It took 12 hours, but Layla runs. I have a small list of things left to do, but none of them affect drivability. So, here she is, start to finish.
1988 Ford Tunderbird Turbo Coupe "Layla" (Name all my cars because I own so many!)
Medium Red Clearcoat Metallic/Scarlet Red Leather Interior
All factory options including Power Moonroof (except Automatic Trans)
178,600 Miles!!
Mods:
87 TC block, bored .030 over
87 TC crank, turned .010/.010
ARP Main Studs
Melling Hi-Volume/Standard Pressure oil pump
87 TC rods, resized, ARP rod bolts
.030 over Sealed Power Forged pistons with coated skirts
Mahle coated bearings (mains/rods)
Internally balanced
88TC head, rebuilt and ported
3-Angle valve job
Fel-Pro seals
Ford A234 Roller cam/followers
Esslinger Star Adjustable cam pulley
new hardened guides
ARP Head Studs
1035 Fel-Pro head gasket
1-piece rubber valve cover gasket
Esslinger valve cover
ported 88TC lower intake
ported 88TC upper intake
"modified" 88TC throttle body
heavily ported E6
Precision SC50R ball-bearing Turbo (50-trim/.60 A/R compressor, .63 Stage III turbine, water-cooled)
MaxPSI Oil lines
Aerobird Motorsports coolant lines
Aerobird Motorsports IC hoses
88 TC Intercooler
Aerobird Motorsports CAI with 12" K&N cone
2.5" single exhaust with axle dump
LA3/35# Injectors/Big VAM
Kirban AFPR
BBK 255HP fuel pump
MSD Blaster II coil
DynoMod "Hot" TFI
RAM Powergrip HD 6-puck Carbon/Kevlar clutch
All Royal Purple fluids
Hankook 225/60/16's
I'm forgetting stuff for sure!
More
I had to grind the bottom of the TB to get it to fit over the VC. The Essy VC is a quality piece, but it is a pain in the @$$ to get an EFI TC to work with it. I had to cut off the return coupler on the throttle linkage (for auto's only) to get full throttle without bashing the side of the VC.
Still to install:
Auto Meter UltraLite II Boost Gauge
dual-pillar pod
B&M Line-Loc
CHE Upper and Lower rear control arms
wow !!!!that looks great.
i like the aqua color..... it's purty
It's EN66 AMC Blue. All 66-74 AMC V8's were that color. It's a personal favorite :D
nice!!!
I must add in because I forgot to mention:
Chuck W Motor Mounts (softer durometer)
Gillis Boostvalve
Summit Fuel Pressure Gauge on the rail
NGK TR5's
new Motorcraft PIP/Rotor/Cap
what are you looking to run??
this is your "built" motor?
I'll need to stop by whenever I next head up to Seattle and take a look (and try to get a trunk key). That looks beautiful and I'm sure runs as well.
Mid 13's as-is, 12's on the MAF/56#s/J3 with ET Streets.
Yes, this is my "built" motor. The bottom end is all forged and studs, it should be like an anvil!
Ooow purdy. Looks good. Now go wip that GTO ;)
Looking Good! I love that V/C other that the big Name on it. Glad the you got it to work the the 87-88 upper that blue makes it all look anodized.
Did you keep the exterior bone stock? If so, thats AWESOME!!! What a perfect sleeper :D . A ricer pulls up next to you. "Whatcha got in that thing?" and you reply "Meh, a 4 cylinder." Hahahahaha
Not only is the exterior bone stock, it's ugly :hick:
Clearcoat peel, the rear bumper trim is missing, the wheels suck, o h yeah, she's a sleeper. ;)
That will all be changing slowly but surely. Eventually she'll look nice (still stock) but lowered on 03 Cobra Anny wheels.
I personally think just making it look bone stock, yet nice and clean would be perfect. But I guess I'm just a hypocrite cause my car will eventually be lowered on a set of nice wheels (Bullitts or Keystones or somethin) too, so yeah. These cars just beg for it.
