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Anybody? Someone must know this?

Hi Guys, Need a little help sorting out some plumbing issues. I am finally finishing off my project (long story) and I am trying to work out where to run the water lines for the turbo and heater. It's a built engine using a NA long motor and all custom manifolds and aftermarket turbo so there are no standard lines and I think there might be an inlet missing on the thermostat housing? It's been so long that I can't quite remember how it all works. I have some photos of the original motor but it's hard to see. SO starting from scratch- 1- I am going to use the part of the original steel pipe that has an O'ring which engages into the water pump which will come out of the pump and from there it will be all custom plumbing. 2- I think I need to run a line from the pump to the top heater line with 2 x T fittings along the way, one to feed water to the turbo and one connects to the smaller fitting on the steel pipe that goes around the back of the engine to the thermostat housing. 3- What is that smaller pipe for anyway- a bypass to maintain flow when the heater is off? 4- I need a hose from the bottom heater line to the larger fitting on the steel pipe around the back. 5- Where should the return line from the turbo connect to? Can someone please fill in the blanks and tell me if my assumptions are correct? Thanks

Thanks for the feedback guys. I can't return it to stock as I no longer have the stock motor, gearbox, turbo and manifolds, oil lines etc etc.....not to mention motivation.Your info helps though. Next time I'll buy a car like mine that someone else built. I guess I'll have to finish it and sell it. At least I'll get to drive it. "You say it'd cost about 70k to build an xr like yours .. are you including the car price? I know for a fact it wouldnt cost anywhere near that, (unless you have some gold bling that you arent telling us about). " Shark unfortunately that is exactly why there are so many wonderful cars that get pulled apart or sold for nothing. Because there is always a never ending supply of guys who think that they can somehow do it for less...including me. Whatever you think it will cost you double it and add 30% and you'll still be short. The car was 27 and the box and clutch cost 7.5 so we are half way there without lifting the bonnet. The only reason I was/am able to built it for ONLY around $70K is that I am fortunate to know people who can get me lots of parts at trade or wholesale and they and I were able to do much of the work for free. Somehow the motor enthusiast community needs to find a way to establish a viable aftermarket for our cars or we will all just keep throwing away our hard earned cash. It's largely a lack of trust issue it seems to me- and often with good reason. I'd have thought that these forums would go some way to addressing that trust/ transparency issue as people can look back over an owners posts and decide if they are a smart and passionate enthusiast who loves their car or a tool who flogs it. Apparently not though.

Hi Guys, Due to serious ill health in my family I am going to have to sell my project T. It is currently about 80% finished and I have to make the difficult decision whether to sell it 'as is' unfinished, wreck it for parts or spend about another $5k+ a heap of time to get it finished and on the road. The crying is over now so this is a purely financial decision. To make that decision I need some hard facts. The car is a blueprint BA MK1 in excellent condition with about 50k on the clock, fully forged built engine, high mount TO4 turbo, PW plenum/cooler etc and fuel system, CES built 800hp system with twin hiflo cats, Mall Wood 6 speed box and clutch, Bilstien and Kings suspension, polished tanks.... yada yada lots of goodies. It's designed to make about 450RWKW when finished. Does anyone know of something similar that has sold recently and know the actual sale price? Lots of numbers get thrown around but most are bs. I just can't afford to throw good money after bad. If it's not worth a heap more finished I'll sell it in pieces if I have to. As it sits there it would cost someone at least $70k to build. Returning it to stock is not an option. Any help much appreciated.

ETM I saw some photos in the parts for sale of one of your manifolds for a T51R- looks very nice mate! It's quite similar to mine by the look but from the photos looks like the turbo is rocked over a little closer to the head- is that right?

That's interesting, I will read up on the turbo beanie thing. I sorted the PS resevoir. PWR make one for the LS1 which is nearly perfect and they are making me one with a different mount to suit my needs. Got the expansion tank from them also. I am fabricating all the induction pipework myself as well as the hotside piping. I bought a process west kit and the IC to plenum setup is great but the hot side obviously doesn't suit my setup so I've fabricated a 2.5 inch stainless mandrel bent setup which goes from the turbo under the battery cradle to the IC - pretty slick too if I do say so myself :-) The induction piping is pretty simple- 4" 90 degree bend witha couple extensions and hose fittings. It comes staight round from the turbo into the battery area ,which will be enclosed to make an air box, and a 4" K&N pod filter sits in there nicely. Does anyone know of a supplier who makes an air box setup for the battery compartment standard? Probably all custom built I expect? I can build one but it would save a heap of drama if I could buy one and adapt it if necessary.

