MUSH Developments` S3

MUSH

MUSH Developments Ltd.
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I built and ran a mk2 20vt for a few year not long ago, that was a load of fun! However i lost the bug with regards to the older generation of cars, as no matter how much i worked on it and developed it, there was always compromise with regards to parts. Scrapyards arent what they used to be, and the mk2 golf is much akin to the mk1 escort, not many about these days. Especially in the scrapyards of the north east!
Heres my build thread for that...

MUSH MK2 20VT - Edition 38 Forums

So with the idea of a big turbo project looming, i decided id go a bit newer. At the time i had a mk4 GTI daily and loved the build, comfort and adaptability of the mk4 chassis. However the mk4 was a bit wet. So with the intention of being able to put all the power id be making on the road, i started the look into what i class as top of the pile with regards to the mk4 chassis, an 8L S3. I had a range of figures going around my mind, anything from 350bhp plus was what i was after, once converted.

I viewed a few examples, some good, but some terrible. The biggest thing for me was that the car had to be mint. I couldnt be naffed on with paintwork or tidying up something, as the only developments i wanted to pursue were strictly performance related. I also didnt care whether it was pre or post facelift either, i like them both.

I stumbled across a red example close to where i lived that had engine problems, and after viewing it decided against it, but it did plant the thought that i may get a good example with engine problems, saving me on the initial purchase cost.

And then this popped up on ebay...

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The exact interior i wanted!!
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The car had suffered failure of some sort and had a knackered engine. However it was mint and with 2 owners, all new brakes, tyres, FSH and only 72k on the clock was worth a punt. So a deal was done and the car was mine.

Didnt take long to get the car back to mine, and it arrived mint as expected.

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It was taken to perth audi and the technicians removed parts of the engine for inspection, so i received a boot full of boxes and a few missing parts from the bay...

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but as it had been a decent garage, all the bits were there.
Got it down the lane to my lab...

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And for a little while, it shared a home with my mk2, before the a nice chap from reading came and bought that.

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And then the stripdown commenced...
Now you see it...

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Now you dont...

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Didnt take long to get it in bits, at this time me pal took claim to a lot of parts like the 312 brakes for his mk4. And i was left with a garage full of dismantled car again...

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And with some help from some good mates the lump came out quite easily...

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Only after stripping it did we find a nice crack in the sump where it had taken a ding, a oil starved turbo (although it doesnt feel too bad, just excessive movement on the shaft, no blade contact on the housing) and a solid crank caused by this...

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So the engine definately was toast. Only ancillaries could be re used. In the mean time i had sourced an engine, and more importantly... a TURBO!!

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More on that next time, but it is from the GT30 brethren so fun awaits...

...I hope.
 
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Nice mate there's a few threads on here with loads of info tuffy,welly,and more if you fancy alook just go into the search bar
Looking good tho
 
Cheers boys!

Ive read both wellys, tuftys, andrew@ald, amongst other threads, all inspiring stuff. Im no stranger to 20vts, but the car relevant info is great.

More updates to come as im a little ahead of how this is now.
 
Great work, that is one tidy looking pre, where are you based? and what did you pay for it, as a non runner if you dont mind, as i maybe looking for similar

:icon_thumright:
 
Glad to see you got your build thread started :) This is going to be good.
 
Nice looking motor, they do look good in silver, with the silver/grey leather. Good luck with the build always enjoy reading them. If you have any issues there's plenty of people on here that will try and help.
 
Good luck with the build matey. I wanna do this but can't fund the parts at the min. lol

keep us posted with pics i love abit of car porn.:hubbahubba:
 
Right, still catching up with where i currently am at the minute, but bear with me.

I was lucky enough to stumble (again on ebay...) on a job lot BT conversion. It was from a very nice chap who had been collecting parts for some time and had about £6k worth sat around that he needed rid of to fund a new career after he lost his job. His loss my gain i suppose.
The setup was a bit special and included a GT30 turbo, built by Turbo Dynamics, a JNL racing 1.9 20vt block, Tial 38mm wastegate, Walbro 255lph fuel pump, and a few other goodies...

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The injectors were 780cc low impedance jobbies that ive sold on now to fund buying Paul Jordans 630cc siemens.

Wategate...

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All brand new and unused. Seemed a bit too good to be true, so after many conversations with JP from JNL and Turbo Dynamics to confirm the specs i bought the lot (for an absolute steal. I mean yep, i practically robbed him. But he got what he wanted and was a top bloke so all`s good).