I also went on a 5-mile drive today. VERY therapeutic BTW. I *tried* to take a video, but steering, videoing, and shifting is harder in Layla then in the truck :D . The T-stat housing ended up having a hole in it, so I had to use a spare. Now there's no leaks of any fluids! (Gotta be a TC first...:hick: ) So far, so good. I still have my tinkering to do, but it's apparent now that I need to clean out the IAC, adjust the TPS and idle screw, and play with the fuel pressure, boost, and both distributor and cam timing. She's at 10 psi now, and from 4,000-6,500 pulls like CRAZY. Once break-in is done, I'll turn up the wick.
BTW, the only "casualty" from sitting for 6 months, is the left turn blinker, not bad huh?
that left turn blinker! :beatyoass:
ever heard of using a passenger to hold a camera? :hick:
With an Esslinger head and a turbo that size, I'd hope so. ;)
I'd love to have that under my hood, man. Very nice.
Nobody's brave enough to ride in it yet :hick: Spending 6 months on jackstands makes people leery...
Thank you. I have another 2.3T in the garage that's going to be even more wild... :evilgrin:
DOHC???? for the next one??
All that and still no FMIC?
Why?
Which would have solved the VC clearance issue with a rotated upper intake.
hope its not raining where you are i want you to pull those lines tomorrow. its pouring here!
No DOHC, but Aluminum and giganto Inconel exhaust valves ;)
FMIC's are for monkey-see, monkey-do's and all out race-cars. I have an immeasurable amount of boost loss, and laser temp readings show over 75% IC efficiency at speeds of ~45 MPH. Why lose 2-3psi and plumb a nightmare for maybe 5% more efficiency? Unless I rotated the intake the charge pipe would just get heated back up anyways. The ONLY thing I'll consider is a water/air setup in the factory location.
It's raining :(
10 more miles today. Even got a fresh tank of gas! I also installed the V8 TBird radiator overflow bottle (passenger front of radiator) to make room for the oil catch can. Fixed about 7-8 vacuum leaks, and removed the head lifting eye for the oil control plumbing.
Did a big smokey burnout too ;)
so no fuel lines tomorrow i take it then
Wednesday son, Wednesday. Not Tuesday. And it's supposed to rain all week. Can't push a non-running 5.0 Bird in mud, it doesn't roll.
But as soon as I get it over here, I'll strip the fuel lines for you. ;)
Huh? I don't know about your car, but I can definitely feel and hear when my top mount gets heat soaked. And it don't take much.
Come over my house, I want a ride!!! WOOHOO!!!:D
thanks!! i was just wondering!
stuntmannick - I have a turbo that was designed this millennium. MOre efficient, less heat and all that. ;)
I don't think Ohio is in my road trip plans, until September :evilgrin:
If you do any urban driving, it doesn't matter when your turbo was designed. That ic is going to turn into a cooker. That is my biggest peave about this car.
What, you mean to tell me that the fact that the intercooler is directly over the exhaust manifold has something to do with it getting heat soaked? Blasphemy, I say!
Actually, I have HARD data that says otherwise. ;)
I spent a WEEK with laser testers and that IC, and I tell you there's NO heat soak on my car unless it's sitting idle for longer then 3 minutes. Nobody wants to believe me until I make them touch it with their hands after a drive. But hey, I don't have to convince anybody. I know it works, and that's all that matters.
Yea, me too ;)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/stuntmannick/DSC_0162.jpg)
Nice! :D
:birdsmily:
New pics from 10 seconds ago ;)
Last 3 for tonight.
Dang...that just screams "Sleeper." Me like!
Pics on Page 4 and 5 :D
looks good, stripping the sport today?
Started raining again :( Those clouds in the pics ^^^ were Monday/Tuesday's storm).
.... its nice here thats why i asked o well money is waiting for when you get them out
I didnt have to spend a week, i drove in moderate traffic and traffic lights, met up with a couple friends, popped my hood, and my intercooler was almost hot to the touch. Dont need a laser tester to prove that.
And i also have an SC50 with a Bobs log...
Throw a fan on that B! :D
Why do all of us TFers still have that dirty old cam bolt on the shiny new cam gear. I wanted to clean mine but I installed mine via the shortcut way.
