mpau009 aka Mike // Auckland - NZ

[Guest]

Yet another dragged over here from CVR4

My name is Mike, 23, i live in Auckland NZ.

I currently am on my second legnum, the first was a white with tan leather 97 STR (V6 NA), which i got at 19. It was a good car, until the tiptronic packed in, which is how i ended up on Club VR4.

Until then i had my heart set on an EvoIII, but after seeing what UC's 200KW ATW galant went like, i decided to stick with a VR4.

I bought a 98 Silver VR4, 5 Speed Manual, and transferred the tan leather into it.

Pretty soon i ended up going for an electronic boost controller, which was good fun. 3 months later the clutch was slipping, and the turbos smoking, but it was worth it

Upon changing the clutch i found the turbos were much worse than i had hoped, and it was going to take some serious $ to get it right.

At this point i let Gly (Carsten), Brad and Kenneth talk me into trying a single turbo conversion, along the lines of two already posted on CVR4. This time using a TD-05 16G 10.5T from an Evo6...

Several months later, and many hundreds over budget, its starting to come together, the list so far either planned or done is:

Coil over suspension (Done)
Cusco AntiRoll Bars (Done)

MAP ECU2 installed (Done but not Tuned)
Gauges & Stereo (Done, salvaged from my first Leg)
Leather interior (Done)
Battery to the Boot (Done)
Delock front doors (Done)
Clear side repeaters (Done)
Gizzmo Shift Light (On the floor still)
LC-1 Wideband 02 monitoring (Done)
HKS Boost Gauge (Came like that)
Blitz Turbo Timer (Done)

Single turbo, td05 (99% done)
DSR 38mm External Wastegate (Done)
3" Turbo Back exhaust (The Last Bit to do before it will run)
Custom Stainless Cold Air box (Done but not installed)
SSQV BOV (Done)
Custom Billet Steel Light Flywheel (Done, Made by SRD)
Exedy HD organic Clutch (Done)
600x300x100 Intercooler (Done)
Notch out crash bar to suit (Done)
Throttle body relocation (Done - stole the idea from Valmes)
2.5" Intercooler Alloy piping (Done)
Intercooler Sprayer mod on RPM switch (Done - Nicked idea from your site)
Walbro Fuel Pump (Still in the box)
FPR (Ditto)
Relocate powersteering reservoir (Done)
Relocate Radiator Expansion tank (Done)
Fit Oil Catch can (Done)
Fit Larger injectors 530cc (Hopefully later this year)
Put it all back together and tune (NOT YET>>)
Replace engine when it explodes (god i hope not this year..)

Crux Rear skirt and sides (Still on the garage floor)
Liberal front grille (Done)

So yeah, hi! i use the same name on CVR4 if you want to PM me there too.

It really nice to see how quickly you Aussie VR4 nutters are getting into playing around with them, hopefully there'll be a trans-tasman 1/4mile time battle soon enough.

 

[Guest]

I would post some more pics, but i really cant be assed scaling them all down for the sites requirements...

 

[Hipsi]

crazy bastard.......

 

[Guest]

well all i can say is faaaaakkk thats alot of stuff going on there. what kind of power you looking for?? welcome to the forum aswell.

 

[Guest]

well all i can say is faaaaakkk thats alot of stuff going on there. what kind of power you looking for?? welcome to the forum aswell.

1KW more than BradC

Nah, the engine is staying stock inside, so i dont want to kill it, and the TD05 16G doesnt actually flow a huge amount more than the pair of Td03's.

The plan is just to get it running, turn up the boost, then if needed any bolt on evo 4+ td05 flanged turbo should fit right on.. Ideally around 220Kw ATW seems to be a good goal without replacing the injector setup, i'll just see what it does.

Iv tried to keep the setup to be as un-laggy as possible ie 2.5" intercooler piping as short as possible, but with the long header setup who knows if it will be very useable around town?

 

[khk]

don't forget to give us the total $spent and the final result
i believe many are eager to do likewise if budget approves

 

[Guest]

don't forget to give us the total $spent and the final result
i believe many are eager to do likewise if budget approves

...i have done a spreadsheet, and no it doesnt approve Not silly money, but still i'm about $400 over budget already doing it on the cheap, and the exhaust still needs to be finished, and heat coated... which will cost a fair bit. But really putting any money into a car this old and uses sooo much petrol is hard to justify.

But hey, plenty of people spend more $$$ wasting the last 8 months of their free time, and dont have half the fun and learning experiences iv had

 

[Guest]

hey mike . How did it go with the single turbo conversion?? I have been toying with the idea myself. Where did you put the turbo and make it fit...is that why so many things are relocated???? Was it much hassle? How did the piping for the exhaust manifolds work out. Pictures of this would be great. Would you do it this way again? How big a turbo do you think you could go with this setup? Had enough questions yet? P.S. welcome to OZVR4

 

[Guest]

hey mike . How did it go with the single turbo conversion?? I have been toying with the idea myself. Where did you put the turbo and make it fit...is that why so many things are relocated???? Was it much hassle? How did the piping for the exhaust manifolds work out. Pictures of this would be great. Would you do it this way again? How big a turbo do you think you could go with this setup? Had enough questions yet? P.S. welcome to OZVR4

It is still more or less as you see it with the exception of the downpipe and wastegate now added, the manifolds and downpipe are being welded up this week, i just need to sort out a 3" flexi and getting it joined to the rest of the system, then i should be able to turn the key.

