1600 turbo build thread

[Chip Birks]

Probably. Then work towards getting a water/meth kit.

[buguy]

Yeah I've been debating with myself if blowing through this carb with meth would be the same as just staying drawthrough.

[Chip Birks]

Maybe if you just used water. Methanol adds octane and will help with detonation.

[buguy]

Yeah that's true. I was only considering the cooling affect.

[madmike]

Don't use 'CAST' pistons find some 'Forged'

[Chip Birks]

Pretty sure they are all cast, unless you pay for forged, and forged don't come from Mahle. And nobody does a true forged off the shelf 85.5. I know where you can order a set from through...

[buguy]

I think I'm going to stick with cast for now. When I do a real build I will use forged.
But this is exactly why I didn't want to build something first. I want to get more familiar with turbos and turning on this cheap motor. I paid $150 for this one so if I destroy it I'm not out too much.

[Chip Birks]

People are getting great results from standard cast pistons. Rodney Adams at RAD made well over 200 at the wheels with them. Keep the tune safe.

[buguy]

Yeah the tune is the key for sure. I've been trying to inch it from rich to lean.

[buguy]

Confidence was high going into welding up that intake. Didn't go well though. It didn't seem to want to put a puddle on the 3/8" stuff. It was working well on the thin metal though. Had to break out the mig and it worked better, but not great. I don't know if it was crap steel or what?? Anyway I got it welded up. Now I just have to pick up some 1.5" for the cross tube and weld it to that.

[buguy]

Confidence was high going into welding up that intake. Didn't go well though. It didn't seem to want to put a puddle on the 3/8" stuff. It was working well on the thin metal though. Had to break out the mig and it worked better, but not great. I don't know if it was crap steel or what?? Anyway I got it welded up. Now I just have to pick up some 1.5" for the cross tube and weld it to that.

[theKbStockpiler]

You're going to have to preheat the flange because it has a lot more mass compared to the funnel. If you use enough heat to pool on the flange ,just the arc rays themselves will burn through the sheet metal.

[buguy]

Yeah that might have helped. But it was really strange the way it acted. I don't remember having that trouble when I made the 4 barrel flange and it was made out of the same piece of 3/8" plate.

[petew]

I'm using stock mahle 85.5s. No dramas.

And yes, welding thin pipe to flange is hard. Get the MIG wire on to the flange first, then draw circles onto the tube and back onto the flange. Don't spend too much time on the pipe.

[buguy]

Yeah it looks like Mahle sets are about $40 more than the Mexican sets. I think at $189 it's worth the extra cost.
And I really didn't have too much trouble with the mig, but trying to tig it kicked my ass. I had it set at 50 amps and that was clearly not enough. This was only my second try with a tig, but I was able to do it when I welded the turbo flange on. Maybe I had it set higher. It also was all brand new metal.
I think I will get them from AC.net https://vwparts.aircooled.net/Mahle-Pis ... 069fma.htm