Yeh I possibly could have kept the ps resevoir but removing it made it easy to use a standard 90 degree mandrel bend to come around into where the battery normally sits and make an air box with a pod filter in it. It will be pretty neat. I am a little concerned about the close proximity of the water tank to the turbo but with a turbo cozy bag and some sheilding I'm hoping it will be ok.

Hi Guys, I am currently fabricating a 100mm intake setup for my high mount turbo and have had to remove the plastic resevoir on the p/steering pump to get the necessary room. I have had a p/steering reco shop fit a 5/8" hose fitting to the inlet port so I can use a remote resevoir- just wondering if anyone who has done this can tell me what resevoir they used or where I can get one? I seem to recall reading that the XR8 has a remote res? Ideally I would like a nice shiny alloy one. Also I need to replace the radiator expansion bottle with an allow one so it doesn't melt- ( see attached photo) Does anyone other than PWR make one?

If you just keep working on these things you eventually get all the answers.... I took Groper's advice and buried myself in some turbo theory for a bit which was hard work but helped my understanding of the variables. And I have taken on what he and BCL have said about chosing my goal power level and decided that unless I run out of cash first ( always a risk factor) I will fit a TO4Z. Brad @ Spool Imports got me a 50mm Turbonetics wastegate at a great price so that's sorted. Gavin.K gave me some great info on his experience. What I have to find out now is which exhaust housing size to go with? Would love to get feedback from anyone who runs one on their boost curve and what housing they run. Dyno sheets would be fatastic- perhaps PM if you don't want them public? Thanks Guys

Put me down for a set.

I'm not sure of the actual spring rates but King's could tell you for sure. Generally I beleive their springs are approx 20 - 25% stiffer than the stock springs. Someone may want to correct me on that though.

Thanks guys that was a help. I will have to make up my mind about how much power I really want. 450rwkw is 600rwhp in the old money.......that kinda has a nice ring to it

So can anybody post a dyno sheet using a TO4Z?

It definitely sounds like a wheel balance problem. If the tyres run true IE when you spin them on a balancer there is no noticable eccentricity in the tyre then it is almost certainly a balance problem. I have seen examples of people replacing components, tyres, wheels etc only to find out that it was a balance problem after all. If it feels like a wheel balance problem it usually is. Sometimes the machine they are using needs calibration or is set wrong. There can be issues with worn suspension bushes or steering components causing it but not at such low kms. Get the front wheels balanced at a good tyre or suspension place. It will cost $20- $30 and probably fix the prob- at least eliminate the most likely cause.

I had mine done at Fulcrum Suspensions. I have found them to be excellent and they stock most brands. They have been around a long time under the same owner so must be doing something right.

DoubleK , after alot of research ( I used to work in the suspension game so I know who to ask) I fitted Bilstein struts, Kings 20mm lowered coils and Super Pro camber adjustable, polyurethane front lower inner control arm bushes to mine. The difference is enormous. The car handles superbly and rides nicely too. I chose Bilsteins because they are a German engineered mono tube design shock which means they have a much larger piston area than most shocks which are twin tube. This gives excellent damping control without small bump harshness so the ride quality is better than the standard suspension even though the shocks are stiffer. Which is why they are used in most Mercedes, Bmw's, some Ferraris etc. I have not driven a T with Teins in it so I can't comment on them. The lower inners are important firstly because they give extra camber adjustment which allows the wheel aligner to get the correct setup as the stock car ofter has insufficient adjustment range. Secondly the stock lower inner is a large soft bushing that allows the wheel alignment to change significantly under cornering and braking loads. The poly bushs fix this. Super Pro are the best engineered poly bushes by far. With the increased spring rate of the King's coils I have found no need for a stiffer swaybar. In my opinion sway bars are rarely required on a road car if the spring and damping rates are correct and usually just result in excessive understeer (or oversteer on the back) and tramlining on uneven roads. Also remember that possibly the most important part of the suspension is the tyres. Good tyres make a huge difference. And find a good wheel aligner ( most suspension specialists) as most wheel aligners just use the settings in the book without much understanding of the underlying principles of dynamic wheel alignment. It is quite possible to align a car to within the recommended specs and have it steering poorly or wearing tyres. A good tip in this regard is if the guy who does the alignment doesn't test drive the car after he's finished then he probably hasn't a clue.

