sytyguy
Moderated User
First, the take the Syclone out for the first time in some months and I notice the voltage drops suddenly. Pull over and pop the hood.....belt is missing. I think, "No biggee, got a spare behind the seat and it probably got brittle from sitting." Pop the new one on and notice that it won't get tight with the tensioner. Source? The alternator bracket......every bolt ear/pad has broken off........yep, EVERY SINGLE ONE! I'm not familiar with an expiration date on our brackets, but I'm glad I sourced a spare some months back. Glad I was still on our farm when it happened.
Secondly, (after doing a bunch of other work to it...) I spent a week working on tuning Robert Lone's truck to get a chip straight for it. Never would crank, so I figured it needed a lot more fuel at crank since the supercharger is adding air to the mix that we ordinarily wouldn't have. Confirmed with starting fluid, I jack up the fuel in the cranking sections of the chip and she fires off. Oddly, it dies when going into boost (no fuel), so I dump more fuel (to the point that the BPC is around 180 and the VEs are over 95). Still no fuel in boost. Pressure is fine, etc.... Culprit? The alternator.....wasn't supplying adequate voltage to the double-pumper and thus, no fuel (pressure was fine, but volume wasn't there under load). So, that was a week of tuning wasted.
Thirdly, I take Robert's Syclone out to finish tuning it (with new alternator) and (since his TB sits out of the hood with the supercharger on the engine) a bug flies into the throttle linkage while I'm driving......resulting in a throttle stuck at 28% (had DM running). Not wanting to shut the engine off at 4500 rpm, I stick it in 6th gear at 30 mph and then shut her off. Scrape the bug out from the throttle screw and we're back going.
Lastly, figuring that my bad luck was limited to driving, I went in the garage to work on the wife's Jeep (rebuilding the engine after she made it eat a piston skirt). 45 minutes of measuring, scratching my head, remeasuring, grinding, scratching my head, etc... I realize my supplier sent the wrong main bearings (right PN, boxed wrong) and the thrust bearing is about .125" too thick. Dunno what these fit, but they're going back with .125" less material on the thrust face.
I was gonna go in the house and watch UGA beat Vandy and convince the wife to hit the sheets......better not though.....UGA might lose, and I'll probably throw my back out. :rant:
Secondly, (after doing a bunch of other work to it...) I spent a week working on tuning Robert Lone's truck to get a chip straight for it. Never would crank, so I figured it needed a lot more fuel at crank since the supercharger is adding air to the mix that we ordinarily wouldn't have. Confirmed with starting fluid, I jack up the fuel in the cranking sections of the chip and she fires off. Oddly, it dies when going into boost (no fuel), so I dump more fuel (to the point that the BPC is around 180 and the VEs are over 95). Still no fuel in boost. Pressure is fine, etc.... Culprit? The alternator.....wasn't supplying adequate voltage to the double-pumper and thus, no fuel (pressure was fine, but volume wasn't there under load). So, that was a week of tuning wasted.
Thirdly, I take Robert's Syclone out to finish tuning it (with new alternator) and (since his TB sits out of the hood with the supercharger on the engine) a bug flies into the throttle linkage while I'm driving......resulting in a throttle stuck at 28% (had DM running). Not wanting to shut the engine off at 4500 rpm, I stick it in 6th gear at 30 mph and then shut her off. Scrape the bug out from the throttle screw and we're back going.
Lastly, figuring that my bad luck was limited to driving, I went in the garage to work on the wife's Jeep (rebuilding the engine after she made it eat a piston skirt). 45 minutes of measuring, scratching my head, remeasuring, grinding, scratching my head, etc... I realize my supplier sent the wrong main bearings (right PN, boxed wrong) and the thrust bearing is about .125" too thick. Dunno what these fit, but they're going back with .125" less material on the thrust face.
I was gonna go in the house and watch UGA beat Vandy and convince the wife to hit the sheets......better not though.....UGA might lose, and I'll probably throw my back out. :rant: