Were all the nuts bults and fittings etc sent away to be Zinc coated?

What's the approximate cost of this please Martyn/Alan?

Hi Daz

It varies, depending on how many boxes I take over! I don't hold them to a quantity as they don't hold me to one..
I'd allow £60 plus vat for a full build's worth, not expensive when you consider the labour cost of cleaning and prepping that's saved. I can't bring myself to put a rusty bolt back in anywhere on an engine. The difference in finish makes it all worthwhile.

Well I collected my car with 52 miles on from Alan and Martyn in mid December. I was given instructions on the running in procedure and off I was sent.

With revs limited to 4500 and 0.5 bar boost, the car was hard work with either boost cut or running out of revs - but I managed the 400 mile journey back home with no dramas.

Over the Christmas period, I run the car in steadily, varying the revs / speeds and general cruising and working the 0.5 bar limit :)

500 miles in, I dropped the mineral oil and replaced. The oil, to my delight, was clear of metal chunks (small dots of metal as I expected). I gave Alan a call to book in for full mapping and we decided for Friday 4th January.

So last night, with 800 miles on the clock I set off down to Engine Tuner again.

I stayed over locally and was at the garage for 9.30AM this morning. The chaps set to work on changing the oil and filter to semi synthetic and relocated my Cal switch so it was in a usable place. A quick road test later and the car was strapped to the dyno.

Martyn was a top man, keeping us involved and up to date with what he was doing and what the next step was. I ended up with 5 maps in total:

1 x low boost map (1.1bar)
1 x mid boost map (1.3bar)
1 x max boost map (1.5 bar)
1 x safe any fuel map (0.5 bar)
1 x max boost with meth map (1.5bar)

The figures were getting better and better and in the end, I was left with a cracking car which pulls like crazy.

Low boost was 380bhp, mid was 410bhp and max was 478bhp.
With 16% meth mix, the car made a reasonable 510bhp and 485ft.lbs of torque.

We ended up going with the SC50 with both Martyn and Alan deciding that to make the power of the SC46 it'd be safer to do it with a bigger turbo but less boost. You'll be able to see (tomorrow) that it achieves full boost at about 3500RPM - there is no lag and it's perfectly drivable. Motorway driving is perfect now - just a squeeze in 6th and you're at full boost and tramming on!!.

I cannot thank the guys enough - I'll be back sooner rather than later to get the toucan and Syvecs sensor kit installed then I can have some faisafes for oil pressure / fuel pressure etc incase something fails and try and preserve the engine.

So my fully built 2.5 STI now feels complete and ultra strong. Roll on the track days now!! :D

Pukka!!! :thumb:

Superb build:thumb:I'm glad it worked out for you.

Final build was:

Mahle pistons with 0.025" overbore.
K1 rods
ACL Race bearings
RCM oil pump
RCM fuel pump
ARP head stud kit
Cosworth head gaskets
Fully overhaul the heads, and balance the assembly
New water pump
New cam belt
Scooby World SC50 billet turbo
Perrin FMIC and 3" hard inlet
RCM header and 3 bolt up pipe
Syvecs ECU
1000cc injectors
Air pump delete
Tumble valve modifications
Radiator
CC Clutch
3 port solenoid
Air temp sensor

Nice spec, 510bhp on tap now :). Who zinc coated the bolts if you dont mind me asking?

Bloody hell, that must have cost you a fair few £'s mate.
I know Perrin FMIC's alone are ridiculous money! Bet you're loving the car though :)

Great build Allan sure knows his stuff

Wow, impressive.

Wil 2.5 be safe at this ? Sounds very good results I say .

It's a fully built / forged 2.5 so the weak points have been removed.

We purposefully spec'd the bigger turbo so that we only need to run low boost to make the same power same as SC46 at 2.0 bar.

With the 2.5 being torquey, there's no lag under normal drivable conditions and when you're pushing it, the pull is just mental :)

Regarding the playing, speak to Alan (sure he'll be along soon). Believe a full build of bolts is about £60.

Not cheap but everything has been spec'd to be safe and to last.
Money spent = grin factor ;)

The blocks aint the best tho are they? Or is it only a prob when running more boost?

It's the pistons (rings specifically) and gaskets that tend to be the issue on the 2.5's.
The OEM pistons melt when they get too hot.
However, as the OP says, it's now got forged pistons along with further uprated internals, AND he's running lower boost so risk is so low it's daft!
Should make for a very reliable very well performing motor.

Nearly! The turbo is from Scoobyclinic of course.. :lol1:

Seriously, this build has been a pleasure from start to finish. You can't beat it when you meet someone who "gets" you, and understands where you're coming from with regards to quality. We've matched exactly what we were looking for, and that's down to the proper sort of business/customer relations.
Enjoy the car Lee! :thumb:

Just read through this. The workmanship on that build is just second to none. Its just pure quality

Doh - I am still tired from the looong day and now full of cold.
I shall amend it accordingly :)

Thanks again Alan :thumb:

I shall get some pictures of the complete car once I return from skiing, the finishing touches are what help make it :)

:thumb: Very nice mate

Wow, looks great.

Were items like the sump and the other piping around the engine new or just refurbished?

We refurbish all of it. We've worked out that you could waste more time in doing half a job than doing it all really well. For instance the water pipes, which can corrode quite badly. We blast clean them back to bare metal, which occasionally reveals thinning to the point of perforation. We thickly spray paint the good ones, and ditch the duff ones. It beats faffing about later on with water leaks!

Looks great, well worth the extra effort!