233 replies to this topic

[caged]

If the Hx40 rear doesnt clear you can use a "P" trim T4 garrett which are quite a bit smaller, You just need to take 40tho off the exducer. Its looking good mate.

[soldave]

that intercooler is intruiging. very different from anything ive ever seen.

The intercooler is the Treadstone TRV25S (http://www.treadston...ies Intercooler). The vertical flow intercoolers have the advantage of offering very good airflow, along with a tiny pressure drop compared to normal models (usually around 1.5psi). If I'm honest it's not going to be a perfect setup for my car as it's not as efficient as a top quality bar & plate crossflow intercooler, but I'm out of spare organs to sell and so have to make some compromises for now.

[ENGINR]

I like the intercooler - I was thinking of something similar for my car so that I could reduce the length of the intercooler piping route.

[soldave]

A few little bits done on the car yesterday. Threw in a Walbro 255 fuel pump (and managed to ruin the fuel pump assembly in the process; luckily had a spare on hand) and did a few other little bits. We also test fitted the intercooler again, checking for sizes and clearances.

Ghetto-modified the front motor mount too. My recipe for success was:

Take one front motor mount (well used)


And take one tube of polyurethane "Pro Caulking"


Combine the 2 ingredients until all rubber has been covered and gaps filled with caulking. Leave for 2 days or so and then reinsert stiffer motor mount. Job's a good 'un.


Also took another look at the front crossmember of mine and ground some of the rust off it. It's in a hell of a condition to be honest. God knows what happened to this car but it took a heck of a hit right on the front. Going to try and get another crossmember cut out of another Evo and welded into this one to add a bit more front end strength and stability.




And my cooling concerns continue. The radiator I'm looking for ideally would be 26" long x 12.5" high x 1.75" thick, and nothing going beyond those measurements. Unfortunately, aside from getting something custom made there doesn't appear to be a lot out there. The only lead I've had on something that could possibly work is a radiator from a water-to-air intercooler setup:

http://www.votionspe...-24x12x1/Detail

It's thin, but might possibly work with some modifications.

[soldave]

OK, a few little updates. Custom radiator was ordered yesterday night at 10pm from a company in Hong Kong (or maybe China). Found the company on Ebay and saw they made custom radiators. Send them a template and they seemed very knowledgeable and accommodating. Even better was when them emailed me at lunchtime today to say it was finished and would be shipped out later today! In the end I got a radiator with core dimensions 318x480x40mm and overall size should 318x640-660x40mm. All aluminium and dual pass. Not bad for $280 including express shipping. Will only know for sure the quality when I see it and then install it, but they sent me a picture and it looks nice.


Once that comes I'll be able to start fabricating things up at the front end. Also checked the radiator fans today. I actually think my cheap Ebay fans along with this radiator and the things we're going to do have a good chance of cooling it. I also threw a thick Permacool 6" fan on the front of the oil cooler which will be permanently on to keep temps down. Don't worry - the cooler is thermostat-controlled so it's not like the oil will take longer to warm up. I am looking into the HKS oil thermostat though which opens at 75C instead of 100C; could very well help to keep temperatures right where I want them to be (at operating temps, but not much more) That little fan generates a small typhoon to be honest. Should do a great job on the oil cooler even though it's not a perfect mount.


Also fit up the new caulked engine mount, which seemed to be a fair bit stiffer and will hopefully help against engine rocking.


Didn't do much else but some more parts came in this week (although worryingly still no turbocharger; getting a little concerned now). The only thing really worth showing pics of is the Aerocatch hood latches. Looks a great bit of kit and am looking forward to throwing them on the car.



As for my front crossmember, I'm considering getting a 3mm steel support cut and welded onto the top and front to add a little support to it. Tried to source another one but it was in arguably worse condition than this one. Just need to source the steel for it.

And that's about it for now. Probably doing a bit more work on it tomorrow so hopefully another update later on this weekend.

[DOUGMO]

:Pwith that front mount you may have noticed the bolt that goes through it is a lot smaller
than the actual hole through the mount, if you want to stiffen it up get a bit of alloy machined up to press in there
so the bolt is tight in the mount, it made mine nice and tight

with the lower radiator support you could just cut it out, weld plates on each end and have a bit of pipe in there?
might be an easier option?

I cant wait to see the turbo mounted on the manifold (if it arrives )

[soldave]

Don't joke about the turbo not arriving, please! At least the guy sent it with $600 of insurance and full tracking.

Yeah, I actually considered (and might still) drilling out the hole in the front engine mount bracket so that a bigger bolt could go through it and so that it would be completely secure. Maybe leave that for another day but it is an option if I notice any movement.

