The current status as of February 4th 2024

Engine is back in the car and running.   I need to do quite a bit of work on it before it is road worth.   I really like the Link Thunder ecu.

I ran into so me snags in 2021 due to the Precision Motorworks clutch setup and had to pull and rebuild the shortblock.   Like so many other “products” for sale for the 928 some are not fully baked.

 

June 17th 2020

Drive train is back in the car.   I got derailed and modified the header collectors to use v – band clamps, as well as added an Oxygen Sensor to each collector.   I also fixed the #8 primary where I had cheated a couple of bends, and added 4 more tabs to make the headers bolt together more solidly at the slip fit collectors.  Headers are completely done &    recoated (Thanks Jet-Hot)    I’m not a welder but I can tack stuff together, so that I can have someone else weld them up.  Passenger header and collector is mounted in the 928.   The plan is to get the drivers side header and collector mounted in the car.  Tomorrow the driver’s side goes in for good.

 

April 28th 2020

Transmission drive train is still out of the car along with the rear suspension.   I found that the Z06 Shifter box had cracked bushings and so I sent it off to get upgraded with needle bearings.   I’ve also been fixing issues with the bracket and hardware that was supplied with the “kit”  Transmission harness is complete and ready to go back in the car.   After the drive train is installed for the final time I will tack the exhaust together for a local shop to TIG and backpurge.  After this, it is time to wire it up and fire it up.   I’ve also removed the gas tank, and cleaned, scrubbed and also cleaned up the fuel level sensor.   New Bosche 044 pump from Roger @ 928srus~!  Getting closer~!

 

January 1st 2020

As usual I run across upgrades.  Decided to go with a Precision Motorwerks Tilton twin disk street clutch.  I also took some time to do the fun stuff, upgrading the sound system head unit to an Alpine touchscreen double din setup.  This required major modifications to the center console, moving the HVAC controls down toward the bottom of the console & fabricating a mounting point for HVAC, as well as the new Infotainment display.

April 14th 2019

Engine is back in the car for the 1st time since 2009.  It’s starting to come back together as a complete car.  Engine, trans, brakes and suspension upgrades complete.

 

March 8th 2018

The 928 is back on the ground for the 1st time since 2014.   I’ve made more progress in the last month than I have in the last 7+ years.   1st vendor for my 6 speed conversion bailed, but the timing actually worked out as another vendor had their own 6 speed conversion in the works.

February 8th 2018

Finished the spring upgrade to Hypercoil linear rate springs from the Eibach progressive springs.  Also had the Koni’s rebuilt.

October 18th 2014

I decided to upgrade from the 5 speed to a Corvette Z06 trans, so the 928 is up on jack stands, and has no engine or transmission, as I have the 2:20 5 speed sold.

February 3rd 2012

Brembo has a new brake upgrade for the 928.  Originally designed for the Ferrari F50, I have a new set on the way.     I also decided to upgrade the rear brakes to the 993TT rear brakes to keep the brake bias as close as I could to the GTS version.

November 9th 2009

Engine made an odd knock and died pulling into the garage.   Starter would not turn over & could not turn over by hand.    After some digging I found that the cam chain tensioner pad on the driver’s side broke, and since I was planning on moving on from the Variocam, I decided to pull the engine and start working on the next version of the 928sg, with ITB’s and Simard gun drilled billet cams.

August 28th 2009

I’ve been driving the car bedding in the clutch.   I also have an ATI balancer to install soon.   As soon as the weather cools off, and the clutch is bedded in I will start working on the ITB project.   Hood mods are almost complete and I’m hoping to have it back soon.

January 22nd 2009

I have been working on the drive train improvements over the last year or so.   I have removed the 2:73 transmission and installed 2:20 transmission, as well as all new rubber bushings for the rear suspension.   I also found some cool locking bolts for the halfshafts.   A lightweight flywheel has also been installed.  I plan on closing it all up soon with a spec stage 3+ dual disk clutch.   The plan is to get the clutch bedded in, and then do the ITB upgrade.   I've also gotten in my new billet cams from Simard Racing.... they are gun drilled and works of art.

