you said the car has some issues. ive had mine for 19 yrs and have seen just about everything so speak and maybe i can help or another member can
arent threr any strips up by wausau?
is your car all stock or what mods have you made? promise i wont tell anybody
hahaha. just remember that lean is mean bust also goes boom. keep boost to 19 lbs on the street with some good gas and good fuel pressure. if youn want my op on mods to mke ask and i will give my op.
good luck talk soon.
Well, I will try to describe my issues then(this could get lengthy), although I think we may have them covered. I may be wrong though, so, please, lead me in the right direction. This is by no means my first turbo car, but, I mist say, it is a WAY different animal than any I have owned before.
OK, so, first, a little background on the car. I bought it in Oct of 09. My dad found it while on the road for work. I called the guy, and he told me what he knew about the car, which seemed like enough at the time. Well, it turned out he knew nothing, The car was his dads, and I later found out that a good friend of mine had put the car together. Before this raises any flags, I must say that he is a REPUTABLE engine builder/tuner in my area.
Well, in speaking to my friend, I learned that the previous owner was not the best customer ever, and he liked to shortcut things(this comes into play later). I do not currently know all that is done to my car, or the correct TB wording for it, but I will describe it as I know it, until my friend can finish collecting the receipts from the build.
I know that it is a reinforced( He said something about epoxy) 4.1l motor, the rotating assembly is all forged(except for pistons, back to that in a moment), aluminum heads, ported intake, Accufab TB, headers, stock cam(BUT it looks to have a set of ratio rockers on it, they are gold and blue rollers that can be seen through the oil fill), aftermarket Turbonetics Turbo w/external WG(not 100% sure of the size, I'll post a pic), built trans with 3400+ stall, and a built rear end. OH, and its on a older FAST EMS.
On to the issues. He(original owner) had told me before I bought it that it had an intermident issue with breaking up under boost and claimed it was the O2 sensor. Well, I found that the 02 was grounding on the water pump housing because the turbo had a 1/2" spacer between it and the hanger. I ground it down to 1/4", and VIOLA', not more clearance issue. Well, that didn't fix anything.
So, here I am. The car runs like a bat outta hell when it wants to(it's spun tires at 55+), but after a steady cruise for a lengthened period of time, or in town driving, it begins to break up under boost.
So, I began asking questions because at this point I was IRATE. I wanted a GN for like 14yrs, finally got one, and its a POS. Well, it turns out that when the car was in the shop, the owner's money dried up, and the car went somewhat "unfinshed." The tank had a sump welded in, and I guess it was just put back on without being cleaned. It turns out that there is a bunch of crap in there that clogs the filter from time to time.
Second, I found out that the car was originally tuned for 15+lbs. Well, the owner turned up the boost more on his own, and it ended up breaking a piston. In an effort to get it running again, the pistons were replaced with a set of cheap Jegs(forgot the name brand) slugs. The crank, rods, and block were all still ok. He dropped boost back to 10lbs, and it has stayed that way. Now, the car runs pig rich, and I can wipe soot off of my rear quarters after a night of playing around. Not cool.
So, I am stuck wondering. Could it be just the fact that my tune is off and that I lose fuel from time to time that is causing my "break up" issue, or do you guys think I have a much deeper problem? I mean, I know the fuel cutting will cause it to fall on its face, but I have never once heard it knock. When it breaks up it sounds like it's hitting fuel cut, nothing else. Oh, and plugs read fine, no signs of detonation. Honestly, what do you guys think? Could it really be this easy of a fix?
I am REALLY hoping to get the car done for summer. It needs paint, a real GN grille, and a set of Headlight buckets, and I want to get to the bottom of these issues. Oh, and I need a set of wheels and REAL tires. I know I have a long way to go, but I should be able to get there, especially if you guys have any insight into this. Also, if I do get it fixed, do you guys have any idea what sort of times I may see if I can get traction?
OH, heres the pic of the engine bay. Please excuse the wiring mess, I plan on cleaning that up too.
As for strips in our area, there really are none. I play on the street from time to time. But for track time, we either head to Rock Falls or GLD. I have yet to have the GN to the track, but we made a few trips with my truck to GLD last summer.
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