Project Pics Take 2

Discussion in 'Member's Garage' started by rob260, Dec 30, 2013.

  1. rob260

    rob260 Administrator Staff Member

    Intercooler Duct

    So for ages I've wanted to fit a 2k front bar. Why? Because they fit so much better than aftermarket.

    This is the sorta look I'm going for -obviously not perfect (this was mocked up for cutting to clear the intercooler) but you get the idea.

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    One concern was loosing a bit of airflow through the intercooler as the front bar has much less of an opening than the UAS/Greddy bar that came off it. I have seen a few front-mount guys (Niall, JP) with ducting for the intercooler and dropped the car off to Nitro Dann to get something made. I hadn't had anything to with Dann prior, but had seen his stuff on facebook HERE and was impressed with the quality of the work, and also that he seemed genuinely interested in doing a ****ing awesome job on bespoke pieces.

    Here's the duct that he came up with. Alloy construction and in this pic just tack welded.

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    The opening from the 2k bar sits inside the duct perfectly, and the duct intself seals around the core.

    Here's a test fit type pic

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    Fits under the standard reo (which I've hacked up to clear fog light ducts) and has that little bit of rake on the bottom edge as the cooler hangs a couple mm lower than the bar.

    And the finished product with satin black powdercoat.

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    It secures to the top and bottom plates with rivnuts, and seals against the end tanks with some high compression foam.

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    I'm totally blown away by the quality; fitment is spot on, and the welds are a work of art. TIG everywhere and absoloutely gorgeous. Not expensive either for what it is. After a few headaches and things not quite working out from previous workshops it's so nice to find someone who actually gives a shit about the quality of their work.

    Dan also fitted some plates to better seal the intercooler to the frame rails to get some more air through the radiator. No pics of these but the difference is night and day -temperatures stayed under 85* for the first time in... well ever... Not a massive test as it wasn't super hot today but yeah nice to see ram air effect actually working.

    I also had some exhaust leaks welded up.

    Below pics show where the mega $$ dump pipes were leaking. The oil marks below show where the welds were cracked at the flange

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    Fairly poor considering they'd be lucky to have 10,00km on them and I paid good $$ for a well respected fabrication shop to make them up.

    Anyways pic below you can see the welds ground back

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    And TIG'd up below

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    Again the quality of the welds is impeccable. Much neater than what was there to begin with.

    The flanges had warped so he also machined these flat for a better seal.

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    And another leak below, this time from the welds at the cats.

    Below is how it started; looks like it was welded by the apprentice after half a dozen beers on a Friday. I had previously tried to patch this with a two part muffler putty but it looks like it didn't take very well.

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    And after cleaning the welds up...

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    And TIG'd up -again the quality of the weld is night and day

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    And virtually invisible after being painted up

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    Again an awesome job at a very reasonable price, especially considering the poor bloke had to remove the dumps to work on them.

    Speaking of dump pipes, I was surprised (actually, oddly enoiugh, I wasn't) to learn that the dumps on my car are mild steel, not stainless. I had originally bought a set of stainless bellmouth dumps, but for some reason when UAS sent the car to Racers Choice for the exhaust to be done it came back with a new set of mild steel dump pipes. I noticed this on an invoice and when I queried it I was told that they would be replaced with stainless, seeing as that is what I had asked and paid for. Yet another reason why I prefer to take care of biz myself these days...

    More to come.
     
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2017
  2. scottyoz1962

    scottyoz1962 Active Member

    Nice work Rob, good to see your happy with the work as well, and yep it is hard to find good people theses days. Hope you wrap those faux dump pipes around their ears and tell them they have lost your business.
     
  3. rollin

    rollin First 9

    the duct looks awesome mate
     
  4. rob260

    rob260 Administrator Staff Member

    Thanks man -the best part? IT WORKS lol
     
  5. rob260

    rob260 Administrator Staff Member

    Cheers -no point making an issue of it at this stage (I won't get anywhere) but yes I decided a couple of years ago that investing in my toolbox was the way forward...
     
  6. ed300zx

    ed300zx Active Member

    Wow! The quality looks awesome. He did a great job. Looks like a solid unit.
    Looking forward to seeing it with the bar on.
     
  7. Zeo

    Zeo Active Member

    Very nice workmanship, good to see there are still some good tradesmen around.
     
  8. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    Very cool going the extra mile and seeing the results from it too. Can't help but think it's quite over complicated for a simple duct!
     
  9. pmac

    pmac Z,, IT'S COMPLICATED!!!!!

    ?????

    Say's the King of OTT and complicated.
     
  10. rob260

    rob260 Administrator Staff Member

    Simple concept but not a simple shape if you want it to work properly ie maximum air pressure through the intercooler core.
     
