The project begins!
 

Well, Ive started the first stage of my project, this last week. So far I've just been ordering some new parts and sourcing other misc parts. I'm doing this build in hopes that I can sort out any mechanical issues as well as gain some power with out drastically upsetting my nice power curve from my last dyno run. Of course I am focusing on overall balance and reliability, and with this in mind I started a fun mini project.

This is my base dyno run. I noticed that boost dropped down to 3 psi by about 5500 rpms.
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/4711/dynoon5.jpg
I hope to have 260 whp by the end of my project.



Mini project: Experimental hood #1:
As I have a turbo'd sport model with a fairly hefty fmic setup, I've had a few battles with heat on several of my road trips to California. I've since upgraded to a Koyo radiator, new thermostat, and a nice electric fan. Combined with a nice duct and vented hood, I hope will never have any further heat issues on any future trips.
Mind you this is not my aluminum hood, but a spare steel hood I had laying around. The design isnt finalized yet, but its a start. When finished, I want it to look as though it could have been stock. I have yet to make a duct to direct some of the hot air from the radiator up through the vent. Enough typing.. here are some pics!

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/3162/dsc01765df4.jpg
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/1421/dsc01771im9.jpg
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/1824/dsc01773vl5.jpg



New Turbo:
My old turbo is missing 3 blades on the exhaust housing, and suffice to say I've taken my time to replace it. The new turbo is bring cleaned and the wastegate is being ported now. I will most likely send it off in a week or 2 to get serviced and inspected.

More to come later!

Why do you have a big hole in your hood?

I know some people do it for V-mounts, but I don't see a v-mount.

Just curious. Thanks.

Quote "I have yet to make a duct to direct some of the hot air from the radiator up through the vent."

:)

Clayton that should really aide in heat extraction. My knightsport replica vented hood made a significant difference in coolant temps. It really allows a lot of heat escape.

I would have personally dropped the trailing edge and had it extend towards the front a little more. That would have required welding though ;) Looking good!

Sounds like your old turbo swallowed an apex seal or two in its past life. Make sure you keep it running so you can go AUOTCROSS on the weekends.

Personally I think the biggest bang for the buck is a lightweight flywheel, that has always been my favorite mod. Keep us updated.!!!

lol goodness that hood hurts my eyes to look at!! haha but you have to start somewhere good luck!

Yeah, the hood is an eyesore. I should be done with the duct tomorrow afternoon and start some experiments with airlow. At least I have my normal hood in the garage to put back on in a few days. I was going to try a drop vent style hood in which the hood vent drops down to the radiator, but I figured it would be a pain to match the radiator. I have Kevins old hood still, so I may try to make one as well...

Question- Will 2x550cc & 2x720cc injectors be enough for 260ish whp? I need to find out before I order some parts this week.

Play around with this:

http://rx7.com/cgi-local/2ndgencalc.cgi

I would think that you are pushing it. Any chance of running a set of 850's instead or 720's? Do you already have the 720's?

I have yet to find the injectors. I looked at the calculator but am unsure of % duty. I need to look at the rtek ecu and find the max duty cycle that it can run. Zack, do you mean 4x850cc injectors or just in the secondaries? I have to admit that the 720's are appealing as the rtek has a preset so that I don't have to tune the ecu to make the car driveable. More or less they are relatively plug and play.

Here's another question- Will I need to get a boost controller to make my power goals? My setup will be: 3" exhaust, large fmic, injectors, rtek ecu, stock turbo, and a street ported engine. I would ideally like to keep the boost levels as close to stock as possible as reliability is key. Any advice?

I personally would not have a duty cycle of over 80%. I know that some run higher than this but IMO it is not a good idea. You are just making your system work that much harder. Some will argue that it does no harm. Spend some time in the single turbo forum, there is tons of information there that will help. I think that with the setup that you mentioned you will be at the upper end of 80%.

I would make the primaries smaller if you have the ability. I love the fact that my car has 550cc primary's. If I stay out of boost I can get around 20mpg. Your car is a DD, right? With the way gas is going it will save you a pretty nice coin.

Do you think that you can make 260whp on 10psi? I don't know what the stock unit is capable of. A boost controller is alway s a good idea though IMO.

Hey Clayton I believe the max duty cylcle on a stock ecu is 60%, RTEK will not change that only the injector pulse width. This is one of the primary reasons I had to go to standalone. I made 249 at 10 psi with a bnr stage 1 and an apexi fuel contoller. Steve Kan made 289 at 10 psi with a power fc on the same motor. That was the other reason I went standalone. Hope that helps a little. Dave and I can wire you up a power fc.

