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DET17's "Project cheap thrills" - '92 944T

Loving the detail to your work! Best way to prevent having to chase down bugs that somehow love to pop up after work is "finished."
 
stylngle2003 said:
Nice attention to detail, Duane. Really liking your execution. ;-)
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Thanks Billy, Harald! :) I wish sometimes I could just "put it together", but the OCD has the final say. Hope the belly splash pan will protect most of my work, but I'm sure a nice layer of filth will beset upon this DD. "Cheap Thrills" is just a practice run for the 242 Project to come...now scheduled to commence in 2013, sometime. :roll:
 
Roy 940 said:
Is your car running now?
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Running! Actually driving to work today for the first time. Spent the last couple days finishing the AC; had to install a new MCC and then add a ground wire to my SEIKI compressor, so now she's blowing ice cubes......with 97F scheduled here today. I'll try and get this build thread caught up to date :oops:
 
Installed a Hallman Manual Boost Controller (MBC) on the project car. I went Flintstone simple, bought the ES version which I think retails now under $50. Nice folks, spoke to the owner/tech support guy, who recommended this silicone hose for connecting the MBC to the T3 and wastegate:

http://hosetechniques.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=104_1

My old Garrett T3 has fittings on the compressor which are 1/4" hose barbs....the MBC has fittings which are 3/16". I bought the reducer fittings from Hose Techniques, so I could step my lines down to make the connections. Look close, and you will see the small "spring steel" hose clamps at the reducer fittings. I've read that the Silicone lines, while great at resisting oil swelling, can squirm off of their connectors. If you tear down a couple redblocks, and remove ALL the vacuum lines, you will have a pretty nice collection of these simple clamps.

I installed the MBC by tapping with an M8 tap, the engine bay side of a "weld nut" which is used to mount from the inner fender side, those plastic fender liners. I took a bottoming tap, and was able to tap around 5~6 threads from the engine bay, enough to bolt down my Hallman MBC. Here it is, right below the coolant fill tank on the passenger side (RH side):

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Here is a couple shots of the compressor side of the T3. You can see the transition of the 1/4" hose to the 3/16" smaller lines to the MBC. It is a bit congested with coolant lines, but it fits without issues:

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The above pic also shows my water return lines from the T3 CHRA. The 940 has a "T" hose coming out of the suction line between radiator and the waterpump....unfortunately, none of the steel Banjo fittings I had for the Garrett T3 would get anywhere near the hose, nor would they clear the 0.52 A/R compressor housing. I managed to find one steel fitting that flipped the line back over to the outside, so I butt spliced a piece of NAPA 3/8" heater hose, directly to the 10mm suction hose from Volvo. You can NOT see it in that picture, but the butt splice is directly below the inlet hose to the compressor.
 
TME Exhaust.

Seems these systems, once upon a time available from IPD, have good performance for a "CAT back" system. The TME website claims the backpressure is reduced by 65~70% over the stock dual muffler setup; those TBers who have run these have remarked that they have a sweet sound. Well another TBer was parting a 7 series car out on the left coast, and I bought this almost complete system from him (needed new clamps). The TME setup uses approx. 63mm OD 400 stainless pipes, and a single "high flow" muffler at the rear. I decided to run the factory downpipe for a while, and this recycled system was available for half the price of the 3" setups. Hopefully this will be adequate when I eventually install the 3 inch downpipe. It installed without a lot of drama....just a few tweaks to get her installed.

The final product, looking like-a-theese:

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The TME muffler hangs nicely from their custom support strap, using the rear hanger points. Here is an overall shot of the setup:

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I was able to rework the old "front muffler" support bracket/hanger, add a tweaked 2.5" muffler clamp, and that took car of support the long pipe just infront of the axle. Here is another shot showing the muffler just behind the axle:

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And last but not least, the custom IPD stainless exhaust tip:

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Now having test driven the car a couple hundred miles, the TME setup is reasonably quiet, and you can hear just enough when the throttle is wide open. I like it, and recommend them.....these come up a couple times a year in the FOR SALE pages. Actually, one former TBer up in the NE ran mid 13's with his 940T....then upgraded to a full 3" downpipe & back system.....and still ran mid 13's. I'll need some proof to believe the 3" back makes a difference for a DD. For now, I'll run the TME.

