The car named Mental

[Hyper]

Not giving up on it, it just is not high up on the priority list. Every time we take it to the dyno, it is last on and with little time to work on it. I was paying more than $1000 per year for a car that gets driven 500 miles. It just did not make sense to keep doing that. And our local dyno closed so now it has to be towed out. I think we will get back to it pretty soon. We have some new bits that need to be tested on a boosted car.

I can undestand your situation. Insurance is expensive down here in Florida too.

[— kung fu jesus —]

I feel you John. I think your progress on this car is amazing. Sometimes taking a break gives one time to sort the next move, then it becomes fun again.

[HarryB]

Wow, I do not know how I missed that build so far! What an outstanding car!

[★ 949 Racing ★]

I for one, am really anxious to see what the new blower setup will do. I think it will set the standard for streetable 300whp+ Rotrex builds.

[90blue]

Would like to see more info on how you fit the Toyota COPs into the VVT cam cover.
I have no issues with the OEMs but the Toyotas are less cluttered looking to my eye.

[Satisaii]

Lets see if I can remember... I did it right after MRLS after all.

I trimmed all the extra plastic from around the base of the coils. I either filed down the plug holes in the valve cover or sanded the bodies of the coils to fit. Or possibly both. Since my cover is powder coated I am thinking it was both. It was not a lot of material removed, but it had to be done. I hand made the plates on top to hold the coils in place. I will replace those with some printed plastic parts when our printer comes in.

It was more of a make it fit thing. Way too hard to turn into a kit since you can't just buy the coils.

[90blue]

Thanks for the feedback on the COPs.
After running COPs and the reducer on the 1.6 for many years I wanted to do the same with the VVT swap, but really no need for my application.
There is a local guy here that did it but he hacked the shit out of the cover and the COPs to get them in. Just too many obstructions in the valley on the VVT cover. I haven't really paid much attention to it since the swap got running, as it runs good with the OEMs. But being the tinkerer I am I thought that maybe you had an elegant solution from the pics and that this would be a neat little project. I have a spare cover I can work with and I'll take another look, but as I recall nothing fit very well and I do not want to chop it up too badly.
Maybe some closer pics, if you get an opportunity, would help out.
What was the issue with the FAB 9 COPs that caused the change ?

[Satisaii]

Sorry for all the old pictures not working. We know who to blame for that. I deleted them all and my account the day they pulled that stunt.

I was driving home a couple weekends ago, and the car made a horrible noise and stopped running. Tried to bump start it and the were more horrible noises. Managed to coast into a lot and park it. Tried to start it with the starter and it would not turn over. Time to call a tow truck.

Upon further inspection:

28.jpg
That can't be good.

30.jpg
That should not be in the cat.

27.jpg
Think there are some missing bits here.

Looks like the valves separated from the stems. Lash was way off on #2. Like .125" off. There was so much trash in the intake that I threw the the IAC away. It always had a bad tick from #1 but the builder said it was nothing to worry about. He is now looking into it to see if something failed that will be covered by a warranty. Plans for the car are semi on hold until I hear back from him. If it gets a new motor then I make some small changes and keep running it. If it needs a new one, I either part it out or do a swap. If it is a swap, it will be mind blowing and epic. And much better documented.

[CollinMB]

Sorry about the engine woes...

...buuut if it needs a swap, please do an LF-X

[— kung fu jesus —]

Sorry about the engine woes...

...buuut if it needs a swap, please do an LF-X

California CARB/BAR makes that difficult.

[CollinMB]

Maybe not so much with Referee. Just need to use the stock emissions equipment, which shouldn't be that difficult given the engine utilizes a headifold design (combined exhaust manifold and head).

[Greasemonkey2000]

Really hope you keep Mental and just go mental on it!

[Satisaii]

The SO decreed that I will keep it. Still waiting on word of what went wrong with the engine. But I think I have decided to move on with the next iteration of the car even if I score a new engine. It will probably take me a couple of years to build it, mainly due to cost and complexity of the swap.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Good to hear! I hope after a small respite, and a good diagnosis, the plans become clear and motivation is renewed!

[Satisaii]

Turns out my epic plans were going to be epic level expensive. If anyone wants to give it a go, I was going to do...

A Leaf swap. 300+ e-hp, run through a BMW transmission... for lots of reasons I won't spell out unless someone is really interested. Or...

Tesla small power unit. In the back. No transmission. Still about 300 e-hp, but way more epic. Or...

Tesla large power unit. The holy grail. Will fit between the rear shock towers. Just. Major engineering fun. And 800+ e-hp Just think about that, and the $50k or so that it would take to do it. We bought a house in south OC last year, that is not happening. Le sigh. If anyone wants to throw some money my way, I will donate time to make this happen on their car.

I am going to BAR it as a 2005. All the work has now been done, waiting on some bits from powder coating. It runs on a stock ECU, starts with a stock key... will update with some of the cool stuff I did later. I need to run it for a couple hundred miles, make sure there are no codes, and then take it in for the inspection.