Hello again all,
I haven't posted in a while but I've still been reading posts and learning lots about my Sol.
I have an issue (and it's not with my mental health .... yet).
My mechanic is a bodywork specialist although he's done a fair amount of work on my car's mechanics. He installed an air filter, replaced my ditributor, and most recently installed an exhaust system (with a DeCat pipe).
The problem is with the exhaust. Before I had a single (fairly large) tail pipe, which was quite noisy but not too bad. Some of the baffles had become dislodged so I asked my mechanic to replace the whole thing with a slightly more subtle backbox/silencer, and top it off with twin tail pipes. To cut a long story short, he basically did a shit job on the installation and made a mess of the back bumper (I'll post pics at some point), but also the noise the car makes is unbearable. It sounds perfect when the engine isn't doing any work (but still rev-ing high) and nice and rumbly at around 1-2K revs when pulling away, but when it hits about 3K (and then again at VTEC) it starts to sound like a trumpet has been welded into the system somewhere. It's really awful. I spoke to him about this and complained that it wasn't what I asked for (i.e. something slightly quieter and neater), but that it just sounded like a banged up SR Nova. He agreed that it wasn't "ideal". He said that it was something to do with reverberation and the gases trying to come out of the exhaust. Aparently there's some sort of device which can sit in the exhaust system and stop this from happening (anti-reverberation device or something). I get quite a lot of louds pops coming out of the exhaust too, which I assume must be unburnt gas igniting in the system? Is that cool or is that lame? :-)
Any ideas what the hell has happened, why my car sounds like an orchestra? Is my mechnic is taking me for a ride to cover up one of his f*ck ups? Finally, does anyone else know a good mechanic in Surrey, UK?
One last thing. I am about to get a new flywheel/clutch. He quoted my around £800 to do the work. Is that a rip off? Can anyone advise on where to buy a good flywheel and clutch assembly for a DelSol?
Many thanks in advance for any help.
Regards,
Jonny Tooze
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Plastic_Fork
1) AEM is a manufacturer of short ram and cold air intakes (CAI). Intake designs and functions have been argued forever and a half, but it really just comes down to your preference. AEM makes great intakes and has put research into each application to ensure best gains, as opposed to just throwing a pipe with a filter on it like most other companies. Plus AEM's filters are the only ones with a velocity stack designed into them. K&N manufactures AEM's filters, but only the AEM filters have the velocity stack. Normal K&N filters do not. For Del Sol's, the filter placement is just behind the fender well on the passenger side. As long as you make sure that the fender well is properly secured, you should be okay and not risk sucking water into the motor. Otherwise you may want to consider a bypass valve to protect it or just go with a short ram intake.
2) What you mention here is commonly referred to as a "test pipe". Pretty much just a metal tube that replaces your catalytic converter. Again, good for power gains and performance, but it will increase the noise your car makes and is not emissions compliant.
3) Priorities: fix anything that's broken. Then work on performance. Again, I would start with the basics of intake, header, and exhaust. It opens up your motor for better performance and sets it up for additional performance upgrades in the future. Otherwise you'll bottleneck your performance. Suspension is next in my opinion - why improve the motor if your car can't handle the load? A good preparation base for the car's improved power will ensure that anything you upgrade can be handled.
4) A nitrous system won't really hurt the motor if done properly. Just be mindful you research nitrous systems before undertaking it. You need increased fuel delivery with nitrous in order to avoid engine damage and keeping nitrous engaged for extended periods will destroy your motor. Most nitrous applications are run for a few seconds at a time. Otherwise you risk serious engine problems. My best friend destroyed his D15 motor this way. He ran nitrous for 15 seconds straight. Granted, he won the race but he literally melted his drive train. Wish I had a camera at the time to get pictures of it. My roommate runs a 75 shot of nitrous, but he's taken the necessary precautions. Plus he has a B18B motor and they're a bit hardier for boosted applications such as turbo or nitrous. You have a B16, so I wouldn't run a shot that large until you have upgraded fuel delivery and made necessary precautions. Beyond this advice, I am less knowledgeable so I suggest you seek help from those that know more and know what they're talking about. Lots of people here don't know what they're doing. Again, nitrous is safe if done properly and it's cheaper than a turbo setup. You're looking at a LOT of work and money to even be able to properly handle a turbo setup on a VTEC motor.
|