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Ryan wrote:Now that the KL runs right, it beats the s--- out of the K8

Took it upto 7.2 or 7.5 at the track yesterday, didn't skip a beat. Only thing limiting me now is the engine management.

The K8 is missing something... oh yeah, torque.

Ahh, but have you ever heard of a K8 killing a trans? Well, besides mine

These engines weren't designed with lots of torque in mind, probably a good thing with the transmission though, for real.

I have a self serving question How do you set the timing with the timing cover missing? I threw the distributor in @ TDC on the compression stroke determined (scientifically) with a long 1/4" drive extension, and well it runs. That is as far as I got so far.

I have half complete covers. They go about halfway up. Just enough to keep rocks out, but now a perfect funnel for tools and bolts. If anyone is experiencing a little bloodlust at the idea of butchering timing covers, I used a wrecked/burnt/worn set. I have a good set I might throw on next year.

Ryan wrote:I have half complete covers. They go about halfway up. Just enough to keep rocks out, but now a perfect funnel for tools and bolts. If anyone is experiencing a little bloodlust at the idea of butchering timing covers, I used a wrecked/burnt/worn set. I have a good set I might throw on next year.

I have 3 nearly perfect sets

Honestly, they keep stuff out, so the imperfection is cosmetic

I agree though, it would be amazing if we didn't need them. Make some custom ones, with access points, and people would line up to buy.

Hey Ryan, just read through all of this finally. Quite an interesting log you've got going on

I don't want to sound negative here but reading through your build I was getting the impression that you were getting yourself into more than what you bargained for. With all the pioneer flow theories and the hard break-in procedure that I was just thinking "wtf" to (lol!), it seemed like trouble was just down the road. And there it was a few posts later - you blew your engine lol... It's good that you've got it back up and running though. Just for your reference - I have 210PSI on every cylinder with KL31 cams and the engine has close to 150,000km on it. And the funny thing is it looks dirtier under the valve covers than yours I've found that not to be a good indicator of engine condition.
Nice to see you're using the hotter plugs like I am, everyone is afraid of the 5s for some reason. The traction issues are hard to diagnose - you need good tires, suspension, and alignment before you can make conclusions. I've only got traction issues in 1st. You definitely shouldn't be having torque steer issues in 4th, that would take crazy power. You are using some MacGyver'ed steering rack though so I don't know. I agree with you about the shitty brakes, I found out first hand myself when I rebuilt the calipers. They are simply just okay brakes, if that. Although I can still lock up the wheels even with my setup. However I'm planning a future upgrade already.

Anyways keep it up, looking forward to the next updates!

Thanks Igor, for taking the time to read it. Always feels nice when somebody cares.

As far as I can tell so far, my oiling system is, in the very least, no worse than anyone elses . I think the priming system will be probably the best idea though, and perhaps the cooler, but I've come into more info on that yet, and my temps are closer to normal than I thought. Aparently 210-220 is no big deal, and I hardly EVER hit 240, I have to be cruising at 4k+ RPM for a long while on a hot day to hit that.

The blown motor was indeed a product of all the oiling mess, but from a debris standpoint, not a flow standpoint. Totally my fault, I should have spent the extra time/money to get it properly flushed after grinding in there. I don't seem to learn in that respect (timing belt job a few weeks ago...)

Glad to see a healthy number from your ZE. I'm in contact with a guy on Probetalk who is running the same cams as me, and he'll be doing a compression test shortly. Its his track car, and it hasn't had a lot of break in time yet. I'm pretty sure its the cams though. I'll be posting it up when I know.

My heads are clean because they aren't original to the rest of the motor... I discovered them in the JY. Freshly tanked, in the very least, and nothing obviously wrong with them, so I just snagged 'em($40). Threw in Topline's stem seals and Interprep springs. One thing I wish I did was lapping the valves. I just looked at the seats, noticed they were a little thin, and just put it back together. KLG4 heads may be in my future. These cams destroy the HLA's I think. They're always noisy on startup, so who knows about 8k RPM...

You're totally right that I need some suspension work... bad. My last bout of wheel hop destroyed my RHS ball joint, it clunks now every time I switch from gas to brake. All my bushings are tired, too. I'm currently on brakes, I think I have to tackle that next, especially if I want to keep tracking it. I'm also sure I need another alignment, as my eyeballs tell me I have positive camber in the LR wheel.