[soldave]

Completely custom made to my specs, all-aluminium radiator made and delivered to me all within 7 days. USD$280.

Bargain! (Providing it doesn't leak/blow up, on first use, of course).

Edited by soldave, 26 November 2011 - 08:25 AM.

[jack be nimble]

awesome build mate.
you should run a thermostat, if not the engine will not go into closed loop until way later. if that doesnt bother you, you need at least a restrictor plate where thermostat was, this will ensure the coolant travells all through the head and block. if not the coolant rushes in and straight out and wont circulate to the other end of your motor, this will cause hot spots and all sorts of bother.

you can get new proton wira radiator support panels for $120ish over here. they are the same, but dont have the intercooler mounts on (you arent using standard evo mounts anyway)

[soldave]

A little more work done on the car this weekend. I ordered a couple more bits, namely an HKS oil thermostat and new filter element for my Blitz LM air filter. Still need a battery box for the relocated battery but am still a way off that being an issue!

Still no sign of this turbo but with the radiator here it means there is work that can be done. we did some test fitting of the radiator and, despite everything in the engine bay being tighter than the proverbial 12-year old, I think it will fit. And a bonus is that we may have worked out a way to get the fans on the backside of the radiators to act as pullers and still have enough space for everything. It's all close though - take a look:



The downpipe isn't touching the exhaust manifold at all and we still have around 3/8-1/2" space free between radiator fan and downpipe. Should still have enough room when it's heatwrapped, and the pullers make me much more confident we can keep it cool.

Just behind the radiator fans, a 5mm thick vertical aluminium beam is going to attached to 2 mounting brackets welded onto the chassis for some added stability that we may have removed when we cut out the initial beam. A couple of the seams at the front of the chassis will also be welded up when this is done for a bit of extra strength.

Finally, we cut into the engine bay underneath where the stock battery tray would normally go. This will give us room to mount the intake right down in the driver's side lower grille at the front so it gets as fresh air as possible. The only issue I can foresee would be in heavy rains it could pull in some water. So I'm probably going to get one of those air filter dry socks and see if I can get it on the filter from underneath or through the front grille. Will work something out.

Oh, one last thing. I got my aluminum bushings for the shifter forks so I threw those on too. Tightened up the shifter even more and well worth the little cost it was.


And that's about it for now. Think welding and strengthening next weekend, and maybe even getting the radiator and intercooler mounted properly, if we're lucky.

[soldave]

Good news - I got a HX40! Bad news, it's not mine. Many thanks to my buddy Chris though for lending me his for test fitting purposes until mine gets here. It's actually the 19cm turbine housing as opposed to my ordered 17cm, so it's a tiny bit bigger than mine, but should give me a good idea of it all. Pretty mixed news with everything to be honest

As it stands, the 19cm housing didn't fit onto the manifold. The compressor housing was hitting the head when it was about 1cm off hitting the manifold flange. Even if this 17cm housing was over 1cm smaller on the engine side, there's no way we'd get a turbo blanket in there too. When we spaced the manifold out with washers though it did fit just about though, so I'm contacting JM Fabriactions again to see if they'll sell me a straight 1/2" exhaust manifold flange with some longer studs. Road Race Engineering also sell the flanges, but only their mild steel one is in stock. I've seen a couple on Ebay too that I'm contacting the sellers about. It will make the front clearances between the downpipe and the radiator fans even closer, but it's what we're going to have to do.

The other minor potential issue with the Holset on there is... is the bonnet/hood gonna close?! I don't even want to think about that at the moment as it seems so far away, but I think I might have to cut into the bottom part of the driver's side grille on it for it to fit.

We made some cuts on the downpipe too to get it to fit but am waiting for the v-band to come in so we can actually get that fitted up closer to the turbo. The initial v-band setup the supplier sent me didn't have the male-female lips on the inner of the flanges so am not sure it would seal that well.

Now the more perceptive of you will have noticed that those are, yes, XS Power 38mm wastegates on there, and I know you're going to scream about how wrong that is. But you guys try what I'm doing with the budget I have available! So here's the deal with them; I knew I would be taking a bit of a gamble but I don't have any internal organs left to sell for genuine parts, and trying to sell off the girlfriend's daughter so early into a relationship seemed like it might cause a rift between us. So I got these ones. Has the gamble paid off? Well when changing out the springs for the 1bar springs I did look at the diaphragms and they looked like they'd been pushed down a little in the wrong way, and might not make a perfect seal. But, I have contacted them about it, and 2 genuine Tial diaphragms go right into this and would cost only $100, so I'd still be saving money going this way

But with those wastegates on we were able to plan out wastegate exits. Basically they are going to go right into the front of the wheel well on either side, well clear of the wheel (I don't plan to be at full boost on full steering lock anyway; if I am I've got more pressing issues to think about). They are sized up and cut, and will be welded today so they can be fitted.

