kimokalihi's 91 SS EJ20 Swap

[Alphius]

According to the documentation, the multimeter comes properly calibrated for a K-type thermocouple from the factory.

[kimokalihi]

Fabricated some ducting for my scoop. Looks like ass but it functions pretty well even though it's not finished. I ran out of foam so I'll have to go back to lowes and get another strip for the sides of the intercooler. I was going to put a splitter in the middle going horizontally but after looking at how narrow the intercooler is from front to back I don't see much point and it would have been a lot more work.

I'm going to pick up some expanding foam and fill in all the gaps between the panel and the hood and the scoop for an extra nice seal. Then I should probably try to straighten the fins out that are bent and there's quite a few. Maybe I need to install a grate to protect them.

Shot without the scoop to show the panel I made and how small the actual intercooler face is. As you can see the scoop hole is way bigger than the actual intercooler so a lot of that air was going around the intercooler and not even hitting it.



Underneath the hood. Look closely and you can see some rivets on the bottom. My first time ever doing rivets. Pretty cool. Picked up a $20 rivet tool at harbor freight today and a bunch of rivets.



Here you can see the foam I glued onto the intercooler and where I need more on the sides. I'm sure once I get the sides on it's going to work even better.



I tried to get a shot showing how the panel presses onto the foam for a nice seal but the angle was tough with a phone and bad lighting.



Drove around for 20 mins and the temp outside was 49 F. Just cruising at 50 mph after 15 mins it was down to 26 F before IC and -8 F after!! Crazy. Took quite a while to get it down there though. It got down to about 13 F pretty quick but those last 21 degrees were slow but I guess it didn't help that I had to keep stopping to turn around (to go back down the 2 mile straight away) and that seemed to slow down progress a lot each time. I then did a couple pulls and saw no knock the first couple times which is unusual. I usually get some knock in 4th and 5th. Before temp quickly shot up to as high as 180 F and after temp rose to 50 but as soon as I let off and started coasting at 80-90 mph it went right back down to 0 degrees in a matter of seconds. The last short pull was going up a steep hill I live on and I saw one flash in 3rd gear but that's quite the load.

[cj91legss]

I love that hill going up to your house.

[kimokalihi]

Haha I had a lot of fun on it when I was a kid racing bikes down it.

[mike-tracy]

Looks like something I need to do, too.

[Grayguy]

I think I'm gonna have to get the same before/after air temp setup you have, seems pretty sweet

[kimokalihi]

Pretty cool and quite simple.

[Legacy777]

Damn! Witnessed some crazy low temps tonight on the 25 min drive home from the gf's place at 4am. Before temp got down to 34F and after the intercooler hit a blistering cold -3F!! Whoa. I never would have thought it would get that cold in the intake...

I remember driving back from California when I got the car tuned. I was driving through Texas when we had a pretty snap. It got down to like -14 F or something in Houston. Anyway, I was West of San Antonio driving and the IAT temp sensor was reading negative deg Celcius. It's just kind of funny to see those kind of temps in the engine.

[Legacy777]

While diagnosing my TPS sensor I smelled the usual fuel smell. Quite strongly this time. I was standing on the driver's side by the fender and bent down to smell the fuel filter and sure enough it was coming from there. I moved the hose on the engine side and fuel squirted out! There was fuel residue and dirt that was accumulating in the fuel residue on top of the filter. Snapped a couple pics which I'll upload later. Gonna go see about repacing that hose (which is basically new at only maybe 10k miles old). I hope that solves my fuel smell in the cabin when I'm driving. This whole time I thought it was the EVAP canister.

Didn't realize the hose clamp was so far from the end of the metal pipe on the filter. I moved it right before the rolled end so it could get a nice seal and I tightened it much tighter. No more leak. Wiped up all the fuel and dirt to make it easy to see if it's still leaking later.

Kimo,

I'd make sure the hose you are getting is the appropriate hose, it needs to be fuel injection hose, and most of the auto parts jockies don't know the difference.

Check out my post below, and get the stuff from Rock Auto...much cheaper!

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=47500

[Legacy777]

According to the documentation, the multimeter comes properly calibrated for a K-type thermocouple from the factory.

I'd suggest checking the calibration, they're not calibrated correctly if you're seeing negative temps in Deg F when your ambient is only around 40 deg F.

Get a ice water bath and stick the sensors in there and stir the ice & water around. The sensors should read 0 deg F or very very close to it around 1 deg F. To check the high end, use a camping stove & old pot to boil some water with the sensors in it. Temps should be around 212 deg F. (I'm assuming you're at or near sea level)

If you find you're off, significantly, I'd suggest checking the connection points of the thermocouples. The metal is of a certain alloy and if you use crimps or other things as a fastener other than that allow, the resistance will be off and temps will not be correct. If you used all the proper fasteners, I'd see if there's an adjustment on the displays so you can calibrate them.

[kimokalihi]

I'd make sure the hose you are getting is the appropriate hose, it needs to be fuel injection hose, and most of the auto parts jockies don't know the difference.

Check out my post below, and get the stuff from Rock Auto...much cheaper!

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=47500

It's fuel hose. Goodyear I think and it has the blue liner inside of it. I just had the clamp on poorly. It's not leaking anymore. I had the clamp too far from the rolled end of the pipe so it wasn't getting a good seal. Especially with that blue liner which is pretty stiff compared to the rubber on the outside.

[Legacy777]

It needs to be fuel injection hose, not just regular fuel hose.

[kimokalihi]

Hmm so the blue lined hose is not right? Maybe ill buy some more and replace it but its not leaking so should I bother?

[cj91legss]

schucks/autozone sells fuel line for really cheap.

[kimokalihi]

I got this hose at autozone. I feel like its the right hose. I still have more left over so ill look at it.

[Legacy777]

Look on the hose and see if it has any labeling. SAE 30R9 is fuel injection hose.

[Deride]

I think I'm gonna have to get the same before/after air temp setup you have, seems pretty sweet

I think I need to do that as well. Gotta start experimenting now that I have a 12L JDM STi Spec-C intercooler sprayer reservoir and pump.

[kimokalihi]

Finished the scoop today. It's still drying so I haven't tested it out yet but I'm confident it will be much more efficient. Went back to lowes after work and got some more foam. Stupid home depot doesn't sell that stuff. They have other foam but not the right size/shape. You can see the two pieces I added today on the sides. They needed to be taller since the aluminum panel doesn't angle down on the sides.



Then I great stuffed the shit out of every little crack or gap. Should have a nice seal now. When it dries I'll try to trim it a little more and rattle can it black inside the scoop so you can't see it from outside.

[mike-tracy]

Last pic looks like you had a tapioca or cottage cheese explosion lol. Coming along nicely though.

[kimokalihi]

Nasty stuff for sure. Hoping it's trimmable with a knife or saw so I can shape it a little. Not very aerodynamic stuff but it's gotta be better than big gaps all over.

[cj91legss]

Kimo, Use a steak knife. They cut thru the foam perfectly.

[kimokalihi]

Careful when doing this...the foam expanded a ton overnight. I think it warped my hood a tiny bit. Still got a great seal on the intercooler though haha.

[cj91legss]

nice!!!!

[Legacy777]

Yeah, good point. That expanding foam can really expand and break stuff.

[kimokalihi]

FYI: WRX carpet does not fit our cars. Its shorter in length and most details do not line up properly. Don't even waste your time with it. No black carpet for my car .....yet.




At least my stock carpet is back in and pressure washed nice and clean. Also my heated seats are halfway wired up.