[Flycaster]

Originally Posted by BruceChapman

a pic of my engine bay shot by chris05sti at the big dinner meet. sorry but i couldn't resist.

Where'd you tuck the purge tank? I can't see it (but that doesn't mean anything).

[Neanderthal Racing]

what purge tank? (isfh)

[Flycaster]

Originally Posted by BruceChapman

what purge tank? (isfh)

Ahhhh, no wonder.

[nandanrp]

Originally Posted by BruceChapman

isfh

Gotta ask...I have some guesses on what this acronym stands for, but if you could clarify for me...

[Neanderthal Racing]

"isfh" = insert smiley face here
i hate using smiley faces but i need a way communicate the love in my heart and the core of my very being.

(deep, huh?)

[eatV8]

Not deep, just weird!

[evilSTi7]

Originally Posted by BruceChapman

"isfh" = insert smiley face here
i hate using smiley faces but i need a way communicate the love in my heart and the core of my very being.

(deep, huh?)

[sgtpeper]

Not to hijack but... "The Hoff" Is starting to scare me a bit in you sig....

[evilSTi7]

Originally Posted by sgtpeper

Not to hijack but... "The Hoff" Is starting to scare me a bit in you sig....

dont let him scare you, let his good looks seduce you

[Neanderthal Racing]

Originally Posted by evilSTi7

dont let him scare you, let his good looks seduce you

{{long shudder}}

i don't know about the rest of you but i need something to get that imagery out of my head.


...that's better

[91TB78]

The HOFF rocks! I actually used that as my tiled windows wallpaper at work. Needless to say, I had to take it down after some of the looks I was getting!! hehe

[RacerXS]

Originally Posted by BruceChapman

{{long shudder}}

i don't know about the rest of you but i need something to get that imagery out of my head.


...that's better

Yes, much better indeed. I spent a bit too much time looking these pics over last night............ahem...........

[Flycaster]

OK, ok...enough. Let's get back to Bruce's bad boy, shall we?

[eatV8]

Originally Posted by Flycaster

OK, ok...enough. Let's get back to Bruce's bad boy, shall we?

Agree'd, have deleted the exsessive posts.

[Neanderthal Racing]

i see the thread has dropped to the middle of the second page. we'll have to fix that (isfh). this is a long report so i'll divide it in two.

3k update
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health report:

if you’ve been following the thread, you already know that I’ve had a nasty oil consumption problem to the tune of (turn your head away now) 1-2 qts every 3-400 miles. I’m praying, please don’t let it be the shortblock or heads/valves, eh? the thought of having to pull the motor was and is unfathomable after all we did to get in there. if you recall, when I initially presented the consumption problem to phil (element tuning), the first thing he came back with was the “unrestricted oil inlet” to that monster turbo of his.
<O =""></O>
I was praying for a leak but if it was a leak, it would have to be under pressure because there is nothing under the car. we fixed a few minor leaks but they were nothing that would explain the consumption. how depressing is that.
<O =""></O>
we did two shifts of tests to rule out the crawford shortblock or stock heads. we had lapped the valves and upgraded the spring and retainers. quint crawford was confident in his work, was very helpful throughout and I have no doubt he would have stood behind his work. little ricky was equally confident in his head assembly work but we had to rule the motor out of the equation.
<O =""></O>
we did two passes at ruling out the motor. a month ago we removed and inspected the plugs, which were predictably sooty from running rich but otherwise normal. we changed the plugs to ngk platinums. although I wanted to do a leakdown test, ricky didn’t have a ldn gauge so we did a compression test in lieu of a full leakdown. the compression test showed 125, 125, 223, 120 (cold) across all 4 cylinders. we did the second pass at ruling out the motor last week because I had my driver’s school at lime rock yesterday and I felt pressure to sort out the problem before I did. ricky still didn’t have a ldn gauge so, in an atypically impulsive move on my part, i had a local shop do it. big mistake. the mechanic they handed it off to could have been named cyclops. the numbers I got back were psychotic and the plugs were so fouled out by the oil he used in the test on the passenger side we could barely get the beast back to ricky’s shop. we borrowed a ldn gauge from another skydiving buddy and finally did it ourselves on friday night, which is what we should have done in the first place.
<O =""></O>
the leakdown test was…perfect. i could lie to you and say that i was sure it wasn’t the motor all along but you wouldn’t believe me anyway. I’ll admit that I still had a lingering doubt but the motor is just too freaking strong to be THAT sick. so here’s where we are now - back to the turbo and that unrestricted oil inlet.
<O =""></O>
I was consulting with donmei and flycaster the whole time. I called fly the day we did the test and he revealed something that was important if true and I have no doubt it is. he mentioned that his mechanic has concluded that the garrett turbos can be overwhelmed by the oil pressure from our motor and leak. he advocates stepping down the inlet which is exactly what phil mentioned that we may have to do. however, for obvious reasons, phil wants to maintain as much oil cooling the turbo as it can get (it is not water cooled) and he really prefers to keep it unrestricted. he has not had a seal problem with his motor or with any of the other kits he has out. that notwithstanding, in the case of my beast, oil is definitely burning. however, it is not burning in the motor. it is burning in the downpipe.
<O =""></O>
so, the next step is to restrict the oil inlet. there are a couple ways to do it. we can use a nitrous nozzle or we can do something with a set screw. that would allow us to calibrate the oil running into the turbo until the problem is solved or at least mitigated. i’d love to stop adding oil daily. i’ll let you know how it works out.
<O =""></O>
the only other mechanical problem was the control arm link that snapped under hard acceleration.<O =""></O>