Ill think about doing it.

Is there any benefit to using an el ecu and what do I do about my auto if I use the el ecu?

I actually called up a guy I know who used to build competition ski boat motors and he agrees that vacuum porting is the best bang for buck you can get.
He used it many times over his career building race winners and he says its massively worthwhile. For them it was best in classes where no porting was allowed. The vacuum porting got rid of the restrictions but when the motors were inspected by the scrutineers there was no obvious porting signs.
For $10-$15 worth of sand or AJAX it was not uncommon to see gains of 8-15HP and 20FT/LB of torque.
Not massive gains in the big scheme of things but for the cost it was huge.
He agreed with what you said about the salt content of the beach sand but partially disagreed about the sandblasting grit being better.
He reckons the sand blasting grit was only really for use in hard cast iron heads and manifolds on motors like Clevos. The softer stuff would polish them well , but wouldnt port them a great degree.
In todays modern motors he says to start with builders sand (preferably white brickies sand) as with the modern aluminium manifolds and heads , to use anything a*** could port it out way too much and could possibly make it like a bog stock 302 fitted with a set of 4V heads and 850 double pumper. Too much is not always better.
I mentioned the mods young mate here has done and he cant believe that he has gone as far as knife edging a throttle body but has not yet vacuum ported the intake and head. It will port the throttle body to the exact size the car needs as it will only pull what air it requires with the sand in it.

As far as benefit using the EL ECU. Yeah it will if you use the BBM and you do a thermo conversion and let it run them. Otherwise not much will change.
The auto will run the same with the EL ECU as per the standard one.

You 2 must be so bored....

Ill give the ajax a go should I get a certain kind and hows the best way to do it? Warm engine or cold engine? I havent knife edged and half shafted the throttle body yet that should be after next weekend or around then as rego is due on the 28th and my partners birthday is on the 8th then on the 11th its our anniversary and the dogs birthday then the 16th is my brother in laws birthday.

I know ive asked a similar question but if I remove the isc and put a plate where it is then just adjust the idle would that do anything? I just dont understand why I need it I know it adjusts the idle when cold but when its cold it idles at about 400-450rpm instead of the 650 that the sticker in the engine bay says.

Before you go leather and tongs, search intake sand port...... Do it now...



ISC stands for Idle Speed Controller... it cant be spelled out any simpler bud.... It controls your Idle Speed. It works constantly, at any temperature..
You need it and unless your car is stalling it dosnt matter how low the idle feels...

Use an EL ecu when you convert to BBM to add the wires to control the butterflys solenoid/actuator at 3200rpm.. they also have a better tune, and a newer ECU electrical system EEC-V (5) over EEC-IV (4) , and with the auto it will work fine afaik..

I know what it is and does but I was wondering what would hapen if I removed it as I noticed my cousins ba doesnt have one. As for the idle I was just worried about the idle being lower then stated on the sticker. All I can find about intake sand port is people having nothing but trouble.

Exactly... its a joke... you will f**k your engine and Matt and SWC are messing with you..

Dont compare your car with a BA!!!!... they are 20 years apart in technology.
A BA has a different way of controlling idle...

EDIT:How do you know exactly how many RPM your engine is doing? have you hade a timing tacho hooked up? If it isnt shaking like a wet cat (which would more imply bad timing or spark instead of just idling too low) or stalling on you then dont worry about it.. or but a new ISC if you do want to worry about it..


Seriously. wipe your drawing board clean and start new mate.. and for the last time, NAIL DOWN A DECISION ON WHAT YOU WANT!!

If you want a nice cruising lane then do the below listed stuff..

EXHAUST
You have extractors and the 2.5" exhaust. done.

MAINTENANCE
Get an O2 sensor.. not all money spent has to be expected to get power gains, maintenance is also imprtant. Some weeks you might have to spend your car allowance getting a service kit (oil and filters) instead of trying to get a "power mod" of some sort..

INTAKE
The intake mod you have done on page 2 is fine, it depends on if you can do the BBM conversion now or later when you can afford the parts, but I'd just get an XH intake snorkel and a K&N panel filter and your intake is done as good as it will get untill you can do the BBM..
If you want get another throttle body and do what was done in the tech doco and have some borderline free fun/modding.. Port match the head and intake to the gasket for some modding and a little better flow..

Look into gathering the parts for a BBM conversion over time, and ultimately do that, it will give you the best available intake for the engine.

SPARK
If you want get a better aftermarket coil, with the 8mm leads you have this will give your spark a good boost. Maybe even get some 9mm leads.

DIFF
Have a look for a 3.45 diff out of an XR, anything else is gonna blow your budget and be more than what you want.

SUSPENSION
Save up and but some low or super low spec springs, this will neaten up the handling and make it look a lot better visually, a bit more street cred so to speak..
Slowly swap your bushes with nolathane/superpro as you can afford it, you dont have to do them all at once, just one packet at a time as you can afford..

HEAD
Look for a tickford head, get a cam and vernier gear and a J3 chip to suit (after you have done the BBM and all the rest of the above listed things)

This will be your next jump in power.

I have a similar setup, I'm expecting around 150Kw at the wheels, around 200HP, its no super car, but its decent, reliable and above all REALISTIC! It has taken me 7 years and cost me minimal compared to other builds on here...

Dont rush anything.. it will all happen as it is supposed to... Good things come to those who wait. Save up and buy parts as you need and can afford them..

Wait till your 25 and have 7 years of playing around with the car before worrying about 300kW engines, DOHC conversions and turbos/chargers...

Ill definatly be doing what you said.
Im replacing the o2 sensor soon.
A bbm is on the cards depending on price.
Au injectors will be after the o2 sensor.
I am slowly changing bushes.
Depending on price a barra will be coming in a few years either the engine or entire car.
Im looking at some low springs im thinking king springs.
I cant find an xh snorkel any where.
The intake im making up will be made to suit the log manifold but some extra piping and it will suit a bbm.
The knife edging and half shaft is something to do when im bored.
Im looking for a diff. Would one from a ba work? The wreckers have one and if the diff will fit and they dont want too much ill hopefully grab it.
I found a el with a tickford head at the wreckers but they wanted $600 for it when I went back to look at other bits it was gone. Unfortunately the bbm and ecu were gone along with the thermos.

Is their much difference between my head and cam compared to a eb2?
if I find an xr6 would a cam from one do much? Also which cam would be best?

The main thing im worried about the bbm conversion is it wont like being on a 3.9 have you heard of anyone doing the conversion on a 3.9?
Also what should I pay for a bbm, ecu and thermos?

I have found a 96 el and if the guy answers his phone I might be getting the bbm and ecu. Will the 96 el ecu work in my lane? What else do I need do I need the plugs and fuel rail?

your best off just putting a complete ef/el or au xr6 engine in.
you gain more from doing this than putting el ecu and manifold on the old 3.9..

Yeah but the 3.9 has only just done over 160k km im not gonna scrap it with that low kms. So what else do I need for the conversion can you give me a list of everything?

ok..
you need
ef or el manifold. airbox,snorkle and intake pipe.
ef or el throttle cable. but it mounts to the rocker cover on el so you need to make a throttle bracket.. also you need to modify or get a cable made up so your cruise control will work.
you need el throttle pedal. the na one will work but your pedal will sit high..
you need a ef or el dip stick and dip stick tube.
you need the bbm solenoid and vacuum lines which mounts behind the windscreen washer bottle,
you need to modify and extend the na loom and use the plugs for el tps and el isc.
you need to run a 12v ignition wire to the bbm solenoid and add a pin to your ecu plug and run that wire to your bbm solenoid as well..

After reading that I think ill just save up for a barra.