SP3033 Engine Started - Thanks Everyone

mattpatt · #1 (**permalink**) 05-01-2011, 07:41 PM

Well, the day finally arrived yesterday. On the advise of many of you I not only purchased an SPF cobra but I also installed the engine myself. It took about 3 months (took my time, on most weekends), The engine is a Keith Craft SBF 427/Dart aluminum block. The rest of the drive-train is a TKO600 (0.83 5th), steel flywheel, Mcleod RST clutch, Quick-Time SFI bell. Wheels are 18" with Michelyn PS2 rubber (255s and 275s). Color is Indogo Blue with Platinum stripes. Includes a passenger roll-bar. Everyone I dealt with for parts and advise were just great. Many thanks to: Lance, Deborah, Ashton, Barry and Mike at Hillbank; Keith, Shelly and Tony Loy at Keith Craft Performance Engines; Dennis and Sheryl at Olthoff Racing; Club Cobra's BLAS; Brent at B2Motorsports; Erick at Voss Performance plus others. This experience was 100% positive and I'd recommend it to anyone with basic experience with cars.

The engine was started for the first time yesterday: sounds great! I still have some bugs to work out before getting the car on the road: brake bleeding, clutch slave issue and an electrical issue (BLAS - please see private e-mail).

Many thanks again to you guys.

Matt

jwoodard · #2 (**permalink**) 05-01-2011, 08:05 PM

Congratulations on getting that engine fired up! Keith builds a great engine and you will really enjoy the power. Post some pics when you get a chance.

mattpatt · #3 (**permalink**) 05-01-2011, 08:49 PM

Thx, Jim

Noticing your horsepowere numbers (FW & RW) the ratio is right in line with the Randall Thomas conversion chart on SCOF. Are you using the std steel SPF exhaust or did you go with something with less back-pressure? I'm trying to estimate what my 554 FWHP will translate to at the wheels.

thx

Matt

ha_pe_1968 · #4 (**permalink**) 05-02-2011, 04:42 AM

Hi Matt!

Take a look in my gallery - there are RW-dynosheets in it..the Flywheel-HP is more or less the same like yours.

Greetings from Austria
Peter

jwoodard · #5 (**permalink**) 05-02-2011, 01:13 PM

Matt,

My side-pipes are not stock SPF. I did a dyno pull with the stock SPF side-pipes and it was about 50HP/TQ less than what I show in my signature line. The side-pipes I'm running I built using a merge collector from Hedman Headers and a muffler from Howe Racing. Less back flow as evidenced by the dyno results, also a different sound, i.e., louder and deeper.

mattpatt · #6 (**permalink**) 05-05-2011, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ha_pe_1968

Hi Matt!

Take a look in my gallery - there are RW-dynosheets in it..the Flywheel-HP is more or less the same like yours.

Greetings from Austria
Peter

Thx, Peter. Do you have the stock Superformance mufflers?

jhv48 · #7 (**permalink**) 05-05-2011, 08:47 PM

It seems to me that you went kind of skinny on the tires. Most run 315's on the rear with that kind of power.

You will have to be very careful with the gas pedal unless you want to do a lot of sliding around.

mattpatt · #8 (**permalink**) 05-05-2011, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhv48

It seems to me that you went kind of skinny on the tires. Most run 315's on the rear with that kind of power.

You will have to be very careful with the gas pedal unless you want to do a lot of sliding around.

I wanted to use the Bridgestone Potenza RE11s but the sizes wouldn't work. Next best, as near as I could tell, was the PS2s. Looking at the Michelyn specs the SP wheel widths worked with the smaller tires (not the 305's or larger) - also - I didn't want to stray too far from factory recommendations because, while real wide rear tires look really great, they probably reduce handling performance (and we could debate about 0-60 performance). If I could have gotten 295's in my tire choice I would have gone for them (a factory option).

Blas · #9 (**permalink**) 05-06-2011, 08:26 AM

So what's up with the AMP meter?
Still having a problem?
If you have checked the things I mentioned and still have the problem, you probably have a bad alternator or voltage regulator

mattpatt · #10 (**permalink**) 05-12-2011, 07:26 AM

About the ammeter:

Tried all your recommendations, Blas. Everything was tight. When I charged the battery the ammeter showed ~10A running (was ~25 before) so that really helped. I put another ammeter on series with the ammeter and turned the lights on: both showed the same so I think the ammeter is ok. Maybe the Optima battery just takes high current when it's not fully charged and if I run the engine more than about 30 seconds it will come back to "normal"? I'll be trying that in the next couple of days.

