The Project Pad

I'm new to the project pad, but I have been lurking here and motorgeek for a while trying to gather information.
I've owned the car for a few years now, and purchased the engine last year. I finally am now able to work on the swap.


I've been kinda lurking, trying to learn more about i5 and turbo systems in general on these cars since its going to be my first boosted build.
I'm not 100% on all of these items, but this is the new list of everything I believe I need to make this car run. Any help/comments would be extremely helpful since the majority of the people here know a lot more than me.

(general list)
I decided on VEMS plus I heard that EFI Express offers a mostly complete flying lead harness for $400. Still have to contact them to see if that is a real thing
turbo inlet hose
n75/boost control valve
3 bar FPR (assuming i start off with a 3b tune)
downpipe from iroz/efi/034
size appropriate intercooler
intercooler hoses/piping
injectors (still not sure which ones)

I do plan on upgrading the turbo quickly after the engine runs and I get more familiar with the tuning aspect.
Since my end game goals arent over 400whp I was considering staying with a k26 style turbine housing and keeping the stock manifold. or getting the "7a manifold" and run a t3 style turbo.

If i kept the stock manifold i was leaning towards the smaller Precision turbo with the k26 flange

I hope the knowledgeable community and help guide me and not cause me to make any massive mistakes

Welcome!

EFI Express can definitely help you out with that. I think you're on the right track to try out an H1C for a budget build (as we discussed in PM). The only problem with it is that you will need a T3 manifold and a custom downpipe. However, the cost of those items should be absorbed by the cheap price of the Holset. Also, an H1C/HX35 is the better choice for 400 awhp compared to the others you've mentioned.

Good luck, and I look forward to seeing this progress. You'll probably need a transmission other than the stock CQ one too by the way!

I planned on getting an 01e after the engine swap which shouldnt be too difficult of a task. The stock 7A has almost 220k miles and makes no power after 3k rpm, so I kind of want a more reliable engine. It's not like I plan on taking it to the drag strip or track...yet.

small update.
this week I'm going to put in my order to Marc and start getting parts coming my way. I decided to hold off on upgrading the turbo since I'm on a slight budget and this car definitely needs new tie rods/ball joints.

I plan on just keeping the k26 and aan injectors for now and upgrading later this year or next.

With the K26 and a good tune in that car you will have a pretty quick ride. Definitely night and day difference between that and the stock power.
That and you'll have a good chance to learn the ins and outs of tuning the VEMS before you put in the expensive parts.
Do you have the engine in the car ?

not yet, I have to work on it outside, and since this is Ohio the weather goes from 60 to 20 with an inch of snow every other day.

I also wanted to make sure I did all my research before I started it since I'm new to stand alone.
the only thing I need to double check is that I can still use the crank sensor on the transmission, I know a lot of people upgrade to the 60-2 flywheel sensor and what not, but I don't plan on touching the flywheel yet.
so that would make my primary trigger vr and the secondary trigger hall, since I plan on keeping the dizzy for now?

It was a very nice day outside,so I spent some time getting the engine ready to pull out.



Only spent a few hours and didnt get very far. These engine bays are extremely cluttered when they are stock.

I put in a decent sized order to Marc this week, and I also ordered some motor mounts from HPR (didn't see them in the efi store )
Also ordered some new coolant hoses so I can get rid of the aux cooler and bypass the heater core lockout.

My little catfish will have to keep me satisfied until I'm done with the cq

Finally had enough time to get the 7A yanked out.



Took a lot longer than I thought it would, I'm just used to working on vr6's and theres not 12 bolts holding the trans to the engine.


This weekend I'm going to work on getting the subframe removed and replacing all those degraded bushings.

Also got my beautiful downpipe from hank this morning, which was delivered by a slightly shady fedex dodge caravan


Does anyone know what size/thread the fuel lines were that ran to the AAN fuel rail? They are slightly smaller than the 7A's.

so I've been slowly trying to chip away at this project weather/work permitting.

I have a few questions I hope someone can help on out

1. what is the fuel line inlet size on the AAN fuel rail.
2. what is the fuel line size for the CQ 7A
3. Is there an aftermarket option for a coilpack to run the dizzy with VEMS?
4. Is there another place to get the stock wastegate gasket for a reasonable price?