August 9th  2008

Cylinder heads are at machine shop for porting and the addition of 968 intake valves.  I have Louie's Air box mold, and I will be fabricating a similar air box.   Car is still drivable as I am using a set of heads that came with the ITB kit.   My air box will be different from Louie's in that the entire top of the air box will be an air filter and the hood will be modified with a very tastefully done rear facing low profile scoop.

July 10th  2008

I have purchased one of Louie Ott's ITB kits to reach the maximum potential of this engine and car.  I am ditching the variable cam timing so that I may go with a more aggressive cam profile.

 May 2nd  2008

Picked up the car from the body shop yesterday.  Spent the next 14 hours trying to get the interior reinstalled and cleaning out the car.   Took the car to our local 928 get together & it was a huge success.     Still have quite a bit of the interior to go, just do a bit at a time and keep plugging away at it.   I'm hoping to get some tuning done, and get it on the dyno soon.

April 17th  2008

All of the parts have been painted.   The doors are on the car, as well as the front bumper cover & hood.    Headlights, fog lights & turn signals are installed.   Windshield trip is installed as well as the door window trim.   Wheels have arrived and been test fitted.      Rear bumper cover has some fitment and paint issues and will have to be redone.....  Hatch has been installed as well.    In 2 weeks it will be one year since the car was hit.......

January 26th  2008

The body, doors and mirrors have been painted and buffed out.    It looks absolutely awesome.   The body has been moved to the lobby/showroom and is on display.     I haven't dare to ask when the car will be done.   I've been asking since October when it would be painted because I know that once its painted the reassembly won't take long.  (I hope)

 January 12th  2008

The car still hasn't been painted and I'm starting to regret choosing the body shop that I did.   I received an email just after Christmas, from the shop manager requesting that they usually get a deposit for half the work up front on projects, and I can understand that.   So I went and paid half of the estimate that I had to practically beg for, and it took me 4 months to just get the estimate.

Meanwhile several other project cars have come and gone, and I feel that they have taken advantage of my good nature.

It’s now been a few weeks since I paid them the estimate, and not wanting to be a "problem customer" I should have told them I will pay half when the car is painted.

Shop is starting to fill up with cars so I'm afraid I may have missed my chance to get my car back anytime soon.

 December 14th  2007

Things are slowing down around the  body shop, & I've been told by the owner that it would be painted by the end of the month.

 November 4th  2007

Car is still in paint prep. Car has not been touched since mid September..... SEMA  car is still in front of mine but not painted yet either.

Looks like I'm going to miss the 3rd Coast Event......  That was not part of the plan.

 

October 5th 2007

Car is still in paint prep.    There is another car that is supposed to be done for SEMA that is in front of mine.....  I've been told I will have it back this month.

 

September 23rd 2007

Sheet metal work is done and car has been moved to the paint prep portion of the shop.  They are keeping it inside the whole time @ my request.   They said they would but I'm surprised to see it inside every time I've stopped by.

 

July 14th 2007

I chose to have the car repaired at Stuart's Paint & body of Dallas.   I dropped the car off on June 26th.  They gave me a time frame of 60 to 90 days.  They wanted to have the interior removed before they started on the car as the floor over the gas tank was bowed upwards and there was visible frame damage on the right rear frame rail, so they needed to have the interior out for the repair.

 

June 8th 2007

Insurance company has evaluated the car, and is going to fix the car.   There is some disagreement over paint, as the original materials are no longer available to match the paint perfectly, so it looks like I will be paying out of pocket for half a paint job, even though I discussed this with my agent when I purchased the policy.   The agent is now saying that the policy that I thought I purchased (for 3 years) does not exist.   So, the moral of the story is, if you think you have a special insurance policy, then think again.  

May 5th 2007

Finished the interior last night about 2am, also putting the finishing details on a complete detail all the way down to removing the wheels, and cleaning them and the wheel wells.