Theres a lot more pics of my agonisingly drawn out process here, http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27710&highlight=td05

But remember it wasnt a planned build, just an idea Gly chucked at me when i found out my turbos were beyond repair, so iv had *some* learning and researching to do.

Getting the 3" from the turbo around the intake manifold and out was the biggest pain, but hopefully worth it.

I basically had a look at what Borgan and Zentac did on CVR4, and valmes insane little project, and nicked the best ideas..

The reason the powersteering reservior got moved, was to make for an easier bend into the throttle body, not 100% necessary, but for the sake of a bit of messing around it makes things tidier, same with the reservior bottle.

Basically it has been a lot harder/more expensive than it sounded, especially since i kept finding that wiring needed to be moved etc, and the plumbing for the water cooled turbo, oil drain, wastegate, radiator hoses, turbo outlet etc was a bit hard to get tidy.

Even if the turbo isnt up to making huge power, there is still about 30mm clearance from the underside of the heat shielding, with the option of going to a facelift bonnet, so there should be a number of decent bolt on options.

Main thing i would change in hindsight would be to spend the extra money on getting a bigger throttle body, and welding a larger pipe to the manifold. It is very tight, and 2.5" worked best for me, but i am sure a bigger setup would be best eventually, plus valmes has since made it work comfortably...

Heres a pic of the manifold before it had the wastegate piping added (which tucks under the turbo and joins the t piece, wastegate sitting on top) It is definately a compromise, and slightly longer than Borgan's setup, due to the fact i wanted the turbo top mounted, where as his is mounted on its side, and i wanted to keep the stock radiator hoses. Hopefully it wont create too much lag, but time will have to tell..

 

[Guest]

Also i see you have a Super VR4, and i think you will have considerably more space issues than myself and Borgan, given we both run manual transmissions, the tiptronic takes up more room, and has more wires etc to get in the way. Im sure you could make it work though *cue turbo sticking way out the bonnet

It would be interesting to see exactly how much of an effect it would have

 

[bradc]

I'd like to point out at this stage, I never recommended the single turbo, I like the twins myself


I'm just glad it is near the end now Mike, it's been a long project and will provide inspiration for many other people.

 

[Guest]

I'd like to point out at this stage, I never recommended the single turbo, I like the twins myself


I'm just glad it is near the end now Mike, it's been a long project and will provide inspiration for many other people.

Thats true about the twins, but youv been a big help with giving me your spare intake manifold, and advice and ideas and what not.. Plus i pretty much copied most of your airbox design

I certainly wouldnt have had the nerve to try it without access and support from you guys and CVR4

Whether it turns out to be an 'inspiration' or a warning shouldnt be too far off

 

[bradc]

I've been of help yes, but I still would have preferred for you to go with twins

 

[Hipsi]

mmmmmm......twins

 

[bradc]

unfortunately you don't get an option to buy blonde twins

And these twins would only swing one way haha

 

[Hipsi]

what r u on about Brad, I'm on the gold coast, blond twins grow on trees up here!

 

[Subaru ETA]

i must say, for someone who isnt a mechanic (well does working on trailers count?) you have done a mean job! im a mechanic and i wouldnt have done it!!! dont want to blow shit up lol

 

[Guest]

i must say, for someone who isnt a mechanic (well does working on trailers count?) you have done a mean job! im a mechanic and i wouldnt have done it!!! dont want to blow shit up lol

Cheers dude, i hope it doesnt die either... Dont jinx me yet tho

Luckily iv got a good friend, chris and his brother aaron, who've both built a lot of cars, and whose parents own a sheet metal company...

They have chucked over 30 hours of TIG welding into the manifolds and exhaust design and fab, for a few dozen and the cost of materials. It makes a great difference having someone who gives a **** about how it looks as well as works, and with the metal working skills to back it up..

I hate to think just how much it would have cost to have similar done at a workshop I thought he was gonna tell me to go jump when i bought three inch exhaust.. after he specifically said only 2.5" would fit, 5 hours and much swearing later though, i proved him wrong hopefully i'll have a pic in the next day or so for you.

 

[SiliconAngel]

Missed your initial intro, Mike. That's quite an inspirational project you've got going on there! Look forward to hearing how it turns out

(RE Valmes, what EXACTLY happened to him, anyway? One moment he was finishing the meanest VR4 on the planet, then nothing??)

 

[bradc]

Trev - over the last 4 years he has made a habit of disappearing for months at a time. He'll be back