Fresh Sweet Donuts Everywhere! (work log)

Yeah, 7psi seems really slow. I got used to my 11psi or so. We will holler if we're near you!
 
Fuel pump fridays! Replaced my fuel pump with a good used unit with 103k miles that a friend let me have. The car ran great and boosted fine on the test drive of about 30 minutes. I returned home to get cleaned up a bit to go grab some food in the msp again. Right when I started the car, a flashing cel was thrown for p0300. Made no sense as it was running awesome just a little ago. Played with the spark plug wires a little bit and the car started back up fine. Not sure what the deal is. Possibly coils and wires is all I can think of. Let the car sit again for about an hour and it started up just fine. Drove it around for 20 minutes without problems. I've had my fair share of coil pack issues since I've owned this car. I might break down and just get OEM ones since there's no guarantee with these aftermarket units.

Was pretty dirty when I opened up the fuel pump cover.

i-LGHzw6q-XL.jpg


Vacuumed and wiped it off a bit so no debris will fall into my gas tank.

i-ddw9Mrz-XL.jpg


3 of the 8 marshmellow head having ass screws wouldn't come loose so I sprayed it with pb blaster. 2 of the 3 then came lose and the very last one's head stripped. Ended up hammering the screwdriver onto the screw to try to get traction on the screw again but it didn't work. Tried the impact and it got the screw off luckily! Replaced all the marshmellow screws with M4x0.7x10 hex bolts.

i-srpmQmJ-XL.jpg


i-r58SrDQ-XL.jpg
 
You of all people should know as an OG!

America = marshmallow mixed steel for fuel pump screws.
Canada = forged cheese for fuel pump screws.
 
Think I fixed it. I'll give it another week or so of testing to see if it's good. I lended my coilpacks and wires to Gabe but he returned them recently. Slapped those on my car and my random bogging and breaking up under boost (especially in higher rpm) went away. Time will tell.

i-dhZLG2n-XL.jpg
 
#tbt to my first time at a track from 09/2014. I didn't even know anyone was taking photos. It wasn't even an event and there were about 8 of us there.

i-f8HscN2-X2.jpg
 
In the middle of installing an upgraded steedspeed turbo mani and a used 2860 i picked up. Currently just waiting on replacement studs as the ones I picked up were a little too short for me to comfortably use them. I purchased copper plated locking nuts (recommended by many online) but the threaded part of the studs weren't long enough for the locking nuts to do it's job. Rather be safe than sorry because I don't plan on removing all this again just to replace hardware. Check out the before and after photos of the mani!

i-LMSCjrW-XL.jpg


i-rPVWDTP-XL.jpg


i-bvMRZ7d-XL.jpg


I would also like to share how my friend fitted a slim fan into the OEM fan shroud and shaved down the fan shroud so that my hot pipe would fit properly. This was done over a decade ago. Can't locate a brand on the fan but it's still alive and kicking. To me, it's clean and genius.

i-z5v9ntz-L.jpg


i-8VjQ2TN-L.jpg
 
I got the turbo assembly on the car but I've ran into two other issues. The stock oil feed has a 90 degree bend near the end that goes into the turbo. It fits fine on the stock turbo but not on the 2860. I'm no longer able to run my stock radiator fan (driver side) because it won't allow the turbo inlet coupler to fit on to connect my intake. Things to keep my mind busy...
 
Last edited:
Gosh this car is pretty! That manifold cleaned up very nicely

Gonna steal that fan shroud idea for mine lol
 
Gosh this car is pretty! That manifold cleaned up very nicely

Gonna steal that fan shroud idea for mine lol

Thanks! And yeah steal all you want! It's such a good setup. Based on some searching, I found that you just have to heat up and bend the 90 degree part of the oil feed to 45 degrees and it'll fit on a gt28 and I was able to do so with success. My slim fan has arrived too so I'll be tackling fitting it into the stock shroud either Friday or Monday. The good news is after cutting off the stock fan, I'm already able to fit the shroud onto the radiator and fit the intake pipe onto the turbo so not much trimming will need to take place on the shroud. I'm not going to complain about less work.

i-CcwZkpV-L.jpg


i-LWN8DDv-L.jpg
 
The car is back together and running, now with more starch. Here's a short recap of the turbo & mani swap adventure leading up to yesterday.

Removing the old turbo & manifold was easy as pie as I've done it before.

Assembling the new turbo, manifold, and s-pipe, I ran into a snag with the ARP hardware. While it was the proper length stud, the ARP studs do not having enough threads since the tips of them are threadless. Had to buy new studs to solve issue.

After installing the new goodies, I then ran into two issues worth highlighting. (1) The stock oil feed line has a 90 degree bend that sits perfect over the stock turbo's housing that wouldn't fit on the bigger 2860's housing. Solution was bending it to a 45 degree bend and it worked. (2) The stock driver side fan stuck out much preventing me from installing the intake piping onto the turbo. I bought a slim fan and fitted it into the stock shroud. This worked out perfect. The fan is a tad small but I imagine it's pretty efficient being inside of the stock shroud. Seems to pull a good amount of air so time will tell.

The car was fully reassembled on Monday but I had to wait until Tuesday to add coolant and burp the system. While burping the system, I noticed an exhaust leak (ticking). It ended up just being the o2 sensor needed to be tightened some more and I'm happy it was something simple. Glad to report I set the preload on the turbosmart wga properly too since it's working as advertised at 7-8psi ish. It was wet outside so I wasn't really able to get a good feel for the new setup but all I can say is 7psi is very slow lol. I got really used to 11-12psi on the stocker.

TLDR: Of course, nothing goes back together as easily as imagined. Had to custom some things and stuff. Car is running now.

On to the pics

i-Qd8tXpd-XL.jpg


i-WGRJWPB-XL.jpg


i-zqBJC4M-L.jpg


i-29LJH6p-L.jpg
 
You have a nice engine bay bro. I enjoy seeing your updates even though we talk daily. Pictures make it best.

That's cause you love me.

Well, on my way to work today, the hot pipe coming directly off the turbo outlet popped off, which is usually expected when I remove and reinstall piping. However, I found oil in the coupler so I'm assuming the turbo seals are starting to go bad? My stock turbo unit always let my couplers & piping bone dry. Not a good way to start the morning. Got some things and stuffs to think about now.
 
l, on my way to work today, the hot pipe coming directly off the turbo outlet popped off, which is usually expected when I remove and reinstall piping. However, I found oil in the coupler so I'm assuming the turbo seals are starting to go bad? My stock turbo unit always let my couplers & piping bone dry. Not a good way to start the morning. Got some things and stuffs to think about now.
Yessir I do. We bros.
lmk what you need.
 
I needs self healing turbo seals lol. I noticed the clamp for that pipe wasn't tight enough anyway but I guess for a good reason. Else I would've never knew. I'll drive the car around for a few weeks and see if the oil problem worsens. If it does then I'll pull it for a rebuild I suppose since I don't have much of a choice. The games never end.

Other than that, compared to the stock turbo at 7psi, the 2860 spools a little later, pulls harder, and doesn't taper off in power around 5200-5500 rpm. At this psi, the AFRs appears the same (using the superstock map).
 
Back