crank journals and intermediate shaft journals. All good news, everything's in spec:

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

While I'm at it, here are the cylinder measurements:

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

Crankshaft is all cleaned up, as well as the rods, through bolts and the camshaft that I still have (the other one's away being modified to drive the oil scavenge pump).

I decided not to strip down the oil pump; looking carefully at the teeth through the inlet/outlet holes, they look in great shape too, so have left "well alone". What I did do, was to run the hose in the cleaning tank into the oil inlet hole and leave it flowing fluid for an hour or so to dissolve and flush through any sludge.

All's well and now just waiting for the rebuild kit to be delivered...which according to USPS tracking service, looks like it's now cleared UK Customs, so possibly tomorrow!

Think it's just reflection Chris...running my finger nail over the teeth, there's no discernable wear. I got Steve and Craig @ SB Development to cast their far more experienced eyes over everything while I was cleaning it - they couldn't believe the condition of everything...to which they then muttered about the quality of German engineering whilst busying themselves with other things, :D


Update: Chris - Have had another look at the inter shaft drive assy this evening; nope that was definitely a reflection (assuming you're referring to the aluminium timing gear?) The only slight marking, and again, it's nothing discernible to the fingernail, more a witness mark, are those diagonal marks you can see, and even they more or less polished out when I got some rag and brake cleaner on it.

Ah hell...just watching the Wildcard Weekend....having said to Chris Carroll that I was no Stealers fan (Dolphins), it kind of made sense to support them through the playoffs as my daughter was born on Super Bowl Sunday in 2006 where the Stealers won....oh well, they won't be repeating it again this year!

Anyway, as promised in the previous update, here are some pics of the crankcase halves. This is what >11hrs of cleaning gets you....plus another few hours this evening carefully getting rid of some oxidation with wire brushes and small electrical screwdrivers. Fantastic therapy for my OCD :D ....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1493.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1494.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1496.jpg

Question: I thought it a good idea to chase out any crap and dried out thread lock from the M10 head stud threads; I tried one, and have to say I was a little concerned with the amount of ally material it brought out....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t/IMG_1492.jpg

This amount of swarf was present on all 4 flutes....Is this "usual" for factory castings?

I cleaned up one of the old dilavar studs (only with a wire brush and a pick, not by running a die down it) and screwed it in; there was a little wobble from the newly cleaned out thread and could be run all the way in using only fingers. Trying the same stud in a non-clean hole, it was definitely tight, and could only screw in a few turns by hand.

I measured the tap using a micrometer; max 10.08mm about 2/3rds the way up.

What do the collective think? Clean all head stud threads, which I'd ideally like to do?

TIA,
S

There are thread cutting taps, and there are thread chasing taps. You need the latter.
Cutting threads can remove more material, while chasing taps (with a liberal amount of fluid) do not remove additional material.
Cleaning the head studs' threads with a wire wheel is advisable.

Thanks Chris, have to confess I wasn't aware of only a chasing tap, only the 3 x "stock" taps; first/second and final (or bottoming) tap.

Do you reckon if I were to Dremel a flute into one of the old Dilavar studs, that would be ok?

Glad I didn't do the whole lot last night with the tap I have....do you reckon the one that is done will be ok?

For what it's worth, when the stud is screwed down, even finger tight, to the bottom, it's rock-solid tight.

While its fully disassembled, you might want to invest in a nice shave and align-bore of the case halves. We do them to every case that comes apart with any time/heat on it. Barrel shims are provided to compensate for the required amount of material removed. Gives you that perfect surface to start with and minimizes the possibility of any oil leakages.

If you plan on big HP, shuffle-pinning the halves would be good too.

As far as the EFI system, we have tuned lots of Noble M12 and M400's that came spec'd from Noble with MBE- its a pretty good system that, if optioned right, works great.