Here's the bad news.   I got rear ended on my way to the 928 get together this morning.  The car is bent pretty bad, showing a slight bend in the roof, as well as visable frame damage in the right rear wheel well.  The floor above the gas tank is bowed and there appears to be damage to the battery box structure as well.

January 1st 2007

Most of the small bits on the interior are carpeted.  All the sound deadening material is installed.  I understand that the door panels, rear quarter panels and headliner bits are done.   I'm hoping that the interior will be done this month.

September 28th  2006

Headers are on the car, the rest of the new exhaust is on the car.   All the leather parts in the interior are out of the car getting recovered.   Rear seat delete is done, and carpeted (looks awesome)  I have 95% completed the sound deadening portion of the interior.  Now I’m just waiting on interior so I can drive and tune…. The new exhaust should open it up quite a bit…..

 

July 31st 2006

Headers are back from Jet Hot and look awesome~!  I've straightened the frame rails and cleaned the entire underside of the car, to get it ready for the exhaust.  I've also got the rear cargo storage tray/compartment about 90% done, and as soon as the hinges get here I will fit the doors and then it will be covered in carpet.   

 

July 13th 2006

I'm working on the interior now.   I'm moving the rear speakers to the lower doors, and I've removed the rear seats, and console.  I'm forming up a new storage area in front of the rear audio equipment.

June 23rd  2006

I have completed the dual 3" stainless exhaust.   It looks really nice.  I have not sent the headers off to Jet Hot yet.... Currently the interior is gutted and I'm working on making sport seats out of my comfort seats... I'm also installing new carpet.  I'm also in the planning stages to replace the rear seats with a custom compartments.

March 24th  2006

Headers are done, and will be shipped off to Jet Hot this week. I will do one more test fit before sending them off to get coated.   I wasn't able to get the exhaust done when I was out at Bob's a few weeks ago.  Modifying the headers was extremely time intensive.  I spent over 30 hours just rerouting the last 6 inches of the primaries on each side, as well as cutting off the section of 3 inch pipe on each collector after the venturi.    When I get the headers back, I will start working on the exhaust doing alot of the work at home, and then going to Bob when I have the angles from the collectors to the X cut.  I think I could easily spend 8 hours on just those 2 sections of pipe as its critical to get it right.

March 6th  2006

I've driven the car around a bit and its running good.  Tomorrow I will be out at Bob Norwood's to reshape the ends of the primaries on the 928 International headers.  These headers are sold as race car ready.... not for street cars.  I will be making some changes to them so that they are more suitable for the street.

March 1st  2006

Engine is back in the car and still hooking up stuff.  I nicked a power steering hose dropping the engine back in so I had to order a new return line.   I decided to replace the pressure line as well, as I have heard of a few car fires from ATF hitting the exhaust after a line burst.  The factory PS lines look ok after 15 years but I consider this preventive maintenance.

I played around with the cam timing on some engine dyno simulation software and came to the conclusion that I really did hit upon the optimum cam timing.

I'm planning on fabricating my dual 3 inch stainless exhaust next week.  After I fabricate the entire exhaust I will send the headers off to be Jet Hot coated.  when the headers are returned from coating then I can just bolt on the entire exhaust.

February 8th 2006

Oil pressure issue is resolved.  Still playing around with cam timing before putting engine in the car.  Headers look sweet, and I've test fitted them on the engine while on the engine stand...... they look awesome~!  After I play around with cam timing some more and reinstall the engine, I will do some tuning to capitalize on the cam timing changes.  I'm working with Bob Norwood on his engine dyno software to decide what cam timing will be the best overall.   When this is complete I will be installing the headers and fabricating the entire exhaust out of 3 inch 304 Stainless Steel.

I'm also looking into going with a coil on plug ignition system, and ditching the factory dual coil and distributors system.

January 5 2006, is as follows:

Engine is coming out of car again...grrr oil pressure problems that I have not been able to resolve in the car.  I also finally got some headers..... I had tried to buy some from Devek thru a group buy on rennlist in September but after 2 months and no headers I bailed on the group buy.   Mostly because they didn't get them done in the time frame indicated in the group buy, but that combined with the fact that they tried to jack up the price several hundred dollars 2 months after they charged my card for the group buy.   I placed an order thru 928 International on some stepped headers the 1st week in December and received them today...... I was told 3-4 weeks, and they got here in 4. 