I'm very interested in the TO4Z option. Brad from Spool Imports, who has supplied my rods and helped me a lot with this project, has a TO4Z on his 3 litre/ RB26 head skyline. It makes totally spastic horsepower and I have driven it and it feels no laggier than my stock T. Now I realise this is a poor comparison in many ways but there is some logic to my thinking- His makes 15psi @4000rpm and 20psi by 4500rpm with a 3 litre ( see graph below) A 4L engine will produce approx the same volume of exhaust gasses @ 3000rpm as a 3L makes @ 4000rpm so I figure a TO4Z should make around 1 bar @ 3000rpm- even if that turned out more like 3500rpm in practice-I could live with that and be very happy. Anyone have a dyno graph of a T motor with a TO4Z on it to see how this pans out in the real world?

Hi Guys, Well my project is coming together at last. I will post a full update later but I've been wrestling with the turbo question for a while so I thought I would throw it out there and maybe some guys who have been there and done that can share their experience? My fully forged engine is almost complete and I am going to be doing the big transplant before Xmas. I have decided to go external wastegate and have bought a manifold to suit. I have been trying to decided whether to use my existing turbo and block off the w/gate or sell it with the motor and gearbox as a complete setup. There are financial decisions there but putting those aside my question is this- What is the absolute very best possible turbo I could use for my circumstances?- which are: It's my daily driver and I do a fair amount of around town. I want lots of power as smooth & responsive as possible. I'm thinking 400+ rwkw I'm the kind of guy for whom enough is never enough for long so I need some blue sky potential ( even if I find I never use it) 6 speed manual, Process West plenum/ cooler kit, stock cams, maybe an EBC too. Thanks.

Any more info on that CV? Maybe some pics? I'm going to need some very soon. Inners or outers ? Are they direct replacement or does it require other mods? What makes them stronger than the OE ones? Are they ex stock?

That's interesting. Any chance that you could check the part no.s and post them? Sonds like it's all back together? I checked with the parts guys at my local Ford dealer and was told there was only one part no. for the cams. Seems counterinuitive though, would have thought that the turbo cam would be different. When I pull the T motor out of my car I will double check this.

I am doing this exercise at present and am nearly ready to assemble. Most of what people have said here is correct. Head is the same except exhaust valves and springs. It's true that OE valves are about $98 ea but I used Ferrera stainless ones ( which require new retainers) and got them for about half that and they are probably better. Seats are same. Cams are same Block and crank are same It's a good point that VenomXR6 makes about the sump- I haven't looked at that. Is the only difference the oil drain line from the turbo or do you know of other diffs? Get billet oil pump gears while you are at it as there are many stories on here of the stock ones failing. I paid $800 for a complete n/a long motor from a wrecker with 38 000km's as a guide.

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed it. It's all fiction of course :banghead:

Mr Bean, I think you might have missed the part where I said I already had the motor and pile of parts and the machining is finished......? I would be very happy to make 450rwkw in a nice drivable setup. As for the twin turbo setup I have to admit I thought about it but when it comes to heavy duty big $ R&D I am definitely not in BCL's camp ( or I suspect, income bracket). I am trying to keep it pretty simple, balance the compromises to suit my taste and not spend mega bucks. However Í'd be happy to PM you my bank acc details if you would like to fund a nice sequential TT project! By the way I read a peice you wrote a while back about your plans to get into the hex code on the Capa edit box and sort out a few issues, did you ever proceed with that and if so what was the outcome? Sounds like you know a lot about IT stuff.