Kinda off topic I had a bad day

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I would normally post this in general autism or some s**t but I've actually almost completely quit posting elsewhere because the company is infinitely better here and as I like to say "y'all know me".

Anyways my f*****g drivers side headlamp mount (which was a juryrigged POS to begin with) messed up when I was trying to aim it further upwards. I completely regret ever trying to make these headlights fit my car (they came off a BMW) I was assured it was easy as pie to make them fit but people are so full of it and make all sorts of ghetto brackets that don't allow you to adjust them. The worst part is I can't even revert to stock headlights because I cut off the stock mounts to make room for my "properly adjustable E36 headlights"

As if that wasn't bad enough. I've been having this idea nagging at the back of my skull for months, maybe even a year or two for a SUPER SHORT intake. Today I decided was the day to make it happen, knowing full well that I had to finish it and have the car drivable by 5pm. First step was drilling new holes in the battery tray so that I could rotate it clockwise around the drivers wheelwell to make room between the throttle body and the framerail, normally taken up by a box of fusible links which are mounted at the front of the battery tray. That didn't go so good even, I had to slot the area between two holes with an angle grinder as opposed to making a hole between them. Once that was mounted up I connected the mass air flow sensor directly to the throttle body Y-elbow, that went fairly good. Till I realized that the idle air control valve had to be fed by a bung AFTER the mass air flow sensor, normally this is on the air intake piping that goes after that throttle body but there's no place to tap in for a line like that now. Except of course the PCV lines connected to the Y elbow.

The next step is the only one that was completely uneventful. I cut the remaining aluminum intake piping from my short ram in half, attached it to the mass airflow sensor and put my conical filter on it. Success! or is it? I'm convinced that there are benefits to shorter intake piping (more top end power), the car sounded GREAT almost too great (the first time I put my unmolested aftermarket intake on it sounded similar then after 20-40 miles it started running bad, which I solved by doing a procedure which people swear to god is incapable of changing anything: rotating the mass airflow sensor so that it is "clocked" straight up like it is forced to by the factory airbox). I made sure to do my best to clock it by eye when installing it. I'm venturing into very experimental territory with this intake though. It's honestly quite scary to be doing this much research and development on daily transportation. Were this a race car I'd have it on blocks 24/7 and not have tight deadlines and it not running could be put off. The intake also scares me because I think there is a possibility of heat soak with my design seeing as how now 3/4s of the remaining intake tract is in front of the radiator vs maybe 1/4th of it with the old setup (the old setup was 1/3rd longer I'd say). The old setup I didn't like though because it drew in air from within the engine bay, some of which has been heated by the radiator, some comes in various grille openings, etc. I want to believe that this setup is the far better design especially for the two things I would have liked to have bettered in the old setup: idle quality and top end power. I also don't know how engine vibration will effect the MAF sensor with it being that much closer, in theory the longer piping should have absorbed more of that but now I'm just relying on a silicone coupler for dampening

idk....I'm probably overthinking things just by popping the hood on my car after not having driven it but once in two weeks. I should be relaxing, I'm blowing snot further than I can piss while working on this damn car. It just sucks because this car is what defines me, it is what has made my life interesting for the past 3 years. Though admittedly not interesting enough. I'm still fighting to have control over air:fuel mixtures and desperate to get the air in.

I should probably step back from all these crazy modifications I've been thinking and doing and focus on something less complicated like maybe stretching that Harley Davidson golf kart frame I've got lying around and waiting till I get some dough to dump a car engine into it.Maybe I should start buying piping to start welding up this great bicycle frame idea I had (stretched....so that I can actually use low gears with my big thighs without falling on my ass). Maybe I'm still thinking too complicated and I should just spend all my money on video games and sit around all day being that which I hate (lazy, inactive, etc).

That went way over my head. But did you have it ready by 5 pm?

I would elect to keep working on your car and keeping your mind and hands occupied.

Yeah, I had it in "limp home mode" which is a factory setting that is supposed to limit engine revolutions to 2000rpm which is reasonable for city driving with few stops. I had it in that because if I didn't the mass air flow sensor would have read low because of my idle air control valve taking in air straight from the atmosphere, it would die any time I took my foot off the gas. I limped it to "Jackson Hardware" where I paid $1.49 for a plastic T which I quickly attached to a positive crankcase ventilation hose I cut in the parking lot, hooked that up to the IACV and I was able to actually rev the damn car. Back to the limp mode though, my car as modified as it is doesn't limp right, it doesn't like more than 1700rpms which is damn near impossible to drive, I actually had to flip on my hazards once because I couldn't get up to speed fast enough on a 55 road.

Just so bummed over all this s**t going on and me hardly understanding it much less my motivation for what I'm doing, I mean my rewards aren't coming in. My last race was my slowest yet and IDK if it was my new exhaust being sucky, my intake being set wrong, TPS set wrong, distributor set wrong, etc. It's just a pain in the ass to get this damn car right when you don't have any indication of what is right aside from spark plugs and exhaust notes both of which you are inexperienced at reading.

