Ten Pounds of Shit in a Five Pound Bag - Twin Turbo LS3/DCT Daily Driver

[Exidous]

The MaxxECU Race has one wideband and eight EGTs built in. The Pro has two wideband and 12 EGTs. Best ECU bang for the buck hands down.

[shainiac]

I've been slowly picking away at small items on my list.
I'm having issues with my AHP welder and waiting on parts, so I had a friend weld aluminum 90s onto the compressor outlets and I painted them VHT wrinkle black.
The passenger side turbo is now final-installed with gaskets and bolts torqued down. Such a dumb little thing but feels like a massive box checked off my list lol.
I'm waiting to finish the EPAS steering setup before I install the D/S turbo, since it's impossible to access the rack u-joints with the turbo installed.

For the EPAS, all the wires are ran and everything fits under the dash pretty well. I made a last minute decision to try adding a SRS clockspring from a '91 FC convertible. As far as I can tell, that's the "easiest" way to pass multiple wires through the column to the steering wheel. The coil cord I'd been using for the paddles and steering wheel buttons was annoying and would snag sometimes. Now there will be no wires visible. I didn't realize that the SRS cars have a different column than the non-airbag cars. I had to cut off the non-airbag turn signal canceler bracket and I'm 3D printing a new bracket that'll clamp onto the column and mount the clock spring. I also had to modify the Momo hub to fit the clockspring. The 91 FC clock spring has a L/R canceler output that hopefully I can connect to the my body wiring and retain the turn signal cancel function. Not sure what to do with the horn yet.

The clock spring only has 3 pass-through wires, which would be enough for just paddles. A company called CANchecked makes a product called the CFE18, which is a 29x27mm PCB with 9 analog and 8 digital inputs that can be sent over CANbus. It's only $110 and works with my ECU. The plan is to mount that behind the horn button and wire all of my switches and paddles to it. I may make a new paddle hub and add more buttons for stuff like cruise control. With 3 wires on the clock spring, I can run 12V, CanH and CanL, and ground the PCB through the column. Hopefully that works.

https://www.canchecked.de/cfe18-can-switch-board/

Once I get the column back in the car, I can reattach the steering shaft and install the D/S turbo and begin reassembly! At this point the car has been apart for 9 months, but it feels like way more.

[shainiac]

Turbo kit is officially in the car! I got the steering setup knocked out so I was finally able to bolt in the driver’s side turbo kit and torqe everything down.
With the turbo blanket installed, the fitment is TIGHT just about everywhere. The blanket hits the block and the steering rack. I damn near had to break out the Crisco to get it installed.
The blanket touching the block I’m not concerned with, but touching the rack may cause me issues as the block rocks on the engine mounts. But there’s about an inch of insulation in the blanket. May be no issue.

Next step is the prime the oil system and check for leaks. Then final assembly!
I still have some wiring to do. I added an LS9 MAP sensor, but reused my turbo speed sensor wiring. This is a digital input, not analog, so I have to re-pin it at the ECU.
I also need to run the thermocouple wires from the ECU to the engine bay and terminate all of the EGT probes, since they’re way too long.
You can see in the 4th photo where I drill and tapped the factory heatshield bolts on the manifolds to add the EGTs. I dunno if I’d do that again, since drilling and tapping heat cycled stainless was a giant pain.

[digitalsolo]

Congrats on the progress.   I still dig the "OEM" look of the tight packaging.

[shainiac]

Congrats on the progress.   I still dig the "OEM" look of the tight packaging.

Thanks! I'm happy too, as long as they don't leak oil!

[shainiac]

I got the oil system primed last night. This is the 3rd engine and I've primed and countless transmission and diff fills with this setup. It's a $50 Amazon diaphragm pump, an Earl's 40 micron fuel filter, some used fittings and a Milwaukee 12V battery. I ran 5qt through it and that was enough to get oil coming out of the pushrods. The best part? No leaks! I even borescoped the downpipes and checked to see if the turbines were seeping any oil, but nothing. HOPEFULLY, that means I won't have any turbo smoke once up and running.

Now to start putting everything back together!

Video of oil primer:
https://i.imgur.com/rXBB2Er.mp4

[Cobranut]

Great idea.
I have a similar setup with a large spin-on fuel filter that I use to filter used oil before blending it with the diesel fuel I use in all my offroad and diesel vehicles.  Much better than letting it go to waste.
I'll have to flush it and install a new filter so I can use it to prime my race-car motor before it's first start.

