Finally got my car. 4th (or 6th) time is a charm!
Finally got my car. 4th (or 6th) time is a charm!
Hey Guys ... I am back from the dark side...
Many of you know the history of my car. Let me dispell some mystery. This is the 6th time we had to go into the engine, but this is the 4th block in this car's history. First stock block went due to a rod bolt failure. Second block, my first built block, was the crappy Z1 Motorsports-built longblock, that was trash from top to bottom. We toasted a ring when invetigating a 4" MAF housing solution. Then I sleeved the block (AEBS - 3rd block), and the work done on it was faulty, as there were metal shavings cought in between the sleeves and the block, and two of the sleeves leaked. A head gasket change (twice) did NOT solve the problem. After the block was fixed and pressure tested, I reassessed by HP goals once again, and figured that I would be ok with a stock block and did not really need the sleeves. I have 550cc injectors and the 550 or so whp that they would afford would be sufficient for me. That brings me to this current/latest block - Scott Performance-built block #4.
I gotta tell you, we went over the entire engine once again, including hte heads...whcih is when we found out that hte Z1-built heads (the valves) were leaking badly, which contributed to the 20%+ leakdown numbers on every cylinder.... Ted Taormina of Scott Performance in Santa Clara did the work this time, and i should have gone this route the very first time. I wish i knew as much a year ago as i do today, thigs would have been different...anyway, water under the bridge...
Ted did a truly superb job. I ahve never ever seen/felt an engine this smooth (knocking on wood as I am typing this). It is silky smooth. Here is the list of components that I ended up with:
PE TT kit.. modifications to the poor Pre-IC Y-piece coming soon (before tuning)
Arias Xtreme duty pistons 9.0:1 (0.020" over) - thanks to Sharif for these.
Pauter Rods
ARP main studs
Stock head studs
Cometic head gaskets
Light headwork (springs, etc.. by Scott Perf.)
Motordyne 1/2" plenum spacer
eManage Ultimate
PE 550 injectors (officially sold as 510cc)
Innovate! Motorsports MTS - 17 channels (soon 22 channels).
-- Dual bank wideband, TimingAdvance, self-calibrating MAP/Boost, TPS, APPS, EGT, CHT, InjDuty, CamDuty, ECT, IAT, MAF, etc..
Walbro 255lph with CJM -8AN Wye and custom FPR correction kit for the sedan
AAM fuel rails, -8AN main fuel feed.
SGP
etc....
I just put about 1400miles on the car with varying loads. In the last few days, have started to push the car... and it's amazing how well it runs (again knock on wood). It's nice to be back! This time around, with the Innovate's MTS having matured as much as it did, I am expecting the tune to be very good. Will get into that upon completion of some of my work projects...
Dyno plot coming soon.
Again, a huge thanks to Ted Taormina of Scott Performance, I mean it. I have really not seen anyone this meticulous when it comes to building engines.
Gurgen
Many of you know the history of my car. Let me dispell some mystery. This is the 6th time we had to go into the engine, but this is the 4th block in this car's history. First stock block went due to a rod bolt failure. Second block, my first built block, was the crappy Z1 Motorsports-built longblock, that was trash from top to bottom. We toasted a ring when invetigating a 4" MAF housing solution. Then I sleeved the block (AEBS - 3rd block), and the work done on it was faulty, as there were metal shavings cought in between the sleeves and the block, and two of the sleeves leaked. A head gasket change (twice) did NOT solve the problem. After the block was fixed and pressure tested, I reassessed by HP goals once again, and figured that I would be ok with a stock block and did not really need the sleeves. I have 550cc injectors and the 550 or so whp that they would afford would be sufficient for me. That brings me to this current/latest block - Scott Performance-built block #4.
I gotta tell you, we went over the entire engine once again, including hte heads...whcih is when we found out that hte Z1-built heads (the valves) were leaking badly, which contributed to the 20%+ leakdown numbers on every cylinder.... Ted Taormina of Scott Performance in Santa Clara did the work this time, and i should have gone this route the very first time. I wish i knew as much a year ago as i do today, thigs would have been different...anyway, water under the bridge...
Ted did a truly superb job. I ahve never ever seen/felt an engine this smooth (knocking on wood as I am typing this). It is silky smooth. Here is the list of components that I ended up with:
PE TT kit.. modifications to the poor Pre-IC Y-piece coming soon (before tuning)
Arias Xtreme duty pistons 9.0:1 (0.020" over) - thanks to Sharif for these.
Pauter Rods
ARP main studs
Stock head studs
Cometic head gaskets
Light headwork (springs, etc.. by Scott Perf.)
Motordyne 1/2" plenum spacer
eManage Ultimate
PE 550 injectors (officially sold as 510cc)
Innovate! Motorsports MTS - 17 channels (soon 22 channels).
-- Dual bank wideband, TimingAdvance, self-calibrating MAP/Boost, TPS, APPS, EGT, CHT, InjDuty, CamDuty, ECT, IAT, MAF, etc..
