Update - the last 4 weeks. Got the new turbo on, and car had a missfire. The only things that had been changed wre the turbo and the ECU. Logically the problem should be the ECU, right? Nope. Turns out 2 spark plugs died for no reason! Got the car running with new plugs, and it over heats. Wasn't doing this before. Checked everything, including removing the coolant lines to the turbo. Nothing worked. Went to see the car last week, and the head was off being pressure tested. Came back with nothing wrong. Put it back together. Vince was snowed under last week and didn't get to do anything. Spoke to him today, car's back together, and no longer over heating! No idea why. Vince is going to put it on the rollers today, and, if nothing goes wrong (touch wood), it'll have a running in map on it by the end of today.
She LIVES!!!!! Just got back from Stealth. Running in map is on, front end is on, and I got to take her for a quick spin. First impressions are really good. Current rev limit is 4300 for running in. Rev counter doesn't work, so I didn't push it, but the turbo spool up is really low. She was making 110kW (about 150bhp) at the wheels at 4k RPM on this map, but it feels like a lot more. The wide track feels completely different to the old suspension, and feels really well set up. I'll pick her up on Saturday to start running her in. Vince wants 1500 miles on it before a full map is on, so lots of driving to do. If I can average 60mph, it'll take me 25 hours of driving to do that. Couple of pics: The (almost) complete front end. Lots of cool air to the oil cooler: At last!!
couldn't hack running it in I don't think... it would have to be rev limited or something I just wouldn't be able to stop myself!!!!
Thanks guys. Depending on the weather tomorrow, I might bring it down to Castle Combe tomorrow to start the running in. That's 190mile round trip.
Went over to Stealth this morning to pick her up. They were just tidying up a few bits, so I popped down to the petrol station and filled up a jerry can as the tank was empty. Got back put the 20l or so in the tank, moved all the remaining spare parts into my Mk4 so my missus could go home, and started her up. All seemed good, except for a fair amount of blue smoke when cold, just down to the forged pistons when cold. Checked a few more things, and was about to go for a test drive, when the exhaust suddenly starts blowing. Quick look reveals the bung for the second lambda probe has fallen out. Bolt it back in and tighten it up, and off we go. Up and down the road a couple of times, and she seems really good, until suddenly all boost disappears. Another quick look, and one of the boost pipes has come loose. Took the aluminium pipe off, and put a ridge in it for the pipe to clamp to. Sorted. I then drove to Castle Combe and back, so she already has 200 miles on her. Didn't miss a beat the whole way. Oil and water temps were too low, the cooling is really working well. I'll have to cover up the oil cooler and some of the intercooler for now, as the oil struggled to get over 80, and the water guage never moved out of the white area. I was actually wondering if the guage was even working, until I stopped and looked up some directions which took a few minutes, and then the water guage moved to the middle, and the oil temp moved up in to the 90s. So far so good. Only problem is what sounds like a CV joint, but could just be gearbox being louder than I'm used to with no sound proofing. As there are a few second hand parts with no history on the car, there will probably be a couple of minor problems along the way. Really pleased.
Car now has 600 miles on it, and got some fresh oil yesterday. Due to the overheating issues from before, we left the thermostat out to keep the temps down. However, the car was taking far too long to warm up, and running too cold. A big piece of cardboard over the oil cooler helped with running too cool, but I decided that a stat need to go in. Put another stat in, and immediately had the same overheating problems. Looks like the rad was knackered, as one half was roasting, and the other half was cold. Why the symptoms are as they are, god only knows, and he's certainly not telling. Put a new Corrado VR6 rad in, and discovered that the one I had wasn't a VR6 one, but a G60 one. Fortunately the VR6 one fitted even though it was bigger. Drive home today was much better, car got up to temp much more quickly and stayed there too. Other than that, the car is running really well. Fingers crossed. Only a lot more mileage to do.
