Car all mapped. Discussed the cars useage etc whilst Andy fitted his kit onto the car.

Started off with the intention of later fitting a AVC-R so as to map at different boost levels. We used the Dawes as boost control and started off at 1bar. This was stepped up in stages to 1.4?bar. The only slight hitch was the bolt from the up-pipe sensor hole blew out...this was which swiftly sorted by Andy. We found that the turbo was tappering off to 1.2bar towards the top anyway (which we wasnt expecting), so the dawes was fine as a permanent boost controller. Car seemed to respond well and we stopped when the injectors got to 88%. Not sure on exact tech details but I'm sure Andy will fill us in.

As far as how the car drives....mid-range is ballistic up-to the gearchange @6000rpm. Will take some getting used to around corners etc but am VERY happy with the car.

One of my aims was to have all the bits fitted in one go and have it mapped all in one go without having to make improvements etc. I didnt think that this would be achieved as there always seems to be a problem of sort when it comes down to it. Am happy to say it all went very well thanks to:

AndyF: Top bloke, down to earth and wont try and sell you any bits you dont need. 1st class mapping

TweenieRob: for fitting all the parts for the project and setting them up. Invaluble to know.

John Banks, Carl, Peanuts, Graham, Steve, Fangoria, Harvey, Floyd & Dyney...for the input and knowledge which has brought the car upto the spec it is now. I hope I havent missed anyone and apologies if I have.

RR is next weekend although I'm not too fussed about what it makes on the rollers. Am hoping that a a run @ Santa Pod/SSO will be more of a measure of the cars performance.

Will get some pics uploaded as soon as I get the chance.

Am grinning from ear to ear

Bob

 

Sound great Bob


Had a little play on Friday at a mates factory

New undertray.
I have cut it to the same size as I had previously trimmed the std one too but opened out the turbo vent further.



Duct to smooth the air to through the scoop


I have fitted a 1.5" seal around the bottom of the undertray.
Will get pics of the seal soon

 

More pictures Bob. Great to hear that you're pleased with the result and as you say, the RR numbers aren't important but interesting anyway.

Dyney, that's the next job on the list - excellent. I will do the same with the scoop indertray and the scoop ducting.

F

 

Just discovered that there a fair bit of fresh oil splashed around the top of the g/box and underside of the i/c. Think it might be the I/C leaking but wouldnt have thought it would leak that much oil?


Dyney: undertray is looking good. I've just done a temp job on mine at the min with foam. May well be looking to buy a undertray from you if you start production

Floyd: cant get any pics uploaded until the weekend.

Bob

 

It turns out that the gasket was leaking where the Y piece connects to the i/c.

For anyone planning on fitting a STi8 i/c.....after a day battling with the I/C yesterday here is what I found:

The Original STi pipework is too short and rigid. I had originally put my old Samcos on but found a leak at the gasket which connect the Y to the i/c. Also found that the pipe kept slipping off on boost occasionally. Its v tight to get the I/C in place but I found it helps to shorten the throttle-body pipe.

I ended up using all the STi pipework apart from the last bit that connects to the turbo. For this I cut the old samco at the same point but leaving a bit more length and connected this. This makes it a much easier job and seems to hold tight. Havent had a chance to give it boost yet but it does seem well fixed. You may also find that the I/C knocks around a little (when reversing etc). I padded all the knock points I could notice with some foam.

Havent fitted any brackets (as yet).


Bob

 

Blast! Bloody i/c pipe keeps coming off...the motorway is not the best place to try and sort it....particularly when big rigs are blasting past

Is beginning to wind me up...need to find a solution. Maybe the angle of the turbo cover isnt right or something.

Bob

 

i always rotate my cover a bit to help me fit the standerd IC anyway mate, makes the job a lot easier IMO

rotated it anticlockwise while looking towards the windscreen.
i had a problem with my samco not qute fitting properlly, sorted it out a treat, it was always the bottom edge that popped of, all has been well for a while now

 

I had the same problem with my stock set up Bob. I made sure the turbo outlet was completely clean of oil and I made sure the jubilee was really tight. Another option is laquer apparently. You spray it on and put the hose on before it dries - not tried it though...

F

 

Sticky: yes, it used to slip off the bottom with the Samcos. Now with my Scamco hose (patent pending ) its coming off the middle.

cant be easy to rotate the cover whilst still on the car (taps hammer in hand) ?

F: Might have to just try again (and again) until I get a good fit. Not sure about the laquer, but can always give that a go if things get desperate.

Not much fun driving the car lately....everytime I hit the loud peddle I'm thinking the pipes are going to blow off (which they do daily) or the up-pipe bolt is going to fly out( happened twice) or worse still the gearbox is going to break (sweepstake anybody ).

 

Oh the joys of modding

F

 

Finally got some pics uploaded:

Porting the turbo:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/...ngtheturbo.jpg

Turbo all wrapped up....note that the flanges are also wrapped:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/...lwrappedup.jpg

SX Reg fitted:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/..._BOB/SXReg.jpg

APS CAK...very tight fit:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/...Sliveshere.jpg

Temp undertray (Graham©) I went a little too far:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/...aundertray.jpg

Oil leaking from the I/C:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/...kingfromic.jpg

Oil in the throttlebody:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/...rottlebody.jpg

Oil in the i/c:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/...ntercooler.jpg

....and plenty of this:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/...lotsofthis.jpg

Bob

 

At last some pictures from Bob

Should you wrap the central bearing cover on the turbo?
OMG not seen that much oil in an i/c before. Do you not have a catch can yet or is there a bearing leak problem on the turbo?
Lol at the blood...

