Yes, I got 2", 2.5", and 3" piping coming in next week. I've got a good idea how how to route it, but my welding skills are subpar. I just need the visible side to look good the hidden side can look like a bag of *** as long as it doesn't leak. I'm also doing a full 3" dual exhaust all the way back. 200 cell high flow cats, super 10 flowmaster as a crossover, and two 3" bottle style 3 chamber resonators. I don't want it to sound like a butt trumpet. Maybe a butt tuba, more bass that way.

 

Start with the hot side then since it's all hidden under the car, that will give you all the practice you need.

Are you going to MIG or TIG weld? Honestly MIG would be fine and imo it's definitely easier to learn on a wire feed since there's so much less you have to pay attention to. Just make some practice runs and figure out your wire speed and amperage. Too many amps will pop a hole in the metal, I usually start high and then dial it back a little until it's no longer blowing holes in stuff.

You can use the cheat sheet on the welder as a rough guess but it's NOT a set-in-stone guide. There's a lot that can affect how many amps are actually being sent out the lead so you will need to trim up/down a little.

MIG is just going to create more splatter, especially with flux core wire, however you can clean it up with either a wire brush on a grinder, or a flapper wheel on a grinder if it's really bad. Follow up with a higher grit flapper if you want to remove more grinder marks but usually just hitting the weld with a wire brush grinder is all that you need.

If it's really ugly you can always ceramic paint everything flat black and you'll never see it.

All it NEEDS to do is be airtight and have proper fitment, pie cuts are your friend and you'll get PLENTY of practice pie cut welding

 

If you're using aluminum for the cold side they you will NEED to use argon/stargon for a wire feed. They don't make flux core aluminum.

The hardest part about MIG wire feed aluminum is getting it to actually feed properly down the lead without jamming up. Make sure you keep the lead as straight as possible without any bends. Set the tension on the wire spool as light as possible without having it unravel so the feed motor isn't having to pull on it. Adding a small amount of graphite powder to the lead and blowing it through with an air compressor helps reduce friction in the lead, just a tiny bit is all that's needed.

Spool guns are expensive but WAAAAAY easier than loading aluminum wire through a regular wire feed.

If you're TIG welding the aluminum cold side then all this is irrelevant but TIG takes a lot more practice. I prefer it because you aren't sucking smoke while welding.

It's also perfectly acceptable to just run steel for the cold side and coupling it together at the intercooler. Just wrap it in that gold heat reflective tape. Sure it adds a little weight and doesn't have the heat dissipation of aluminum but if you are using a wire feed and really struggling with the aluminum wire it's a viable option.

 

I've been slowly practicing my aluminum TIG welding. I just bought one and 100% argon for it. Welds aren’t half bad but it is far from perfect. I’ll just take my time and work at creating that puddle for those stacked dimes. Maybe I’ll get there

 

Stacking dimes only happens when you do that for a living "Stacking puddles" is good enough for the rest of us. Just watch the puddle not the arc.

 

Got around to running the water lines for the turbo. Used the lines that come off the coolant pipe on each side of the motor. Didn't get the best pics unfortunately.



Also tapped the upper oil pan for the oil return lines. I'm not sure how well they'll work as they are only slightly angled. I used the dipstick and measured between the High/Low marks as a guide.

Driver side:




Passenger Side:



Lastly I started running the line for my DIY fuel return system. The only piece I couldn't DIY was the correction kit. I purchased the CJM fuel correction kit from CZP (Product #
300.5000)



I'm also in the process of fabricating engine mount spacers. I read up on the GTM manual that they are required to clear the steering knuckle/shaft. Will report back once they are done and I attempt to drop the motor back in if the turbo and manifolds will clear.

 

Is this build still in progress?

 

Yep, actually just ordered more parts last night.

 

I was finally able to test fit the new motor in the engine bay. I did run into some slight issues with fitment and I tried taking as good of pics as I could to identify the issues and try to come up with a solution. If anyone has any more ideas than I do please feel free to share. I will also have to figure a way to route the piping from the turbo to the intercooler. But that is a whole other issue on its own which I will try to keep in mind whilst trying to fix the others.