The Turbo is a GT30, all NEW Garrett Ball bearing core and cartridge, 0.63 A/R exhaust housing which has been ported and polished, along with a new compressor wheel and polished compressor cover. From what Turbo Dynamics says, it will basically perform as a GOOD GT3071R. Which will be pretty much what i want and more. Anyway... pics

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The engine was a long block built by JP and was the biggest outlay of the parts. However it was an 058 style 20v block where as im sure youre aware, for the S3, i needed an 06A style block. The 058 is external water pump and wouldnt work due to the mounting of ancillaries etc. This was a situation where my hoarding of parts for future use came to good. In my garage i had a good 70k mile AGU block. So all that was needed was to bore that block, and transfer everything over.

So i had the AGU bottom end bored out and then built up. The spec now is a 1.9 bottom end built with Wossner forged pistons, PEC forged H Beam Rods, polished AGU crank, all balanced. The head spec is as follows... AEB large port head, ported and polished by JP to his "street" spec (where by the large port head is very nothing nothing nothing POWER delivery, the intake ports are worked on but not expanded to maximise flow, then the exhaust ports are opened right up to maximise air travel to help the turbo spool up earlier) complete with new guides etc. The valvetrain was all standard stuff which he assured me would be good enough for the 400-450bhp that would be reached, as its the guides that wear and cause problems. However i decided to uprate that whilst it was in bits to follow suit. So a few phonecalls were made and i had some more shiny shiny parts

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These particulaers from Bill @ Badger5, but i got the single groove Inconel exhaust and stainless intakes from Flatlander performance as they had a great offer on at the time.

So now the head is built up with all these and i now have a very capable engine...

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For the manifold, i chose as Andrew@ALD did, to try the CTS T3 turbo manifold. Again after many conversations with people and quite a long transatlantic call with Clay from CTS i think itll be up to the job.

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which when piped up will look like this...

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:hubbahubba::hubbahubba:

Couldnt help getting a few mocked up pics either...

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We`ll come back to the engine soon, as it has a lot more work needed on it. Whilst ive got a clean bay though ive cracked on with adding heatshielding. Im lucky enough to be an engineer that gets to work in many interesting places and on my travels ive been into a company that makes the heatshielding systems for everything! Plane Jet engines, Turbine shielding, even the heatshielding for AMG mercs. So after a conversation i came away with a few offcut sheets for my use. I doubled it up and then lined behind the original in the bay. I then removed the rear support bracket and bashed it flatter for the turbo to have some space. After a quick paint up...

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I know the paint even though its VHT is useless, i was just bored at the time. I then decided that wasnt enough so i lined even more along the back. This time i didnt paint it. :laugh: In some places theres 5 layers of the stuff...

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Let me know whats you think..

:eyebrows:
 
Holly S**T MUSH you don't hang about.

I've just wet my pants... "babe can you pass me the tissue please" lol

looking good loving the write up so far.

I dare ask how much this is costing you!
 
Dont know why the pics have flipped themselves...? oh well.

Nah the engine isnt in yet mate, its pretty much ready to go in. Just need to find time. Ive made up the turbo lines aswell as a few other bits and bobs which ill update probably tomorrow.

Ive got this this project on aswell as lots of house renovation so im a busy boy!! lol

@S3Baby, my mk2 went in september last year, and the stripdown was gradual over OCT/NOV so that i could make sure it would go back together. My experience of taking cars to bits was limited to mk2/3s so this is a bit more in depth, therefore i wanted to take my time. NOV/DEC i collected bits and bobs so i could hit it hard in the new year. What youve seen so far is basically my efforts of JAN/FEB. There is more to come but as mentioned above ive got other stuff on so ill probably update again tomorrow.

As for the costs....?:eyebrows:

Maybe ill let you`s know closer to the end :tapedshut:, but im certainly not breaking the bank. My mk2 went for £5.5k so i had that and a "little" to play with. The real money saver is doing it yourself, and if you dont know how to? Find out how give it a good go.

Cheers so far!!
 
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It is paddys day so im typing this Guinness in hand! Not a massive update but important none the less...

When i took it to bits i noticed the offside front outer CV was a bit creaky, so whilst its in bits i thought id get it changed over...

Heres the original...

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Stripped and cleaned up the shaft...

