Had a bunch of help yesterday, especially from Mike Bellis!
Click to view attachment

He spent all day extending the wiring harness until exhaustion took over and I finished it up last night at 1am.
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Im amazed at how much I learned just watching him..

Im going to see about finishing up taping and locating the dash harness tonight.

Also fixed the leaking coolant line and tested the system, everything seems to work great! But I still have to wire up the controller for the water pump. Ill do that after I mount the dash harness.

Looks Good! Thanks Mike for helping him out!

Darla isn't helping much though...

Last update for the month.

WCR last weekend was a blast!! The rock solid Fiesta ST was a monster on the autox and just flew around the mountain roads!


But enough about that... Progress was slow due to WCR/Work/Home duties.

The goal for next month is to have the engine running and the car drive-able!
Be sure to stay tuned.

I was however able to put a couple hours in to do some wiring. Laid the harness out and routed the positive cable from the battery to the relay box. Ran a really nice 2ga wire with some lugs that I soldered. I've got 6 more lugs and another 15ft of cable so we'll see if I use it anywhere else! Not pictured is a 250amp fuse that just came in the mail last night that I'll mount to the center tunnel in line with the main power.

Not pictured is a solution for the wires coming through the body into the engine bay. Currently a square hole and the wires are protected by some coolant hose. I have the original harness loom ECU box that I have cut up and I think will work nicely after some fanangling. It's still going to take a bit to finish up...

Working mounting the wiring.

Also figured out the throttle stuff

Click to view attachment
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Its actually pretty much in line with the OE throttle pedal. If I could find it I might even be able to use it..

Click to view attachment
Also started mounting the wiring. Got the main relay harness mounted, this is where the fat battery lead goes.

Click to view attachment
Also mounted the fuse box. I like it in this position. The panels will be easily removable so this can be accessible easily.

Im going to finish mounting the wiring tonight, hook up the ECU, put power to the system and see if I can connect to the ECU. I currently have a bunch of relays missing but thats just a pick n pull trip tomorrow morning if I cant get power to the ECU.


From there I will need to mount the dash cluster, mount a couple of my stanalone guages, wire up the water pump and boost controller, and wire up all the lighting.

I also dont know where the plugs are for the clutch/brake so I will have to research that. Its an automatic harness so I might need to do some wiring.

One last fun thing

The wiring looks really good! Not so sure about the gas pedal...

Gas pedal is mock up to help me determine position and length.

The shaft will have a welded piece of steel to form the pedal similar to the current layout and I will either bolt on an aftermarket pedal or just rubber coat the steel.

Looking forward to seeing your work. You impress me with your ingenuity.

I have to weld up some recessed brackets for the 944 seats. It's going to get ugly. They sit to high unless I leave the sliders out. Still they are nice seats and I can fit my fat butt in them. Always a good thing. So no sliders or sliders, I'm keeping them.

Since I brought it up, here's the seat I'm using. http://www.jegs.com/i/Scat/942/80-1606-61L/10002/-1

I've seen your welds, It'll be fine

Why not cut out your factory brackets and bolt the sliders to the floor? I welded on some stubs for my sliders for the drivers seat onto the floor and I really like how it turned out (Pretty sure its the first page in this thread...)

I may have to. But they are about an inch inside the factory mounts, I may be able to recess the mounts and keep the factory seat mount locations. I'm not opposed to cutting out the factory mounts but I want to try this first. I just need to get it done before the hill climb. I hope it cools down so I can get some work done.

Extended the wires to the brake and clutch switches.
Click to view attachment


Redid the mounts for the sensors, this should get me a bit more foot room aftwr I make a new cover for it. It also keeps it on the pedal cluster.
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I need to grab a couple relays and wire up the fuel pumps.

Got a little bit of progress done,



Hooked up the ECU and got proper readings! Which means that the wiring job seems to be correct.

Pulled the spark plugs and put a little bit of oil down them as well as filled the engine up with oil and tightened the oil line.

I tried to crank the starter but it wouldnt do anything. After discussing it with my Audi buddies, its because I do not have the central locking system hooked up. I just need to ground the wire going to the central locking system.


So in the meantime I hooked up a test wire to the starter and then set it on the battery post to test to make sure the starter worked. Yup! So I gave it a good couple of 30 second cranks to start to prime the oil system and get the lubrication of the engine going good and ensure there was no strange noises. Everything seemed good!

