Using 4043. I've tried cleaning passes, aluminum-dedicated SS brush, acetone, repeat, but doesn't seem to improve much. I find I'm having a hard time getting the material to puddle. I've tried preheating the part to about 200* but it dissipates heat so quickly it's difficult to keep it hot - it seemed to help a little though. I think I'll throw it in the powder coat oven and get it up to 400* or so and see how that goes. I'm also only on 110v as I don't have 220 in the garage so that's probably not helping things - running it at about 140A. The casting is about .250" thick so 140A is probably a little cold for aluminum. I may have to try it in the house on 220, crank it up and see how that goes. I really need to scoop up a manifold to practice on then give the preheat a shot, maybe with more amperage, and see how it goes.
Also found out the hard way that just flipping the alternator actually gains more room than using the Outfront-style relocation bracket. In my case, it's crucial that I have the alternator as far to the driver's side as I can possibly get it so there is no interference directly in front of and below the plenum. If I ever get this thing that far, I'll need that room to build out the plenum.
I made a little more progress over the past week. I picked up a Vibrant Performance manifold vacuum block and began plumbing it. I used a couple of m6 x 1mm nut serts to attach it to the firewall. I have boost gauge, FPR boost reference, and my hobbs switch for my 2nd fuel pump trigger plumbed to it currently. There will be a -6 AN feed from the bottom of the manifold to the vacuum block. The AEM MAP sensor (pictured) will actually be placed directly onto the manifold instead of in the block (in theory avoiding any delay in signal). I am also going to plumb my BOV to the block, but need to figure out if I want to spend the money on AN fittings and hoses for it...will probably just use a barbed fitting. I welded a 1/8 NPT bung onto the manifold for the brake booster. The welds were pretty horrendous looking, but it's solid. I blended the welds to make it look OEM-ish. The vacuum nipple in the background of the first picture was later shaved after I was certain the new 1/8 NPT port was going to work. Hose fitment ended up being perfect. First bung weld attempt...fail...good thing I ordered an extra just in case! Got a little carried away porting. Inside runners still need some TLC. Stock vacuum nipple shaved And welded shut and smoothed I cut the center bracing section out of the top portion of the manifold so I can weld all the way around each runner. Beveled the passenger side in preparation of welding the upper manifold to the TGV housing. I got the passenger side all tacked up and it's still aligned perfectly when test fitting to the car. I still have some cutting to do on the driver side before I can bevel both pieces then tack that side. I have plans for the plenum in my head, but haven't bought material yet. Having never done something like this before, I think that will be my biggest challenge. Hopefully I can pull something off that works and at the same time doesn't look too ridiculous.
The upper manifold is now welded to the tgv housings. It went okay, but it was a little rough in some spots. I ended up grinding all of the welds smooth and I'm going to keep practicing and eventually make a final pass over it again. The hardest part was welding in between the runners where it's difficult to get a #17 torch in there. I switched over to a stubby gas lens on the torch which made it much smaller and I was able to get in there and get it all sealed up. Also, preheating the part to around 220* in the powder coat oven before welding seemed to help it puddle easier too. It's a lot of mass (and being aluminum) it dissipates heat quickly so it can be hard to even get a puddle going at times. I used a 1/2 pipe to -8AN compression fitting adapter on the hard coolant pipe that goes from the water pump, under the intake manifold and to the coolant expansion tank. I wanted this hard line out of the way to make more room for the turbo inlet and also relocating the expansion tank since I didn't want to mount it to the intake manifold. To get the compression fitting to go on, I had to cut the flare on the very end of the hard pipe. It should work nicely. It's not the greatest picture and it's still a work in progress, but I began modifying my Moroso coolant expansion tank that so that it can be relocated to to the passenger fender. I cut the bracket off that formerly mounted it to the stock intake manifold and welded it back on so it will mount to the fender. The coolant hose that was adapted with the compression fitting that I previously mentioned will connect to the expansion tank using a -8AN 90* on the back side of the tank (between the tank and the strut tower). After cutting the stock barb fitting off and plugging the hole for the coolant feed from the AOS, I drilled a new hole where I'll weld a -8AN fitting on. I'll need a new/longer hose for my AOS (which I can order through IAG), but I'll use a -8AN to 1/2 hose push on fitting for that connection. Should be fairly clean and work well as long as the welds seal
I like the new hose for that coolant line. I bent the sh!t out of mine when I was working on the car. Never thought to replace it with a hose like that.
