Project: Black Dragon

[archaeic_bloke]

they are garabe brand, from summit racing. lol

[4jo3]

I agree with archaeic_bloke. ALL silicone coolant hoses are garbage. I have had 3 different sets on my 1994 s4, and trust me they weren't cheap and I finally went back to oem. They usually lasted around 3 weeks for me ... maybe 4 if i was lucky. All were coolant hoses. That being said, I run samco hoses on both of my audi's for the turbo and intercooler piping. Knock on wood. But I haven't had an issues yet and its been a while since I have changed them.. But i run rubber hoses on my gtr for the actuators. I remember buying them a year and a half ago. There was a few different types, I got the ones you can't squeeze. There was really no reason that I changed them other than they were old.

[TrevoR32]

ya i took the car out of storage yest. runs well.... but still feels like boost is a bit off. likely the lines need replacing. looking for a good shop too. any ideas? hahah

[Oakville]

Hey trev, got a vid of the RSR catback?

[TrevoR32]

Hey trev, got a vid of the RSR catback?

hey Oakville, im sure i can scare up something for you. give me a few days?.

[GTR-Dad]

Looks like a great project.

Thoughts on the items I've got experience or (groundless internet) opinions on....


Current setup:

GOOD:

SPLIT FIRE COIL PACKS - Definately good. Don't buy into the '20 yr old OEMs are better'.
BLITZ SPEC R BOOST CONTROLLER (1300 DOLLAR JOKE) Mine drifts with temperature, but I'd be surprised if the overboost issue is related to the unit itself.
FACTORY RESTRICTOR REMOVED. Might be a re-plumbing opportunity. I'd set the EBC up to positively open the wastegates when pressure is applied rather than bleeding pressure to delay opening.

BAD:

CAR IS WILDLY OVERBOOSTING - See above
SAID OVER BOOST POSSIBLY BLEW MY REAR MAIN SEAL. - Are you talking about the main crank seal? If crankcase pressure got high enough to blow a seal, I'd be doing a leakdown test...

Parts owned to be installed:

2X 2860-5 - Good choice for early spool, flat torque curve, and over 500 whp.
CUSTOM DIVIDED Y PIPE - I've heard this improves flow dynamics. It'd be cool to do a before and after with nothing else changed.
PORTED STOCK MANIFOLDS
OS GIKEN TS3B W/ FORK PIVOT ETC.
INJ DYN 1000CC ID INJ W/ PHR ANODIZED BLACK HIGH FLOW FUEL RAIL. Good choice
IDLER/TENSIONER/PULLEY ETC. Good plan
GREDDY TYPE R BOV W/ RB26 PIPING If you run MAF, recirc air to keep AFR happy.

Parts to be purchased:

FUEL PUMP (TOMEI, DENSO, BOSCH, ETC) Bosche 044 is a great pump. Walbro is lower cost, but I've heard they hate getting run dry.
ECU (AEM EMS, VIPEC, G4 ETC) I like my ViPEC a lot. Check out the 'disadvantages of PFC thread for details.
RIMS/TIRES (R34GTR RIMS PROBABLY) POSS TE37,CE28N BRONZE). Unless you need bigger wheels to clear brakes, it's just bling.
WATER/METH INJECTION Make sure you've got a fail safe!
CAMS/ CAM GEARS (TOMEI, HKS, ETC) This will help mostly after you've derestricted everything else. A good efficiency mod.
SUSPENSION (OPEN TO IDEAS) NOT QUITE HKS HIPER MAX, BUT NOT KSPORT. Lol. I'm trying a set of BC Racing fully adjustable (separate bump and rebound damping) coilovers. So far so good...

Other stuff to think about...
What's the purpose of the car? Fast, fun, reliable street car? Drag racer? Weekend circuit track car?
This will help set priorities on reliability mods.

I don't think you mentioned oil pump or oil pump drive. Do you know if your car has the short oilpump drive or the longer one? If short, your risk of oiling system failure increases. The engine doesn't absolutely need to come out to do this, but those who have done it both ways prefer pulling the engine. Turbos are also easier to change on an engine stand.

If you run an OEM or N1 oilpump you'll want to keep rpms under 8000 and stay off the rev limiter. With OEM pump, I might even say 7500 rpm max, but I've got limited experience with that.

