my tuppins worth now.
Second of all...Craig, had a good read through.
If your CR is over the 13+ mark, unless you have the best bloody tuner this is gonna be difficult to map. i assume you said since you think they took more off the head and block you didnt want it as bad?
I would recommend perhaps getting the pistons shaved a bit, and a 2mm head gasket, that comp needs to come down.
I'm not convinced it'a over 13, if its even there. and the trouble with a really thick 2mm gasket is it reduces the squish area which in turn (somehow lol) reduces the resistance to pinking - thereby cancelling out any advantages the thicker headgasket provides by lowering compression. I have just received a 1.5mm Cosworth gasket to lower it a little and i'm confident it should be ok
As for the FPR, Get rid of it, VE's have 2 stock FPR's so i think your opening a can of worms and since your going for a remap anyways prob just being a pain.
like sam said one's a dampener and i only fitted the fpr for run in to avoid running lean before mapping. I kept a keen eye on my plugs for signs of leanness and overfuelling and on run in it wan't bad at all. I might remove it after i'm mapped again though like you say
Adjustible cam gears.....again VVL means variable valve timing, its more fannying about. get rid of it.
Can't say i agree with this, countless threads on the dash show how useful cam gears are in terms of moving the power band, especially it seems by narrowing the lobe seperation angle. ie. +5, -5 seems to be a common setting
If the engine was was detonating, this means inside those cylinders are getting hot, the CP's should handle it but the rings will be at there limits. You should NOT feel anything on the bores, you should see hone marks but thats it, Get those barrels honed again mate, and new piston rings,
The tops of my pistons look pretty good so the det can't have been that bad, there's no chunks missing lol, and it's not det-ing at all now so all is perfectly safe. In an ideal world i would rehone and ring it but due to money and time issues i'll only do that at a later date if needs be
If your running a DE ecu, run your ignition timing to 13-15 degrees, the DE ecu is designed for this, run and only run 99 octane Shell V-Power...stop wasting your money on octane boosters, they are a load of shit to be honest. (i assume its a de, if not correct me)
Yeh i'm aiming for a base timing of 15' but i do disagree about some octane boosters. I reckon a good lot are a load of shite, but have seen 2 or 3 independant tests showing 2 brands of booster to genuinely raise octane rating by a few points so i'm not sure. I might take a bottle with me to the mapping sesh and see if it makes any difference on dyno to where the timing map can be advanced to
Running in your car, do 150 miles with running in oil, change the oil, then put in the grade of oil you want to use, change it after 500 miles and then again just before the remap. i reckon 1000 miles run in is the best. Dont take the revs over 2.5 k but dont do a constant speed either, It needs to be variable load. Running in properly is the difference between a car fucking up after a few hunder miles and lasting 100k+ miles.
Try and get that greddy MSS to switch both cams independantly. set low switch points, to test but do this nearer the 1000 mile mark, this prevents the engine fucking up. once mapped dont change the greddy, the ecu will be mapped according to switch points, if you change then your map points become useless.
Yeh definitely mate, i'm pretty sure one channel on my mss is goosed so will probably buy a vtec switch to control the other channle before mapping
Make sure your injectors are at least 333cc numbers, Over fuelling a car is better than running it lean. bear in mind fuel also acts as a coolant hence leaning your engine makes fuel burn hotted.
Yeh i'm runnin 333 ve injectors mate and the fuellings all spot on atm so it's all safe n sound
Get a new set of plugs, or clean the old ones if they are platinum or iridium, put a shitty set in till you run in the engine, put the new plugs in just before the remap, this will help for the tuning as fuel will burn better.
^This i do need to do before the next map session
I am planning a custom DE/VE build, I have sat worked out the values, and spoke to my bro in law, He was a mechanic but also a car hobbyist for 30 years, and i learned a lot from him, he has never had issues on engine rebuilds and done them for years. so i trust his judgement, and giving his rep he used to build the best engines out there in this area in his time.
I personally think you have done a good job, i think something has just been overlooked. Fuck the ciritisism mate, you will get it right. You might not be a mechanic, but this gives you more determination to get it done right, not all mechanics are great, one of my local garages is a cowboy and been a mechanic for 20 years...and he's still a dick!
so no i didn't re-use stock studs. And as for that being a FAIL, i'm pretty sure your car has reused stock studs in it anyway lolol hahahaha
