Never noticed before but you have a Volvo pay loader moving your 740 around
Et tu, Sven?
Warning, this is just a text heavy "think out loud post"
Past month has been the least I've worked on the car in a long time, but I'm driving it more than ever. I'm around 1,500 miles since it went on the road, and in that time it really has hardly missed a beat. Actually of the 3 cars I own right now the 242 has been the most reliable in the past several weeks (thanks SAAB 9-5 electrical issues and regina fuel pumps).
I've been driving at 18-19psi and having a blast. Spinning the tires at the top of 1st and 2nd gear - a fresh sticky set should help. I have been driving around with the stock PCV box just hanging out open to atmosphere because I had kind of back-burnered finishing the system while I got distracted being a hooligan. It hasn't been an issue at all, besides being a bit smelly, until last week when I went for 20psi and drove the car really hard for ~5minutes. At some point it must have sucked up a gulp of oil and puked it all over the driver's side of the bay. Needless to say it made quite a mess and was a little shocking when I popped the hood. It's been fine since, but I need to get it plumbed to the intake so it's pulling a little vacuum at least. I was thinking I'll do stock PCV>Catch Can>Intake as the "real" setup.
A little disapointing news from the machine shop after they checked out the 531 head from the boat motor purchased this summer. The head surface is pretty pitted, and the machinist said at least .040 to get it clean, which he quotes as roughly a 5cc loss in chamber volume. Since the 531 chamber is bigger, that would put me as 3cc smaller than a standard 530 head. I need to figure out what that equates to for a compression ratio, but not sounding good. The other option is to get it welded up, but that is going to really cost. Besides that, the #4 port which didn't
look that bad is not level with the other 3. It has a round insert in the port, which I've seen on other heads but mine seems to be welded in - is that typical? Either way, it's going to take more welding and work to get 4 level ports and I just don't think it's going to pay off. It's kind of a shame I'm not actually going to use anything from the Penta motor, but I will be able to come out cash positive and with a 2.5crank to daydream plans for so it's not a loss.
SO, new direction is to pick a good 530 off of one of my other motors and get one worked over a bit. I really don't want to dump a ton of money into a head, so I need to try and understand what work really pays off and doesn't require 4-figure machine shop bills. I don't need the flowingest 8v head on earth, but I am starting to look at this as a 350-400whp build so need the head to support it (and 7k rpm). I do wish we had better (any) options for larger valves and valve springs!
We're in the tail end of fun car season here in New England, so I think I'll mostly just be driving the car for a while. Once it's stored for winter I have a few goals that I hope I can meet for the Spring:
- I'm going to be overhauling the whole Megasquirt setup. I'm planning on building a whole new engine harness for the car the right way, and ditching the stock ignition setup in favor of running 4 ls truck coils (right now thinking I'll run wasted spark triggering from the flywheel). I'm deciding between either modding my ms2 to do what I want, or buying a new Microsquirt setup because they are really nicely packaged now and would be more ready-to-go. I figure I can sell of the ms2 box to offset cost. I really can't wait to ditch the big messy hacked up lh2.4 harness.
- I have a Nathan's fuel rail and Aeromotive 340 fuel pump that need to go in, so I'll be re-doing fuel line's in -6 at the same time.
- I'd like to do the above and have it tested and proven on the engine currently in the car. That way things are setup and ready for me to drop in the built block and head. Figure that way I'm not trying to break in a new engine on an untested system. Once it's all setup I'd like to be silly and see where the limit of the stock engine really is.
- Car needs to be wet sanded and polished, and I have a whole pile of new stainless trim that needs to go on, along with a set of excellent condition tails.
- I'll be breaking the wheels apart and doing a proper refinish job, with new tires when they go back on.
- I am still hunting hard for the right set of seats. I'm kind of fixated on Recaro Ls-b's so I'm trying to find a set from a VW either in the right color or something I can have re-upholstered. That will allow me to put my head down and really focus on finishing the inside of the cars. Door panels need to be done, need to get aux gauges set up, steering wheel etc. Decent amount of work left here but looking forward to seeing it come together.
- That's the big stuff, then I can work on just refining it as a car, not a toy.
So, lots to keep me busy while it's cold and dark. I've already started piling info and parts, so hopefully it can all be pulled off. I'd really like to have the car come out of the gate in ~May swinging with the new engine and ready to hit a dyno.
Would be interested in hearing what people recommend for the head work. How much does it really pay off when you're just slamming 25+ psi into it anyways?