Custom Twin-Chargecooler setup

[t70]

This is true.. however, with you're car.. virtually everything that's been done to it has been a custom one-off job that has never been done before. So, it adds an extra little bit of difficulty.

[t70]

Well, yesterday, I managed to get some more soldering done on the car.. I simply soldered the output wires for the Ignitor. Not a lot of progress, but it's something. I will have the Widebands landing today and the new injectors. I'm still missing one plug, which should land on monday.

[t70]

And... TODAY WE HAVE SPARK!!!! Now.. to get the fuel right and get it to start

[t70]

So, Today was a huge day.. we put the intake plenum back on the 2000 esprit and took it off the jack stands. We also did a boatload to the black 2002 -- Transmission back together, decklid back on, replaced brake pads, changed oil and a few other little things. Then.. we tackled the stand-alone..

For quite a while, we tried to get it to run.. and no luck. Turned out the fuel pump relay wasn't activating. So I bypassed it completely and turned the car over and VROOOM!!!!! WOOHOO!! However, I still couldn't get the ecm to activate the relay. We checked the impulse signal from the ecm.. it was working, we checked to see if I just hotwired the relay if it worked.. and it did. So I called a tech and he said he never activated the fuel relay from the positive signal. So, I eliminated the rollover sensor and used that wire to be the active ground for the ecm. And, finally we had functional fuel pump relay!!! So.. next.. we had to install wideband o2 sensors. We relocated the factory ECM wideband sensors to the back (where the secondary's should be) and put the new widebands in their place. We then ran wires from there into the cabin of the car, behind the carpet on the passengers side. We also temporarily placed a wideband guage on the dash and properly wired it in as well. Here's a shot of what we did to the wireing inside the car.. I will take some more shots at a later time.

And.. if this works.. here's a video of the second start up.. the car has a bit of a sticky lifter that tends to get sticky when it sits too long... so kindly ignore the "tick"

[aerobat]

Yes, the video link worked, and it sounds great!

I know you still have more to do to the car - but congratulations, and thanks!

[t70]

Today I yanked off the intake plenum.. part of the intercooler system and began the process of installing the massive 725cc injectors. Here's a photo log of the events:

The intake plenum.. removed (I think you've all seen this scene before)

The New injectors:

Their accesories (an injector length extender and wiring stuff)

An assembled injector:

The factory injector plug..

CHOP CHOP!

Dont forget to put on the silicone seals before you solder on the plug ends..

One piece soldered on..

Plug assembled.. and then push in those pesky silicone seals.

Do that eight times.. and then...

Here's the injectors installed..

I actually have to finish up the last four tomorrow.

[t70]

I finished up the injector soldering this morning and put the plenum back on. Just have to tie in the intercooler piping tonight and then start it up!

[t70]

IT LIVES!@!!!!! I have a lot of little things to clear up, but it starts.. it revs..

[fsrowsell]

Great news Mark!

[t70]

Well.. still no videos or pictures to go with this post.. but, tonight I actually drove the car!!! I didn't go far, but I did do a little bit of drive-ability tuning and throttle tip-in mapping. It's starting to shape up to be a drive-able car already!!! I have to hand it to Vi-Pec for their base map.. I haven't had to do that much adjustment from their base map to make it run nicely.. I'm not saying I haven't made changes, but I have been able to fairly quickly adjust the map to work nicely.

[t70]

This week was extremely successful I think. I managed to have a new set of lotus timing belt tools made for me.. Here's a picture of them:

and.. I took Aerobat's Esprit for a good little drive (about 5 kms) It actually runs smoother than the factory tune!!! I'm absolutely amazed at how smooth it is. The only stuff that I'm having some issue with is the cold start mapping... as I only have a few opportunities to adjust fuel mapping during warm up and cold start before the engine warms up too much. Here's a small video of me pulling lightly through a couple of gears... I have left the top end of the fuel map extremely rich, but the rest of it is fantastic.

[aerobat]

I just love the way the car sounds! And your video features nicely the Raid Airbag wheel!

[t70]

hehehe.. yes it does.. I'm shooting for wednesday for tuning.. but we shall see if that works or not.

