USMCFieldMP's Turbo Build Thread

[USMCFieldMP]

Posted here by request. Th initial build is done... but now I'm starting to upgrade everything, since I got quite the large pay increase this year.

Here's how it started:

01/30/2009 - Started tearing the SS apart tonight.

Started by removing the front bumper, intake, S/C, Alternator, Intake Manifold, I/C Pump, and stock heat exchanger. Then I moved on to the exhaust side of

the car. I removed the downpipe, but then got held up trying to remove the cat-back, since all the clamps seem to be rusted tight and it won't pull apart.

I was hungry, so I called it a night.

I'm wanting to route my intercooler piping around the engine... so that I don't have pipes going over the engine, etc. But I'm not exactly sure how to do

it. Looking at it from under the car, it looks like it would be a tiiiiiight squeeze.

Last night I bought a Precision SCM-5031E (450hp capable 50 Trim w/ DSM Style Hotside), a DSM Style O2 Housing, 60# Injectors, and an LS4 Throttle Body.


In the next few days I'll be picking out/up an HKS SSQ BOV, an intercooler, intercooler piping, and my Oil Lines/Fittings. Gonna order the Vulcan Intake

Manifold and Vulcan Long-Tube Turbo Manifold from OTTP. I'm debating on how to run my exhaust. I don't wanna have all the twists and turns that the stock

cat-back runs, so I think that I am just going to shoot it straight back, do the first 90* turn, and then have it exit in front of the Rear Tire. I'll

probably throw a big resonator in there to quite it down a little. Open to suggestions on the cat-back though.

- - - - -

01/31/2009 - Started by taking MAP Gas to the cat-back. After a couple of heat sessions, it came apart nice and easy. Then dropped the rear bar

to remove the springs and took out the front struts. Taking the front struts apart was giving us a hell of a time, so I moved on to misc shit on the car.

I removed the factory boost controller, then removed all of the hose for the PCV System. I then moved onto the Exhaust Manifold, which was pretty simple,

until I forgot about that one lonely bolt all the way down past Cylinder #4. But it only took me about 2 minutes to realize that something was still

holding it on. Haha. Went to put the Boost Gauge/Pillar back in the car, but it looks like the tiny little ball piece that slides on the end of the vacuum

line in the gauge is MIA... so I'll either have to come back and find it later, or just buy a new piece.

That's it for tonight.

Looks like I need new Sway Bar Links. The boot on this one got fucked, looks like both sides are toast actually.

I wiped the inside out with a napkin a little bit and the shine of the port started coming out again.

- - - - -

02/04/2009 - This just arrived...

- - - - -

02/11/2009

Waaaaaaaay too short... Doesn't fill up the mouth at all. For some reason, when I ordered it... I thought that 27" was gonna be A LOT

bigger.

HORRIBLE PowderCoating job... but it was free... and it doesn't look that bad on the front unless you look really closely. The back lips are

appalling.

You'll notice he didn't get the inside the Lug Nut area very good.

Look closely... you'll see it.

- - - - -

02/13/2009 - 2.2 Alt and Tensioner showed up, along with my HKS SSQV and 60# Injectors.

Still need to order Oil Lines and Manifolds. Hallman Pro Boost Controller

I need to find a connector/pigtail for the 2.2L Alt still though...

 

[USMCFieldMP]

- - - - -

03/11/2009 - Side Exit showed up today... no sign of the Manifolds yet. I just emailed them again.

- - - - -

03/31/2009 - Mani's are here... can't say that I've too happy about them though. They do have good welds though.


Notice the hole in the middle of the flange... it leads to nothing, but the gasket. It is where the PCV Valve is on the 2.2L's & 2.4L's... but there is

nothing under it on my car, except for gasket. And there is no accommodation for the 2.0's PCV Valve (or what ever that is called).

Great powerdercoating job...

There are a lot of little bumps all over it... like it was powdercoated over dirty metal or something. They look like rust bubbles all over it... only

black.

How do you not notice something like this before shipping it out?

This doesn't look safe/healthy/good. I suppose I'll need to dremel those off.

And the beautiful Turbo Manifold... Beautiful piece. Not any real complaints here.

This weld looks like it'll be a restriction.

Aaaaaaaaand my ARP bolts don't fit. Not only is the hole too small for the bolt to even go through (even from the bottom), but the placement of the flange

in relation to the piping doesn't allow them to go in. I think that boring the bolt holes out a little bit will probably help with that though.

The intake mani is for a 2.2L or 2.4L, without a doubt. I am almost 100% sure of that. The TB Flange is only 2.5" wide... opposed to the 3.5" that he said

he would make for my LS4 TB.

Oh, there were also some runs in the black. I didn't think you could have runs when you powdercoated something.

- - - - -

04/11/2009 - I'm pretty much fed up with Vulcan right now. I don't think there is ONE positive thing that I could say about the intake manifold

that I have received, and maybe one or two positive things can be said about the Exhaust Manifold.

After the complaint email... I didn't hear back from them until I emailed them again at the beginning of this week. The only solution they offered me was

for me to send it back in to get fixed.