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And then fitted the new CV with boot...

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Nice bit of maintenance work.

Now i mentioned previously that my mate (vulture) Spence dived in to nab the 312mm brakes off the car. Lucky ****** he was because they were brand new!! However a steal on ebay had me these babys...

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They came with nearly new discs which ive had checked and are mint. Hardly any use so theyll be getting used, along with the new pads ive bought. I only bought oem pads for now, partly for cost, and partly because i intend on giving the car a "Good" running in process so then ill upgrade to some decent ones like Ferodo DS2500. Ive chosen to do this on siumilar things like spark plugs etc which ill get onto later. Plus the standard pads are wafer thin, theres not much life in them at all!

Anyhoo, first i stripped them down and Doh!!!

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Had a snapped nipple!!! At first i thought about getting the easyouts on the case, but the hole is too small to do a good job, so i used a tried and tested method of drilling the hole out and banging an oversize torx bit in. HOWEVER, the torx bit snapped inside aswell!! Nightmare, so i drilled the torx bit out and took it to a local engineering firm who kindly removed the nipple and retapped it to original specs for £20. Bonus!!

So then i rubbed them down and prepped for paint. Might i just add here, that im not really into BLING, so i painted them matt black. The paint reacted on the first calliper so that had to be done again...

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But after that i attached some new black brembo decals, then lacquered them up good n proper...

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So they now look...

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And are now sat on my bench ready for fitment...

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Think thatll do for tonight, as ive got an appointment with patrick...

:p
 
Right, time for more...

After seeing how useful a liquid gauge would be on a mates mk4, i was chuffed when he asked if id like to buy it, as he was putting it back to standard to sell. So i got a hold of it.

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It was however a year old already so i sent it off to jim at racediagnostics to update with the latest software, and also get an S3 bezel for it. After it came back, i just hotglued the pcb into the holder and got it mounted into the drivers vent.

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I definately wanted it hardwired and was already coming up with the idea of having it switchable to enable vagcom access and to have it turned off or reset if i so wished. Id decided it was to be hidden switches also, and was chuffed when i seen tuftys thread with his hidden switches. So i did the only right thing and copied it exactly! lol

Heres the switches in the lower panel..

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So thats that done. I also want a mechanical boost gauge but i dont know where to put that yet. Not a fan of A pillar gauge mounts, but i might cave in as i havnt found any other suitable positions. I was thinking of ditching the centre vents as my mate has done and fitting 3 gauges, but to be honest id like to be able to enjoy having the luxury or air con so thm will be staying open for now.

Whilst the engine is out i also got on with fitting a boost controller, as im running an external wastegate, the only solution i have found to be able to effectively control the boost is with said device. Ive got a GReddy Profec B controller which should do, and i will maybe upgrade in the future or if required. The boost controller will be living in the under dash compartment also, with the actuator being positioned in the engine bay. Got pics of that coming later on.

And just to top it all off off, toy related, i thought id chuck a WOTbox in for good measure. Pretty sure youll all know what that is, and see as my other half bought it for my crimbo present i thought itd be rude not too.

Pic of the toys...

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Thats obv not final locations, just a pic to show.

Now this is all relevant, as i decided to also do an engne management upgrade too. My S3 runs on standard APY which is a Bosch ME7 ecu. The downfall to this is it only has narrowband lambda control, and no EGT monitoring function. Two functions that will be very good to have in regards to engine tuning, and most importantly safety. I want to look after this litte setup im fitting.

So i got a hold of an AUQ Leon cupra ECU and loom off E38 for £40. After sizing up the looms it was going to be easier to convert the S3`s engine compartment loom to run the wideband lambda and EGT probe so i did that with the relevant wires from the leons looms. The EGT plug i got from a scrappy that had a fire damaged BAM loom. So a night after work on the looms...

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Im also ditching some of the un needed clutter in the looms. The n249, n112, n80, and SAI relay has all been deleted with 330 ohm resistors. I did this in my old mk2 aswell and it worked a treat.

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The fidlliest part was getting the cores into the ECU plug...

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Being a fluke i saw a BAM engine loom going on ebay for £40 so i bought that and then sold on the leon engine loom. The BAM loom was in much better nick so im using that now.

