BF to FG plenum conversion

[K4L4M1TY]

Hey all just looking for some advice on changing my BF XR6T plenum to an FG turbo one. So I just went through the fun of pulling my intake plenum off to sort out a couple of things around it and have pondered installing an FG one instead of putting the stock one back in.

 

My BF is completely stock and other than cosmetic issues it seems to be in good condition with good compression and is fairly clean for 180k kms. So from what I have looked at in the past the FG plenum is not only easier to work with/around, it's actually a good upgrade that's not too expensive compared to a full aftermarket plenum.

 

Doing the run through(knowing about injectors, fuel rail, etc) it looks like at the least I will need to get the plenum, harness adapter if I choose to run an FG throttle body, cold side piping. This then lead me to my stock intercooler. Other than obviously not being a good option I realised that the stock cooler piping would not be viable thus adding a new cooler(plaz most likely) to my list. After realising that I figured it's basically a complete piping system needed including hot side.

 

I was planning on doing battery relocation to the boot to get turbo side intake anyway so that's fine and after realising this hole I'm getting myself into, I thought it would also require a tune. To top that all off I also know there are a few other supporting mods I thought should probably be done at the same time ie: cat(maybe dump?), injectors and anything else small that I can't think of right now.

 

So after what I thought was not going to be much it seems I'm looking at a couple of grand if not more, which has brought me to the point of wondering if the plenum is worth it for me. I was just originally thinking of doing the PW throttle body relo to get rid of the crossover etc but realise with that alone I would be doing much the same thing just without the FG plenum. I'm looking to get a healthy 400kw and I know I'm not doing that without most of what I've already listed but am unsure on the extra cost of doing the plenum swap being worthwhile. Any thoughts or anything important I'm missing would be greatly appreciated, cheers.

Edited 06/05/20 03:35 AM by K4L4M1TY

[k31th]

if you're keeping it stock, you don't need the FG plenum... if you're modding it considerably (500+kW) then it's a good idea to start with the FG plenum... you say "a couple of grand", but it'll surely be a lot more than that to do the list of mods you have given, let alone the ones you haven't listed

[K4L4M1TY]

I plan on about 400kw with room to increase if it becomes a weekend car as it's a daily hack to build on currently and I don't do a lot of mileage. I do most of the work myself installation wise so that keeps cost down and not all of it will be new parts considering the amount of stuff out there these days, but by a couple grand I meant 'hopefully' around 3-4k. If it was a newer car or in better condition than it is cosmetically I would do it better but for what it is, I'm content doing it cheaper than with all new bling haha.

Edited 06/05/20 03:43 AM by K4L4M1TY

[k31th]

yeah; if you're super patient and get all of the required mods 2nd hand and do all of the labour yourself and basically only pay for a tune, it'll save you heaps, but it requires a lot of time and patience

[K4L4M1TY]

I have both thankfully, only thing that bums me out right now is it will be sitting there not running until I get it all and will be stuck riding and driving a Mazda 3 haha. I've got experience with modifying cars and such but never really done my own to this extent so I'm just stuck weighing up the pros and cons of doing the conversion as opposed to sticking with the stock plenum and seeing what I can do with it. Guess I'll just have to see where funds are at and think about it for a while, I read that there's multiple advantages of going the FG plenum so I'm keen on the idea and after dealing with pulling out the old B series one I'm kicking myself thinking about having to wrestle that thing back in now and any future modifications that might require me doing it all over again.

[camo86T]

You sound lazy-efficient like me, I loathe doing something tricky/time-consuming I know I'll have to re-do not far down the track....

As you pointed out though, you'll want to throw all those other mods at it to make the change worthwhile.

I would sit on it for now, put the stock plenum back on and give yourself a target of 3/6/9/12 months to get together funds, parts & a decent window of time to attack it all at once.

In the meantime, keep researching and tweaking your wishlist, and most importantly work out who is going to tune it and get their input as well.

[arronm]

With a low budget FG plenum should be the last thing on your list. 

[gaz097]

Albeit the ba manifold is crap, it's not a deal breaker until you start maxing out standard frame turbos. Then go plenum or FG inlet.

Pretty sure you need coolant lines as well.


Rapid wrap around piping is great for a man on a budget. Tb relo is not much of an upgrade in performance, only looks (personal opinion there).

[K4L4M1TY]

10 minutes ago, arronm said:

With a low budget FG plenum should be the last thing on your list. 

Not on a low budget, just wanting to spend less time with it apart now than have to spend the time doing it later and honestly find the b series plenum ugly and a pain to work around. All I'm really concerned about is the efficiency of the stock plenum if and when I decide enough isn't enough

 

1 hour ago, camo86T said:

You sound lazy-efficient like me, I loathe doing something tricky/time-consuming I know I'll have to re-do not far down the track....

As you pointed out though, you'll want to throw all those other mods at it to make the change worthwhile.

I would sit on it for now, put the stock plenum back on and give yourself a target of 3/6/9/12 months to get together funds, parts & a decent window of time to attack it all at once.

In the meantime, keep researching and tweaking your wishlist, and most importantly work out who is going to tune it and get their input as well.

Kinda like that though I don't mind doing it, but I loathe the amount of skin the car took from me doing it(I know, fun times). I've probably got 5k atleast to throw at it but really don't think I'll need that much. If my old work weren't so iffy I'd go there as the tuner is good with barras but from what I've seen jez do with them, dvs will probably do my tuning as he seems to take a lot more pride in his work. My problem is I see, I want, I get, but I do my research which is why I thought I should get advice from some of you here as I'm sure plenty have done it or looked into it at the least.

[arronm]

5k wont go far