I had a couple of hours to play around in the garage last night and got my expansion tank finished up. It just needs blasted and coated now. I welded on two -8AN fittings. I had to move the tank about an inch forward from where I had it mounted previously to allow enough room for the 90* fitting, but no biggie. I'm loving rivnuts for the ease of mounting stuff on firewall/fenders. Meh, I've seen worse welds lol Again, the 90* fitting is connected to the compression adapter fitting that I previously put on the coolant pipe off the water pump. The barbed fitting will connect to the AOS coolant hose, but I need to order a new one because this one is cut too short for where the tank is now. The tank is a little rough looking, but hoping some powder coat will clean it up a bit. As long as it doesn't leak I'll be happy. It's a bit of a mess right now, but it's getting there.
Small update...Finished expansion tank Last night I pulled the power steering and looped the hard lines from the rack where they come up through the subframe. Conveniently, I had two -6AN hose ends and 8" of hose laying around so I made a quick line and looped the feed and return together. I'm going to see how much I hate not having power steering. If I can't stand it, I'll look into going the electric/hydro power steering pump direction. Very rough mockup of turbo inlet and IC piping. 3" hard inlet and 2.5" intercooler piping coming off a 90* coupler from the turbo will both fit under the intake manifold. This is the main reason why I wanted to ditch the pump...to make room for the IC piping. It will go right where the pump used to live, 90* down under the radiator hose, along the timing cover, and then connect to the intercooler right below the headlight (in theory). More to come on that once I get materials. Last night I welded a 50mm Tial BOV flange onto a charge pipe for a buddy. The welds are a little lumpy, but it didn't turn out too terrible. This was the thinnest aluminum I've welded yet and I learned a lot. It's not going to win any beauty contests, but will hold all the boost! Got it recoated in some Desert Wrinkle Black too.
Some new shots of surfaced this past week, courtesy of DownforcePhotography, from Annual Subaru Nationals last summer
Continued working on the intake manifold... Upper manifold to TGV welds are basically finished. Trimmed the plenum a bit more. Started some plenum mockup... Plans for intercooler piping routing. This is roughly mocked up, but will sneak it under the headlight: Trying to decide on an intercooler core. I'm trying to keep in mind the level of difficulty I will be encountering when fabbing end tanks. I've narrowed it down to basically 3 different options: Treadstone 28" x 10.5" x 4.5" Garrett 24" x 10.5" x 3.5" Several brands (CSF, Treadstone, Vibrant) for a 24 or 25" x 12" x 3.5" I made two cardboard templates. First one was the 28" x 10.5" x 4.5"...it's huge. Probably a little too big, especially for just an FP black. But being 28" long would make for the easiest end tank fab up because it would be a straight shot below the headlight into the end tank. No 90's and 45's to work out to mate it to the end tank. It also fills the entire opening in the bumper which would make it look nicer IMO (and hide my welds ). I would more than likely need to trim the bumper a little bit more, but not much. I would also have to cut out more of the "bucket" that's built into the bumper for the fog light mounting...which wouldn't bother me. End tank mockup The second one was the 25" x 12" x 3.5". Looks tiny compared to the previous one. The end tanks could a be a little more complex with the shorter length, but should still be doable. Just need to make a decision. Anywho, more to come, just an update out of boredom at work
I don't know anything about fluid dynamics but in my simple brain it seems that the 25" would have room for a smoother transition into the core
Trying to take this into consideration too. With the 28" core, the inlet and outlets will be angled at about a 45* angle to direct it under the headlight so I don't think it would be to severe of a direction change. I do often see end tanks with a 90* (back door inlet/outlet) right off the back of the tank though, for what it's worth. Like this one for example
Yep, many factory diesel truck intercoolers look like that (and those handle plenty of air), so I doubt it's that big of a deal.
#ANFittingsOnAllTheThings AN hoses for the EBCS, wastegate, boost reference on the turbo compressor, and also replaced the "sweaty" coolant lines that come with the IAG AOS with AN hoses (they have always permeated pretty badly). I had to make a new hose to reach my relocated coolant expansion tank anyway, so figured I'd replace both. I used a 1/2 pipe to AN compression adapter on the turbo hard coolant line. TBD if it leaks...
There seems to be a pattern developing here... UPS is trash. Competition Clutch twin disc. The damage isn't anything significant as far as I can see, but it definitely looks like it hit the ground at some point. Based on my past experience, I'm not taking any chances with using it considering it looks like it took a fall...I'm honestly surprised everything was still in the box. I ordered this through Felix Performance who had it drop shipped (no pun intended) to me from a distributor (Turn 14). I'm really surprised the distributor didn't at least put a couple pieces of tape on the damn box considering there's a 40lb chunk of metal and some other small parts inside. Felix has been more than helpful, great communication, and they are having me return the clutch and a new one will be shipped out...hopefully it arrives safe this time!
