fbgh2o

As per my DME thread, here is the full chronology of my Vitesse DME install.

First off - I could not have done this without John at Vitesse's help. As reflected in many forums, he provides timely and valuable support. Also Jon (a.k.a. Techno Duck) was incredibly helpful with advice and pictures.

John’s instructions are clear, but make assumptions that the installer knows how to do certain things (i.e. remove DME and replace a chip). I am a true neophyte so this was a real learning experience.

Removal of stock equipment- Removal of the old airbox, snorkel and J-boot is straightforward, as is the removal of the intercooler to throttle body pipe (although the fitment can be tight).

Note 1: the one to the throttle body needs to be completely removed, but you only really need to loosen the one from turbo exhaust (to remove the airbox).
Note 2: You have to pull the existing vacuum hose connections out from the J-boot. You will also need to remove the metal fittings on these hoses as they are not needed to attach the hoses to the new MAF J-pipe. I strongly advise cutting as close to the metal fitting as possible, otherwise you might find that the hose is not long enough to attach to the new connection points (ask me how I know). This is particularly an issue for the vapour purge line that comes from under the manifold which is barely long enough.

With the J-boot removed you have access to the Turbo inlet (see Picture #1).

Coupler & J-Pipe installation - If you have a K26/6 (like mine) you will have to install a reducer coupling (it can be purchased from Vitesse) for the J-pipe to turbo connection. I would recommend trimming approximately 3/8” of an inch from the turbo side of the coupling to improve the overall fitment of the MAF (it truly is a tight fit). You will also note that there is interference from the wiring harness that exits the alternator. This deforms the coupling (as seen in the Picture #2). I got around this by inserting the J-pipe at an angle (close to the overflow tank) and twisting it back a forth in the coupling until it was fully inserted. A bit of WD-40 helps here (and later on as you will have to adjust a lot to get the fitment of the whole MAF to an acceptable level). My other advice is not to tighten any of the clamps until the very end (even the reducer to turbo inlet) to ease the overall manipulation of the MAF assembly while fitting it. A little bit of planning on the orientation of the clamps is required to make sure that you have easy access to the tightening screws.

MAF Installation – The actual assembly of the balance of MAF assembly is not difficult. However, you will have to play with it quite a lot to get the angles of the J-Pipe, MAF, coupling and air filter to get the fitment right and to provide the clearances for the headlight assembly, blow-off valve etc. Remember you will be working in both the horizontal and vertical planes. As John indicates in his instructions, it is easier to start with the headlights in the “up’ position.

Fitment activities include rotating the J-Pipe to get good hose alignment for the vacuum hoses and BOV, playing with angles on the MAF pipe relative to the J-pipe and the air filter relative to the MAF pipe and ensuring that that the assembly does not interfere. I figure I spent the better part of 3 to 4 hours trying to get the best fit (probably could have done it faster, but was trying to replicate pictures on the internet and simply could not). As you can see from Picture #3, the cone filter still angles severely relative to the MAF pipe to achieve clearance behind the headlight mechanism.

Note 1: If you do not have a MBC and want it, you should get one before starting. The MAF is set up for a MBC as opposed to the stock cycling valve. If you have a stock cycling valve you will wonder why you have an extra vacuum line when you start to reconnect everything (it is the smaller diameter one that comes from under the intake manifold – see Picture #4 - circled in yellow).
Note 2: Hose connections to the J-Pipe: These require some fitting and positioning of the J-pipe to achieve alignment.
Wiring up the MAF - I had to teach myself to solder properly (buy some wire and practice is my advice). Otherwise the wiring is pretty easy, John’s instructions are clear. A few tips

• As suggested in the instructions pull the power from the diagnostic plug (see Picture #6a). This requires a bullet connector. I used an 18-22 gauge male bullet connector (see Picture #6), doing the following
  • modifying the bullet to fit (18-22 gauge is too big) with needle nose pliers to reduce the diameter. The construction of the bullet allows you to slide one edge over the other to retain the round shape.
  • stripping the plastic shielding at the crimp area to reduce the height of the bullet
  • soldering the lead into the bullet
• Based on John’s advice I attached the ground to the turbo water pump bracket. It is easily accessed and is in-line with the routing of the power lead – which allows for shielding both wires with wire protectors (see Picture #7).
• Before soldering, don’t forget to put on the shrink tube (I did). 1/8” diameter is fine for the one to one connections, but you will need a ¼” diameter for the five wire connection (See Picture #8)
• Soldering is a bit of challenge due to the location of the wires. An extra pair of hands is helpful. I also cut a piece of wood to fit into the engine bay to provide a temporary table on which to work.
• Routing – I routed all of the wire under the MAF J-Pipe and back over the top to the connector on the MAF-Pipe (see Pictures #9 and 9a)
• Finally, button up everything with wire protectors to prevent chaffing. You can use ¼” for most of it, but will require some 3/8” or ½” to get around the soldered and shrink tube connections.

