SVT Upgrade

[REDDYZ]

I bought SVT UIM & LIM kit from US long back but couldn't hook it up for several reasons. It was a complete kit with UIM, Throttle body, LIM, SVT 19LB injectors with fuel rail and regulator, gaskets, nuts, bolts, air box extension hose, etc,.



Throttle cable was missing which makes the rest useless without it. Took a while to find one and then couldn't find time to do the upgrade. I was confused for sometime whether to go for full upgrade or just UIM. Thanks to Dave for leading me in this issue. I decided to go for full upgrade but in stages. Then there was a leak which I initially thought the sump or timing cover gasket leaking. Luckily it was rocker cover. So, to do rocker cover gaskets UIM has to come off so I thought this is the best time to hook up SVT kit. Then, had problem getting rid off the excess sticky carbon buildup inside SVT UIM. With not much choice gave it for acid clean. Outcome was great.

However, as some of you already know that I had to sacrifice the black matt finish paint on the manifold which had halted my upgrade plan again. I had two options to repaint the UIM. 1). Use paint stripper and repaint 2). Sandblast and repaint. As Dave suggested I opt for sandblasting and the result was unbelievable. UIM has become literally brand new inside out with acid clean and sandblast.



With this result I have decided to do this job properly and professionally. So, instead of normal paint I chose powder coating. Since rocker covers are gonna come off to replace the gaskets, I decided to get rocker covers power coated as well.

I thought since am doing this by myself I will share it here so that others will know what's involved and if they want they can do it by themselves as its not as hard as it looks like. Here we go...

Tools you would need is a 1/4 or 3/8 drive rachet with 7, 10mm sockets, flat head screwdriver. Thats all.
This is only to replace UIM with throttle body. LIM replacement is complicated and need more tools and skills. First I will upgrade UIM and see the outcome of clean UIM and then slowly I will replace LIM, injectors, MSDS extractors, etc,. MSDS wasn't in my list but I recently noticed that pre-cats are the main culprits behind high engine bay temperatures and want to get rid of them and add another cat somewhere far from the engine bay if required. So, I added MSDS in the list.

1. Disconnect the battery.
2. Remove plastic duratec cover by undoing three 7mm bolts and remove PCV hose off rocker cover.
3. Undo the clips all around air box to release air box.
4. Unplug wiring connections from TPS, IACV, MAF, Air charge temperature sensors.
5. I missed numbering and jumped from 4th to 6th. So, at this point there is nothing to do... you can take a break if you like.
6. This is the same PCV hose that was removed from rocker cover mentioned in 2nd point. So, leave it as it is. Its easy to remove from rocker cover. But there will be another hose on the opposite side to this one, which runs from rear rocker cover. Remove it from this end coz you cant access the rocker cover until you take the manifold off.
7. Loosten the clamps and separate the hoses from IACV valve and throttle body which would separate the air cleaner cover, MAF, hose that runs between MAF and throttle body all in one piece.
   
   
   
8. Separate vacuum lines from manifold
   
   
   
9. Undo six 10mm bolts holding UIM agains LIM.

Then, lift up the plastic lock tab that is holding the cable to the bracket and split open and seperate the metal clip holding the cable end to the throttle body. ***This is for Cougars with manual Transmission only****. The ones with automatic transmissions are much simpler and don't require to replace throttle cable.



Now the final thing to do before UIM comes off. This looks complicated but its very easy and you need not apply any force at all.



Gently lift up the manifold with your left hand and you will notice that the hose in section 'A' will separate on its own and with your right hand slide/pull the top end of the separated part to the side which will separate section 'B'. They are held against each other by weight of UIM and design so no need to apply any force to undo them. Do not try and undo from section 'C'.
FYI, 'D' is the other PCV hose I mentioned earlier in point '6' that runs from rear rocker cover.
Did you notice 'E'? after so many kms surprisingly the throttle body looks unbelievably clean inside and outside. Well this surprise didn't last long. You will know soon what am talking about.
This is how the setup looks after UIM is off.



Anway, UIM can come off now. That's it. If you think this is simple you can do it on your own. If your kat is manual, you will need to replace throttle cable which is again simple if you know how to do it and I will tell you how soon when I get to that stage. I can replace it now but I want to replace test the new UIM, throttle body and make sure they work, before I remove the stock throttle cable. Tomorrow, I will take out rocker covers and send them for sandblasting and eventually powder coating. At the moment I planned to go with black matt finish for rockers and UIM to keep them authentic. Any other colors will make them look different and not authentic. Hopefully I will get rocker covers off tomorrow.