I went to put it on today... the bolts that hold the I/M to the head won't even fit through the holes on the I/M Flange. ANOTHER strike.

So, I'm having to painstakingly bore out the holes on the Turbo's flange (VERY Time consuming) and now I'm going to have to bore out the holes on the I/M

Flange. I just don't like dropping $500 on a manifold, only to have to put a good two or three hours worth of labor into making it fit.

- - - - -

04/15/2009 - Bored out the holes on the Turbo flange tonight. Threw the new gasket on the head and put the Exhaust Mani on... that was a pain

in the ass which took an hour. I don't think the holes on the flange match up quite right or something... I dunno. It took A LOT of wiggling to get it to

go on. I didn't 100% torque it down yet, since I figure I'll have to pull it off at least one more time for something stupid.

Went to put the turbo on and the Compressor Housing Outlet hit the Steering Rack, so I rotated the Comp Housing about 15* (So that it was pointing

straight down). Then the Comp Housing Outlet was hitting the Engine Cradle. So it was apparent that I wasn't going to be able to route the piping AROUND

the engine like I wanted to... so I rotated the Comp Housing 180* (So it is point straight up)... but now the internal wastegate is hitting water pump.

Soooo... it looks like I am going to have to order a Tial Wastegate and a new O2 Housing. Thursday night I'm hopefully gonna bore out the I/M's bolt holes

so that I can bolt it up. I've also gotta bore out the TB Flange and de-burr the vacuum ports.

- - - - -

04/17/2009 - Got a lot done tonight.

Tightened down the bolts on the Turbo Manifold. I tried the turbo with the Internal Wastegate on it again... saw that it was actually hitting the plate

that the Wastegate Actuator was attached to, so I ground that down... and it came a lot closer to mounting. But then the WGA really did hit the water

pump. It is seriously a cunt-hair of a difference. If I could hammer in the side of the WGA just a LITTLE BIT... it would fit. But I don't think that

would be a good idea. SOOO... I took off the WGA again, and then put a jack stand under the turbo and clamped the Turbo onto the T/M with Vice Grips to

see how see sits. Determined that I'm gonna have to run a screen on it, because there is no way I can get a filter on there. I think I figured out how

I'll be running my I/C Piping. Still need to remove the Windshield Washer fluid to be 100% sure on it though.

Once that was on there... I saw that there was no way that I could run a DSM O2 housing and have an exhaust, as the exit of the O2 housing was even with

the top of the engine cradle.

I also bored out the holes for the Mounting Bolts on the Intake Manifold. I outlined the inside of the Throttle Body on the Flange... was gonna start

boring that out... but it was getting late, and my forearms were already on fire... so I called it a day.

- - - - -

04/21/2009 - Tonight was rather productive...

-Routed I/C Piping
-Mounted and paint I/C black (is 99.8% invisible with that lower SS Grille!)
-Put springs on Front Struts then mounted Struts
-Shaved Rear Trans mount so that O2 Housing will fit
-Attached the Oil Return bulkhead fitting
-Re-attached the Oil Pan

When routing the piping, we realized that I needed a little bit more piping and some more Silicone connectors... sooooo, I just ordered up the silicone,

along with a 7" pipe that has the BOV Flange already on it. So I don't need that welded on anymore.

I also ordered my wastegate and pretty much all the exhaust pieces that I'll need to have my Downpipe fabbed up. Now I just need to find a fabricator...

and quick... then she'll pretty much be done.

- - - - -

05/06/2009 - Ordered Studs tonight, to mount my Intake Mani with... and a throttle body spacer to mount the TB on. That'll be nice since it

comes with a post on it to spray Meth or Nitrous. Maybe I'll use that in the future some time.

- - - - -

05/08/2009 - Just got back from the garage. We bleed the one brake that I took off the car to paint, wired in the new Alternator Plug, put on

the 41" belt, attached the piping to the intercooler, and a few other things. Bought a foot of high temp hose for the Oil Drain and some screen to cover

the Turbo Inlet.

Studs and OTTP TB Spacer should be arriving today. Then we'll mount up the Manifold and TB. Beyond that... We just need to route vacuum lines and get the

Downpipe fabbed up tomorrow.

- - - - - - Got most everything done on it. Manifold is mounted, Brake Booster and Pressure Sensor are Hooked up. Needed much

larger tubing for the MAP, so I'll need a larger fitting as well. Gotta go to Lowe's here soon.

- - - - -

05/10/2009 - My beauty... we haven't tried to stick it under the car since welding on the Wastegate Recirc, it'll be F'ing tight.

- - - - -

05/11/2009 - Pretty much have everything done. I still need to finish bolting up the wastegate, which might prove to be a large PITA, but I'm

sure I can get it done.

Other than that, all I have to do is put in the rest of my piping, throw the spacer and TB on, Oil her up, and then start her up. Tuner will be here on Tuesday (05/12/2009).

- - - - -

05/14/2009 -

Throttle Body Spacer is here. Gonna start it up today. Still need tuned to drive it around though.

