Winter Upgrades

[Martin0660]

I was going to post this into the "winter upgrade" thread, but figured I would start another and update as this went along ;) Last year for me was pretty much about getting the chassis where I wanted it. I needed the car to be predictabe, and repeatable, and really ran low(er) boost, and didnt worry too much about going fast to get it where I wanted it.

This picture made it all worth it for me ;)


And actually, this is exactly how I want the car to leave. It does that now, and I can adjust it as needed.



I'm very happy with what I got done there now, so now, I'm going to make some power :D

This winter, I'm switching to a header and the SC50 turbo I picked up last summer. It killed me to have this turbo around and not bolt it on, but stuck with the agenda for suspension. Beyond the header and turbo, I'm also going to do a little bit of head upgrades and move to a (much) bigger cam.

More pictures to follow.

[Martin0660]

Frankie helped me drag an old short block into my basement, threw and old head and valve cover on, and voila, mock up engine ;)

[97LaserRed]

thats really nice. i wish i could get my car to leave like that!! i cant wait to see what else you have coming for it. maybe this summer you can teach me sum tricks of the trade. im hoping to get a mid 13 sec time slip this year!!

[Martin0660]

Bolted the header up............




Nothing exotic on the header. This is one of the XS-Power SS units. Cheap, but will need modified for how i'm going. I will get all the braces welded up, and won't be using the external gate as set-up.

[Martin0660]

Dropped the turbo in place..........





Turbo is a sweet piece. It is a Precission SC50, TO4E 50 trim wheel in a 60 housing, .63 Stage III turbine housing. This will be super efficient with this new combo. Really should be able to get me where I want to go with still more headroom to grow (turbo will outrun my injectors).

[Rodeheaver's]

Looks good Bob, it makes me wanna build a 2.3 turbo...

[Martin0660]

As I mentioned, I'm not going to use the external gate as set-up on this header. Most of the guys runing this header have struggled with boost creep and lousy control with the placement. After seeing it first hand, it's clear why to me. The port is so near the one runner, at least two, if not three of the runners are not being vented well. This would likely work well with a tight turbine T3, but aint going to cut it with my new turbo.

My game is all about repaeatability, so I'm going to take a lesson from the Buick boys and just go with an internal gate with an adjustable rod. I will still be able to use a boost ontroller, plus this is a dual port piece, so I effectively can do rod adjustment, boost controller, plusa bleed set-up if needed to keep the boost spot on.

The actuator here is what i'm using, but the elbow in the pictures is just a stocker for mock-up. The real piece is on it's way to me and will be a full 3" v-band outlet.




You can see in the pictures, the wastegate rod will be real easy to access this way, it will be right along the turbo by the frame rail.

That's where i'm at now. Got it sort of mocked up, and a good game plan to get to the end. Need the real outlet to get here to start the downpipe, and need to get at the oil lines and such.

[Martin0660]

thats really nice. i wish i could get my car to leave like that!!

Like i said, I basically gave up a summer of trying to go fast to get it so that it leaves like I wanted it too. With only 140 cubic inches, it's got to be efficient ;) Anything you ever need help with let me know.

Looks good Bob, it makes me wanna build a 2.3 turbo...

lol, you don't need all that stress in your life. It's my hobby, but they can frustrate your ass off.

[turbo83coupe]

that header and turbo is straight up TurboFord porn!! It looks good Bob!! Gimme a call, I want to drool BTW, that short black has paid its dues!! Lots of passes on it :D And you were ahead of that blown transam when it gave up the ghost, I was there :D

[97LaserRed]

Like i said, I basically gave up a summer of trying to go fast to get it so that it leaves like I wanted it too. With ont 140 cubic inches, it's got to be efficient ;) Anything you ever need help with let me know.

hahaha will do ill need practice with my launch. thanks bob!

[Martin0660]

BTW, that short black has paid its dues!! Lots of passes on it :D And you were ahead of that blown transam when it gave up the ghost, I was there :D

Actually, this is the old Thunderbird shortblock, so even more passes ;) The "Trans AM" one is still in the garage.

Yeah, you where there, but a little way back :D

[turbo83coupe]

Actually, this is the old Thunderbird shortblock, so even more passes ;) The "Trans AM" one is still in the garage.

Yeah, you where there, but a little way back :D

yeah, I was real far back!! That was back in the days of like 15 second Frank and I was WELL into 5th gear and I will be pushing it to say you had 30 car lengths on me!! hahahahahha

[yeahloh95]

nice pics bob , i wonder if i can run the internal gate with my holset ? hmmm boost creep sounds like fun to me ....

[Martin0660]

i wonder if i can run the internal gate with my holset ?

Do you have an external gate? I have a new 38mm with v-band top I would let go cheap ;)

To your question, maybe, maybe not ;) I know it's not a direct answer, but that's the best I can offer. Guys have been more successful with the Holsets because the turbines are much tighter (more back pressure) thn what I'm running. My one buddy in particular has good boost control with the external gate I have, that's why I bought it before deciding to punt.

[Martin0660]

Just a few more random things.

I went with a Precission turbo because of they effectively are the only ones out there that make thier own turbine housing. All the rest are modified versions of the original Garrett castings. A few pics, hopefully you can see the extra size, cross section, and turbine wheel differences. I'm getting excited as turbine flow was the real bottleneck in my junk, that problem should be solved ;)

These are both .63 AR, the one in the front (bottom) is a stock Garrett casting.


You can see the difference in diameter of the housing, and the obviuos changes in wheel design.


I don't have it in hand yet, but ordered ATP's Ultimate gate for this combo. This will allow me to use a 3" V band connection for the down pipe, and should pose no restriction to flow ;) The way this will be set-up, I should be able to pop a turbo off in 15 minutes or less, and still could drop a stock style one on the car in a pinch.

http://www.atpturbo.com/Merchant2/me...gory_Code=WGT1

It's coming together :) Exciting stuff

[Balaska347]

Looks good Bob. What kind of numbers are you looking for this year.

[Martin0660]

What kind of numbers are you looking for this year.

12.00 dial in for racing, still going to to run Trophy next year, street once in a while. Hope to be able to tune it in to run that at any time, then turn up the boost on occasion to run with the fast street cars :D The parts will be there for 11.50's when needed ;)

[CobraII]

X2, looks real good Bob. I hope it does what you want. That is some cool stuff... and proof size doesn't matter! lol You'll probably be quicker with 140ci than I'll be with 461ci.

[lib88stang]

Looks great Bob, are you changing injectors and doing the mass air swap for this combo or will it be on the Vam with stock injectors?

[Balaska347]

Good luck Bob. I ran my T-type for years and it never repeated with the turbo. Turbos just aren't that consistent. It will be good enough for trophy though since you can only dail to the tenth.