The official turbo build thread.

[So Live]

So I got out of school on the 14th for spring break. I have untill the 20th to get work done.
Im shooting for boost by then :) no guarantees though. Friday, i didnt get anything done so today it started...

Mounted up manifold and

Mounted charge pipe... Still needs some work


Built the downpipe:




Also welded the V-band flange on the holset turbine

I also built the passenger side charge pipe.

I think im finally getting semi proficient at welding pipe. Granted it doesnt look good cause i dont have a bottle but every once in a while it looks decent.

And yes the turbos real high. I guess flipping stock manifolds wasnt a great idea... it clears the hood and the motor will be another 1/8 inch lower cause im loosing the spacers i needed before.

[So Live]

Schweet

[So Live]

Its gonna be plug n play to stock motronic connector.

I hear you guys. Dont get me wrong i understand what your saying. I thought the same thing when i started. A very good friend of mine who's built a bunch of these cars and raced them for about 15 years convinced me otherwise. (now he has a 413whp s/c s50e30) People have gotten away with FMU's for years and gotten along with out megasquirt just fine on low boost applications. Me using a FMU is just the first step in the process. I think itll give me a good chance to work out the bugs in my turbo kit and give me a step to learning how to drive this thing. I know with MS im gonna be really tempted to push 12-13psi right off the bat. lol... FMU will keep me at 8 or 9 for a little while at least.

And as much as i plan on copying someone elses MS setup i want to know how everything works the first time as im putting stuff together. There are going to be differences in builds too. Taking someone elses set up blindly and expecting it to work probably wont for me haha.

I also dont get to drive my little money pit very much. Probably every other weekend if im lucky. Ive been working on it since christmas break and itd be really nice to have something substantial done.

Im gonna see what i can get out of the BEGI and upgrade to MS later. Idk maybe the BEGI will piss me off enough to get ms working first.

[Jordan325iC]

I think you're better off starting with an N/A MS tune and waiting on boost. there is a lot less chances of screwing something up - and once you've nailed it, adding a turbo will be easy.

+1

[nando]

I think you're better off starting with an N/A MS tune and waiting on boost. there is a lot less chances of screwing something up - and once you've nailed it, adding a turbo will be easy. Also, I would try to copy somebody else's MS setup as closely as possible. It should get you started a lot quicker - that's what I did and I basically installed MS in a few hours and drove it to work the same night. :)

Generally, problems people have with it are from a lack of understanding or poor workmanship. it is a lot to take in all at once, but the steep learning curve is worth it if you don't give up.

how are you wiring yours up again? all new harness or are you using the motronic connector?

[So Live]

Yeah, MS is a little intimidating. reading other peoples problems and already going through my own set, makes me think itll be better off being able to focus on just that and not have to deal with the whole kit at the same time.

Yeah i have a bunch of gauges like that. If not, my dad can put one together at work. He plays with fluids and hydraulics a lot.

Any tips to getting begi working nicely?

[Jordan325iC]

^^ That's what I'm doing. Ghetto-tuning sucks, but it works. Kind of. I'd get a "tee-in" fuel pressure tester if you don't have one already.

[So Live]

Bought oil plumbing, IC couplers, Vacuum lines, header wrap, oil pan gasket, exhaust manifold gaskets and a BEGI FMU. i basically stole the fmu...

Im gonna get the car running for right now on motronic ecu w/ begi fmu. Then im gonna get MS in the car and all squared away. I feel like just doing MS is gonna be problematic in its self so im going to eliminate that from the build at the moment. I want boost! Im planning on seeing boost by easter as i have 6 whole days to work on the money pit. Then i can do MS at my leisure and know the whole turbo system works flawlessly up to 7.5 psi or whatever my waste gate spring is and not be trying to kill two huge birds with one stone.

[So Live]

Yeah, i have access when ever i want basically but the instructor wont teach me how to tig because theyre almost out of gas and the robotics club uses the shit out of the welder for this self guided-fuel cell powered-lawnmower theyre building. Maybe theyll get some gas so i can play with it and learn how to weld for real! I wanna make a real tubular manifold at some point and i was kinda thinking about a intake too. Well see. I can see this build getting way out of hand!

Side note, gauges came yesterday supposevly. Ordered oil plumbing from summit. Waiting for a check to clear so i can buy injectors and vacuum lines and some couplers. Then i need some misc stuff like oil pan gasket and new exhaust studs and gaskets and im set with buying parts as far as i know.

Still need to finish my MS harness and get that running the car NA so i can learn the layout before im seeing boost. Need to fab the down pipe and wastegate piping too and the short passenger side charge pipe and im DONE!!!

Boost by easter or bust (spring break is the whole week before easter, its gonna be a very busy week!)

[einstein57]

i can't wait to get acces to our labs. I'm thinking CB intake manifold.

[So Live]

Thanks dude!
haha yeah, wire feed blows. I dont even care, i probably wont grind everything. The next manifold ill make in my mechanical engineering lab and itll be tig and itll all look decent.

[einstein57]

Wow your welds look as bad as mine lol. Thats what angle grinders are for right? Keep up the good work.

[So Live]

Finished the manifold again! Its much more "log" style now than it was but oh well. Hood room is hard to come by.



Did a little Holset surgery. How come cummins guys like to paint the compressor covers?! My sand blaster was all messed up the sand i bought was too big or something. Oh well it is what it is



Ill be setting up MS for the coil on plug and putting together the little plug n play harness this week. Hopefully ill be able to start my car on this and maybe start N/A tuning this weekend so i can get a hang of it.

Also made another heat sink for MS so i can mount the coil drivers on the back side of the board like ive seen others.

[So Live]

Yeah, i have a whole bunch of resistors. I only have 3 660's though. Im sure ill be able to get something to work. Thanks for the input though, something very good to keep in mind.

[nando]

yeah but it's not set in stone. at one time it said 1k for more than 1 coil and it was too big - I posted that it didn't work and they changed it to 660ohm. start out with 660s and if it doesn't work, try the smaller ones.. I'd just order them now so you don't have to wait another week if it doesn't work with the bigger ones. :)