Yet another 2.3l whipple SC build

Joined
10 November 2003
Messages
173
Location
Hillsboro, Orygun
So.....

Had the autorotor kit on my 95 NSX, and the extra 100hp made the car feel like...., well like it needed another 100 hp :rolleyes:

After sufficiently lubricating the marginally famous TitaniumDave, talked him into letting me take over his motor / high boost SC project.

His lovingly handmade aftercooler and 2.3L whipple SC setup can be found ad naseum in previous threads:wink:, and I come in with the addition of a fresh short block from Shad with 9.5:1 forged pistons in addition to the headwork and cams already in the motor.

Out comes the motor with 170k miles to go in Dave's car to be sold to an unnamed but equally marginally famous prime member, where I hear it is currently making an insane amount of horsepower with the addition of a turbo (on a stock motor!) in hopes that it will be coerced into failing.


I'm going to add a few tricks to Dave's platform, mostly at my tuner's direction.

First, going with a Vipec stand alone and Zeitronix wideband. Upgraded the fuel pump to a Supra pump, and bypassed the fuel pump resistor.

Then, converted the stock windshield washer reservoir to a meth tank, and added a 1000cc meth jet upstream of the throttle body for additional cooling as well as added octane.

As the Vipec won't control a stepper motor drive by wire throttle body (ala stock NSX), coupled with the suspicion that a slightly larger throttle body would be a good idea if trying for 450+hp, went with a factory lambo throttle body (actually a bosch part), which is 75mm and controllable by the Vipec. Dave expertly reconfigured the SC intake snout to accept the new Throttle body, now just need to get it connected to the stock airbox.

Next, been toying with the idea of using a boost controller to limit / control supercharger boost, and noticed that whipple sells an interesting bypass valve actuator that is identical to the one that comes with the original SC kit, but with the addition of a port on the other side of the diaphragm that would open the bypass valve under boost, not vacuum. So, the vacuum port would still bypass the SC under no / part throttle, but the boost side will open the bypass valve under boost, much like a turbo wastegate.

My really crazy idea to play with after getting everything tuned, is to overdrive the supercharger with an even smaller pulley, but limit maximum boost to a lower level than the pulley is sized for (thus always bleeding some boost with the bypass valve). This would make full boost come sooner in the rpm range, at the cost of some increased parasitic drag, as well as some additional intake temp. We will have to see if it is worth the trouble.

Got the motor into the car today, now need to turn attention to the electronics. Will post some pics later, but there's nothing too exciting to see; mostly it's all been seen before on Dave's thread.

Hoping to see 500rwhp when it's all said and done, but we shall see....


Cheers!

- Craig
 
Random photos, none of which are as interesting as a dyno plot:


Modifying intake snout to new throttle body:




Nifty dual port bypass actuator for supercharger:




Motor in car, you can see aftercooler under the supercharger as well as coolant feed / return lines attached. Intake snout is not installed, at the powdercoater:



 
Got the meth jet installed in the airbox, and the intake snout is ready to pick up post powder coating.

Once the new throttle body is mounted, will need to come up with piping to mate it to the stock airbox.

Adapter harness is made for the Vipec EMS, need to get the unit installed as well as the wideband.

Think i'm going to mount the gauge to the left of the instrument cluster, so got a CF mounting cup and made a drilled aluminum band clamp to match some other accents I put on the doors and by the shifter.

Funny I went to the trouble to make it fancy considering how it will clash with the taco bell wrappers on the floor and the light gray of the mouse that seems to be living in my trunk. (his house hasn't actually moved in a while, so I wonder what he's going to think of the extra HP. He's welcome to move out; haven't been able to evict him what with the foreclosure mess and the fact that he's EXTREMELY fast:mad:)

Here's the wideband gauge so the post isn't completely devoid of photos:




Got some other misc stuff to do as well, brake calipers, installing another intake temp sensor, (tuner doesn't want to share data from wideband display sensor and EMS sensor, plus I have one sitting around anyhow, so...), coolant tank and whatnots. Also gotta find my top radiator mount, can't for the life of me figure out where it went :confused:


Will keep you updated for your infotainment.


- Craig
 
Looking good! LOVE the controlable throttle body. If you don't mind sharing, what kind of cost is associated with that unit?

Still haven't broken your motor. Are you sure it wasn't built sometime in its past? Its making crazy power and for some reason loves timing. Goes to show you that every motor is indeed different!
 
Looking good! LOVE the controlable throttle body. If you don't mind sharing, what kind of cost is associated with that unit?

Still haven't broken your motor. Are you sure it wasn't built sometime in its past? Its making crazy power and for some reason loves timing. Goes to show you that every motor is indeed different!

Yeah, share the info because I know the Cody wants to add full standalone to my car.:biggrin:
 
Looking good! LOVE the controlable throttle body. If you don't mind sharing, what kind of cost is associated with that unit?

Still haven't broken your motor. Are you sure it wasn't built sometime in its past? Its making crazy power and for some reason loves timing. Goes to show you that every motor is indeed different!

