Leecheater's rebuild, getting there

[leecheater]

I pulled off the pump after talking to fuelab on the phone. The pump is dead and needs to be looked at by someone there. After reading a ton and talking to them it appears my issue was too small of micron pre-pump filter. They recommend a 75 micron, mine was much smaller. The good news is it happened near my house and not under a high boost situation. The rebuild won't be too bad, and may even be covered by fuelab warranty. I am buying both pre and post fuelab filters. 75 micron ss pre and 40 mucron post filters.

My downpipe is going to be reconfigured by my brother. I can't weld (medical reasons) and Mike is a pro. We will be revamping both pieces of the pipe. The first piece needs to be machined so it won't leak, it doesn't mate up correctly at the v-band. The bottom piece will be configured to transition from 4 to 3.5" and we will add a flex section to both the dump tube and to the actual tubing to goes to the wastegate. Steve Keeney came up with this recommendation. This will get the gate away from the downpipe by at least a couple of inches,as it is right up against it now. Going to be a lot nicer. The way it is now, will never seal correctly, might as well get it done correctly once and for all.

 

[toyotanos]

Sweetness, glad to hear you're getting it squared away solid!

 

[leecheater]

I talked with the guys today at Fuelab. It seems my fuel pump was not assembled correctly. Apparently there is an O ring inside the pump. When it was put together, the o ring was pinched, allowing fuel to leak into the electronics, and this fried the pump. WTF?

I suppose it is good news, no cost except shipping there. In the mean time I have purchase 2 Fuelab filters, one 75 micron pre, and one 40 micron post. If I am lucky, the pump will arrive on Saturday. I thought the failure had my name written all over it.

 

[IJ.]

"Shit Happens" Dan!

 

[leecheater]

IJ. truer words have never been spoken. At least it didn't happen when I was really romping on her. In the end, I didn't have a properly sized pre-filter, now I will. So it worked out.

 

[IJ.]

Good argument for the incremental ramping up of power runs during shakedown drives

Would have hurt to lean out a brand new build

 

[funky_monkey58]

You don't really need much for clearance with the water cooled wastegate, which is the exact reason I had you get it. It will be end of summer before you get to drive the car much with all your small changing of things.

 

[leecheater]

Sean,
Even it the wastegate wasn't flush, right up against the downpipe(with no clearance at all), the downpipe had a horrible exhaust leak and this needed to be fixed. I am comfortable getting this thing right because this should be the last exhaust I ever have to do on the car.
Now if I can just get those Fuelab filters and the pump hung, ? your old tank set up, should be set to go.

 

[funky_monkey58]

I still think it was mainly a tightening issue, I won't be able to work on anything for several weeks, this weekend I am going to arkansas and next weekend I will be in the boundary waters, and I have been working during the weeks.

 

[leecheater]

I finally have progress to report. Last weekend, my brother mostly and some me, worked to re-vamp the down pipe and exhaust. We tweaked it to try to eliminate the leaking v-bands. Also reworked the transition from 4" to 3.5". I hope we got it so she seals tight.
I also finally today got the fuel filters I was waiting for. I had ordered black but they were on back order so I had to take blue. At least it matches the car. Now, if I can get Sean over here to swap his old MKIII tank and lines on my car, should be set until another set of problems arises. Here's a pic of filters, these bad boys don't come cheap. Big one is prepump, with 75 micron ss screen. Small one is 40 micro ss screen.

 

[leecheater]

Today Sean fabricated the fuel lines and filters. We removed my gas tank and used Sean's old one. The sump set up is better, should be less turbulence. I still have that pesky down pipe exhaust leak but it quieted down quite a bit once she warmed up. I dumped out the old oil and filter and filled her up with Rotella and new OEM filter. I still have issues with tail lights and lot's of little stuff but plan to drive her tomorrow evening, see if I can put on a bunch of miles. Still got a lot of breaking in to do.

 

[leecheater]

I haven't been on SM for a while. The latest problem is my Comp turbo, making noise and had a lot of side to side play. I got pissed, yanked it off and sent it back to Comp in California. I talked with Joe Delgado (who I believe is owner, and Supra owner). He told me the oil line filter was plugged and she ran for a while without oil, fried the bearings.

Joe offered me several options. #1, was to upgrade the billet 67, no charge because he said he would stand behind warranty. (even though out of warranty period), or for a very reasonable price, I could upgrade to a 72 or 74 mm wheel. I opted to stay with the 67 after a lot of thought. It has enough power and with it and spool valve, plus my new MT ET Streets, I should finally be able to make the 10's.

I appreciate all the good advice from Toyantos, Sean and my friend Gary. I should have newly upgraded turbo on car real soon.

 

[leecheater]

I haven't posted here for a while. To put it lightly this season was a real bust. Nothing but one problem after another. The biggest problem has been with the fuel pump and filters. Around several weeks ago, I took the Supra to toyotanos, who is a Toyota mechanic to see if he could figure out why the brand new fuelab pump would only work intermittently. After he looked it over, we decided to send it back in to fuelab. This pump has less than 100 miles on it. Fuelab got back to me Friday and they found it had a wire that was loose, an assembly issue. WTF! This is the 2nd time this season that I have needed to send a pump back to them. The first one also had assembly issues. They are not exactly building my confidence in them.

