im interested in something you did here. youve got 2 extra little stud-like things on your manifold, to go through your mani-turbo gasket. what are those? it looks like a really good idea. i keep blowing the gasket there, and have actually replaced it 4 times now. (and yes, i used copper clad locknuts, torqued everything really well, etc.)

 

That is reffered to as "pinning" and is simply to precisely locate the manifold, gasket and turbo housing in relation to eachother.

I pinned my intake and exhaust manifolds after I ported and port matched so there is no flow disruption from a port missmatch.

If not done carefully this could actually cause more reliability issues as if drilled wrong there is a great chance of a crack forming where it is done and if the pin material and clearance is wrong there is a chance for cracking from expansion as well.

In the case of the above the pinning was carefully done and will help reliability a tad simply because the middle divider between ports is so thin now that without precise location a missmatch would leave even less gasket interface.

To address the problems you are having I would first inspect the pieces carefully for cracks and if none are found have the manifold and the turbo housing machined flat on all sealing surfaces as well as using a new gasket and lock nuts as you did before.

I think the Stage 2 is going to be perfect for Auto-X and the street for you. I know I would be ALOT faster at Auto-X with about 100 less peak horsepower and a little more power below 3,000rpm like you could have with BNR Stage 2.

Could probably downshift to 1st for slow sections and not have to navigate the course looking out the sidewindow and rear view mirror.

 

Divorced wastegate/exhaust FTW!

 

cool man. its good to know that there are still really cool people on this forum.
ill have to see about getting the manifold side manchined flat, cant do the turbine side, since i just sent the turbo out to BNR. as for the gasket this time, one of the nuts actually walked a stud out, so any ideas on that?
and for the auto-x-ing, yeah, i usually go down to 1st on the tight corners anyway, so im hoping that i can keep the boost up like im used to, and the turbo will still be really good for low end power.

 

i was looking back at the posts about spool.. well i tried it, and it looks like my stage 3 gets full boost at 3krpm

the new rtek 2.1 chip came out, ill be installing/tuning it next week.. I will then finally have it dyno'd

 

Nice!

How much boost is full boost for your set up?

 

There has GOT to be more people running BNR turbos out there. I am interested in seeing a dyno of a stage 2 with the 360 bearing, running max "efficient" boost. What is max "efficient" boost for a stage 2? I have meth injection so maybe I could even push that a few more psi.

 

15 psi is the max on the stage two and I also have the 360* upgrade. Waiting for the weather to get better to finish the car.

 

ill get mine dynoed as soon as i get it back from brian.
its a stage 2 with the 360* thrust bearing, so ill let you know what i find.

 

well thats at about 8 psi for now, but i only tried it in 3rd gear. im paranoid, didnt want to put too much stress on the engine at that low of rpm heheh. Im sure it would spool better in higher gears. This is with 3" exhuast, 3" TID, stockport s4 block, ported manifolds, fmic with custom 2.5" piping. the piping is really straight, only 4 major bends

 

awesome guys! I can't wait to see the results and your reviews!

 

After the tune this Friday with Chris and Ari, I will post numbers on semi-built motor, PFC, and BNR stage 4.

 

PLEASE DO! Please post all the other mods, (down pipe size, ect.) and if at all possible, could you get a video of your boost gauge + rpm at the same time so we can see when and how hard boost hits?

THANKS!!

 

I do plan to document it as much as possible without being in Chris's way too much.

Lots of mods to the car, but I wasn't ready to go with a full upgraded turbo setup.
RX-8 shaft and stat gears, race bearings, stock intakes, ported exhaust. Walbro, para-rail, 720's, 890's, 1:1 FPR, all SS. No filter (on dyno), Greddy 2 row w/rspec core, custom piping, 2 bov's, P&P TB. No accesories, gilmer drive pulleys. RB downpipe. Those seem like the most relevent mods. I should be posting up this Friday night if all goes well. Unless of course I feel like avenging my car with the local V8 kids.

 

Well it looks like my numbers will have to wait until next week. I postponed my tuning session until next Friday or Saturday. I will make sure to post numbers as soon as possible.

 

*depressed*

 

i got my 2.1 chip installed and tuned. too bad i blew out a coolant seal today LOL. Im still going to try to get it dynoed next week anyway.. WOT through 3rd and 4th gears makes my coolant recovery tank overflow

 

how many miles on the motor?

 

around 70k miles, its an RA rebuild that has been abused by previous owners, im surprised it lasted this long.. i already sent a spare s4 TII block off for a streetport and rebuild about a month ago, so i should have some before and after results on the porting too. although im not completely sure my current block is on stock ports, its what i was told. im also curious as to the shape of the housings, everybody says RA seals tears them up. we'll see how bad 70k miles looks

 

70k is not bad at all in my book, hell i plan on rebuilding/refreshing every 2 yrs as long as nothing happens

 

I've confirmed with Chris on a Friday tune. Hopefully, I'll be posting numbers Friday night, maybe even track numbers.

 

This is what Im gonna do once I get a bit more cash!

I dunno what stage... Or anything... I just started pushing all of this through my head in the past month...

 

i had mine dyno'd tonight. heres the results on blown coolant seals LOL:



this is running off the wastegate, so only about 7 psi, full boost by 3400 rpm, 255 whp. i know its a little lean in up top, still in the process of getting the tune dialed in. I was expecting a little more, especially since the stock turbo did 250whp at 9 psi.. i want to get an EBC next and start turning up the boost!

Mods:
3" RB exhaust
3" TID
RTEK 2.1
750cc pri
1000cc sec
walbro FP
FMIC, 2.5" in piping

 

wow very nice. Thank you very much for sharing your results. For running at stock boost (7ish) those numbers are awesome!

Isn't the rule for rx7 turbos, every 1 psi = 8 rwhp gain? Turning it up to 14 psi should net you an easy ~300 rwhp.

Now other than your results, what do you think of the turbo in general? How does it feel compared to the stock turbo? Spool characteristics? Is it a nice smooth progressive upgrade in power, or a kick in the pants at 5000 rpm? Is it about the same, just you have the ability to turn up the boost past 9 psi?

Thanks
~Tweak

 

i havent notice much of a difference from the stock turbo, the power feels very progressive, not peaky at all. but that is probably just because im only at stock boost

I had it dynod on the stock turbo in the summer.. the boost peaked at 9psi around 5.5krpm and dropped to 6psi by redline. the stage 3 was steady as a rock at 7psi. im sure the blown coolant seal reduced the power some too. the overflow tank went from almost empty to 3/4 full after 3 runs LOL