[t70]

So, Tonight I wired in the secondary fuel pump. I had to cut the ground loop in the relay box and then wire the second ground to the ecm... then I had to hotwire the positives within the relay box. Next.. I wired in the Intercooler pump. So, It all works, but I still have to hook up the Detonation sensor and the IAC. Next will be A/C clutch hookup and then.. I think... I'm done.

[Bentzion]

So, Tonight I wired in the secondary fuel pump. I had to cut the ground loop in the relay box and then wire the second ground to the ecm... then I had to hotwire the positives within the relay box. Next.. I wired in the Intercooler pump. So, It all works, but I still have to hook up the Detonation sensor and the IAC. Next will be A/C clutch hookup and then.. I think... I'm done.

...and people wonder where or the money goes for R&D at OEM's.

Nice work.

[t70]

Thanks Bentzion! IAC and Detonation sensor have been hooked up now. I did a little more cold-start mapping this morning. Things are going incredibly well... I'm so pleased with this system.

Edited May 15, 2012 by Mark T-C

[aerobat]

.... and if you're pleased, then I'm ecstatic!

[t70]

Well, Today was interesting.. I was in the driveway... well, I was actually on the street.. Idling. I was trying to setup the ecm to datalog the AFR under load so that I would be able to compare logs and adjust mapping. While I was sitting there, getting things setup, I heard an additional "hiss" over the rad fans. I thought this odd, but didn't really register it as anything terribly significant and figured I could check it out just after I click this parameter. As I was about to click.. my friend shouted "SHUT IT DOWN!!!" I did, and I got out of the car and discovered that in about 1 minute.. I had lost 3 litres of oil onto the pavement! We then pushed the car into the shop and jacked it up to discover this:

So.. in a nutshell - Had I been driving, and thus at higher rpm, the car could have vacated its entire oil supply in a matter of 15-30 seconds. I can't explain the emotions I am going through right now.. I'm so glad it happened in my driveway.. I'm so glad I wasn't on my way to the dyno.

Next I must remove the entire oil cooler line, which runs from the front of the car to the back of the car, through the chassis. This is a major PITA! But.. Here it goes..

Step one.. remove center console cover..

Remove the plate...

Remove the shift knob..

And.. now I'm going to bed.. lol.

[aerobat]

Very, very weird. So sad that this postpones being able to drive the car, but like yourself - I'm greatful that this happened at home, and that it was caught immediately. Let's think of this as just a little set-back on the road to making the perfect Esprit.

[lotus4s]

Very fortunate, I hope you bought some lottery tickets today...

I know someone with an older Esprit that had that happen while his wife was driving the car. She drove it until the engine grenaded...

[t70]

ouchie... that is awful! We have already removed all of the necessary lines

Here's what we got done on wednesday night..

Here's the transmission linkage out:

Here's how tight it is in there

Here's the lines as viewed from the top.. before we yanked out the intercooler line and the oil cooler line:

And here it is after we yanked them..

I have already had a new line made and we should have them both put in tonight... I hope.. lol

[t70]

Well, today was a bit of a rough one.. We managed to get the lines through the chassis in good time, but when I went to install the other oil line fitting... I discovered that the threads were completely stripped. Now, this wouldn't be so bad, escept that one of the bolts is behind the engine mount. This meant that we had to pull the motor out... So.. a Little bit upset was I... anyhow.. here's a minor play by play:

Here's the new lines.. installed.... The line I had made was significantly bigger than the original and I had to grind away some of the

hole in the chassis tube to fit it all.

Here's what came out of the oil line fitting hole... not a good sign:

Here's the back deck out... and beginning the process:

Here's what it looks like with the exhaust out... hard to see a change, I know.

Out with the transmission...

Pull the entire wiring harness out of the car and pile it on top of the engine...

And.. Voila!! Engine out... 5 hours later...

[aerobat]

Damn.

[t70]

Today.. though I'm absolutely exhausted, we managed to pull the oil filter housing off of the engine and complete a few other things. Center console is now completely re-assembled. We also built a nice little dash mount for the widebad o2 sensor guage. It's temporary, but I still wanted it to look good.

Here's the Engine on the ground:

Here's the culprit that caused all the problems..

Here's the guage pod mounted to the dash

and here's what it looks like through the windshield

[aerobat]

It may be a nice looking engine, but I still think it looks better in the boot.