Quick update:

Turbo!
Gaskets arrived the other day! I'm planning to install the new turbo this weekend, but am slightly unsure of how much porting I should do on the waste gate. I've already removed material where the waste gate door will hit, and radiused the edges where exhaust from the waste gate will merge to the downpipe. Oh yeah, this is another S5 turbo. I know it doesn’t need nearly as much porting as an S4 turbo, but I want to make sure I don’t have any boost creep. Any advice will be appreciated of course! :)

Taillights!
I received a pair of S5 tail lights the other day. They would have been free, but I couldn’t just take em, so I traded my spare rotor cup holder. The lights were in need of a through cleaning inside and out. I opened the assembly up and while there I've decided to remove the diffusers. Keep in mind that I still prefer the S4 light over these, but as they were next to free, so I couldn't refuse. Defiantly better than my cracked S4 lights.

Turbo:
Well, I've since taken the hotside of the turbo apart only to discover it has a few cracks in it. I'm unsure of what is acceptable or not. Below are a few terrible pics from my cell phone, but at least you can see where they are. Should I just forget about the 2 cracks and port this one, or get another hotside?

Turbo replacement:

So over the weekend I've pulled the old turbo out and replaced it with another turbo. Everything went well so far, but I now have to track down a vacuum leak and a very small coolant leak. The coolant drips onto the turbo so I'm fairly confident that its the coolant inlet on the turbo. With the ported wastegate I now see a steady 5psi till redline. :) Something odd that I've noticed is the 2 extra holes on the exhaust ports. The exhaust housings are from an FD, but I never recalled these extra ports.

Pictures:
Preperations being made:
http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/3025/dscn3576kw5.jpg
http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/4291/dscn3578at9.jpg

Old turbo is out. Interesting exhaust ports?
http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/3160/dscn3579mc7.jpg
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/6549/dscn3580eq1.jpg
Everything is quite dirty...
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/7143/dscn3582mm9.jpg

Old Turbo... While at Corksport 3 exhaust blades appeared to be missing, but alas, all are there. Not in the best of shape though...
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/7517/dscn3583nb9.jpg

Reassembly.
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/7002/dscn3584wd6.jpg
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/3824/dscn3586wr7.jpg
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/6222/dscn3588kq7.jpg

I may have to take you guys up on that offer when the time comes! :)


Update: Boost creep has stopped for the most part. I am unsure of what dictates stock boost as everything is a mix and match. The car stays around 5 psi with the exception of 3rd thru 5th gears where boost reaches 6-7 psi. Stock S4 boost should be around 5psi, while the S5 is around 7.5 psi. Does anyone know what part decides boost levels? IE: is it the internal wastegate spring, or a solenoid somewhere, etc etc... Thanks!

Ok- Turbo works like a charm! I have a few tiny leaks to sort out still, but at this point in time that is the least of my worries... Turns out my rear diff is shot! The ring and pinion gear has alot of slop and won't last much longer. Time to look for a new 2 way diff. :(

With setbacks like this, I am having doubts of making the dyno tuning day come July. :(

Ok- time to move forward! So, in order to keep the new diff alive I will fix what I can to ensure proper function. I have recently replaced the front diff mount with a 'never break diff mount'. I'm planning to order new seals to keep oil within the new diff. What else should I do to prepair for the new diff? Would solid diff mounts make any difference in diff longevity?

I was involved in a collision this morning. An old lady made a left turn and somehow neglected to see a bright red sports car heading towards her. There is a significant amount of damage to the front of my car with the brunt of the damage done by the passenger side. Suffice to say, the car is totaled. :crying:

My hand is now forced to move on beyond the FC. I will defiantly get another FC when the time is right, but for now I'm car shopping.

I'll have pictures posted later of course.

Sorry to hear Clayton :( You're not alone. JTO was involved in a collision just yesterday...

I hope you have better luck with your condo purchase :)

Cheap replcement.
 

Sorry to hear about the collision.

I have an 88 that began its life as an NA, then had a TII installed and then removed (three different TII engines and they were all bad). The body is straight but needs painting. It still has a TII stock in-dash boost gauge. Aluminum NA hood (needs paint and sanding). No tranny, no engine. Crap tires and wheels. Interior is marginal but all there. Manual window regulators. I'm tired of storing it and will sell it for $300.

Hoofhearted, thanks for the offer, but I'm going a different route at this point in time.

The FMIC took the brunt of the damage up front, while the Corksport lip nearly was unscathed. The only thing on the lip that broke was a mounting tab. The chassis is defiantly not in good shape, so that is a complete loss.

As stated before, here several pictures:

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/1379/dscn3920er9.jpg
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6770/dscn3922bf0.jpg
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/8954/dscn3923ux1.jpg



At this point in time, I'm looking into some cars, and will test drive a few of em tomorrow afternoon. So, I'm looking into a car that seats 4 people fairly comfortably, with either 2 or 4/5 doors. The top of my list is a '98 M3 at this point in time. I'm also considering a Subaru 2.5RS, Rx-8, Mazda 6 (perhaps Mazdaspeed 6), Mazda 3.

Clayton, sorry to see this. I hope you are okay.

I am doing well- just a sore neck, but I'll survive. Michelle; what do you think of the '97- '98 M3's?

wow that is way worse than mine what are your plans for it and im sorry about what happend that sucks

So sorry to hear this Clayton, take care!