Yeah, share the info because I know that Cody wants to add full standalone to my car.:biggrin:
 
Cody - I don't think the motor was ever rebuilt, it just refuses to die...


As far as the TB, it's like $200. It's a stock late model Lamborghini Gallardo one, made by Bosch. It did take forever to come over on the slow boat though; I doubt your local auto parts store has one sitting around:biggrin:

I can get a part number and more specifics if you want.

Got the snout back from the powder coater, and put the TB on temporarily to see how it all fit together:







Now I'll set the stock airbox in to see how I'm going to plumb from it to the TB. Should be pretty easy though. :wink:
 
Random update:


Still fiddling with little things while waiting for the EMS to go in and be wired.

Secondary intake temp sensor in.

Working on mating the new TB to the airbox, and deleting hoses / lines from the old TB that won't be used.

Installed standoffs for stock coolant tank that allow room for aftercooler hoses to route behind the tank.

I suspect the holidays (coupled with the fact it's freeeeeezing!) are going to slow things down a bit.

Patience is already wearing thin:




- C
 
Progress report:

Wideband in, exhaust on, second intake temp sensor in, MAP sensor in.

Got the stock airbox to line up with the new TB by shimming it up a bit, now just need a short section of 3 1/4" pipe and a reducer fitting to mate it all up.

Waiting for EMS to arrive to intall, have been fiddling with the targa clamshell in the mean time.

Really would like to be able to store the top in the clamshell, but will obviously need to do some modification due to the increased height of the blower.

I think I can make it work with the combination of increasing the thickness of the spacers under the hinges at the front, as well as cutting a hole in the fiberglass to allow the blower top to sit up underneath the targa top.

Did some measuring, and made the hole in the clamshell, now will put it on and see if raising the hinge side will allow everything to fit together.




Will then trim the hole with some rubber molding and put some kind of guard over the SC pulley so I don't bump it when taking the top in and out while the car is running.


Oh, and if anyone has a spare radiator top mount bracket (passenger side) lying around, STILL can't find mine :mad:


- C
 
I recall someone discussed doing that with the BBSC but the issue became heat buildup from so much boost, even if it was being bled off.
 
Slooooooooooowly making progress.

Meth jet is installed in the airbox:




And FINALLY mated the airbox to the throttle body:



Had to shim up the airbox a bit to get everything to line up, but all's well that ends well.


Oh, fwiw the 76mm Bosch DBW TB was $365, not $200.
 
Last edited:
Some shameless pictures of the JRR ViPEC V88 PNP kit. Hopefully after Mr. Ducati and I button up a few loose ends this car will roar to life shortly and we can post some dyno sheets!

NSXV88_1.JPG


NSXV88_2.JPG


NSXV88_3.JPG


NSXV88_4.JPG


NSXV88_5.JPG



John Reed
[email protected]
www.johnreedracing.com
 
Is the stepping motor problem only for >95 models? I have a 91 NSX, do I also need a new TB?

Yes, 1995 and newer cars are drive by wire, while 1994 and older have an old school throttle cable.

Putting an aftermarket EMS in your car is simpler as you don't have the issue of the factory EMS that controlling the throttle body.

You should be able to remove the factory ECU and install the Vipec .

In fact, you should be able to use the less expensive V44 model rather than the V88 as you don't need the ability to control a DBW throttle body.

- Craig
 
Yes, 1995 and newer cars are drive by wire, while 1994 and older have an old school throttle cable.

Putting an aftermarket EMS in your car is simpler as you don't have the issue of the factory EMS that controlling the throttle body.

You should be able to remove the factory ECU and install the Vipec .

In fact, you should be able to use the less expensive V44 model rather than the V88 as you don't need the ability to control a DBW throttle body.

- Craig

That is good to know ;)

I probably need the V88 as the V44 can only control up to four injectors.
 
Probably should change the title of the thread to "Worlds slowest 2.3l whipple SC build"...

Had a bit of a delay waiting for tuning, but got it on the dyno and got it up to just over 400hp @ 11psi before discovering that one of the cylinder banks wasn't going to the high cam on VTEC:

http://nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155827

Working on resolving that issue now; then it will be back to the dyno.

Had swapped the stock cats out for test pipes... but I just can't stand the noise. Putting in 100 cell cats to take the edge off the noise and keep the planet a little greener so it looks nice for the zombie apocalypse.

Also have a smaller pulley coming that should be more in the 18psi range. Since I have a controllable bypass valve I can slowly turn up boost up to the max the SC will deliver as limited by the pulley diameter. I don't know if that will be 18psi, but it will be more than 11, hence the smaller pulley.

Once the VTEC is fixed, then it will be time to complete the dyno tuning that was left unfinished when the problem was discovered, then get the meth going and increase boost until intake temps becomes the limiting factor.

Hopefully it won't be another 6 months before any substantial progress is made...
 
You may see some improvements if you modify your air inlet so you have a straight shot on the air supply. This is what I did to mine.
Ken
 
One other thing I should mention. I had a problem with my V-Tec not opening and tried everything. Then we added more timing and all worked perfectly.
Ken
 
Back
Top