Looking good AM! But why are you hatin on the 3G? lol. :P
Im not going to bother, the car will be gone in a month or so anyways ;)
;)
I know. Tis was a kidding. :)
I coated my ported E6, turbine housing, and down elbow. Plus I've removed all of my A/C and underhood liner and rubber IC seal. The IC is painted with heat paint as well. I did all of my testing in moderate traffic in WA state with a $1200 laser temp gun borrowed from the US Coast Guard to measure temps on turbo's in boats. I did a LOT of adjusting, tuning, and "messing with" the IC to get some #'s.
Heat soak is near immediate in heavy traffic, stop-and-go, and hot idle. Given a "cool-down" at the end of a run (for oil pen 15ing) however seems to last 2-3 minutes as long as ambient is ~65* or less.
WATER temp had the biggest impact on IC temp (outside of the coatings). A 160* Tstat does WONDERS for underhood temps and detonation.
Granted, it's not perfect. But compared to massive boost loss it's pretty good. I still think air/water is the way to go, especially on a daily driver.
The bolt bothers me too :hick:
so is it ognna stop raining soon i hate to keep asking but i need those lines lol. i want to be able to actually let the car RUN for a bit, without dumping my 3 dollars a gallon gas everywhere!
I can't control the weather :( But I have Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon off so stripping will commence.
Due to wheelbase difference's Tbird lines will not fit a Lincoln. You will have to cut and splice them if you didn't already know this.
its nylon line just try them up out of the way, if not ill find a way to make them work. its better then 7 inches of rubber line on metal line
and aero might as well pm me about payment and all that so i can set it up to get it out to you asap, once you get them out and ready to go. hell ill send the money early if you want, i trust ya!
Smoking issue is GONE. Prototype MaxPSI oil return line kinked. A new stock-length solved the issue permanently. Boost turned up to 15# and I'm living the good life!
sweet, never had a chance to get the cash out, so ill just wait till you get shipping set up. pulled them yet?
Bunch-O-Pics time :D
These are all from today as I did my errands and went to a final.
These 3 are at the bank of the Cowlitz River by my house.
Here's a pic of the engine running ;)
And 2 "experimental" ones for ideas.
These 3 are from by my gym. I started going again because I need a diet if the car is to go fast! :hick:
Last 3 for today. Another set from the gym area. I love my car :D
Everybody stop arguing and love my 2.3T TC :birdsmily: Or else! :beatyoass:
i like these sets of pics
I wanna see some videos, 0-150 runs, big burnouts, outrunning popos, ya know.
lol!
video plz. Lets see it......
:D:D:D
Thanks for the positive comments. So far all my lousy camera will do is a video of the carpet behind the seat and no sound (drove too fast, dropped camera, too loud for sound to work :hick: )
When it makes it's track debut I'll bring a crew of witnesses as about a dozen cameras. I'd like to get a few drive-by passes but John won't be down again for a few weeks.
As for the pics, I'm trying really hard to take a lot of varied, nice sets and clean up the car as much as I can. I have some magazine aspirations ;)
My custom catch can setup is all finished. ;) No smoke at all and no more blowing out the dipstick. Stupid PCV system sucks.
:hick:
HAHAHAH i was confused at first by the last one till i read the sign! Nice man good work. and thanks for the laugh
:D
I actually had to u-turn to see that sign again and make sure I wasn't just thinking dirty!
Timing: 14* BTDC, SPOUT out
Cam Timing: 0* "relative" (Essy cam gear showing "0" but the teeth are out a bit)
Fuel Pressure: 42#s vacuum line out
Boost: 17#s
VAM: Stock (I have a spare that I'm going to tighten)
Injectors: Rebuilt 36# brown tops
Idle: 1,200RPM's warm
Boost Onset: 10#s by 3500, 17#s by 4500
Runs and drives great! How do I get the boost onset quicker? I'm thinking play with cam timing. Should I advance or retard it?
You want boost quicker get a roots blower for off the line boost.:evilgrin:
I'd need a really big one :hick:
Timing: 14* BTDC, SPOUT out
Cam Timing: 4* Advanced
Fuel Pressure: 42#s vacuum line out
Boost: 18#s
VAM: Stock (I have a spare that I'm going to tighten)
Injectors: Rebuilt 36# brown tops
Idle: 1,000RPM's warm
Boost Onset: 10#s by 3000, 17#s by 3700
Runs and drives great! Advancing really was the ticket. I almost want to try a little more on the thought that "0" isn't really zero. The boost onset is much quicker, and is honestly a little violent. I have to re-torque the head before I go for 20#s...
