Ever since I installed my turbo, I've had a few issues. First of all, tuning - I could never really achieve a perfect tune with the larger injectors. I'm sure everyone will tell me that their setup runs just as well as stock, but to be honest I think I'm a little more critical than most. In any case, I wanted to have a tune that worked as well as stock, and then better than stock. My second issue was that with my coolant bottle moved, I ran into a few issues with spilling coolant out of the overflow spout, and more recently the car managed to start overheating (I'm thinking bad reservoir cap) and the contents of my coolant bottle decided to piss like a race horse out from the bottom of the car. I suggest leaving the coolant bottle in it's stock location! Lastly, I was never really fond of how my engine bay looked. I mean it worked, but it's never really looked presentable in my eyes. So it was time for a bit of a change.
So without further a-do... here's my engine bay from last year, first pic is before the power steering/e-test/accident disaster, second is after. I never really got a good pic when it was all working and in a more or less 'finished state'.
In any case, after dealing with Aaron at www.TurboTechRacing.com (
twenty thumbs up, TTR Rocks!) I ended up with this little beauty. I've been working on the install for quite a while now, it's taking longer than I anticipated, but I'm not just installing the Port Fueler, I'm redoing all of my charge piping as well, moving my battery, moved my coolant bottle etc etc.
I was working on cleaning the engine bay here... I didn't take a finished pic, but it's as clean as I've ever had it. No more hood liner either, I'm not entirely sure whether I like it this way because the hood is not fully painted =/
After some polishing (Fuel lines and FPR)... maybe the fuel rail someday
That's where I'm at right now. My new charge pipes are in for welding, once that's done it's basically ready to go at 11psi for the first time ever
For now I'd like to make 250whp, just worried about the stock internals if I go much higher than that, so it's time for some dyno tuning to be safe. After I get time to finish up my custom tubular exhaust manifold, I will be replacing the rods and pistons so that I can hold more towards 15psi.
One last thing, do you guys think I should polish my intercooler? Right now it's kinda plain, but doesn't give away the fact that the car is turbo'd so I'm torn. Thanks for lookin!
" To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous. "
Dave Dunsmoor wrote:One last thing, do you guys think I should polish my intercooler? Right now it's kinda plain, but doesn't give away the fact that the car is turbo'd so I'm torn. Thanks for lookin!
id leave it, id rather have people "find out" my car is turbo than know off the bat.
Is it me or did they make the plenum bigger?!? Honestly I think it would look better without the bigass hahn logo etched in the front of it, but very nice none the least. Silver/ white engine bays always look better to me for some reason, I guess its the brighter color that stands out.
Very nice setup. Looking foward to seeing what you do back there
no wonder you were having cooling problems, when you relocated the expansion tank it was below the head... in other words, below the highest cooling passages in the engine. Air cannot be purged effectively when the tank is that low, that is why you had problems.
if you relocate the tank it has to be ABOVE the highest coolant passage in the engine.. I've had a few friends relocate theirs and they work fine because they kept the tank HIGH.
what are you using to tune? I have a feeling you're going to say HPT.. which will also explain why you're having problems. People with the most success with HPT use it in conjunction with an FMU.. not something I'd resort to, but it works pretty well for those who do it that way. Skunk and Boostedecos come to mind.
Yup I am aware of that PJ, but the tank was actually above the radiator, if only slightly. I have been 100% sure that was the cause of my problems since I first started having them, but with the piping I had there was no way I could place it any higher in the engine bay. That's why I redid my entire charge pipe setup this time around and the bottle is back to where it was, so now I am expecting better cooling.
And secondly, yup! HPTuners and tried to tune my 44lb injectors (I mean they're not even that big), but I just couldn't make it run as well as I wanted to. You know, the way that you wouldn't have to explain the limitations of HPTuners to your girlfriend as you're bogging down on warm starts etc lol! So yeah, now with the port fueler I am expecting results that are better than with the FMU - time will tell! I took it for a spin with my charge pipes disconnected and I'm glad to say everything is running very smoothly now, back to stock drivability. I can't wait to start tuning again, now that I have a bit more control
" To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous. "
sweet man. love it. where u moving the battery to? trunk i hope! and keep the IC stealth. .
