My ESS TS2+ w/ FI cams install

[dirtboy]

Ok, it started out with me dropping the car off at the dealer to get the Schrick FI cams installed. This was March 13th. Then they call me back to tell me that the exhaust cam was damaged. There was a piece of metal that wasn't ground off in the finishing process. This metal was coming in contact with the bearing ledge. So the cam had to be sent back to Schrick. Two weeks later, March 27th, my car is done.

I immediately drive my car to my shop and rip out the DME to ship to ESS. Then a co-worker and I install the front mount cooler behind the bumper and the water pump for that cooler. Sorry, no pics of this because I forgot my camera...

That was Day 1.

Here's Day 2:
Car's in the bay ready for surgery.


Disconnected intake and fuel rail wiring.


Fuel rail disconnected and power steering reservoir installed.


Intake manifold disconnected. (this was a pain, you have to remove the DISA valve and throttle body first to get at a 16mm nut underneath the manifold that connects it to the block)


Now here's where I started to mess things up...

Stock manifold removed and ready to tape up wiring harness. (I went ahead and taped up the wires just how they laid in the original plastic box. Big NO NO... You'll see later...)


I had parts laid out all over my shop, on my desk, in my locker, and in my spare car...


Ok, ready for the Twin Screw supercharger... Right?


Supercharger's in and torqued down. Remember those wires I taped all up?


Well, when I taped up all those wires how they originally laid, the lengths of the individual harnesses were too short. The ICV harness was pulled too tight and the throttle body harness was about 4 inches too short. Sooooo..... I got pissed and called it a night. Went to the store and got a 6-pack and finished it off at home.

Day 3.

Out with the supercharger.


While pulling it out, the gasket got hosed. Co-worker went to the back to start making me a new gasket.


Finally got smart and enlisted the help of a cherry picker to do the heavy lifting. Up to this point, we've been man handling the supercharger...


Here's how you should tape up the wires. Each connection should be taped up separately.


While I was at it, I lengthened the connections on the fuel rail harness. One is an air intake temperature sensor and the other is some other sensor.


With all that taken care of, supercharger goes back in and all the connections fit.


I go to intall the stock air box and this is what I find.


I would have to wait till the next day to trim that up.

Day 4

This day was just about trimming up the intake and making final connections. Those were the coolant lines running to the manifold and the PCV line.


And here's the final product.


Now I just have to wait for the DME to show up from ESS and start this baby up. It's Easter weekend right now so I will probably have to wait till some time next week for it to show up.

All these days (with the exception Day 2) I've been working have been after work for about 4pm till 8-9pm. Day 2 I worked for 8 hours. I hope all this work and pain (I have cuts and scars on my hands and arms now) was worth it.

[Veriest1]

Looking good. I particularly like how everything looks so factory.

[PBR]

yea, great job on the install. Car looks great!

[Paradigm_Guy]

Nice job on the write-up. Looking forward to the final product.

[dirtboy]

FINALLY!!!

My DME showed up today around 5pm and I got it installed. Started the car up, no probs what-so-ever. Took her for a little drive and...

HOLY SH!T!!!!!

First gear is pretty much useless, and I've got the 2.93 rear end... I tried my hardest not to floor the thing through all the gears, I was kinda successful with that.

I ended up driving about 50 miles today on mixed roads. I kept the speed below 100 on the autobahn (I was doing 97-99mph ). Hit the twisties in some of the small villages around here. The thing pulls like there's no tomorrow... Slipping tires 1st through 3rd gears... I KNOW I'm gonna need a LSD and a new clutch soon.

Tomorrow I'm gonna get the rest of the break in miles done and then Sunday it's off to the Nürburgring. I'll try to come up with some sort of trip report for that... And then Monday, back up to the Nürburgring! I love living in Germany!

[Paradigm_Guy]

Sweet. Don't crash.
The power can catch you off guard if you aren't used to it.

[nondescript]

Sweet... Since you are the most active member here with an advanced case of ring worm I must insist that you report back to us with all the details of your next "first" trip...

[Highboosted]

With pictures!!!



I'm soo jealous...you just don't know.

[dirtboy]

Back from the Ring...




No problems with the TS at all. The power sterring reservoir spit out alot of fluid all over the engine, but it did that before. My son came up with an easy fix. I'll post pics of that when I get the parts.

Driving with the TS is like driving a whole new car. I was able to keep up with the CSL's and some Porsche's (until the corners ). I used to have to down-shift to 2nd to make up the hill at Exmühle, but now I can just floor it. For some reason, DSC hasn't been kicking in as much like it used to. And the sound at 5000-6000 rpm...

The only thing slowing my car down now is me. I know my car can go faster than I can drive it...

Coming back home on the autobahn I was hanging with a 911 turbo for a bit and had a 540 trying to keep up with me. The car can get up to 140+ mph so easy now. I love this thing!

Sorry no vids and lap times. Video on the Nürburgring is not allowed (although I know someone personally who did it ). Plus, I don't have a video camera... yet... And I don't time my laps on the Ring. It's too distracting to have to worry about how fast you're going. You can read a good opinion on lap timing at the Ring here: http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/laptimes.html

[nondescript]

Awesome...

Next up:
http://www.diffsonline.com/

or even

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html...DUCT_ID=LSDTMS

[James]

Sounds like a helluva time. We had planned on organizing a trip to Germany this summer to visit the tuners and the Nurburgring, but of course didn't plan well enough in advance. Maybe next year!

[Defacto]

Very impressive results! Great to hear that you're so happy with the TS! Are you planning on making a trip to the dyno in the near future?

[UltimateOne]

Awesome great to see an OG fanatic still going strong!

Did you ever think about running a filter instead of the stock airbox?

[dirtboy]

Thanks everyone.

I've been looking around for a dyno, I guess I just don't know the right people to ask around here...

I'm also going to put my ECIS CAI back on to let some more of the SC sound through. I used the stock airbox because ESS recomends it and, at the time, I was too lazy to modify the heat shield on the CAI to fit...

And, yeah, one of my next purchases will be a LSD. That will have to wait till next year sometime. I'm tapped out this year for mods...

[dirtboy]

OK, I finally got a video camera and uploaded a video. Keep in mind, this is my first video camera and my first time using it. So, the video probably looks crappy compared to others. I'm using a JVC Everio GZ-MG555 camera on the default settings. If any one has any pointers on how to take better video, let me know.

Anyway, here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9f_IMZWnCc