Wiring the injector resistors –

To locate the correct wires you need to remove the white (yellowed) cover from the DME wiring harness plug that attaches to the DME. The Lindsey Racing injector harness instructions provide the information to do this (http://www.lindseyracing.com/LR/Parts/INJHAR951.html). This allows you to locate the correct pin numbers (#14 and #15) and trace the wires.
The resistors are quite small and I could not find any female attachments that fit well. The male ends are narrow, but quite thick. I ended up using 16 gauge ones and crimping them to ensure a tight connection. (see Picture #10)

Changing the Chip – just be careful. I used Lindsey Racing’s instructions to remove the DME and replace the chip (http://www.lindseyracing.com/LR/Parts/CHIPCHANGE.html). Prying the two boards apart is challenging and I thought that I might have damaged the board connections, but got lucky and did not damage then. I actually had to break a portion of the plastic connector to allow me to pull the boards apart (see picture). Also make sure that the chip is firmly seated on the board, otherwise you will get a no spark condition when you try to start the car (ask me how I knowJ)

And that’s about it. I figure that my total time spent is close to 15 hours, but I am slow, clumsy and not very adept… Someone with skill could do this in a few hours.

Nurburger

Nice write up Fergus - thanks for taking the time. I just ordered mine & have the benefit of a free install offer from Eniac! Looking forward to peace of mind with the Vitesse.

vt951

Great work! Did you drive it yet? Does it require tuning, or is it ready to go out of the box?

porshhhh951

You are going to LOVE it. I'll take you for a ride in my car if you come to the fest.

Richgreenster

Very nice write-up.
It is people like you that make this forum so good.
Thanks again.

sebastian944

Very nice write up! thanks!

fast951

Fergus, Nice write up. I wasn't aware this is your first project on the car, good job.

For the pin that goes into the test plug, I usually strip about 1" of insulation off the wire, fold it onto itself a few times, to fit the plug, then solder the wire and create my own plug.

Let us know how you like this setup.

choinga

I'm curious how this works with the stock 26/6 turbo setup? I think I recall John saying that he didn't recommend doing a MAF conversion unless you were upgrading the turbo as well (hence both his kits come with a turbo). Also, did you upgrade your injectors? I think I also recall John saying that you needed his 72# or bigger to work with his MAF?

I'd love to go with a MAF but really don't want to have you yank my turbo out - everything I've read about doing that looks like it's a total #$%^&.

fast951

The MAF works with the K26/6, not a problem. However, the turbo is limiting the performance. With the MAF you will some gain (larger area under the curve), but you are still limited to the K26.

He is using 83# injectors and a 3bar FPR, he will need them once he upgrades the turbo (it's coming, he just doesn't know it yet ).

Thom

The key to this job is to have the correct 12 point angled open socket wrench for the bolt holding the downpipe on the block. Once or twice you've done it it's no more the PITA job it initially seems to be.

fbgh2o

Works great right out of the box. The reason I went with the Vitesse MAF was the numerous endorsements here that indicated that his set up was 95% to 98% correct, right out of the box.

fbgh2o

LOL!!!

fbgh2o

[QUOTE]I'm curious how this works with the stock 26/6 turbo setup?[QUOTE]

Initial driving impressions are as follows:

1. Idle is very smoothly
2. The car feels more tractable at low rpm (i.e. in residential streets) and less sluggish below 3K rpm
3. Seems to hold 11 to 12 psi boost better now
4. The turbo spool up and BOV are much louder than before (I thought there was a boost leak somewhere, but after replacing all the clamps, I am sure there is none)

choinga

Very nice. How about 1st gear? Does the MAF do anything for the VW Beetle'ish like performance in first until ~4500 RPM when you finally hit full boost with stock?

Techno Duck

It improves the throttle response in almost all situations, however if you are looking for that low end punch off the line you really need to start thinking about bigger displacement or simply going with a n/a. Not much that can be done.

With the Vitesse MAF and K26/6, my car put down 260whp/torque (pretty much even split) at 14psi. This is with the usual mods.. 3'' exhaust, no cat..etc. Spool up was great with that turbo, 1-bar by 2700-2800 rpms usually. Hard to beat that with any turbo. My 60-1 is lucky to do 1-bar by 3300.