Well, It's another month!
I've
gotten some crazy Emails from people asking about Four Banger. Some even asked
if it was still running! I guess that got me off my butt and forced me to
update. LOL. The volvo head is coming along SLOWLY. Like I said before, I'm
going to take my time on the conversion. It should be done by the end of this
year though. The new Holset HX35 turbo is running great. I've turned the
boost back up to 22 psi and have gotten my fuel pressure under check. The entire
fuel system is still junk in my books though. I am bending the 1/2" fuel line as
I type this. I will be running an external fuel pump also.
On
with the story.......
Road
Trip!!!
I recently went on a 600 mile ROAD TRIP
down to Ft. Lauderdale and back! Four Banger performed perfectly. I drove 75
miles an hour for 4 hours straight at 3000 rpm and made it on less than a tank
of gas. I am pleased to report that she got 26.5 miles per gallon! Not bad for
3000 rpm huh? Not bad at all. I had no problems what-so ever durring my trip.
She ran like a stock 4 cylinder. I even had the time to whoop up on an
unsuspecting newer style Firebird from about a 65 mph roll. hehe. That dude was
pissed. I can't be happier. Well, maybe if Electromotive gave me a new Tec3
fuel injection system for free, then I'd be WAY happier. LOL I can't believe
that I built a better motor than Ford did. And I used Junk Yard
Parts!
Above is a shot of my
new switch panel. It's made from aluminum and it's polished with 2000 grit sand
paper then buffed. It was about 25 degrees out this night. Awesome night for
working on the car. Here's a better pic of the panel....
My down pipe is completed and installed. Here are a couple of pictures
of my work of art. The ball and socket pieces came from Dr.Gas Exhaust. And I
used one 3 inch "J" bend from Summit Racing. Also note the O2 sensor bung on the
very top welded in.
This pipe isn't
as flat as the upper picture makes it look. Here you can see the angle I had to
put in to clear the firewall. This thing took me a little while to create. I
took some real pride in making this pipe.
Here's a shot of my
new 3 inch exhaust system. I used a passenger side from a MAC kit with a Flow
Path muffler. Let me tell ya, after installing this exhaust and the new turbo,
this motor hits the high notes! Every shift is off of the factory 6250 rpm rev
limiter! It has a nice rumble too.
Check it out here: Right click + Save
as Idle2.mp3
I
did a sweet job on the exhaust. I bought a MIG welder from Lowe's Home
Improvement and a bottle of argon. Here's a pic of how tight I got it up under
the car. If you look at the car from the side, you can hardly see any of the 3"
pipe. It took me a day of cutting pipe with a battery powered reciprocating saw
and half a bottle of argon. It came out perfect.
