Jumbo Boost

[Tko512iFX]

lol - never thought the day would come. Been on this site for two years planning for FI and the reality of it starting came only recently. Planned all along to do it - but I know I was probably written off as just another guy who wanted FI, "in the future". I'm definitely lucky to be able to do this and in no small part I gotta thank my wife for the ability - time, money, interest... the FX is a serious competitor for my attention!

It's really about the approach. I'm looking at it like this - I bought the FX new in 2004 and drove it stock for four years. Then light mods began over the next two years, costing about the same as a car payment every month. Add in the cost of this turbo installation and I have essentially paid for the FX TWICE. No kidding. All the mods I have made to the FX have been with FI in mind, but balanced with the essence of the FX - a luxury SUV. For what I have put in to my FX, I could have bought a new FX50S (or maybe a Cayenne). But in my view, I wouldn't be as happy with either of those cars because they just haven't been personalized by me, for me, like mine has.

My wife is looking at it like a new car purchase. My FX lasted 110,000 miles and six years. Now I'm turning in my old FX and "buying another" custom turbocharged FX for the cost of the upgrade (which is a really great deal if you can get it). With a new motor, she's expecting me to get another 100,000 miles before I start hinting at a new car, lol.

Thing is, I'm not really sure I'm going to want a new car. Maybe I'll get something in addition to the FX, but I just can't see ever selling it now that I've put so much into it. Not to mention that I'm just not finished yet.

Ya man i hear you on every word of it! If i wasnt a student Id be right with you on the turbo setup. Congrats on all your current and future mods, and hopefully another 100K+ miles!

 

[jumbosrule]

A little bit of delay right now because I chose to have some parts ceramic coated for cosmetic reasons only. I wanted to keep with my build theme of performance & luxury, so I requested the timing cover be ceramic coated along with a few other pieces. Powerfab Auto subcontracts out the coating jobs so we are unfortunately at the mercy of the coating shop's schedule. The pieces were supposed to be completed by Wednesday of last week but got pushed out to "Monday or Tuesday" of this coming week. Just due to the order of assembly these parts are holding up forward progression.

Same sort of deal with the engine block - subbed out to a machine shop here in town and held for their schedule. At least both of these subcontracts were local! And I guess it's a good sign those shops are busy. I'm sure at the end of the build, waiting for the proper finish will be one of those details I'm glad I didn't leave out.

I'm gonna try and be zen about it and focus on the family, work, anything I can to make the time pass. Of course, one of the things I do is spend a bit of time here on IS and other forums but that sometimes makes me miss my FX even more. She's been gone since March 28th. Machine shop took three weeks to finish the longblock package. But it's all good. Zen.

Actually I've learned something about my family. We can make due with one car. Carpooling with my wife can be a pain and sometimes it requires having flexibility at work, but my wife and I really can share one car and make it work. Never would have considered it. But good to know!

 

[pmanliu]

on the bright side... once you get your fx back, the commute will pass by so much faster . Keep holding on jumbo! its gnna be worth it

 

[White_Hair]

Can't wait to see you FX. Gotta feed us lots pics.

 

[Rubare]

Cant wait to see the 0 to 60 video of your FX! Lol

 

[jumbosrule]

I know it'll be worth it. Just gotta hold on... a little... longer....

But I miss the car so much I had to go see her today. Bunch of parts back from being powdercoated, so the engine can finally be assembled. They tell me it should be back into the car by the end of the week.

It was pretty cool to see the timing cover open. It's not something I had seen on a VQ before:







In the upper oil pan, looking up from the bottom:

 

[gto]

cool shots. That's a piece of engineering. The 45 is some build too

 

[jumbosrule]

Well we are delayed for parts once again. During the assembly and timing of the motor, the shop recommended I replace the tensioners after inspecting them carefully. The shop ordered them and it just so happens the parts are due on Monday along with the valve covers (with integrated spark plug seals - the whole reason I had to order them in the first place) AND the BC coil-overs, which should arrive at my house. Plan is to take the coil-overs to the shop on Tuesday. If the motor parts did arrive on Monday, they should be installed by the time I get there. And I shall take pictures. And all will be good. So sayeth the Jumbo.:balanced:

 

[White_Hair]

Keep us posted. Looking forward to see the complete build.

 

[rookie]

You should replace the entire timing chain assembly based on your mileage. VTC sprockets will show some age as well, I put in Nismo VTCs and was surprised at the marks on the original VTC sprocket teeth.

 

[jumbosrule]

You should replace the entire timing chain assembly based on your mileage. VTC sprockets will show some age as well, I put in Nismo VTCs and was surprised at the marks on the original VTC sprocket teeth.

mo money, mo money, lol!!! :tonguey:

Thanks - I'll see wassup with my chain & VTC sprokets.

 

[jumbosrule]

So here it is week six of the build and I stopped by the shop today. The motor has been completely assembled, timed, mated to the transmission and the sub-frame attached! The motor is back in the car! I was kind of surprised, in a good way.

