well despite it being quite easy to get too currently I decided not to take off the supercharger and swap the alta -15% for the kavs +5% pulley.

Instead I decided to draw a little on my new chalk-board wall
(just painted yesterday)


While I mulled over my most recent bug.
I have been unhappy with the fit of the garret radiator for the W2A setup namely because the end tanks were 2" wide while the rest of the core was only 1.25" thick.

Sooo... I decided to hell with it and cut the end tanks off and started over.

Only have one end done as of tonight, but I did re-use the fittings from the original modification. Cut them out and then filed down the welds until the old plate it was welded too could be removed from the fitting.

Not perfect, but I think it came out quite nicely. Should fit and give the bumper cover a little more breathing room as well

 

when this is all done, your going to have to tell me how your home made w2a intercooler does, im thinking of doing the same, we have a wire edm here at work, so i could feasibly make .01 thick copper heat exchangers

 

ooooohhhh

We have a wire EDM down the hill at our die and tool plant, but I have no need to be in that building and would have to interrupt production to use it.

Would be pretty sweet though!

Do you guys just have wire EDM for cutting or do you also have it for deep hole and rotary machining?

 

just for cutting, havent gotton into the deep hole yet, but there should be some coming soon actually

 

well seeing as a fair number of people seem to be watching this thread, I feel as if it is only fair to let you guys know why I have not done anything on the car when I could have.

Like with the TV mount.

I do have other facets to my tallents however, as "fabrication" is not just limited to metal and wood.


One of my other hobbies (on occasion) is making more decadent deserts for work functions for the sole purpose of blowing the pants off of some of the ladies at work who never shut up about "how good" some of their deserts are (which are usually made from a box or could have been)

I will admit I am a bit of a snob when it comes to deserts, as is my sister, but then again we were raised by parents that both cooked, and one of which was briefly a pastry chef between being an aerospace engineer for Lockheed-Martin and going to medical school. And when we say it is from scratch. It is from scratch. full stop.

I am "all grown up" now however, and having spent an ample amount of time in the kitchen during the holiday season and on Saturdays growing up, I learned how to make many things.

My favorite of which is a
French Autumn Cake.

[Chocolate mousse "icing" and layer fill" with 3 french meringues for the tiers. Wrapped in dark chocolate and topped with milk chocolate shavings. All ghirardelli.]




It's not 3 michelin stars quality, and it needs black coffee when you eat it as it is just so rich, but it should knock the socks off of a few people tomorrow I hope


Happy Holidays!

 

UPPDATTEEE!!

CAT CAMS HOOOOO!!!

she is here!










and a slightly better picture of the end tank I welded the other day. Thick to thin every where. different aluminum grades. Was a fun challenge that went well enough "for government work" at least. haha!

 

finished the other end tank!

Still need to leak test it though...

 

looks good, soon enough ill have my BVH and NS1 cam!

 

well in unfortunate news I had a guest over in the garage, a screw driver was dropped (it was quite point and large) and it went through the raidator metal for the w2A IC. ugh.

The metal where it went through it way too tiny to weld back shut, and after attempting to fix it with other methods all have failed.

Ordering a new radiator

 

cam went in today!

 

FINALLY! The new turbo has shipped. (two days ago) after waiting for OVER a month!
-> was supposed to ship out before new years! oh well.
Should be here soon!

 

Woohoo

 

Turbo came in this morning!!!
aand I went ahead and took the compressor housing off.. cause.. sex...





but really it is because I am using wiggins and vanjen clamps, and they need to go on this housing.

So layout dye for drawing cut lines




cut off the cold side outlet! then hit it with layout fluid remover (acetone blend)




I did not like the large transition present due to the taper I cut offf, so I pulled out a rotary file, chucked it up in the drill, and removed some material.






then welded on the 2" wiggins!!!





long story short I started to cut off the inlet with the band saw, but I did not have a vertical support and it was a little sketchy. Housing was vibrating as I was just trying to hold it vertically.


