[GThound]

Wow, that is some serious fabrication! And congrats on breathing life into the project. It is so rewarding to see ideas and plans come to reality.

Interestingly, I had just removed the three bolts that hold the little access panel on the head this morning. not sure exactly what it is for. It seems you are using it to mount your custom crankcase brother holder.

I was thinking about using those bolts as a mounting location for LS coils. I was wondering if I should leave the current panel and just add my bracket with longer bolts. But it looks like you took the bolder approach and completely replace the cover. I think I will explore that path.

 

[DavidF1972]

was thinking about using those bolts as a mounting location for LS coils.

You need to stop stealing my ideas before I think of them...

 

[RallyBob]

Any sort of packing inside the "can" ?

Nothing inside the breather reservoir.

If you recall, the valve cover has foam breather material in it.

I might roll up another piece of the foam and put it in the side cam cover breather tube.

 

[The Scifi Guy]

OMG, he polished the head and block. 🤩

 

[RallyBob]

OMG, he polished the head and block. 🤩

Nah, the block is just cleaned and steel shot-blasted (basically shotpeening). It peens the surface so it’s a little bit shiny, and the metal pores are closed up, unlike sandblasting.

The head was ground down smooth though, that I admit. I ended up grinding off any prortrusions and extraneous metal with a die grinder, then sanding the exterior with 80/120/220/320 grit sandpaper. Then that got the steel shot-blasting treatment at the machine shop. That head, between the porting and grinding, weighs almost 8 lbs less than stock!


However it’s all a moot point, I’m not using this particular head and block for the turbo engine. I simply used them for the mock-up process because I had them, and they are clean.

The head and block are actually for a vintage-style prep 1.9 racing engine. Other than the roller rocker arms, I prepared them using early 1970’s technology for vintage racing.

 

[RallyBob]

Not sure what material I will use to actually plumb everything but this was cheap enough to at least mock things up.

 

[RallyBob]

I think I found the material I will use for my breather vents.

It’s oil and fuel rated and far more flexible than the braid-reinforced clear hose I used for my mock-up. It’s also yellow so, you know…more Opel-ly.

I got in my 1/2” socket cap screws to hold my injector-bung weld jig together. I think it will work nicely. I still need to be sure the ends are parallel to each other and the injector angle is correct. But the jig greatly simplifies alignment between injectors.

I contemplated welding it all together today, but two things stopped me. One, it’s hot as heck out and I don’t feel like TIG welding aluminum for 20 minutes in this heat.

And two, the intake manifold is filthy. It will NOT weld nice. I will wait until my next trip to the powdercoater’s shop where he can burn it in the oven and sandblast it. No use fighting a corroded/oily piece of aluminum. It’ll add some weeks to the project but my summer is already shot so what the heck. I’d rather do it once and do it right.

 

[terrylewisac]

Not sure what material I will use to actually plumb everything but this was cheap enough to at least mock things up.
View attachment 446213
View attachment 446214 View attachment 446215
View attachment 446216

Now that is one heck of an opel hookah LOL

 

[Paul M]

Great minds think alike!

 

[GThound]

Looking good with the injector bung alignment jig. That looks good enough for NASA. The challenge I had was trying to weld underneath the angle, the arc ended up jumping up to the bungs and melted them a bit. Not sure how to prevent this… maybe weld an aluminum wedge in that small space before welding the bungs to the manifold? Or maybe with better welding skills or other tricks, it won’t be an issue.

 

[RallyBob]

Looking good with the injector bung alignment jig. That looks good enough for NASA. The challenge I had was trying to weld underneath the angle, the arc ended up jumping up to the bungs and melted them a bit. Not sure how to prevent this… maybe weld an aluminum wedge in that small space before welding the bungs to the manifold? Or maybe with better welding skills or other tricks, it won’t be an issue.

It’s a combination of things really.

Higher amperage will stabilize the arc, so you can focus the puddle where you want it to be. Light pedal pressure/amperage creates an unstable arc, at least on an older TIG like my Miller 250DX. More modern Miller Dynasty welders have a super stable arc even at low amperage.

I will extend the tungsten for that area. I also have a gas diffuser lens which helps coverage on the extended tungsten (and will use slightly higher gas CFH).

