96 Beretta Project

[3400-95-Modified]

So I bought a 304 stainless catback from Dusty Peterson (wicked-irocz), I want this to be a one and done exhaust and not have to worry about it again... I also purchased a 304 stainless muffler from Spintech, 304 Stainless flanges for stainless V-bands and all... I even grabbed some left over stainless rods from the CNC at work to use as hangers.

Progress pics...

Got the main pipes in place and a V-band at the axle.


Unfortunately I'm not very happy with how close the pipe ended up to the axle so I decided to buy an extra 120* bend so I can make the pipe go up above the muffler height then back down and turn back up to go in the back of the muffler... unforeseen clearance issues especially with my car being lowered and the potential I may try the Canuck springs which may be lower than the Eibach's. I want to make sure this pipe doesn't get hit by the axle at all.

The pile of Stainless pipes keeps growing...



Needed two 2.25" U bends to make up the rear exit that I had on the old system... I just can do away with the center exit, I like it too much.

And a 2.25 5ft section to fill in the gaps of the rear setup. And some 308LSI TIG rod, Also got a 309LSI 10lb spool for the mig. 309 is best for mixed steal joining so thats why I'll have that in the MIG for tack's and such and be able to do stainless to mild in the future, but the 308 is best for 304 to 304 so that will be used on all the exhaust joints... AND yes it will all be back purged so no sugaring on the inside of the pipes!!!



And pics of the old system from 2008





Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[3400-95-Modified]

Well there was some good last weekend, and some bad.....

Lets start with the good...

First N/A run, 13.62@99
Second, 13.66@100
Third, 13.58@98.8

Then I hit it with nitrous... Something wasn't right on the first run and I got KR
12.73@102

Richened it up with jetting and got the best time ever, but low MPH... something's odd...
12.611@105

Slower third time and rolled onto the taxi lane and it was missing a cylinder completely.
12.89@103

Whoops...
#2 plug


#1, 3, 5 bottom up.


and close up of #5


I swapped all 6 plugs and the car is running fine right now... I'm still going to pull the engine and inspect the cylinders for any molten piece damage... hoping to not find anything detrimental. I was apparently running a stock style double platinum plug and forgot all about it... I should have double checked before spraying. I ran a stock heat range iridium plug last year with no issues but I had 9.1 compression. This year its 10.5:1. I was also running 99 octane race fuel at the track. Time to go to a TR6 v power NGK, or their TR6 Iridium version... one heat range cooler and suggested by them.

[3400-95-Modified]

SO... finally got a chance to bring it to the strip.... Didn't even make it off the line.





Talking with CV Source to find out what bar he used in my axle, as well as if he has any ideas for longevity... And i have feelers into Driveshaft Shop and RCV Performance for the bar only and not the CV parts since I have that already.



Had to drive all the way home with the Forester and camper and borrow a friends truck and enclosed trailer. 6+hrs of driving that day.

[3400-95-Modified]

Well drove the car to MS and back and to be honest it performed VERY well... the fuel pump on the other hand that I chose to use... well that's my fault, It failed between Harrisburg and Tenn. Might have something to do with me pulling out an old pump that was under my bench for 6yrs and deciding to use that instead of the one that I had in there last year... IDIOT!

But beyond that I can't complain. I averaged around 28mpg on the highway with it on the way back... now that's something I can live with. It also still had quite a bit of stout power when I would go WOT with all my luggage in it... In previous trips to Bfest I always felt like the load made the car slower and this year it felt like it had way more pickup than last year with nothing in it... so that's a good sign for power improvements.

A few issues on the way is my passenger axle boot hit or rubbed something at some point which then ripped a hole in it so it sprayed grease everywhere... Axle grease is now on my list of hated car fluids... I just pulled that axle out last night tore it all down and replace the outer boot... man I hate that grease. Other action items were to replace the temporary fuel pump I put in down in TN for the one I ran last year. I'm trying to keep the bucket in tact this year to see if that works and can flow enough into it to prevent the pump from starving itself but that would also give the pump better cooling when the tank does get low since it stays submerged. The last issue I had were the rear spring bump stops were dead and on every bump on my way home I would bottom out and due to the Neon rear disc swap my tires would rub the quarter panels. I need to do something with that configuration that will tuck the tire in just a bit more so I don't have to worry about rolling the rear quarters or something like that. SO I pulled the upper spring mounts and ripped out the bad bump stops and installed some universal poly ones so hopefully that will prevent against future bottom out's and protect the shocks better.