 

[USMCFieldMP]

- - - - -

05/14/2009 - (This is after tuning) In typical fashion... we had many problems.

First... it kept going starting in Limp Mode... eventually we figured out that the LS4 TB was bad... the butterfly just wouldn't move.

Second... the belt squealed like a mother fucker. We figured out that it was the belt rubbing on the bottom of where the old tensioner bolted on. I quickly removed the Alt, Alt Bracket, took an angle grinder to it... put it all back together.

Third... belt still squealing. The 2.2 Tensioner was at an angle causing it to jump to be on the outer most teeth of the A/C, but the inner most teeth of the Crank. We sort of fixed that... somehow.

Fourth... I have a vacuum leak. I don't think its the piping... because I still hit boost and it holds that boost well. I think its on the Manifold somewhere... but we can't be sure tonight. I don't need cruise control... I just have to take my foot off of the gas and it'll maintain MPH. When I push in the clutch... RPM's rise a little and then hang. When the vehicle comes to a stop... they'll hang a little bit, then finally drop down. It used to idle real blotchy and it was throwing a "Supercharger Inlet Pressure Sensor Low Performance" Code... so I swapped out that vacuum hose. Haven't deleted the code yet to see if it went away yet though... the idle doesn't bounce around anymore though. It still rev hangs like a mother fucker.

FIFTH... Oil Leak. Either where the Oil Return connects to the Turbo... or at the pan. I think its on the turbo. I dunno, gonna jack up the car tomorrow to find out.

- - - - -

First pull. 20* Timing, Car hit 8psi. Not that fast... but it moved out. Stopped, turned fun knob 2 full turns.

Second pull. 20* Timing, Car hit 10psi. It moved out this time, quite well. IDC's at 60%, IIRC. That's when we got it back to the garage and noticed the Oil Leak. Threw two quarts in it, turned the fun knob some more, and drove home for the night. Tom left, thank ya much.

I couldn't resist myself on the way home... Brake Boosted in 2nd gear @ 40mph... car RIPPED... broke the tires loose when it full boost (IDK when that is, so don't ask! Haha, I'm too used to the VW so I'm staring at the road). Car hit 15psi and just ROLLED OUT. Broke up a little bit up top. Got it home... popped the hood because the battery light came on. Belts gone. Turn the Fun Knob DOWN one turn.

Gotta figure some shit out tomorrow. It'll be a long ass day.

-----

Got most everything figured out.

I haven't found the vacuum leak yet... and I'm pretty sure that it is post-TB... and its causing the HKS to screw up and Compressor Surge. Sounds Cool. Does Harm.

-----

Put a much smaller, tight as hell vacuum line on the BOV... still chatters.

Think I found the vacuum leak... seem to be coming from where the I/M meets the head.

-----

Bought and installed a Tial BOV.

-Compressor Surge is gone.
-Idle AFR dropped to low-mid 14's.
-And the car now pulls like an even harder raped ape.

Hopefully the non-opening HKS didn't **** up the turbo. Don't want something to break just yet, need this car this coming week. Haven't really taken it past 5 or 6k in 3rd. Next weekend is my last with the car... I will be pushing it to the limit... and probably on 15psi... not 12psi like I am now.

-----

Whooped the holy living hell out of a newer M3 while being dragged down by a 220lbs passenger, 150lbs of USMC gear in the trunk, and a full tank of gas.

Guy in my unit has an M6 6.0L GTO... racing will happen sometime this week. :guns:

-----

That's basically it... more to come from the parts department.

 

[Cobalt Tom]

Niiiiice!!!

 

[Jn2]

build looks good, except for that intake manifold we have a new guy(well not so new anymore) doing the coating now, looks 100x better than the one who did yours...that was not the first time that guy made vulcan take back a part for bad coating...had to replace him....and the inside of the manifold should of been shaven off...i know there is a crappily painted manifold sitting at the shop, was that the one pictured that you returned? ive been contemplating selling that at a used/defective product just to get rid of it...

 

[CBodnar]

badass and i give u a lot of credit for doing that shit yourself.

 

[Cobalt Tom]

build looks good, except for that intake manifold we have a new guy(well not so new anymore) doing the coating now, looks 100x better than the one who did yours...that was not the first time that guy made vulcan take back a part for bad coating...had to replace him....and the inside of the manifold should of been shaven off...i know there is a crappily painted manifold sitting at the shop, was that the one pictured that you returned? ive been contemplating selling that at a used/defective product just to get rid of it...

ill start the bidding at 5$

 

[BlackCobalt707]

how much is the manifold and wats wrong wit it?

 

[Jn2]

how much is the manifold and wats wrong wit it?

if its the one he has pictured than the paint is crappy, and the inside needs to be shaven, which we will probably do at the shop anyway, but need to make sure its the one it wasnt a sale made thru me, so im not sure on what happend thru out that whole transaction, but i know there was a crappily painted manifold at the shop...which could be the one he returned to swap

 

[BlackCobalt707]

vulcan slippin wit their manifold?