Quote:
Yup I am aware of that PJ, but the tank was actually above the radiator, if only slightly.
being above the radiator doesn't matter, the tank has to be above the highest point in the head.. thats why we have the expansion tank to begin with, because the engine sits higher than the radiator.
but you can't beat stock location
you're def moving in the right direction tho
the eco is the easy one to boost as you have the saab as a starting point
should have started wiht the saab method then went bigger
JBO since July 30, 2001
You are going to LOVE that port fueler set up!!!!!! The car runs just like it did stock.. The boost is very smooth. I really like the newer manifold as I have the older one.. I would also think about running a 255 walbro intank pump or the racetronix pump if you don't already have one yet...
Quote:
You know, the way that you wouldn't have to explain the limitations of HPTuners to your girlfriend as you're bogging down on warm starts etc lol
Sorry but I think this was in the tuner. I have seen Ecotec's with 440cc injectors, on a stock tune run just fine (not talking about in boost). I know of one putting 266whp on HPT only, and drives fine.
FU Tuning
John Higgins wrote:Quote:
You know, the way that you wouldn't have to explain the limitations of HPTuners to your girlfriend as you're bogging down on warm starts etc lol
Sorry but I think this was in the tuner. I have seen Ecotec's with 440cc injectors, on a stock tune run just fine (not talking about in boost). I know of one putting 266whp on HPT only, and drives fine.
Maybe that's the case, but I've had quite a few tuners try and diagnose my own nagging complaints with my tune and no one has seemed to be able to track it down. Again, I'm very picky - the car ran fine I had no big problems with it but it just wasn't perfect to my liking. In any case, I am no longer concerned because I don't have the issues
I have since finished my charge pipes, just waiting on a single coupler before I can get it all started. I'll put up some new pics tomorrow!
Thanks 285whpcavy, I know I'm definitely excited to get this thing running because I know it's exactly what I wanted for the car!
" To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous. "
looking sweet Dave. Keep the IC the way it is.
im a fan of the cleanliness.
loving the ecu location as well.
I'm tired of wasting my time... now I'm breakin' free.
Looks great, but polish the valve cover
How much did the portfueler run u? And would u say it would be easier for the new tuner to tune with this or with hptuners? I'm running a saab setup on mine with lsj injectors and an adjustable fmu but want to have more fine tunabiltiy
Looks awsome Dave. What happened to the equal length header you were designing?
Wil: Yup soon enough
Scott: Thanks man, yeah I think I will leave it the way it is.
z yaaaa wrote:im a fan of the cleanliness.
loving the ecu location as well.
Thanks man, I appreciate it coming from you - I know you like clean engine bays hehe. I'm workin on it, hopefully I will be proud of how it turns out when I'm done.
Eternal wrote:Looks great, but polish the valve cover
Yup, once I install my new exhaust manifold, I will also be throwing in new pistons and rods, at which point I'll have the head off, and I'll take the valve cover off as well and polish it. I polished all my charge pipes to a mirror shine, it's the first time I've actually polished by sanding with progressive grits, and it's a lot easier than I thought it would be so I'm definitely planning on making it shine so no worries.
cavipower1 wrote:How much did the portfueler run u? And would u say it would be easier for the new tuner to tune with this or with hptuners? I'm running a saab setup on mine with lsj injectors and an adjustable fmu but want to have more fine tunabiltiy
I got the port fueler on sale, I believe it was 15% off of the price on Hahn's website. I don't think that promotion is still going on, but if you want to check out prices give Aaron from www.turbotechracing.com a message and he'll be able to get you a price. It was not cheap that's for sure, but I figure I'm so deep into this car already, what's a little bit more money here and there lol! (Haha shoot me)
gtpsunfire wrote:Looks awsome Dave. What happened to the equal length header you were designing?
I've got all the parts sitting in my workshop, but I'm in the process of learning how to weld so I can actually make the thing 100% by myself. Seems like everyone is out to charge an arm and a leg, so I might as well learn and do it myself.
" To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous. "
Bump because I felt like it.......Thanks for keeping the pics up.