I decided to just put the housing in the car and take it to work real quick.
We have a little prototyping shop that has an old 1960 bridgeport mill.

she runs like a champ still though!

clamped in place




removing some material



finished height




At this point I used a smooth file, and a square deburing tool and cleaned the edges up.

where the vanjen will sit




back home and welded the new ferrule on!




not by best welds, but I am not used to
A. cast
B. thick and thin
and
C. I probably could have spent a small amount of more time prepping it post pre-heat. (had some oxidation starting when I began welding. Gave the occasional issue.)

 

the biggest issue is mostly likly the cast, esspecially with aluminum

 

What on earth are you doing to that poor turbo???!?

 

improving it! haha

wiggins / vanjen allow you to quickly connect / disconnect piping, are leak proof, allow axial and radial misalignment (a little) and still flex as needed for engine operation!

good for 100 psi + and you never have to worry about a silicon coupling popping off, or getting a tool into an awkward location

 

Getting so anxious to see the whole thing come together.

 

Well it was a MINI filled weekend! just not my mini. haha
Ended up traveling about an hour to visit a fellow miniac who just so happens to live in the same town where my GF goes to school.

Ended up doing
550cc inj install
new intake manifold
1320 CAT cam
mynes V2 header (cat-less)
and a few other things as well as getting his FA lite flashed and get him on the road.

However, last night, oh mondays, I did finish a jig for the turbo to hold it in place.
Just a mock up, and some stuff still needs to move, but it gives me a feel for where it will go.


Thinking I may have pre-maturealy welded on the outlet wiggins.
May need to cut it off, weld on a 90, and then weld it back on...



Unfortunately some of this project is currently a little stagnant.
Sorry guys, waiting on quotes and parts.

Header flange is out for laser cutting. ETA < 2 weeks, but still...
and the merge collector I am looking into having it CNC machined, but Axel is a little backed up and IDK when that will be done...

 

hah i need to do everything you just did with your meetup, but ill have a whole new head

 

Teaser time!

Been interfacing with Elmer Racing out of finland to CNC a merge collector!

I needed something short, wanted a good flow path, needed a T3 outlet, and a wastegate pass.

Could have welded it up, but all of the formed collectors I could find were too long or not overly well designed.

After I completed a model, sent it the way of Elmer racing and they re-did the model so as they could make it on their 5 axis cnc. Similar and holds the same angles and size, but the lofts are a little different, overall, no worries.

Scanned my engine bay, and drew up my header flange

Header flange is out for cutting now.

I MAY HAVE AN EXTRA TO SELL!!!

LASER CUT! 3/8" 304L SS!

If anyone ever needs flanges, let me know!

I can have them made in batches!
(setup cost was the bulk. 1 piece was ~$76, two for $110 my cost - local pickup - price per part goes down the more I have made)

I am not looking to be a vendor, but if anyone needs one, just PM me.



okay.

Back to this header situation.

So,

flanges -> 2 weeks out or less (hopefully)

CNC merge collector -> payment sent, but they have a backlog.

Longer than 2 weeks, end time unknown.
I have the file though, so I will probably just make a stand in piece so I can start work on the headers.


Also: about to start designing all of the pieces for these headers.
While these renders are smooth bends, I am nuts and want a challenge, so I am having straight pipe laser pi cut and I am welding it up! (I think)
-> Plus I need tighter radius's than I can get with mandrel bending.
We are talking 1.5" CLR on 1.625" OD tubing.
Tight!

anywho, for those that all of ^^ was not english

pictarzzz!






and a small cutaway

 

new vs old

 

Oh god...this thread is great !!!!!!


You're so lucky you have access to all this equipment (cnc/lathe/etc..) Definitely would love to have some things CNC'd but i have no access to one :(

 

little teaser of what I have been working on.

These pie cuts are intsey ity bitty!
And I cut 40 of them out this evening... ugh... only 50 more to go...



(yes these are for the header. you cannot get 1.625" 321SS .065" wall in a 1.5" CLR bend)

 

Those are gorgeous

 

I know how you feel, I have built a couple exhaust systems with the bends made with wedges, and will be doing it again when I build the new system for my MINI. Having access to the weighted band saw at work is going to save a lot of time though.