1990 Coupe - 'budget' turbo kit

[turbostang]

Today/Tonight's update:

Cold side is 99% done. The only thing remaining is to get the lugs made that the straps go on - they keep the hose ends from blowing apart. The lugs will go where you see the + on the tubing on either side of the silicone hoses. See 3rd and 4th pic.

First pic, gratuitous up close money shot of the cast aluminum elbow. This was used because the radius needed can't be bent into tubing, so it has to be cast. Luckily, I had some take-offs from a previous project. With some cutting and cleaning, it looked good as new.



Next, shows where that cast elbow goes, and give you an idea of the space it needs to turn.



Overall from drivers side above -



Overall from Passenger side above -

[Coupe81]

Very clean work, your welds are awesome. Ever though of starting a business selling kits? What tig welder do you use? I have a Dynasty 200 DX but I'm still learning on it, welds are not even close as good as yours.

[turbostang]

Very clean work, your welds are awesome. Ever though of starting a business selling kits? What tig welder do you use? I have a Dynasty 200 DX but I'm still learning on it, welds are not even close as good as yours.

I don't build them and sell them like in a kit form, but I do build them on a car-by-car basis. There's not enough money in building off-the-shelf kits, too many people do that and cut the shit out of the prices, that's like a 40K a year job.

The welder is a Dynasty 200DX. It's a very powerful machine for something so small, one of the best investments I've ever purchased. Sooner or later, i'll upgrade to a 300DX.

[Matt]

Looks good. I like the self centering Vband clamps. Makes fitting up the piping so much quicker and easier without worrying if it is centered or not

[1fast4]

In my best Borat voice:

Veddy Nice Veddy Nice
It's got the magnet in it no?

[46Tbird]

Damn Brooks, your work is amazing. Very nice dude! Unrelated, but are you going to run E85 or gasoline?

[turbostang]

Thanks Matt, John and Danny!


Danny - not sure yet. I think for the most part, or at least up front - this will be gasoline. My truck might get E85, but not sure on that one either. I'm just scared of the inconsistent blends from different months of the year. Not only that, I may not have enough fuel pump for E85.

[Darren M]

I'll be watching this with great interest. Great job, as usual. Like everyone else has said.

I don't know if you meant to do this, but, to me, this pic is just epic. Car in the back ground, A2A cooler, great looking aluminum welds, I could go on but then I would just sound like a dork..... Yeah, I already do. Anyway, looks great. Wish I had a HD shot of this....

[turbostang]

I have HD shots of everything I do, if you want them - PM me your email address, i'll send them out sooner or later.

First things first, hoses blow off at the most in opportune times, so I used a Vband on the compressor outlet because the turbo already had a ring on it. This tube was so short, it didn't need any help with keeping the hose on, but all of the others did - so they got, what I call, retainer lugs. Each lug is made from 3/4" bar stock and has a .100 tall X .500 pilot on it, with a 1/4-20 thread. There will be a piece of flat stock and matching 1/2" holes with the bolts going through, to keep the tubes from blowing apart under 'full boost' - pics explain better.





Next is what I call hell. Making a split downpipe. The part that no one sees is how tough that 5" is to 'mold' the way you want it. It has thick and thin spots from the mandrel bending that makes it nearly impossible to shape (to match the two 3.5" tubes welded together close enough to weld). Show below are 3 major steps to the downpipe process. You can get a good idea of the waste involved - just to MAKE SURE that it's tall enough. You'll learn some new words making this part. The kit would be done in the next couple of days, but holiday dinner plans etc..

[bpawl]

thats badass

[dville_gt]

awesome...so jealous you can just walk out into your garage and get to it vs. driving 45+ mins

[turbostang]

awesome...so jealous you can just walk out into your garage and get to it vs. driving 45+ mins

That's one of the main reasons I don't work for myself full time - The drive to and from the shop is a deal breaker for me.

My next house will be on land, and will have a full sized 'shop' on that same land.

[dville_gt]

That's one of the main reasons I don't work for myself full time - The drive to and from the shop is a deal breaker for me.

My next house will be on land, and will have a full sized 'shop' on that same land.

So you are not doing this in your garage?

My FIL who does special effects fabrication has a HUGE shop (thats where my car is now), like 300x200 (not 100% sure of this measurement, but it's huge) plus an attached 50x100. 50% of the shop has a dual level and he's got a full "house" up stairs. He runs his business as a one man show and I often wonder how that would be, part of me thinks it'd be awesome to get out of bed, eat breakfast, go downstairs and start working on whatever, take breaks when I feel like it, etc. But on the flip side (other then his wife who works elsewhere) there would be no human interaction for the most part, which I imagine would get boring, and knowing me I'd end up working way too late and finish all of my work for the week in like two days (he has expressed that this is a real problem, he'll try to finish up at like 7 or so, but will "just get setup for the next day", then once everything is setup he ends up just doing it and looks down and it's 1am).

Who'd have thought, a really wordy, pretty much pointless thread by dville_gt! I guess what I am trying to say is I can see how either way (shop at the house vs. shop elsewhere) would have advantages/disadvantages.

[turbostang]

No, I do work out of my garage - it's an oversized 3 car.

I was just saying, that if I required more space and had to have a shop - that would be a deal breaker. I hate having to drive to work on cars, I guess that's the 'hobby' part of the mentality thinking I should be able to do that in my garage..

[Z06killinsbf]

Well, since you won't help me, stand by for MANY questions.