FI Build Up - Vee Dub Nut Build #2

[Clonebug]

Trust Me,

And I am sure I speak for the other turbo drivers too,

You WILL NOT back off on the boost ever. Once tasted you are addicted.

Get over it and turn it up!!

Quit trying to talk yourself out of it..... you know you want it.....

I had mine to 13 lbs. and I can't stand having it turned down to 10.5 lbs. I am just about ready to dump the carb and go FI.

Clonebug

[Vee Dub Nut]

Trust Me,

And I am sure I speak for the other turbo drivers too,

You WILL NOT back off on the boost ever. Once tasted you are addicted.

Get over it and turn it up!!

Quit trying to talk yourself out of it..... you know you want it.....

I had mine to 13 lbs. and I can't stand having it turned down to 10.5 lbs. I am just about ready to dump the carb and go FI.

Clonebug

Yes and no... Remember I did build a 1915 turbo motor once before and went back to a NA stroker engine. Its not impossible. But in general, yea it tends to be a one way street so to speak.

I'm looking forward to the power that I should be able to pull out of the big engine on boost. If/when I have to daily the car, I'll more than likely back off of it some, but I'll see how that plays out down the road.

[Vee Dub Nut]

Wow.. been a little while since any updates. I finally ordered all of the stainless I needed to redo the intake. Basically going to replicate what I had before, but make it nicer and fit better. I wanted to go stainless because I intend to use water/meth injection for charge cooling down the road, and didn't want to have issues with corrosion.

Just a lot of fabbing and a few more small odds and ends I need to get from here. Probably will still take me a while before its all back together considering what needs to be done, and other things going on in life right now. I'm still shooting to try and have it back together by the Tx VW classic, but I do need to get working to hit that.

[supaninja]

Sweet I can't wait to see it at the TX Classic!

[Vee Dub Nut]

Trying to get a little bit done each day to keep making some progress... Don't seem to have an abundance of time for anything else, so trying to keep plugging away at it.

Starting cutting the pieces to remake the intake in stainless. Going to experiment notching a 2" hole in a 2.5" piece of tubing with some of the scrap pieces. The elbow on the intake is 2.5" and my runner going to the left and right side will be 2".



Also started cutting a new throttle body flange from some stainless. Didn't get finished cause I smoked my blade



Here it is with the gasket so you can see what I'm trying to cut. Once I get the flange cut, I'll put it in the mill at work and knock out the mounting holes and the center 2.5" hole



A few more pieces to remake the charge pipe.



Also got a little bit of casholas for christmas, which should let me order up the silicon couplers/tbolt clamps, and some of the other small odds and ends I need.

[Clonebug]

Those are some nice bends. Did you get them from SPD?

They sure add up in a hurry.....

Clonebug

[Vee Dub Nut]

You ain't kidding... they get $$$ quick

I got mine from ATP Turbo. I've seen mention of SPD before, but have never checked them out.

[Vee Dub Nut]

Boy.. at the rate I'm going, its gonna take a while

Got a few more cuts made. Notched the 90 for the intake tee. Seem to have it fitted quite well (2.5" notched down and shaped to wrap 2" runner). Also got the plate cut for my throttle body. I'm hoping that next week I can get the tee finished and welded up. Then I'll start on the charge pipe.

[Clonebug]

Boy.. at the rate I'm going, its gonna take a while

Got a few more cuts made. Notched the 90 for the intake tee. Seem to have it fitted quite well (2.5" notched down and shaped to wrap 2" runner). Also got the plate cut for my throttle body. I'm hoping that next week I can get the tee finished and welded up. Then I'll start on the charge pipe.

Nice fit on the joint there Vee Dub!!!

That is going to weld up nice.

Clonebug

[MarioVelotta]

Nice fit on the joint there Vee Dub!!!

That is going to weld up nice.

Clonebug

X2

Nice work!

[VolkswagenSlave]

A few more pieces to remake the charge pipe.

That dust pan is going to look awsome but I thought your car was red, dont you want to keep with the theme?

Awsome work, I cant wait to see it on the road after all your hard work.

[Vee Dub Nut]

Well... had some more ups and downs with the build. First attempt at fab'ing up the intake tee ended in a bust. I had the fit down pretty well, but it wasn't perfect (better in pics than in real life). I have a guy I work with helping me with the tig, as that is not in my skill set yet. Anyways, we initially tried to weld it without back-purging the pipe (welding 304 stainless). We'll I learned a valuable lesson... stainless sugars up BAD on the backside when exposed to oxygen, especially if you end up having to have a lot of heat (i.e. filling gaps on the fit LOL).

Anyways, I was pretty disappointed with how it turned out. Ended up cutting it back apart and having to try a different plan of attack. I asked around to see if I could find someone who could back purge and weld the pieces for me, but no dice. So my friend and I tossed around some thoughts, and ended up setting up our own simple system to back purge the tubing with argon while welding. The first experiment tonight worked fantastic! So I have all the pieces cut again to rebuild the tee tomorrow.

Earlier this week all of my silicon couplers came in. I plated around with some of the pieces today to check fit. Everything is working well!

Turbo dressed up


Test fitting the runner. Who says a 2" runner wont fit? I've read this a few places, and has some folks mention it. I have no issues with mine. I will be clocking the tee towards the hood some before its finished to space the TB away from the shroud.




Overhead shot


Back shot


Anyways.. tomorrow I plan to finish up the tee (that is of course my wifee doesn't go into labor LOL). I'm really hustling to try and make the Texas VW Classic, but its going to be CLOSE for me. I'm going to have some LONG nights in between now and then. Should be killer when done though.

[supaninja]

If it gets down to the wire I can come over and give you a hand.

[Vee Dub Nut]

Well wouldn't ya know... second run at the intake tee was a HUGE SUCCESS

Our simple back purge setup is working excellently and we are making great welds. Attacked shaping the tee a little differently this time too, and it also worked much better. Instead of notching and then shaping the 2.5" 90 to the 2" runner prior to welding, we notched the 2.5" 90 and partially welded it to the runner and then shaped the rest. Worked beautifully.

Here is the finished tee (note, we had to stick two pieces together for the runner after the first goof)


Close up of the joint. Not too shabby for a couple of amateurs.




Testing the fit. It does fit, but for good measure, I clearanced the back of the alternator stand a bit to give some breathing room.




Also stuck on the intake pipe. Its a 45, but I'm going to have to mod the bend to get more of an angle on it to get the filter where I want it.


Here you can see how I want the filter to fit. Going to cut the bend a few times to pull it up some more. Also going to have to add an inch or two to the end to bring the filter over the breast plate I'm going to make.


All in all a successful day. Next I'll be cutting the pieces for the charge pipe, and making the throttle body flange. More to come!

[Steve Arndt]

Looking good. This stuff takes time!

Steve