November 8th 2005

The dyno day was a vindication of sorts.   I finally saw some numbers that were close to what I expected.  We got 424 torque and 408 HP at the ground.  This was with the stock exhaust manifolds.....  no doubt it will get much better with headers and a dual 3 inch exhaust.

November 1 2005

After playing around with several versions of cam timing I think I finally hit upon a winning combination.  In the upper RPM's I had to retune the motec drastically.  In some areas the amount of fuel needed was doubled.  I have November 7th scheduled on the dyno.  I can feel just from driving it that it is much better.  The torque is not falling off like it did before....  I also did some intake mods and I think they will help the horsepower in the upper RPM's when I can get my hands on some headers.....

I'M LOOKING FOR HEADERS~!  I'M NOT INTERESTED IN THE MSDS HEADERS AS THE PRIMARIES ARE TOO SMALL.  I WOULD PREFER ANY EQUAL LENGTH HEADERS WITH A 1 3/4 PRIMARY, 4 INTO ONE OR TRI Y HEADERS FOR THE 928.

October 8th 2005

Engine is in the car, and I'm tuning and driving it.  Initial assessment is that it puts out more power than the previous one.... quite a bit... not sure how much but its substantial..... still have stock exhaust manifolds...  I need to get some headers.....

September 22 2005

Crank scraper and baffle installed and engine is ready to go in the car.

July 26th 2005

I'm waiting on a custom crank scraper and oil baffle to put in...  its being developed as I type this.

June 18th 2005

Short block is balanced and assembled.   I'm waiting on a custom crank scraper and oil baffle to put in...

May 20th

Got block back from US Chrome.  It looks great.

April 28 2005

Sent block & a piston to US Chrome for boring and nikasil plating.

March 8th 2005

I bought an 86 block, (thicker bores) to start all over again.  measured deck height and figured out what I needed to get piston wise.  I got lucky & bought some JE Pistons that someone had that were just sitting in the box.... also got a screaming deal on some Oliver Titanium connecting rods....

Feb 23 2006

Block is a total loss.  Thrust bearing is trashed.  It appears that the line bore was not straight.  Also noticed with the pistons and crank removed that the finish bore on the cylinders does not go all the way to the bottom.... there is a lip at the bottom of every bore.... most are about .003, but one is .006......so thats what the pistons got wore out on.....  I won't use the language on my website that I would use to describe the work.

Feb 6th 2005

Engine tear down is complete.  Its not looking good.  all of the piston skirts are tore up really badly.... much more than you would think with only 5000 miles on them.  I have seen pistons with 150,000 miles on them that looked better.  Also found some evidence that 3 of the cylinder liners have rotated in the bores.

Jan 3rd 2005,

I pulled the engine out of the car as a leakdown test showed over 25% leakdown in 2 cylinders.   I'm thinking its the total seal rings.  I full tear down is planned.

October 2nd 2004

I have not had much time to tinker with the car, as I have been really busy with work.   I still need to do some more tuning with Bob, and dial things in a bit more.  I have been driving the car around town, but we need to do some load tuning.  Load tuning can simulate wind resistance and rolling resistance that is found at higher road speeds.   Around town the car runs pretty good, but on the highway if I get on it at high speed I get some pinging, as the wind resistance puts a load on the engine in the area of the fuel/ignition map that we have not dialed in.

July 15th 2004

My 800 mile trip to Wichita Kansas was a great trip.  Car ran awesome, no problems what so ever.......  I averaged 23 MPG on the trip up.  Better than I imagined it would be on the road.  The AC worked great, and I won the "Coolest 928" Award at the Convention. 

July 8th 2004

I have resolved the oil ingesting issue by having the passenger cam cover machined to accept the factory 928 oil seperator.   I had to re tune the idle because the factory fittings flow air differently than the fittings that I used originally.  Tomorrow, I am heading to the Owners Club International Convention in Wichita…. My 1st really long road trip…. I feel confident the car is ready for it.