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And thats all the wiring done and now refitted. The engine compartment loom is my S3 item but modded for the extra sensors, the engine loom is from a BAM car, and the WOTbox/boost controller is all wired in. Ive also chucked in an extra few cores from the drivers footwell to the scuttle area, plus some 4mm silicone pipe for the boost controller/gauge and also for future use if required. The reason i set about the wiring this way was simply because in the two short months of prep work, i couldnt find a BAM engine compartment loom, which would have solved most of the issues. However wiring isnt a problem for me, so whats a few nights witht the soldering iron out...? :laugh:

As for how it will run, it is obviously only a leon ECU so will be on the 180bhp map for running in, which isnt a problem, in my mk2 this felt very sprightly, however im pretty sure this will be quite different. Im planning on fitting the leon injectors initially. If anyones got suggestions on this then please shout up. The ECU will be getting decoded off a pal very soon. The wideband lambda probe will be in from the start and the EGT probe wont be getting coded in until i actually get one as theyre expensive. Anyone know if the B5 S4`s sensors are the same electronically? As i might be able to get them. They come with a shorter braided cable but that isnt a problem.

I would have kept the standard rad, however a mate of mine bought a load of mk4 all alloy rads, so thought id upgrade as it was cheap enough.

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They few people ive spoke to who run these have nothing but good to say so its worth a shot. The biggest problem is the outlets arent in the same locations as the S3 pipework, so i had that modded by a mate for beer tokens...

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And then set about fitting it to the front panel.

Standard rad...

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Next to each other for comparison...

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And then bolted up to the air con rad, this neede a little bit of modification as the alloy rad is a little thicker, but was easy enough...

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And then fitted into the slam panel...

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which went easy enough. And then finally, the S3 fans mounted...

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Roberts your mothers brother...

Cheers
 
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A good thread mate, going to enjoy watching this..
 
I do have an idea for gauge mounting but just looked back and seen yours is a preface lift. My idea would be to get hold of a facelift double din centre console and fit a single din stereo and then have the gauges mounted in the space left, a bit like the old audi coupes or alfa gtv's. U'd have the option to mount more than one gauge too. But I dont think swapping over the centre console and sourcing the parts would be that easy.
 
Just had a pretty interesting read, great thread. Where abouts did you buy your wotbox from and are they universal?
 
Just had a pretty interesting read, great thread. Where abouts did you buy your wotbox from and are they universal?

Cheers matey

got the wotbox from npcompleteperformance.com
yep theyre completely universal. Google wotbox and theres instruction for pretty much every car.
 
Excuse my ignorance what the f@ck is a wotbox:think: and what does it do..... Great reading by the way Mush I'm enthralled
 
Another update...

Ive had thoughts on intercoolers, however with the limited room in front of the slam panel, it is quite a challenge. Id like to keep the outside of the car totally standard looking so dont want to lose the fogs or have a cooler hanging out the front. At first i got a hold of a truck intercooler, yep thats right a truck intercooler...

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Which i did plan on chopping up, re-coring and putting back together like this...

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...which works really well on my pals 400+bhp S3. However, after lots of thinking ive decided against it. The setup is good, but the pipes are a compromise and i wanted it to be a bit different. So heres my efforts so far...

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People do have reservations about "ebay" intercoolers, but ive had experience of a local motorsport supplier in newcastle who i bought my mk2 intercooler from. It worked an absolute treat on that with minimal pressure drop so i thought id go for the bigger version for this project. The 76mm outlets are obviously too big so weve slightly squashed 2.75" pipe and formed that around the front of the panel to keep it tight. I was quite happy with it but after offering the bumper it did touch a little and the angles werent perfect so im going to give it another go. It only needs slight modding to fit, and ill update properly on that when we get around to it. For info, i can mig weld ali but i dont do jobs like this, i pay a pal of mine as he properly tigs it and the welds are perfect.

Right, onto the engine prep...

With the lump on the stand i can work on the engine quite freely in the garage, which is great and id recommend anyone to do this, slong as you keep an eye on the stuff your making with good foresight to make sure itll actually fit within the confines of the bay.

All the external parts of the engine were also sent away to the engineering shop to be properly washed in the parts washer. They all come back spankingly clean. I then gave some of them a light coat of paint. Fitted the oil filter housing after painting it matt black, with a new gasket. Also fitted a smaller threaded bar section from a non oil cooler mk2 golf...

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To enable me to fit the mocal oil cooler takeoff. Another cheap ebay find, brand new with the built in thermostat...

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Im ditching the troublesome oil-water cooler/heater thingymajig. No need for it. Ill blank off the coolant pipes later on.