Does the voltage regulator also regulatrt current (I thought it was just voltage)????

Thx, Blas

Blas · #11 (**permalink**) 05-12-2011, 07:51 AM

Good, you did all the cheap stuff first...nothings worse then spending money and having the same problem...now we replace parts.
Refresh my memory...what alternator do you have?- A standard unit or a one wire?
It's looking more like a voltage regulator or alternator...
You probably know this but, if you have a one wire alternator, the voltage regulator is built in, the SPF unit should be disconnected...
Could be a funky battery too, Optima's have had some issues of late. You charged it overnight with it disconnected right?
Luckily, all these parts should be under warrantee for you, just some time to troubleshoot...
Blas

carmine · #12 (**permalink**) 05-12-2011, 08:59 AM

Good stuff Matt.

How do you like the Mcleod RST clutch set up.
Am thinking thats the clutch for me as well.
Was told has soft pedal feel.
Is the clutch engagement hard or smooth and does it have any weird rattling noises.

JBCOBRA · #13 (**permalink**) 05-12-2011, 10:36 AM

Got Pics?

mattpatt · #14 (**permalink**) 05-13-2011, 07:28 AM

Thx, Blas

The alternator is an MSD one wire (105 amps). Initially, I had the SPF regulator plugged in then realized it should not have been plugged in (warning light was on) so now it's unplugged. Might that have damaged something? I always charge the battery disconnected.

mattpatt · #15 (**permalink**) 05-13-2011, 07:36 AM

Carmine,

I can't tell you about the clutch because I can't get it in gear. I'm not sure but I think it's because I failed to shim the front disk correctly. The instructions simply said it should spin freely (nothing about shimming). It was dragging a bit but I could easily turn it by hand. Turns out there are more instructions on the Mcleod website that say shim to .020/,025 or tranny won't go into gear (would have been nice if that had been in the instructions that came with the clutch!). Next week the car goes to Voss Performance to get it fixed (I'm out of time for the California DMV registration).

<{:>((

Blas · #16 (**permalink**) 05-13-2011, 08:01 AM

You could possibly have damaged something with the initial hook-up...Or maybe it's the fact that you are running an alternator with over TWICE the output of the AMP meters rated capacity of 50 AMPS. Only thing to do is to replace the alternator and see if the AMP meter settles down. Bench testing it might show something, but testing sometimes doesn't report these odd readings...FYI: Lots of SPF's have odd reading AMP meters, ususlly due to defective or overheated diodes in the alternator/voltage regulator, or loose connections causing voltage spikes, etc. Maybe a Volt meter would be a better choice.

mattpatt · #17 (**permalink**) 06-10-2011, 07:28 PM

About the electical problem - see thread about Optima battery charging current.

About clutch: Took the car to Erick Voss at Voss Performance. The clutch was installed correctly (apparently) - Erick replaced the slave and all works fine now. He also adjusted the drive-train alignment, tightened critical bolts, etc., etc.. I still need him to do the wheel alignments. I want to say that Erick REALLY knows these cars, has reasonable prices, and is a pleasure to work with. He said he needed about 2 weeks to "fit my car in" - and it was done in 2 weeks. He was never too busy to answer any of my many questions. I recommend him to any and all cobra owners. Besides Superformence cars he does other cobra kit cars (Factory Five, etc.) as well as new mustangs, etc. He's a great resource for those willing to take their cars to him.

carmine · #18 (**permalink**) 06-10-2011, 09:28 PM

Good to hear you installed clutch correctly and it's working fine
So how is the RST clutch for pedal feel and clutch engagement?

mattpatt · #19 (**permalink**) 06-11-2011, 09:24 PM

The RST is pretty nice as far as I've used it (only 45 easy miles on the car so far - need a few hundred for drive-train break-in). There's no chatter at all, smooth engagement and the pedal force is surprisingly low (that's a benefit of the duals). So far - very nice.

ha_pe_1968 · #20 (**permalink**) 07-17-2011, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattpatt

Thx, Peter. Do you have the stock Superformance mufflers?

Hi Matt!

Sorry for the late answer...yeah the dynosheets are with the stock mufflers and headers.

Peter