My 427 SOHC Build..... Finally the time has come!

[WConley]

+1 here.  I bet the car cools a hell of a lot better now 

[My427stang]

I am at Disney checking for updates every morning and night...whatcha got?  Running cool yet?

[cobracammer]

Hey Ross. Just got the fan relay harness. Doing the wiring and double checking. i might be able to recalibrate it and fire tonight or tomorrow.

[cobracammer]

Hey Ross. See attached.

Still the unburnt fuel makes white smoke that burns my eyes. Not sure if you can tell from the ecu if I can lower the fuel pressure or not. Not sure if we need less fuel, or more air???  Still had to tap the throttle while cranking to get it to fire up, so may need to crack the throttle blades open a little more ( quarter turn?) and then recalibrate TPS and try again. Supposed to start without touching the throttle so not quite there yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDBfVNha0pg

Also realized this video once i upload it to youtube is not super clear. I can try uploading it on photobucket and reposting

Also, its like 100 degrees today. Fans came on at 190 like i put in the computer, but slowly the temp crept up as high as 211 before I shut it down for the night. Fans will run always i think, but how hot can i let it get before its a big no no?  Im sure cooler when its moving and not in a garage

[My427stang]

Nothing wrong with 211, could even go 220+.  Remember, under pressure boils a lot higher than 212.  Every pound of the cap raises it by 2 degrees and the antifreeze mix raises it even higher, so are you are far away from that, and as the motor loosens up it will likely cool more.

Now for the exhaust.  Is it possible to get it to run for a long while?  Depending on the type of muffler, you could easily have the mufflers filled with fuel and not really having an issue.

However, I wouldn't do it on a guess,  the way to tell that is to look at what the A/F mixture says.  If it is reading a normal number, but stinks, then let it get hot.  If it is reading rich, even after getting to operating temp, then you need to act. 

ON EDIT: See below, I looked again and I don't think it is running rich.  Seems to be what you set it at for idle

I am going to throw down a theory hear though.  FAST said lower the real fuel pressure.  If you decide that the mixture is too rich, you may want to consider raising the COMPUTER fuel pressure

My logic behind this is.
1 - Lowering the real fuel pressure will work until the injector starts having a crappy spray pattern, you don't want that

2 - By raising what the computer thinks you have it set at, it will shorten pulse width (injector duration) because it thinks there is more going into the injector.  That should lean it while allowing you to keep REAL pressure high enough

3 - Don't adjust anything until you know what the current O2 sensor readings are, your nose is a guess that O2 sensor knows. 

ON EDIT: I am on a laptop, but it looks like its running at 13.7:1 ish, that's pretty close to what you had the idle a/f set at no?  If so, it may just need some run time

4 - Again, remember if you have a fiberglass packed muffler, it could take a while to clean up and it would require heat too.  If its not packed, it still needs some heat, but likely not as long

[cobracammer]

Hey ross. Thanks. Video is a little blurry, but the Air fuel ratio during idle was like 13.6

Yes car was running good. I only shut it down to post the video

Mufflers are Magnaflows.

Here is the video posted photobucket. Might be clearer:

http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/jtbadamo1/media/3B7913A2-E20C-4C6A-BC1B-5A0882EFAB12_zpsj1idow0p.mp4.html

Tomorrow I am going to fill it upwith fresh 93 octane, i am going to crack the throttle blades open a little more so that it starts without touching the gas, i will then recalibrate the TPS, and hopefully let it run outside in the driveway so its a little cooler. Keep you posted, and maybe a drive around the block?

[My427stang]

Good plan, at 13.6 at idle, it shouldn't be an issue. 

Magnaflows are absorption mufflers, so you are likely smelly everything that has soaked in since the initial fire, fuel, oil, assembly lube, etc.

Keep watching that display though and before and after your run, check your oil level.  If it is making oil or is excessively full of fuel enough to raise the level on the dipstick, we'll have to dig deeper

My hunch is the mufflers are a stinky sponge at this point.

Run it for a while, then a small circle around the neighborhood, then larger until you feel safe.  Be sure to bring a cell phone and fire extinguisher...anything else will wait for the cavalry to come

[cobracammer]

Also, not sure if it is even noticeable (I may just be crazy), but I felt like the car sounded better at 1100 RPM (the last time I had it running.  This time, the ECU had it at 1000 RPM and it would fluctuate between  1000 and 950.

Again it may just be me, but it sounded like it had a much better "cam thump" beat going on at 1100 -1200 RPM.

Is it possible that I could run the car at like 1100 RPM for the first few hundred miles.... and then once its gotten "worn in" sort of speak, then I can lower it down to 1000?

no big deal.....  just was watching both videos and it sounded better in the last one at a higher RPM.


