I've lost my mind.. or an MP90 on a stroker

[Talyn]

For the support. I plan on coming off the Brown Dog mount with a heim link or two and attach it to a steel tube that will be mounted to the bottom of the intake plate. In the pic(quick and dirty) below the bar is in red of course, the plate is the grey. I am thinking I may not even need two links. I am really unsure about bolting to the bottom of the intake manifold, although it would be simple to have a piece welded to the bottom and mount to that. However I am concerned about hitting a good bump and putting that link though the bottom of the manifold.

 

[yossarian19]

I wouldn't worry too much about punching a hole in the intake. I mean, if the intake manifold bolts are torqued there shouldn't be any relative motion between the two (duh), so just about anything should be good enough to support the back of the manifold.

 

[Talyn]

My concern is that all this crap is going to add quite a bit more weight to the manifold than it was designed for. That SC is a lot heavier than it looks and combined with the various plates its going to add up. The support is to keep the weight from damaging the manifold.

 

[Talyn]

This project hasn't failed. I've just been busy. Life and generally stupid shit has gotten in the way.

1) In the process of grind the manifold I managed to make a hole so I had that welded up. So that is fixed and I still need to get to work to finish the grinding and forming.

2) I purchased some essential parts for a meth injection system. Lightly used Labonte equipment and the most expensive parts. The pump, the controller and two nozzles. I'll still need some hose and fittings.

3) I finally got around to mounting the vacuum, boost and EGT all-in-one gauge. The aftermarket mount offerings didn't thrill me. Either too big, didn't fit or just plain ulgy. So I made my own.

Most of the parts and tools besides the screws I already had so it was labor + $7.

I used a piece of 1.25" square aluminum stock, a piece of .5" aluminum stock and s piece of ABS tube.

My goal was to having something small, attractive and removable for the inspection decal.

I drilled a .5" hole in the 1.25" stock. Drilled and tapped the set screw and then went to work. First I formed the piece to accept the ABS tube. Roughed it in with a die grinder and then sanded it to shape with a piece of sand paper wrapped around a scrap piece of tube. Then I formed the other side to the A trim molding. I formed it to match the contours of the A pllar trim so it didn't distort the trim an kept it at a viewable angle from the driver's position.

After the forming I sanded it with 400 grit paper and sprayed it with Valspar. I won't use the valspar again because it takes too long to dry.

Then the tube. It was cut to 2.25" and I drilled a hole close to the end then counter sunk it to mate to the .5" piece of aluminum. I then sprayed the ABS with the Valspar. A week later tnd that shit was still tacky.

The gauge was a press fit in to the ABS as were the black and blue trim rings that fit over the gauge bezel. Tose were cut on the laser at work from scrap.

Also I did have a chance to test fit the MP90. It won't clear the hood. I'm lacking about .5". Just another lie by Rick Rimmer and JP Magazine as there is no way in hell his "kit" would fit under a stock hood.

So now I have the dilemma of having the engine mounts lower the engine, and re work the exhaust or making a slight power budge in the hood, which I already have vents in. I already need to relocate the hood latch pivot as it is directly over the MP90's pulley, which shouldn't be that hard.

 

[Talyn]

Here are some images of the mock up on the manifold.

The intake plate and throttle body will be rotated counter clock wise more to clear the hood and give it an over all lower profile in the rear. When I had it int the engine bay there was plenty of room to drop it down.


The manifold as it is not. Still have some finishing work to do

The buttress I will probably remove. Behind that is where the runner actually begins. I left in thinking it would add support, but I don't think it is needed.

Also, a top view of it sitting in the engine bay:

The intake tubing will also be interesting. Due to the ABS module I can't come over the brake booster and run along the fender. I may take the route in red pictured above or go over the fuel rail then cross over the SC snout or maybe drop down besides the manifold if there is room. If I take the first route the wide area in red will be a flattened area, but still have sufficient cross section. For now it looks like I will have to make the tract out of fiberglass just to get the shapes right.

 

[SolarBell]

Looks nice. I thought my engine bay was going to be tight and yours is tighter. But, I don't have the Viper ignition pack or an ABS module. Your attention to cleanliness is enviable.

 

[Talyn]

The viper coil pack is on the other side, so it isn't interfering with anything for the SC except when I change the oil filter, but the AOS gets in the way too. If it weren't for those stupid bubble flares and metric fittings I wouldn't hesitate to relocate the ABS module.

I've been watching your thread and the info on pullies is good. I'm going to have the same dilemma when it comes to providing additional wrap around the power steering pump.

At one point I had though of running another pulley off the ATI harmonic balancer since it is possible and running an additional belt for the SC. But the electric fan is in the way around 1".

 

[rav]

Any plans to sell the modified manifold after you are done with yours?

 

[Talyn]

No, too much effort in modifying it.

 

[rav]

I understand, Nice work though and BTW your engine bay looks like you could eat out of it what's the secret in keeping it so clean?

 

[Talyn]

Thanx. Cleaning.. lots of it. I usually give it a quick hose and wipe down when I wash the XJ.

 

[rav]

For your hood, if you were to add a cowl induction type like this guy:
http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/cowl-hood-lots-lots-pictures-177596/
Would you be able to close it with the SC?

 

[Talyn]

Something like that is an option and may work. It would also make routing the intake tubing easier. So is a small scoop or vent of some sort or a small custom fiberglass power bulge. Or finding someone with an English wheel. Right now the hood, possible engine mount lowering and intake tubing are all in the back of my mind being processed. I'll have to make a decision when it comes to closing the hood.

