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Pdx dl

I may still have my old Binks siphon gun around here someplace.

Back when I had "game."


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If you were me, what would you do next with the DL? Its actually a decent car now. In my mind next steps are expensive and only moderately interesting (more turbo, modern efi and a stronger transmission).

Call it "done" and drive it twice a month? A lot of my frustration is the covid car show ban. But even without that, I used tinker with the car every night and I miss that. Perhaps it's time to move on.

Time for the t5 swap, it's not that hard and really transforms the car. Have you installed sound deadening? That's some thing I want to do, quiet the car down a touch. Are you running LH2.4? That's a good mod too so you can get some tuneable chips and wake the car up (I have LH2.4 but haven't gotten chips yet).

Happy help spin wrenches if you want. My car is at my buddies up in Spokane so I'm kind of jonsing to wrench! Also we can pull your motor and pressure wash the engine bay, you know..for fun;)
 


Wow! I remember those.

I really do need to fix the GD oil leak (s). Making a mess of the new garage floor.

While it's out I think I'll upgrade the turbo and T5. Probably should redo the wire harness for the EFI. And paint the engine compartment too. May as well upgrade the clutch while I'm at it. And I always wanted one of those fancy intercoolers. Oh heck, 2.1 isn't enough. I should get a newer 2.3...

:rofl::rofl:

In all seriousness. Perhaps that is just what I do. Take it off the road for 6-12 months and work my way through the engine and trans. Dunno. "Good money after bad?" Without a doubt. But it would give me a hobby again. LS / T5 swap for $5k-ish? 8V turbo Redblock / T5 for ?? Or just fix the leaks and enjoy a "sporty" wagon.
 
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Focus on the leaks, fix those like you know you should have, you're so close. Clean the bay and block with a pressure washer, clean the subframe. 15g turbo is good, move over to LH2.4 so you have some flexibility in the future. T5 is easy, custom driveshaft is a couple hundred bucks, clutch from Yoshi, flywheel from STS. Make sure you get a bellhousing that can mount the hall sensor. Those changes will transform the car completely!
 
Simple bare bones replacement for LH, but is more versatile? Microsquirt.
Wanting to control anything beyond an electric fan and idle? MaxxECU, Link, ECU Master EMU Black. There are others, but these are really good value for $.
 
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One of the problems is that I don't know what I don't know. Intuitive is desirable. Future proof is preferred. I think I would like it to automatically "learn" the ideal fuel and spark curves. And allow me to manually control those parameters. Not a radical build.
 
I don't think there's an off the shelf option to go wasted spark with 2.2. If you want to use the Buchka board you need to have LH2.4. Probably not worth upgrading the EFI/doing the necessary mechanical work just for that, but it does give you some more options for tuning. Probably about the same amount of work just to go MS.
 
One of the problems is that I don't know what I don't know. Intuitive is desirable. Future proof is preferred. I think I would like it to automatically "learn" the ideal fuel and spark curves. And allow me to manually control those parameters. Not a radical build.

Most ECUs can "learn" the fuel table somewhat accurately by trying to correct the AFR to match an AFR target, but that depends on the AFR Target table and the values that you put in.

Spark learning isn't really a thing on this level of tuning.

I'd install whatever ECU you want, get it running/idling, then pay a dyno shop $600-800 for a sorted tune. Or someone could give you an 8v turbo tune that would work better than LH, pretty likely if going with microsquirt or megasquirt.
This would still require you to do the install and wiring, and making sure the base timing is set correctly.

I'm a fan of the microsquirt for it's simplicity and price. Since you're using LH2.2, getting the hall distributor hooked up is pretty straight forward.

Do you have a 60-2 flywheel, and is your block drilled for a stock VR sensor?
 
Ok, then the simple solution is to use a microsquirt (or whatever) and the LH2.2 distributor to get a crank position signal. You won't have sequential injection, you'll have to use batch-fire, and you'll still be using Volvo ignition components.

Or you can use a CAS adapter and yoshifab disk. This will allow you to use sequential injection and ignition... depending on the ECU you have. I don't think the microsquirt has enough outputs to do both sequential ignition and injection.

Or, you can use a 36-1 wheel on a custom crank sprocket (KL Racing has these) and the LH2.2 distributor to get sequential injection and ignition using almost any aftermarket ECU.
 
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