http://image.corvettefever.com/f/938...S9_engine+.jpg
http://cache.jalopnik.com/cars/asset...9%20Engine.jpg
http://jalopnik.com/5069977/zr1-in-a...engine-to-sema

Sorry, it's a little out of my pricing potential

^^ sweet!!!

haha...ok, back to your build now. will it be ready for DGRR?

Probably not. I won't even have the motor broken in by then.

You going to go to DGRR? I'm heading down early Friday...

no car. My 7 still doesn't have the engine back in, and the welder i've been using is staying pretty busy. I'd like to go, but I also need to get the car done and out of the guys garage I'm in. This project is already 1 week over my time estimate since I had to rebuild the engine.

My engine is ready to be put back in except for the stupid pilot bearing. Anyone have any tricks to get it off/out? I'm using the Advance borrow tool they have, and it's destroyed what was left in the shaft, but still left the outer race of the bearing. I have a slide hammer, but don't have the attachment. I've been able to get the bearing out twice before using the advance tool, but out of 3 hours of working with it, it hasn't budged more than a few fractions of a mm.

Engine and tranny and everything is buttoned up and ready for fabrication mockups. I may be able to start the car come the end of the week if I get delivery of a few items. However that's completely dependent on MazdaTrix who is notorious for having delayed shipping.

So were you able to get the pilot bearing tool out?

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you when you fire it up.


Side note, I bougth a home in Culpeper last month so you'll have to bring the car by when we do a rotary BBQ or something...

For sure. I got the bearing out and everything. Used a diegrinder which did the job in seconds. Spilled about 1/2-1 qrt of tranny fluid on the floor though when I was putting it all back in. I'll have to remember to fill it back up. I ran some wire for the gauges, will finish installing them soon, and hopefully get more parts I need soon. I may go to homedepot/lowes and pick up some pipe for the turbo manifold and begin construction of it.

I'm quite curious on where I should put the turbo though. I can try to fit it under the intake manifold, or I could shove it a little forward and not try to fit everything underneath the manifold... it all depends I guess. I'll toy around with the idea, and see what happens. I'm going to try to mount the turbo as close as I can to limit my construction costs with the manifold.

Lots of thought needs to go into the manifold - IE: divided, undivided, equal length, log style, etc... all play a factor in the performance of the turbo. I'd keep it close if I were you though... seems like an easier task and you dont have to worry about cracking the manifold as much.

I can only keep it as close as I can physically implement it. Right now the limiting factors for the turbo mounting location are the 6PI actuators. I'll have to plan either sandwiching the cold side between the 6PI or the hotside, both have their positives and cons. Either way. It's going to prove to be an interesting ordeal.

Figured I'd get back and shoot some pictures.

Here's a mock up of the turbo manifold I'll be making.

It's not pretty, and it's not what I originally thought of how I would route the pipes. But after talking it over with a person more familiar with turbo modifications and finite space, he recommended this path for the turbo.

There's a few benefits with doing it this way. It provides an easy access to the turbo, better oil drainage, and not to mention easier routing of all the lines. There is even ability to theoretically move up to a bigger turbo if I ever so desire (though a T60-1 is plenty big right now, especially for an NA engine with a large street port). This allows the 6PI to remain intact and still allows the easy access and manipulation of the turbo.

The plan is to make this out of mild schedule 40 weld "L's" and be able to mount the turbo and access the bolts. The only down side to this setup is that it places the turbo fairly close to the brake line of the passenger front brakes. I do plan on protecting the lines before I do a wire/line tuck on the engine bay by either a heat deflector, protective wire wrap, or wrapping the brake line with some exhaust wrap (other possibilities may include a turbine blanket and wrapping the down pipe--though I'd prefer not to wrap the down pipe supplying me with the biggest temperature differential possible).

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0408091544.jpg

Here's a digital mock up. It's not super accurate, but accurate enough for the what it needs:

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...ManifoldV2.gif
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...anifoldV22.gif


Didn't put in the turbo flange, but used the pipe run as best as I could. I don't think the up shot to the turbo will actually be as pig pictured there. Maybe two inches shorter.

You can also move the brake lines. They are cheap enough to make new ones if needed.


Also, I'm sure you've thought of it, but anticipate bracing those runners together...

I suppose I could do that. But I don't know how I'd want to run the line... just don't know.
Already planning on it. I'm making it with schedule 40 which is already pretty good and strong by itself, any bracing I put on it will more than likely be mated to the flange. Should be quite the turbo manifold when done.