 

[Talyn]

I took a look at hood clearance for the hood latch pivot today. First with silly putty. I has about 1.5" of silly putty stacked and it wasn't touching yet. I then got underneath and took some measurements. The closest point is 1" between the mechanical fan shroud and hood. I don't think I have anything to worry about with the pivot placement.

 

[O-Gauge Steamer]

Regular modeling clay works well for checking clearances. I believe the sticks are 1"x1"x4.5" in size. I have used this method since the invention of dirt for checking clearances. To my mind however, there is a better way to go about it. Costly though as it requires a sacrificial hood.

Run a grinder along the edges of the sacrificed hood to free the skin from the frame. Then the frame can be installed on the test vehicle and clearances viewed directly. One advantage of going this way is that you wind up with a nice chunk of sheet metal that is the correct thickness so a hood bubble can be made.

 

[Talyn]

I had enough clearance to stick a tape measure up at the areas in question and get a measurement. Of course I couldn't directly see the measurement, but I hooked it where i needed it and took two measurements on a static point that I could read then subtracted it.

 

[Talyn]

Not much to update. I took a break from grinding on the manifold for a while. I had some other things to attend to plus I am just getting sick of grinding. I started back on it this weekend and I have it 80% of where I want to be.

I did buy Gate's laser belt alignment tool. This tool is a joke. 1) Out of the box it was quite a bit off of calibration. 2) their calibration method is to use a folded piece of paper and align the dot on that. Talk about errors. 3) I talked to gates and voiced my problem. I sent it back to them so they could send it to the manufacture for calibration. I got it back today. I push the button on the laser to turn it on and the laser module slipped from the mount. They didn't even tighten it down sufficiently. 4) After tightening the tool down correctly I then used the rails on the router to calibrate it. I found that just turning it on allowed enough movement in the mount to put it out of alignment, however it went back once I let off the button. I don't have confidence in this device and may look into Dayco's device instead which shoots a line instead of a dot.

I'm also not 100% impressed with the McNally gauge. It works well enough, but it has not auto or even user calibration for altitude. Meaning that if you aren't close to the same elevation as McNally in Florida (118 ft) it will be off when you install it. Well, it was off a bit as I live at an elevation of 2103 ft. I sent it back to them after taking a voltage reading from the sensor, so it is good for now. However, when I move I will once again have to send it back to them. Nice idea, poor execution. Since it has a button they could simply add a feature in the code that if the user holds the button down for 10 seconds or so it would zero the base reading. Or better use a second in gauge sensor to get the ambient reading, then do the math from there. Or even do what Jeep does, gather the ambient reading at key on from the one sensor, however that could be a bit of a problem as they don't know when the gauge will be powered up.

I've also been thinking about the small hole in the hood that I will need and how to cover it up. Moving the hood latch mechanism and modifying the rods is easy enough. I'm leaning toward a fiberglass form similar to the covers on the Dodge Stealth. Mitsubishi 300 GT for the strut towers.. just smaller.

And the exhaust is in the back of my mind. Right now I have a Doug Thorley with a 2.5" outlet into a 2.5" all the way back. I'm not sure this will be enough for the stroker + supercharger. I could modify the Thorley to 3" outlet then a single 3" all the way back. The other option is going with a 00+ header with the dual outlets and either merge them into a single 3" (or larger) or do true duals of smaller pipe.

I'm also debating if I should just go with the stock height Brown Dog HD motor mounts or drop the engine.. maybe 1/2"... or maybe just keep it at stock height. Suggestions?

 

[O-Gauge Steamer]

The pipe diameter will depend on the total power the engine makes.

If memory serves, 2.5" pipe will support up to near 300 horse. Beyond that, 3" would be needed for a single exhaust installation. Another option, given that room for a 3" is hard to come by, is dual exhaust.

Dual 2.5" exhaust can run 350+ ponies. I think...

To be fair, would have to look it up. These are just "rules of thumb" I have used in the past.

I suppose, a fellow could take the header from the late model, eliminate the precats and use that as the starting point of a dual exhaust system. Or, if the existing header is going to be cut apart, then separate the front and back halves and do the same thing.

Jeep really did not have any of this in mind when they designed the XJ.

What were they thinking?

 

[SolarBell]

Interesting that you have issues with the Gates tool. I have an older one and it seems to hold calibration just fine. Of course I checked the calibration myself with the janky piece of paper, but I clamped it all to some wood before doing it.

I missed which McNally gauge you are using. I'm assuming by your comments you are using their boost gauge. AFAIK, the AEM has a similar issue with their digital gauge but most folks talk about allowing it to boot and initialize before starting the engine which clears it up, so there is obviously some startup read of ambient. I can't confirm though since mine was fried when I got it (purchased used).

 

[Talyn]

To be fair, would have to look it up. These are just "rules of thumb" I have used in the past.

here is one such chart:

I suppose, a fellow could take the header from the late model, eliminate the precats and use that as the starting point of a dual exhaust system. Or, if the existing header is going to be cut apart, then separate the front and back halves and do the same thing.

I already have the precats gone. Using the later header + dual is one option, or possibly part dual/ part single.

I really would like to keep the thorley, but as it is its a 2.5" outlet. I don't think that would help even if I upgraded the exhaust pipe to 3".. maybe, maybe not.

Duals is an option, but I usually not fond of them on an XJ.

I missed which McNally gauge you are using. I'm assuming by your comments you are using their boost gauge.

Boost/ EGT gauge.