We bought our first xr. Autox/street machine in the making.

[Ed Lijewski]

Are those mounts supposed to be installed with the thicker end down?

YMMV

[catapultkid]

The bolts on the bottom and top are difference sizes. Therefore that is the only way it will fit.

[Esteban]

so the stock tbird TC mounts are an upgrade?

[catapultkid]

so the stock tbird TC mounts are an upgrade?

I wouldn't call it a upgrade per say. They are pretty soft, but since stock xr ones are hard to find, they seem to do the trick.

[catapultkid]

Got a few moments on the car with weekend. Started working on the wiring on the driver side. Slow go

[Ray]

instead of tape, grab a few 100 ct bags of cable ties from mcmaster - the 4 and 5" ones are what i go thru the most. much quicker to undo, doesn't leave a residue, and you can also grab the anchors to make everything tidy

http://www.mcmaster.com/#zip-ties/=lg0gev

http://www.mcmaster.com/#cable-tie-holders/=lg0gjo

[catapultkid]

Ray,

Thanks for the tips. Funny how you posted this. I just made out a Mcmaster order to do just that. Love that place.

Your right about one thing, I hate that sticky gooey stuff when it heats up.

[catapultkid]

So much time was spent this weekend in just cleaning up the wiring. I'm not happy with the way it has turn but I've got to look away and keep telling myself that is a budget build and I can't afford to go into my nitpick ways.

I started by wrapping what I could in fiberglass heat dissipating tape. What a mess.






Then finished off the wires with the typical corrugated split tubing to keep it black.



then removed lower dash in order to lighten things up a bit (removing stuff) and run wires for various gauges/kill switch.


Battery will be relocated to the rear.



Found my PMS piggyback says "AudioBuster" on it.



Got a new part in which made me happy. More on exhaust stuff at a later date. Should be a pretty sweet setup thats a lot lighter than what we have now.



Next weekend is all new vacuum and coolant lines. Also I am going back to a big VAM set up and re-tuning it like someone mentioned. Need to order that this week as well. Then its off to the exhaust, clocked intake and boost pipes which all still need to be made.

Our first autox event is March 24th which is plenty of time, but I have to help finish getting our Lemons car back together for a season opening March 16th race at CMP. Therefore I'm not sure the car is going to make it.

[Ray]

Make sure to fuse / link the hot wire near your battery - also, i found it's beneficial to run a ground from batt ground all the way forward along the hot wire to engine ground up front.

[catapultkid]

Good call Ray. I was thinking about running a 10ga wire with the Hot Battery wire and connecting it to my ground block up front (see aluminum in photo below where the battery use to be, its not done) and the ground of the battery. Of course it will also tied to the chassis with a bigger ground front and rear of the car. I've heard that these things can be kinda crappy on the grounding side, could have been you that told me.

[catapultkid]

Got a day or so to try and make some progress this weekend. It started with another order from Mcmaster. I am going with there silicone hoses for reliability. They are good for 350+ degree at 60 psi. Good enough for me.



I found that the MAP sensor vacuum line unplugged during the last time it ran. Possibly the reason it went so lean, not sure. So this time I am fixing the problem forever. Thick silicone vacuum line with stainless spring clips.



I cut and fit most of the hoses that I am going to use, then turned too mocking up the boost pipes with my brother. I had intended to clock the intake as posted earlier but could not get it too fit without running into the alternator/brake reservoir/strut tower with the larger than stock throttle body. So in the interest of time I went back to the way it was. Ah well, maybe next time. Luckily I had all this piping and what not from a 1.8t swap that never happened in the VW.





Tacked/marked in place. I hate blue couplings, so I made sure I welded as much as possible.



This pipe came out all crazy like.



Finished product minus the DV 1" NPT nipple that I have got to order..





My brother also had a moment to put in the battery box from the VW and run the batter cable to the front with the smaller ground wire.



All in all not too bad I guess, as always "could have done it better the second time around". Off to making custom radiator hoses next and soon hopefully a test start.

-Paul

[merkurdriver]

Build looks like its almost ready to turn the key!

[catapultkid]

Yep, I really want to try and start it this upcoming weekend. But I need advice

I need reliable power. Decided, as mentioned before, to go back to a Big VAM setup with the PMS piggy back. That is what I was thinking.

To gain some more reliability, I am thinking of swapping back to brown tops and a LA3. So the end result will be as follows.

LA3
Big VAM
Browntops (or if I could get my current injectors to work)
65mm TB
3" downpipe to 2.5" borla exhaust system
10* base timing
255 in tank
stock wastegate
.45 roller cam
high octane pump gas

Any thoughts or should I just run with what I have now?

PMS piggy back
Big VAM
45lb/hr injectors
65mm TB
3" downpipe to 2.5"
10* base timing
255 intank
stock wastegate
.45 roller cam
high octane pump gas

Basically should I risk the "holes" in the PMS piggy back I may have. Anyone ever used/heard of these?

[whitelx]

I have a PMS on my 5.0L Mustang and lots of other guys use them on their 5.0 and 4.6 Mustangs. However, I've never seen anyone use one on a 2.3L and I didn't even know they had one available. They are made for specific applications, so yours would not be applicable to a V8 ECU. I'd say it's probably pretty rare.

I am unsure how yours is set up, but they have the ability to run as a stand alone ECU after certain user defined criteria is met, or it can be run as strictly a modifier of the factory tune. It's pretty easy to tune once you get the hang of it. For some basics on how to use it, try this forum: http://stangtuning.net/

[catapultkid]

Thanks. I need all the info I can get. I was told this unit is one of two in existence for the 2.3 turbo. I'm trying to work out from the PO how much gain he noticed when swapping. I should be able to fix any issues, The only tuning I am going to play with is fuel really, timing is just a base number and let the ECU take over and advance as necessary. I just don't know enough about the system to feel comfortable yet.