Yea, schedule 40 is good, but the more weight you hang out over those bends over time will start to show signs of giving out...

Cant wait to see it when its done though...

Just picked up the weld Els today. Should be good. Still have to locate some bungs for the NPT of the thermocouples which i'll be getting put on there too. I'm planning on getting them coated by a guy in my local car club. Should be good.

Today was a stainless steel line day. I was able to pick up the -10AN for the oil cooler and with some help get them all connected. I took some pictures so check 'em out. Around this same time I realized that my fuel lines are not -8AN but -6AN talk about bad luck. Hopefully Todd hasn't already welded the -8 bungs to the fuel rails, but if he did I don't think it will be too much trouble to just put on an adapter for -6. We'll see though. But here are some pictures:

When I dropped in the engine:
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...9/IMG_0114.jpg
Notice the oil return flange. It's going to be a fun day when I actually can finally hook that up.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...9/IMG_0115.jpg
The turbo with the V-Band adapter mounted to it with the V-Band flange waiting for welding.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...9/IMG_0116.jpg
Prepping for figuring the turbo. My original intent was to mount the turbo very close to the stock location and just keep it as straight as possible. Didn't work out as you can see from the previous post.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...9/IMG_0117.jpg
Oil Cooler Lines. That's a 120 on the top, a 90 on the side. -10AN line. Not bad for $70. :)

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...9/IMG_0118.jpg
Here's the beginning of my parallel fuel system. Should be feeding some 1200 cc/min and some 720 cc/min (I think, I'll have to double check the flow rates on the injectors). Should be enough fuel for my project. Anyone want to guess how much Horse power I'll make once I finally break the engine in and get it tuned?

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...9/IMG_0119.jpg
Backside of the engine. Simple 90 and shoots forward. It's actually a much cleaner install than the stock lines and I'm surprised I didn't do this sooner.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...9/IMG_0120.jpg
Here's the oil cooler mounted and placed a few inches forward of the original position. If you look closely I cut out a portion of the angle iron to allow an additional inch of breathing room to the cooler.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...9/IMG_0121.jpg
A better angle of the new lower oil cooler line.

Well, now that I have the components to build the new manifold I went ahead and made it slightly more accurate. Honestly, I'm quite happy with how it turned out except for the transition component. Never mind that. But any suggestions on the manifold design thus far?

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...ManifoldV1.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...anifoldV12.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...anifoldV13.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...anifoldV14.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...anifoldV15.jpg

Looks very similar to the A-spec FC manifold. Personally, I'd locate the wastegate runners closer to the tubrine. Looks decent though. How large of primaries are you going to run? They look pretty beefy in the renderings.

Schedule 40 all the way around. 2in diameter on the primary runners, 1.5 in on the wastegate side. Can't really move them up since they'd start interfering with the 6PI actuators and down pipe. I did that rendering as accurately as possible. I'm re-thinking the transition piece however between the runners and the turbine inlet flange. I thought of a much easier and nicer looking transition to do it. may even prove to be more compact.

Something I'm still trying to figure out is how to do a stress analysis on the manifold assembly to see if I'll need to incorporate bracing in it.

wow Have fun with yore project.

I just saw the list of parts hah

Good luck.

Post number 1? lol, there was sooo much more to the planning than that page. I'd have to dig it up again, but I think I had 1 work book with different spreadsheets specific to that portion of the build ie: oil, cooling, induction, exhaust, etc.

I would run a little smaller primaries personally, something in the 1.75" flavour. 2" is pretty large, but it shouldn't hurt that much.

As far as interfering with your actuators, without really holding it up I'd have to go by what you're saying, but I really think you'd benefit in the boost control department from locating them closer to the turbine. Even if the height from the primaries didn't change, but you just rotated the runners 90* to face the primaries where they enter the turbine, you may be able to make them fit.

I wouldn't think you'll need much bracing, that manifold is pretty short, and with some heavy wall stainless it will be pretty damn stout.

A little too late now though. I already picked up the materials for it. Honestly I don't think the exhaust gas flow will slow down that much compared to the two, but I may be mistaken. A change in area of less than 1 sq in isn't all that big. I really doubt I'll be able to make them fit on the upper side of things without hitting interference from the 6PI actuators. I may be able to have enough room since they're low enough on the profile to sit on the underside of the 90* bend. Unfortunately this means that a lot of the welds would be exposed to the direct exhaust temperature. I honestly don't think that will hold up too well. Consequently the only other option would be to mount a 90* on the collector angle it directly down so it by-passes the primaries all together and then have another 90* angled towards the rear of the car. I can only think that a bad idea by the moment arm placed on the manifold. There's suddenly independent primaries without the additional bracing that the wastegate runners provided before. Though it may be asinine to worry about since the primaries are so thick.
I picked up mild, and should still be as stout. The stainless pieces I was looking at were about 2 to 3 times as expensive. A little out of the price range of this build.