Also, drove 9 hrs round trip this past Saturday to pick up some new wheeeelz (again)...I plan on getting another set of drag radials (again) and hopefully keep them this time These might be the cleanest set of 05-07 BBS wheels I've seen as far as road rash goes - there is none. They were also freshly powder coated, but the clear is a little orange-peely in some spots, but I can get over that. This pic is kind of washed out, but I'm digging the gold.
I got my hot side charge piping all routed and welded up except for where it needs to connect to the IC core. I should have the core tomorrow. Turns out I'm going to need thicker phenolic spacers to make clearance for the 2.5" pipe to route under the manifold after all. I have 3mm currently and it needs maybe another 5mm of clearance. It shouldn't be a big deal because I've yet to design the manifold plenum so if I need to shorten it more, I can do that...but with the bracing cut out of the hood I think I'll still have plenty of hood clearance. 90 coupler right off the turbo...I'll be making or buying a 3" hard inlet instead of using the FP silicon inlet. It's just there for mockup. Many pie cuts to snake the pipe between the timing cover and the fan... Making the turn to where the IC end tank will be... I got to the point where I had everything welded up (except for the 90 to the IC core) and realize I'd never be able to take this pipe back off without first pulling the intake manifold. So I'll put a coupler on the straight section of the piping so I can remove it in a couple pieces. Getting there. My aluminum welding is getting better...still not the prettiest, but it will do. Pipe is much more difficult to weld than a flat surface, I've found. The cold side charge piping should be cake compared to what needed to be done on the hot side, but won't be able to start on that until I at least get started on the manifold.
Starting mockup on this huge Treadstone core. The bumper will need some additional trimming, but it's not too far off. I installed Quiklatches last week on the sides of the bumper (where it would normally bolt to the fender) so it will make fitting and removing the bumper super fast and easy.
Finally got started on end tank fab. Picked up a 3x4' sheet of 1/8" aluminum and have now realized I bought way too big of a sheet! But that's ok...better than not enough I suppose. Got the second one done and it actually turned out the same size! Getting there...next need to cut holes and start mocking the cold side piping up!
I feel like a lot of these update posts are fairly redundant, but they are updates nonetheless... I got holes cut in both end tanks for the piping entry and then fully welded inside and out. The driver side is welded onto the intercooler core and that process went pretty smoothly. So far so good. I'm waiting on a 30* coupler to try on the passenger side end tank before I weld that side on, just in case I need to make changes to the inlet design a bit. Next challenge will be beginning on that plenum...I don't think it's going to be much fun
Intercooler is done! One of my better beads. I feel like I get a litter better every time. The 30* coupler was a perfect fit. I was able to use a straight coupler on the other side with the way the piping is oriented. I got the "hot side" intercooler piping coated last night I had to make a tight radius 90 for the throttle body as the radius on a standard off the shelf 90 isn't tight enough. This will allow me to have the throttle body a little bit more forward. I bought an Alpha Loc coupler to connect this piece to the throttle body, but the way it's designed I'm not able to get the coupler around the tighter radius...so I sent that back and went with a Vibrant vanjen HD style clamp instead since it can be complete removed from the piping. More on that later when I get that far. After some more cutting to the fog light mounts, the bumper fits nicely Obligatory picture of doggo for Sheen Yawn. Probably have said this a couple times, but next thing to tackle is the plenum design. I can't finish the piping on the "cold side" of the intercooler until I get the plenum and throttle body into it's home then build off of that to connect to the pipe that comes off the intercooler.
Not gonna lie, jumped straight to the puppy pic. Nice work.. based on the only pic I paid attention to
Mmmm...Lil Sumpin Sumpin! Welds are looking really good Joe! Maybe we’ll get to see them in LaCrosse...
Still running it on 110...no 220 outlets in the garage. It will run at about 148 amps maxed out on 110v which is the most I've needed when I welded the TGVs to the upper manifold. For 1/8" stuff I just set the max to 135A and control amperage with the foot pedal. For the thinner tubing, I set it to 75A and control with the foot pedal. Machine seems happiest at about 120hz and AC balance around 30%
Vibrant vanjen clamp came in yesterday and I got it welded to the throttle body then began some mock up for the plenum. I have the throttle body basically where I want it, now just trying to figure out the best way to make the plenum while trying to make it at least half way ascetically pleasing and not just an ugly square.
Love this build so much. Every time I see the notification for this thread pop up I instantly jump to it. Can't wait to see this thing when all is said and done!!
Agreed. I don't comment much, but I'm creepin' on Joe's progress. Really makes me want to get a TIG welder. Keep on keepin' on Joe!
This is just super impressive every sing time I check it! Plus, when someone says yea, my car was built not bought as well, you can throw it at them you did most of the fab work yourself too! +1 internet points!