So my turbo is still not here, but there are things we can do in the meantime now to get on with things. Man this isn't an easy project by any means...

[EVL20T]

Look at the pics i just threw up of a mirage coupe with a GT42R top mounted turbo, was there anyway to modify the manifold to sit to the passenger side abit?

http://www.4gtuner.c...660#entry246441

[soldave]

Moving it to the passenger side would cut out the very limited space I've got for a downpipe.

[slow ute]

Very interesting build. Keen to see what sorta power the big holset makes

[soldave]

There are no dynos here in Okinawa, but I'm hoping for a 1/4 mile time in the 10s. My guesstimate is going to be just over 550bhp. If I go for meth injection in the future, like my last build had, I'd hope for around 600bhp. And these are figures on a very conservative tune.

[soldave]

78 days and still no turbo:( But what else is new. Got a few little bits ordered today. Some welds were done on the wastegate pipes and cuts made for the welder to do a few more bits. The wastegate exits are actually gonna be coming out right at the front of the wheel wells. Have checked for clearances and the tyres won't hit or anything, and nothing too important should be in danger of melting(!).

Got the thermostat housing cut from the flange, rotated and then welded back into place so it won't hit the turbo compressor housing. And we cut the first part of the radiator piping to test fit it all. It's all pretty snug to say the least, but touch wood it should all fit.



And I finally plumbed in and secured my Sard fuel pressure regulator. Interesting point to note. The Sard comes with a port for attaching a gauge to, but the port is 1/8"BSPT thread type. The vast majority of pressure gauges, from the States at least, are 1/8"NPT type, and so won't go in. A little tapping of the regulator though and it's all secured and ready for action.


Oh, and we looked at a few angles today and the hood isn't going to close with this turbo on. A minor inconvenience and one that seems a lifetime away at the moment but will have to be addressed. Might have to have it modified by the metal guy who's doing the welding work on my car to incorporate a Mitsubishi Eclipse-esque bulge to it. Something like this:


Lots of things to do before that though...

[soldave]

Still no turbo!

Yeah, I'm sure you're all as unshocked as I am at that little revelation. Insurance claim procedure will start on Monday, but then my next problem has to be finding another HX40 with a 17cm T4 twin-scroll housing (preferably 6 blade or 7 blade) that's in good condition. That little combination is not easy to find by any means.

Very little done on the car today except picked up the wastegate dump pipes which have been cut and welded and should work pretty well. I'm gonna have to heatwrap the oil cooler lines as a precaution, but other than that I should be good to go.

Also test-fitted the bumper today and it looks like I've got plenty of room for the intercooler. Now how the bumper is going to attach to the car because the front crash beam is not going back on is a whole different matter!

Welding hopefully tomorrow of radiator brackets, front braces and a few seams at the front.

[soldave]

Front end starting to shape up nicely. Got a front centre brace welded in place tonight to strengthen everything up at the front. Should give more support, and fits perfectly just behind the radiator fans.

[Qik-1.8]

i like that radiator setup gives so much more room too

[soldave]

Here is my list of jobs still to do on the Evo. It's a long list but not many of those are huge jobs.

Jobs to do on the car before starting:
Mechanical:
Install extra exhaust manifold flange
Install turbo (physically, plus feed & drain lines)
Finish downpipe
Heatwrap downpipe, exhaust and oil cooler lines
Fit intercooler & adjust piping
Fit new wastegate diaphragms & springs
Fabricate upper bumper support
Fabricate intake
Change brake master cylinder for Evo VI GSR cylinder
Install exhaust valve controller handle
Do something with the bonnet!
Get dry sock for intake for very wet days/typhoons (optional)

Electrical:
Wire up wideband (plus narrowband simulation tapping in)
Wire up knock counter
Wire up fan controller and water temperature gauge
Solder fuel pump rewire
Relocate battery
Wire & plumb in boost controller
Rear passenger side window regulator
Rewire CAS connector

Extra:
Full oil change (plus change transfer case drain plug/washer)
Prime oil line to turbo before starting
Confirm initial startup settings for MAP sensor on ECMLink
Set TPS according to ECMLink values

After initial startup:
Check fuel system for leaks in engine bay and near fuel pump lines
Set idle fuel pressure
Confirm temperatures within limits and all fans are working
Confirm nothing on fire/melting in engine bay(!)
Tune idle/part throttle/full throttle AFRs and timing