Successful Day

[M-Hood]

Let me know how the 001 works out, I might sell my 004 as well depending on the results.

From my understanding, with the 001, it will be open at idle. Wont that basically be a giant leak? I am just a little confused.

It doesn't have to be open at idle, just use a spring that allows it to be closed at idle but opens with just a little more vacuum then you make at idle. My Tial 50mm isn't open at idle.

[Seerlah]

It won't be a leak either. If anything, just a small amount of unfiltered air into your engine. There is no MAF sensor to detect a leak.

Also, to add some more pics.

Winston was so kind as to send me his power bar at a very freindly price, granted I post up pics of it installed when done. Hasn't even been released yet. That should be done within the next week or so.



I Want to install this check valve onto my fuel line in the tank (off pump). It got so bad, that I actually heard all the fuel drain back in today. When I was fixing my fuel rail leak, there was absolutely no pressure in the rail after cutting the engine off and taking off an end fitting no more than 2 min later. Placed my rag by the fitting, started to undo it, and was able to undo the entire thing with NO FUEL PRESSURE in the rail. That means that it is all going back through the pump, in a direction it was not meant to. Not too sure the pump wil be too happy about that. And it seems it is getting louder now, or maybe it's just me. But they (Bosch 044) were loud to begin with. Anyways, here is the check valve. Don't mind that foam cover. it is really just a fuel line with a BMW check valve that seems to work really well with the Bosch 044 pump.



And this is currently how my engine bay looks. Far from fancy, but I'll get to that a little later. I have my PCV just venting into the engine bay. lol



Also, learned today that my clutch does not like too much power (stock clutch). Going to run her at like 16psi till I upgrade my clutch. It slips in first when the torque spike hits hard, and slips in 2nd and 3rd somewhere in the upper RPM range at 18psi. I think 16 or 15 is the sweet spot for now.

[EuroSwag]

I'm glad it's up and running man! Fix the few little things and hopefully it will be set, how's the smell from the open PCV? I really wish my car had an aftermarket clutch already =[ do not feel like dealing with that once mine starts to get bad! Good to know what the sweet spot is for the clutch though.

[howardfootball]

That probably smells real nice. So what made you go with a downward facing setup instead of a topmount? They are a lot easier to service.

[Seerlah]

I like to support the community, so I picked this manifold up from Jeff. If I was on Vortex more, I would more than likely have picked up a Pag Parts manifold. And to be honest, the manifold Arnold has is better. But it's already a done deal and this manifold will serve just fine for what I want.

[donkeysaudi]

Don't have a bt setup but I will eventually get there. Watching all these builds will make me an expert by the time I get ready for my bt setup tho. Keep it coming

[Seerlah]

Well, located where the minute smoke was coming from in the engine bay. The exhaust housing of my turbo sits like 1 mm away from the nub that held down the heat shield on the motor mount bracket. All I did was rip off the heat shield. Now that know, I should have taken out that little plastic rivet completely and maybe even grind down the nub it sits in a little bit. It's too much work for me to even want to do something about it now, and I'll just let it burn away over time (hopefully it won't catch on fire). But next time turbo is out, I'll get to it. Should be when I do my custom DP, but the turbo will stay in. With the ER unit out of the way, it will provide easy access to just cut that thing off. That's something I'll have my mechanic do while he is making my dp. But till then...bleh!!!

[Seerlah]

Well, blew out my T3 gasket, and my downpipe to turbo gasket should be just about done for too. Going to pick up some locking tabs and new gaskets, in hopes it won't happen again.

And not sure if my clutch was slipping now, but is was just simply the retarded driveability from when it started to leak. Anyways, went to the city today to get something done to my car. When I get there, I'm missing a bolt for my downpipe to turbo (yep, this bad boy was completely missing) and I thought that was where my exhaust leak was coming from. Upon further inspection, the t3 flange bolts are all backed down, and the gasket is pretty much done for. On the ride back home, I really wasn't sure if my car was going to make it or not. Going up hills, I had to use my flashers and kept a nice pile behind me. But f*ck it, no way I'm pulling over and losing what momentum I had. But on flat land, doing 70 or over, and going downhill I could pretty much have the speed do normal speed. Far from driving normal, but at least normal speed.

I'll take pics of how much the turbo to manifold nuts backed out from the ride back from the city, and how the gasket is sitting on there. All in all, I wish I knew about the manifold in the link below.

http://www.atpturbo.com/mm5/merchant...gory_Code=VVWM

I honestly think I will eventually end up with either the Pag Parts v-band or the ATP v-band, if I can't get my system right by the end of summer. But I'm still in trial periods, so I'll keep you guys posted.

Any suggestions guys might have (ie don't run any gasket)?

