The Project Pad

Talk about ridiculous. Such cool noises. I bet it's got some jam even for such a heavy car.

https://youtu.be/Gb1uDc_qa-4

Really starting to get some miles on it now.. I'm thinking maybe another 3-400 more and I can start opening the wastegate up.

2020-04-25_07-59-47 by Joel Francisco

Holy baaaaaaaalls this is amazing lol. Sounds so great. Way to go.

So sick! I saw you got some BS on the other site, but thank you for doing something cool and different and sharing it. We'd be stuck with the same cookie-cutter OEM-ish setup if everyone just followed what was "accepted."

Sounds great! Keep it up!

Thanks guys!

I am already in the planning stages of putting it under the hood, which shouldn't be too difficult. This setup has been great though, I've been having a lot of small issues that probably wouldve equated to pulling the engine several times over the past month. With all the extra room however, fixing and tweaking can all be done in the car; which was the whole reason for this from the beginning.

Photo dump of this crazy build on a beautiful Sunday. I got about 200 miles on today: ears still ringing, but man what a day!

20200503_191907 by Joel Francisco
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I'm going to fabricate the wastegate up pipe so it sit's flush with the "exhaust". Then it's time to start adding boost.

Glad to hear things are going well on your build. I bet it’s a hoot.

All of the new schedule 10 304l came in today

Anybody have any recommendations for settings?
60-75 amps
18 cfh with a 3/32 tungsten & #10 cup

This is the setup I really want to last so I want to make sure I'm as spot on as I can be. I noticed a bit of grey area last time using a #8 cup, so I want to maybe try and step it up to a #10, possibly even a #12.

Thanks!

I am not an expert, and have some related experience just messing around at home with my TIG and looking up various techniques.

Personally I have a habit of putting too much current into the part. With SS I have see good welders use slightly less amps, let the puddle form more slowly and then add filler. Be consistent with the current you use when adding filler through the whole part, and back off when moving the torch to the next part. I am not sure on a number for you, but maybe try it on a scrap piece first, dial back your current by 5 or 10 amps and see if you are able to get proper penetration and how it affects the graying you are talking about.

Also, which I'm sure you already know, make sure you back purge the manifold. You don't want the argon seeping out of the joint you are welding so make sure you leave a small opening at the end of the part for the argon to escape. Before you start welding, make sure you let the argon push all the air out of the part, give it time and maybe a slightly higher flow rate. When you are ready to weld, dial it back some, to make sure its not pushing out of your joint and let it rip.

My welds aren’t perfect either but a few things I’ve noticed is this . . On stainless I use a smaller diameter rod and force more into the puddle to keep it cooler .
also when you think about amps you need to consider amps and heat do correlate but also travel speed is a big part of it as well. For example some people can do schedule 10 at 110 amps with fast travel speed and not overcooking the weld- where others might use 75 amps and sit too long in one spot and end up overcooking it .
Also if you have a welder that can do it on really thin stainless I use pulse mode sometimes but in sch 10 I don’t , it’s good for practicing the rhythm of dip, move, though.

Oh and the post flow, hold the post flow on for a bit extra . and let the part cool a bit between passes if you do more than one pass or two right next to each other

IIRC I used ~45amps on the 16g 304L piping I did for the current setup. It's really not much, but I know schedule 10 is twice the thickness if not more. Definitely less than the steel counterpart.

Also, my 3/32 308 rods welded like shit, wasnt really able to melt in the puddle, I stepped down to 1/16 and it was worlds better.

I purged last time with the advice others had given me. Essentially starting off at 15-20cfh and stepping down to 3-5cfh. The inside came out better than the outside!!! Lol

Thanks all for the advice; looks like I'll be doing it pretty soon, no sense in keeping this setup since Waterfest is cancelled

Guys... I've been up to no good, for a more "permanent" solution. Just need to get some hardware to bolt the manifold to my 1/2 steel plate to weld tomorrow, then I'll make the driverside manifold and crossover pipe.

2020-05-27_07-34-42 by Joel Francisco
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2020-06-05_08-44-14 by Joel Francisco

I would classify this as “good” haha. Log is looking sweet

Thanks! It came out great and I'm super stoked over it!
Placement is a little more to the left than I wanted for the down-pipe, but it gives me the end goal of where the crossover pipe is going to have to land. I think 2 pie cut 90's + slight grinding and I should be able to clear the down-pipe, but more on that later once the pre turbo piping is done.

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(Channels inner Kool-Aid guy) Ohhhh Yeahhhhhh!

Still chipping away... Finished the driverside manifold this morning and immediately moved onto the crossover pipe. What a chore! Tacked up this fitment was perfect, after it was fully welded I was about 1/4" too short at the v-band's for the collector, so close! I'll fix it in the a.m. I guess, then test fit it in the car.

I had to run it high to avoid the coolant radiator feed hose that'll I'll run under the intake manifold as well as give me suffice room to fit the downpipe AND wastegate provision; a little bit more difficult that run running a top mount haha.

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Nice work...I imagine you've gotten really good at removing/reinstalling engines by now.

Takes an hour tops. It definitely helps to have another BCY engine I can build everything on off to the side

Piping is done. Installed it in the car for a final test fit and all is well. Just need to weld the o2 bungs onto the pipe and heat wrap the crossover pipe.

Pulled the engine out for final assembly, but still waiting on the 2" schedule 10 cap for the driverside manifold.

Trimmed the wiring harness down today so I have the essentials, and so it doesn't clog up the engine bay. Should be starting it this weekend if all goes well.

20200609_155818 by Joel Francisco, on Flickr
20200608_175930 by Joel Francisco, on Flickr
20200608_155553 by Joel Francisco, on Flickr

Those turbos are in a new zip code, good thing for the lifeline

Looks great!

Looks good. Good work!

Any plans to have the pipes ceramic coated?

Not going to coat the manifolds just yet, curious to see how how it gets under there first. If it needs it then I will do it. Engines back in, but I'm still having the same issue which was the cause for pulling it out.

-New battery, also have jump box
-Cranks very slowly, voltage drops to about 6-7v while cranking and the car won't start.

I bench tested the starter and also turned the engine over by hand while it was out, no issues there.
Possible the starter is bad now that it has a load (the flywheel tone ring)?

Hoods on for the first time since November lol

20200615_161553 by Joel Francisco
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This is going to be a nearly ideal sleeper when you get it all dialed in.

Yea man, the car is already broken in thankfully so as soon as I get the issue sorted I can get straight into making some serious power!

Starter's coming out tomorrow for a rebuild at a shop up the street and in the meantime I'll be making the Intercooler plumbing and exhaust for it