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Mike K's '79 242 Barn Car Revival

Where did you buy those AN connections with red and alu color?
As I said before, beatiful build!:)

Thanks! Really appreciate it.

The fittings I just got from Summit Racing, they are steel Aeroquip -4 an (fbm1011 and fbm1031). I haven't noticed the natural/red finish until I looked for -4 stuff, so I'm not sure if they have it in other sizes. Nice stuff though, super easy to make the hoses with the nylon braided hose.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/...51003+4294951002+400274+4294947446+4294920698
 
Mike K's AWARD WINNING Barn Car Revival :-P

We had a little car show at work last Friday for the first time. It was fun talking to some of the engineers here about the car, and I think a lot of them were surprised that the "business guy" was the real gearhead in the office. I was pretty excited when this morning the organizer dropped off the Best Overall award on my desk. Wasn't a real big show or anything but I'm still like a proud poppa to bring home a trophy for my little volvo.

vIA5xDK.jpeg
 
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?
 
Nice to hear you've got big plans for the 242. I have been thinking of this car as the east coast twin of my car since they will end up being very similar in the end (and are the same color of course). You are much further along than I am though :oops:

I'm no expert in redblock head work, but I can offer some generalized thoughts for turbocharged engines. First of all the power goal is key, so you're on the right track with 350-400whp in mind. Secondly, increasing airflow potential through the head will help the whole system immensely. Let's say it takes 25 psi to reach your 400whp power target with a stock head, just as an example. Head work and larger valves will then allow you to meet that power target at a lower boost pressure.

Looking at a compressor map, as you increase boost pressure your pressure ratio goes up so the operating point moves up on the vertical axis. But in reality on the engine, the operating point will also move to the right. So increased boost pressure -> higher mass flow as well as higher pressure ratio. Until you hit choke flow for the system, where a change in boost pressure does not change flow at all, and the operating point is just moving up vertically. Once you reach this point you will see diminishing returns until you reduce restriction and increase the flow potential. Choke happens very quickly/obviously on a restricted engine like in rally.

Back to reducing restriction: less restriction (i.e. higher flow potential) through the system means reduced boost for the same power. Less boost means you will likely be in a more efficient operating zone on the compressor map. Outlet temps will be lower, detonation threshhold will be raised, meaning you can go more aggressive on ignition timing. All else being equal, higher compressor efficiency means less shaft power is required from the turbine to drive the compressor. Therefore exhaust backpressure will be reduced, which will have the secondary effect of further increasing VE for the system. Meaning higher flow and more power. It's a snowball effect.

Just because there's a turbo doesn't mean you should ignore traditional flow improvement techniques for NA engines. If your power goal is relatively low, you can leave the head alone in a lot of cases when adding a turbo (especially to a modern 4-valve engine). But once you start edging closer to the flow limit of your induction system including intake, ports, valves, and exhaust...then all of the traditional performance mods will help you make more power without overworking the turbo. Hope that makes sense.
 
Thanks for taking the time to write that out, it definitely does make sense. I guess it becomes a matter of finding the point of diminishing returns for what I'm trying to accomplish. Paul, who I got the motor from, has a beeeautiful RSI "Stage 2" head sitting on his workbench. Sure, I'd love to have it... but I think it's probably way more ($ and potential) than necessary to accomplish what I'd like. I do wish I had gotten his Nathan intake manifold though...

Get your Recaro's in and take pictures. I really want to see those in the car!
 
Thanks for taking the time to write that out, it definitely does make sense. I guess it becomes a matter of finding the point of diminishing returns for what I'm trying to accomplish. Paul, who I got the motor from, has a beeeautiful RSI "Stage 2" head sitting on his workbench. Sure, I'd love to have it... but I think it's probably way more ($ and potential) than necessary to accomplish what I'd like. I do wish I had gotten his Nathan intake manifold though...

Get your Recaro's in and take pictures. I really want to see those in the car!