That's info for YOU Sleeper ;)
A wideband may be a good future investment for you if you plan to turn the wick up much more or touch the vam at all.
I see full boost about 4,000 in 3rd (to much gear)
I have an empty A-pillar pod for a reason :D
AEM UEGO as soon as I have the spare $$$ (Stoopid Nissan transmission :hick: ). I even have an O2 bung for it.
I'm thinking 19#s will be the limit, and maybe 6* of cam. I'll find out Friday with Ted and John at PIR. (Hoping for a 13, praying for a 13, light it on fire if I have to for a 13...)
awesome man, good luck on the 13.
I might have to borrow Ted's slicks...
:D:D:D
15.2@92 at 0* timing :hick:
Timing: 14* BTDC, SPOUT out (for real now)
Cam Timing: 4* Retarded
Fuel Pressure: 44#s vacuum line out
Boost: 22#s
VAM: Stock (I have a spare that I'm going to tighten)
Injectors: Rebuilt 36# brown tops
Idle: 1,000RPM's warm
Boost Onset: 10#s by 3000, 17#s by 3700
Testing...
Did some work on Layla over the last few weeks. First I installed an Auto Meter double gauge pod and an Ultra-Lite II Boost gauge. I dyed the pod red using SEM dye, but it's not quite the right shade yet. I'm trying to match the seats instead of the original dark red (from the 1/2 dash up) to make the whole interior the same shade of red.
Then I got to work on the rear bumper, it was looking kinda py.
I masked the car off and sanded and painted the trim. Dupli-Color high gloss black bumper trim paint was used. Then I installed my red trim kit.
Then I did the door b-pillar trim. Again, I masked and sanded. I used Dupli-Color satin black 500* engine paint for this. The color was right on and it's a high-wear paint and seeing as how my greasy fingers are always touching it. Works great and cleans up easily. (And yes, I masked the door and window separate and also the inside of the door. I painted the inside lip of the trim as well.)
Then I tackled the outer marker lights. Mine were bad, all yellowed and nasty. I cleaned up a set really nice and installed them. 100% improvement!
You can clearly see 3 of the different shades of Medium Red :hick: Remember, she was 3 different colors when I bought her, so being different reds is an improvement :D
A couple of "overall's". Yes, I did take most of the stickers off. I left on the two supporting my tracks (PIR and PR), the NHRA Member, and the K&N.
Next is the rest of the trim, the mirrors, some interior work, and a surprise on the spare set of snowflakes I have ;)
nice looks loads better. Thats what im doing to the lincoln, but im blacking out a bunch of chrome, and adding some odd parts. Like turbo coupe mirrors and such. Im curious to what you are doing to the snowflakes
I polish my mirrors.Take them off,sand them with 600,800,1000,1500,then 2000 ( I like to go through the grits and be thorough),then,polish them with a good polish.I use Mother's Billet polish.they will be glossy black with no paint.All natural plastic.Then,a little wax each time you wash the car.Nice looking when they're done.
Yeah that's what I'm going to do. It's frustrating sometimes when you realize that the car has nearly 180,000 miles and really needs a full restoration. I'm just trying to keep it presentable. What I really need to do is paint it.
Wow looks good she is lookin better all the time
Thank you!
Looks good. You know what would make it look even better?
get rid of those god stickers! :D
LOL, I have a spare window with no stickers. Should I?
:hick:
Yes
forget the spare window break out the razor blade an goo gone.
Naw, the stickers that are left have meaning. 2004 Seattle Raceway Series (they changed their name to Pacific Raceways in 05), Friends of PIR (Portland International), and NHRA Member.
I'll take the window out and stick it on the wall in the garage, and bolt in my NOS one :D (on second thought, might make the rest of the car look like poo, I'll bolt in a py used one :hick: )
lmao.....
180K
Just to bring this back up for the For Sale Thread