Next step is getting the fuel working, a couple more little things and start this mama jama

Awesome. Nothing more exciting than when it fires up. If you have the electrical right it will .

Uh, that's #2 on the list, Chris. Numero uno es when the ECU Fires and goes up in smoke. Andy, I'd be interested in your pre start diagnosis of your wiring job. In detail if you've time. I don't mind telling you that when I powered up mine the first time I was so nervous you couldn't have driven a ten penny nail up my ass with a sledge hammer. Kent

Well, I double checked to make sure there were no loose /exposed wires, I read and re read how the system gets its power, and I hooked up my power wire accordingly.

I grounded all the grounds and installed all the relays per the manuals and what I found on the cars in pick n pull.

I left the key off and hooked up power to the system and inspected everything for hot or melting wires, then I hooked up the ECU and turned the key to the on position. Since I dont have the ABS hooked up the dash cluster beeped at me three times (The tuner said he turned that off.... but alas..) I then plugged in my ecu logging software and pulled up the ecu as well as any parameters that it could read at the moment. I also checked fault codes, but my software being the free version basically wouldnt let me check everything, so I left it at that.

What usually causes a melted wire is accidentally electrifying a ground wire. I did it. Luckily it wasn't connected to anything important so I just replaced it. The melting started IMMEDIATELY. Within about 10 seconds the garage was full of magic smoke. I think you're clear of that hurdle.

I think you're in really good shape. You're getting readings from the ECU, everything powered up so its grounded correctly. Time to button up the fuel stuff and fire it up!

I had to open the dash cluster and de-solder the buzzer. Otherwise it will keep beeping 3 times over and over...

The starter relay is interrupted by the clutch switch and central locking. Just remove the central locking interrupt wire/ bypass it. And if the clutch is not pushed in, it won't start.

I removed both of these and have the key control the starter relay directly. very easy to do.

When you figure all of this out, will you do my 4.2 conversion?

I may have to kill the buzzer, but my tuner said he would tune that out... Hopefully the new guy can.

Starter has been taken care of. I grounded the central locking wire and the engine cranks over with the key


Next on the list is the fuel pump wiring, throw fuel in and fix what is likely a very leaky system.

Wiring would probably be similar, but no.. I have probably 3-500 hours into this conversion so far, and a good 50 of it in wiring alone with what is likely another 20 to go before the chassis is all wired.


In the future if this conversion gets popular I might entertain making kits or doing all the wiring mods, but its so much custom stuff it just doesnt make sense. You pretty much have to just fabricate everything.

Ill fill in details later. Still issues, but this did happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSrB9kXreM4

Congrats! That's a big payoff moment for hours of tracing wires, cross-referencing diagrams, fabricating, welding, etc, etc. Nice work.

Huge step, congratulations

Hell yeah! Congratulations!

Sounds good, I like!

Awesome!

Now all you need to do is finish...

I like the tune it plays wish I could have been there to hear it. But, I'd rather have it happen without me than not happen with me.

Is is it loud, 11 of 10 or 9 of 10?
I like it either way!

Its louder than I expected. Its basically 3" straight pipe..

I dont think the mufflers do much at all I might need to put a chambered muffler in there somewhere. Cruising on the freeway may be a bit.. loud.

Congrats Andrew. We need a Gene Wilder avatar that screams "It's alive".

You might try some exhaust inserts. I used a brand called "car chemistry" on my old V8 and was able to reduce some drone. Not sure on a turbo car though.

Sounds great

Not much progress over the weekend, Worked on wiring a couple things and figuring out some other things. I dont want to start the car again until I am ready to put some load on the rings. I think I figured out why my 02 sensor and MAF sensor are not reading, I dont think they are getting 12v. I found out that wiring and will force them to get 12v with a keyed trigger.

I do know that the oil pan as well as I assume the front main seal or oil shaft seal is leaking. Not happy about that because all the seals are new. After I get some break in miles I'll pull the engine, finish off the rear engine shelf, check for other potential issues and clean things up some more.


Matt, thanks for the tip on inserts, That is certainly a good option. Since my exhaust is V banded I could possibly just make a new exhaust with more restrictive muffler. I'll get some sound charts later after some break in.

Final June Update:

Finished up a bunch more little things like all the hose clamps I was missing and fixed my fuel leak that developed.

