Thread: Convention Build Status

G35 for me this year. 200 is going in a new direction, hopefully a good one this time!

TL;DR - The engine would start up strong, but then drop to a low rpm, then idle up strong, then drop, then high, then low, until after 4-8 oscillations the idle would get so far out of whack it killed the engine on a down-turn of the rpm.




Before the car got sidelined by a failed wastegate actuator, things were as good as to be expected. Quite good in all areas.
After sitting for a long while, gathering cob webs and apparently a good bit of bird poop in the exhaust I managed to finally get the engine harness back on the car after a major overhaul, and also got the new 20V coils installed. Before finishing up the wiring of the coils, I wanted to make sure I knew which wires to isolate to get a good tach and timing signal. So I started and warmed up the car with alligator clips connecting all four coil power, ground, and signal wires. I got the engine to start and idle fine, so I took things to the next step by wiring up the power and ground permanently for the coils, and I left the signal wires still with the alligator clips. I again went to start the car and idle it to make sure things were good, and it ran rough as crap with a real low idle. After some quick testing I found that I'd swapped the signal wires for cylinders 2 and 3. Switching those back gave me a strong start-up but a very, very bouncy idle. The idle would bounce so hard between low and high it would kill the engine after a couple of oscillations.

I also had bird poop coming out of the tail pipe. I thought maybe some birds had made a home in there.

Hours and hours later, after going through the entire idle settings, and disconnecting the exhaust to rule out any restrictions, and completely cleaning the idle valves and doing tons of testing, and swapping to some new spark plugs that seated properly in the coils, I finally took real good notice of the A/F ratios I was seeing, and tested things by adding more fuel (in the idle controls) and things got real good real quick. I was home free then. Apparently something with the wiring ended up changing the speed of opening or closing for the injectors, and they were almost at the stall limit in my tune before, and the wiring change pushed them over the edge. Adding a couple thousandths of milliseconds of fuel around idle made all the difference.

Boy would that look terrific with a CF hood.



Oh the joy. Finally got my Classic back from the shop. Took a couple damn months to get the HID's and CSK's correct. And fixed. And re-fixed. And parts fixed. And parts replaced. And......what a PITA.

I really, no kidding, could have done it faster myself. Hell, if I undid one bolt at a time, then checked the forum, then undid another bolt, then asked a question on the forum, then undid another bolt and posted my progress, then unhooked a single connector and posted pics, then.....

However.......drumroll.....my HID's are absolutely ridiculously good. Worth every dime I paid, which was a shit-load of dimes. The cut-off line on the beams is like a ruler. Daylight/night-time. The output is brilliant white light. The high-beams turn a 2-lane highway in the middle of BFE into daylight. I do need to adjust them up by just a few degrees. Just a touch for a little more throw down the road on the low beams. NO flashing beams by other cars/annoyed drivers whatsoever. Love them lights. It started raining on me, or I would have snapped a few pics.

CSK's finally on, adjusted, and working 100%. I did not really comprehend the vast difference between AGX's and CSK's. It is not even close. The AGX's will indeed work with Hyperco springs. No questions about it. However, it is a fairly rough, bouncy ride. There is no comparison to the smooth, controlled, comfort of the CSK's. I really do think it is as comfortable as what I remember from the stock suspension. All the performance, zero downside.

I'm installing a couple of interior quarter panels, detailing it, and calling it a day for this Convention. CF will be waiting till next year. Hopefully accompanied by a fully finished interior (seats are the only interior item left stock for now), and a VE.

See you in a few weeks gentlemen.

Glad to hear you got your car back and are loving it. Can't wait to see pics in your build log Shawn!

I see. I currently am having idle issues as well but not sure what to attribute them to. It's an ongoing mystery. Sounds like your issue is different from mine.

Fuel Pressure or iacv? My car did that when I first put the engine in and it turned out to be the afpr was at 100 psi. Also the bov being open without the recirc installed made it do that.

Hey Rob who does the painting for you? Close to avon or olmsted?

^This picture right here shows more than just the weekend warrior. I see a clean daily driver, the nice home, and a yard that looks up to par. This is when you are on your #GrownManSh*t. Nice job Rob.

Don't gas him up Reese. We all know thats a garage queen. Looks like all the Aztec Red classics just sit and do push ups for years.

Got the last touch of wiring done, ARP extended studs installed. Waiting on a flange to show up so I can get the motor in the car and buttoned up. Measurements done for my custom catch can and that will be done shortly.