I got my new converter back from RevMax... Not sure when I will swap that in but I guess it wouldn't hurt to do that prior to going to the strip at any point but we'll see what else I have to get done and how soon I can get there. I may run it with that converter at the Dyno just to see what it has and then try it with the other one at a later date.

Direct port nitrous is still on the back burner... Way too much to work on all at once and I still have so much to settle off when it comes to this.

[3400-95-Modified]

Ok I owe a full update to this since my last post about them was very heated...

I sent the converter in and they cut it apart. Upon inspection he found nothing that indicated the clutch was slipping, so he told me to call him. Had a very lengthy conversation with him regarding the converter. After explaining how long it was running in slipping condition he then understood why there was no indication of wear or abuse. He didn't realize I had pulled it after 15 miles of driving realizing it was slipping. Also seeing how I have swapped in another converter and it works perfectly fine he is respecting my abilities and knowledge with how I explained everything and taking my word for it that it did not work. Upon that statement I asked him what do we do now. After some more discussion we came to the conclusion that I would scavenge my old stock type converters for a good core an send it down to them so they can build me a completely new converter. He doesn't want to re-use anything from the old one because even tho it all measures up correctly it still wasn't working. We settled on me paying for shipping for the converter to go there and come back and that's it.

SO in conclusion RevMax is working with me to sort out this issue but unfortunately we don't know what actually caused it leaving it an open ended book... I mean the new core could come back and work perfectly fine as my first converter from them did and we would have no explanation as to why the other one wasn't, OR it could come back and do exactly the same thing which would mean there is something they are doing or measuring that is not right for my trans causing it to not work. Also I do not think I will be swapping this replacement into the car before I travel for Bfest since I don't think it will be done till mid week, which is then still 3 days to come back so I won't have it till mid next week... Not up for a converter swap 5 days before driving to MS... Especially when the one that's in there is just fine for road trips. I just took the car to NJ over the weekend and it ran great.

In other updates, Found a major issue in my tune which I fixed regarding the Injector flow rate... I honestly should have checked that when I started but I couldn't remember what I was running last year, It ended up being the 32# injectors with a fuel pressure of 60-62PSI at WOT which actually changes them to 38# injectors. So my IFR in my bin was set to low resulting in me having to compensate for lack of fuel with the other tables. That gave my car a hard start as well as issues regaining idle when stopping. In addition to that I had a MAF sensor that was failing almost every start when cold so I swapped it for a second one I had floating around and that made a very big improvement, I also pulled the Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator for now since I wasn't sure what was causing my hard starts. Seeing how I have that sorted out now I may try to swap back to that and see if it starts better, or the same. I honestly like the aftermarket regulator better for consistent pressure as well as aux ports that I can use to tap the nitrous onto as well as the fuel pressure gauge.

[3400-95-Modified]

The brackets I'm using tho are completely different than the original 3100 style. That mounted between the block and the bolts that hold the diff cover on, the new setup bolts to the block and to the end of the diff housing. Seeing how on a 282 shaft the bracket is sometimes integrated you may have more work ahead of you. The aluminum jack shaft may be easier to make something since that is just a bent aluminum bracket.

On a good note, revmax is willing to work with me and rebuild another core to get me a working converter. I need to supply the converter and pay shipping.

Manual bracket would require similar modifications, since it's the block that's changed, and the bracket needs to fit between the block and the trans jack shaft/jack shaft housing.

[bandit.goose]

Things are getting close to a start up... Only about 5 parts that need to go on before I can start it. One of those parts are the axles... Without those I can't start it because there is no fluid in the trans.

Primed the motor and it runs about 60psi and will kick on the fuel pump when priming so everything is good there.

Also trying out a new deadhead routing for the fuel lines. It's a return less style rail and the return fuel that goes back to the tank only runs through the regulator and not under the hot intake. Hopefully that keeps the fuel temps down.

Having all this time had caused me to go very slow during assembly so I think everything is going to be 100% set when I start it for the first time.

I should know details on my axles today and hopefully they will be able to ship tomorrow at the latest so I can get them for the weekend. Or at least next week. Going to be in Jersey this weekend assembling a playground for my nephews.



And one thing I've noticed with this engine... it has a lot of compression or simply a good seal on the cylinders because damn is it tough to turn over with the plugs in it... very little air bleeds by the rings and whatever does it's slow!

Also all this time 3 things kept me from going to a full 3500... Thankfully TCE has the internal trigger now which I liked and I'm using, second was the AC mounting which ended up working out with what I did and wasn't that hard... And the third was the trans tail shaft bracket... if I had known it would have only taken 10 min with a de-burring tool and a Malibu Trans bracket would fit I would have done this a while ago.

