924Board.org

[kmd924]

IIRC you might be able to bend those pre-existing brackets on that newer rail over to line up with the manifold studs. With the winter nearing, I might go in and make a few revisions, devise a better mounting system for my rail and maybe get some tubing put together for the intake. Right now I just have a cone on the end of the TB. Rather not have a hot air intake :p.
_________________
'77 924

[Bockscar]

[!tom]

[Bockscar]

[fiat22turbo]

See if Finishline Coatings will coat it in Ceramic heat-shedding coating (and the intake manifold, etc)

http://www.finishlinecoatings.com/
_________________
Stefan
1979 924 Carrera GTS (clone-ish)
1988 944 Turbo S (Silver Rose)

[!tom]

[Bockscar]

I think I am finally at the phase of the project to start thinking about Engine Management Systems. I've been doing a lot of research and I am close to settling on one particular "brand".

1. MegaSquirt. It's the tried-and-true standard for non-professional EFI conversations. The primary issue I have with MegaSquirt is their documentation and support is abysmal. The forum is also an embarrassment; you have to sign up and wait for a moderator to 'approve' your account and then a moderator has to 'approve' your postings, which can take days. But aside from the support, I can't really complain. If you know what you are doing, MegaSquirt is probably the easiest and most cost effective way to get in the door.

2. 034MotorSport - http://www.034motorsport.com/034efi-engine-management-034efi-systems-upgrades-stage-ic-ecu-p-35.html. 034 is a company that products parts mostly for 80s to 90s VWs. You can buy injector inserts from them. If you've ever perused their site you may have noticed how ridiculously overpriced everything is. A ECU from 034 that is comparable to MS2 is around $1175. The good thing about 034 is that their tuning software is pretty good and they have a ton of stock engine maps.

3. eMS-Pro - http://www.diyautotune.com/catalog/emspro-engine-management-system-p-157.html. I haven't read too much about this but form what I understand, eMS-Pro was originally built by Spectre and based on MS2 both hardware and firmware. The case is pretty cool looking and it interfaces using USB instead of Serial. The cost isn't too bad either.

4. AEM- http://www.aemelectronics.com/engine-management-systems-9/ems-4-universal-standalone-engine-management-system-58/. This unit looks awesome. AEM is a great and well known name in the industry. The software looks great and the documentation and forum support is simply the best I've seen. The price is right too. In general, the features match MS-3 in many ways.


At this point I'm really trying to choose between MS-2 and AEM EMS-4. The 034 unit is far overpriced and eMS-Pro doesn't have the support or community. AEM is a well known name but MegaSquirt is more cost-effective and practical. Considering I can buy a MS-2 unit, harness, and relay board for the same price as the AEM unit alone, I am leaning toward MS-2.
_________________
Brian
'79 924 - Restoration In Progress
'81 924 Turbo w/EFI - Scrapped

[fiat22turbo]

When it comes to MegaSquirt, go straight to MSExtra and get better software and better documentation.


Also, I never had any issues with getting signed up and approved for their forums. BTW, the reason for the "approval" is to ensure you're not a spam-bot trying to get in and spam the forum. Forums are always looking for ways to deal with this slime, just a fact of life with the online world.

DIYAutoTune is very good about fielding questions and supporting their products. Matt Cramer (MadScientistMatt) is a regular poster on several posters and helps write their online articles as well as a book on Fuel Injection. He can usually be found on the Grassroots Motorsports forum and others. Don't forget there are several MS-equipped cars here that their owners can help with questions you might have.

CorsePerVita and I both have running MS-equipped cars (MS1-Extra w/ITB's) I'm using EDIS and Corse is using a distributor. I'm going to add the HR code to mine fairly soon and then eventually boost (BAE manifold + Mitsubishi turbo and intercooler) There are others here running MS with a 931, quite successfully (Min, etc)

Also, MegaSquirt is all volunteer, so don't expect everything to be perfect and if you think about the permutations of engines and components out there you'd realize that documentation is nearly impossible to be comprehensive. To be honest I find their documentation much better than any factory EFI solution I've encountered so far and I've been playing with factory turbo cars for nearly 20 years.

If you want a drop-in engine management solution, put CIS back on, chase vacuum leaks and plugged fuel lines, etc. Or put MS on it and chase software settings and electrical connections. Your choice.

While MS is a PITA to deal with initially. Once you get the car running, its all downhill from there and you can slowly add-in features and solutions until it is performing the way you'd like.

