Greetings,
I finally got to fire it up
today. Overall, it was a pretty successful first run (several
runs). There are a number of leaks, and I fixed some already.
Tomorrow, when it cools, I’ll fix the rest. The tach doesn’t work, and
neither did my optical tach, so I was just guessing at the speed.
The worst problem is probably due
to my proximity to Tommy. He’s somehow passed along his fuel injector
curse to me :-) Let me just repeat what others have said, if you
are even THINKING about NOT installing the optional switches to test the
injectors, reach up and slap yourself now :-) When I turn off the
primary injectors, the engine is smooth as silk, but when they’re on, it’s
ugly. I’m betting that I broke one of those connections when I was
bending the wires around to fit in the connector. Sure hope I don’t have
to pull the injectors.
I do have the turbo installed, and
I have to agree with Todd. The engine, with nothing but a straight pipe
from the turbo, is no louder than a Lycoming. It might even be
quieter. I actuated the manual wastegate while running at about 2000
rpm, and can hear the difference in sound, but it’s not all that
significant.
The alternator (stock
3rd gen 100A RX-7) is working fine, but my idea of trying to turn
off the excitation current didn’t pan out. The charge voltage is 14.7 in
normal mode, but it goes to about 16V when I turn off my switch. I tried
turning off the master, which disconnects the alternator from the essential
buss, and the voltage on the non essential side spiked to 18V.
Realistically, this probably won’t kill anything, but I haven’t decided what I
want to do about it. I may add another contactor for the purpose of
killing the alt output. Need to think about this some more.
That’s enough for now.
Again, I’m pretty happy with the first run. I even have it on video
:-)
Rusty
Turbo 13B powered RV-3
(experimental aircraft)...Be Afraid :-)
1993 RX-7 R1... Not stock, carry
bail money :-)