(Not*) Mediocre 242

Stiggy Pop said:

How many miles on it? Mine definitely did settle in a bit after 500 or so miles but I think you're past that point by now.

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I don't think I'm past 500 miles yet. But there's no way to tell, my Volvo odometer doesn't work. But I did just get the odometer in Megasquirt working. So I'll have an accurate mileage for my car starting in 2018.

Stiggy Pop said:

Definitely won't be like a focus though. I get in my SAAB right out of the 242 sometimes and try to put the pedal through the floor, then spend the first few shifts remembering how normal cars feel.

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Lol. The engagement is what's most different for me. The focus didn't engage the clutch until the pedal was almost returned to the rest position. My 242 engages pretty much right as you start to let the pedal back up. And it lets my neck know it's engaged.

I adjusted my torque rods to match my pinion angle to my new tailshaft angle, and got rid of some annoying vibration. However, my driveshaft now hits the body on bumps and when any real weight transfer happens. I'm thinking about converting to a 2 piece driveshaft. Has anyone had problems with two slip yokes?

Finally replaced the stock GM ignition coil wiring harness I was using with something I made. No functional reason to make one, but I wanted it to look better.

Ever since I put in the TKO, my driveshaft has been hitting the body on hard accelerations because the angles changed just a bit. So I finally swapped to a modified stock shaft with a 7 series bearing and Jao mount.











If anyone needs to know, it was 15.625" from the end of the output shaft splines to the center of the support bearing. I think it's pretty funny that the TKO slip yoke diameter is pretty much the same as the driveshaft diameter.

I have a pretty small vibration around 2k rpm on deceleration, so I probably still need to adjust the angles a bit. I can't drop the center support bearing much without hitting the exhaust though.

I'm also fighting a high RPM fuel pressure drop. I've changed my fuel filter and ran 12 AWG wire all the way to the pump but it still happens. I might be out flowing the DW 300 or the pre filter sock might be clogged from that tank of e85.

Nice work on the valve cover standoff coil mount..... is that your design or purchased? I repurposed a Range Rover mount for my Bosch 2x2 wasted spark setup.

Your 8V build appears clean and with quality intent.... I like it.

Not sure how to say this with out sounding like a prick, so I'll just say it. I think you know what I mean. Sounds kind of negative, but really it's a big compliment.

If you ever want to make your engine bay pretty, I'd be willing to come help.

The fuel pressure is dropping off?? I would throw in a bigger pump. A walbro 450 fits and it's cheap. What lines are you using? On my cars what I've done is run a 10g wire to the pump off the back of the alternator and run a dedicated 10g ground to the chassis. I was running into the same issue on my old 244 an that cured it even with the stock fuel lines. What type of filter are you using?

DET17 said:

Nice work on the valve cover standoff coil mount..... is that your design or purchased? I repurposed a Range Rover mount for my Bosch 2x2 wasted spark setup.

Your 8V build appears clean and with quality intent.... I like it.

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Thanks. The coil mounts aren't my design. Roger Dee of Deeworks makes them and does a great job. Not worth all the work to machine one in my opinion when he has them readily available.

https://www.deeworks.ca/product/8v-ls2-coil-holder/

Tuff240 said:

Not sure how to say this with out sounding like a prick, so I'll just say it. I think you know what I mean. Sounds kind of negative, but really it's a big compliment.

If you ever want to make your engine bay pretty, I'd be willing to come help.

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I'd love to take you up on it. I know my car is ugly and the paint is garbage. I'm not very good at painting or paint management.

cosbySweater said:

The fuel pressure is dropping off?? I would throw in a bigger pump. A walbro 450 fits and it's cheap. What lines are you using? On my cars what I've done is run a 10g wire to the pump off the back of the alternator and run a dedicated 10g ground to the chassis. I was running into the same issue on my old 244 an that cured it even with the stock fuel lines. What type of filter are you using?

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Yeah, it's dropping like 5 psi at WOT in fourth gear according to my sensor. I'm using -6 lines from the tank sender to the stock hard lines, then more -6 from the filter to the rail. I should probably try to log fuel pump voltage somehow. It's 12g mil spec wire from the battery through my MS fuse box and relay. Then more 12g from that to the stock fuse box, where I use some more 12g wire to the connector in the trunk. Maybe I should put 12g from that connector to the top of the pump sender. It's also 12g from the bottom of the sender to the pump itself. I did weld a flange nut in the truck floor so I could use a machine screw instead of the stock type, but that's the stock wire gauge.

I'm using the stock k-jet filter on the firewall. I need to check my pump filter sock still.