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I also dropped off the BC coilovers. Since the fronts weren't attached yet, we saved a little wrench time on that install. As I left the shop, they were unboxing the suspension and said it should be bolted up by my next visit on Thursday.

The guys at the shop said they took a ton of photos and will send them to me. I couldn't wait to post this just so I could spew about it for a bit.

While standing under the front bumper, I took a shot of the engine, freshly built and dressed. It's really tough to know I need to be patient for a while more.



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At the very bottom of this photo above ^^^ you can see an elbow fitting. Here it is closer up:

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This is the oil feed line that will go the the GT35R turbo. The oil return bung has been welded into the upper oil pan, on the opposite side of the engine. They talked with me about hose selection, appearance and fittings. I'm really excited about the level of detail these guys consider just part of the job. The completed install is going to be SO sweet!

But unfortunately, my life situation is changing quickly and I need to bring this build to a close. We are about to add a baby the family and need two driveable cars for the gaggle of family & friends that are sure to descend on my house (again). So talking with Powerfab, we are able to put off just a couple of the install plans until later.

For now, we will complete the EMS, fuel delivery, turbo & intercooler piping & setup and get it tuned and ready for a 500 mile break in. I'll take delivery of my boosted FX inside the next two weeks and do the break in as my DD.

After driving it for a while, I'll be taking notes on feel and performance. About three or four weeks later, we will tweak the tune based on my notes. At that time, we plan to have all the turbo & intercooler piping removed from the car and sent out for ceramic coating. This will help control temperatures and improve efficiency. It'll also give everything a very clean, uniform look. So when I return for the tune adjustments, the car will go down again for a week or two while I'm home taking some vacation time with the new kid. Speaking of which - need to get that Sparco car seat...

While the car is down and the pipes are getting coated, we will also add in the oil cooler. Plan is to twin up my B&M transmission oil cooler with a second identical cooler for the engine oil. I think the two twin B&M coolers, the OEM radiator and the new intercooler will all have plenty of room under that bumper. For the break in period, we aren't worried about temperatures getting too far out of hand. I won't be aggressive till I get the green light from the shop, lol.

Of course I will post shop photos after I get them. I'm looking forward to seeing them myself!

 

[Dr.2K]

I am thrilled everything is coming together for you! Congrats on the new addition to the family and the beast in the garage. I know its been hard road of patience. Congrats man.

 

[jumbosrule]

I am thrilled everything is coming together for you! Congrats on the new addition to the family and the beast in the garage. I know its been hard road of patience. Congrats man.

Thanks - appreciate it! I'm just as interested in Turbo's build, and Humberto's for that matter. It's fun following these projects.

Hate to even think about the, "next" thing I attack on my FX, but I think it's gotta be some wheels. I still pretty much look stock, except for the grill...

 

[White_Hair]

Glad to hear everything come smoothly for you. And congrats on the new baby to your family. :smile (2):

 

[sir21]

Hate to even think about the, "next" thing I attack on my FX, but I think it's gotta be some wheels. I still pretty much look stock, except for the grill...

Or you can keep that stealth sleeper look... You know for all those cayenne dudes lol

 

[jumbosrule]

Photo update

Sorta moving backwards a little here, but the shop sent me the photo set from after installing the timing chain & VTCs. Most of these are posted in my turbo build thread, but I included some new ones here just so y'all aren't wasting your time scrolling through this one .






















UP NEXT...



After speaking with the shop again today - they are pretty much putting everything I came in with back into the bay so the available space for the pipe runs is the real deal. Except for the intake & MAF - those are gone forever. The Stillen CAI lasted 2 days here on the classifieds.

The CJM fuel system lines came from a G35 kit and are too short, so some new fuel lines will be made to ensure a perfect length. That's cool though, because it means we can put the reg anywhere we want.

In the interest of time, we are going to hold off on the ceramic coating for the pipes, as well as the oil cooler. I'm going to do a 500 mile + break in, then bring it back in for the final steps and adjustments on the tune.

 

[jumbosrule]

Shop visit was fun yesterday. Took some photos of the car up on the lift - I could see the new fuel system lines:



And the Fuel pressure reg to which they are routed:



Everything is back in the engine bay except for the oil catch. The Sameco crossover coolant hose has been replaced with one that keeps it out of the way. Want to minimize exposure to the turbo heat signature.



Shot of the whole bay - sorry for the focus.



Both exhaust manifolds have been bolted up to my motor and the cross pipe passes just in front of the transmission pan:



And here is the merge with up-pipe. Starting here, the custom pipes will mate and extend to the turbo location:



Here's the rest of the G35 kit we are butchering for my build (turbo is new and those are my OEM wrapped exhaust manifolds). Some of these parts will be cut and re-welded, then sent back out for ceramic coating.



Here's the Stillen exhaust cut off at the collector. Plan is to route the turbo outlet a full 3" downpipe all the way to this point:



And I took just a couple of photos around the shop for fun:

 

[gmgagne]

i wanna see this done!

 

[drew855]

Looks awesome. This is a single turbo right?