Finished welding up the primaries just prior to the collector today. I heart my friends TIG. I also started the wastegate runner. Trying to cut a 90* to fit onto a pipe mid-way through is quite difficult. I still have a few cuts to make before I hit it with a die-grinder. I also well need to drill holes and hit the wastegate runner with a die-grinder once I finalize the position of the exits. There really isn't any room at all to run the wastegate runner just below the collector as it does interfere a lot with the actuators, and there's no room to mount them on the outside of the bend near the collector as it will hit the strut tower and/or the frame. The only other option would be to mount the wastegate runner on the underside of the manifold, and there's really no point to that especially with how compact the manifold already is.

Pulled a 24 hour shop night. Got a lot accomplished. Will post pictures later today.

Well, here's the pictures. I spent all last night working on the car and getting the turbo manifold put together/mocked up. So I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

After the primaries were welded up:
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0415092014.jpg
Notice that there is no room for the Wastegate runner to be mounted on top of the primaries:
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...415092014a.jpg
So we put them on the bottom:
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0415092225.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...415092225a.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0415092026.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...415092026a.jpg
Making of the collector:
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0415092247.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0416090620.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...416090620a.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...416090620b.jpg
Well, I tacked the collector and the flange together and checked for interference and did a mock fitting:
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0416091200.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...416091200a.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0416091401.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0416091402.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...416091402a.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0416091403.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0416091404.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...416091404a.jpg

I'm definitely not an expert, or anywhere near, as far as welding goes but those welds look really really good to me. Very clean. Nice build.

The Joys of Tig. Honestly those were done by my friend who has a shop next door and his work is top notch. He's going to school to be a welder and is teaching me to use a Tig which by the way is TIG>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MIG. If you look closely at the collector portion of the manifold you'll see my handy work with the MIG (Flux Core). It looks like complete ass. But it was the best I could do at 6 AM.

Oh and TTT: I'm definitely going to put in the money for a miller tig. I'm hooked. Sooooo much easier than Flux Core, but can't fill the gaps I can with Flux core. But so much less clean up.

Okay, quick update. There aren't many pictures right now because well... I've been stuck trying to get bluetooth to connect to my phone to transfer the files over. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Today I finished up the fuel system. My injectors are installed. 900cc/min primaries and 1360cc/min secondaries. I also finished up my fuel lines. Spent 60 bones getting some -6AN fittings to make everything work. It does, and looks half way decent. I also hacked up my AFM/throttle body pipe to connect to the turbo inlet and the AFM (Since RTek still haven't released the AFM delete yet) but in doing so doesn't leave much of any room to connect any sort of filter. I may have to figure something out but at least to drive it or start the break in process I can leave it as is. I also figured out the oil drain size and length I need, and have a few small details to work out. I also did the base hook up of both the EGT's and the Boost gauge. The EGT's have a weird hook up. You do not hook them up to an ignition source or 12v switched power like you do with the boost gauge, you actually hook them up to an always on 12v constant line. Apparently it knows when you turn the key on or off just by the voltage drop when you switch the car to acc.

What's still left for me to do is:
get BOV flange welded to charge piping.
finish exhaust
finish manifold
Finish wiring power to the ProSport gauges
finish wiring in the LC-1 (no need for an op-amp circuit, switch, etc--just won't be running NB)
hook up oil drain hose
install manifold
install oil injectors
prime engine
stab CAS (anyone want to offer the basic procedure to do that?--I think I know how, but just would like to be safe)
install 1.75-1.5 T fitting for radiator
prime fuel system
check for leaks
crank engine

Think I can get those done in a day? I think I can!

Great progress man...

Honestly, the turbo looks tight but it also looks at home :)

Its hard to tell on the photos, but does it seem like you'll have any trouble with the downpipe clearing the actuators?

You can also dump the TID in front of the radiator if you dont mind a little cutting, etc. At least in there you may have more room for an air filter.