Yogi

[REDDYZ]

Got the rocker covers off and sent for sandblasting and powder coating.




This is how bad it is inside stock UIM. Throttle body was clean though.



If everything goes as planned, hopefully my kat will be on road by Christmas.

[REDDYZ]

While my kat is sitting in garage and nothing to do on it, I was thinking about replacing LIM and injectors. When I compared SVT LIM with mine, they both turned out to be the same. So, don't need to replace that. And its similar situation with regards to injectors. According to NECO forums, standard kats are fitted with 17lbs injectors and SVT (Contour) engines are fitted with 19lbs injectors.

However, it seems the injectors fitted on my car are 19lbs. Part number of my kat's injectors is XS2E-A5B, 0 280 155 861 which according to the following website and few other sources is 19lbs.

http://users.erols.com/srweiss/tableifc.htm

Does this mean our OZ kats are fitted with 19lbs injectors as standard? or is it only on Eibach Cougars?

Anyone any ideas???

Yogi

[thearrow]

Yogi, please tell me Santa is bringing you a nice K&N air filter for Christmas.

It will look good when it's finished and you will really notice A/ the horsepower and B/ the great rasping sound.

I will be interested to know how it goes with the cleaned out manifolds as it will be one of my goals next year to fix my timing chain cover which means essentially taking the whole top of the motor off.

As I only have a stock LIM I will get that sent away to be matched/cleaned with UIM get the UIM painted up and will also get the covers done.

You can also get from the US coloured dress up kits which include a few of the hoses and matching spark plug leads which look pretty nice.

Meantime good luck with it.

How good are MSDS Headers???? (I love mine )

[REDDYZ]

Thanks Dave, I bet you must be having fun with MSDS hehe.. I wish K&N, probably MSDS as well for Xmas hehe...

I am really expecting some serious increase in horse power. Just cleaning throttle body itself will make lot of difference in other cars. Imagine the UIM and LIM cleaned out. I am stuck finding tool to separte fuel lines from LIM, so that I can take it out and clean it. I won't get LIM painted though as its not visible with UIM on. I will do the dress up kits at the last when I have no upgrades to do. Probably by that time they will be due to be replaced anyway.

Your stock LIM should be the same as SVT LIM. I measure and matched mine with SVT LIM and they both are same. I now have a spare SVT LIM. I will post side by side pics once I get my LIM off the engine. Same with injectors. I think Tickford guys replaced 17lb injectors with 19lb ones. Mine is fitted with 19lb injectors. You should have the same on your Eibach.

[REDDYZ]

Originally Posted by thearrow

You can also get from the US coloured dress up kits which include a few of the hoses and matching spark plug leads which look pretty nice.

Dave, do you know any sources or websites for these dress up kits??

Yogi

[REDDYZ]

Thanks to long daylight hours, I managed to spend an hour this evening after returning from work and took LIM out. Since I didn't had tool to separate spring locked fuel line couplings, I decided to take out fuel rail off LIM. I know this isn't a good idea as all plastics will be brittle due to high engine bay temperatures. I still went on because I have to remove injectors anyway to get LIM cleaned. While unplugging fuel injector's electric plugs, I broke locking clips all of them. I didn't had another choice. They snapped as soon as I tried to push them.



Now I have to figure a way to fix them which is extra work. I strongly suggest everyone not to touch them unless you really need to take them off. And its not worth cleaning LIM. Coz you will not be able to clean the intake ports that run from LIM to combustion chamber. If you try and clean all the rubbish will end up in combustion chamber. So, no point taking this much effort to clean LIM.

This is with LIM off. I gave a wipe on the top section, so it looks a bit better than the bottom one.



It took a while to clean the surface and is now ready for new gaskets to go on.



I have to send LIM for acid bath tomorrow.

[REDDYZ]

Originally Posted by REDDYZ

I strongly suggest everyone not to touch them unless you really need to take them off. And its not worth cleaning LIM. Coz you will not be able to clean the intake ports that run from LIM to combustion chamber. If you try and clean all the rubbish will end up in combustion chamber. So, no point taking this much effort to clean LIM.

This is with LIM off. I gave a wipe on the top section, so it looks a bit better than the bottom one.

image

It took a while to clean the surface and is now ready for new gaskets to go on.

image

I have to send LIM for acid bath tomorrow.

