Lightweight Alumicraft Build(ish)

Cookie said:
One thing with the Fans, mine struggle to stay cool due the fans not coming on until 205, that being said they would also turn off at 205, and always had the temp cycling between 200 and 215, occasionally 220.  I finally put my fans on a switch.  215 is way too hot.

Then I think Kruat said you can change out the sensor to an 180 degree sensor, I have never had an issue since.  No idea why that sensor was originally 205 degrees.
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The J series (and most Hondas) trigger the fans on the cool side of the radiator.  The lower temp switch is made by Mishimoto. 

I believe the AEM has the provision to trigger the fans through an output referencing the actual coolant temp sensor.  You would most likely have to add the wire back into the ECU connector. 

Have you looked at your radiator fins or fans recently?  Before the crash Kurtis @onanysunday did a write up about his cooling system being pretty hammered.  Most the the radiator fins were laid over from being sand blasted.  The fans were in pretty rough shape too.

 
Rockwood said:
If it's just in the bores and rusted the rings in place, bonus: just sleeve it. :biggrin:

I've had decent luck funneling a pint or so of Marvel into the cylinders to at least break up the rust for disassembly. 
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Used to use ATF as well…

 
great find. Honda motors are cheap and easy to replace and make great power. look forward to following this build.

 
Kraut_n_Rice said:
The J series (and most Hondas) trigger the fans on the cool side of the radiator.  The lower temp switch is made by Mishimoto. 

I believe the AEM has the provision to trigger the fans through an output referencing the actual coolant temp sensor.  You would most likely have to add the wire back into the ECU connector. 

Have you looked at your radiator fins or fans recently?  Before the crash Kurtis @onanysunday did a write up about his cooling system being pretty hammered.  Most the the radiator fins were laid over from being sand blasted.  The fans were in pretty rough shape too.
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I had to replace my OE Nissan fans a couple seasons back.  The sand wore the blades away.

 
Here's some photos of how it currently sits and what needs to be done. Obviously I already pulled plugs, coils, blowoff valve, etc.

First things first is to pull the engine and the radiator, but in the meantime I'm going to go through and mark every wire in the "harness" and replace all of these relays and thermal breakers with new relays and a proper fuse block. I'll also redo the loom and replace anything shotty in the harness. The computer needs to be mounted properly so i'll make some brackets for that and get it packaged well. 

I don't like how the filters and pump are mounted, so i'll redo that with some new plumbing as well. Both filters will be moved down since there is no support where the secondary filter bolts to the regulator and i'll make some proper brackets for that as well. 

New motor will be here tomorrow. Off to the dunes Thursday so progress will resume next week. 

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Rockwood said:
AEM should work with the stock harness, no?  

But yeah, given the couple of weeks you want it done by, NA is the easiest way to go, turbo can be sorted in the offseason.
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When I put an AEM in my J35 Buggyworks it plugged into the stock harness, but needed a couple pins moved (IIRC the instructions were pretty clear once we figured out what car the harness actually came from).  

-TJ

 
Aaaalllrright. Forgot I haven't updated this one so here's one with where I'm at. More to come

Pulled the motor out

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Yanked the radiator out

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Realized where the fan issues were stemming from. The radiator sat on top of the fan relay wires and they were grounding out to the radiator/chassis. That has been fixed

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Went to cabo for 5 days

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Went to Kartek and bought a bunch of sh*t

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Realized the mounting solution would not work for the new radiator so played with mounting solutions and none were very clean. @Reece Pettersen found a source on almost a direct match up. Got here today, so tonight i'll weld up some new feet for it and mount it.

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New engine has all the stuff swapped over (fuel rail, injectors, pan, weld on turbo return, adapter, pressure plate, etc). New clutch gets here tomorrow and i'll mount it.

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Plan is to have this bad boy in the dunes next week. So crunch time. Did a mild wire job and cleaned a bunch of stuff up. Will take photos and post those up once I wrap that up. 

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Depending on the adapter plate, you will need to silicone up a couple holes in the block so sand doesn't get behind it and eat up the rear main seal.

 
Kraut_n_Rice said:
Depending on the adapter plate, you will need to silicone up a couple holes in the block so sand doesn't get behind it and eat up the rear main seal.
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I have a little fabbed up plate for that!

 
Kraut_n_Rice said:
Depending on the adapter plate, you will need to silicone up a couple holes in the block so sand doesn't get behind it and eat up the rear main seal.
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Is one in the valley? 

Benchmark performance would put a "seal" (3m foam tape,. IIRC) around the crank that would divert the sand away from the rear crank seal. I never had any rear main seal issues. Sand really likes to collect in that valley.

 
LegitDuner said:
Is one in the valley? 

Benchmark performance would put a "seal" (3m foam tape,. IIRC) around the crank that would divert the sand away from the rear crank seal. I never had any rear main seal issues. Sand really likes to collect in that valley.
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Yep. And, one on the side from the motor mount.  A finger full of RTV fixes it.

 
Welp. Got it ready to run last night, did a compression check this morning and has a dead cylinder, has a mean knock. Yanked this one and will call in warranty in the morning. Hopefully get a new one tomorrow and will check compression before mounting. Leaving for the dunes on Thursday…

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acefuture said:
Welp. Got it ready to run last night, did a compression check this morning and has a dead cylinder, has a mean knock. Yanked this one and will call in warranty in the morning. Hopefully get a new one tomorrow and will check compression before mounting. Leaving for the dunes on Thursday…
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chit luck mate. 

 
Bummer, I thought at minimum they did a compression check on those junkyard motors.  I guess they do not.

 
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