When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Awesome! I will be down the same road of being on the site for multiple years before going boost. Nice to see it come to fruition!
Thanks! Taking it slow is the way to go. I've come across so many tips around this forum that have improved my part choices and made things better/easier.
EBC wired up and tested. I mounted it on the passenger side of the firewall to keep it from getting too hot. I'll be sourcing boost signal from the throttle body inlet pipe. Hopefully that's the last time I have to mess with anything under the dash. If I get the time later on I'd like to buy a harness extension and put the MS3 and everything in the glove box for easy access.
It is stainless steel braided rubber, so it won't be as robust as a hard line but I really wanted to not have any hosebarb / clamp connections right at the turbo. With these lines there will be a banjo bolt to -4 AN connection at the turbo, then -4 AN to hose barb about 10 inches away from the turbo.
I painted the FM intercooler black for stealth:
Since I'm not running any gauges, it will really be the only visible giveaway that the car is turbocharged. I'm willing to accept the theoretical reduction in heat transfer efficiency.
I picked up something at the DHL depot the other day:
In case anyone is wondering, the Kraken box will fit in the passenger seat with the top up. From Bulgaria to LA in 2 days.
And that's it. In theory, I now have everything I need to install the turbo. Except time. I'll try to mount the intercooler and piping over the long weekend and go from there. Soon.
In case anyone is wondering, the Kraken box will fit in the passenger seat with the top up. From Bulgaria to LA in 2 days.
And that's it. In theory, I now have everything I need to install the turbo. Except time. I'll try to mount the intercooler and piping over the long weekend and go from there. Soon.
Holy crap, 2 days!?!?
I presume that was 2 days from when it was shipped, rather than when it was ordered?
(if it was 2 days since order, well i'd better contact them, since I ordered mine a month ago!)
Progress:
Turbo test fit. Clocked it shortly after taking this photo.
Inconel studs/resbond in the manifold. I have stage 8 locking fasteners for when I do the final assembly
SCM 435 steel studs for the turbine outlet to downpipe elbow. Copper nuts, and one stainless nut for clearance. Thought about using inconel/stage 8 here too as well but we'll see how these do.
Intercooler mounted.
Made my -10 PTFE AN drain line. Probably going to order a pre-made one for peace of mind because I'm not super confident about it.
Ordered new -6 AN to hose barb adapters because the barbs that came with Kinugawa water line kit are too big.
Ordered new adjustable wastegate because the stock Garrett one won't work, even with an adjustable mounting bracket. I realize I could drill/tap the compressor housing but I'd rather not.
Cold side piping done, including Bosch bypass valve. Thanks to DNMakinson for that recommendation.
Still to do:
Hot side piping
Trim plastic air guide and undertray
Put in FM airbox
Make heat shield
Connect oil feed and drain
Connect water lines
Put in new spark plugs (BKR6E)
I was hoping to be boosted by the end of the long weekend but progress was slow. Wasted a few hours trying to remove the EGR pipe from my stock manifold. Finally had to take a hacksaw to it and order a replacement. The snap-ring on the compressor housing gave me a lot of trouble when I went to clock the turbo. Tried three different tools until I was able to finally open it with a set of big 90 degree pliers. Had to grind the edges down so they would fit inside the ring ends. Lot of wasted time going to the parts store. Finding the right angle for the compressor housing also took forever. Snapped one of the hood latch bolts and extracting it ate up time too.
Hopefully I can finish it up in the next couple of days. I will just run without a wastegate actuator for a bit. Also, I was surprised to find that my Kraken downpipe has a 2 bolt flange at the connection to the cat, instead of a v-band. All of the other joints are v-band. I think I might be able to connect this to my stock exhaust? If so I will run it like that until I have time to install the rest of the 3 inch exhaust. I thought about porting the wastegate, but decided to wait and see if I get any boost creep first.
Also, I was surprised to find that my Kraken downpipe has a 2 bolt flange at the connection to the cat, instead of a v-band. All of the other joints are v-band. I think I might be able to connect this to my stock exhaust?
When I ordered mine there were a few options for it, NA, NB1, NB2, and "exhaust builder" which was just a bare pipe end for you to weld on whatever you want/need.