  11. rob260

    rob260 Administrator Staff Member

    New Dump Pipes

    Any of you on facebook will have seen these already today, but for anyone else...

    ...So I wasn't super impressed that the dump pipes on the car weren't exactly what I'd been told they were. Yes the car made good power and they fit well etc, but when you spend that sort of cash and don't get exactly what you asked for it leaves something of a bad taste in your mouth.

    So I did what I do and sold the UAS pipes to a member for a good deal less than I paid, and lined Nitro Dann up to build me a jig for RGS Performance 3" dump pipes for GT28 turbos. Only one side is finished, but when the other is done I'll be going back to the dyno (I've already had a baseline run done on the old pipes) to verify that they work and then making them available for sale. They have been built from scratch using my car to make a jig, no copycat business etc.

    I got my first bunch of progress shots today, so please enjoy below

    So the brief was to make a full length (runs back to the gearbox) dump pipe with a long divorced section to allow gasses to actually settle before being reintroduced to the main stream, and to fit perfectly on an RHD car.

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    Being aware of the gate creep issues experienced with big HP cars using split flange dump pipes I wanted to keep the wastegate tube as open and free-flowing as possible.

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    The pipes are made from TIG welded stainless steel, and the welding is absolutely first class.

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    And below you can see one of the finished pipes.

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    The pic below gives you an appreciation for how long the divorced section is. Again this is crucial to keeping the wastegate gasses moving, and keeping any turbulence out of the main pipe.

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    That's all for now.
     
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2017
  12. 92z32tt

    92z32tt New Member

    Will you be able to make them to fit the GT3071r using the t28 exhaust housing ?.
    Would require a larger hole in the flange and tube before the expansion part.
     
  13. rob260

    rob260 Administrator Staff Member

    Short answer yes -theres a jig for them so the pipes are easy. How big an opening would you want? My turbos 2871R .86AR should have a very similar exhaust housing to yours, if these outflow an open 3" pipe on my car I dare say they'll work for you too
     
  14. 92z32tt

    92z32tt New Member

    It's not the Housing size that is the issue - it's the exhaust wheel size.
    The Gt2871r has 47mm exducer diameter while the Gt3071r I have has 52mm exducer diameter so the hole/area in that area needs to larger enough provide smooth exhaust flow from the Turbo.
     
  15. rob260

    rob260 Administrator Staff Member

    Gotcha and I didn't realise the exducer was larger. That's one of the reasons I went with bell mouth in the first place -because the exducer was larger than the outlet on many of the split flange that I looked at.

    This flange has a 2" outlet for the exducer -I'll be ok but I think your wheel is 2.04"? The T28 outlet exhaust housing isn't separated with a casting like a T3, so it wouldn't be blowing into a bottleneck. Definitely interested in talking more about it once I have a finished product to work with :)
     
  16. rob260

    rob260 Administrator Staff Member

    Dump Pipes Fitment

    A couple of pics showing the fit -the drivers side isn't quite finished but you get the idea.

    As I mentioned elsewhere you'll have to excuse the fact that there's no heat shield on the passenger side cat, and that the heat shield on the drivers side cat is on the wrong side... another legacy of previous workshops... anyway...

    Fitment has been kept tight so as not to interfere with ground clearance.

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    A few people on FB have mentioned heat and proximity to gearbox and starter motor -I've had dump pipes with very similar fitment for about seven years and it's not a problem. There's plenty of clearance for heat-wrapping too, although I will probably ceramic coat as I'm a sucker for teh bling ;)
     
  17. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    Good on you Rob.
     
  18. rob260

    rob260 Administrator Staff Member

    OK now they're finished

    Bling bling

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    Yellow bumper looks a bit silly... And I think I'm going to need to redo the rest of the system in polished stainless now... but yeah looking good so far. Kinda shows off the underbody coating I did about 12 months ago too :)

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    And gratuitous fitment pics below.

    Drivers side is very tight with oil filter and starter motor but still managed to get a big 3" main pipe in there and snake a long wastegate pipe around everything.

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    Passenger side shot gives a good indication of the ground clearance for the pipes compared to the bellhousing.

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    Last edited: Jul 22, 2017
  19. BLACK BEAST

    BLACK BEAST SLICKTOP TT R-SPEC

    Hey Rob haven't been around but surprised you have gone splits after all the discussions :)

    Most people throw on the splits on without match porting/opening them up before installing anyway .

    Specialty Z also make larger ones for the 52mm gt3071r.

    Good work !

    .
     
  20. rob260

    rob260 Administrator Staff Member

    Cheers and yeah me too -not everything that went on the car was what it's cracked up to be (I'm sure you know what I mean lol), just getting through it one step at a time
     

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