Yes, I did say that so that others may not bother taking so much effort undoing fuel lines, wiring harness, injectors, IMRC just to clean LIM. It was too late for me by the time coz, I could say that only after taking LIM out and saw what's underneath. Since mine is out already and for taking all the effort undoing fuel lines and snapping injector plugs, the LIM deserved a clean and ended up like this. Its not LIM in the pics quoted above. Its the engine block itself.

Anyway, I didn't want to give up easily so, I tried to separate butterflies from LIM by undoing the screws on the butterflies so that I can get LIM acid cleaned. But those screws are seized badly. The screws were philips head and easy to round them. So, I sprayed some WD-40 and will soak them overnight and see if it loosen up the screws.

[REDDYZ]

I have to clean LIM by hand. Can't get them acid cleaned like UIM as the acid will eat plastics on butterflies and seals. Tried to clean with carbi cleaner, WD-40, petrol nothing is working.

[thearrow]

Didn't you say on an early post "no point taking this much effort to clean LIM" so may be well left alone. A pity you can't get them both done though.

[REDDYZ]

Painted IAVC & IMRC in this evening.







One IACV belongs to my kat and the other one came with SVT UIM and one IMRC belongs to my cat and the other I bought long back as they are rare to find. Painted both pairs and SVT throttle body yet to be painted. It is a bit dirty and couldn't clean it completely as it was hard to reach in tight corners and grooves. Need a wire brush or something... Will do it later.

[REDDYZ]

I stripped the whole top end of the engine but didn't bother to check spark plugs because they are around 30,000kms old. As they are platinum plugs, I was so confident that they will be in good condition. However, I happened to take one of the plugs out to check the part number for someone's reference and guess what?? I couldn't believe what I saw.



Left spark plug is only around 30,000kms old and the right one is factory fitted which has done around 110,000kms. I replaced plugs and leads with genuine Motorcraft ones.

I don't know how it happened as far I remember, I bought double platinum plugs. But, when I checked the part numbers they turned out to be just platinum. Still they should atleast last 60,000kms. I think even normal plugs would last that long. This was really hopeless.

Well... after looking at the spark plug's condition, I ordered a new set of spark plugs and leads. This time no Motorcraft. Bosch's new Iridium spark plugs and NGK leads.

[thearrow]

Amazing the difference between the two plugs. Have you had UIM painted yet?? I was looking at the sad state of mine the other day and have resolved to get it fixed next year.

[REDDYZ]

Originally Posted by thearrow

__________________
Owning a Cougar is like owning a Super Model

Good to own but "High Maintenance"

Dave, I think Cougar is a celebrity than a super model hehe...

[REDDYZ]

Motorcraft discontinued AWSF 32F plugs long back and were replaced with AGSF 32FM with smaller gap compared to AWSF 32F. With bigger gap there was lot of torque. But the replaced ones had good acceleration with small gap but it torque was compromised. I should see how Bosch plugs will be. They are newly introduced and not available in Australia yet.

Yes, I had them painted both UIM and rocker covers. Looks better than the original one.






Waiting for spark plugs and leads. Once they are delivered, I can fit these things.

[REDDYZ]

Here are the LIMs (SVT & Stock) side by side. Both are same. Also, the injectors are 19lb on all Oz Cougars built in 2000. Not sure about 99 models.



I cleaned these under kerosene bath with brush, then washed in hot water garni and futher cleaned with solvent and rags. Took lot of time and effort but its worth.


If anyone happen to get LIM gaskets replaced make sure that gaskets are lined up properly. Lot of gaskets, (actually most of them) are made to suit non-svt LIMs. So, they don't line up with SVT LIMs.



No dramas with normal LIMs if they don't line up but with big LIMs it actually reduce power by restricting smooth air flow.



The reason they don't line up by default is because of locating pins. Solution for this is to snap off locating pins and line up gasket manually.



Its a bit hard to line up LIM with gasket and engine block without locating pins. With a bit of patience it can be done. Just insist your mechanic on this and make sure that gaskets and LIM are lined up. Otherwise the whole idea of bigger LIM is a waste.

[Cougar2K]

Hey Yogi!

Holy **** man, those painted up UIM and rocker covers look bloody awesome!
Good job and should look great once the Kat (project) is all put back together again!

Roll on Santa time eh?!