I am still not getting the car running with the MAF connected and I havent gotten a reading from the O2 but I havent forced power to it yet. I am going to try forcing that again before I get it on the road for some fuel correction but that will need to be next month.

I was able to hook up the boost controller and run my vacuum lines to my boost controller, solenoid, DV, and wastegate actuator. I just need to figure out my throttle angle sensor wire and tap into that for my boost controller.
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And here is the final engine bay layout. (EDIT: Just noticed the positive wire was hanging down. Put that back up tucked away..)
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Stay tuned! In about 2 weeks you'll see it hit the road

Awesome!

Awesome you will have to get a chamber muffler I had to canister mufflers on mine and had to replace the drone was killing me at 3k rpm on highway.

I would be worried about back pressure with these. back pressure is good for a NA motor, not so good for a turbo application.
It may come down to muffler selection. I run a 4" Aero Turbine muffler and I like the sound. Not too much drone.

This weekend was the beginning of the end of wiring the engine.

I got the MAF figured out. I had the power and voltage wire mixed up, swapped those around and it is running really well.

I finished wiring up the boost gauge as well as the water pump and fans with a relay.

However...

When I tested the coolant system I think there was either a design flaw with the water pump OR my water pump is not doing its job. I have/had the temp sensor mounted up near the radiator. It was supposed to cycle the pump from key on to move the water to the temp sensor but it was barely moving any water from what I could tell from the lines. I am now thinking that 8' is just to long for it to get to the sensor on a low speed pulsing cycle.

I am relocating the temp sensor on to the back of the engine right off the coolant flange. It takes a 1/4" NPT sensor so I found a galvanized steel NPT adapter and will weld it in so long as it takes a weld well. This way the radiant heat from the block should get to the sensor much quicker and should start actually cycling the water pump at full power, see image below.
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I am going to test the system again after moving the sensor and if it ends up the way I like it then I'll wrap up the wiring, drop the car on the ground and take it for a test drive. The oil leak is more of a concern now. I was hoping to put a couple hundred break in miles but I think that it might be dripping oil at a decent rate. It doesnt leak unless the engine is running which helps a bit.


Anyways, stay tuned.

Sensor at the engine inlet might be better. Water temp at the engine is more important than at the radiator.

I notice on mine the fans kick on at 180­° but the motor is running 190°. the water might heat back up a little as it returns to the motor due to heat soak in the hose.

It'll be at its hottest point right off the back of the engine so thats a plus..

Once I get the damn thing working I'll just pick a temp I dont want it any higher than and go. I was thinking 185* should be good. I had it at 140* just to make sure the system cycles properly. And if I can get it to maintain 140* in my garage on a hot day then it should prove the system pretty efficient.

So,

I finished off the radiator system, put the seals on the radiator and buttoned it up. Found a small leak on the turbo feed line and fixed it. Put the wheels back on and checked everything in that regard, backed it out of the driveway and took it for its first spin around the block


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl_GCoEC9-U


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOCFI15nTfU


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36CBdqYQN-4



I'll be posting a youtube video weekly either as progress of the vehicle or myself driving the car


Findings of the first drive:

1. Steering needs to be fixed. Pretty sure the shaft got welded unevenly. I will be buying some new shafts and starting from scratch instead of trying to use mine. It works for now but who knows. You can see me struggling as the knuckle is binding. Everything is exactly in the same layout as factory its just 1/8" off center and I think that is causing the problem.

2. Clutch is on the floor. I will put some spacers behind the slave cylinder to get a bit more action out of the clutch. I'd like it to be an inch off the floor to halfway through the travel. Clutch is however very light and easy to modulate. Probably the reason why its all the way on the floor is I didnt give it enough travel thus making the action much easier. I will also re-bleed it and see if that helps.

3. The engine bar was loose after the run. I tightened it up with some red lock tight, It might not have been snugged down all the way the first time... If it keeps loosening up I might double nut them. I painted a line on the nuts like factory to determine if anything loosens up.

4. I need a smaller wheel and I need the wheel to be removable.

5. The water pump and controller work fantastic. I drove the car around for 5 minutes then let it idle. You can see in the video that it stays pretty cool. I had it set for a higher temp and dropped the controller down down in another video to see what would happen. The water pump turned on constant and the fans kicked on. Shut off the car and both the fans and water pump stayed on for one minute and then shut off

6. The turbo is not a low RPM turbo. I gave it 1/2 throttle a lot and fed into it a couple times and while the turbo will start spooling around 2500 it doesnt seem to really make much boost until about 3500. Similar to what I remembered, but the heavy weight of the Audi A4 made it hold the RPM's more thus spooling technically faster.