MINT!

So when you are talking about the Malibu trans bracket being a (modified?) option, is this for automatics only? I've got a 96 z26 I'm in the process of 5 speed swapping, and will be looking to go full 3500 sometime early 2016. Stumped on how to do the getrag 282 trans bracket on 3500.

BTW I've been following this thread since the beginning and the knowledge I've incurred by you and others is priceless. Excellent work.

[3400-95-Modified]

I also want to add this that the return-less fuel setup just would not work on this car at all... Even with a long term prime setup. I'm actually starting to blame the whole configuration I have going on for the starting issues. I have reverted back to a through type rail setup with the regulator on the return line, Same regulator and whatnot. Pump feed line goes directly to the rear rail inlet and out the front to the regulator and then to the return line. I have the pump relay wired to come on with KOEO and run all the time, not on a timer. You can turn the key to the on position and let it sit there and you'll see the pressure gauge read 45PSI, go to start it and it's still a hard start. I had this same issue with the deadhead setup and I thought it was due to the fuel draining off and creating an air pocket in the rail. Seeing how it's a full flow through rail now I have no clue as to what is causing the hard starts. If I do key on and off a few times to make the pump cycle on then off a couple of times it starts way better. Not sure if that jog on and off is making air pockets move around easier or not. Seems like this will just be something I'll have to deal with using a regulator that doesn't hold pressure when the pumps off. I'm actually thinking of switching back to stock lines going to the rails and the rail mounted AFPR that I was running to see if it starts any better. If it does I may just work with that setup and T the feed line to run the nitrous and gauge and not tap the pressure port on the passenger side of the rail like I was.

[3400-95-Modified]

SO I pulled it and sent it in for cleaning/rebuild and did the rest of the trans myself, replaced the valve body and ensured all valves were stick free... First drive with the car the TCC wouldn't engage or felt like it wouldn't.

I am confused on how this makes it sound like I did the converter before the trans rebuild... and not at the same time.

I did read the whole post, but to me it read that you had it rebuilt/installed it before you had trans issues, not after.

[3400-95-Modified]

No, If you read the whole post you would see they rebuilt the converter as well after that failure happened. I sent it to them for the exact reason you stated, in 2014 I originally thought the converter lockup was failing but when I removed the trans I found the real issue so I knew it had to be rebuilt along with the trans.

The converter was "brand new" when I installed it this year and the TCC clutch does not lock up or stay locked. I just paid $225 to have them cut/clean and install a brand new woven carbon clutch in Jan. They failed at rebuilding it correctly.

So you had a trans failure and are blaming the converter for also failing, even though that same junk that went through the valve body also went through the converter?

[3400-95-Modified]

Well I will never recommend RevMax converters to anyone anymore... Even if they do send me back one that works. I bought this converter back in 2011 and it has been treating me well till this last year where I had issues with my diff failing again and spreading metal in the trans, this caused the valve body to stick and made the TCC slip on me. SO I pulled it and sent it in for cleaning/rebuild and did the rest of the trans myself, replaced the valve body and ensured all valves were stick free... First drive with the car the TCC wouldn't engage or felt like it wouldn't. I immediately disabled the TCC in the ECU so it wouldn't partially engage and slip the clutch. I then proceeded to remove the trans and swap valve bodies again to another one with 90k on it, I also tested and inspected both TCC solenoids, Regular and the PWM one. Put the whole thing back in and sure as shit the TCC felt exactly the same. According to the ECU when locked up it was slipping about 600-700 RPM... That's just garbage if you ask me and caused a lot of heat in my trans. I made an executive decision on Monday and did a converter swap for an old OE style FD9B converter, 2095 stall. Had it all done in 4.5 hrs and drove it to work the next day... BINGO works like a charm just as it should... Slip RPM registers between 0 and 10 now.

SO I think since I JUST had my converter rebuilt it would be fully covered under warranty shipping and all... NOPE! They are willing to inspect it and replace the clutch free of charge if the "find" anything wrong with it but I have to pay to ship it to them. Granted with my discounts that is only $17 and not worth fighting over right now... But we'll see how this "repair" and "inspection" goes because if they try to tell me there is nothing wrong with it and think they are going to charge me money for the inspection work... this is going to go south real quick.

Currently the car is running with the FD9B converter and I may keep it that way till after my trip to MS... I honestly don't want to swap in the converter they are sending back and HOPE it works right before I plan to go and then have it not and have to swap it again.

[mfuller]

Nice work.
Break 'er in easy....