I was thinking about a Deatschwerks DW400 just because I've had such good luck with the 300. It's quiet and reliable, but I've heard the Walbros are pretty loud.

t8fanning said:

I'd love to take you up on it. I know my car is ugly and the paint is garbage. I'm not very good at painting or paint management.

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Your car is far from ugly.
I think you have seen a few of the engine bays I've done. I'm just saying I think you dump a lot of love and care into your 242 and if you ever want a show quality engine bay to go along with all of the other bad assery you have going on, I'd be willing to help or advise or what ever you wanted to do. So next time you plan on having the motor out and spare time/money, I'd be willing to do/help/advise/teach. Something like I did with Buchkas or Bergen where I just stayed on their couch for a few days and they covered all the costs.

The 450 is dead silent. The only time you can hear it is when you key on prime it

compared to what you've figured out, I don't think some basic paint or clean up work in the engine bay is going to be too steep a mountain to climb.

Nice to be able to monitor FP, that's a wishlist item for me. Can you kludge up some wires and a meter to watch voltage at the pump during the drop? I did run dedicated 10 gauge from the battery to the top of the pump on my DW300, all independent of the ECU power aside from the switching. Looks like one that would be reasonable to prove out.

Tuff240 said:

Something like I did with Buchkas or Bergen where I just stayed on their couch for a few days and they covered all the costs.

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Thanks, I'll definitely have to take you up on that next time I plan on pulling my engine. That is definitely an area I'd like to improve in.

cosbySweater said:

The 450 is dead silent. The only time you can hear it is when you key on prime it

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They're way cheaper than the DW400 too. How did you mount yours to the sending unit? I just increased the diameter of the stock plastic mount a bit for the DW. Is it much different for the walbro?

Stiggy Pop said:

compared to what you've figured out, I don't think some basic paint or clean up work in the engine bay is going to be too steep a mountain to climb.

Nice to be able to monitor FP, that's a wishlist item for me. Can you kludge up some wires and a meter to watch voltage at the pump during the drop? I did run dedicated 10 gauge from the battery to the top of the pump on my DW300, all independent of the ECU power aside from the switching. Looks like one that would be reasonable to prove out.

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You would definitely know. Your car has some really good paint. I'll definitely do it sometime. Just need a reason to pull the engine.

Yeah, I plan to monitor actual voltage at the pump sometime soon. It's gonna be annoying to do, but definitely necessary.

I use a BMW E36 battery cable for the relocation to the trunk. That has a huge wire that I put to the distribution block in the engine bay, and a smaller (8 or 6 AWG) that I use only to power the fuse box for my ECU, coils, injectors, etc. It goes directly to the battery circuit breaker. I don't think it's the problem, but i guess it could be.

I'm going to upgrade the fuel pump ground today, and maybe try to remove the stock wires from the sending unit.

All I did was hose clamp it to the return line on the sending unit. No issues with it at all really

That's awesome. Probably what I'll do if the other stuff doesn't fix it.

On mine like I said I run 10g off the alt and use the Ms relay to trigger it and a dedicated ground. The ground is on the chassis I can check the amprage draw if you like

After talking with Erik a bit, I decided to get rid of the DW300 and replace it with a Walbro 450. It fits pretty much the same as the DW, I just had to open the plastic bracket hole a bit more. I was a bit worried that it would be loud, but it's just as quiet as the DW ever was. I can only hear it when it primes. In these pics, I had the float on backward, I flipped it later.





I also finally upgraded the wiring a bit using an ATL bulkhead pass through also recommended by Erik. To put it in, I popped the plastic off the top of the stock positive pass through and hammered it out from the bottom to top. I then drilled the top hole to fit the bulkhead. These pictures are a bit old and don't show it, but I also took a die grinder and opened up the bottom hole to fit the nut. I tried to install the sending unit with the nut like it is in the pictures, but it wouldn't sit flush. Once I got the plastic nut under that metal, it fit without any drama. So now the fuel pump has 12 awg minimum wire from the battery to the pump. It also has a fully dedicated ground not using the fuel sending unit body.





I took it on a test drive, and it totally fixed my fuel delivery issue. No more pressure drop at high RPM/load, no more limp mode during a pull. Fuel pressure is the bottom plot.

See I'm not dumb all the time

You dyno it yet? Or still ironing out somethings?

Not yet. A local shop is doing a dyno day in March and I'll probably go to that. I'm actually right in the middle of making a few changes to make the dyno day and last year my local drag strip is open worth it.

Tuff240 said:

Not sure how to say this with out sounding like a prick, so I'll just say it. I think you know what I mean. Sounds kind of negative, but really it's a big compliment.

If you ever want to make your engine bay pretty, I'd be willing to come help.

Click to expand...

I?d take him up on that