The CAS is simple, line up the marks on the pulles and line up the mark on the CAS body to the gear and you should be set. Provided you put the pulley on correctly :)

Pulley's on correctly... but I have two different colors/marks on the pulley (not on opposite ends mind you, but fairly close together). That's what I thought I needed to do, but wasn't sure. Now i have to figure out which mark is TDC and which one is not. :lol:

The down pipe clears the actuators without issue, but since my original plans called for the wastegate to be on top of the primaries I now have interference with where I would like to have mounted my wastegate. I'm just going to end up welding in an angle and mounting the wastegate that way and running an open dump... at least for awhile. As for the filter I don't mind running it infront of the radiator, but I don't exactly have a TID that has those bends. This is an NA tube that I hacked up. I may get lucky and find some 3inch pipe or something and just hook up some couplers to it--we'll see.

Honestly, I have quite a bit of polished tubing, couplers, etc from my years of building IC pipes and CAI on my cars, lol... You're more than welcome to some of it if you need it. I think I actually have a 3" pipe somewhere, but most of its 2.25" (for a mazdaspeed protege).


As for those marks, you should have a yellow one and a red one right? Yellow is for leading, red is for trailing. Line the yellow one up w/ the pin on the front cover, then match up the CAS marks and drop it in.

sweet. Thanks!

I would definitely appreciate a 3" tube if you have it. In the meantime I'm going to have to figure out how to route this bad boy so I don't run it on the road without a filter.

Had to cut out of the garage early today to finish a project that is due in two hours (finished with two hours to spare ;)). In the hours that I did work at the garage I found out something interesting:

The ring on the hub for the pulleys is sort of important to keep the pulleys from being eccentric in orbit. I corrected it as best as I could (hacked an adapter pieces, shoved them together and wrapped with tape). The adapter sat inside the hub and was snug. The outside was larger and was snug on the pulleys. Hopefully this will be enough to not cause significant problems. It's about as good as it's going to get.

I was also able to build oil pressure and begin aluminum welding of the intercooler, charge piping, and a few other goodies. I hope to be done welding aluminum tomorrow and will hopefully have the entire exhaust done as well. Once those are all welded together I should be able to fill the tank with gas, top off the oil and coolant, and fire her up. All the gauges are installed and zeroed out. I'm getting exceptional close.

I still need to get an adapter piece for the radiator. I'm having a tremendous time trying to find a 1.5-1.75 inch adapter tee fitting with a 5/8in piece to hook in for the heater line.

If anyone knows of a location to get one hit it.

It has started and runs! It purrs like an angry cat... well, that might just be because I don't have my exhaust finished. I still have a little work to do with the charge piping (so if you look closely you'll notice that I don't have a blow-off valve on that piping, and I couldn't shut the hood if I wanted to. It's temporary, i'm working on getting some aluminum pipe welded to ensure a tight fit).


http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0510091709.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0510091409.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0510091705.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...510091705a.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...510091705b.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...0510091814.jpg
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...510091814a.jpg

This is great man - cant wait to see the car again.


Go finish that fab work and bring it to culpeper :)

Well, brought her home today on a rough tune. Had to richen it up alot which is surprising (or not if you think about it). I'm aiming for 12's which I'm pretty good at seeing right now. I start to get into the low to mid 13's which is kind of concerning to me, but will be taking care of that tomorrow. I hope to get my AFR datalogging troubles taken care of sooner rather than later to ensure tuning accuracy.

As for the exhaust note, it's louder than stock... that's for sure. But it's actually quite nice. Very deep, the higher the revs, the quieter it gets (3000rpm ceiling).

Had a bit of a scare when I first took her out: I was going up the hill near the shop and almost at the top the car just dies. No stumble, no stutter, just dies. Had power, could crank. It was interesting to say the least. So I back it down in neutral and I don't see any leaks, puddles, anything that would suggest something horrible, so I think about it for a few seconds and realize it sounds like a huge vacuum leak. Light bulb dings, I go off and start looking at all the couplers. I know I tightened all of them... except, one. It was the 90* coming off the turbo that slipped off. Easy fix, just popped it back on and tightened it up and I was good to go.

Still have a few things to figure out, but all in all it looks like this project is done until some later date (after I get hitched).

Thats awesome man, really looking forward to seeing it (in the daylight) next time your in culpeper...

I should be up that way this weekend if everything goes as planned. You can point and laugh at my "air filter" and help me actually make a more permanent solution (if you have a 3" 90* bend, it would help out ALOT). I'll also need to pick up an adapter for the barn door since RTek still hasn't released their AFM delete yet.