With the filter housing in place i could focus my effort on the lines required for the turbo.

For the oil feed, i used an existing 20vt oil feed pipe...

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And then chopped it on a solid section, to crimp on a hydraulic olive...

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So i could then use -4AN PTFE pipe to pipe the rest...

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Which then goes to a GT oil reducer banjo bolt...

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And thats the oil feed complete. I thoroughly cleaned out all the existing pipe i used. My pal did comment on how this could be seen to be a bit of a "bodge", however theres some very good reasons why i did it like this. The front sections of the oil feed is standard, and moulded with a mounting point so is perfect. The rear is custom to this setup and uses the best route i could find. The hydraulic olive and fitting is also top notch gear and designed for mega psi applications so on one hand could be considered "over engineered" for purpose. Needless to say im happy.

On to the Oil return...

I also lie the design of the k04 return, as its fits perfect around the transfer box. So i decided i was goinf to reuse that also. However its too short...

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So the task in hand was to fill the gap between this and the turbo. So i chopped off the existing flange, pictured bottom...

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And then inspected the pipe for its size, and the flange on how useful it could be. The flange was pretty much perfect fit for the GT oil return on the bottom of the turbo, but the bolt holes were too small. So i reamed them out, so they were big enough to accept the bigger M8 bolts...

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The top half of the oil return is stainless 15mm internal diameter, so i got a section of that, and welded that onto the top of the chopped return. Then offered it up for size...

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It fitted quite well, so then i bolted up the flange and spot welded that in place...

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Then welded that up also. So the return pipe was complete. I welded carefully as to get good penetration but not to blow out inside the pipe. On the top flange there was a few little bumps but they got filed down and then the pipe thoroughly cleaned through. Gave it a quick coat of matt black paint...

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And as its close to the manifold (about an 2 cms away) i also wrapped it in exhaust wrap...

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And then a quick wrap in ali sheeting just for added protection...

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And thats that.

Onto the water fittings, i measured these and made them in -6AN PTFE pipe braided pipe. As we were short on banjo fittings i fitted a hydraulic fitting into the block...

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But the turbo came with the banjo fittings i needed for that side of the pipe so it was just a case of measuring up and cutting the pipe. I then mocked up the pipe and had them ready for crimping in me mates proper crimping tool...

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And when crimped up...

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On the turbo side is the two banjos...

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On the other side theres the 90 deg fitting to go into the block and the connector to connect the pipe for the after run water pump pipe...

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So the water feed gets connected to the block fitting...

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And then goes tot he underside of the turbo, to make good use of the syphon effect...

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The water return then gets bolted up to the top water outlet on the turbo...

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I then bent the original water support bracket round and used wrap and a stainless tie to secure it...

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I then decided to make a little heatshield to protect the water pipe as the downpipe will be close...

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And in the same little session, decided to fit the nice clean painted rocker cover, naturally in matt black. Also bolted down oem sparkplugs, chosen purely for the run in period and then ill chuck in a coder plug for mapping. Cleaned up the coild packs and bolted them down with new seals...

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The original setup also has a bolt down strip with heatshielding material coming off it. I chopped off the heat shielding as it was the wrong shape needed, and then also fitted a sheet down the rear fo the cylinder head. This is also secured by the bolts that would normally mount the rear charge pipe bracket...

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And thatll do for now. Mostly ready to fit the engine now to check for clearances etc.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.

:)
 
Excuse my ignorance what the f@ck is a wotbox:think: and what does it do..... Great reading by the way Mush I'm enthralled

Cheers,

Google wotbox matey, all the info required. But in laymans terms, it is a little box that you wire in and it provides two functions... A two stage launch control system which automatically holds the programmed revs until you launch the car by controlling the ignition, enabling full power on launches. Also it enables you to do "no lift shifting" which means you dont have to lift off the accelerater under spirited driving, as the box controls the ignition, cutting it slightly so you dont have to lift off the accelerator. This is useful as it lets you still keep maximum boost so that even ear changes can be quicker. All the functions are completely programmable to your settings. Cant wait to have a play with it!
 
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Flipping heck mate! Wish I was as handy with a spanner as you!
 
Amazing work so far mate. Fancy doing another on of those intercoolers and selling it?
 
im jealous of this thread and u mate. Wish i was that handy and top work dude! you dont hang about do ya :D