June 17th 2004

AC 134 conversion is completed, and more motec tuning has been done.   The fuel & ignition maps were way off, as they have not been redone since the cams were retimed, as well as the exhaust upgrade.  Its running excellent... it now pulls harder with the AC on, than it did without it before.  We have done more work on the idle, and its now a rock steady idle.... the 968 cam covers did not allow me to utilize the oil separator on the crankcase ventilation, so the engine is ingesting oil through the intake, and burning it.  I will need to do more tuning, but the car is finally in a state where I can enjoy it more.  I've put about 2000 miles on it since getting it running.

March  30th 2004

Working on getting the AC functional, rebuilt compressor, new 5spd condenser, drier, high & low pressure switches, expansion valve, and 134 conversion should keep me nice and cool this summer.  After the AC is working (its already into the 80's) I will be doing more dyno tuning.   The reason I'm waiting is that the AC will change the load on the engine at idle, and I want to be able to tune for that as well, and do it all at once.

March  9th 2004

The exhaust is completed.   Louie Ott's crossover in stainless combined with mandrel bent 2.5 inch exhaust sounds incredible......  I've also added the short shifter kit which makes a real difference to the shifting, with shorter throws, and much more precise shifting....  the car is running really well, and I have put even more miles on it...  I'm not sure when I will be able to dyno it again, but it should be pretty soon.

February  8th 2004,

Friday night Bob Norwood came over with a dial indicator, and we found that my cams were way off.... way retarded... both exhaust cams and one intake were 15 degrees retarded, and the other intake cam was 35 degrees retarded... before you all think I am a total moron, keep in mind that the variocam is different on each bank, so I knew that we would have to revisit the cam timing.... even with the cam timing off, and the ignition timing retarded we were still at 353 ft lbs torque at 3K... its going to get real interesting real soon... I got my stainless x-pipe from Louie Ott, and most of the mandrel bends from burns stainless, so the plan is to check the cam timing one more time, button it up, do the exhaust, and then dyno tune the car some more..   I'm thinking by the time the warmer weather is here, I should be pretty much wrapped up on this thing...... I've already got 400+ miles on the engine, and the cams are still looking good.... 

January 6th 2004,

We spent a good portion of the day on the dyno working on the full RPM range.  The dyno info can be see here:

But those numbers don't tell the full story.  1st gear is pretty much useless.  Anything above moderate throttle induces wheel spin.  Second gear is similar above 3500 RPM.   Moderate throttle in second produces incredible acceleration, as well as 3rd. Acceleration in 4th and 5th are not as dramatic as I would like, but the cam timing is way off, and we will have to revisit the cam timing and make improvements.

December 30th 2003,

This evening we did some preliminary tuning on the dyno to get the idle and off idle drivability a little better.  we have a pretty good fuel & ignition map up to 3500 now, and made a few pulls up to that.  The torque is about 350 and the HP was around 250 @ 3500 RPM, and the numbers will only get better down low and much higher as the RPM climbs.  The only thing I have to say is 3500 comes pretty fast... lol driving it home in 5th was quite fun.. and the on ramp was a blast to finally row through the gears with some get up and go......  more tuning will be done within the week.  Keep in mind that the 2 inch exhaust is still on the car, and so when that gets opened up it will really go.....