[redline380]

When I got my manifold it didn't come with bolts so I cut up some studs to fit nicely.I got stainless nuts and lock washers to hold the turbo to the manifold. Would that help you any or do you think they'd still back out

[Seerlah]

I have studs and locking nuts on the turbo to manifold, and studs won't fit on one of the mounting holes on the downpipe to turbo flanges. That's why I am using bolts here, to basically walk the bolt down like how people do with the SPA manifold to cylinder head.

Also wanted to note, my oil temps were at 250*F most of the time on my way back unless I was doing at least 70, on flat land, or going downhill. If I didn't run Amsoil motor oil, I would probably be really concerned. But, I'm not. And my coolant was pink this morning...now it isn't:(

Just placed in my order for the locking tabs, and replacement turbo to manifold t3 gasket. I don't think I'm going to run one on the downpipe to turbo flange. And if the t3 flange burns out again, I'm not going to run one there either.

[Seerlah]

Just decided that I'm going to also run bolts on the t3 flange, and remove the studs. Hope my turbine wheel is fine. Does anyone know if the thread pitch is m10x1.25 or m10x1.5?

[thenj3]

Mitch ill let you know the pitch in a few minutes. i'm running bolts here as well since my studs and nuts backed out. i decided to go gasketless here and seems fine. i forget what length i ended up using though.

[Seerlah]

I think I will go gasketless myself. That with the locking tabs I hope will do the trick. I was talking to a guy today, and he said what happens is you will have a small exhaust leak when the metal is cold. And as it heats up, the metal expands and basically seals the leak. And if using parts from reputable companies (ie Evolution Racewerk), you don't need to mill it flat because it already is. But if using something like an ebay flange, then you will have to mill it.

[thenj3]

pitch is 10x1.5 and if i remember correctly you want something thats like 20mm. i believe i used 25mm and had to use washers. next time i take it apart ill get slightly shorter bolts.

[thenj3]

I think I will go gasketless myself. That with the locking tabs I hope will do the trick. I was talking to a guy today, and he said what happens is you will have a small exhaust leak when the metal is cold. And as it heats up, the metal expands and basically seals the leak.

eh idk about that. usually what happens is during all the heat cycles and vibrations, bolts and stuff and can loosen. eventually to the point where they could possibly fall out. which bolt on the dp fell out? the one closest to the motor on the bottomish? they didn't allow much room to tighten that one

[Seerlah]

^No, I was saying that is what the guy said happens when you go gasketless, in reference to the flanges. But to answer your question, strange part was, it was the one at the top. Maybe the most accessible one.

The guy I was talking to said that the way he beat all the backing of the nuts was to go v-band. lol. He showed me his ATP v-band, said fitment wasn't an issue, no more gaskets to worry about, no more bolts, studs, or nuts to worry about, etc. He said that he basically had to keep rechecking his stuff till one day he got tired of it. Picked up the ATP v-band, and no more issues. If you look in the build section, it the guy who has the drift B5 A4.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...sport-Drift-B5

[thenj3]

yea in the future ill be going vband so much easier. its one mistake i learned

[M-Hood]

I think I will go gasketless myself. That with the locking tabs I hope will do the trick. I was talking to a guy today, and he said what happens is you will have a small exhaust leak when the metal is cold. And as it heats up, the metal expands and basically seals the leak. And if using parts from reputable companies (ie Evolution Racewerk), you don't need to mill it flat because it already is. But if using something like an ebay flange, then you will have to mill it.

Going without a gasket is the way to go, just have to make sure both surfaces are perfectly flat since you have already driven the car with the manifold/turbo. I have been running without a T3 gasket since late 2004.

[Seerlah]

Picked up some ARP bolts, and waiting for them to come in the mail. Going to do like Aaron (thenj3), and remove the studs and just run bolts.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ARP-671-1001/ for the turbo to downpipe
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ARP-672-1001/ for turbo to manifold

We'll see how they do with locking tabs. There are those Stage 8 locking tabs, but person was telling me they are rather pricey for a complete kit. Something like $200. Just going to wait for parts to come in and clean/fix stuff up.

[Seerlah]

Update:

Not sure when my locking tabs from 034 are to arrive, but my ARP bolts are scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday. I noticed 034 has rather fast shipping, so I expect it to arrive either tomorrow or the day the ARP bolts are supposed to.

Today I got the turbo out, along with studs on the T3 flange. And getting the turbo out with this manifold and studs is a complete PIA...no joke. Tomorrow, going to take the exhaust housing off my turbo to see if any wheel damage and to be sure no pieces of the gasket dropped in while I was removing it. I have some Permatex gasket remover I am going to put on the flanges, to make it smooth again (remove any gasket residue and caked on metal). But yeah, not going to deal with gaskets anymore.

