This is nothing new. Before anyone challenges rraulston for being unreasonable, please take a look here:
http://www.socalevo.net/index.php?op...&topic=19552.0

 

is fullrace a member of evom? maybe they can chime in and give their .02

 

WOW....freaking WOW is all i gotta say. I just read Smogs thread. WOW......Ive been a Caterpillar Mechanic for 13 years. Worked on lear Jets at Bombardier for years. Ime about as mechanically inclined as they come........and for the last time, high quality parts, marginal r&d. The average to semi-experienced mechanic will not be able to install this kit. You will have to have serious skills.........and the ability to re-engineer certain aspects to get it to fit on a level that compliments the build quality. Its funny, but most high quality turbo kits have every nut and bolt. Some even paper instructions, but they lack a high quality manifold. Full Race has the manifold, but lacks the easy stuff. Ill have more pictures tommarrow. I bought a lower radiator flex hose to use as a temp lic pipe till i get the stainless one fabbed. I will also order the front mount. If you have ever done a clutch, you know the differences between the hole and bolt in the front mount!! Its not pretty.......goodnite. RRR

 

Bed time ray!!

 

Wow!!!

 

I think a max'd out 20G-9 + alky + 94 octane should satisfy all of my needs.

 

UPDATE: Today went well. Car fired up and ran!!! But ime still far from done. The entire stock fan assembly will not fit. Ill have to order a slimline fan and somehow rig it to work with the thermal device. Fun Fun.....Picture 1 shows the WG vent tube i had to modify. Damn stainless is tough. I had to get out the old anvil and planishing hammer and beat like hell. That gave me another 1/4 inch clearance. So now i have 1/2 between the tube and rad. Picture 2 is how i chose to route the coolant lines. Very clean and no kinks!! Picture 3 is my new lower FMIC hose. perty ghetto huh!! Its only temp untill i get a new one fabbed. Picture 4 is the rear brace that rides on the down pipe. I will have to make some spacers to achieve proper clearance. The front one has spacers and fits fine. Picture 5 is the cover shot. I still have alot of work to do. The 4" intake pipe will be the hardest. I will be getting an aftermarket front engine mount. That should help keep the dump tube from hitting the Rad. One thing i dont like is the new sound of the car. It developed the tinny ricer sound at a certain RPM. Man, this thing is loud. I reconfigured the idle of the AEM and she is very smooth. More next weekend. RRR

 

Sorry to hear you had a rough time installing the kit. While the FR EVO kit definately isn't the most easiest turbo kit to install, successful home installations are possible. I just came back from a tuning session in Hawaii, and one of the cars I tuned had a 35R with an S cover, FR manifold, and DP. Between the stock radiator and the compressor cover there was about a half inch of clearance. The customer installed the kit himself, and while he said it wasn't easy, he was happy with the end result when it was finished.

My buddy in Washington also installed the kit himself, and he said to get the kit on there is a specific sequence to put everything together to minimize frustration. On the downpipe running studs or allen heads is required. the allen head key wrench must be cut down to clear certain parts.

We are doing an install of the FR kit on our shop car in April, and will fully document the process with pictures, along with some custom mods that will make the install easier.

The EVO in general is a tough car to work on even stock due to its tight engine bay, and to get a manifold in there with fully tuned runners, low angle 4 to 1 merge collector, full 3 inch dp without cheating the radius, and larger 44 mm vband Tial wastegate it is a tight fit. But from FR's track performance (supra & honda) record these things do make a difference.

 

I am sorry you had such a hard time with the install, i wish you had simply contacted us earlier, as i would have been happy to help (i believe you are from tucson, correct? I could easily have sent someone down there, your car here or vice versa...)

1) Koyo radiators do not fit with our turbo kit. There is no question about it. They are simply too thick to fit with the 4" inlet T04S compressor cover. If you want to run a koyo, you must run a 3" inlet T04E compressor turbo. If you want to run a 4" inlet turbo you cant run a Koyo radiator

2) You were sent an incorrect oil return kit. From the pictures, it looks like a B series honda oil return or an SR20 kit. this was absolutely our mistake, i would be happy to send you the correct oil kit.

3) Water fittings do not come with our turbo kits. We have had many problems over the years with customers watercooling their vehicles. Some garrett turbos had severe problems with leaking water causing the cars to run hot and filling the turbine housings with rust. After running many of these cars for thousands of abusive miles without watercooling (and seeing zero negative effects) we leave the watercooling option up to the customer.

