November 2019 Update #2: No More Check Engine Light!
Engine So I spent yet another weekend mostly troubleshooting engine issues. I had hoped that the ECU swap would be a nice 10 min fix-everything solution but that was far from the case. I swapped the ECU’s and everything stayed exactly the same which was quite disappointing. I quadruple checked my AVCS wiring and found […]
November 2019 Update: Exhaust finished, ABS Wiring
Haven’t been able to work on the car in a few weeks due to my college club’s (Georgia Tech Wreck Racing) competition a week ago. We built a turbocharged LS-Swapped BMW E28 for competing in the GRM $2000 Challenge. Now that that’s over I have a few weeks to get some work in before finals […]
October 2019 Update: Exhaust and Continuing The Go Kart Check-List
Engine I mocked up the exhaust using my existing Boig Motorsports exhaust and a portion of the downpipe from the EJ207. It won’t be as nice as the original Boig exhaust but it’ll do and it didn’t cost me anything extra. A short drive with the exhaust confirmed that all my low-speed engine issues were […]
September 2019 Update #4: Back to Go-Kart
Chassis Reattached rear suspension, axles, and crossmember to put the car back on the ground Bled my clutch line. I’m not sure why exactly, but I have had a very difficult time getting my clutch master to actually suck new fluid out of the reservoir while bleeding. Instead it tries to suck fluid back from […]
September 2019 Update #3: EJ207 is in and running!
Engine Coolant pipes have all been switched to silicone couplers. No leaks yet! They seem to have a better seal than the FFR provided adapters. Did an oil change and have mostly filled with coolant although some bleeding still needs to happen. Installed JDM ECU and ran wiring for AVCS (variable valve timing in Subaru-speak) […]
September 2019 Update #2: Engine Prep for The EJ207
New engine is in! It’s a JDM EJ207 Version 8. This is the JDM WRX STi motor, which is a twin-scroll turbo high-revving variant of their 2.0L engine. Should be a fun engine in the 818 with less turbo lag and a 8k redline. Makes somewhere around 280hp on the stock tune which is how […]
September 2019 Update: Murphy’s Law has run its course
Engine Failure So…the engine dyno session did not go as planned. Car was doing well for about two hours and pulls up to 6000 rpm. Made 260 HP and 310ft-lbs at the wheels by that point. However, once the tuner did the higher rpm pulls the engine got rod knock immediately so that brought everything […]
August 2019 Update: Running on all cylinders!
Engine I re-shimmed the valves to bring everything back into tolerance on the passenger side head. To my relief, the leak down tests following this were good! I put everything back together and sure enough the car is now firing properly on all cylinders 🙂 . Dyno tune coming shortly! Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly […]
July 2019: Valve Shim Mini-Update
I had a brief visit back to Georgia and I took an hour or so to measure my existing valve shims so I can order replacements in the correct size. I wanted to do this so I can get the engine running as soon as possible and not wait on parts. Valve Shim Measurements: I […]
May 2019: Engine diagnosed (Probably) and Summer Break
Engine I took off the passenger side valve cover to measure the valve lash on the rebuilt head I purchased from eBay. Sure enough, 6 out of 8 valves had a clearance of under .002″ (tolerance is .008″ +/- .0008 for intake and .010 +/- .0008″ for exhaust) meaning I could not measure them so […]