Spyder Build Thread

[Chris GTO TT]

[mjannusch]

Still waiting for the race puller, so no more transmission work done yet. Did some general finishing work on the motor. Anti-sieze on the turbo studs, torqued up the nuts on the turbos and O2 housings. Basically ready to go back in the car now.

Needed longer bolts for the front engine mount (Ek2 poly mount, which has standoffs on the back instead of bent flat to the crossmember), so that stalled me. Should be here on Tuesday.

I need to identify how I’m going to route my dual widebands and other misc. sensor wiring. Usually I go through the steering boot for widebands, but there’s got to be a better way. Much easier to set that up before I drop the motor back in. Other sensors I’ll probably go through the passenger side harness boot - already have the ethanol sensor wiring through there and fuel pump hotwire. May need to reinstall my Boost-a-Pump, too.

[Jeff V.]

Kind of off the wall question, but are you still running a stock-ish ignition setup on this?

[mjannusch]

I was running a DIS4+ HO with coil-on-plug before, but I'm starting with stock coils, MSD wires, and a DLI to juice it up. I'll probably hotwire the coils as well.

[Jeff V.]

With an AEM EMS, right?

[mjannusch]

Yup, AEM EMS v2 this time around. Was a v1 before Chrome. Gotta have that Flexfuel support.....

[Jeff V.]

So do you know if it's possible to directly drive 6 individual coils off of 3 outputs in a waste spark configuration? I'm looking at this as a packaging concern rather than any kind of performance angle.

[mjannusch]

Probably depends on the coils.

[Jeff V.]

You're still using your stock PTU then?

[mjannusch]

Yes, stock PTU. I was using that with the MSD and CoP setup as well, but could've removed the PTU if I changed the jumpers for spark trigger in the AEM. Just never got around to it.

So, if I remember right - the coils are always connected to shared +12v on one pole, and the other pole connects to the PTU where when the ECU sends a +3v signal to a transistor it connects the coil leg to ground to complete the circuit and allow current to flow to generate the primary field. When the ECU switches off the +3V the transistor closes and the field collapses through the secondary of the coil.

With an AEM, you are supposed to be able to change some jumpers to change the ignition mode so the AEM conducts to ground when energized to eliminate the PTU. Shouldn't matter if you have two coils sharing the ground connection - though I wonder what the current rate would be through the AEM to ground. Don't know what it is spec'd for.

[Jeff V.]

These would be the three pin smart coils from my 6G75. I'm just hedging my options on some things.

[mjannusch]

Those should be easier as the ECU would just have to trigger it and not flow the current. Should be cake... Theoretically.

[Jeff V.]

Yeah. From what I can tell, the Supra is set up this way out of the box. From the factory it's set up for sequential fire. Since the AEM only has 5 coil drivers, they have to convert it to waste spark. So it should be fine this way, especially since I'll never push it past stock power levels. I was just looking for some additional input.

I haven't given up on the stock ECUs yet, but it's nice to have additional options.

[mjannusch]

National Weather Service says 11-15" of snow on the way yet this weekend, so I should be able to make more progress on the car. Got bolts for the motor mounts, so motor should be back in. Bearing race puller is here, so should be able to get the preloads on the trans set. With luck, should get quite a bit done. Headed to lunch soon before the weather gets too bad, then I'll be at it all weekend...

[mjannusch]

Got the bottom half of the trans back together, was about to put the bellhousing on and decided to test turning the shafts. Center diff preload is too high, can't turn the shaft. F. I already sealed that end up, so pulling it apart again. No idea how I got the preload wrong - damn solder didn't smash right, I guess. Seemed like a lot of shims, but figured maybe the billet end case was milled a little too deep.

[DCIV]

The one Wayne did for Justin all the tolerances were stupid tight. Like no shims tight.


Coop

[stealthee]

When I did preload on my trans I made it a little tighter than spec called for. After talking it over with Larry (RealMcCoy) he said that's the way he always does it because factory spec is a little loose.

I actually did the solder smash two or three times because I wasn't getting consistent readings.

[mjannusch]

Yeah, you want it on the tight side for a performance build for sure...

Was going to work on it all day today, but ended up on a support call for work all day that I just completed. Frick....

[mjannusch]

Finally, actual visible progress! Got the motor back in with the EK2 poly mounts that I've had forever but never used. They were in the drag car for the brief time it had a motor. Everything actually lined up pretty well the first time for a change.

The intake plenum that's on there is the old one - April's is much more impressive. I'm saving that and the polished TB for last.

Yay for progress! Now to pull the midcase off the trans again to try to get the preloads right.

[mjannusch]

Got quite a few things done today. Power steering pump, torqued all the mount bolts, A/C compressor, alternator, belts, old Borla exhaust is off, new Pitroad-M triple carbon clutch is on, etc.

Lots of time spent figuring out how I want to solve certain issues and keep everything looking clean. Sensor wiring routing, harness changes, etc.