At this point I am doubtful but we might as well test.

I wasn't able to start it earlier with other commitments, such as Valentines Day. But I have everything ready and laid out prepared for machining in my basement/shop tomorrow. If I can get enough time maybe testing will be on Sunday. But I doubt I will be done by then.

Anyway, plate pic; you can see the rough outline where the cuts will take place:

 

Looking good, I hope it will be a success...

 

Good luck!

 

Thank you for your hard working and good luck

 

looking good... I have a suggestion, could you think of ways to make the TB side of the RES-II a more like a funnel or a cone shaped so as to smooth the incoming flow of air...

Also any ideas about the plastic cover fittment?

 

There really is no way since the air flows in from the end tanks, front and rear. The only way to smooth the air flow would be through PnP the paths in the stock intake manifold.

I'll try and take pics tomorrow to document what I am trying to say.

 

heheh, I was just looking at that and decided to wait until tests were done.

 

Got the outside of it done. All that is left is milling out the middle, probably the slowest part. But I should have it done tomorrow night and ready for testing on Wed. night.

It hasn't gone as hard as I expected allowing for simple tools to make it. Most lengthy cuts were made on a 10" table saw with a metal cutting blade. As you can see, all bolt and EGR gas holes are drilled.

But as mentioned before. I am skeptical if any gains will be seen. But if not, I will be skeptical of the whole concept.

The last pic shows the gasket on the plate...

Once this is tested the MAP/IAT/ECT foolings test will start, but those are very simple to do. Wiring takes but a couple of minutes.

 

Awesome man!!!

 

SO far it looks great! Keep up the good work!

 

I would imagine that the next part will take longer, you can't really cut the inside out with the table saw...

looks great tho, I'm looking forward to the results

 

Scalbert, great work man! Can you build us a tranny that will take
all the abuse we can throw at it and keep coming back for more?!
Once again, great work man, I am impressed at all the hard work and effort that you have put into this project. You have a great idea and are simply following up on it to the end. Even if it doesn't meet your expectations I congratulate you! Thanks!

 

3 Cheers for Scalbert!!!

Keep up the awesome updates man!

 

Any Updates? I am still very interested in this project.

 

If he doesn't get any gains from this, I'd be skeptical as to how RickCaseAcura is getting gains through theirs, unless they shaped the inside of the manifold to direct airflow.

 

BINGO

 

I almost have the center section out but need to attend to some personal business. I should be able to have it done tomorrow for testing on Sunday. I'll keep you informed of the progrees.

 

Priorities man, Priorities!

Thanks for the update!

 

Take care yo bizness Steve, we're not going anywhere

 

any progress?

 

Yes and no, see next post for more. No testing yet but it is basically finished. It just needs some finishing of the mating surfaces not to mention obtaining longer bolts and coming up with a way to fasten to the two studs. But baring any unforeseen issues, it should be tested this week.

I had some personal business to take care of which definitely slowed this project. My wife and I are going through our second IVF cycle and I felt it would be more appropriate to be around her after last Friday's FET (Frozen Embryo Transfer). But all is going well right now, more of an anxious waiting game. So working on this certainly helps take my mind off of it (BTW, you Maryland and Hawaii people are fortunate is another way, IVF insurance coverage is mandatory in your states...)

 

Scalbert, I hope everything works out fine with you and your wife! Thanks for the update, I hope your project will be a success. You will make a lot of CL owners really happy.

 

Here are the latest pics and information. I finally got the piece milled out, didn’t take as long as I thought, but then ran into a dilemma. The milling of the raised area of the center wall did not go as smooth as hoped and was not forgiving; I over cut it…

But after stepping back and taking a look at it I found that it would have been easier to not even mill in the divider wall. Just mill it out as if it didn’t need the wall and then cut and shape a piece out of flat stock. Then mill out a slots at either end of the main plate and slip in the new divider wall.

So I just cut it out and went from there. This allows me to better fit this center wall and if I make a mistake I can just start over without much lost. Plus, there may be other advantages to this as this could be potentially modified if deemed necessary. This is shown removed in the last picture.

I should have the plate surfaces better finished in the next couple of nights, time permitting. I also need to go to the hardware store and get some 6mm x 40mm bolts and as mentioned, find a good solution for the two studs. It is nearly impossible to find a 6mm coupling nut…

I want to have this project wrapped up by this weekend and start/finish the trans cooler install documentation, see other thread. Then it is on to the ECT/IAT/MAP altering circuit.

 

wow, looks great Steve!
Good luck at home, hope it's not octuplets :o

 

heheh, yea, we have talked about that but they have limited to the insertion to two at a max. In this transfer there was only one, just hope they don't mix'em up in the lab though...