Talking about traction issues, I'm curious to hear about other ZEs. I'm running 195 series BFG G-Force GT Sports (worth $600 new a few years ago). I know they're super thin, but they were an awesome price. Also, they don't make road noise. I can have them in full slip and they're silent. Well, aside from a certain asphalt, but very few roads use that... Because they're so quiet it hard to hear when I have wheelspin, I kinda have to go by feel. 1st is easy, between the hop and the RPMS moving with my foot instead of the road, but I have to dump the clutch to get it going. It won't spin if I just bring it up WOT from a gentle 2k engagement. Well, once again, not that I can hear. 2nd will almost always "chirp", well silently, and 3rd will sometimes too. The torque steer thing into 4th is pretty crazy, I don't know what causes it, but its exponentially worse if I'm turning back into my lane when I shift. Thats probably normal.

Do you also find your car to take off at 4-4.5 somewhere? I swear the power doubles at that point.

I'm not running the hacked rack yet Thats next spring. Along with some other goodies that you'll all love.... But nothing is certain yet, so I won't get your hopes up.

I just rebuilt a rear caliper today. Took honestly 4-5 hours. I broke off the bolt on that bracket that bolts to the hub. I spent 2 hours trying to get it fixed, when I had an epiphany to check my scrap bin... bingo, found another bracket.

So now I have 3 good corners.... lol. Tomorrow I'll finish I hope.

Have you noticed any differences in your adapted oilcooler and holes in the block ?
I mean apart from destroying the engineblock due to lack of cleaning.

Destroying the engine block?

Haven't got the cooler/primer hooked up yet, thats a spring thing. Motor is coming out in a week just so I can look it over, over winter.

Ryan wrote: Do you also find your car to take off at 4-4.5 somewhere? I swear the power doubles at that point.

Umm, VRIS #1 kicks in then.

My VRIS don't work

Ryan wrote:Destroying the engine block?

Haven't got the cooler/primer hooked up yet, thats a spring thing. Motor is coming out in a week just so I can look it over, over winter.

Maybe wrong choice of words...
But you ended up with something broken in your engine.

Just wondering how your oilmods are working out and what your findings are.

All I know for sure is it didn't make it worse. I still get 5-10 PSI at hot idle, but also a healthy 40 at cruise/high RPM. No pressure spikes with RPM, which is good. No spun 6th and I've taken it to 7200, and probably 7500.

Ryan wrote:Talking about traction issues, I'm curious to hear about other ZEs. I'm running 195 series BFG G-Force GT Sports (worth $600 new a few years ago). I know they're super thin, but they were an awesome price. Also, they don't make road noise. I can have them in full slip and they're silent. Well, aside from a certain asphalt, but very few roads use that... Because they're so quiet it hard to hear when I have wheelspin, I kinda have to go by feel. 1st is easy, between the hop and the RPMS moving with my foot instead of the road, but I have to dump the clutch to get it going. It won't spin if I just bring it up WOT from a gentle 2k engagement. Well, once again, not that I can hear. 2nd will almost always "chirp", well silently, and 3rd will sometimes too. The torque steer thing into 4th is pretty crazy, I don't know what causes it, but its exponentially worse if I'm turning back into my lane when I shift. Thats probably normal.

Do you also find your car to take off at 4-4.5 somewhere? I swear the power doubles at that point.

Well I'm running BFGoodrich g-Force KDWs @ 225/45/16 so on top of them being amazing tires I've extended my contact patch, so traction is extremely good for me. One thing people forget is you can do all the suspension and brake upgrades you want but the only thing between the road and the car is still the tires. Get good tires and your handling, grip, and braking will automatically improve.

As for the power, around close to 5k is peak torque so that's probably what you're feeling. By the way how's your clutch? Mine can't handle the power anymore, it slips on me every time I punch it. I went drag racing a few weeks ago and couldn't get a good time because it would just give up around peak torque and slip. It's not a great clutch but it was holding up better before the upgrades I did this season. Time for something serious like an ACT 6 puck...

My clutch is brand new Exedy OEM. Freshly resurfaced flywheel, acetone wiped before assembly.

how does your clutch handle your motor? i know your putting out more power then the average klze. any problems with slipping yet?