Edit: While my son and I were making our shake down runs in the 'hood' one evening, we pulled the car back into my basement shop to check some things underhood. I had a minor antifreeze leak, so I dropped down to take a look and see if more had gathered. To my surprise, I saw this under the back of the car:

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This guy had walked in thru the open garage door while we worked....neither of us saw him. Luckily, we spotted him before we fired the car and avoided running him down. Here he is checking out my Bils HD on the rear:

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I'm hoping this isn't a sign of the acceleration potential of the 940T! For the record, no Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina) were injured in the taking of these photos.....released unharmed.
 
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DET17 said:
I'll need some proof to believe the 3" back makes a difference for a DD. For now, I'll run the TME.
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+1. Running an OBX 2.5" from the downpipe back, and I'm hard pressed to feel a difference between this and a 3" system (from experience driving other cars with big exhaust). Unless you ever plan on having lofty power goals, a 2.5" mandrel bent system with stock downpipe is more than plenty.
 
Engine management / instrumentation:

I decided go take the easy route on my DD....keep LH2.4, and just install some improved fuel & ignition chips to take care of the extra boost which is foreseen.

Found a nice set of later model LH2.4 boxes....the EZK Gold box, and this ECU fuel box:

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Both have been fitted with TLAO chips, aka "Mikes Chips". Here is the fuel chip, with 6500 RPM cut:

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Time will tell how these will work. If spark issue present themselves, I will plan a "Bucha Spark" wasted spark setup in the future....but not for starters. We shall see if 12 PSI of boost requires more spark than the EZK and single coil distributor setup can deliver.

All the sages say that "you gotta have a wideband and KNOW your AFR's"....so I bought an AEM wideband, lightly used. The factory in dash boost gauge on the 9's is a joke, with colors to tell you where you how much boost you have :wtf:. I prefer a real boost/vacuum gauge. Not exactly NIST traceable, but it beats the hell out of the stock in-dash gauge. Lastly, always nice to know what kind of oil pressure is within the engine, so I rescured a 5 bar Volvo gauge from an old Bertone, then bought a new VDO sender from eGauges.com to match it. I purchased the type with the dual output, including "idiot light contact"; I believe it is labeled WK which I suspect is German for the "wet kontact" idiot light. Nice wiring instructions are available for download from eGauges.com that make it straight forward. The VDO sender that I used has 1/8" NPT male threads, and the B230 redblocks have an M14x1.5 straight thread with copper gasket port. My old friend TF came to the rescue, and hooked me up with a nice adapter made by Autometer (part# 2267); bought mine on Amazon for around $10, fits perfectly. Do NOT use any teflon tape, as you will ruin the ground path to the block. Hold your mouth "just right" and tighten the NPT threads until you get the sender oriented for optimal wiring connection. End result: I retained the dash idiot light and also have my 5 bar gauge. :cool:

Now, where to mount these nice new gauges? I've only seen 2 options on the 7/9's (that are reasonably low cost): the triple gauge A pillar setup, and the Nathaninwa "center AC vent replacement gauge mount". Well this decision was easy....down here in the humid almost tropic SE, you NEED all the AC you can get for a DD. True performance-only cars; sure, rip the AC out along with the center vent and install the huge FMIC. But for this DD work car, I'm keeping mine, along with the cruise control, power seat, etc. etc. So the decision was made.....triple gauge A pillar.

