turbocad's custom fx
- Thread starter turbocad6
- Start date
These are the one-off projects that people with disposable income pay $50,000 - $100,000 to get done... or if you're John, you do it yourself paying only for parts
I can't believe how fast you're moving on this, most of these projects it takes months to see any visible progress...
When I win the lottery, how about a custom twin turbo for my FX45?
I can't believe how fast you're moving on this, most of these projects it takes months to see any visible progress...
When I win the lottery, how about a custom twin turbo for my FX45?
I've got 2 different modes of mod mode, one is hobby mode, which is something that sits on the side & gets worked on in my spare time... the problem is spare time is a precious commodity, sometimes I have a few hours a week, sometimes more & sometimes less... hobby mode is the mode many of my little projects here & there wind up just having to be in, it would never be cost effective to move those hobby projects into full on job mode. but some mods have to be done in full on mod mode...these mods cost me more because I am doing them as if they were a job in the shop, now, instead of spare time they wind up in rotation as if they were another job in the shop for a customer... it costs me more because by allocating shop time & space & resources to the project then I wind up with that much less available shop time & space & resources for profit jobs, but for a project like this that is the only way it can get done without taking forever... I did my body in job mod mode & that happened quick, & I also did my dash mod in job mode, again, big project but happened relatively quick too, stuff that is necessary to drive usually has to get moved into job mode... those have to be done efficiently & swiftly...
stuff like my dual projector headlights, grilles, mirrors, paddles etc... hobby all the way, I still don't have the dual projectors permanently in my own car even after over 2 years of tinkering with them, so yeah I'll wind up doing a twin turbo HR swap much faster than a stupid set of headlights
just the way it is... a project like this has to be top priority & take a whole lot more work but get done quickly, has to be done like a job in the shop AND a hobby job too, so yeah, it consumes a lot... I need these headers done by the weekend, painting the engine compartment too by the weekend, the motor has to go in & the fx has to come out of the shop one way or another... I originally set the date at the 12th, but am extending it another week or so but that's it, gotta get done & out ---------- Post added at 03:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:39 PM ----------
oh yeah, & I'm not a mechanic & don't normally do this sort of work really, but if I did, a job like this through my shop would probably be in the $30k range at least all parts & labor... that doesn't mean start PM'ing me to do this for you for $30k either, like I've said before, I'm not a mechanic, I do body work, doubt I'd ever consider doing something like ths for a customer really
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really you can still see them even being in the rear...
engine in & out again, test fit the headers as I mocked them up yesterday... still no good, the headers need to be pretty compacted in & close to the motor to clear the framerail, I had to change it around a bit & redo it, also had to relocate the turbo's a bit & spead them a little wider to get the drivers side angle right to match, but now I got everything to fit good and I was even able to move the collector a lot closer to the turbo & reduce the angle into the turbo from a long sweeping 90* to a pretty short ~38*, just enough room for the wastegates... now it's perfect.. this should be the final design, mirror imaged on the other side...
engines been going in & out so many times that I built a cable sling, makes it so easy, I can get the motor in & out in just a few minutes really, hoist at the front & a small floorjack at the tranny tail, drop it on the dolly & just roll it in & out...
engine in & out again, test fit the headers as I mocked them up yesterday... still no good, the headers need to be pretty compacted in & close to the motor to clear the framerail, I had to change it around a bit & redo it, also had to relocate the turbo's a bit & spead them a little wider to get the drivers side angle right to match, but now I got everything to fit good and I was even able to move the collector a lot closer to the turbo & reduce the angle into the turbo from a long sweeping 90* to a pretty short ~38*, just enough room for the wastegates... now it's perfect.. this should be the final design, mirror imaged on the other side...
engines been going in & out so many times that I built a cable sling, makes it so easy, I can get the motor in & out in just a few minutes really, hoist at the front & a small floorjack at the tranny tail, drop it on the dolly & just roll it in & out...
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Looks good.
Sort of a random thought, but do you think there is any value to building a heat shield between the hot and cold sides of the turbo? If one could be made that worked well, could you then orient the turbo in a "vertical shaft" arrangement rather than the "horizontal shaft" position that is so common? (sidebar; why are all turbos oriented that way?) It seems much more logical to have the exhaust side down by the headers and the intake side up by the plenum, assuming you could reduce the heat exchange between the two sides at all...