But today was a good day. Got some coolant in my eyes, in my mouth, etc. But it's ok. Oh yeah, need to take a trip over the dealership to pick up some more coolant...again. Also realized that me taking off the heat shield on the motor mount bracket wasn't such a great idea. What happens is the turbo heats it up to the point that the boot is starting to melt. Should have just used some snips or a cut off wheel to make a little alley for my oil and coolant lines, instead of ripping the whole damn thing off. Oh well. And if the ARP bolts, 034 locking tabs, 034 high temp thread lock, and no gasket does not work, I'm seriously considering swapping this manifold out for a v-band setup.

Pics to come tomorrow.

[M-Hood]

Update:

Not sure when my locking tabs from 034 are to arrive, but my ARP bolts are scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday. I noticed 034 has rather fast shipping, so I expect it to arrive either tomorrow or the day the ARP bolts are supposed to.

Today I got the turbo out, along with studs on the T3 flange. And getting the turbo out with this manifold and studs is a complete PIA...no joke. Tomorrow, going to take the exhaust housing off my turbo to see if any wheel damage and to be sure no pieces of the gasket dropped in while I was removing it. I have some Permatex gasket remover I am going to put on the flanges, to make it smooth again (remove any gasket residue and caked on metal). But yeah, not going to deal with gaskets anymore.

But today was a good day. Got some coolant in my eyes, in my mouth, etc. But it's ok. Oh yeah, need to take a trip over the dealership to pick up some more coolant...again. Also realized that me taking off the heat shield on the motor mount bracket wasn't such a great idea. What happens is the turbo heats it up to the point that the boot is starting to melt. Should have just used some snips or a cut off wheel to make a little alley for my oil and coolant lines, instead of ripping the whole damn thing off. Oh well. And if the ARP bolts, 034 locking tabs, 034 high temp thread lock, and no gasket does not work, I'm seriously considering swapping this manifold out for a v-band setup.

Pics to come tomorrow.

The gaskets usually burn or blow out, they usually don't get sucked into the turbo. That is the nice thing about running no gasket, if the bolts back out you just tighten them up again instead of having to pull the turbo off to replace the stupid gasket.

[Seerlah]

I remember you stating that about the gasket. I wanted to inspect it more on the basis of if any part of it fell it while taking the turbo off the manifold. One of those better safe than sorry cases.

*note: I exceeded my monthly photobucket bandwidth, and pics will be back up on the 1st. Guess it's like some Photobucket punishment thing; F*ckin flunkies!!!

[flynnr]

Hey - for some reason I remember there being a 'shelf life' on the 034 high temp thread lock... could be wrong, but if you said you bought it months ago, it might have been the reason your nuts/bolts backed out

[Seerlah]

Really? That's just silly if it's true. No chemical in my garage has an expiration date, except gasoline. Well, not that I know of anyways. I just used up some silicone spray a little while back I swear could have been from the late 80s to early 90s. lol. I think I either did not apply enough, or the engine vibrations was simply just too much (upgraded mounts all around, minus sub frame mounts). And they backed out driving in NYC. Those streets can be rather harsh.

But for an update, hopefully all my parts come in tomorrow, so I can drive my car again. I miss driving her. First she was on downtime when placing in my turbo kit. And now she is on another time-out because of the gasket blowing issue. Either way, just working out the kinks and things like this are rather unavoidable. Noticed some oil leakage here and there, so going to use my Victor Reinz sealant on the gaskets (oil drain line on turbo and pan) when they go back in. Already placed it on my oil drain plug seal/washer.

[Crispy222]

You could try some high-collar lock washers with your bolts. They are thicker (like heavy washers) and should provide more linear force on the threads.
http://www.fastenal.com/web/products...ex?sku=0110736

I'm running studs and a sort of deformed lock nut I found at a local shop when I put everything together. The nuts look like a copper flanged lock nut, but have a steel coil inside that has deformed threads in it so it bits into the threads of the stud when tightened. I havn't had to touch those since I installed it. I have not found another source for them and the place I bought them at doesn't know where they got them from either. Another option is to use nord lock washers. They are not cheap, but they defiantly hold. I used them on the manifold to head studs with steel 10.8 nuts.

[Seerlah]

I just ordered the high color units. I like those, because they work on my tial bolts. I am assuming it works by pulling on the threads, to make it snug?

[jaychen]

I just ordered the high color units. I like those, because they work on my tial bolts. I am assuming it works by pulling on the threads, to make it snug?

Yes, that's how they work, Mitch.