Walbro 255lph with CJM -8AN Wye and custom FPR correction kit for the sedan
AAM fuel rails, -8AN main fuel feed.
SGP
etc....
I just put about 1400miles on the car with varying loads. In the last few days, have started to push the car... and it's amazing how well it runs (again knock on wood). It's nice to be back! This time around, with the Innovate's MTS having matured as much as it did, I am expecting the tune to be very good. Will get into that upon completion of some of my work projects...
Dyno plot coming soon.
Again, a huge thanks to Ted Taormina of Scott Performance, I mean it. I have really not seen anyone this meticulous when it comes to building engines.
Gurgen
I'll be the cameraman.
Hey Guys
Thanks for all the kind words, friends. MOTOP (Andrew) and I wll go for a drive in the beautiful NorCal and make some videos! That oughtta be great! Will keep everyone posted. Gonna go start wiring in EU now, or at least start planning it. Hopefully I'll have that done by the end of the week.
Thanks for all the kind words, friends. MOTOP (Andrew) and I wll go for a drive in the beautiful NorCal and make some videos! That oughtta be great! Will keep everyone posted. Gonna go start wiring in EU now, or at least start planning it. Hopefully I'll have that done by the end of the week.
Trending Topics
Gurgen, I've been looking for this thread on and off for a while now - I saw your beast at Scott Performance at the dyno day, and am glad you got her back. congratulations, and welcome back! 
looking forward to dyno chart.
btw, does anyone know if and when Scott Performance is releasing a 4 liter stroker kit? Ted mentioned it at the dyno day, said early this year. i am interested.
looking forward to dyno chart.btw, does anyone know if and when Scott Performance is releasing a 4 liter stroker kit? Ted mentioned it at the dyno day, said early this year. i am interested.
a.k.a. RANDYS_G
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 6,417
Likes: 0
From: Glen Rose, Texas
Gurg! Congrats, BRO. I'm happy to hear everything is working out...can't wait to see the vids. As for my G, it'll be the proud property of another member here on the site on Friday. Long story, but basically, it's not practical to have the G way out here in the sticks.
Hey Guys...thanks again for the great wishes.
As codeflux' pic shows, that's pretty much what my car looks like now...no big changes to the exterior.
Randy, wow.... the G is going? Shoot too bad. But I understand, things are just different out there, my brother. Keep in touch nonetheless.
Ed, I hope to see you at next weekend's meet. It's still unclear whether I'll be able to come down then. Either way, I'll see you sooner rather than later. Can't wait to see YOUR monster...gosh, it must be a blast to drive.
As codeflux' pic shows, that's pretty much what my car looks like now...no big changes to the exterior.
Randy, wow.... the G is going? Shoot too bad. But I understand, things are just different out there, my brother. Keep in touch nonetheless.
Ed, I hope to see you at next weekend's meet. It's still unclear whether I'll be able to come down then. Either way, I'll see you sooner rather than later. Can't wait to see YOUR monster...gosh, it must be a blast to drive.
I will be looking for you and your car. My car will be in the Enkei tent.
Most of the attention on these threads goes to our engines, and that is understandable because it is so much fun. However, a very substantial amount of time, effort and money on my car has really gone into the handling and braking, and that accounts for much more of the real driving performance of the vehicle. On the last outing to Laguna Seca she was holding even with a couple of 996 TTs all day long. The reason was not the hp/tq because with the SC I only had at best 340 rwhp and the power to weight advantage was definitely in their favor. But the car cornered and braked better and thus what was lost in the acceleration department was more than made up for in being able to carry speed longer and deeper, to maintain better mid corner balance and speed, and to have a couple of mph corner exit speed advantage. Now, with the TT and approximately 150 more rwhp.....I can hardly wait to see what the result shall be. (But I can guess!)
So, while the motor is important, it is the handling that is really critical to getting around quickly, and safely. I think more attention should be paid to that aspect than the motors, candidly. Again, motors are fun fun fun. But, the overall answer leads us back to the mystery, science and art, of handling.
Most of the attention on these threads goes to our engines, and that is understandable because it is so much fun. However, a very substantial amount of time, effort and money on my car has really gone into the handling and braking, and that accounts for much more of the real driving performance of the vehicle. On the last outing to Laguna Seca she was holding even with a couple of 996 TTs all day long. The reason was not the hp/tq because with the SC I only had at best 340 rwhp and the power to weight advantage was definitely in their favor. But the car cornered and braked better and thus what was lost in the acceleration department was more than made up for in being able to carry speed longer and deeper, to maintain better mid corner balance and speed, and to have a couple of mph corner exit speed advantage. Now, with the TT and approximately 150 more rwhp.....I can hardly wait to see what the result shall be. (But I can guess!)
So, while the motor is important, it is the handling that is really critical to getting around quickly, and safely. I think more attention should be paid to that aspect than the motors, candidly. Again, motors are fun fun fun. But, the overall answer leads us back to the mystery, science and art, of handling.