 

Well it is installed and some quick preliminary testing was done. So I installed it and did some quick tests as before, 2nd gear pulls with the GTech-Pro. The initial numbers were again disappointing; they were nearly the same but a little on the higher side, by about 0.05 on average. I could feel that the low end was hurting, the tires were barely able to break traction whereas with the stock plate they were willingly spinning at WOT from a stands still.

But in this it did feel as though once past 3000 - 3500 the car picked up and moved better. So out of curiosity I went back and did some standard 0 - 60 pulls allowing 1st gear to be utilized. In all runs I eased into the throttle and was able to keep the repeatability to with 0.02 in each set up.

What I found was that with the spacer plate the average times were 0.17 seconds faster. Now I am really intrigued and may have been too quick to jump to a conclusion on the first iteration. I will of course be dynoing it in the near future (probably wait until I get done with the small circuit to modify some signals and test all individually and combined) to see the actual curve but there may be some power to be had.

I am wondering if due to the volume change the lower engine speed resonance has changed and shifted up in the rev band?? So that now the whole power has increased but also shifted further up into the revs. This would help to understand the results of the tests but will not be known for sure until seen on a dyno plot. I also wonder if the shaping being done by Doug on the RES is to help this very issue?? We'll know soon enough...

Anyway, the new pics are below of it installed.

 

cool man, you have put a lot of effort into this project. very interesting stuff. keep up the good work. cant wait to see those dynos.

 

wow

that is amazing Steve, i am really intrigued to see what the dyno will show...I wonder just how bad the low end loss is...

sounds a lot like what happens when you put a full exhaust on a street bike...power moves up the rev range, and low end suffers some loss...

 

steve...a couple questions...the gasket...it has channels for the EGR system paths????what gasket are you using between the spacer and the intake manifold????two you are using the stock gasket between the spacer and the factory manifold cover????and last doug said something to me in regards to the EGR channels..." you could just cover them up...but the engine would knock and ping like crazy..."
knocking ,,,pinging...advanced timing???increased low end torque??? well maybe he didnt cover them but restricted them...also he said part of his res was billet and part was ...maybe cnc machined dont remeber...but maybe your design has increased the EGR paths by the height of the spacer ...what if his either left them intact or decreased them...youd have to go back cover your holes and machine out the channels into the spacer and prevent them from getting up into the channels that are in the factory unit...if you understand what im talking about blink twice...

 

I'm using the two stock gaskets, one on each side of the spacer plate.

As for the EGR paths, blocking it would probably just result in setting a DTC. Blocking the EGR in older vehicles could result in increased power but it was minimal. Nowadays there is a switch to detect flow within the EGR valve, if no flow is detected a DTC is set.

But in my case, the factory paths are being used but are somewhat restricted. I simply put two small (1/4 Inch) holes in either side of the plate to allow the gases to flow up into the stock cover channels. Then there are holes which lead down to each intake runner, gasket matched of course.

The EGR system isn't there for power, it is there to reduce emissions. The low end loss is probably due to the design or maybe there are too many leaks below the IMRC threshold. I'll be looking more into this though, but right now it is on the car and running fine. Now I just need to get on a dyno...

 

Found some new info, or rather I found stupidity on my part. I guess in my haste to try the new plate out I didn't realize how the gaskets were oriented. As it turns out I had the top one reversed, blocking the EGR flow (with no DTC to my surprise).

Secondly, the rubber gasket on top of the IMRC plates was loose and about to be sucked down the rear plenum, which would have sounded nice...

The rubber gasket is now being seated in (silicon gasketing) place and all holes sealed. But IMO, the feeling was similar to when I removed the IMRC plates so maybe there was too much leaking between the two halves.

 

Thanks for alll the updates! Now go strap that bad boy on a dyno!

 

you are the man scalbert!!

 

Scalbert,

Any new information on dynos of your mock res? I'm highly interested. I think, for now.. I'm going to go with headers, RES, and MMII. That should give enough oomph to handle some of 4 bangers at high speeds.

Boy would I love to get my hands on a Comptech SC.. don't even install it.. just leave it sitting on my doorstep.. I'll figure out the rest.. please god?.... please? or santa?

jyang411

p.s. and while ur at it..... 3.5 upgrade, port/polish, and tranny rebuild??
wash? wax? something?

 

Nothing new yet, I am still working on another little trick before going to the dyno to test all.

But as to driveability, it is working out well and there have been no problems. It is sealing perfectly, idles at 8" HG, so no appearent vacuum leak.