[Seerlah]

I didn't order any for the downpipe, because it will limit my room too much to even thread the bolts down. The ER downpipe for this manifold in 3" does not permit much room on one of the mounting holes, due to the angle off the flange. Just going to use locking tabs for these. Now, seems I have to wait even longer to install everything. But I need may car put back on by the 2nd, to pick my mother up from the airport. I hate driving her car...or my sister's car.

Talking about my mother's car, need to replace her valve body. Her car is easy to work on, but eh.

Edit: Great news (sarcasm), m10x1.5x20 ARP bolts are back ordered. Got my downpipe bolts, but no t3 flange bolts. Sh*t just gets better and better.

[jaychen]

eh, sucks to hear.

In other news, got that cartridge.. Thanks heaps.

That plug came out in about 1/100000 of a second with the rattle gun lol

[Seerlah]

I don't have power tools. I tried, though.

[jaychen]

No probs,

you should invest in some.. man they make life easy.

[jaychen]

How is your tune running now btw?

Where does your AFR sit?

Flat spots in the rev range?

[Seerlah]

I just borrow my friend's when needed. He hardly ever uses it, so he lets me borrow his tools whenever I need. I have a couple air tools, but my air compressor is rather weak. So, I can only use a certain number of tools.

How is your tune running now btw?

Where does your AFR sit?

Flat spots in the rev range?

When I was driving, I was still adjusting to the new power band. I am so used to shifting around the 5k rpm range, I need to break out of it. I think the furthest I took the powerband so far was in the 6k range, unless I reminded myself while testing to hold it for longer. It is more of an initial instinct to shift too early, from k03 withdraw.

But the tune runs great. A/F spot on at stoche on regular cruising, ~12:1 A/F at WOT (seen it dip to 11.8:1 at times). Once I get her all buttoned up again, I still need to do more test runs and get used to driving with the new power band. I want to drive my car really really bad. Not sure I can hold out till the 11th of next month. Might run to Napa and get some regular bolts and cancel my ARP order. Thing is, I have a strong feeling I will regret it if I do.

[Seerlah]

Jesse, you plan on rebuilding the CHRA? Blades were fully intact when I shipped it, and I tried with pure intent to make sure the blades stayed that way up until delivery. Perfect for a back up.

[EErie B6]

Its up and running! Fantastic!

vids & logs or ban!



I saw the PPT manifold was brought up earlier (sorry, this thread got away from me for a week while we were out of town) I just wanted to note that Arnold will not sell just the manifold. I inquired about it a while back and Arnold was only willing to sell it as a kit... So that is one potential downside for those wanting to custom select all their parts (although he does have a ton of options and substitutions available) I guess in the end, it just ensures he gets ALL the business as well as quality of product (no worries about potential buyers cheaping out on something dumb then blaming his parts for the failure) Other than that, it does appear to be a nice piece.

[Seerlah]

Car is on downtime right now. Not sure if I want to wait for these ARP bolts, or run to Napa and pick up some regular bolts. The ARP bolts are back ordered till 4/11, so that wait is rather annoying. I'll take vids, but my Vag Com cable acts like an *** when I try to record a log. Logging it is fine, it's only when recording it acts up. And I really want to log my ignition timing, or at least see what's going on. Everything else should be good though, gong by my A/F gauge. And I can see my IATs through one of my VEI gauges.

[jaychen]

To be honest , I'll probably just keep it if I ever need a spare. I will rebuild it though, it was in perfect condition as you described.

Thanks again dude.

[Seerlah]

No problem!

[M-Hood]

I didn't order any for the downpipe, because it will limit my room too much to even thread the bolts down. The ER downpipe for this manifold in 3" does not permit much room on one of the mounting holes, due to the angle off the flange. Just going to use locking tabs for these. Now, seems I have to wait even longer to install everything. But I need may car put back on by the 2nd, to pick my mother up from the airport. I hate driving her car...or my sister's car.

Talking about my mother's car, need to replace her valve body. Her car is easy to work on, but eh.

Edit: Great news (sarcasm), m10x1.5x20 ARP bolts are back ordered. Got my downpipe bolts, but no t3 flange bolts. Sh*t just gets better and better.

Well didn't you see the "estimated ship date of 4/23/12" on your link that you posted back then? You could try 034 and see if they have a set in stock. Other option would be to see if there is a slightly larger bolt that you can get now and tap the hole for that larger thread.

[Seerlah]

lol...nope, didn't see it. 034 charges double the price that Summit sells them for. It's only a ~$10 difference, but it is still double the price. I am thinking to just use regular m10x1.5x20 bolts with the 034 locking tabs. Then when the ARP bolts come in, use those with the high collar washers and 034 locking tabs. I was just about to ask people's opinion on this, because that is a hell of a downtime. Sound like a good route to take, Mike? And if Napa does not have this size bolt, you think a regular Home Depot bolt would suffice?