My 89 finally lives!!!

[Guest Recian]

Finally got my engine back in thursday and at 6:09pm friday night i backed my 89 out of the shop. She runs better than ever just needs an serious alignment and a few little adjustments. I need a new alternator. Mine puts out 12.2v and it's been rebuilt so many times im gona suck it up and buy a new one. After that's repaired im gona get the car warmed up to operating temp and check to make sure it doesnt overheat and there's no leaks and re-torque any gaskets as needed. I've already had to redo the oil pan since i torqued it to spec and it was leaking as soon as i put in oil. I torqued em down and fixed that just curious how the intake gaskets do cuz the torque spec for them was very low too. Anyway Here's some pics

I thought you reatta folks might appreciate this

Edited December 3, 2011 by Recian (see edit history)

[KDirk]

Recian,

Very nice! I like the upgraded EGR valve too.

Also two questions if I may ask:

What intake setup are you using (is this off the shelf, or custom fabricated?)

Are you planning to dyno the car when complete to see if you have gained any appreciable power from the re-bored engine?

KDirk

[NCReatta]

Looks GREAT!!! I might have to come down sometime and drive that beast.

You should dyno it, I'd be interested to see what sort of ratings you get

[Guest Recian]

the intake is just Spectre parts you can pick up at any auto store, a standard rubber coupling, 60 degre elbow and filter. As for dyno there's a speed shop in town that's looking to put one in but it'll be quite some time until they do so there's nobody around that im aware of that has a dyno. Plus ive gota do my small adjustments and tinkering til it's right and go through my 3000 mile break-in period before i push the engine too hard. Im in the home stretch now that it's mobile but still alot of tedious tinkering to do til it's ready

[jonlabree]

It looks cool, but it's still sucking HOT air from the engine compartment.

[Guest Recian]

its hard finding a good factory intake box that hasnt been destroyed or damaged and since i bought.. sorry "acquired" (i didnt pay anything for it) the car with this setup i dont feel like putting money into going back factory just yet. Im not trying to squeeze every little bit of 5hp out of everything i can like a ricer, i just went more for looks and i like how that setup looks. There's enough room Id like to put the factory box back in and cut out the bottom and suck cold air from where the evap canister sits in the fender but keep the look of the factory box so nobody would ever know but that's low on my list of priorities right now. If i was looking for enough of a gain (more than the minute difference of hot to cold intake air) i'd ask my buddy at the shop to build me a custom set of headers with 3" outlets (since each cylinder runner is about 1") and do dual exhaust all the way back and bring the tips out and cut a notch for the tips in the lower skirt behind each door and tuck the exhaust under the car. THAT would add some HP and look sporty But for now im focused on getting it reliable again. I didnt even use the intake boot much just put it back on for looks in the pics. Ive been tinkering and making adjustments so i've been driving it without it until i get all the bugs worked out and get it reliable again.

Edited December 4, 2011 by Recian (see edit history)

[Ronnie]

How does the engine sound with that filter setup. Better, worse or just louder? About performance, did you open up the restriction where exhaust pipe connects to the manifold flange?

[Guest Recian]

I was going to but didnt get very far. Wore out my dremel sanding blocks pretty fast and didnt get much taken out. The car is naturally loud cuz it's got a flowmaster 50 camaro style in the rear single in dual out. It's been this way since I got the car so it's got a good sound. As for the intake sound, it usually kicks in when the engine is under load and ive never had to put the car under a heavy load. If i had the stock muffler i'd probably notice the intake more however. That intake consists of a $24.99 filter, $6.99 boot and $8.99 elbow 60 degree. Not too expensive. Then again I've got alot of tubes filters and elbows floating around because i've had nothing but imports before this car and ive always run aftermarket intakes. It's worth a shot to any of you guys who are more familiar with your reatta than me. Dont forget i havent had much bonding time with mine. Ive had it 8 months and 7.9 of those were spent building an engine. Plus buying the car with aftermarket intake and muffler makes it hard to compare to a great working low mileage fully stock reatta too. My brother who had it before me said his MPG went up about 2hwy and 3 city once he put the intake that's there on it. He drove it daily til he sold it to the guy who trashed it that he repo'd it from then I acquired it from my bro.

[padgett]

"custom set of headers with 3" outlets (since each cylinder runner is about 1") "

Huh ? 3" would be 9 times the surface area of a 1". Also you need to consider things like exhaust pulsing and overlap (Reatta has a ded cam so there isn't much). A six cyl engine like the 3800 C (even fire) so can tune best with a single exhaust around 2" . You really want to tune the pipes for a continuous flow so each cyl exhaust opens just as another closes - you can do this with a six.

Of course to do that you need equal length pipes and frankly that rear outlet is terrible - you have a right angle with flow coming from two different directions. Is one area that could be really improved but a start is to open up that outlet.

Keep in mind that the exhaust is just one component and the whole "C" engine has limited flow (intake, cam, exhaust) - need to adress all to get any real improvement. Or just boost.

[2seater]

Do you have the black plastic cover for the area forward of the radiator? Without it, a small amount of the cooling air can go over the top of the radiator support, rather than through it. Dropping the lower black plastic air dam, a 1/2" or so, does also improve airflow slightly. I have experimented with this a bit with pressure probes ahead of and behind the radiator. Nice looking detail work.

[Guest Recian]

i was more getting at the point that i have access to do about anything else to the car that the filter sucking in hot air is the least of my worries. 2seater I like how you mounted the "bubble" by the master cylinder and gave more room to run the turbo. It does get in the way of my intake filter so I may have to do that. I do have the radiator cover just havent put it back on yet. In response to padgett what restriction is there in the cam?

[padgett]

Not so much restriction as more passive than aggressive - very mild to give very good low end torque so it pulls from 1200 rpm. Since before VVT, this was about all they could do.

This also means it responds well to boost since there is very lttle overlap.

[2seater]

The bubble isn't actually mounted there. It was expedient to simply set it in place with the mounting tang towards the firewall and vacuum port to the bottom. It stays there quite securely and has been there for many years. The stock exhaust "headers" actually flow better than appearances indicate and are surprisingly even in flow. They can be ported and the rear outlet IS a mess that can be improved. The pipes at the ports are actually 1.375" i.d.. Conventional wisdom for a zero loss exhaust is 2.2 cfm required per horsepower and flow rating is 115 cfm per sq. in. Too big loses velocity, decreasing the draw, usually costing some torque output.

[Guest Richard D]

Recian, Congratulations!!!!! You are well on your way to handcrafted quality driving for two. If you get the interior and paint looking anything like the underhood work it will be beautiful!

All the best,

Richard.

[Guest Recian]

that would be nice but i've gota get my alternator replaced, my crankshaft fixed, p/s rack replaced and verify my freeze plugs arent leaking again before I get away from engine Still a long ways to go until I can focus on paint and interior unfortunately