Good luck getting the MAF to work properly. Without having tuning software and hardware to data log and change the MAF calibration tables, I always pulled out my hair trying the same methods you have(like you said, they DO work, but to an extent). The fact that you heavily modified the intake plenum volume only makes it worse! Are you running stock cams? It's difficult to comment without knowing specifics. It does appear to be a sport compact of some sort. Maybe they sell a frequency modulation module for your MAF so you can somewhat adjust it? I've never used them, but in theory they should work okay.

I know you're frustrated, but don't get discouraged man! I've been in your shoes plenty of times with my projects. Too bad my aunt and uncle don't live in Florida anymore. I wouldn't have minded helping if you were up for it. I'm seriously considering starting up my passion again, if I get the funds. I have been incessantly watching YouTube videos and visiting automotive forums, and it's really making me miss building engines. Now you bring this thread up a day after I find out my last vehicle was just dynoed by the new owner, and it made 385 at the wheels. My goal was 400 after installing an electric water pump and ditching the manual clutch fan assembly. I was right on the mark! I can't help but infest your thread with pictures of my car; sorry, I can't control myself. Here she is, how I miss her so...

Stock cams for now. Money is holding me back. Planning on going with some 266 duration .460ish" lift cams (with a 221 @ .050 duration). Plan is to make 250-400hp...at the crank. Trying not to build a monster but not let anything driven by tools blow my doors off either.

It's been 3 years though and I've made very little progress. MAF is just a b***h I don't even think it's so much a problem with where it's located as how finicky the POS is. If it were up to me I'd be running a 3 bar GM MAP but then I'd be looking at a full stand alone....which would cost me more than a turbo kit and headwork (exception being megasquirt and I'm no electrical genius) and would at that many more headaches.

Sometimes I just think I should quit while I'm ahead, because this s**t gets under my skin and I can't take it.

I'm useless as far as practical advice goes (I am in to off-roading) but I have a Scantool that shows you a lot of those parameters and I'm pretty satisfied with it. I use the WiFi version in conjunction with an app on my iPad.

They have entry-level units for like $60...

http://www.scantool.net/scan-tools/pc-b ... nk-sx.html

Sounds like its time for a wideband sensor!

What a pretty neighborhood!

I wish I knew about cars. I just have to trust the mechanic when I get told something needs to be done. My car is a little over 3 years old and am just doing maintenance as recommended in the manual. I'm dreading the first time something goes wrong with it.

I know a bit about cars, but not enough to give any sort of advice. I'm just hear to read the sexy mechanist/mechanic talk.

I have an innovate motorsports wideband O2 in the trunk but I gotta pay someone to weld the bung in then it's pain in the ass electrical work AGAIN. The directions f*****g blow, I've had this damn thing for 2 years and it's in mint condition!

Scan tool which wouldn't even do s**t since I can read trouble codes off the ECU using 2 leds built into it. According to it, there is never anything wrong with my car unless I unplug something or it misfires (at least I know the knock sensor is good). It's very obvious the car has seen better days I mean the exhaust smells "rich as f**k" according to a professional mechanic. It doesn't make sense either since I have gotten 37mpg in the car as it sits.

I've to confess I find all this talk sexy though Greek-sounding, but I felt embarrassed to mention anything as I didn't want to reduce Pistonhead's thread to another sexy one.

There was something sexy about ASMJT's car. It must be the color. I love red. A Pictures of Hot Cars thread should be started.

I won't reduce his thread to more mindless flirting.

Probably one of the first threads that me and Tea got along in was a thread which we reduced to that. I'm tempted to get some good video of my car tomorrow if it decides to keep behaving properly. It needs to for my sanity's sake. I mean it hasn't even done anything yet but just the sound of the air rushing into the intake at idle sounds like something is up because it's normally not that loud.

I believe that's the first thread we ever acknowledged each other's existence. lmao


VIDEO!

That's what we ended up doing on my brother's IROC. After stroking it and adding a supercharger, the MAF would max out at part throttle. There was no way around it. That is the project where I learned DIY PROM programming. We ended up ditching the MAF for a 3 bar MAP and Wide band controlled stand-alone system. Never did finish the damn thing.



My how things have changed! This makes me feel old. I started off when OBD 1 fuel injection was around. I had to use MS-DOS software, hard wired to the serial port of my laptop during a time when Gigabytes of anything were fairly unheard of. Ughh...



$$$-and you might as well go stand alone to reap the full benefits of a wide band, which is more $$$



Thanks! It's an extremely quiet neighborhood that borders rural and suburban. It's still too city-like for me though.

Cars have ran in my family for quite a few generations. My grandfather owned a gas station that all of his boys worked at growing up. I've continued the tradition by learning how to understand the workings of fuel injection, and other newer technologies. It is nice never having to go to a mechanic for anything. Some of the biggest crooks you'll find.

That blows, I'd weld it for free if I could. Had to weld a IAT sensor bung and a O2 bung on the IROC when changing to the DFI. What happens when you unplug the MAF? Maybe it's dead?