Blacktop 3sge SW20

[GDII]

That's great to hear! Hopefully it results in a fun car.

[Reubenh]

Well I put it on the dyno and gave it a bit of a tune up.
167whp at 7500rpm. Intake and exhaust is probably limiting it down a little bit, still revd it to 8000 which is fun, power stays pretty flat from 7000 to 8000.
I'll see if I can compress a video and attach it somehow.
Loads of things to do but at least it does skids now.

[Reubenh]

https://streamable.com/qckkwy

[GDII]

That's not bad power. My GEN2 3SGE is 100whp at 6000rpm. So your engine is about 50hp more than mine from factory. Obviously 2 different dynos but it's going to be a lot more fun than the GEN2.

[Reubenh]

Definitely feels pretty quick.
I've got a CL1 Honda Accord which I thought was very fast but but this thing is close. Has much much more torque tho, around 4000rpm it feels like 40% more output than the Honda. Peak output the Honda has 20 extra hp I think (did Dyno it but forgot the figures)
Just last night I replaced the dash cluster illumination bulbs and it looks pretty great! I also removed the bulb from the orange battery light. Who knows what it was for. I should have traced it back to the connector into the car.

[GDII]

I have a feeling the orange battery light is the battery fluid level sensor.

[Reubenh]

Well I did an 8000 rpm skid and it didn't run right since.
First thought that I killed the engine but it's all good.
Was actually because I mounted the fuel pressure regulator on the top side of the fuel rail and the intake manifold moved around on it's plastic spacer and smashed it down. I was left with 12psi fuel pressure to play with. Of course this doesn't really work out.
When I block off the return it appears the fuel pressure goes to 60 psi on the dot. I assume there is a relief valve inside the fuel pump. Do you think it would be a silly idea to just let the pump sit at relief pressure the whole time?

[*84vvt]

YES silly idea .
You will be over fueling the motor (running very rich).
best get a regulator at the correct pressure or you may damage the pistons and bores.

[Reubenh]

It will not over fuel because of ecu corrections.
My injector deadtime table only goes to 60psi so I must not go over that (which I am currently at around 80 psi differential pressure)
Because it seems to be a pain to find a regulator that bolts in the rail I will just add a solid state relay driven from the ecu which will regulate based on the fuel pressure sensor in a closed loop fashion.

[Reubenh]

The reason it only went to 60psi on the dot before is because the engine was not running so battery voltage was like 12.2 or so.
With the alternator charging it makes plenty of pressure as you'd expect. There is no internal relief like I first thought

[GDII]

60psi is rather high. Most NA engines are about 40-43psi base pressure.

[*84vvt]

Put an air fuel ratio gauge on it so you know what its running at ....
Test and prove
Or risk damaging the engine .
Its up to you .

[Reubenh]

Don't worry about that one mate. I have the full tune going on, Fancy LSU ADV sensor and all sorts.
I can adjust the fuel pressure at will now and with a full deadtime table for the injectors, there is no change in air fuel ratio between 30 psi and 55psi.
In other news its warranted now (didn't pick up on the engine swap). Just drove it 300km to a different town and no issues.
Suspension is pretty sus, decent amount of body roll surprisingly and the ling long tyres are not suitable.
Open diff will also need to be swapped at some stage

[Reubenh]

So, I have been driving it around a fair bit lately.
I am not a fan of the exhaust noise and the handling on road is pretty interesting.
In the wet it is plain dangerous however an alignment and some good tyres will sort it out.

I did take it for a good river bash a couple of weeks ago and feel that its the way I want to take the car, needs an LSD for sure
The suspension response feels suited to gravel roads already so why not go in that direction eh.
My CL1 Honda is a much better car in every way for street and track use so I may as well turn this into a bit of a rally cross machine

I wouldn't mind a bit more suspension travel and probably a much better handbrake and line lock that I can turn on
As far as the engine goes. Its good. Its not insane and any mr2 turbo is probably quicker but when you're striking 8000 rpm it feels amazing
The gear ratios don't really suit the engine though, feels like a huge jump into second

I have also been constantly tuning the engine and its pretty sorted now, starts mint under all conditions, low speed driving is almost perfect etc (all those things are the hardest parts to tune when starting from a blank slate)