Well it has been a bumpy road, you can see original thread and info on engine at this thread https://my350z.com/forum/forced-induction/217536-pics-of-my-motor-build-in-process.html

After initial break-in and tune I was having coolant overflow issues and finally did a leakdown and you could see the coolant level rise, so we decided to pull the motor to see what the issue was. After disassembly we found the sleeves had settled and were lower than the edges of the block. Well it turned out the shop that did the install of the Darton sleeves screwed up and didn't seat the sleeves properly so when the engine operated the sleeves settled.

Anyway, the downtime gave me a chance to spend more money, I opted for ceramic coated bearings, coated the exhaust manifolds, and the best part was HKS Fcon setup with Knock Amp, Air Fuel Feedback and Navigator.

I am now a believer in the Fcon hype, this unit is amazing, the features it has and the tuning is unbelievable. I have been setting up and learning it for the past few days setting up idle and driveability and today got a chance to do some dyno tuning. Don't ask about dynojet numbers or equivalent as I don't know we have not done back to back to compare with the Mustang dyno. We did a base wg spring boost of 10 psi and got 425RWHP and 365RWTQ, then we did a 15psi setting and got 554RWHP and 455RWTQ. Next step will be 18-20psi with meth.

 

Its a very depressing feeling knowing the motor has to come back out AGAIN...I know . Are you a F-con dealer/ tuner ? Must be !
Congrats on getting up and running agian !

 

Yes we are.

And you are right it is the worst feeling, because you already know how much work it s to pull it and disassemble it and put it back together just to cross your fingers and hope all is well, I don't know how many times I looked at my stock motor in the corner and contemplate just putting it back in and even removing the turbo, but the intoxicating desire for power won out.

 

Congrats! if there weren't bumps in the road, it would take all the fun out of the build. Keeps you honest and makes you more appreciative of the end result.

Keep us updated on the 20 lbs

 

Glad you got her up and running! If we had an FCON dealer here, I would have kept mine, As Sharif always jokes with me, he says that I "love to tinker", so I need a management that I can tune and adjust myself...

anyway, enjoy the car, so nice to get her driving after the downtime.

-TODD

 

Great news, glad to hear your up and running again.

 

That's exactly why I'm scared of sleeves...

But congrats on getting everything up and running! Jealous of your FCON

 

I have eard of a few horror stories with sleevss sinking/dropping. I can assure you, thisis not a function of the sleeves themselves, but rather an inexperienced install by the machinist/substandard tooling.

Our source for our sleeved blocks (GTM/Darton) uses a Rotler F65 CNC machine for the extensive block work to prepare for the pressing in of the sleeves, we have had great success with our sleeved engines!

PS: I'll have two sleeved shortblocks in stock in about a week and a half, already machined for half inch head studs, these can be built to customers request- as always, we will have the best/quickest turnaround time and best pricing.

-TODD

 

Glad the car is up and running properly now.

 

Thanks guys, and yes it it tough specially since I did all of the work myself from disassembly of spare block to buildup of new engine and removal/install of the engine, the guys helped me with the removal/installation, only thing I didn't do was the sleeve install and balance/bearings and to have to face doing it a second time really was not something I cherished but it looks like all is good.

Todd is correct the sleeve issue was that of an incompetent machinist, the sleeves and method of install should result in a block that should not have any sleeve issues, I didn't pick them, I gave the block to one of the few Darton distributors and they took care of it, well the guy they used just screwed up and I found out too late.

I just made a trip with the club to Key Largo for lunch and logged 250 miles with some fun highway pulls man 5th is amazing how hard it pulls, and I got 20 miles to the gallon, not bad considering a/c and quite a few hard boosted runs at 15 psi.

 

Great news your back up and running..That Fcon unit is pretty amazing huh? We just became Fcon dealers/tuners also..There are now about 30 in the US.

 

yes pretty amazing, if you haven't done one yet you will love it and wonder why you would use anything else

 

After giving Sharif all that grief about being an HKS dealer, you go and become one too? I assume you're still going to be using the UTEC in your car though, since it's perfectly adequate, right?

 

Damn, somebody lit a fire up in this b!tch...

BOT - glad to hear everything's up and running. Bad sleeve installs are a nightmare and huge waste of money, but it's good that it's all worked out and that you're pushing forward with the F-Con. Please keep us posted on what you manage out of the setup.

 

Wow did I just read this???

 

I gave Sharif Grief for other reasons..I personally dislike him I never said the Fcon was not a great unit, it is far superior to anything on the market..Some people the UTEC, which is a mid level engine management, will suffice..Others will require or opt for a higher level of engine managment such as an Fcon or AEM.

 

Yes you did

 

I am sure the FCON is great, but what is a guy who likes to tweak his setup supposed to do? or a real racer who needs to tweak and tune at the track to do?

my only gripe with the UTEC is poor temp, atmospheric conditions adjustment.

 

What kind of tweaks do you need to do if the car is tuned and setup properly, or what would a "real" racer prefer a unit that doesn't do the job 100% but you can tweak or one that does it 100% and continues to adjust if setup with AF feedback.

Also if you get the Navigator Pro you can use it to turn on different fuel and ignition maps from up to 4 submaps stored in the Fcon. The Pros outways the cons that a few may have such as "real" racers.

 

Why 'tweak' when you don't need to?? Fcon is the ****!