Test fitting the motor, looks good but had some issues.


Issue #1
The wastegate for the driver side will also need a bracket like on the passenger side. The motor would not clear the sides while attached.


Issue #2
The driver side turbo barely clears the steering column, even with the engine spacer. The 5 bolt to v-band adapter hits the column. The flange will need to be cut, rerouted 45 degrees, and reweld a new flange to clear. As well as grinding down one of the bolts that are touching the column.



Issue #3
The fuel rail fitting to 6AN is touching the hot side of the turbo. A turbo blanket should keep the heat from reaching but the fitting and fuel line will need to be wrapped in heat tape.



Issue #4
The 6an water fitting on the outside of the passenger turbo needs a banjo fitting to properly fit. The current set up, pictured, did not clear the side so it was removed in order for the motor to fit.

 

You might end up replacing the studs in the motor mount with something longer so you can use a 1/2" - 5/8" spacer.

Massage the sheet metal in the engine bay to make more room as needed, I'm pretty sure this will be mandatory to maintain good clearance in some places.

Fuel line clearance is an easy fix, get a tubing bender in there and relocate the line with a bend then fab a new bracket to secure it in the new location.

I think a lot of those clearance issues can be remedied by clearancing the sheet metal. Start with a ball peen hammer using a mini sledge to hammer on the back of the ball peen, round end up against the sheet metal, hammer on the opposite end of the hammer./flat side. This way you get precisely located hammer strikes. I like to use a washable marker to draw around the sheet metal that needs clearanced that way it's a good easy visual when you pull everything back out and begin hammering.

The downside to sheet metal clearancing with a lighter colored engine bay like yours is you're going to SEE the hammering, if there is a way to block out and paint black parts of your engine bay then all the clearancing will be practically invisible.

 

Great build thread grimvanni!

Quick question, I'm looking for Revup VTC covers too. Where were you able to get yours?

Thanks in advance!

 

My bad on the delayed reply, I dropped the motor and cracked the upper oil pan so I have to deal with that and redo the oil return lines, sandwich plate, and torque everything back down. I found them on FB market place. Some guy sold me all his Revup items that he had. I got lucky as the VTC covers are expensive.

 

After dropping the engine and cracking the upper oil pan. I finally replaced it, and have made some slight progress.
Replaced the upper oil pan, drilled and welded in the 10AN fittings for a better seal.


Once that was complete I fab'd up some downpipes for the turbos.




Here they are installed on the turbos


Doing some research and it looks like getting the turbos to the intercooler through the top of the engine bay may not work for me. So I decided to rotate the turbos to point down and I will run them underneath the car. This created some issues with the wastegate positioning, so I had to modify them. I extended the rod on both sides by 2" and put in a 45 degree bend on the driver side so that it would clear the sidewall and still allow the wastegate to perform it's job. I looked everywhere for extended wastegates but came up short. I got a stainless steel rod around the same size as the actuator and welded it in.

Driver side wastegate bracket and rod



Passenger side with bracket and rod extension



Next step is to tighten everything up, make sure no kinks are in my hoses and flip it back over to finish up the fuel rails and pressure regulator hoses. Then make sure all my connections are in place and prep the engine bay to fit the motor back in.

 

This week I started back trying to work on the G. I moved a whole state and brought this ***** with me. It was a pain and I ended up realizing I was in over my head. I called up a local dude here in Ohio and he will be finishing up the project for me. I admit I should have purchased a pre-built kit and installed it that way. But it was a fun learning experience and doing it all over again I know exactly what I would do to go twin. I will post an update once she is up and running!

 

Part of the fun is in the experience. I’m at almost at a year since I bought my blown engine coupe. Engine assembly should make significant progress this weekend. Learned a ton in the process. Probably would’ve been easier just to swap an IPP built block setup but hey; it’s fun!?

glad you are getting it finished up. Who is doing the work?