Always fun... You DIY know how it goes. You take things apart in November then start putting them back together in the Spring. You find yourself muttering "where the heck did I put that bolt/spring/clamp/etc?". I got it all put together including complete rerouting the air filter location, the exhaust system, the fans(stock fans now as pushers) and the cold side. I fired it up (fired on the first try) and it was running on 7. I addressed this in another thread and I got it fixed. Oddball stuff, that. So I took it for a drive and once I was sure that everything was running cool and no leaks, I started pushing into boost. Watching the boost gauge, I saw it go to 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 psi.... then stop there. Huh? I slowed down and tried it again. Same thing but I also noticed it would go to 5.x psi and then drop to 3.x psi. That behavior seemed familiar but I couldn't connect the dots.

Assuming it was a leaking charge pipe, I drove her back home. Nice thing was the temps stayed just as it had before all this swapping. Never higher than the first quarter mark on the gauge.

I put her back on the ramps and crawled under there. I pulled all the charge pipes off and re-examined them for leaks etc. Dang it.. nothing. So I put everything back on and tried another drive for boost. Grrrr! Same 5 psi then down to 3... hey.. wait a minute... that's what it does when the wastegate opens "on the spring". Almost excitedly, because I thought I'd found the culprit, I drove back to the ramps. As a test, I pulled off the tubes to the Waste gate, blocked off the tube that came off the compressor side of the turbo and took her for a drive, determined to modulate the boost with my foot (letting off the gas) if boost got high. Sure enough, I got to 12 psi in no time and let off.

So I went back to the house, lifted the hood, and checked the tubes/routing to the turbosmart manual boost controller. Ugh.. the new tube I'd put on the boost controller from the compressor was not tight. I put a clamp on it, rehooked everything to the Wastegate and took her for another drive. I didn't get to really push the car because I was already running late to drive my 3hr 40min commute to my worksite PLUS the new coldside routing is not going to work. When the car was on the ramps, it looked like the piping wasn't too low. Wrong. I scuffed it two times just driving into the local gas station. I ordered a fresh 3" piping, coupler and T-bolt clamp kit and will redo it this weekend.

 

Look on the bright side, at least the aluminum solder held 12 psi!

 

Minor setback for what sounds like will be a VERY sweet ride once all the bugs fall out!

 

Nice Dave!

 

I just changed my JGS50mm WG springs out.
I used a large harbor frieght C-Clamp to compress/hold the housing together. I put the assembly in a vise, holding the c-clamp for stability. I tried using my 'variable' (aka crap, POS, etc) C-clip pliers but soon tired of chasing the variable pins around the shop when they would invariably pop off w/o doing a damn thing. Off to the hardware store to get some REAL Craftsman C-Clip pliers. I got the clip off in no time with the Craftsman. I then simply unscrewed the c-clamp and the assembly came apart.

Here's the setup, stock/standard/weak spring on the far left, it's steroid brother beside it.


Here's the components laid out...


Notice that silvery looking ring on the right? What kind of dumbass would leave that off during the initial assembly and trial drive? Lol... uh.. me.
So.. I'm actually glad I decided to change the spring because I was puzzled why I had such low boost with my new setup. <face palm>

I just took it out with the new spring (and the fire-ring installed). I routed my boost controller in the "High Boost" configuration. Holy crap... I just took off from a stop in the fashion you would in clear traffic. It was really moving so I let off in 2nd gear. I press the 'History' button on my AEM Tru boost to see what boost it got to before I left off. Ha! Farkin' 17psi in 2nd gear and I wasn't even stomping it. Whew. I'm going to reroute to the 'normal' boost configuration.

 

Lol! The seat not being in there makes all the difference!

 

And now it has held 17psi!

 

How does she feel compared to the other kit?

 

I wish I had more seat time with her to give a detailed and comprehensive review but...

• The ground clearance is so improved with the down pipe exiting on the passenger side now. I think the body of the car would hit the top of a speed bump before any piping going back.
• The routing of the waste gate outlet back into the down pipe is perfect. No whistling/jet take off sound now. Much more stealthy.
• The fit was damned near perfect all around.
• Due to the layout, and the fact I don't have A/C and thus the condensor, I was able to use my stock radiator fans, rewired as pusher fans. The car runs the same temps as before (first quarter mark) after fully warmed up whether going down the road or stopped at lights.
• Having the collectors with their own distinct narrow band O2's gives a much more accurate reading.
• Plug and header bolt access is good(better than before)
• I rerouted the power steering tubes away from where they were for stock due to the layout of the hotside. Not a big deal.
• I swapped turbos when I swapped the kits. Going from a TC76 to a PT76GTS. Due to the way I have the waste gate/Boost controller configured, It gets into boost really quick(Hey... isn't that your...). I'm not able to work on fine tuning it this weekend. Hopefully next weekend. It reallyfelt impressive in the 1st and 2nd gear blasts last weekend

Thanks again Jon! Your welding and fab skills are amazing!

 

Glad to hear Dave!!! I know there was some extra work/effort on your end getting it right, but it sounds like it was worth it! I will be waiting for more updates (track times or dyno would be sweet) !