My not so budget turbo build
 

Now that I have most details sorted, before tear down for paint/finishing, may as well show what I ended up with.

97 NA 91K miles
BEGI manifold
BEGI down pipe
Garrett 2554 turbo
AEM wideband and AEM boost gauge
Water to air intercooler, four gallon capacity, heat exchanger and fan
Mishimoto radiator, 180 degree thermostat
Borla exhaust with test pipe
ACT street clutch
326cc injectors
Vibrant Performance oil lines
DEI turbo blanket and down pipe wrap
Turbosmart boost control

Management is currently Bipes and FM Voodoo Box until I find a deal on a MSPNP or just pony up the cash.

Couple months ago it dyno'd 193 whp on 7psi but have since turned it up to 10-11psi and switched the FMU to Voodoo Box. Have yet to dyno at that pressure. Have a buddy making a new turbo outlet pipe, this one functions fine but looks like chit.

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Nice build! How loud is the borla system?

Naturally aspirated with cat it had a nice low tone. Throaty with no drone. With turbo and test pipe it is fairly quiet. I don't care for a loud exhaust but feel it could be a bit more aggressive.

Surprised you have enough fuel with those injectors and no RRFPR. What kind of AFR at present boost level?

The RRFPR was an inconsistent nightmare for me. I can easily run 10.5 at 15psi with Voodoo Box. I'm in no way advocating it though.

Props for doing something different with that air to water ic. Any IAT data post ic?

You said "props" but did you give them? I don't see any + Cats up there.

OP, where is the other exchanger? That takes the heat back out of the water?

No instant read data. I'm currently researching pre and post IC gauges. Only thing I can add is that after many hard pulls my turbo outlet pipe gets to 158 degrees but my intake inlet pipe (post IC) has never been over 107. Obviously that is in no way data one could tune with but it's a glimpse.

My water temp has never gotten more than 10 degrees over ambient so it would appear the heat soak I was warned about is not an issue. At least not for my driving style/usage.

In front of the radiator with its own cooling fan.

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Done any pulls with an eye on intake air temp?

No, I ordered an intake temp gauge. Hope to get that installed within two weeks.

Hope to find the WTA system handling the heat efficiently but the way this build started out, my hopes are reasonable. My daily driver setting is 10psi/10.5afr, max timing pull of 14 degrees plus a couple for heat. Static is set for 16. Obviously I have no idea where my true timing is, not knowing what the factory ECU pulls. Final settings where reached by adding two degrees after no pinging was heard (94F day, quality 93octane).


Disclaimer: None of this is recommended past 9-10 psi on piggybacks. Many variables mean you have to stay vigilant.