December 27th 2003

I've been tinkering with the car as time allows, I had a few issues that I have gotten worked out.  I now have a working tachometer, which helps in driving.  I haven't been driving aggressively so I have not had the car over 4K yet.  I was having problems with false errors from the timing belt tension indicator.  It always came on 3 minutes and 20 seconds after starting the car.  I got that resolved.  It wasn't connected.  I was also getting PSD errors as I don't have  PSD transaxle.  I removed the entire PSD pump and figured out a way to fool the PSD/ABS computer into thinking that the PSD unit is still there and functioning.  The cool thing is that the PSD light comes on when the rear tires spin.... just like its supposed to, which will be handy in case I ever get  caught out in the rain.  I have been driving the car to dinner & around town, and have put over 100 miles on it at this point with no problems what so ever.  I am still fighting a break pad sensor warning every time I start the car, and will need to get the alignment.  I'm also waiting on a Louis Ott x pipe in stainless, and will be using random technology cats, followed by a mandrel bend 2.5 inch exhaust.  I currently have the spintech mufflers cobbled onto the factory exhaust where the resonators used to be with a Stainless RMB out back.  I get tons of compliments on the sound and the car in general.  I have the koni's set at 50% front and rear and its better but still pretty stiff.  Alignment will be done next week some time.  Dyno tuning is scheduled for Monday or Tuesday evening at this point.

December 14th 2003

I've been driving the car around quite a bit getting used to it again... who am I fooling?   This is a totally different car then the one I took apart.  The manual trans and my steep driveway are getting easier.  I'm also getting used to the really touchy gas pedal... huge differences in RPM from very small changes in gas pedal movement.    I'm not sure I like the koni/eibach set up.  I have it set on full soft, and I feel every bump in the road......  I did talk to a suspension guy and he stated that if the alignment geometry is all screwed up, then the ride could be harsher.  I've never heard of that but I guess I will see.  I'm hoping to get the alignment done soon so I don't have to worry about tearing up my tires.   After that I plan to get to the tuning..... probably mid January, although I will be making small changes for the sake of drive ability.    I have to say that the car seems to like cold weather.  Yesterday morning I drove it in 28 degree weather and it ran great... cold start does not seem to be a problem at this point.

December 2nd 2003

Car has been driven around the block several times.  Idle is higher than I would like, but that is going to be corrected.  I have been working on the ride height so that the alignment can be done.  I also need to do the mufflers, as its just too loud.  I plan on getting the stuff done as time allows, a little here and a little there.  I found out why the car is so loud with the resonators... they are pretty much straight through pipes with a bunch of holes drilled in them...  I cut one off getting ready to do the exhaust...  My plan for the exhaust is to use a 2.5 Ott Crossover, and replace the resonators with Stainless Spintech mufflers.  Later on, I will redo the exhaust from the Ott crossover on back, reusing the Spintechs and and adding Stainless tips, so I will have an RMB for sale sometime in the near future.

November 30th, 2003

Finding a gasket sealer for the intake proved to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be.  There are not many sealers that are designed to be fuel resistant, and since the injectors are right there....I don't want to get a good seal and then have to do it again later.  If this doesn't work I found a place that can cut some custom gaskets for me, but they are expensive about $225 for 2.  The stuff has been curing for over 36 hours and still isn't dry... grr  I was going to go wash the car today, and drive around a bit...  I'm going to drain the gas tank, and put new gas in today, as well as work on the ride height.  I'm hoping that the sealant will be cured by this afternoon so I can button everything back up and go driving.  I was going to take it to have it aligned tomorrow, but I don't feel comfortable driving that far without an inspection sticker... the police here are bad about those stickers.  So a friend is going to help align it here, and in the meantime I will work on getting some of the tuning done for the Motec, with some help of course.

November 28th, 2003

I was able to start the car on the 26th, but had to pull the intake due to a air leak on my home made intake gaskets.... got it running again this afternoon, and after letting it idle for about 20 minutes, I went around the block.. nothing fancy... its the simple things in life... lol yea right~!  the bum thing is I have to pull the intake again to fix the air leak.. I think this time I will use some gasket sealer.

November 23rd, 2003

I've installed the intake, fuel injector rails, both harnesses.  I installed the dual disc clutch, and the upper bell housing before installing the engine... this is much easier than installing the dual disc clutch in the car.  Then I put the engine in the car.  I left off the front crank pulley, as well as removed the radiator as this gave me more room.  I also left off the two fuel dampener's, as they were a real pain when I pulled the engine out with them on.  I've got the power steering pump installed with the hoses, as well as the AC compressor mounted.  the AC Compressor has been in the car with the lines connected during this entire project.  I'm planning on driving the car this week......