7. 1st gear is going to be a handful even at 10psi... You can see in one of the video's I give it about 3/4 throttle over 4k rpms (I had my hand in the way so I dont know what RPM I shifted..), I am pretty sure the tires spun because the RPM's climbed so quickly. I am really glad I have an 8500rpm redline because I am going to need that in first gear..

8. Its fast. Damn fast. I havent gone full throttle or even reved it out at all, but its going to be a monster.

9. Its F'in LOUD. The blow off valve is very loud and crisp. I know for a fact I cant drive it over 5k in the neighborhood or else I am sure the cops will be called. Im sure you can hear the blow off valve from a mile away. I'm going to have to route the blow off into the intake to quiet it down some.

Good for you, Andrew. I foresee some speeding tickets in your future.

Andrew
If the car will be at any Modesto events, please let us know. I'd love to meet you and see the car. Looking GREAT, I've done several swaps, none were 914 and none so impressive.
Best, Erik

Erik,

Your welcome to come by any time

Sounds really good! It's running VERY cool for the first couple of runs. Never seen that before. Now the tweaking/adjustment period begins. But the basic conversion is DONE .

So nice to hear, sounds like it worked perfectly.

All the lights now work
I spent WAY to much time on that... But hey its done!

I did a BUNCH of driving over the weekend and some tonight. Got a few logs in as well for my tuner. Hopefully we start to get to work on my tune soon.

I found out my rev limit right now is set to 7k, I'll have my tuner work on that I really cant wait to hear what it'll sound like over 8k

Below is a first and 2nd gear casual pull.


It may look at bit slow for you v8 guys but here are my gotcha's.
1. Baseline tune.
2. Only 9-10psi (out of 35...)
3. Breaking in the motor
4. Intercooler is not getting water through it yet, so IAT's are likely very high. Luckly big turbo and big piping with low boost mean its not detonating. Thats the goal for this weekend.
4. OLD gas, Trying to use it up some before I grab some new gas. Remember I will want to tune for E85 at some point which in and of itself has 35% more power potential.

(Apologies for the shaky video. My mount is not as good as I hoped. I'll start using the Gopro)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCwYBv_so_E


Side note, first gear typically rips off the tires, and its a one legger for sure. This car will need LSD and stickier tires for sure. Keep in mind they are relatively new 285's in the back.

Also of note, my front shock is rattling pretty bad I think its a good time for me to go Koni yellows up front instead of the worn out reds.

That car is going to be a beast

Do tell..............

I'm looking into this too, for my 944 turbo. I found this article that raised some possible issues.

The power potential is certainly there. The article mentions that manufactures of the E85 can vary the amount of ethanol from 51% to 85% which could pose issues. The article talks about doing it for cold starting issues in cold climates. For Andrew, not living in a snow country, they might not go to such extremes. I'm sure there's a way to check this chemically to make sure you don't hurt an engine.

$3 for E85 vs $8 for race gas certainly has it's appeal.

link
http://www.speedhunters.com/2015/04/everyt...-about-ethanol/

There are E85 calculators you can use and the MFR's report the e85 rating at that time as well.

What I wish is my ECU had the ability to modulate its AFR based on E85 rating. Ford has an E85 inline calculator that calculates the ethanol content. Many use it for monitoring the tune, but say the newer ford tuners can have the tune adjust for the ethanol content from say 40-85%.

The reason why E85 works SO well on a turbo car is that it does many things.

1. The stored energy is simply better, it will give a much bigger bang.
2. Its effectively 110-115octane.
3. You can increase timing significantly to help with throttle response as well as lowering the boost level at the same time to prevent a normal sized turbo from running out of steam at top.

This fun video may help some of you newbies to E85

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltWcgiCm4NY

[quote name='Andyrew' date='Jul 26 2016, 10:47 PM' post='2376914'

What I wish is my ECU had the ability to modulate its AFR based on E85 rating. Ford has an E85 inline calculator that calculates the ethanol content. Many use it for monitoring the tune, but say the newer ford tuners can have the tune adjust for the ethanol content from say 40-85%.

[/quote]

Thus one of the reason's I spent so much time looking at MegaSquirt, as they can also do this using the GM sensor. Maybe I should have just done an LS swap