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Where has CaysE's SVT been? Build thread time!

37K views 334 replies 75 participants last post by  Blue5ive 
#1 ·
It's been a while since I've given a good update on the SVT, so here we go. Only two months left until Carlisle, and I'm on an aggressive mission to get two things done: swap on a ported head, and install a JRSC. In two months. [paranoid] OK, so a lot of you probably can do this in your sleep, but this is my first time really diving into serious engine work, so I'm taking my time to do things right.

Step one: get a daily driver. First problem was that I had an old thirdgen Camaro parts car in the garage. So I spent a couple weeks parting it out and getting the space all cleared out, then I bought Disrupter911's '02 SVT replica, and put the SVT in the garage for the winter:



In the meantime, I had picked up a used JRSC for a real nice price locally. It had about 40k miles on it (if I remember correctly) and the front drive was leaking fluid, so that needed to be addressed.



It came with the BBK pulley as you can see, as well as the 42lb injectors, updated MAF, most of the JRSC parts and a CFM tensioner pulley. I was pretty excited. [:D] I mean, it's not a turbo and I'm not going to have 350hp or anything, but until I got into an SVTf, all I've ever driven are shit cars with no boost. So I'm still pretty excited.

Anyway, first order of business was to get the SC into trustworthy condition. I poked around the forums and internet and came across Stiegemeier.com, one of Eaton's authorized rebuilders. They had good references so I gave them a call, they were friendly and helpful, and that was good enough for me. I shipped the whole unit out to them for a complete rebuild and blueprinting, and clean/flow-match the injectors.

Not content to just get back a regular old JRSC, I opted for a porting job as well. Excitement builds. Dreams of actually winning something at Carlisle struck me, and I pushed it one step further. Going all-in, I ordered an exterior show polish. Oh my... what have I got myself into. [screwy]

The blower returns home a few weeks later. [clap] Everything was cleaned, the manifold runners were ported, the supercharger port was port-matched and horned, the plenum was ported, and the TB adapter was port-matched to the CFM 67mm TB. The rotors were stripped and cleaned, blueprinted to the case, and the front drive was rebuilt.









And if this show-polish doesn't grab people's attention at Carlisle, I don't know what will. I must be insane...



In all, I've spent just about the same amount of money that the JRSC would have cost new, so that keeps the buyer's remorse at bay. [goofydrunk]

I didn't stop here though... while I was planning the build, I gave the boys at CFM a call to talk about their ported head options. There has been talk for literally years about them offering a ported SVT head when nobody else would, but apparently the only thing that has held them back was getting somebody to plunk down the cash. So, the deposit went in and I gave them the green light.

What I got back was what looked to me to be a work of art. [:D] The head was cleaned, intake and exhaust were ported, cam caps were decked and re-honed, and the stock valves had a 3-angle valve job. I finished it off with a good thread cleaning for all the manifold studs.







Intake:


Exhaust:


At the moment, I'm sizing the tappets to be fitted into the head. All of the tappets I had from another spare head turned out to be too big, so a friend on FJ sent out a box of spares for me to try. [thumb] What a guy. I'll be checking clearance on them today after work, and hopefully I don't run into problems. If I do, I have a feeling that the cam caps being decked and re-honed might be to blame, which would require some machining of either the tappets or the valve stems. I'll find out soon enough.

For those of you who know how I like to tie things together aesthetically, I couldn't just be throwing a polished supercharger into the engine bay without something to complement it. I enlisted the help of the fine boys at HTPerformance to come up with a polished valve cover solution. Unfortunately, trial and error deemed a straight polish out of the question, as the material would oxidize too easily. As many of you know, Brian and Jason don't cut corners, and they wanted to find a polished look that would last. We eventually decided on a chrome-like powdercoat, and I'm pretty happy with the result:



Here's a shot of the reflectivity of the finish. It's pretty close to chrome, just not as smooth.


And finally, how on earth could I live having a shiny supercharger and a shiny valve cover taken down by the horrific-looking heat shield on the header? [:D] Jet-Hot to the rescue...



I'll have plenty of updating to put up here as I go along. I'm still not sure where I'm going to get tuned, but I have a couple ideas. If anyone wants to come BS and help out on a nice weekend day, I can always use help with disassembly, assembly, cracking jokes, and eating/drinking me out of house and home. [histerical]
 
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#180 ·
that looks like it could be the hood. some nice cold air coming in!

cayse, seems like this flodding issue is bigger than first thought.
 
#181 ·
this may be a little stupid because i've never done anything with a supercharger setup. but in theory the bigger injectors needed to get a good a/f could be putting out more than your engine could handle if the pressure behind them is to high yes? so maybe check your fpr....and or pressure from ur pump. maybe you're simply putting too much pressure to them.

also what plugs did you go with....one step colder? did your base tune account for the plugs?
 
#184 ·
not if he cant get the fpr working right.

did you upgrade your pump too?

i dont have an svt, so i dont know, but on other cars, i have seen it right b4 the fuel line, and others i have seen it right on the rail.
 
#185 ·
i'm not sure where it is located on the svt but it is round thing most of the time aluminum connected to the fuel lines and or rail and has a small vacuum line going to it. check your haynes manual to be sure [thumb] i hope you get it fixed man
 
#193 ·
Compression is 30psi! I don't know how I did it, but the crank must of somehow gotten 180* out of phase. All the pictures I'm looking through show cylinders 1 and 4 at TDC though, and the cams appear to be in the correct position.

If I did somehow manage to get the crank 180 degrees off, I fear I have bent valves.
 
#195 ·
an even 30 psi on all cylinders? wow... not good.

did you use the OEM Ford SVT headgasket (not some silly thick one)?

You could try a few drops of oil to see if that bumps your compression up to normal.

Also, double-check your valve lash - Are you sure you got all of them right? If your lash is too tight (or zero), then you won't get good compression.

I'm not sure if it should start with only 30psi... anyone else seen theirs that low?
 
#196 ·
just some random thoughts, Matt sent me in here and I thought I'd throw in my somewhat experienced 2 cents...

30psi is probably due to fuel washing down the cylinder walls.

if you are on the stock tune using bigger injectors, that is your problem.

The Focus does not have a fuel pressure regulator. There is the pulse damper and also the delta pressure sensor. The pressure sensor uses the vac line to tell the difference (delta) between the rail side and manifold side of the injectors. Then the ECU uses this to tell the fuel pump how much pressure to put in the rail to achieve 40psi across the injectors.

make sure your crank position sensor is plugged in.

have you checked spark yet?

i have some more random thoughts but answer those first and we'll go from there.
 
#198 ·
in the cylinder you're testing, right before you test it (via spark plug hole)

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but no more than a teaspoon or so should do it.

The oil should fix the problem if its a ring issue (from gas on them, or because they are shit, or whatever)
 
#201 ·
Well, the valves are fine and the timing looks correct to me. As far as I can tell, it's impossible to be on the wrong stroke if cylinders 1 and 4 are on TDC and the cam timing plate fits. After trying a couple drops of oil in one of the cylinders, I got it up to ~35psi or so, but I didn't get into too much work with that.

Right now, the SVT isn't going to be at Carlisle. I swapped the wheels onto my ZX3 and I'm taking that there. I have a real hard time imagining that the head gasket is leaking, and I checked valve clearance and that seems to be OK, and the timing is good (or it should be). Yet I have 30psi compression across the board.

Can fuel washed cylinder walls really cause that much loss in compression?
 
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