Steves tam project
Discussion
Don1 said:
Awesome. How does she feel?
I've only done a few miles to MOT station and back, and it was wet, but so far feels really really good. remember i bought this with a tired engine so never really did more than a few miles before i pulled the driveline.....so it could have been a bag of nails, but with the engine/box/diff replaced it would only be bearings or bushes left to do.I've not fitted the nitrons yet as i want to see the difference, and not end up chasing my tail by making a bunch of suspension changes all at once. so once I've tried the 16, 18 spiders fitted with road tyres and the sp12 fitted with r1r i will know how it feels on each, then swap the nitrous and do a geo setup.
shifter is fine, clutch fine, no discernible driveline vibration, no random noises for concern, the exhaust is quieter than the griff, but has a different tonality, i think because of the additional silencers. and it sounds glorious, a real mix of wail vs grunt. and plenty of pops and bangs on overrun, though those may diminish with mapping.
i am already liking the way the tam feels, it is more direct on turn in the griff, but doesn't translate to feeling nervous. it almost tempts me to chuck it into a bend to see if i can unsettle it....so far i havent but it feels like i could throw it in harder and later. it does follow lines in the road, but not as much as the griff, and its on 18 r1r, which are probably the worst of the options i have in the garage at the moment. It felt more relaxed at proper speed though, almost feeling more settled when i pushed on.... found i was underestimating my speed....
at the moment I've got a "best guess" map that was put into the ECU, so its ok to use, but not yet dialled in, so I'm not really ready to push the engine through revs, , but it is lively already, and i can feel it come on cam really strong.
I've some bits still to do, mapping session monday as it does shunt a little at low rpm, but thats expected with a best guess map, but it drove through Birmingham's traffic today with no problems,
the dash pod doesn't read oil pressure correctly, shows half the rpm it should and the speedo doesn't work, but they're all known issues relating to the communications to or setup in the dash pod, and I've a plan to send the dash pod off for some re calibration, but I've plumbed in a oil pressure gauge direct so i have an additional mechanical gauge for a while poking through the side of the pod near the mirror switch to keep an eye on. , rpms you just double the number on the dial, and speedo I'm using GPS, so i don't need to do those things immediately.
i think I'm going to enjoy this.......
looks like I'm gonna have to go for that cam upgrade 
Dyno guy sent me this as he did the dyno on the tam yesterday..
pretty happy from my relatively cheap engine (stock ls2 block, stock ls3 heads and inlet, specced cam, springs and pushrods,
fuel pressure was dropping from 60 to 50 psi at around 6000 so i will need to swap that out for a bigger unit, but just put a 6k rev limit in for now
pretty happy from my relatively cheap engine (stock ls2 block, stock ls3 heads and inlet, specced cam, springs and pushrods,
fuel pressure was dropping from 60 to 50 psi at around 6000 so i will need to swap that out for a bigger unit, but just put a 6k rev limit in for now
Quinny said:
Looks good Steve.....a few tweeks and a new fuel pump should see the 500 barrier broken..
You can definitely see the difference the cam has made to the torque curve compared to the griff
Andy, its pretty much same engine as yours, only differenceYou can definitely see the difference the cam has made to the torque curve compared to the griff
cam
springs
pushrods
throttle body is manual not FBW
this has a later ls3 inlet manifold, yours is a little earlier, though i don't think there is any real flow difference, but don't quote me on that.
i think tam inlet is colder, but i have more silenced exhausts and headers are definitely tighter
i don't think the fuel pump will gain much, but i do think it'll hold the top end longer,
but this'll do for now
Edited by SteveSPG on Thursday 20th February 16:26
tinker-27 said:
The cam is mid to late 230s and just over .600" lift , it's one we have ran in a ls3 can't run to much more due to piston to valve Clarence . Good numbers for a ls2 )
I'm really liking the cam..)wanted something that would rev hard vs stock, but not lose anything at the bottom end.. so have gained 20ftlb at 2000 or so, and some 50ftlb at top end vs the std ls3 cam in the griff (now quinnys car) which had pretty much the same engine, and was on the same dyno
producing over 400ftlb at 2000 rpm means that the longer gearing works well and i can drop into 6th easily on 60mph roads (about 1200rpm) with no shunting or anything.
I've swapped out the poly bushed that I used for engine and gearbox mounts in favour of rubber bushes of the same dimensions, as on the dyno even at 500ftlb there was almost nil engine movement. This translated to a little "buzziness" that you could feel through the chassis. This has now gone as the rubber bushes permit a little more movement. (maybe 5mm) I have always used polybushes before for suspension, but definitely in this application they were too stiff. I do wonder now if polybushes in the diff area contributed also to that buzziness, and it would be better to use rubber there? maybe one for winter when I'm bored but definitely not needed.
I do like the Nitrons. I've reduced the damping to 3 clicks below what nitron supplied, and they are pretty compliant. I might increase the rear spring rate form 325 (fronts are 400), as on the dyno the car was squatting pretty hard, and a slightly stiffer initial spring would help there. I've increased ride height at the rear, but would prefer to drop that down by 10mm just for aesthetics. The 265 rear r1r are pretty wide. Ive considered running smaller, or removing glass from the inner arch, but think that a slightly stiffer spring will work and i really want to keep the tyre width
Ive got a couple new fuel pumps on order that should be here this week, so will get those fitted and increase the rev limiter back to 6800....
overall I'm really liking the tam.
Edited by SteveSPG on Monday 24th February 13:25
Well done on you're LS conversion I had a t350 loved the car but the engine although it had only 23000 miles on it always gave me concern so I never really drove it like it should be ! And in the end I sold it. Now perhaps after finishing my latest efforts I need to think of getting back into a t car ownership. Again well done I'm sure you will enjoy. Richard
Edited by griff 200 on Monday 24th February 22:23
friend gave some freebie engine covers for the tam, as you could see all the wiring and coil packs through the bonnet vent
i was planning on getting some made in fibreglass like the griff, but these will work till the pot o' cash is replenished!
had to be trimmed a bit over the inlet as they're for a ls2 not ls3 , but worked out ok
i was planning on getting some made in fibreglass like the griff, but these will work till the pot o' cash is replenished!
had to be trimmed a bit over the inlet as they're for a ls2 not ls3 , but worked out ok
Edited by SteveSPG on Wednesday 26th March 12:28
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