The way to look at MegaSquirt versus the other solutions is like looking at Operating Systems for your computer. MegaSquirt is essentially Linux. Look at the Linux environment for an idea of how splintered an environment could become and how well or how poorly documentation can be written.
_________________
Stefan
1979 924 Carrera GTS (clone-ish)
1988 944 Turbo S (Silver Rose)

[Bockscar]

The electricals in the car went from this terrifying mess:


to this .

I'm not sure what manufactures were thinking they were doing with electronic wiring back in the pre 1990s days but, I had a Saab 900 that was the same way. Remove the dash to reveal the most horrifying mess of wires you've ever seen. Most of the wires didn't even have harness; they were just free hanging. I also found this little surprise:


_________________
Brian
'79 924 - Restoration In Progress
'81 924 Turbo w/EFI - Scrapped

[fiat22turbo]

You do realize that most of that wiring will be replicated with the harness you build/buy so you're not gaining anything other than doing a lot of busy work, IMO. Remove the junk that you no longer need, add the pieces you do need and fix the connectors and go enjoy the car.

Lovely rain tray rust. Good times. Stupid plugged drains.

Make sure the drains from the rain tray into the engine bay aren't plugged (remove the rubber caps if they are still in place) Then cut the rust out, grind the metal back (to remove the galvanized coating) and either weld in a patch piece or rivet it in place and seal it with rubberized coating.

Another option is to use fiberglass, but it may not last long term.
_________________
Stefan
1979 924 Carrera GTS (clone-ish)
1988 944 Turbo S (Silver Rose)

[Bockscar]

[fiat22turbo]

The water leaked through the drain pan and caused the rust in the connectors. If there is rust underneath, it is likely leaking and it will get worse unless you do something about it.
_________________
Stefan
1979 924 Carrera GTS (clone-ish)
1988 944 Turbo S (Silver Rose)

[Bockscar]

Stopped at an autoparts store yesterday. I was going to pick up a thread-repair kit. Cost $50. 3 of the 4 threads for the throttle body are stripped and a screw had broken off on the mount where the throttle cable goes. I'm tired of trying to nurse this stupid intake manifold back to life.

Luckily, I bought an S1 manifold from Rasta. I took a trip to the junk yard and found an MK2 Golf (or Jetta) throttle body. Turns out, this throttle body fits perfectly. Well, kind of.



You can see in the picture that, while the throttle body bolts up perfect, the opening on the manifold is quite a bit smaller than the throttle body opening (This is most noticeable in the smaller butterfly). While I was at the junkyard, I also discovered that Porsche appears to have reused the fuse block(s) from MK1 VW's. Seems like to me, the 924 is looking more and more like a VW everyday.
_________________
Brian
'79 924 - Restoration In Progress
'81 924 Turbo w/EFI - Scrapped

[Bockscar]

I took a break to clean up my workspace before I really start working on the hard stuff. I went ahead and removed everything from the inside of the car. After removing all of the carpet and rear seats, a bunch of gluey fabric was left behind. I took a wire brush and scraped as much as I could off. This was the result:



Unsurprisingly, there was powdered rust under there. The area beneath the battery holder thing was pretty rusted out too. I sprayed some anti-rust gunk on it and brushed away with a wire brush. Seemed to work pretty good. I picked up some rubberized undercoat spray and coated the battery holder area and the interior of the car up to the hatch area, which I didn't want to spray just yet. The results were quite stunning:



Also stunning is the quality of my camera. That shot was taken in complete darkness with my Lumia 920. I think the inside could handle another coat, which I will likely do tomorrow.
_________________
Brian
'79 924 - Restoration In Progress
'81 924 Turbo w/EFI - Scrapped

[Bockscar]

I took a break to clean up my workspace before I really start working on the hard stuff. I went ahead and removed everything from the inside of the car. After removing all of the carpet and rear seats, a bunch of gluey fabric was left behind. I took a wire brush and scraped as much as I could off. This was the result:



Unsurprisingly, there was powdered rust under there. The area beneath the battery holder thing was pretty rusted out too. I sprayed some anti-rust gunk on it and brushed away with a wire brush. Seemed to work pretty good. I picked up some rubberized undercoat spray and coated the battery holder area and the interior of the car up to the hatch area, which I didn't want to spray just yet. The results were quite stunning:



Also stunning is the quality of my camera. That shot was taken in complete darkness with my Lumia 920. I think the inside could handle another coat, which I will likely do tomorrow.
_________________
Brian
'79 924 - Restoration In Progress
'81 924 Turbo w/EFI - Scrapped