F

 

Have just wrapped the hotside onwards. What do you mean by central bearing cover?

No catch can yet (or re-routed breathers). Will do the re-route mod on the weekend. Maybe it didnt help that the gasket on the i/c was leaking?




Bob

 

that's a fair bit of oil! looks too much for breathers

 

The pic was taken tilting the oil out of the i/c. is not full of oil to that level.

maybe the pic isnt representative?

Bob

 

Bob, there's plenty of people more qualified to comment than me but that is a very unusual amount of oil to have had build up (i'm guessing) in under a day... A smear of oily grease on pipes etc is normal and perhaps even the odd drip - even that should vanish by removing the breather tie-ins on the inlet. What did the original intercooler look like when you took it off? If it was clean the problem could most likely be isolated to the turbo or at least something caused by the mods you've fitted.

With regards the TMIC, i'm sure some sort of brackets would help. They're there for a reason when they come from the factory.

It doesn't make sense to me to wrap the compressor side of the turbo either, you want to lose as much heat as possible from that side - not keep it in.

PS: i'd be keeping an eye on engine oil levels...

 

Carl: Not sure as to the cause of the build up of oil. Original i/c was not too oily at all. Again I have had the i/c off again today and have only done 100 miles since cleaning it out and again there is same qty of oil present.

Am thinking it is down to one of the following:

1.) Is down to the i/c having a leak
2.) Is down to the OE re-circ d/v not re-circ'ing due to a kink in the pipe
3.) Turbo seals gone (are these visable when changing covers? - Rob commented that the turbo was in v good nick)
4.) Breather pipes routed wrong
5.)?

Dont quite understand what you mean by not wrapping the compressor side.

Could the leak be coming from these gaps (which appear to be a little bigger than they should be).... http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/...ts_leaking.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/...aking_zoom.jpg

Bob

 

if you look at the picture properly you can see the compressor side isn't wrapped, i think the picture is a little deceiving as to what has actually been wrapped

 

Yes, its the hotside onwards which is wrapped

 

Bob

Looking at that oil, I'd make it a priority to re route your breathers. Then check again to see if that stops it. If not then you have a turbo problem.
Once this oil gets through the intercooler it has the effect of reducing the octane of the fuel, this will cause det and the ECU will pull timing to compensate.
In summary, if you don't sort it now, your car will start to slow down and be more likely to blow up !

Andy

 

FPMSL, the picture isn't deceiving - i am feckin blind. My bad, sorry.

Bob, don't you have a gasket you can borrow from your OE TMIC, or have you already done that? The gap doesn't look healthy but all the same the oil shouldn't be there to escape in the first place.

 

Bob, the oil isn't cased by a leaking TMIC or connections. Most likely to be the turbo I'm afraid as I can't imagine wrongly routed breathers would dump that much oil into the inlet pipe in such a short time. If you can check the breather or maybe route to a catch can then this may help. A quick check would be to stick a claen cloth down the inlet pipe towards the turbo and see how much oil is in there. If there is a lot then it's your breathers if not then the turbo is the culprit.

I wouldn't wrap the central part between the hot side and the cold side of the turbo. This is a cold part and needs to cool IMO. Only the hot exhaust comp cover should be wrapped.

F

 

Sounds like re-routing the breathers is top priority. A job for tommorow.

Are the turbo seals visable when the front cover is removed?

Have a couple of spare turbos if that does turn out to be the culprit.

Floyd: Its from the bolts/pipes onwards it wrapped. Dont think that covers the are you mention.

Thanks guys. Hopefully will get to the bottom of it sooner rather than later.


Bob

 

I have seen this problem before, if the filter doesnt flow very well A LOT of suction is present on the breathers.

Someone came to me with the same prob, pretty identical size filter to the APS (K+N).
Changing the filter sorted this straight away.

IMHO the APS filter is way too small.

Seal is not visible with the cover off but generally you will see some signs of oil inside the cover (looks like soot) of which there was none.
Deffo agree with Andy, oil is very good at loweriong octane and will do the combustion no good (or engine).

Have a look at the APS CAK, if the filter sucked in at all?

Rob

 

If that's the case Rob then "A quick check would be to stick a clean cloth down the inlet pipe towards the turbo and see how much oil is in there".

F

 

Discussed the suitability of the APS CAK at some length before fitting. The general consensus was that the filter was good beyond 400bhp and was recommended by Andy. The filter is a very tight fit it the wing. Will have a look at the filter tommorow.

I did clean and re-oil the filter and I used too much oil and it took lots of drying (ie it was dripping oil). Was the first time I have oiled the filter so I didnt know it was too much until it was too late. Not sure if this is a contributing factor or not?

Will re-routing the breathers solve the problem? Didnt get around to it today but its my planned job for tommorow.

Car is supposed to go on a RR on Sunday but not sure if thats such a good idea in its present state.

Bob

 

Will do that on weekend mate.

Bob

 

That IS a lot of oil. I thought mine was bad, but was just a smear in 12 months in comparision.
Get the mod done on the breather system, but Rob's idea on the filter sounds plausible and so easy to try;ie new filter and a big one too.

I would leave the RR alone TBH.

Graham.

 

Filter looks okay. Is obviously crammed into the wing but not out of shape.

Will be do breathers when I got home later.


Bob

 

Breather re-routing mod is all well and good, but you need to find why the breathers are carrying so much oil over { If this IS the route for the oil} ... either valves ( seats, guides, seals etc ) are leaking and putting combustion air pressure out of the cam cover breathers along with some oil or the rings are passing and pressurising the block so the crankcase breathers carry the oil in the breather air ... into the inlet / turbo and TMIC.



Did you say you're on a recirc dump valve now !!