[shainiac]

I think the idea of the spin on filter. I had a dinky Earl's fuel filter from 10 years ago that I threw on it to keep any metal from leaving the Amazon Chinese pump lol.
My 5.3 had a DOD pump and relief spring. It'd make 100psi on the primer lol.

I have a similar spin-on filter for my fuel system. I think it's a 10 micron Goldenrod. It's been awesome. The inside of my tank looks brand new. I'm not sure how my little pump would push 30w oil through 10 micron, though.

[Cobranut]

I think the idea of the spin on filter. I had a dinky Earl's fuel filter from 10 years ago that I threw on it to keep any metal from leaving the Amazon Chinese pump lol.
My 5.3 had a DOD pump and relief spring. It'd make 100psi on the primer lol.

I have a similar spin-on filter for my fuel system. I think it's a 10 micron Goldenrod. It's been awesome. The inside of my tank looks brand new. I'm not sure how my little pump would push 30w oil through 10 micron, though.

That is a concern, and it may make my idea unfeasible.
It flows fairly well with used oil, mostly 5w30 or 15w40, but that's with no back-pressure, just flowing from one 5 gallon can to another.

[shainiac]

                     
IT'S ALIVE



Well, sort of.

Video:
https://i.imgur.com/yhrSETT.mp4

The engine fired right up yesterday, but with a host of issues. The actual engine itself seems healthy.

Issue #1 was no 12V. Well, it had 12V at the battery, but the instant I turned the cutoff switch to ON, it popped my 250A Megafuse.
I have a House of Payne mini-starter (awesome unit) and it's indexable. It has 3 positions that the starter/solenoid can be installed relative to the mounting boss.
I originally had it mounted in the middle position because that's the only way physically install it with my old downpipes. When i made my new downpipes, I clocked the starter in the most vertical position, giving me more downpipe clearance. WELL, apparently that pushes the starter 2AWG feed cable into the side of the block. Oops. Reclocked to the middle position and no more shorting and it still clears the downpipe.

Issue #2 was the new SFI flexplate hitting the DCT adapter. The actual flexplate cleared fine, but the stupid welds on the ring gear touched the adapter plate. It sounded AWFUL.
The 8# flex plate vs the 25# flywheel was wild, though. Thing rev'd like a sport bike. I put my old flywheel back on and all is good.

Issue #3 is massive coolant leaks. The VS Racing ball bearing turbos are water cooled and come with 4 plugs pre-installed. To run water cooling, you remove 2 plugs, install your fittings of choice, and all is good. Well, apparently they don't install any thread sealant, o-rings, or crush washers, even though the fittings are torqued down. All 4 of the factory-installed plugs piss coolant once the system is up to pressure. Super annoying. I think the passenger-side plugs I can access with the turbo/manifold installed. The driver-side is stuffed up against the block. I'm definitely going to have to remove that whole manifold, which is a PITA. Oh well. Hopefully I can drive the car by next weekend. There are a few small things to clean up still. I haven't ran wires for the thermocouples, but that's not a priority. The under-dash wiring for the EPAS isn't finished, but close. And I have to re-install the tie-rods and align the car. I'm sure the DCT controller isn't going to be happy with an entirely new engine also, so I'll likely have to redo adaptations and some street tuning.

[spacevomit]

If you pop the fuse again, I would consider replacing it with a fusible link, which is basically just a short length of undersized wire with terminals (cheap).

[digitalsolo]

Congrats on the progress!

I'm also in the "redid the car and now I have 10 things to fix" stage.  It's fun and frustrating at the same time.  Hah

[shainiac]

I think the Megafuse is pretty similar to a fusible link. It's essentially a copper strap with 2 bolt holes and a narrow cross section in the middle. They're $5 at Advance Auto and pretty available. I'm glad I added the fuse last year, because it popped the 250A fuse instantly. That would have caused a mess if it melted a bunch of 0AWG cable under the carpet and trim lol.

Thanks Blake. Somehow having a laundry list of new crap to do feels better with a running engine!

I forgot to mention, the bypass muffler works great. I hadn't ran the line from the solenoid yet, but I hooked it up to shop air and the valve knocks close to half the noise from the rear of the car. I'm not sure if that'll translate to less drone in the cabin, but I'm sure my wife will be happy when I leave the garage early in the morning.

[kinger]

Going to be a ripper!!!  The end is near, my mantra when I am dealing with frustrating issues that are partially not my fault.  Exhaust cut outs managed by your ecu for the win! 

[freeskier7791]

Can you get the flexplate machined and rebalanced?  Great to see you getting closer to driving it