Well, rather long since an update. Whoops. Canton Racing and I had been talking about refurbishing my 1-quart Accusump, and after trying a few of their suggestions we determined the damage was too extensive. Lucky for me, however, as Canon Racing loved the build and sent me a little care package:
Inside was a 2-Quart Accusump, and Canon Racing Products oil filter. Part of the issue with my original Accusump could have been attributed to less-then-ideal filtering, and this new oil filter cuts down to 8-microns. I'm pretty stocked to add this into the oil system.
Installed and working like a charm. I'm back to pre-oiling before each startup, which I feel much better about.
You may have noticed the paper towel stuffed down beside the heating pipe...had a bit of 'fun' while swapping out the Accusumps. I was undoing the AN fitting on the old sump, sure that the line was depressurized since the gauge said zero. But just as I'm doing the last 1/4 turn my brain asks "what if there is no pressure on the air side, and the piston is all the way against the case?" BOOM! The line released and about 1/2 quart of oil went EVERYWHERE. My jeans were ruined, but only because I worked frantically to clean off the headliner, windows, back of the driver's seat, floor, door cards and everything else. Did I mention I was going to a work Christmas Party (we do ours in Jan) and thought "oh I'll just do a quick swap before I leave."? Oops.
I also got fed up with people who think they're funny at Gas stations, and decided to add a touch of clarity to the roof logo on the car. No more questions or jokes regarding a certain 30's-40's German political party.
…and then I got a few weeks of trouble free driving before the car started spitting a popping a bit on idle during warmup. I figured I had a bit of tuning to do, but had a couple of busy days at work which included trips back and forth to Whistler. This coincided with my wide band 02 sensor taking a dive, so it was hard to say whether or not I was experiencing a major issue. On day two, I noted a bubble in the paint on the apron upon arriving in Whistler. Doh. Limped it home, cleaned the jets in the carb, checked the timing and then fired it up. Within seconds the apron on the left side was noticeably hotter then the right. Pulled the apron off, and there's your problem!! No wonder the wideband was showing impossibly lean settings at idle!
The emergency exhaust gaskets I got on the last engine install were apparently really short-life units!
I knew getting gaskets to fit the Vintage Speed exhaust in my hometown wasn't going to happen. And while AVRparts.com had a set on the shelf, that means they would have a system they couldn't sell until replacements came in. Time to find a better option!
I've read a lot about Remflex gasket material, it's 100% graphite material, and is often used successfully for pitted and warped header flanges. Could be awesome in this application, as the Vintage Speed flanges are pretty long and narrow, making them challenging to seal if you're not careful. The Remflex is 1/8" thick, and crushes down to 1/16" (but seals long before that apparently). I traced out the flange, and cut out gaskets using a hobby knife and punch for the bolt holes. So far, so good! If the gaskets aren't the reason I pull the exhaust next, they'll definitely be a success.
-Dave