Well, today was the day! Get the motor back in the car and see if she will actually start!
Here are a couple of "finished" pics of the motor on the engine stand last night with the RSR heater block-off and wire separators mounted:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1100742747.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1100742794.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1100742820.jpg
Here is Steve's beautiful dual coil bracket that he makes, anodized red in this case. Scroll down for pics of it installed in the engine compartment:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1100742887.jpg
I transported the motor from Steve's shop back to Vision Motorsports for the install, a distance of about 1/2 mile. Here are some selected pics from today:
Wiring the Andial Signal Splitter with the DME unit:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1100743010.jpg
Motor and trans on the jack getting ready to install:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1100743087.jpg
Engine compartment detailed and ready to accept the motor:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1100743174.jpg
Motor and trans installed!
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1100743253.jpg
Everything connected & double checked just prior to start-up:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1100743380.jpg
I added 10 quarts of oil while Vision tech Mike Olsen reconnected the battery and hooked up the charger. Mike pulled the DME relay out and with one final check it was time to crank her over to get some oil pressure. Cranked for 20-30 seconds while oil pressure built up and now it was time to do it for real!
With the DME relay connected, Mike cranked her over for about 5-10 seconds and the motor coughed, sputtered, smoked and died. Mike turned the key again and almost instantaneously the motor roared to life!
At approximately 4:15 p.m., a rebuilt 3.5L twin-plug motor entered the world. She sounds sweet, gave me goose bumps. Actually a heck of alot quieter then I thought with headers and a dual out muffler, it's not much different then the prior set-up.
Mike immediately set the rpm for 2,000 rpm and left it there for 5-10 minutes while I hooted and hollered around the shop. Then he went to 3,000 rpm for another 5-10 minutes. Then sup to 4,000 rpm for another 5-10 minutes. She was purring like a kitten. I checked up top for fuel line leaks (none) and then took a look underneath for oil leaks with a flashlight and couldn't find anything. Waited till the oil thermostat opened up and then topped up the oil with another 2.5 quarts when the motor finally came back down to idle.
Steve came over and the 4 of us (Steve, Mike, Dwain and myself) had a couple of beers while the motor ran at varying rpm's. While I was at the back of the car playing with the throttle, one of the Vision guys snuck undereath of the car from the front with an oil can and sprayed a bunch of oil at my feet and then yelled to shut it off 'cause she's pissing like a sieve. I probably would have bought it if it wasn't the oldest trick in the book, hell I did it to people while at Andial.
Everything just needs to be tidied up a bit tomorrow (seat reinstalled, clean up the wiring, install the rear swaybar, etc) and will drive the car for the first time tomorrow and probably bring it home Friday afternoon.
Ralph