I'm happy to be able to say that I've finally completed the design of the AA80E specific, circuitry changes for the MegaShift transmission controller: http://www.msgpio.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=143&p=4020#p4020 Finally. I'll be able to complete the build of my controller card and eventually install it in the car. It's been a 3 year effort to get to this point but from here on out it will go much more quickly. The car itself has been down for a bit over 6 years now on this upgrade, but consider what it's been getting. Entirely new custom drivetrain from the 340 engine to the 8 speed automatic to the custom Jag IRS, a brand new one-off intake and blower, and a bunch of custom parts. The wait has not been easy but in the end I think it'll be worth it. Jim
<iframe width="854" height="510" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/wkoF2ylFfbU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Jim
Yes, it was about to go to print and I stopped it due to the alum heads coming out... Otherwise my book would be obsolete in a year or so... So I am building another engine, this one with a 1" thick girdle, heavy duty forged rods, and custom pistons.... I called TA and put down a deposit on the heads and intake and I have the MPFI here ready to bolt on. When the alum heads and intake are ready they will go to Chris Skaling here in Canada for a porting job, and then back to me to go on the new engine and then dyno time.... The biggest hold up is not knowing the CC of the new heads so I can not order pistons or have the block machine work done yet.
Get a couple blocks sonic tested while you're waiting and see if one of them are good enough to do a bigger bore because Scott Brown will have sbb 350 head gaskets that will handle up 20 psi of boost. I have to ask,why 1.00"(25.4mm)thickness for the girdle? Are you using wood?LOL I will be using hot rolled steal(more stabil than cold rolled)5/8"(15.875mm) thick for Andy"s engine,and the section over the mains will be machined down to 1/2"(12.7mm) so I don't have to take so much material off of the main caps.What material will your girdle be made of? The girdle will be bridged across the main skirt tieing the bottom of the block together being held on by main studs and oil pan bolts,actually 3/8" and 1/4 thick would probably be thick enough but I want to make it extra strong . Making it 1.00" thick would be more weight that you don't need if you're planning on making it out of steal. Don't forget the oil pickup will need to be reworked as well. And yeah,it would be very cool if TA Mike would let us know what cc the chambers on the new aluminum heads will be! Derek
Very cool. I definitely want a copy when it does go to print. As for the shift controller, nope, not done yet. That was running in "Limp" mode with no electrics hooked up at all. I think it starts out in 3rd and is limited to about 3 or maybe 4 gears. But it gives me more incentive to finish it. I've got a few fairly minor issues to sort out like charging and minor leaks. But here's a weird thing, I get oil on top of the lifter valley cover. Nothing leaking from the valve covers. It seems to be coming out somewhere under the intake manifold. Not sure how that's happening... Jim
Was just wondering if you're driving this car yet? And wanted to give this thread a bump for a good read.
Thanks Derek. Well the MegaShift guys totally bailed on me right after I got all the physical work done and even pretty much shut down the forum. I had even dug into the programming enough to know that there was no good reason why it wouldn't work. We could enable the extra outputs and everything and there were just a few revisions to the code that would have made it happen. But I'm not a programmer, Hex drives me absolutely mad and I'm not much better with the more "user friendly" (yeah, right) languages. I should have expected it though, the first time I met Lance a couple decades ago I had my doubts about him. Should have trusted my instincts. Those promises were just empty words. So, I pulled the automatic and set it up on the top of the pallet racks. Maybe someday. I do have plans in the works to set up a test bench with a 5hp 3 phase motor to drive the converter. Instead I bought a TKO 5 speed and installed it and it's been smooth sailing ever since. I'll be driving it up to the BritishV8 meet in Dayton OH the 11th to the 14. It hasn't edged the truck out of the house garage yet but will soon. Jim
Sweet! How's the 340 running, have you had it up to 7,000 RPM yet? Wish I had time to go to Dayton to see it in person, very cool you're driving it now.
Not yet. Still dialing in the fuel map, and I'll have to fit better valve springs before going over about 5. But for now that's OK. It has gobs of power and the sound is SWEET! Jim
First oil change this week. Removing the Brad Penn BR 10w40 and going to Mobil1. I will probably use 5w30 or 0w30 since I'm reading about 60psi of oil pressure at cruising speeds around 2000rpm. Jim
This has got to be a first. I now have the 340 SBB under GM control via the junkyard P01 ECM from a '01 Silverado programmed with an operating system that was from an '02 Camaro courtesy of my friends at GearheadEfi.com/forum with a 2 bar mod from HPTuners and parts of a tune from a guy I don't even know called Country Boy and other sources plus a great many U-tube videos. It has COP, all the GM sensors and now probably runs better than it ever did before, even after only one day of tuning efforts. That will only get better. Were I to start over would I go this route? No, but about the only thing I would do differently would be to build the engine based on the 300 block instead of the 340 and use the TAPerformance heads. In fact, that engine including heads is at the machine shop today. I also still have the 8 speed and an upgrade to the GM E67 Controller and TCM from a 2014-2016 Cadillac might find it's way into the car sometime in the future. Other plans include completion of the AC system along with a new dashboard design, completion of the active wing controls, and possibly a new front suspension design with proper onboard height control. But for now I'm just going to drive it. Jim