So, I have give up driving her for the season. Once we have my list of minor fixes looked in by Steve, we will park her in the garage's north slot and cover her up for a couple of months. I do want to finish the rear hatch and take her into my paint guy to repaint front fender and several other small pain issues. I only hope next season will be a better one. Sorry for the rant. Supra's can be frustrating, as you all know.

 

[NewGen]

I haven't posted here for a while. To put it lightly this season was a real bust. Nothing but one problem after another. The biggest problem has been with the fuel pump and filters. Around several weeks ago, I took the Supra to toyotanos, who is a Toyota mechanic to see if he could figure out why the brand new fuelab pump would only work intermittently. After he looked it over, we decided to send it back in to fuelab. This pump has less than 100 miles on it. Fuelab got back to me Friday and they found it had a wire that was loose, an assembly issue. WTF! This is the 2nd time this season that I have needed to send a pump back to them. The first one also had assembly issues. They are not exactly building my confidence in them.

So, I have give up driving her for the season. Once we have my list of minor fixes looked in by Steve, we will park her in the garage's north slot and cover her up for a couple of months. I do want to finish the rear hatch and take her into my paint guy to repaint front fender and several other small pain issues. I only hope next season will be a better one. Sorry for the rant. Supra's can be frustrating, as you all know.

Sorry to hear all of your issues Dan. Sounds like you'll be ready out of the gate next year though! A couple buddies of mine had issues with fuel lab as well kinda shity :\ . My A1000 went out on me mid year put a weldon back in and the cars been fine. Hopefully this will be the last time you have issues with it!

 

[goodhart]

That nephew of yours worked on any of these issues Dan?

 

[goodhart]

Updates?

 

[leecheater]

I am back. To say that this has been another frustrating season is understating big time. Here is what has happened since I last posted here.


Took her our for a spin once exhaust was fabricated. Went about 6 miles, when I suddenly had a loud knocking sound from lower end. I know rod knock when I hear it! I could not believe it. WTF? Built 2JZ with less than 200 miles on it and rod knock. Sean yanked her out and we popped open the oil pan to find metal shavings from the bearings all over the place.

I talked to DaveH. He told me to call the shop, Quality Engine in Fargo. This is where I had her built. This is also where Dave's engines are built. I talked to Wayne the owner. He told me to box her up and send it to him. In the mean while, I had bought a new crank shaft (had previous spun bearing and was machined by same shop). They took her completely apart. No known cause for 2 spun bearing with less than 200 miles was found. We changed oil frequently, took it very easy because not only breaking in engine, I also have a new clutch.

, Cleaned and flushed motor to remove any trace of fine particulate. New ACL bearings, rehoned. Reused piston and rings, Wayne said they looked like new. Head also gone through. Again no source found. They reassembled her and today she was delivered. She now sits on my garage floor.

I am trying to decide which way to go. Sell car ?Sell engine, part out the rest? The body is very good to excellent. I looked on the car for sale section. There isn't anything on there that is close to her. She's a monster.

IN the mean time, because I wanted to drive something cool. I picked up this:













72 240z with 280z swap engine and 5 spd tranny. 292 cams and a lot more. Sweet ride but a bit under powered when compared to the beast.

Which way to go????????????????????????????????????????????? I can keep both, Supra has been so damn frustrating. When she runs it's totally awesome.

 

[toyotanos]

I like the color of the Z, especially driving by it!

Not sure what to say on the Supra, though. You seem to enjoy it greatly when it runs, but the last couple years have just been bad news for that car. I think having Quality build it was the right choice, and perhaps the bearing failure was just a fluke. Everything that has been an issue was improved or replaced. I want to say it'll be worth the wait, simply because its a blast when you get it finished.

Also, I think the QSV should be dropped. Too many people having issues similar to yours and coming up on boost that early can be a double-edged sword. I wasn't able to tune past 30psi because we ran into serious on-boost compressor surge with my .81 exhaust housing. Your 1.2 might be a little big/laggy alone, but should be perfect for silly power numbers!

 

[leecheater]

Thanks for the feedback Steve. You are right. I do enjoy her when she runs. I have never cared much for the spool valve. I can certainly down size the housing. Going to get her on the engine stand this week and start the process all over again.

I wonder if the modified oil pump could have been the reason? Going with stock this time. Any more comments appreciated.

 

[leecheater]

Well, I have went back and forth on this project, drove out to North Dakota to talk to my friend Gary, e-mailed several guys, DaveH, Steve, Emilio and got their input. I have read through the build thread by SySt several times and have come to the conclusion that by swapping in an LS engine, it just opens up another bunch of solutions that need to be worked out. The 2JZ fits, we have ironed out electrical, fuel, and turbo issues. So I have decided to ask Sean to put the 2JZ back in the Supra. I am thinking the spun bearing was a fluke and should not happen again. I am taking Steve's advice and getting rid of the spool valve. It will be going up for sale soon, along with the larger exhaust housing. I talked to Joe Delgado at Comp and have a .81 exhaust housing on the way from California. In the mean time I am driving the 240Z and really liking it a lot. It does have an issue with either right front wheel bearing or tire that I hope to figure out today. With some luck I should be running the Supra in 10 days. We are shooting for start up in 1 week.