uzumaki

November 2016 I took the wagon to our friends at Autotech in Canberra. They tune our Time Attack Evo and lots of other race and street Evos. Their Dyno is pretty hard to impress though, it gives conservative power figures.

Loaded up the wagon with Jerry cans of fresh United e85 and BP 98 fuels as I'm getting new Flex Fuel tune.



I wanted to upgrade my old Bosch 2000cc injectors, so I got some new genuine "Injector Dynamics" 1700cc injectors that are rated safe to use with e85 fuel. We use the I.D 1700s on the race car so they will be plenty big enough for my setup.



Ed asked me if I wanted to help out by installing the injectors myself to save him some time. The new injector connectors were different to my wiring harness but the kit came with all the connectors and pins so I could convert my current wiring harness for the I.D 1700s. Having the right crimping tool made the job easy. Crimping progress.



Done.



Starting the fuel maps. (I really love this new dash)



rolling up



I decided to keep the boost a fair bit lower for the 98 fuel tune, so we ended up with a conservative 285Kw at 23psi.

The next morning Ed & Chris did the "cold start" and carpark driving tuning to make sure it was nice to drive slowly too. The next stage was the e85 tune.

Boost was increased gradually to around 28-29 touching on 30psi and we got close enough to 350Kw. So that's plenty for the moment and driving it on the street now is much nicer. 64Kw more than the 98 tune and no knock :thumbs:

uzumaki

Annoying updates about my fuel system and gearbox issues. Sigh… I thought I would be enjoying the wagon finally this Summer.

After the new tune last November my tuner commented that he didn't rate my Aeroflow external fuel pumps. I had noticed that one of them had been leaking sometimes between the casing and the end plate, so I asked him to get me some new genuine Bosch 044 pumps. I also wanted a fuel pressure sensor to be added to the FPR and wired up to my ECU and setup a dash warning if pressure dropped too low.

New Bosch 044 pumps in place, no more leaks!



and fuel pressure sensor added to Fuel Pressure Reg



After the workshop installed the new fuel pumps they put it on the dyno again for a checkup. It was on the Dyno for 2 hours (detailed on the Invoice) and when I came back to pick up the car they told me its running too rich. I was told to bring the car back for more tuning and in the meantime run it on 98 fuel only. I questioned this and I said "how can it be running too rich when the FPR controls the fuel pressure at the rail?" They said the Bosch fuel pumps just flows a lot more fuel then the previous pumps. I don't understand this, why does matter? Wouldn't it just be a matter of backing off the FPR to match the previous FPR pressure? and no tuning be needed?

I haven't taken the car back yet as 4th gear became noisy on the drive home after the dyno runs in November. I haven't been driving it as the noise is quite bad now I shift from 3rd to 5th to avoid 4th gear. Not fun. Not wanting to remove the gearbox at home or have the car at my mate's workshop too long while the gearbox is rebuilt I decided to get a brand new gearbox. Not so easy.

So now, after 3 months of searching for a new gearbox, I finally have a brand new Evo 9 RS box and in another shipment I've got a 4.11 final drive.

Ratios for the evo 9 box are:
1st gear 2.785
2nd gear 1.950
3rd gear 1.444
4th gear 1.096
5th gear 0.761
The final drive is a 4.529

I think the 4.11 final drive would suit this car better but I'm reluctant to strip down a brand new box to swap out the Final Drive.

uzumaki

New Transmission!

Last week I got the wagon up on the hoist and with a lot help from my mate Matt during the day, and Marty's help in the evening, we swapped out the old transmission for a brand Evo 9 RS transmission.
These e9 RS gearboxes are getting pretty rare nowadays so my car was basically off the road for 3 months while I tried to get one.

Dropped the old transmission oil and found this on the magnetic drain pug. Matchbox for scale.



Fresh from Japan, out of the box and plastic bag. Part Number 2500A122



Its so clean and comes with all new shift linkages, brackets, Clutch fork, thrust bearing, clutch slave cylinder.







The wagon had a new twin plate carbon clutch in it when I bought it but we pulled it out to check its condition and thankfully it was like new!





Finally in. It was a pretty big day but got it all done. Also replaced some axle nuts and washers with new Mitsu parts plus another few minor things.

Driving home the car felt so awesome. Love it! Shifting was a little tight but I'm sure that will free up after a few heat cycles.



I love the twin Carbon Clutch. I wish I took photos of it when it was out. Mostly carbon plates but it does have some brass buttons in there too but it doesn't grab like HD clutches I have driven where the clutch was either on or off. So driving in carparks or hill starts is like driving a stock car and the pedal is as light as a factory clutch too. I couldn't see this exact clutch on the Xtreme clutch website tho, not sure why??? Maybe superseded?

But I found a photo on a UK evo forum where the distributor said: "This is our 230mm Carbon friction twin plate with heavy duty cover and is held down with ARP cover bolts. It easy to use with a very light pedal feel but with enough strength to run serious power but still be really user friendly. The clamp load would work out at around 900-1000 ft/lb & this is the same unit Andy Forrest runs in his drag car, estimated 1200hp (at the flywheel) and 7.8 second quarter mile.

uzumaki

I have been gathering some new parts over the last few months to upgrade the wagon.