November 16th, 2003

Since I had the motor at my house I decided to take a crack at the cam timing myself.  It doesn't look too difficult from the factory manuals, but with different cams, that won't work.  Not to mention the place that made the cams was not very helpful in providing the specs.  When I requested the cam specs I received a fax with the lift and duration numbers only.  Knowing what I know now, I would never have done business with the place that did my cams.  I called Elgin Cams out in California, and sent them one of the cams and they gave me more data on the cams than the place that made them.  With this information and a degree wheel & a dial indicator I was able to time the cams myself.  So now all I need to do is start installing the intake and all the other stuff, so I can get it in the car.

October 23rd, 2003

My week of vacation was eaten up with working on the engine and the cam stuff.  I have not had the time to install the cams and do the cam timing.  I'm hoping to get a few hours this weekend to make some progress.  Now that I am back to work the progress will be much slower.  I've also moved the engine to my home as I can get access to it easier and work on it on my schedule.

October 17th, 2003

I had gotten the both banks of cams installed, and gotten the motor moved to a location where I had access to someone that could help me set the cam timing.  Up until this point I had not attempted to crank the engine over by hand with the cams installed, and when I tried I found that the cams were locked up, so I checked the torque settings on the cam journals, and found by trial and error that if I removed the bridge on the front of both heads that held down the intake and exhaust cams, that I could indeed move the cams.  What happened was that the cams thrust surfaces were too tall, and needed to be machined down a tad. so the cam bridge that holds down both cams was indeed clamping them down.  So today the cams were removed, and taken to a machine shop who machined down the thrust  surface.  I then polished the edges on a scotch brite wheel to make sure there was nothing sharp to gouge or cut the cam journal that acts as the thrust bearing. 

October 14th, 2003

Head has been installed as well as one bank of cams.  Tomorrow I will be installing the other bank of cams and getting the timing belt on and set the final cam timing.  I'm hoping to have the engine in the car this weekend.

October 12th, 2003

Billet cams are here.  I start re-assembly of the engine tomorrow.  I will be installing the head that was removed to remove a broken head stud.  I will be also working on getting the cams installed.  I will have to defer the cam timing to someone else though, and if it weren't for that I could get the engine done, and in the car this week, as I'm on vacation all week... (perfect timing)  I will try to update the site on Wednesday 10-15.

September 20,2003

The cams are now complete, and should be shipped within the week.  I think that the machine shop that was working on the cams was not exactly truthful with me in regards to the progress noted in March, not to mention there was a bit of a discussion of cost after 9 months of stalling on their part. 

March 21,2003

I had sent the cam back to the machine shop that had done the cam lobe work and they inspected it and said it was ok. So they shipped it back.. however in was broken in shipment. This was in December. The cam shop offered to make a billet cam to replace the broken one, and I worked out a deal where if I paid for 3 more billets that they would make a complete set of billet cams for no charge to compensate for the broken cam, since they did not insure it or package it as well as they could have. It was supposed to take approximately 30 days. I did not press the issue as it was an incredible deal, and beggars can't be choosers. The cams are supposed to be here within the week..... could be getting close......

September 23rd, 2002

This last week was the toughest week in the entire project.  While cleaning and inspecting the parts to reassemble the engine I found a hairline crack in one of the cam lobes.  I was pretty frustrated as this forced me to realize that I was not going to be able to complete the variocam project, and maybe not even the stroker project. My financial situation is not what it was, when I started this project.  The only right way to do this right, was to have the cams blueprinted and make new ones from billet, and this is not affordable at this time... & imagine this... I'm actually tired of this project.  Tired of not driving my car.  Tired of walking by it in the garage...  When I realized that I was no longer excited about the project, it was time to do something and get the car running even if it meant scrapping the whole thing.  My options are:

1.   Walk away from the whole thing... sell the stroker crank and hope I can find a good deal on a used stock engine...I'd still have an awesome suspension, and the  5 speed conversion....