Cheers,
Paul

[REDDYZ]

Thanks Paul. Paint is always better but its thrice expensive to powder coating. So, I chose powder coat but I wasn't sure about the finish until I saw them. I insisted for smooth finish so it had a bit thicker coat. It is heat resistant but not scratch resistant. Its pretty much like wax. Easy to scratch.

Know what? while I am waiting for plugs and leads, I thought I should do something about speedo. I took for granted that there are no backlit panels for our kats in kms units, I decided to change colour of the globes as you preferred. I bought red and blue globes. I will try both colors and use the one that looks bright and good.

[REDDYZ]

My cat should have been on road by now. Some how right from the day I bought this kit there is something weird going on. First, I didn't had throttle cable and then when I got the cable UIM paint was stuffed and then dramas with LIMs, spark plugs and leads.

Day before yesterday I snapped one of the IMRC bolts and half of the bolt was stuck in rocker cover. Bought drill, tap & die set and drilled it out and cleaned all threads that were painted.

Before I relax, I snapped a vacuum hose on UIM. I don't know how, may be in shipment or while taking UIM out of car in US, or while acid clean or painting.. somehow the vacuum hose near throttle body was bent. I realised that when I fitted throttle body as it was leaning on throttle cable guide. Gently I tried to bend it and it snapped off. I couldn't believe what happened for sometime. It is not just any vacuum hose. It is very complex and is attached to a 'T' joint designed precisely for everything to plug in each other as UIM sits on LIM.



Since the hose is metal and UIM is aluminum, I can't get it spot weld. There is a way to weld this but it takes time and might compromise paint, and it is so close to throttle body, the shape or face of throttle body might be compromised and I don't want to take any risk. I couldn't take out the broken half that was inside UIM. With not much choice I started making a custom one.

While I was fixing this, I received spark plugs and leads from RockAuto and another disaster. Issues with NGK leads. I couldn't plug in 3 of the 6 leads. The leads that fits on rear cylinders were clamped onto plugs fine but the front three leads just didn't want to clamp onto spark plugs. When I try old leads they plug in fine and when I take spark plug out and try they plug in fine. Tired may different ways for about an hour. Used grease, chopped bottom of the boot a bit, hammered it (kind of) and tired all possible ways.

Gave up on it and explained this to RockAuto and they understood my situation and luckily I got a refund incl shipping charges and I ordered a new set without any delay. This time NOT NGK. No doubt they are one of the best but what is the point when they couldn't design them to suit your car. Hopeless product.



RockAuto customer service is outstanding. Highly recommended. Hopefully by tomorrow I will finish custom hose to replace the broken one and will test it and see if it fits and work. I still have to wait for the new leads to arrive.

[svo347]

Well written mate, Good Luck with it all. Thread subscribed to!!

[REDDYZ]

Originally Posted by svo347

Well written mate, Good Luck with it all. Thread subscribed to!!

Thanks mate.


Quick update to anyone planning to buy SVT kit. In case you have MTX Cougar (manual) the only cable that suits SVT throttle body is ATX throttle cable from Australian Cougar. You cannot use SVT throttle cable sourced from US as they are too small. Cars in US are left hand drive and accelerator will be on left hand side which means they don't need to be long to reach throttle body. They are about half size when compared to cable on Oz Cougars which are longer as they are right hand drives with accelerator on right hand side and need long cable to reach throttle body which is pretty much towards left hand side.

So, the only cable that suits SVT throttle body on our OZ Cougars is ATX cable which you will find on Cougars will Automatic transmission.

[REDDYZ]

At last I made a custom hose to replace the broken one. I was searching for suitable hose or anything that fits in UIM and found a hanger at Bunnings which is stainless steel and strong.







I used some plastic EGR 90 degree angle hose connectors, heat resistant silicone to make it air tight. Fits perfect just like the original one.

What a relief.. Phew..!! Now UIM is on and waiting for new sparkplug leads. I should get a K&N panel filter at least to give some respect to SVT kit.

I am planning to fit K&N Apollo cold air induction kit which is better than K&N CAI kit as it is enclosed which reduces heat build up and cone shaped filter with smooth pointy head inside increases air flow than any other filter. Just can't wait to get my hands on it.

http://www.knfilters.com/universal/apollo.htm

Trying to find a suitable one for our Cougars. Last option is to go for Universal model.

[REDDYZ]

I thought boken vacuum hose was the last glitch. No, there was another one. The SVT flexi rubber tube that runs between MAF and throttle body was too long to squeeze in between airbox and throttlebody. Some how I managed to fit stock tube though its too small for SVT throttle body. Anyway, here is the outcome....