But yea, mostly it’s practice/experience.

 

[RallyBob]

I’m really my own worst enemy….

Pressure-washed and scrubbed the EFI intake this morning. It’s probably clean enough to weld on now.

However I got distracted and next thing I knew I started grinding the casting flash down. Then I started sanding that smooth. Then I thought, ‘This will look nice smoothed down, bead blasted, and tumble-polished.’ Or maybe powdercoated. Either way smooth looks better than a dented and scratched aluminum casting.sigh….

 

[terrylewisac]

Creatures of ( sometimes) of our own unfortunate habits LOL
I always seem to take a step to far as well when cleaning/prepping sometimes
But it will look superb when your finished

 

[RallyBob]

I like the transparent yellow hoses better for the breather system.

Also found these, which I’ve had for over 35 years but never utilized. Brand new Manta B wheel center caps.

 

[RallyBob]

Made a fuel rail today.

I’ll be making another one to match for Gordon’s next wack-a-doodle intake manifold.

I used -10AN (5/8” ID) fuel rail because I have 6 feet of it on hand, not because I felt this engine needed it. In fact, -6AN (3/8” ID) would be way more than enough for 300 hp.

But with -10AN, fuel pulsation in the rail is far less of an issue, especially with big injectors.

It’s interesting to compare the Rochester 2.5 ohm (yellow-stripe) injectors I have (which are far smaller than OEM Opel) to the super-short LS-style injectors I have laying around.

The LS injectors use a 14 mm top O-ring like most do, but the lower O-rings are 15 mm and need the proper sized injector bungs.

The Rochester injectors are rated at 26 lbs/hr fuel flow @ 43 psi, while the LS injectors are rated at 39 lbs/hr at 58 psi. When the LS injectors are run at 43 psi, they flow around 33 lbs/hr.


I still need to decide if I will be welding aluminum AN fittings directly to the fuel rail, or tapping it for thread-in pipe-to-AN adapters.

 

[RallyBob]

Gordon’s fuel rail is now machined too. I’ll need to find out what size fuel lines he’s running to adapt to the fuel rail ends. I suspect -6AN (3/8”) will suffice. The fuel rail is sized to accept a 1/2” NPT pipe tap, which should make AN fitting selection pretty simple.

Did a test fit with the new fuel rail, Rochester injectors, and bolt-on injector plates onto a 1.9 EFI intake. Even with the big -10AN fuel rail it still clears the intake plenum.

With weld-on injector bungs the rail and injectors will sit a little bit lower. And if LS injectors are used it will be even shorter still, so it looks like there’s tons of clearance available.

All that remains is to fabricate fuel rail hold-down brackets which correspond to the actual injectors being used (because of injector height differences).

 

[kwschumm]

Awesome work!

 

[RallyBob]

Size comparison between -10AN (5/8”), -8AN (1/2”), and -6AN (3/8) weld-on male fittings.

I could weld one of these directly to the fuel rail.

I could also tap the fuel rail for a 1/2” NPT fitting as mentioned previously.

I could also weld in a female 1/4” NPT fitting and then thread in a 1/4”-to- 6AN adapter fitting.


I personally like the 1/2” NPT tapped fuel rail as it simplifies cleaning if necessary.

Plenty of options!

 

[The Scifi Guy]

Uhhhh....uhhhh......too many options, my head is spinning. I think my returnless fuel pump uses 3/8"- 6AN, so that sounds like what I'll need. I will be plugging off the return hole.

As far as injectors, I was originally thinking "Oh, just give me regular size injectors.", but then Charlie called and I asked him and he said I might as well go with the shorter LS injectors, because those are the latest technology, might work better or longer, and they will be around for a long time, whereas the older style of injectors may not be. So, yeah, gimme an LS injector configured fuel rail/manifold.

 

[GThound]

I did the same thing. Tapped one end with 1/2” NPT block off male pipe plug on one end and AN-6 on the other end of the fuel rail. Only difference is I did the conversion with just one fitting.

sure wish I had gone with your bolt on injector bungs. They look great! instead of trying to weld mine directly to the manifold with crazy challenging angles and Medicore skills at best.