The Project Pad

Nice solution! I fought with the same thing and wanted to create something like what you did here. Looking forward to seeing how the dyno likes it!

I like the clear top, nice touch

Oh wow, I didn't even realize it had the clear top. That's really cool.

If there is anything you can do to smooth the edge around the inlet there, it might really do a lot for you aerodynamically. Like putting a velocity stack there. I think the space it might take up could be worth the gain in attached flow into the inlet.

Yeah, that is a soft rubber boot that I hand cut with a razor blade. The final product will have the ugly welds cleaned up, Polydyn coated inside and out, and the rubber shaved to a low profile. That lip is what seals the box. You insert the boot from the inside and slip it over the inlet. I guess I could make some sort of smoothed velocity stack made of metal that would cap the rubber boot inside the box. Good idea. And then I could send it to Jeff to have it flow benched.

I've pulled the air box, turbo, manifold, downpipe, charge pipe, and a short section of the exhaust to take to Polydyn to get coated but I can't break loose the hot side housing so they can do inside and out. If I can't get it seperated, I might just ask them if they can do just the outside of the turbine housing. I backed off all of the bolts with the clamp washers and sprayed some WD-40 along the seam of the mating surface and the center section. Still no luck. I don't want to risk damaging anything getting rough with it. Worst case scenario, I will have to get s blanket for it.

They get pretty tight. It's always cringe worthy getting them off when they're really stuck. On diesel turbos, I've been known to use sledge hammers lol

The coatings help but it's just not the same as a physical barrier to block the radiant heat. To get the hotside off, just stick a mapp or propane torch in the hotside inlet for a few minutes. It will loosen up.

I got the hot side off. I went to a turbo shop and they showed/let me do it and made sure I didn't mess anything up. It was just a vice of some sort that held the cold side about an 1/8" off of the table and then I used a small ball hammer to give short/fast blows in a star pattern. They said when it goes back together use a little anti-seize. Now I get the hot side coated inside and out. Polydyn said its a military spec thermal barrier coating and is good up to 3000 degrees ferenheit and stable up to 2400 degrees. It is there "titanium ceramic" version which is s little darker in color but works the best. They strip the surface, bring the metal up to 300 degrees, apply the material, and then bake it in. They say they get it into the "pores" of the metal as compared to just spraying on some cold applied coating that will easily scratch or wipe off. I was told a two week lead time, so that gives me time to make a fan shroud for the two fans on the radiator.

Another question... Should I have an exhaust manifold gasket? When I pulled my exhaust manifold, I noticed that there is no gasket. It is just stainless manifold flush up against the aluminum head. What caught my eye was that there are two exhaust leaks where it has burned two black spots into around the exhaust ports. I'm afraid that it will start eating at the head. Do you think there should have been an exhaust manifold gasket installed between the header? If I need one, what is a good quality one. Right now it appears to have some sort of silicone in some spots.

Yeah, use an aan manifold gasket. Use silicone on the turbo flanges instead of crappy t4 gaskets.

I second what Jim says. You definitely had a leak there.

Lol. Yes. Gasket fer sure

check the manifold flange for flat....

I'm working on keeping the engine running cooler so I got the whole exhaust side and intake box coated and am now working on the radiator and fan situation. Everything I mess with turns out to be some kind of issue. The fans don't seem to be pulling the volume of air I believe they should be. There is no top air dam from the front core support to the top of the radiator and there is no radiator shroud for the two fans, also no foam between the fender and side of the radiator to prevent the hot air from just continuously recirculating under the hood. The worst part is that when these fans were installed, they were just mounted flush up against the backside of the radiator and have ruined this radiator. The fan was able to chew it's way through 7 rows of the radiator I have now found the coolant leak. I guess now I am going to try to find a radiator shop locally that can undo this disaster.

Anyone got a suggestion for getting the radiator repaired and getting a fan shroud made for the fans? ( I have no metal brake, no gig machine, or know how to tig aluminum)

You could make a composite shroud. Basically build a frame from something (anything), drape/stretch fabric over it, and then apply matt fiberglass (or carbon if you're feeling like a baller) and resin, then some layers of biaxial glass/fiber, and wet with resin until you feel that you've built up sufficient thickness for structural purposes. It does require some skill, but it's not anything that the average person couldn't accomplish given enough patience and time.

This was the cause of the torn up radiator... Must be a cheap fan. The fan sits in the shroud off-cambered. It's like the housing plastic has lost its shape because it was only attached at 3 corners. It's sad that I have about 5 miles of playing with the car and I'm dealing with crap like this. I feel like I will never get the bugs out and get it on the road.

I looked up my part number on the fan to check for brand or quality and I don't suggest anyone getting these...

:(

Seriously?

Try the fan man website if you're looking for spals by size or cfm

These fans were recommended by a few over on QuattroWorld (they make one that fits great into B2 side rads): http://ffdynamics.com/products

Thanks for the info. I think I'm going to throw theses $369.00 piece of sh*t ($37.00) fans in the trash and spec out some quality/high cfm fans. Im almost finished with my shroud and I'm going to see what the largest size I can feasibly mount.

http://the-fan-man.com/

Link for easy access. I've bought from them many times, solid company.

I built this motor to run and I am curious and planned on running the car up to 30 pounds of boost. It's only been tuned to 25 psi and I am really wanting to take it to 30psi. Now that I am starting to get the issues resolved, that will be my next goal. Does anyone know if I need stiffer springs to build more boost. I tested my BOV while it was cold and it starts opening the valve at 18 psi and is fully open by 25. What should I do to push it to 30?

[youtube]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XS2FBezLxpc[/youtube]

Do you know what your shaft speed was on that tune? That may be why it was only tuned to 25 psi. You definitely don't want to overspin that EFR. Do you mean wastegate above? Blow off valve should not be opening at all under boost.

Are you internal wastegate?

You can't really tell what pressure you need to run until it's on the car. You'd have to apply the pressure to the bottom of the valve itself to gain any knowledge of the situation, but there is a factor of flow involved too, so really you can't know what to do with the spring until you test it on the car. Generally speaking though, the spring pressure for the wastegate should be at least half of the max boost you plan to run. Open it up to see what spring it has inside.