I asked Haltech about an Elite 2500 ECU & harness for my Evo about 2.5 years ago and just recently a kit became available. I wanted to make use of their latest technology which has better safety features and fancy long term ECU learning.

uzumaki

The new turbo is from Mark @ GT Pumps. It's a new GTP 762-LWT (Light Weight Turbine)

Its a beautiful thing:

uzumaki

The turbo kit comes with lots of stuff including gaskets, in-line oil filter, braided oil lines to feed the turbo from the oil filter housing, new coolant hard lines, washers and dump pipe studs. I also added the optional Titanium nut kit to bolt the exhaust manifold to the head. Plus other Titanium nuts and Nord-Lock washers (not all pictured).
Wanting do it all right, while I'm at it, I will also be replacing all coolant hoses in the engine bay with new OEM hoses.

uzumaki

A new exhaust manifold from SME was chosen to make the most out the new turbo











I took the manifold to my local coating guy to get it Ceramic coated with "Cerakote". This should help keep the heat in the manifold and reduce engine bay temps. Apparently the ceramic coating can increase power by 5% too. It certainly can't hurt and it will blend into the engine bay nicer being black as opposed to weathering stainless steel.

Firstly it was prepared with a blast using new garnet media.



Then it was coated on the inside and baked their oven. Then a few days later it got the Cerakote treatment on the outside in Satin Black.



Came up really good. This coat is air cured for abut a week.



You can't really see the inside coating very well but it has a slight yellow colour to it.

uzumaki

After a long phone call with Plazmaman the next part to this upgrade was chosen. It is a new Plazmaman OEM fitment size intercooler in Stealth black with the complete Plazmaman intercooler pipe kit also powder coated black. It flows much more than the OEM intercooler. I asked Plazmaman to weld on a bung to the upper intercooler pipe for my intake temperature sensor, before it was powdercoated. Great service!







I'll be installing these parts with my mate's help in about 2 weeks (hoist will make it easier), then my tuner will install the Elite ECU and do some more dyno time. Thanks for reading.

STraj

Wow Andy! I've followed this build for years and forgot about the tidying up work you did early on. I have huge respect for your attention to detail, and the fact you tackle so many jobs in your own. I wish you owned a TME to make my next Evo purchase a no-brainer, as you're certainly a preferred ex-owner (we're like minded, you and I). Maybe things will fall into place for us both, and we'll be shaking hands on a deal for a certain E9 sedan in the months to come

Keep up the exceptional work, my friend...

apple94

looking good!

mines5

The way you have kept this car and swapped performance parts deserves a salute. Ohlins suspension, blue scuff plate and that ralliart cf center mirror was an amazing choice.

nor11384

iTrader: (1)

wow, dont see this type of detailed work any more...good work man...subscribed for future updates...

uzumaki

Thanks for the comments guys

The build progressed last Friday when I started to install the parts I've been collecting over the past few months. I decided it would be much easier using my mates 2 post hoist and yes it saved a lot of pain. I took my time and my mate Matt helped me when he could get spare time, but the job took all day.

Exhaust manifold bolts are known to be stubborn so for about two weeks prior to the job I soaked them with "Corrosion X" and cracked each nut before heading to the workshop. It was a very smokey drive as the Corrosion X burnt away.

In preparation for the new tubular exhaust manifold I made an aluminium heat shield to protect the exhaust cam angle sensor. You can see it's raw aluminium finish in upper right corner in the following photo. I will also make valve cover heat shield to protect the valve cover's gasket etc. I'll ceramic coat both heat shields to match the exhaust manifold after the tune is complete.



On the hoist, working at a comfortable height, removed air box, turbo inlet, radiator, front bar and the old HKS intercooler and piping kit.



Much more space with the radiator & hoses removed. Disconnected turbo coolant hoses, vac lines, oil feed and oil drain hoses.



Added some cardboard to protect the intercooler until the front bar is ready to go back on.



Loosened lots of nuts and bolts & removed the exhaust manifold. Then removed the turbo from the dump pipe.



Installed a new Plazmaman intercooler with powered coated finish. Fits perfectly and mounts using the OEM intercooler grommets and fasteners.



Loosely bolted turbo to dump pipe using Nord-Lock washers and titanium nuts coated in Devcon Stop-Seize Nickel Anti-Seize Compound (Part No: D19030) which is good to up to 1400 degrees Celsius!!







Sat the exhaust manifold onto the head and used the GTpumps titanium nut kit coated in the above anti-seize compound. I was able to get the torque wrench on every nut except one. I used the OEM bolts to attach the Ex Mani to the turbo again with anti-seize.





Attached the new turbo oil feed line from the oil filter housing, in-line oil filter, oil drain hose and all new other hoses.

uzumaki

Fitted up the intercooler piping kit next. Its a really good fit with great quality silicon hoses and great clamps too.







No time for cleaning and good quality photos



Instead of re-using my aluminium turbo inlet pipe which didn’t fit very well I used the GTpumps silicon turbo inlet pipe even though it’s slightly smaller diameter. It looks very similar to the “Force Performance” inlet. Being a bit narrower I hope it doesn’t reduce my power. Also front valve cover breather will be re-made to look neater.



Nice titanium features



Front bar back on



Rad hose wrapped for heat protection. Still need to work on heat shielding

uzumaki

Two days ago I dropped the car to my Tuner who installed the new Haltech 2500 Elite ECU.



Now for some tuning



After a few hours of tuning we had a low fuel pressure issue. So he’s ordered a new Fuel Pressure Regulator. So hopefully that fixes the problem. A bit annoying as I only fitted the Turbosmart FPR2000 only last year.

Thanks for reading and comments