4) The downpipe comes extremely close to the AC compressor. The gold foil "gold colored stickers" you referred to is actually a highly effective material which can drop temperatures 800 degrees Fahrenheit within 3mm. We have used this foil on many applications from SR20 brake boosters to evo AC compressors, to RSX/Civic wiring with excellent luck. This material is used for a variety of aerospace and autoracing applications. It is not just a gold colored sticker.

5) ALL aftermarket 3" downpipes (that i am aware of) require you to space your subframe braces lower. Ours is no exception. Have you ever installed a 3" downpipe before?

To all reading: Our kit is in no way easy to install. It is without a doubt one of the more difficult turbo kits to install. However, once installed, is fully upgradeable to all garrett turbochargers, will produce the highest level of performance at all boost levels and all points in the RPM band.

We make many installation and fitment compromises in the name of best overall performance. While the install is tough, it only needs to be done once. We have many people who run this kit and have had great luck with it. These two posts are the first i know of.

If you have any questions, problems, issues, ANYTHING feel free to call us. We will do anything and everything we can to help. Thanks for reading.

 

^Do you know where i can get the gold foil you speak about?

 

we have it in stock. call the shop and speak with Anthony, our sales manager. 602 437 2101

 

Does the foil only come with the full turbo kit or just with the downpipe? Because I have bought a FR manifold, downpipe, dumptube, and turbo(3037 with HOPEFULLY the correct oil fittings) and I didnt recieve the foil.

 

1: There was no reason to contact you. Ime quite capable of installing this kit. Ime happy with this kit. It just didnt have to be this dificult.

2: Why cant you post the koyo issues on your web site?? Thats good info.....

3: Yes you did send me the wrong oil drain kit. I pieced together a far simpler way of doing it and will just eat the parts.....

4: Where does it say that you have had water problems?? I wasnt informed of that. If i was, i might have made a different turbo choice. You stated that this is the turbo that you would run if you had an evo. So does this turbo come with a "no water option??" Why would you sell somthing you have problems with?? Its not like i demanded this turbo. You suggested it........

5: I think my way of protecting the compressor is superior......see the pictures.

6: i hope the benifits will be worth it. Time will tell. I will be on the dyno by the end of next month.

7: I think you could have mentioned somewhere that the entire stock fan and shroud assembly will not fit.

8: The location of the Tial flange needs to be relocated.

9: Trimming of the front motor mount is necissary to keep it from rubbibg the 4" silicone coupling.

10: for god sakes, make a lower IC for stock FMIC's.

Geoff, you have always answered the phone from us. We appreciate that. Ime lucky i can handle most anything. Others will be very upset. Like in the socal post. This isnt a bash. Simply my opinion of how my install experience was........

.

 

are you serious??!?! what about from the first page:

It sounds to me like there was reason to contact me... If you had contacted me (you guys have called me on my cell phone before... you have my number) i could have happily told you about the Koyo rad, the water fittings, i could have had the right oil lines to you in 1 day. I could have explained the gold sticker is actually extremely effective... and this could have been avoided.

The SoCal thread was a complete disaster. Do me a favor and READ the three threads on there before you bring that up. Basically he got the wrong turbine housing, in his kit, went to another shop who didnt realize what they were installing, did not call us and after all was said and done, the car made excellent power with an incredibly broad powerband

Thats a great point, thanks for your input. The website will reflect the following changes as of today:

1)Koyo brand radiators WILL NOT FIT with Full-Race turbo kits. We recommend either using a stock Evo8 radiator or a PWR radiator.

2)Water lines ARE NOT included with the turbo kit. Full-Race leaves the watercooling option up to the installer.

3)The factory radiator fan WILL NOT FIT with the Full-Race turbo kit. We recommend using a slimline or FAL fan

4)This turbo kit is intended to be installed ONLY by a fully skilled and competent mechanic. This turbo kit is not intended to be installed by a novice.



There are no water problems if you dont connect the watercooling. This is an exceptional turbocharger, and if i owned an evo, i would run this turbo. I simply wouldnt watercool it...


our charge pipes are designed to fit our IC and the stock IC


I know the install is difficult, but just wait until you see and feel the powerband... you only have to do the install once. Once the powerband kicks in, it is absolutely worth it, particularly since you will not need to pull the parts out due to cracking, leaking or stretching.

Out of curiosity, who is doing your tuning?

 

dont forget this one

http://www.socalevo.net/index.php?op...&topic=20406.0

glad to see that TT was able to help solve your problems. I dont know that i agree about their downpipe solution, as it will likely crack, but its good to see everything works well now.

the fact that the car made great power (and did it on an afc) probably has to do with how little r&d we put into our products.



i hope this guy doesnt go and flame these guys if that recirc'd dump tube cracks at any of the 3 overheated welds at the cheated bends, or if it boost creeps...