She's alive!

 

way to go, sounds good

 

I assume they will be using HP Tuners to tune the car.

 

Turns out her revival was just a big joke on me. The head gasket is leaking and the head studs are leaking on top of almost no oil pressure. It starts up at 50, but instantly drops to 25 and stays there. There's no noise, she sounds great running, so we're at a loss now and out of time. If it weren't for *******s at the machine shops for taking their sweet ****ing time on getting my stuff back to me, we could have had this hammered out on time. It's only been a year.

 

Did you use thread sealant on the studs that go through coolant passages? 25 psi hot isn't bad, does it raise normally through RPM? What weight oil are you using vs what was recommended by your machine shop.

 

Thread sealant was used. 25 psi is cold, not warmed up and does not go up. Using 10 40 oil, machine shop didn't recommend anything from what I know of.

 

What head gaskets are you using? And you used Teflon sealant on the head studs? ARP I'm assuming? You put the studs in hand tight correct? Did you go and retorque the head studs after running it? The head gasket will compress some after the initial tightening/run. Call Intense Racing and see if they have any pointers. I'd try 20w-50 and see if that helps.

 

almost sounds like a oil pump problem. pressure valve not working correctly. did you change the pressure spring to get more pressure

 

We're thinking oil pump as well, or possibly the pickup. Both were replaced. I got a pump kit from zzp that included the valve. Case called and emailed them yesterday to try and talk to them about it, no answer yet. It's odd that the pressure stays the same, even at 4000 rpm, it doesn't change. It's spec'd for 1030, I got 1040 for it. All the studs were installed with the Teflon tape, but the engine never got through a full heat cycle to go back and retorque. All the copper spray is leaking out, so it needs redone. But we need to figure out the oil pressure issue first before tearing the top end down.

 

That's probably why the studs are leaking. Teflon tape is designed for close tolerance threads. I'd pull the studs one at a time and use permatex ultra black rtv or ARP thread sealant in the holes/on the threads. I know ZZP says to use tape but if you install it wrong it could break off and get into an oil galley. Intense racing says to use some sort of Teflon paste. RTV will probably do just fine.