You'll know if the engine has 'settled' into the right place when your oil drain plug lines up with the hole in the undertray.

 

Everything is back together and I took it on a 'shakedown' run this morning.....WOW!!! is all that I can say. First impressions:

1. The car sounds like an old school V-12 race car under load. It is LOUD!!!!!
2. The car idles very smoothly....so smooth I'm wondering if it's even running at stop lights
3. The 'butt dyno' is picking up SERIOUS HP/Torque increases. The car is like a scalded cat waiting to spring into action.

I'll work on a driving video to post up here. I'm going out to drive it some more.

Jim

 

Just completed a 1,200 mile roadtrip in the DB9 and it ran FLAWLESSLY except for 1 minor issue that I'll explain in a moment. A couple of notes:

1. The car under load sounds RIDICULOUS at WOT.
2. In 5th or 6th gear it is very tame and actually very quiet at 75mph.
3. The natural pops/burbles/etc sound seriously cool on downshift
4. You will scare the hell out of people when you pass them with this set up. It sounds like a sport bike or old F1 car screaming past

On arrival in Minneapolis I went directly to Paisley Park for a tour. The outside temp was 95deg. and I had been driving for 5hrs when I pulled in. I sat for 5 minutes and pulled around to a different parking spot in an attempt to find some shade, which turned out to be a bust so I went back to my original spot. As I sat for another minute, my temp gauge crept up to the 75% mark or so. I turned on the heat and opened the hood and she cooled down but was still above 50%. This happened one other time in Dayton, OH on a 102 degree day in a traffic jam. I had been driving 3hrs at the time. I think that upon sitting with a fully hot car, the heat wash can't escape the bonnet and the cooling system becomes a little stressed. Neither situation caused the car to get to redline, but it scared me.

The drive home was 87-90 degrees as well, however, not a single issue with the car or the temps on the 10hr drive home (I drove it straight through on the way home).

This project has been very satisfying so far and this car is sooo good on long trips!! Thank you @speedracer800 , @V8Vdrew for your input on this. Huge props! I'll post up a sound file ASAP.
The middle pic is of the view from my hotel room. I was eventually able to grab the spot directly behind me under the tree. That is where it sat for the 3 days in MN.

Part two is coming later this summer and I'm adding to the project. I'll be pulling the radiator and re-sealing it as well as replacing the original fans (Does anyone know of an upgrade???). I'll also be doing brakes. (Possibly the new VAP kit).

 

I've used FF dynamics for semi custom fans and aluminum shroud builds with great quality for the price. You can email them with your spec. And they will respond as if they can build a system that works for your application. FYI I have never inquired about an AM spec one though. Just passing along a possible solution.

 

Thanks! I'll check it out.

Jim

 

I look forward to hearing your sound file. When you had the fabspeed x pipe installed, was it quiet then as well? I installed secondary cat delete x pipe but removed because it was how you described, at idle you hardly could hear the car running and very quiet at lower RPM'S. It only opened up at higher RPM's.

 

Fitting the later thermostat (which opens up at 82 instead of 90 degrees Celcius) made the difference in underbonnet temps for me. Living in a hot climate like I do (Medditerranean) its a must-do upgrade.

 

A friend put this together last night.

Jim

 

Wow! Epic sound!

 

WOW!! That is PERFECT!
Do you "feel" much of a power increase? The revs sound faster in both directions..no doubt about that. I don't think I ever saw any HP increase figures from VAP for this swap.

 

VAP claims 62hp and I think it’s every bit of that. The car will light up the traction control light from launch into 3rd gear on brand new tires if I push it really hard. .
Constant compliments on the sound.
Breathes so much freer now.

 

Nice project and a great result. I did similar here in the UK and can certainly agree with the noticeable performance increase. I retained the original rear silencer and removed and replaced the secondary cats with 200 cell cats but it struggles with emissions, despite being remapped. I also find it VERY loud with fuse 22 removed, even with the real OEM silencer so have to consider the neighbourhood with my remote fuse 22 switch at night.

I finished the tailpipes with some Nissan 350Z trims and wrapped the headers in some Thermo-Tec exhaust wrap.

 

Great work! I definitely feel your pain on the subframe. I've lost count how many times I've had it on and off during my project. At least 5 lol. It definitely gets easier, but not something one would ever look forward to. What a gorgeous sound though! Hints of an F1 V12 for sure.

 

Shortly after I finished the header project, my cooling fans began to disintegrate. I was having intermittent issues with the fans pre-headers, so I was not surprised at all when they ultimately failed.
This weekend, I removed the fans, condenser and radiator. WOW was the plastic of the cooling fans brittle. I ordered a new cooling fan and extra module from Scuderia, however, give just how bad the fans were after 36,000 miles, I'm thinking that I'll be putting in aluminum fans.
I'm also going to be giving a hard look at this front timing cover leak to determine if I'm going to mess with it or not. It looks relatively minor so I may defer it at the moment and do a full engine out at a later date.
I took the FEAD belt off this weekend and removed the pulleys.
More to come.

 

You can do the timing cover relatively easily in the car, emphasis on relatively. Certainly easier than pulling the engine. You'll have to pull the intakes and cam covers, pull off or separate the thermostat housing and drop the oil pan enough to apply some RTV. If you are planning on pulling the engine anyway you might as well just wait, but if not, you might as well do it now while the front is apart.