I've had my convertible since last winter, when I took it in trade from a DPO. He had done the jspec turbo conversion which lasted all of 3 weeks before severe detonation destroyed every seal, rotor, and housing in the motor (running 16psi on the stock fuel system/everything else with a full RB exhaust and knightsport chip as his only mods). Anyway, this guy had painted the engine yellow/black (without aid of masking tape might I add) and the entire engine bay flat black (again, no masking tape).

IT sat in the basement all winter as I gathered up body and interior parts for it. I decided, since the core was not rebuildable, to go back with a nonturbo motor for the springtime, just to get it on the road, do the body and paint, interior, stereo, work out all the bugs, etc. so that is what I did. Until now it has been this way, with the outside and interior of the car looking near mint and the engine bay being ugly as hell. Business has slowed down this month, so I decided to tear back into it and finish the engine bay the right way. Also, a trip to NOPI seeing all those polished rides will motivate almost anyone, including me.

First, I stripped all accessories from the bay and taped it off, leaving only a/c and brakes still there, which I also taped off, not wanting to disturb those systems. I beadblasted the bay for about 2 hours, and the **** still wouldnt totally come off in some spots. The DPO musta used engine enamel or some ****.

 

THen I cleaned it all back off and retaped it. I sprayed a quart of blaze red base, and a quart of clear over the bay and hood underside. IN person it isnt perfect, but to the average person it looks brand new.

 

nice job

 

I finally got all the accessories put back, and I did some cleaning up of my wiring/relays for foglights and electric fan, to keep the bay more stock looking. Then I installed the engine I had built.

HEre are a few specs on the hybrid engine.

-GSLSE rotating assembly (9.4 compression, 11lb rotor weight helps with low end torque, which will be nice for a convertible)
-3mm seals (stock on SE's)
-almost perfectly new rotorhousings (low mile reman core)
-turbo irons with massive streetport
-s5 turbo externals
-jspec intercooler
-s4 turbo and manifold (didnt have an s5, and I didnt need/want a whole lot of boost anyway)
-emissions removed, everything but the thermowax and BAC valve
-jspec n374 ecu with knightsport chip installed (basically removes fuel cut)
-dual alternator pulley
-NA GSLSE flywheel with centerforce clutch (Im still going to need an NA race clutch/PP to hold the power)
-NA drivetrain, GTUs rearend (already installed)

Here she is. IT runs well, has that open-exhausted v6 lumpy idle note, and boosts around 8-10psi at WOT. I will probably be changing turbos before long, as this one smokes a bit when spooled.

 

I didn't know you can use GSLSE rotors. Is that safe?

 

THis is totally a hybrid/experimental setup, but I dont think I'll have trouble. HEre is my line of thinking:

-I wanted 3mm seals, but I wanted to do this one cheap (I have about 500 bucks in the conversion, and I sold my old NA motor for $900 the day I pulled it out). SE rotors are the only 13B rotors I had in stock that use 3mm seals stock. Their side seals are also thicker. Since 3mm seals dont cost any more than 2mm, by using these rotors, I was able to keep my cost the same, but build a stronger engine.

-I wanted torque for the 'vert. I could have went with s4 rotors, but s3 rotors are even heavier, and since this isnt an NA motor, balance/redline arent as important, so I went with the heavy SE rotors. The difference between those and the 9.5lb s5 rotors is amazing. I can let the clutch out from a stop and the car actually GOES on its own...

-FD's use 9.0 compression, so I figure 9.4 compression isnt such a stretch if I use high octane all the time, and keep the boost reasonable (<10psi). Being a fresh rebuild with 3mm seals it should hold up just fine, IMO. Trouble comes when you see guys trying to turbo stock 150k mile NA's.

-in addition to the ecu chip (im not sure exactly what it does and doesnt do) I have a walbro and new fuel filter installed now. After initial breakin I have 4 680cc GSLSE injectors I can install either in the secondaries only or all 4 spots, as I see necessary. I think I should be very safe while still on the puny stock turbo. Later I may go t04 and front mount, and microtech all at once. We'll see how this goes, first. I have a project FD to play with now as well, so I might leave this one alone.

 

So are you saying a heavier rotor will provide more torque.

GSLSE rotors weights 11lbs

 

thats just awesome, i love seeing turbo vert conversions. keep up the good work

 

As always, very very nice work

 

Stock for stock, yes. OR, at very least, you will FEEL the torque more. Think of it as rotating assembly, including front counterweight, flywheel/ctwt, and rotors. The weight of the assembly changes how the car feels from a stop. s5 cars with the really light rotors don't have a low of low end pull, in spite of being higher compression. s4 cars have a bit more low end. s3's have even more, all due to weight changes. IT's just like taking a stock car and putting on a lightweight flywheel, it changes how the car drives, and how much useable torque there is. You almost have to learn how to drive the car again. Well, I have went the opposite direction with it. Just a little something extra and free, to help with the weight of the 'vert.

 

FOr those wondering, here are pics of the rest of the car...

 

 

Looks real sharp, I like it.

 

You need one of my new white faced logicons...to go with those white gauges.

 

Theyre actually silverface, the flash blurred it out. THeyre the same color as the deck in that photo. Make a silverfaced one with blue and red lettering (to match the gauges and deck) and I'll buy it. Mine works perfectly, but half the lights in the bitch dont work. I figured I'd wait until it actually tore up to replace it, but if you make one that looks good and matches my stuff I'll take it asap.

 

Silver???. ... first everyone wants white, now its silver... it's getting hard to keep up

Let me see how hard it will be to make a silver one.

Yeah, I am working on the red and blue lights. Red for the indicators across the top, and blue for the sliders... Blue LEDs just cost an arm and a leg.

 

Hot damn that car looks nice.

 

I'm impressed. That's a great deal of work. A lot more time and effort than most people realize. Keep us updated on new endeavors.

 

i want gauges just like that but that will light up red

 

Damn, where did you get those guages?

Those are sweet.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2435081376

These are not the exact ones obviously, but similar. Mine were sold by procarparts.com via ebay. You can get em all day long for 30 bucks and shipping. They are a bit challenging to install, you have to do some trimming on your cluster to make the holes for the wires to fit, and you have to wire them up properly. I would say it is about a 1 hour job.

 

hey i don't usually dig verts.. urs is very very hot tho.. nice job man. no affence to other vert drivers

 

very nice. Did that efini steering wheel bolt right up or did you need a special hub?

 

SUCH a sweet ride!

Awesome work!

 

It does bolt up, but if left to it's own devices it will rub badly on the steering column cover, so I trimmed it down some on the back side. Also, I had to give up my turn angle cancel setup because the way that is made is different from an fd. So, I have to cancel my own turns. That is almost the only thing on the car that doesnt work like stock.

BTW, thanks for the compliments guys.