Skwerl's first hot rod

[rayS197]

Brian, how much timing is the street tune and the race tune?

 

[skwerl]

I'm not sure exactly, Ray. Justin handles that aspect and I just let him do his thing. I know the race tune is still fairly conservative and there's room to add a few degrees timing when we go for the 700+ number. Street tune is a couple degrees less than the race tune.

 

[AutoXRacer]

Instead of small plug gaps..like .024" - .028".. why not use higher voltage...like 30-40-50-60 kv...instead of the oem 20 kv ?? Then you could increase the gap by a substantial amount... = better spark.

Jimbo

Problem with that is that there are no reliable high voltage/amperage coils for our cars.

You have MSD and some other brand...none of which have shown to significantly increase spark energy. Trust me, I am dying for a high powered set. I miss my MSD setup in my old 84 Thunderbird; 50K volts of pure awesome!!

 

[AutoXRacer]

I'm not sure exactly, Ray. Justin handles that aspect and I just let him do his thing. I know the race tune is still fairly conservative and there's room to add a few degrees timing when we go for the 700+ number. Street tune is a couple degrees less than the race tune.

I would hope between the street and race tune that there would be a lot more than just a couple of degrees!!

 

[skwerl]

Well I made a little progress today. I was fooling around with my SCT and found that at some point the idle rpm for my street tune had been lowered from 890 to 740 and the car simply won't idle that low with the cams. Bumped the idle back up to where Justin had set it originally and my car idles again. Still not sure about the missing on #5 cylinder but it's nice to be able to drive the car again.

Took an older friend of mine for a ride this afternoon so he could show me a couple jobs for next week. He enjoyed the hell out of it when I floored it in 3rd and fishtailed the rear end at 50mph. I may have accidentally exceeded the speed limit ever so briefly on one open stretch of 4 lane road as well.

 

[BadPiggy]

I may have accidentally exceeded the speed limit ever so briefly on one open stretch of 4 lane road as well.

Damn criminal.

 

[Pentalab]

Damn criminal.

You mean..... "Hooligans"

 

[AutoXRacer]

So you still have the misfire in #5?

 

[stkjock]

You mean..... "Hoonigans"

fixed

 

[skwerl]

So you still have the misfire in #5?

Not all the time, but yes.

 

[AutoXRacer]

Not all the time, but yes.

When is it happening specifically?

Also, what plugs are you running?
Have you stretched your coil springs slightly?

 

[skwerl]

I already said it isn't plugs. Go back a page or two, it's been covered repeatedly. It's not coils either.

 

[AutoXRacer]

I already said it isn't plugs. Go back a page or two, it's been covered repeatedly. It's not coils either.

So if we take ignition out of the picture, then its only one thing: mechanical.

Have you done a leak-down test in that cylinder?
I doubt you'll get anything from a compression test unless its really bad.

 

[skwerl]

This firing miss is really beginning to bug me. My mechanic Alan said it could be a broken valve spring, and Justin agreed that was a possibility. Alan said I could pull the valve cover then take a hammer and punch and tap on the top of each valve stem/rocker. The valve with the broken spring would sound distinctly different. I did this to the best of my ability and couldn't find a broken spring.

Unsure of what to do next, I just put it back together again. Fired it up and it idled perfect. Decided to take it to lunch and a mile down the road it wouldn't idle again. Had to turn around and bring it home. Looks like I need to take a closer look at those valve springs. I borrowed a compression tester but it didn't have the right adapter for out tiny spark plug holes. Alan said he would order one from his Snap-On man.

I guess next step after the compression test is to take a closer look at those valve springs again. I wish I could post up the datalog sheet from the dyno. The misfires are very obvious.

Here you go, Gerald. This is from last Thursday. My mechanic Alan still hasn't gotten back with me about the 12mm adapter for his compression tester. I also have not yet received the valve spring removal tool which is being mailed to me. For now the car is running much better but still misses and stalls once in a while.

 

[AutoXRacer]

Here you go, Gerald. This is from last Thursday. My mechanic Alan still hasn't gotten back with me about the 12mm adapter for his compression tester. I also have not yet received the valve spring removal tool which is being mailed to me. For now the car is running much better but still misses and stalls once in a while.

Is it still randomly misfiring or is it consistent?

Did you ever take a look at the solenoids (although that would throw the whole bank off)?

What springs do you currently run?

 

[skwerl]

Since fixing the idle it hasn't done it much, and since tightening up the zip tie holding the electrical connector on the #5 fuel injector it hasn't done it at all. It would be really cool if that was all the problem is but at this point all I can do is wait and see.

I'll still look at the VCT solenoid the next time I have the valve cover off but I'm not going through all that until I have the valve spring tool. And to answer your question the springs are brand new springs from Livernois, the ones they use on the FRPP Stage 3 heads (I have no idea how else to identify them).

 

[AutoXRacer]

Since fixing the idle it hasn't done it much, and since tightening up the zip tie holding the electrical connector on the #5 fuel injector it hasn't done it at all. It would be really cool if that was all the problem is but at this point all I can do is wait and see.

I'll still look at the VCT solenoid the next time I have the valve cover off but I'm not going through all that until I have the valve spring tool. And to answer your question the springs are brand new springs from Livernois, the ones they use on the FRPP Stage 3 heads (I have no idea how else to identify them).

You have a connector with broken clips?
You should buy a replacement connector for it or I recommend a set. But a set of fuel injector connectors like the ones that come with the ID1000 injectors would be ideal. They seem a lot better material than the OEM ones. With the special Ford tool, you just slide the tool onto the pin in the connector and the pin sides out. Then slide the pins in the new connector!!

Regardless, I am going through the process of replacing all my fuel injector connectors as I have two that have broken clips and I had them zip-tied also.

I hate messing with the electrical connectors, they feel so brittle.

 

[skwerl]

Met with my mechanic this afternoon and took the car for a test drive with his computer hooked up. Of course it ran perfectly and didn't act up the entire test drive, so nothing was learned. I did get the adapter for the compression tester and #5 is 212psi but I haven't checked the rest of them yet. Will continue to dig further until I find something.

But on the other hand, the car sure is fun to drive when it's not acting up. I dropped back down to the 11lb pulley on the blower because it's too much work trying to drive on the street with 640+hp. I'll still swap out pulleys for track days though.

 

[AutoXRacer]

I dropped back down to the 11lb pulley on the blower because it's too much work trying to drive on the street with 640+hp. I'll still swap out pulleys for track days though.

What!!!??? Oh come on... I would love to be in FL right now with them big wide open straight roads...nothing but throttle!! lol

 

[skwerl]

Well I fucked up tonight coming home from dinner. Spun the car straight into a curb. It happened so suddenly that I was unprepared and fucked it up good. Busted out the lower grill, bent the bumper enough that the upper grill won't fit in place any more and bent the rim. Probably bent something in the front end as well because the alignment is off. I'm really pissed at myself right now.

I'm thinking of switching to the GT/CS front bumper. I've always liked the look and this is as good of an opportunity as any. The lower grill insert is gone so if I went back to stock that would need to be replaced anyway.

Tomorrow after work I'm going to pull the bumper cover and see if I can pull the bumper out enough that the grill isn't smashed into my intercooler pump any more. Then I'll run it down to Firestone and get it on the alignment rack (lifetime alignment) to see what is bent under there. I also bent the rim because there's a vibration in that wheel now. Already have a feeler out on IMBOC looking for another stock Bullitt rim.