Dan

[evilgtr]

Dan where is your boost controller mounted ? the only issues Iv ever read with that model ( same as mine ) is due to heat, that why mine is mounted under my intakes and behind the passenger side headlight - absolutly no boost creep or spiking at all.

[GTR-Dad]

Dan where is your boost controller mounted ? the only issues Iv ever read with that model ( same as mine ) is due to heat, that why mine is mounted under my intakes and behind the passenger side headlight - absolutly no boost creep or spiking at all.

My solenoid is currently in the OEM location and the controller is in the glove box. The issue isn't with spiking or creep, but with steady state setpoint drift with glove box temperature. When I suspect it's a sensor with inadequate temperature compensation.

I plan to move whatever control device I settle on for summer over the passenger side of the engine compartment so it's phyically close to the waste gates.

Dan

[TrevoR32]

Dan, thank you so much for the input on my project. i really appreciate it. So in your opinion should i just forget about the cams and cam gears? would the gains outweigh hacking it open? or would it be minute gains? I always thought cams gave a more agressive torque and curve?

Trevor.

[evilgtr]

Hey Trev there is a very detailed thread on cam gears and timing gears and the advantages and power expectations on here somewere, it is very detailed and helped me with my situation. If I have more time later Il have a search and see if I can find the link for you. There are substantil gains to be made with properly set up cams and cam hears though.

Dan, that was my reasoning to locate the solenoids in a area with constant air flow to reduce the tempreture its exposed to as well as having the shortest amount of vacuum hoses to my turbos.

ps love the Vipec to !

[TrevoR32]

Hey Trev there is a very detailed thread on cam gears and timing gears and the advantages and power expectations on here somewere, it is very detailed and helped me with my situation. If I have more time later Il have a search and see if I can find the link for you. There are substantil gains to be made with properly set up cams and cam hears though.

Dan, that was my reasoning to locate the solenoids in a area with constant air flow to reduce the tempreture its exposed to as well as having the shortest amount of vacuum hoses to my turbos.

ps love the Vipec to !

evilgtr... thanks for the input. that is what i was thinking as well. for less than 1,000 for parts. i would love to put them in.

[evilgtr]

Hey no worries at all hope you can find that link ? Im at work so internet time is limited but Il look again tonight. Like you mentioned though for $1000 its a great mod and one you only should have to do once

[GTR-Dad]

Dan, thank you so much for the input on my project. i really appreciate it. So in your opinion should i just forget about the cams and cam gears? would the gains outweigh hacking it open? or would it be minute gains? I always thought cams gave a more agressive torque and curve?

Trevor,
You're opening up the exhaust and improving flow on the intake side, so cams will make a bigger difference than if you just ran them with OE intake and exhaust. Porting the heads and fitting larger valves would be the remaining efficiency mods. It's really just a de-bottlenecking excercise. If you open up everything, but leave one restriction then opening that restriction up will unleash all the potential.

I expect you'd see some good gains with cams. Make sure your cam timing is as per manufactures recommendation, at least as a starting point.
Dan

[GTR-Dad]

Dan, that was my reasoning to locate the solenoids in a area with constant air flow to reduce the tempreture its exposed to as well as having the shortest amount of vacuum hoses to my turbos.

Have you done any testing to see if solenoid performance is affected by temperature? Mine problem has got to be either solenoid or controller, but I was jumping to the conclusion that the controller would be more temperature sensitive than the solenoid.
Dan

[evilgtr]

Hi Dan,
After days and days of extensive research and searching I determined the spec r dual solenoid was the boost controller I wanted even after I was made aware of the finicky behavior some of them are known. Alot of friends in Australia use these on there supra's and soarer's, and GTR's and make it clear that location of the solenoid is crucial for the solenoid to function precisely and accurately as well as mounting as close to the wastegates as possible (find a position between the 2 rules temp + vacuum line distance)

Anyways when I phoned ztune when they were building my engine to notify them of my boost controller selection they immediately agreed it was the best option and were well aware of the importance of it's mounting location without me having to tell them, turns out they had already fixed a few customers cars that had issues and determined they were all heat related issues from where they chose to mount the solenoids. After they relocated the box no issues err came up again. Sorry for the long ramble.