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

[cobracammer]

Hey guys. NO! I did not replace the radiator. And yes, i believe the flow is reversed in the 2005 system. Would this have made a difference? Will coolant not flow the other direction through the stock radiator?

[WConley]

Jason -

From what I can see the radiator should be fine for standard flow.  Hopefully it is sized sufficiently for the big SOHC.

I think you will need to make sure those air pockets are out of the system before you can get proper cooling.  It's called "burping" the system.  Often that entails putting the front end of the car on jack stands to get the radiator as high as possible.  Here's one procedure:

http://www.supras.com/06/techcenter/display.php?QID=22

- Bill

[cobracammer]

OK will do.  That should be easy enough.

OK also, I just got off the phone with the EFI tech (William at extension 1424)  LOL.  I explained to him that by leaving the handheld showing 43 PSI and dialing back the regulator, I got the engine to run.  Since this has been spoken about on here for a few posts, I gave him the ol' Dragnet!  I asked why the handheld has to remain at 43 PSI, but the fuel pressure controlled at the regulator has to be lower.  He answered that in essence we have to "trick" the computer to use their proven algorithym (the correct pulse), but have less fuel being fed into the injectors.

At this point I asked, " So why would we need to do this is the setup procedure asks if we are using a single throttle body or the dual throttle body set up?  Wouldn't the computer then know we are using twice as many injectors and compensate...."  At which time he said no!  LOL  he explained that you can tell the handheld that you are using the dual quad, but the computer has a very limited number of things it changes based off of that information... and fuel going to the injectors is not one of them.  He explained again that they have a proven "pulse" for their EFI, and since there is 2 times as many injectors, they want the injectors to use the pulse (which happens when you put 43 PSI on the handheld), but have less fuel coming out of the injector during each pulse.

He also said since the plugs were black, we can dial the fuel pressure regulator down some more (Maybe 28 would be the next step), but he said that the injectors wont really work at 24 or lower PSI.

So next step for me:

The expansion tank....  I have it so that there is a "nipple" coming out of the bottom (facing the ground) of a fitting on the upper radiator hose, at which time it curves in a "U" shape to come back up to the fitting on the expanision tank.  I am curious if this is why its having trouble burping air out.

Like stated before, the expansion tank originally (on the stock engine) was connected to the lower radiator hose and it was a straight shot up to the tank.... where air pockets could be let out of the system.  If I move the expansion tank to connect to the lower radiator hose (but leave the tank higher than the engine, wouldn't it still catch air bubbles as the water is sucked up into the waterpump from the lower hose (and at a straighter path- meaning strait up to the tank?)

I am going to pull the thermostat and drill the bypass hole.

I am going to drain the oil to make sure there is not any coolant in there, or excessive metal flakes.  Then I will hopefully reuse the same oil (since it was break in oil) or I can add 8 quarts of new oil.

I will refill the coolant again (Prestone 50/50) and with the front of the car up on jacks, try and start the car again.

I have already pulled the E3 diamond fire sparkplugs, and replaced them all with an Autolight plug I had originally purchased after discussing with Jay months ago.

This EFI is prob great if you only use 1 throttle body.....  2 looks great but its a huge pain.  I don't think the company should have made 2 available without working out all the bugs and not having the computer work with it...  (Meaning you shouldn't have to trick the computer to work)  expecially for the $$$ it costs

[WConley]

Jason -

I'm pretty sure the tank needs to be off the top hose in a standard flow system.  The water would be coming down out of the radiator, so all of the air bubbles would still be trapped in the radiator.  With the stock reverse-flow system, the water would be flowing fast out of the engine to the bottom hose, pulling all of the air bubbles with it.

I could be wrong, but I've never seen a successful application where the degas tank is off the bottom hose (on a standard flow system).

- Bill

[cobracammer]

Ok sounds good. Less work and less to worry about for me.
Drained the oil.  First great sign.... No coolant in the oil.
Second good sign, still pretty clear....
Third, no metal that i could initally see

Wanting to reuse this same oil, i got a clean plastic container and a clean funnel and slowly added the oil back looking for metal. The great news is, no metal!  Not until the last ounce did I see like maybe 10 specs of metal .... And im talking like tiny(like a piece of sand or smaller).


Pictures below

[blykins]

I wouldn't reuse that oil with how rich the engine has been running.

You also need to cut the filter open to see what's really going on. 

On the last pic, is that debris that you're focusing on?

[cobracammer]

Hard to see in the last photo, but there are like 10 tiny specs of metal.  This was all that I found in the entire 8 quarts.

Also, oil doesn't smell like fuel at all.  Smells just like brand new oil out of the container

[blykins]

You'll generally just see a metallic sheen in some of the oil on a break-in.  The filter should catch all the big stuff.  You may want to cut your filter open and take a peek. 

[cobracammer]

I will work on getting a replacement filter before I dissect the one on there now  :0)

[blykins]

Again, I'm not trying to come across as negative, but if I were to see discernible pieces of metal in the drain oil, I would be cutting the filter open.  The filter should catch everything and it's normal to get bits of sealant, or aluminum that has shaken off the heads/block, etc., but you shouldn't be getting discernible pieces of metal in the oil that you drain out. 

[cobracammer]

I will cut open the filter shortly.  The engine only ran for about 30 minutes and at no time was it over 1200 RPM (So technically not a good break in).

The "Pieces" of metal are quite literally like specs of sand.  unless you stick your face in the pan, you can almost not see them.

I would replace the filter anyway, so cutting this one up should be interesting.  I guess I was just excited also because I have magnetic drain plugs, and there was very little on those too! 

Will probably want to cut open the filter the 2nd time I run the engine too....  to see if things are better, worse, or the same.

[blykins]

Never hurts to check it out. 

So how many engines have you assembled before?

[cobracammer]

LOL  this was my first.

Just ordered 2 of the Moroso Racing oil filters (that's whats on there now).  I will remove and cut open the current one when these arrive.  Thanks again guys

[blykins]

Well, I'll give it to you, you sure picked a doozy of a combination for your first engine.   I'll give you props for that. 

[cobracammer]

OK so I took the advice given and I pulled the thermostat.  I still had an extra thermostat housing gasket, so I was good to go.  Brought it into the house and boiled it.  It opened all the way.  So it does work.  So then I decided to continue with the advice given and drill 2 small bypass holes on the thermostat itself.  As the water neck is quite small where the thermostat fits into (the pyramid part), the hole placement was quite tricky.

its all tightened back down and ready to go.

Also, today my spark plug tube covers came from Texas.  I am definitely going to wait until everything is sorted out before these go on and the plug wires are trimmed to fit perfectly.

Next stop is pulling the oil filter (when my new ones arrive) and refilling the engine with Prestone 50/50 antifreeze.  Just out of curious, does anyone know how much antifreeze goes in these engines?  My first go around, I used 3 jugs....  but lost most when it overheated