2.  Scrounge up a set of S4 heads and cams...put it together and just drive it... this choice has 2 tangents.... save all the variocam parts, and maybe one day have the cams made.. or sell it all to someone who can afford to do the project right...

Well,  one of my good friends, Zach Anthony has offered to help me out with the head and cams option since he has an extra set...  As for the 2 tangents, I haven't decided what to do with the variocam parts.......

What do you think I should do?  Drop me a line and let me know....

August 25th, 2002

It has been 9 months since my last update.  The cam issue has been resolved, by welding the sprockets on the intake cams similar to how the exhaust cams were done.  They are off to be heat treated and once that is completed, then the final re-assembly of the engine will be done.  I've been busy with the joys of everyday life, and am just now getting a renewed motivation to finish the project.  Current eta on the car is to be completed and back on the road in late October.  Mainly because it will take some time to get the engine back together and in the car, and well, I'd like to hold off another month for some cooler weather... For those of you who have emailed me for status updates, I apologize for not getting back to all of you... I get quite a bit of requests for updated status.....

November 23rd, 2001

The solution for the slipping intake cams has been decided upon.  Some of the machine work has been completed, and I will be working on it this weekend.  The intake cams will no longer be adjustable.  Do not confuse the adjustable part with the VarioCam feature.  The adjustable feature was used to dial in the camshafts, and has served it purpose.  The cams have been indexed on the sprockets, and will be welded and bolted to the sprockets.

August 7th, 2001

I've received quite a bit of email regarding when the car will be back on the road.  After removing the engine, I decided to take a step back from the project and take a much needed break.  So for the entire month of July I touched nothing car related.  In the last week, I have removed the cams and the sprocket issue is being addressed and evaluated currently.  There is still no eta on getting the engine back in the car and running.

On another note, in between the dyno tuning and the idle tuning I got to back the car out of the shop and drive it around the parking lot several times.  Torque was incredible..... Once I goosed it with the clutch out while just idling along.  It broke the tires loose effortlessly with a roar... almost too easy.  One of the issues that will affect the drivability is that the cam setup that we have creates an issue where there is not enough vacume at idle so it is easy to kill.  When I was moving it around I had no tach, so it was tough to gauge the RPM.  Not to mention the engine sounds extremely beefy at idle and gets much louder with very little throttle input.  After my little goose episode in the parking lot the motec data logging feature showed, get this...... only 23% throttle when I goosed it.  One of the times that I killed it, trying to get it moving, showed that I only revved it to 900 rpm, but I was having a difficulty gauging the idle by sound as it was very loud @ anything but idle.  The Motec idle was set for 700 rpm, but with the cam setup I'm going to try it at 900 to see if the drivability is better.  w e had tried this originally but it was pretty loud.  I'm looking into Spintech mufflers, so if you have them, or have heard them drop me a line.

June 27th, 2001

The car has been started and driven around the parking lot a few times.  I fixed the oil leaks,  tightening down the cam covers a bit, and by removing the oil pressure sending unit, and using Yamabond on the threads of the housing that screws into the block.  I had wired the idle control properly after all, I just needed to add a diode that was missing from the Motec drawings.  Ride height is closer to stock, but will need some more attention in the rear.  I have also finally heard the final version of the sound system.... I should have no problems drowning out the exhaust notes when I  want to.  I also bled the clutch, as it felt a bit spongy and it feels better now....

This morning during the MoTeC fuel delivery mapping the drivers side intake camshaft experienced some issues with the holes and bolts designed for adjustable intake cams.  The bolts loosened from the force.  This is obviously not going to work as planned.  Yesterday I had to tighten the passenger side, as it came loose as well.  the variocam was working fine however.   The concensus is to remove the cams and since we have adjusted them to where we need them, weld the sprockets to the camshafts.    I also found that one of the custom head studs was  broken...  Since I wanted to build the motor with boost in mind, the head studs won't allow me to remove the heads in the car, so I pulled the engine today.....  I do not have an eta on when it will be back in the car again....

Pictures of completed engine on an engine stand

Pictures of engine in car