I guess during ring break-in period, you would get excessive blow-by. Still, I can't help but wonder if maybe they didn't stagger the ring gaps properly. I've read countless posts about this coking, here and at cobaltss, and there were some that, even at much higher miles, had not a drop of oil or coking. They (GM) might just be slapping the rings in as fast as they can, and occasionally, they get it right.

 

My take on it is that maybe the oil rings didn't seat right away.

Dan, did you use a breakin oil?

 

Yep, Comp Cams break in for 200 miles. Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30 now. It's first real oil change will be when we take it out in the spring. I'm hoping that GM isn't that careless RJ! I'll do a compression test when I get her back together just for a baseline. What I think the problem is lack of information from ZZP. They never explain why you're plugging the pvc port, other than the wastegate just doesn't fit. Also, the 256 turbo didn't come with a port to draw vapor from the valve cover. The way I had the system routed was just plain wrong.

The only line I had was from Port 2 to the intake tube. With the fresh air port blocked off I was only drawing from the cam area. Everything else was forced up into the intake. I'm going to pull the intake cam so I can at least shell blast the crud out of there. It takes about 30 revolutions to line all the timing marks up, but if done correctly I should be able to remove the cam and not have to pull the front cover. I could just rotate each cylinder to the compression stroke and do it that way as well, we'll see. I can't imagine putting the intake on knowing how dirty everything is. A few hours is all it should take.

Doc you had mentioned over in another thread that the LNF already has a wideband setup. I don't uderstand why ZZP wouldn't know this and put and extra hole in my DP anyway! Could you elaborate a little. What I'm guessing is the wideband/logging gauge would piggyback the ECM? We have 2x 02 sensors, so 1 is wideband?

 

Comp Cams break in oil is good stuff. I'm guessing that all the oil in the intake is due to the fact that all the PCV systems weren't connected so the only place the oil vapor had a path to was the PCV in the intake. ZZP should have known that and in my mind made provisions to route the other line in someplace else. Last thing you want to do is pressurize the engine case itself. That will cause all kinds of other issues, leaking rear main, leaking seal at the balancer and it also effects the ring seal, tends to cause the rings to flutter and not seal which is what you may have had happening. Drawing a vacuum, within reason on the engine case is good for more power if it can be done. That is why I have made mention of a vacuum pump. With a dry sump system we would oversize the scavenge sections and reduce the size of the breather openings to draw a vacuum, or if there was a rule against that, which in our case there was, just before closing the hatches we would stand on the breathers which would push them down closing off the breather opening....

The LNF already has a wide band so no other WB's are needed for tuning. ZZP knows that, or at least they should know that. The other sensor/s are for checking the cat converter efficiency/operation That being said you want to use the factory ecm WB for all your tuning adjustments/corrections since that is what the ecm is using for all of of it's fueling control algorithms. You could use a second to confirm the operation of the control WB but I wouldn't use the 2nd for a fueling corrections, use what the ecm is using. Having a WB so you can tune the rest of your stable will be handy.

 

Agreed, I'm just glad I was forced to pull it apart. I'm not sure how ZZP corrects this on builds they do for customers. I'm assuming I've upset them which is why they wouldn't honor a decent discount. There's been an ongoing email chain since I've started this project. The parts were just plain wrong and I'm the @$$hole because I think it should be fixed, correctly. What they're telling me now is my car is very custom, too custom, probably the only with a GEN3/256. They're not much help to say the least. I asked how that's possible when everything was purchased at one time in one place from a drop down menu. If I'd spent 8k anywhere else I'd expect that it would come with a little appreciation for choosing that vendor.

What gets me upset is the ones who have installed this and left it up to chance. Or, like me, just didn't understand the consequences of blocking that port and having a very incomplete PCV system. I sent MississippiSunburst the intake bracket I made for mounting ZZPs "sewer pipe". He also has the stage 3 kit, but it's on the original gen2 with who knows what milage. This can't be good with stock internals with mileage.

For budget sake. I can't get into the internals of the new motor. I'm going to limit boost to 18-20 lbs if possible, through tuning. We have no intention of ever selling the SS. We are going to break all the weak links eventually. And they'll be replaced. I'm hoping that the LDK doesn't suffer the same fate as the LNF as far as weak ring landings. Only time will tell.

 

I understand where you are coming from. We would buy this high dollar stuff and would have to modify it to make it fit. Your car is too custom for any of the stuff you bought from them to fit.... Anymore I just take t for granted that anything I buy for performance isn't going to fit without some sort of massaging. It's a good thing you have skills.... then again if you didn't you wouldn't be doing what your doing in the first place.

I would say you can go to 21-22 with no issues. I've been running 22-23 for quite some time now and haven't hurt the motor, can't say that about the clutch though. Love the smell of clutch after a hard pull....

 

Finally got around to fitting the downpipe back in the SS. It fits, and now the wastegate finally lines up. The problem is it's still hitting the transmission. I sent the DP back to ZZP in October to try and get it corrected. What they did was invert the section that was hitting the transmission. So instead of the convex pipe hitting, now its going to hit the concave edges. Which at least allows me to line up the wastegate but it's definitely going to be hitting the trans all the time. I pretty much expected this. I hoping to get in touch with MississippiSunburst to see how his fit, I know it took at least a few tries. I'm wondering if they don't have an automatic downpipe. It seems ridiculous to send it back and forth. We'll see what ZZP can do...

For now here's what I've got. Open to suggestions, if this wasn't the wife's I would just weld the pipe shut and run and open wastegate. Not an option here, she likes the sounds her car makes. I think that'd be a little much.

As you can see I've shaved the transmission case to give as much room as possible.







Now I'll wait and see what I hear back.

 

Well, it's certainly been a while. I have a lot to report. First of all, the downpipe got sent back and returned completely different! It actually fits the car now.

The reason for the winter surgery was simple, correct the pcv system. Project overboard was indeed a perfect fit for this car. Nothing is simple once you've gone this far. Since I had the intake off, might as well powder coat it.. Since I had the valve cover off, might as well powder coat that too. So on and so forth, that's how it went. Then every bracket needed coated...sheesh, why did ever start that mess! We had the VC and intake off so it was a perfect time to install the Opel fuel injectors and upgraded fuel lobe cam. I also snagged that wideband gauge during the Black Friday sale. Whew, on with some pics!



This is what an auto DP looks like! Why we didn't get this the first two times I have no idea. It fits like a glove now.



Here's the super expensive LNF cam holding tool. An old flat pry bar.



New intake cam on the left. You can see the raised fuel lobe cam, no changes to the valve cams. Just allows me to shove more fuel for a longer period.




I was fully prepared to walnut blast. When it came time, I decided on simply scrubbing the intake ports. Got all the crud out really easily since it was only a few thousand miles worth.



BEFORE



AFTER



Here you can see how twisted my Lower Charge connection was, those clamps should be parallel... no wonder it kept blowing apart at the intercooler. Jammed and twisted



Here is the same connection today. Highly modified, both the pipe and the silicon couplers.



Couple changes made under the hood as well. Added about 2' of the wiring harness to extend the boost control solenoid. It is now mounted next to the turbo bypass valve on the intake. That alone shortened up the vacuum routing considerably. If you look close you'll see the temporary "mini" catch cans I made from two halves of the real thing. These are temporary, we just wanted to get the car running. Just a sintered filter and chore boy inside. All will be completed using -6AN lines, in a week or two when I finish a couple full size cans.



This pic is more for fun. We've owned this car over a year now. I literally have 4 pics of the outside and 844 of "FUN" stuff. So.. just to prove its in a car!

 

Nice neat work Dan!