Sort of a random thought, but do you think there is any value to building a heat shield between the hot and cold sides of the turbo? If one could be made that worked well, could you then orient the turbo in a "vertical shaft" arrangement rather than the "horizontal shaft" position that is so common? (sidebar; why are all turbos oriented that way?) It seems much more logical to have the exhaust side down by the headers and the intake side up by the plenum, assuming you could reduce the heat exchange between the two sides at all...
+1. nice work. moving much quicker than I thought. Then of course, still have those wires to work with & figure out
Saleen00_227
Member
just finished going page by page through this whole thread. I gotta say, this is 2+ years in the making and its an awesome build. Can't wait to see the finished product! Great work!
Daaaaaaaamn! You read 700+ posts?!?!? That's commitment! But the subject matter is pretty awesome...
John.. Just realized that you are still keeping the AWD setup on the ride..
Wow..
This Bitch is going to also out perform allot of the competition on the road.. LOL
can't wait to see you at the track... Maybe this summer ..
Wow..
This Bitch is going to also out perform allot of the competition on the road.. LOL
can't wait to see you at the track... Maybe this summer ..
I was actually thinking you were going RWD - Keeping it AWD is quite an additional challenge.
Although I sort of skimmed over the whole header discussion, I thought that equal length headers wasn't such a requirement for turbo cars. What made you want to go all the way to build these?
It's starting to look good though and think you're going to hate life once you have to do the piping back to the intake, since the charge pipe will be coming pretty close to the turbo/downpipe.
I guess the turbo blankets will be a must at that point.
Props for the DIY non-mechanic, but as a body guy, I'm sure you've had your share of mechanical work.
Although I sort of skimmed over the whole header discussion, I thought that equal length headers wasn't such a requirement for turbo cars. What made you want to go all the way to build these?
It's starting to look good though and think you're going to hate life once you have to do the piping back to the intake, since the charge pipe will be coming pretty close to the turbo/downpipe.
I guess the turbo blankets will be a must at that point.
Props for the DIY non-mechanic, but as a body guy, I'm sure you've had your share of mechanical work.
jc, whenever your ready well get it done no problem..
and ha, no, I actually was a mechanic for a lot of years... now it's more of an inside joke when I say I'm not a mechanic, especially when friends & family come to me expecting me to do mechanical work on there car the throttle body is a little close to the downpipe, but I got a few inches there & everything will be shielded, may even need to use a blanket on the intake pipe even, but nothing too bad really...
few pictures... this heavy stainless steel is a bitch to work with, the collectors are very hard to form, gotta fit 3 of the 1 1/4" pipes into a 3" diameter reducer & form it all to fit & work like a collector.. I decided to weld the headers up myself as I build them instead of having them tig welded... I got everything I need to do stainless, just the welds aren't as pretty with a mig, but I rather just do the whole thing by myself at this point if i ever redid them in 321 thin wall then I'd have it tig welded, but this schedule 10 pipework is fine with mig welding really, & once I clean it up & ceramic coat them it'll look fine I think
this is what the collector started as
and ha, no, I actually was a mechanic for a lot of years... now it's more of an inside joke when I say I'm not a mechanic
, especially when friends & family come to me expecting me to do mechanical work on there car the throttle body is a little close to the downpipe, but I got a few inches there & everything will be shielded, may even need to use a blanket on the intake pipe even, but nothing too bad really...few pictures... this heavy stainless steel is a bitch to work with, the collectors are very hard to form, gotta fit 3 of the 1 1/4" pipes into a 3" diameter reducer & form it all to fit & work like a collector.. I decided to weld the headers up myself as I build them instead of having them tig welded... I got everything I need to do stainless, just the welds aren't as pretty with a mig, but I rather just do the whole thing by myself at this point if i ever redid them in 321 thin wall then I'd have it tig welded, but this schedule 10 pipework is fine with mig welding really, & once I clean it up & ceramic coat them it'll look fine I think
this is what the collector started as