The current status as of October 3rd is as follows:
Billet cams are here. We are assessing the schedule of the engine builder, and I will be doing the final reassembly under his watchful eye, and expert instruction. No eta. But it should be soon!
September 20,2003
The cams are now complete, and should be shipped within the week. I think that the machine shop that was working on the cams was not exactly truthful with me in regards to the progress noted in March, not to mention there was a bit of a discussion of cost after 9 months of stalling on their part.
March 21,2003
I had sent the cam back to the machine shop that had done the cam lobe work and
they inspected it and said it was ok. So they shipped it back.. however in was
broken in shipment. This was in December. The cam shop offered to make a billet
cam to replace the broken one, and I worked out a deal where if I paid for 3
more billets that they would make a complete set of billet cams for no charge to
compensate for the broken cam, since they did not insure it or package it as
well as they could have. It was supposed to take approximately 30 days. I did
not press the issue as it was an incredible deal, and beggars can't be choosers.
The cams are supposed to be here within the week..... could be getting
close......
September 23rd, 2002
This last week was the toughest week in the entire project. While cleaning and inspecting the parts to reassemble the engine I found a hairline crack in one of the cam lobes. I was pretty frustrated as this forced me to realize that I was not going to be able to complete the variocam project, and maybe not even the stroker project. My financial situation is not what it was, when I started this project. The only right way to do this right, was to have the cams blueprinted and make new ones from billet, and this is not affordable at this time... & imagine this... I'm actually tired of this project. Tired of not driving my car. Tired of walking by it in the garage... When I realized that I was no longer excited about the project, it was time to do something and get the car running even if it meant scrapping the whole thing. My options are:
1. Walk away from the whole thing... sell the stroker crank and hope I can find a good deal on a used stock engine...I'd still have an awesome suspension, and the 5 speed conversion....
2. Scrounge up a set of S4 heads and cams...put it together and just drive it... this choice has 2 tangents.... save all the variocam parts, and maybe one day have the cams made.. or sell it all to someone who can afford to do the project right...
Well, one of my good friends, Zach Anthony has offered to help me out with the head and cams option since he has an extra set... As for the 2 tangents, I haven't decided what to do with the variocam parts.......
What do you think I should do? Drop me a line and let me know....
August 25th, 2002
It has been 9 months since my last update. The cam issue has been resolved, by welding the sprockets on the intake cams similar to how the exhaust cams were done. They are off to be heat treated and once that is completed, then the final re-assembly of the engine will be done. I've been busy with the joys of everyday life, and am just now getting a renewed motivation to finish the project. Current eta on the car is to be completed and back on the road in late October. Mainly because it will take some time to get the engine back together and in the car, and well, I'd like to hold off another month for some cooler weather... For those of you who have emailed me for status updates, I apologize for not getting back to all of you... I get quite a bit of requests for updated status.....
November 23rd, 2001
The solution for the slipping intake cams has been decided upon. Some of the machine work has been completed, and I will be working on it this weekend. The intake cams will no longer be adjustable. Do not confuse the adjustable part with the VarioCam feature. The adjustable feature was used to dial in the camshafts, and has served it purpose. The cams have been indexed on the sprockets, and will be welded and bolted to the sprockets.
August 7th:
I've received quite a bit of email regarding when the car will be back on the road. After removing the engine, I decided to take a step back from the project and take a much needed break. So for the entire month of July I touched nothing car related. In the last week, I have removed the cams and the sprocket issue is being addressed and evaluated currently. There is still no eta on getting the engine back in the car and running.
On another note, in between the dyno tuning and the idle tuning I got to back the car out of the shop and drive it around the parking lot several times. Torque was incredible..... Once I goosed it with the clutch out while just idling along. It broke the tires loose effortlessly with a roar... almost too easy. One of the issues that will affect the drivability is that the cam setup that we have creates an issue where there is not enough vacume at idle so it is easy to kill. When I was moving it around I had no tach, so it was tough to gauge the RPM. Not to mention the engine sounds extremely beefy at idle and gets much louder with very little throttle input. After my little goose episode in the parking lot the motec data logging feature showed, get this...... only 23% throttle when I goosed it. One of the times that I killed it, trying to get it moving, showed that I only revved it to 900 rpm, but I was having a difficulty gauging the idle by sound as it was very loud @ anything but idle. The Motec idle was set for 700 rpm, but with the cam setup I'm going to try it at 900 to see if the drivability is better. w e had tried this originally but it was pretty loud. I'm looking into Spintech mufflers, so if you have them, or have heard them drop me a line.
June 27th:
The car has been started and driven around the parking lot a few times. I fixed the oil leaks, tightening down the cam covers a bit, and by removing the oil pressure sending unit, and using Yamabond on the threads of the housing that screws into the block. I had wired the idle control properly after all, I just needed to add a diode that was missing from the Motec drawings. Ride height is closer to stock, but will need some more attention in the rear. I have also finally heard the final version of the sound system.... I should have no problems drowning out the exhaust notes when I want to. I also bled the clutch, as it felt a bit spongy and it feels better now....
This morning during the MoTeC fuel delivery mapping the drivers side intake camshaft experienced some issues with the holes and bolts designed for adjustable intake cams. The bolts loosened from the force. This is obviously not going to work as planned. Yesterday I had to tighten the passenger side, as it came loose as well. the variocam was working fine however. The concensus is to remove the cams and since we have adjusted them to where we need them, weld the sprockets to the camshafts. I also found that one of the custom head studs was broken... Since I wanted to build the motor with boost in mind, the head studs won't allow me to remove the heads in the car, so I pulled the engine today..... I do not have an eta on when it will be back in the car again....
Pictures of completed engine on an engine stand