I know its missing SVT badge. I ordered one last month and it is lost somewhere in shipment and cannot be tracked until 25th of this month. Grrrr...

I will finish throttle body and bracket when I get k&n Apollo kit. Not able to choose between Red, Chrome & Black. Just waiting for the leads which should turn up today or tomorrow. And then I can start it up.

If time permits I will prepare engine bay for steam clean. It doen't look bad from top in the photo but its really very dirty. I generally wont go for steam clean but I know what to seal and what to protect from getting wet. Mine is MTX so fairly simple when compared to ATX. With SVT badge and steam clean it should look better than this.

[thearrow]

Mate that looks really sweet and it will look a whole lot better once you get the air filter and the bigger throttle body on it.

[REDDYZ]

Thanks Dave. It is bigger SVT throttle body with ATX throttle cable. I didn't paint it yet. My plan is to get it chromed. Thats why I fitted it as is. K&N Apollo doesn't come with MAF adapter, tube that runs between MAF and throttle body. So, kind of stuck there. I will buy a second hand CAI kit like yours and use parts from it.

[REDDYZ]

At last... I started my kat and it started in first go as usual without a miss. This time no hiccups. I let it idle it for a while to warm up and checked for air leaks between UIM and LIM, checked for vacuum leaks and when convinced took it for a drive. Throttle response is instant. Has become a bit sensitive, responds as soon as you touch it. I think this is all because of cleaned UIM and LIM.

Acceleration is quick and smooth, the main difference is when IMRC opened. Around 40kmph shifted to 2nd from third and pushed down accelerator, woo..hoooo.... that was awesome. Feels like a tiny turbo kicked in. You can feel IMRC kicking in very clearly. So much difference from stock setup. On freeway ramp it hit 100 effortlessly.

This is just with k&n panel filter in stock airbox. K&N Apollo pod filter is on the way. Just can't wait to get my hands on that. To be frank I was happy with stock setup on my kat. But now this is so much fun.

I will have to upgrade injectors when I fit MSDS headers. I will replace MAF with MAP and get it custom tuned to suit new injectors and thats it. I will stop there.... hopefully..hehe

[REDDYZ]

In my previous post I mentioned that Oz Cougars came with 19lbs injectors. They are actually 17lb injectors with 19lb peak. SVT injectors are 19lb with 21lb peak.

cheers

[thearrow]

Mate wait until you get the headers on it.

Forget the tiny turbo when you hit 4000 rpm and the secondaries cut in you will get a huge kick in your backside and be left wondering why-o-why you didn't do it sooner.

Anyway have a safe new year and good motoring.

[REDDYZ]

I was just about to finish the upgrade with CAI kit, the whole process took U-turn. Am back at the beginning. Long story short, relocated IMRC under battery tray.



In this process found some coolant leaks and oil leak. After a bit of investigation found issues with water pump which is only around 15000kms old and timing cover that leaks when car is parked on a slope.

Decided to replace all required stuff incl timing cover gasket, so that I don't have to touch my kat for next 100,000kms atleast.

To fix waterpump and flush the whole cooling system, removed:

UIM,
Injector railing,
whole waterpump housing,
all coolant hoses incl thermostat,

cleaned them by hand and flushed all hoses, radiator, oil cooler, engine one by one individually with running hot water. There is no trace of coolant in the system now. If there is anything thats water.

To replace timing cover gasket, removed:

coolant reservoir,
complete engine mound assembly,
power steering pump, (flushed complete PS system too)
drive blet, (found idler pulley and tensioner pulley worn)
Rocker covers,
wiring harness,
and stuck with Alternator.

Alternator is bolted onto timing cover instead of engine block. What a ***** job it is to undo alternator.

I pretty much stripped everything except heads. Am gonna replace cams with ST200 or ST220 whatever is compatible. These will keep valves open for long time. Obviously bigger injectors and uprated valve springs will go in. Replacing timing chain tensioners as well. So, replacing timing cover gasket, pulleys, thermostat, pcv valve, waterpump with housing, hoses and new belt. Power steering will be filled with full synthetic ATF 6000/DX 6 whatever.

After all this my kat is gonna be pretty much new.

[thearrow]

This is turning into a marathon labour of love.......it's the old story, one thing leads to another and it's never ending.

Good Luck let us know what happens.