ALSO!  This doesnt make any sense to me.  Initial timing I set at 20 degrees BTDC, While the car is running, if I turn the distributor clockwise (which should be advancing it), It starts to go up from 20 degrees BTDC to 30 degrees BTDC....  I was hoping to see if go from 20 degrees to 14 degrees with a clockwise turn so I am at a loss.  I know I have TDC exact, I know it runs at 20 degrees BTDC, but I have no idea why when I move the distributor clockwise, it should move toward TDC, but it doesnt  LOL 

1st the distributor rotates counter clockwise, so moving the cap clockwise, should move you closer to firing at TDC

2nd, the Crankshaft rotates Clockwise...... this is how I turned the timing to 20 degrees to set initial.... and when it fired up, it was at 20 degrees...  so thats right.

I guess this is no big deal because when the car started, I turned the distributor the tiniest bit in the clockwise rotation, and it sounded TONS better  ..... runs solid, and when I rev it, it revs up LOUD and smooth....  so I have it where I want it for now.

[My427stang]

20-30 is advancing the timing, you want to retard it to get to 14

20 degrees before TDC, vs 30 before, the 30 is 10 degrees sooner.....or more before LOL

To get it closer to TDC you need to retard it, or turn the distributor counter clockwise.

To go from 20 to 14, you need to turn it counter clockwise....

As far as it sounding better with more initial, they all do.  However, you need to set it where your total is designed to come in or at higher RPM and load it's going to detonate and hurt itself.

You are going to see a trend here...don't time, tune or anything else by ear.  Use your big boy numbers

As far as lowering the idle, you are doing it again, trying to solve multiple problems at once.

1 - Lets get the timing set correctly and stop touching it, it likely is NOT right now, it is likely too far advanced
2 - Get some miles on it and gather data so we can be sure the exhaust cleans up and the computer learns
3 - Idle it lower later if it likes it (it probably will)

Today you did cooling, timing, and got it running, we were only working on cooling and firing it, not even tuning yet, never mind timing by ear

I am going to slow you down if it's the last thing I do LOL

[cobracammer]

Hahaha. Thanks Ross. One at a time. Gotcha.

[My427stang]

I forgot what your timing curve is like, but Jay can likely tell you desired total timing for a Cammer.  It is generally based on fuel plus chamber design, piston design, cam, etc, basically anything that affects compression and turbulence in the chamber.

A WAG is 36 degrees total, subtract what you have for a bushing in the distributor (say 20) and the remainder is where you want initial, that would be 16 in my example. (36-20=16 initial) If Jay doesn't chime in, that should be very close, but if he gives a better total or you have a different bushing, just do the math,

Before you fire it today, check your water level and oil level, and if you had the tranny out, verify that there is oil in it too!   You may be well on your way to burning some rubber!

[Barry_R]

This is really hugely cool to read about 

I agree with Ross about 800% - go in steps. 
Sounds like you've made huge strides.
Congrats!

as I mentioned before, when the EZ system "learns" it takes time to do so.  You are going to need to dwell at each RPM and load for a little while and it'll sweep back and forth around the target.  If I recall correctly the instructions say it needs to reach 160 degrees - on the dyno the corrections were only very clearly visible on the O2 sensors once we reached 180.

If you have somebody in your area with a chassis dyno it would be a great tool to let you "drive" the car at different speeds and loads and get most of the initial learning done in a controlled environment.  Do not try any smack the throttle wide open throttle stuff right away no matter how tempting it is.  You are going to want to work your way up to that range - I learned that too....

[cobracammer]

Thanks Barry. The shop where I had the headers made has a dyno....  Once a month or so, he theows a free dyno day. I think ill hit him up for that. LOL

[Barry_R]

You don't want the "normal" wide open throttle Hollywood dyno runs - at least not yet.

You want to use up an hour or two of steady state cruising at various RPM and loads.
Like set the speed at 2200 RPM and loaded like you are going up an incline for 5 minutes.
Then at 3000 RPM and a light load like you're doing 80 on the freeway.
Then at a harder sweep from 2000 RPM to 4000 RPM a dozen times over as it learns.
Different things over, and over again with some cool down time in between.

Its just much easier to do that tuning on a chassis roller than by driving around, and around, and around...
...and does not look as suspicious to the officer when you go half throttle on the freeway from 40 to 70 - six times in a row 

[jayb]

Jason, on the timing I wouldn't go more than 32 degrees total, at least to start.  Most of the SOHCs I've dynoed start losing power by 34 total, which means they are running into detonation.  Keep it at 30-32 degrees total at this stage.