No problema. I posted a teaser to tide you over. Sorry it's such an awful photo but it's all I have at the moment.

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showpost.php?p=5017029&postcount=165
 

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Stiggy - you may want to check these out. They are "Flo Fit" seats but look very similar to Recaro LSs. And they are brown corduroy. Not sure if they are any good compared to Recaros but might be worth some research. Seller seems to be a small-time seat guy; lots of Recaros and cover kits.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FLO-FIT-SEATS-BMW-RECARO-PORSCHE-CAMERO-MUSTANG-SALEEN-ORIG-BROWN-BEAUTIFUL-/351197708911?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item51c503c26f&vxp=mtr

I did see those! I tend to have my morning coffee while staring at seats - it's amazing what some people want for totally flat stained messes.

I thought the ones above looked good - the only issue is that now I've moved the car towards a black interior so not sure if I want to revert. I guess changing the carpet back would be the only real pain.

Hmmm...
 
I think black and brown looks fine together, but that's just like...my opinion, man. You could do black carpet, dash, and headliner with brown seats and door cards. Or some variation thereof. Black is definitely better for resale value if you care about that sort of thing but brown does compliment beige or yellow exterior paint on these cars.
 
Is going to a 16v head not an option?

I know it adds more difficulties to the equation (mainly inlet/outlet mani's), but I think it would meet the flow characteristics you're looking for a lot easier than an 8v head.
 
I think black and brown looks fine together, but that's just like...my opinion, man. You could do black carpet, dash, and headliner with brown seats and door cards. Or some variation thereof. Black is definitely better for resale value if you care about that sort of thing but brown does compliment beige or yellow exterior paint on these cars.

You've given me some food for thought!

Is going to a 16v head not an option?

I know it adds more difficulties to the equation (mainly inlet/outlet mani's), but I think it would meet the flow characteristics you're looking for a lot easier than an 8v head.

Always an option, of course, but not one I really expect to get into (let's mark these words for posterity, considering I bought the car saying "I bet I can get it running for a grand!"). Honestly, a big part of it is that I'm pretty attached to my hotside. There's no way I could get a 16v equivalent for what I got this stuff for, so I'm not too keen on going heavy out of pocket for header/turbo stuff again. The other reason is that I really see no issue getting what I want from the car with an 8v head - I know 16v does more/easier but the power levels that start necessitating 16valve heads or $thousands in 8valve headwork are probably beyond what I'm interested in trying to get from a redblock. I look at the 16v conversion as a pretty significant shift in direction at this point, and if I was going to do that much re-engineering of the setup it'd be hard not to just want to give in and v8 swap the car.

So, short of some crazy deal on a super hot 16v setup (or an ls6) falling in my lap I'm staying stubborn with the 8 valve for now. I try not to get too hung up on any number, but I do have a silly desire to be able to call it a 400hp car - it seems like that should be a possibility without getting too exotic with head work. I think I've seen guys here do like 340wheel with basically stock heads and big boost?

Good question though.

Gathering information for the head, and will probably start getting things going in the next few weeks. It looks like KL Racing is the only place for legit stiffer valve springs right now?

Most importantly - the car is just fun as hell!

Oh, and if you guys didn't know this - building a car from a shell is pretty damn expensive! Sheeeit. My girlfriend should have just told me to go buy the e36 m3 I originally wanted, would have been cheaper :lol:
 
Oh, and if you guys didn't know this - building a car from a shell is pretty damn expensive! Sheeeit. My girlfriend should have just told me to go buy the e36 m3 I originally wanted, would have been cheaper :lol:

... but then you wouldn't have learned all about a car, how it comes apart and how it goes together, and you would not have become part of the great Volvo community, and have a car that you can be proud of, and people, who know nothing about the car, or what you did to get it there, give you thumbs up in.

And,,,, you would have started wanting to mod the BMW, so would have ended spending more money, and,,, maybe you would have become one of those Corvette or BMW snobs.
 
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