TitaniumTT's I hope I make it to DGRR '09 Build

[TitaniumTT]

Thanks guys. I'll give the full update tomorrow afternoon/evening

[TitaniumTT]

So updates............

When I left off we were dicking around with the exhaust.... well, the exhaust is done, Tips and all. I started out by making a new 2-stroke tank... I dunno why, But I only have one picture of it. Holds about a qt and a half and works well.



After that was in place I could finally install the strut tower bar.......



After that it was time to mount up the radiator



Stock FD waterpumps are awesome for VMIC/HMIC setups. The outelets point in great directions. That od looking hose that joins the lower hose at the waterpump to the hardpipe is a stock FC hose. Than the same hose for the slight angle to get into the rad came from the same section of hose. So whe it's time to replace hoses, I still need a stock easily accesible hose rather than trying to source some wierd shit..... good shit

[TitaniumTT]

So now we start with the ducting, using the shine auto bumper so both the intercooler and the rad have thier own seperate vents.

Duct work in the sides of the fram and on the bottom as well



Duct work continues for the intercooler



Duct work is finished



By this time its ready to fire......... & I do. Classic Auto owes me a beer

Now it's about 6 in the evening on Friday and I'm lewft with a choice. I HAD an appt set for dyno time on Monday & I need to break the motor in. A very good friend of mine is having a b-day part in Jersey some 50 miles away. I think, this is perfect - 100 miles of break in on saturday, a few hundred more on sunday, then 200 miles to the Dyno.... PERFECT. So I decide to work until the car is DONE.... I finished bleeding the brakes @ 11:00 saturday MORNING after pulling an all nighter.. I'm getting too old for this shit. Off autobone for some wipers, a quick blast to the car wash and it's off to Jersey.

[TitaniumTT]

A few things of note from the drive......

Coolant temps - never got above ~178* while moving. The only time they climbed higher was when I was sitting in traffic. Then they got to 185* when the fan kicked on.

Oil temps - the highest I saw was 167* and that was sitting in traffic. Usually they hung around 150*

Oil Pressure - holly hell! The first time I started her up I FREAKED OUT becuase the pressure was climbing, climbing, climbing from about 70 PSI @ a fast cold idle to >110 PSI around 2500 rpm cold and 2800 RPM hot. What freaked me out though was the voltage on the sensor was being reported to the MoTeC, but was out of "range" for the AIM, so it read 0.0 PSI and the warning light went off. I had to do the first two heat cycles with the laptop open and a seperate Dial Gauge visible that was outputting the voltage for the oil pressure sender.

Idles great, runs really well even though she running WAY rich and everything seems to be bedding in nicely. Still haven't done a comp check but that'll be soon.

So I get to autobone, the car wash, and the gas station, someone comes up to me at each place to say something about the car......... something like....... "do you drift"

So anywho, I head off to Jersey and procceed to get ridiculously lost, so much that my GPS was lost.... I swear the people who built NJ said, "our state is going to suck, so lets make it impossible for people to leave"

Driving down this one main drag about 2 miles from the house where I'm supposed to be and I slam a pot hole.... thanks Jersey. Later in the evening the good friend of mine hit the SAME pothole and bent his rim. So I'm fuming made at this point becuase I'm late, just hit a pothole, and then I start to smell something......... "is that fuel or is that exhaust?" I think to myself. That smells like fuel. I pulled up to a light and the car stahled... "WTF??? she's NEVER stalhed when warm.." someone honks at me becuase the light turned green, so I fire the car up and the low fuel pressure light comes on. "MOTHERFUCKER!!!!! FUEL LEAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I punch the gas to get some momentum up to make it to the next side street which is approaching (i was on a main drag, no place to pull over) kill the engine, kill the battery, pulled down this side street and in one deft move I reached behind the passenger seat with my right hand while my left hand un dis the harness and went for the handle. I leap out of the car, pull the pin in the extinguisher, pop the hood and look at a fuel soaked engine bay with fuel spraying out of the #1 secondary injector. Not spraying ontop of the engine either mind you, but spraying in a 90* sweep from the Alt to directly on top of the turbos!

I stood there poised for about 5 minutes waiting for the fireball that never came, thank god.

So I call my buddy who thankfully wasn't too inebriated to come pick me up in his Fiances Mazda 3. Good thing they didn't take his MS6 - no towhooks. So he picks me up and we run to the HD to buy a towstrap and some line. I fashioned a bridal from the corners of the strut bar to directly infront of the intercooler so the hook doesn't scratch the front bumper. We put a pad down just in case. Now we can't close the hood though. So I tied a bolund around the hood catch, wrapped the line around the strut bar and then tied a rolling hitch to the tow strap. The thought being the load on the tow strap will keep the hood closed.

