progress on the banshee...

[ericjon262]

hopefully I will get a tracking number for the new engine tomorrow, I was hoping it would have already been on the way by now... in other news, I discovered my crankshaft position sensor wiring has a break in the insulation, right at the connector... Thankfully I have enough slack in the wire to the sensor, that I can depin the connector, cut the old pin off, and replace with a new one at the break. I just hope there aren't more breaks like it, it can make my life hell if I have to chase an intermittent short.

I was skeptical of the wire DIYautotune recommended for the crank position sensor, it's shielded, which is good, but it's also 22 AWG, and the insulation felt very brittle when I initially put it together. I'm thinking now, that I might run a new wire for it and the knock sensors, (same wire) to avoid further problems.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Nothing wrong with 22 ga wire as long as you're not a gorilla handling it. However, if the insulation isn't up to engine bay heat cycling, that would be a problem. I'd @$$ume DIYAutotune would be able to select appropriate wire for automotive engine bay applications... but find out what material the insulation is and ask brother Google (or DuckDuckGo since brother Google is becoming big brother Google) if that material is appropriate for automotive wiring.

[ericjon262]

that would be fine if the wires had been heat cycled, but they are pretty much brand new, this engine hasn't run with the MS3x setup. I'm looking into a few options now, but they can get very pricey quick for shielded wire rated to >200f, and oil resistant.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Does it actually need to be shielded?

[ericjon262]

the megasquirt manual makes strong recommendations for the wire to be shielded, maybe the MS3 is more sensitive to RFI than a stock PCM? not really sure, if I had to guess, I could probably get away without it, but it's not really worth it to me to test my luck on it.

I was referred to this by a guy on the MS pages, fits the bill for sure, and it's way cheaper than the stuff I was looking at.

https://prowireusa.com/c-58-shielded-te ... ?pagenum=1


Also, I got a shipping confirmation on the new engine today, should be here next week.

[ericjon262]

lol, one week turned to two, but it's here now.

LX9.jpg (122.56 KiB) Viewed 1684 times

plan right now is to finish the rattle can rebuild of the Pig-rig's engine, then start work on disassembly of this guy. not planning to go to crazy, biggest thing will be checking piston to valve clearance, and correcting as necessary, if pocket cutting is required, I'll probably have the rotating assembly balanced.

[ericjon262]

I had been toying with the idea of upgrading to an MS3 pro ultimate, and making running a pi dash, I hadn't listed the MS3x for sale, but offhandedly mentioned I was interested in upgrading, and someone bought my MS3x! this will definitely remove a ton of wiring from the car, and add a whole new layer to the capability of the car as a whole. it'll probably be a few weeks before I get the pro, and it will take some re wiring and mounting, but they are way more rugged than my MS3x.

[ericjon262]

I've started work towards making the turbo setup better, I ordered new flanges, and will be ordering some schedule 40 weld els later this week to redo the manifolds. The new manifolds will still be mild steel, but I intend to have them cerakoted inside and out to maximize durability.

[ericjon262]

I started teardown of the new engine today



drained residual oil out and it was still somewhat see through!



another forged crank, I'm 3 for 3 with them so far. 



pulled the timing cover and was quite surprised at how clean it is!





then I dropped the pan











it's pristine! practically brand new looking. the bores have hatch marks still, but look pretty glassy, I'm going to run a ball deglazer over them to renew the walls, and probably throw a set of gapless top rings in for shits and giggles. overall, this thing looks awesome, I'm half tempted to just throw it in and run it as is, but that wouldn't be any fun when I have those ported heads and monster cam to go with it. 

[The Dark Side of Will]

I don't think you even need to touch the factory hone.

[ericjon262]

we'll see how the bores look without pistons in them, and then proceed from there.

[Shaun41178(2)]

I made 600 hp with stock rings and ring gaps. I dont think anything needs to be touched but have at it

[ericjon262]

when did you make 600 hp? dyno?

I pulled the heads and removed the pistons, they're pretty clean, i'm going to remove the carbon deposits, and either gap the existing rings a little wider, or throw in a set of gapless top rings if total seal has a set that fits.

[Shaun41178(2)]

I dynoed 530 whp. I posted the dyno a year ago on here. Thats about 600 crank. Never pulled the bottom end apart.

[ericjon262]

Most 60V6 engines use a single notch or tooth for the cam position sensor, recently I discovered that the LX9 uses the same style 175* reluctor as an LS1. this is very important for anyone wanting to run a MS3 setup like I had, because the latest beta firmware release allows for using the LS1 wheel settings with the V6. the problem though, is that no one grinds a cam with the 175* reluctor like the Lx9 uses, they only grind them like the older 60v6's with the single tooth, so if you swap cams, the settings will not work quite as prescribed.

[The Dark Side of Will]

I dynoed 530 whp. I posted the dyno a year ago on here. Thats about 600 crank. Never pulled the bottom end apart.

It's a question of use rather than ultimate strength. The engine may be ok for a few dyno pulls, but the higher heat load from a different use case may case the stock rings to butt. A little extra ring gap never killed an engine.

Were you running E85 to make that number?

[Shaun41178(2)]

Yup running e85 which will keep pistons cooler but its still proof stock ring gap works.

Everytime I drove it was doing long 4th gear pulls as I was street tuning. Any issues with ring gap would have occurred.

Pump 93 will prob be different but you wont be able to run as much boost and timing which means lower combustions temps as well.

Like I said its his engine he can do what he wants

[LX9Alpine]

Hello all! Thanks for posting all the info on your build! After investigating the DIY Autotune products, I purchased the microsquirt and harness. Its been a while since I was fresh on all the requirements I thought I needed, but you are saying that your MS wasn't enough? I have an LX9 with custom headers a T5 five speed and a Holset HX40 turbo I'm putting into an old sports car. You can see it here lx9alpine.com

[The Dark Side of Will]

My dad had a Sunbeam Tiger back in the day... before I was born, IIRC.

[LX9Alpine]

Tigers are nice cars! Way too expensive though! This is an alpine, much more reasonable $$$.