I had to add some fuel to get it to idle properly again because it breathes so much better with the 3 inch exhaust. The big magnaflow sounds great. It's about as loud as my Racing Beat Power Pulse was, and that is completely manageable. I took it out for a quick test drive and haven't hit any significant amount of boost yet, but the initial evaluation is promising. The whole exhaust fit, with the exception of the downpipe. I needed to clearance it with a hammer in order to clear the steering shaft. Kraken has fixed that going forward so it shouldn't be an issue with future kits. There's only a few millimeters of clearance between the exhaust and the differential, but it seems to be enough. V-band flanges are a pain in the ***. There were quite a few times where I thought pieces wouldn't fit, but in the end everything joined up.
For anyone thinking about doing a similar Kraken/FM hybrid setup in the future:
The compressor inlet hose from FM won't work with the Kraken manifold without modification. The turbo side of the hose wasn't the right size for my compressor inlet, so I cut off as much of that side as I could, then used a 90 degree elbow cut down to almost nothing, and 2.75 inch to 2.25 inch coupler to slip onto my compressor inlet. I also needed to hog out the lower mounting hole on the FM air box in order to slide it over slightly to compensate for the altered location of the inlet hose.
I needed to trim the shelf a bit to make putting the turbo on easier. I could have gotten away without it, but I would have to shove the engine over on its mounts in order to stop the compressor housing from interfering. Taking a bit off with a dremel made installing/removing much easier.
In order for the FM hot side silicone intercooler hose to fit, about an inch had to be cut off the turbo side to prevent interference with an a/c pipe.
I bolted the manifold on first. Then I attached the cast downpipe adaptor the turbine housing, installed the oil drain hose, and then put the turbo onto the manifold. I slipped the intercooler hose onto the turbo just before putting it onto the manifold. I used AN adapters and 90 degree elbows for my water lines. Those were installed before putting the turbo on the manifold, but I connected the AN lines afterwards.
Still a lot of cleanup to do -- need to connect the EBC, sheath the oil feed, secure the Lowes Motorsport turbo heatshield better, put in the FM hush kit and a few other odds and ends, but the car is back on the road. I'm fairly confident there are no catastrophic leaks/issues, so I'll be taking it out on more test drives this week and easing my way into boost.
It always takes longer and costs more than you expect it to.
Your build is looking awesome and it is shaping up to be nearly the same build I want to do. Keep up the good work and let us know how it drives.
Thanks! I wouldn't have ended up here without your tip about Kraken swapping the big magnaflow. Really appreciate that!
Second test drive, got a little bit more into boost. Maxed out at 5 lbs. It has picked up a pleasant bit of mid-range torque. The car just goes. On the freeway, fifth gear felt like third.
Even with the recirculating bypass valve, the whoosh noises are great.
When I got up higher in the RPM range and the engine moved a bit more, it became clear that I didn't clearance the downpipe well enough. That was one of the worst sounds I've ever heard in my life.
Did you ask for the 12578 or the 12579 magnaflow muffler? You said overall it sounds like a very quiet car but with a growl? Was he able to have it work with a cat, resonator, and muffler or were the cat and resonator mutually exclusive?
Did you ask for the 12578 or the 12579 magnaflow muffler? You said overall it sounds like a very quiet car but with a growl? Was he able to have it work with a cat, resonator, and muffler or were the cat and resonator mutually exclusive?
Yes, pretty much. The exhaust volume is pretty low, but it's very deep now. I linked him to the 12578, 12579 and 12589 mufflers and asked him to put in whatever he could fit. He went with the 12578. I have a cat and a resonator. The resonator is about where the gas tank is.
Yes, pretty much. The exhaust volume is pretty low, but it's very deep now. I linked him to the 12578, 12579 and 12589 mufflers and asked him to put in whatever he could fit. He went with the 12578. I have a cat and a resonator. The resonator is about where the gas tank is.
Oh that is awesome. When I last contacted him, but unfortunately changed priorities with life for a little while, he could do the resonator in place of the cat but couldn't have both at the same time. This sounds awesome and I think I need to contact him sooner rather than later. Ideally, I want to be up and running Christmas break so that puts me as placing my order within the next few weeks if the wait time is a few months.
Unfortunately with the resonator right under the tank it won't fit properly because it is meant to be affixed to a 3 inch pipe. I think I'll hack it up and find a way to use it anyway.
Back do daily driving the car. No drama so far. I put in the new, colder spark plugs and the 323 GTX PCV valve last night. Dyno tuning session scheduled for this weekend.
08-25-2019, 01:49 PM
0