Well the rolling hitch, the knot that's not supposed to slip down a line slipped. I guess it didn't like the flat towstrap and the hood FLEW UP while moving. With enough load to break.... not pull out, but BREAK 4 of the 6 rivets that were holding the brackets for the hood struts.

Regardless, we got the hood re-tied, and finished towing it to his buddies house were we proceeded to eat and drink copius amounts of alcohol.

The next day, this morning actually, after spending 1/2 hour arguing with the guys @ U-haul that say my Cherokee can't tow the Mazda, and me saying that I've done it twice and back and forth an back and forth they finally let me take the fricken trailer. Thier trailer weighs ~300-400lbs less than the 7.. regardless, she's home now and I have an interesting phone call to make to Tim Marren tomorrow about the Marren injectors and the custom fuel rails that he built for me and why a fricken pothole and 35lbs of rail pressure is enough to jar an injector loose.

Cars, maybe I should start collecting stamps.

I must say, I LOVE my XJ. We call her The Mighty XJ. Really nothing this truck can't do.

[need RX7]

How does the XJ take towing the FC? Coincidentally, I'm about to buy an FC in Texas and tow it back with my dad's XJ. What engine is in yours and is it all stock? Do you think we'll have any troubles with the 4.0 I6, using the same U-haul trailer you used?

Sorry to threadjack

[EJayCe996]

Wow, even as I read I was probably panicking the way you did not knowing what I was gonna read next about the outcome considering the amount of time, money, blood, sweat, and obscene swearing you've put into that car. I'm glad things didn't escalate past a fuel leak.

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by EJayCe996

Wow, even as I read I was probably panicking the way you did not knowing what I was gonna read next about the outcome considering the amount of time, money, blood, sweat, and obscene swearing you've put into that car. I'm glad things didn't escalate past a fuel leak.

Yeah me too. I'm still in shock that the fuel didn't ignite. I'm thankful, but still in awe. I mean spraying RIGHT ON THE TURBOS

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by need RX7

How does the XJ take towing the FC? Coincidentally, I'm about to buy an FC in Texas and tow it back with my dad's XJ. What engine is in yours and is it all stock? Do you think we'll have any troubles with the 4.0 I6, using the same U-haul trailer you used?

Sorry to threadjack

1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport, 4.0L, 5spd, 3.07:1 rear
Magnaflow Hi Flow Cat, Borla catback - both necessities, factories rotted out
OME 3.5" lift, BFG 31" mudders
I built the rear swing out for the full size spare.

There's alot of weight over the rear and I've found that it's REALLY hard to adjust the tongue weight with those trailers. That's the problem. That and the trailer weighs almost what the car does - 2100lbs!!!! The tires are a touch too big and on some of the bigger bumps the tires were actually rubbing the molding. On a few hills I found myself dropping to 4th gear.

That being said, the stock tire size is a 225/75/15 - 28.25". I've got 31" tires on there, so I lost ~8% of my torque becuase of the size. When I first put the tires on it was noticable. Nothing to make me want to re-gear the rig but definately a little slower.

She'll tow it, but good luck convincing the asshats at U-haul. Took me a while of argueing with them saying I've done it twice
but th computer says no
I've ACTUALLY done this TWICE
but the comp says no
has the comp actually done this?
No
Well I have
The comp says no
Palm meets face

I would try to borrow a set of smaller tires and be prepared to re-drill and mount the rear straps to better distribute the weight, or just creatively secure the car. Fill up with 93 and you'll be fine. Or source a better trailer.

Auto or 5spd? The auto's have a 3.55:1 rear. I don't know what the OD in the tranny is though. You might have better gearing. I run ~1700 RPM @ ~65 on the highway. WHen I was downshifting into 4th for some of the hills I was @ ~2200 @55-60. SOOOOO much torque in that engine

Lemme put it this way, we call her The Mighty XJ for a good reason

[need RX7]

Originally Posted by TitaniumTT

1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport....

Thanks for the input. My dad's is an auto, bone stock down to the tires. I actually printed the pic of yours towing the FC to show them, lol. If U-haul gays out on us, we'll probably be able to find a trailer from somewhere else. Or we might have to get another vehicle altogether, since it is a 1000+ mile trip.
hmm...

Okay, that's enough threadjacking. FCs coming along good, I'm glad it didn't catch on fire .