Found this triple A pillar mount from another TB member, an IPD unit. SwiftJustice down in Texas, gave me a good tip on plastic paint....the specialist is SEM. I found their products available on the web, approx. $12 a can for the various colors. Be sure to prepare you plastic properly, as per SEM recommendations & with their materials. Well the 3rd time was a charm :rofl: as I first guessed a color, painted, compared, but trying to match the 92 tan interior with 20 year old faded plastic was tough. Finally I settled on CAMEL as the best fit color, which is as good as it gets to make it look like it belongs (no black pillar RICER look for me). Compared to the paint color, the real bitch was building a wiring harness to fit up inside the pillar....connect the boost /oil pressure gauges to my dash lighting so I could dim them with all the instruments. Thankfully I found the Volvo wiring diagrams available online (thanks TrickMick). Some careful reconn. and I was able to find the power/grounds that I needed.

Installing the AEM is a job in itself. Sadly, I've got no pics, but here is a summary. Bought a "weld on bung" with the correct thread for the Bosch sensor, located it all the way at the end of my 940T 2.63" stocker downpipe, just barely behind the AW71 crossmember. Carefully marked the location (30* angle upwards for the sensor), then had a buddy drill the DP and weld on the bung. Mounted the sender inline cable plug on the drivers side of the crossmember; drilled a hole and made a custom steel plate mount to attach it up and protected by the crossmember from road debris. Then fed the AEM cable up along side the fuel supply/return lines, snaked up under the brake power booster, and into the corner of the firewall where the rubber booties are for wires passing from cabin to engine. Run a fish wire thru.....taped a "pull wire" up onto my AEM cable, slathered it up in dish soap lube, then pulled into the dash. You should drop the ABS computer box and it's mounting brackets, located up in the LH corner of the footpedal area, to gain access to fish the cables thru. Once up under the dash, you find the small passage to enter the A-pillar area.....so the AEM cables, lighting wires, braided boost hose, and the oil pressure signal wire all feed up there. Tight, but it all fits. Building a harness....measure twice, cut once. I solder and shrink tube everything, no wire nuts, no electrical tape...but that's how I roll ;-)

Here is the finished A pillar system installed:

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I think it looks pretty damn good! Worried a bit that it would be a blind spot...that it would block too much field of view. Truth be told, now after 200 miles on the car, I don't even see it as any obstruction. The only negative thus far is the old 5 bar oil pressure gauge is really dim at night, even with a brand new lamp. I understand the lighting on all the 52mm 240 gauges are bad, and many upgrade to LED's, etc. I can see it just fine for now, but later most likely will go LED. I would also like to have "real gauges" for VOLTS and WATER TEMP, but those will have to wait for now, and I would have to find someplace reasonable to install them. Cheap Thrills will roll with these for now.
 
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WK probably means Warnungskontakt or Warnung Kontakt, as the word in German for wet is "nass" ;-)

PS: I like your pillar pod, where did you get it? EDIT: Never mind.
 
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harribert said:
WK probably means Warnungkontakt or Warnung Kontakt, as the word in German for wet is "nass" ;-)

PS: I like your pillar pod, where did you get it? EDIT: Never mind.
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Alles klar! I was confused by the electric terms of wet/dry contacts, but your explanation makes sense.

IPD, who I believe just distributes someone else's part. I like it a helluva lot better than I thought I would :nod:
 
Roy, I'm satisfied with the torque it has, and I'm only running 7 PSI of boost at the moment. I will begin adjusting the MBC up a rev. each day....I want to give the LH 2.4 time to learn as the power increases....and watch my AFR's at the same time to make sure I don't run out of injector. My Ford Browntops are tested/flowed 36 pound/hour at 3 Bar, and that is supposed to support around 230~240 HP. However with my stock 530 head, I don't know if that power level is possible. We shall see.
 
Roy 940 said:
Torque is funny! But I think you can increase the boost to 10/12 PSI w/o any issue, even with your brownies...:nod:
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Yes sir, 12 PSI is the target with my stock IC, so long as the AFR's read good under full throttle. I will be adjusting the MBC step by step to get there.
 
ad?dic?tion   [uh-dik-shuhn]
noun
the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics or boost, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.
 
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