Welp, I'm letting the cat out of the bag. If you're not one of the few people who knew already I've been sans car for some time now. Jeff at ILP and I had talked for months about custom turbo setups and in late January I dropped off the car for an alarm install (which was actually uninstalled after much drama...but I'll touch on that some other time), and a couple weeks later we started ordering parts.

Here's everything I can think of off the top of my head:

• Turbonetics T3 Super 60
• Turbonetics Deltagate wastegate
• A'pexi twin chamber blow off valve
• Custom equal length stainless manifold
• Custom stainless downpipe
• Custom intake and intercooler plumbing
• High flow cat (I forget what brand)
• Walbro 2g GS-T fuel pump
• 440cc injectors
• Trunk battery relocation
• 3 Bar MAP sensor
• AEM EMS
• RRM FMIC
• VDO EGT gauge
• VDO boost pressure gauge

...and I'm probably forgetting a thing or two.

Now this setup is far from done, mostly due to the fact that AEM ****ed up royally on the EMS and the base map wouldn't run the fuel pump (and therefore the car either), but, after COUNTLESS hours of overtime, horrible tech support from AEM and several sleepless nights (fore Jeff especially, but a few for myself as well), Jeff finally managed to get the car running (thanks VERY VERY much to Mike W. from RRE might I add and thanks very very little to AEM tech support).

The time frame thing sucked, I'm not gonna lie. Though, we didn't actually HAVE most of the parts until about mid March (due to planning issues and problems with GReddy distributors. The original plan was for an 8 injector (4 stock, 4 additional) setup run off the GReddy E-manage w/ additional injector harness and a MAP sensor, but, after waiting for a month and a half for the supplier to ship the stupid thing I said, "**** it" and decided to shell out the extra cash for the AEM EMS. The car was supposed to be done April 11th for the CT tri-state area meet, but a delay with the battery relocation kit (which meant we couldn't try to start the car) and the subsequent problems with the AEM EMS led to an extra 4-5 weeks of delay.

At any rate the car's pretty much done, at my house (thanks this time to Ben (SmoktOut) and my friends Evan and Igor who drove me back and forth from northeastern NJ to Nazareth, PA) and running. I'll post the technical problems in the troubleshooting forum if anyone thinks they can take a stab at em, it'd be much appreciated. Pics will be in the registry when I get a chance to take some more. Until then I can toss up some pics from about 6 weeks ago just before the battery and EMS headaches began. Gives you a basic idea of the setup and you can see the freakin' badass header Jeff welded for me.

The short story of how it runs now: Rich. Very rich. 12:1 AFR means black smoke and EXTREMELY HORRIBLE (yeah, it's that bad), but it has a fuel system that can handle more than the T3 can and the turbo spools before 2k (and keep in mind this turbo's bigger than the T28) and is currently limited at 5psi controlled by my foot solenoid. (It doesn't even reach the 7psi the wastegate is set at for some odd reason...I'll post about it tomorrow in the troubleshooting forums or something once I get some sleep).

Anywho, I'm basically just posting to say thanks to everyone for keepin' yer damn mouths shut (yeah, even you two guys who leaked ), helpin' me out along the way, and especially Jeff for the extra hours, effort and heartburn. I truly appreciate it and hope to get the car running to its full potential soon.

Once the boost pressure problem is fixed, my fuel maps are redone, and I get a new clutch and LSD I'm gonna track it. Until then I can't really run full throttle or I'm not going to have an left engine to work on. Keep your eyes peeled. I may be broke as hell now, but I have more than plenty to keep me busy tuning for a while.

EDIT: Almost forgot...there's gonna be a bunch of vendor (Ok, so only one vendor review) and parts reviews coming from me in the next few days, so, if you're interested, keep your eyes peeled.

 

Now for some of the pics from a month ago...no intake piping on at this point, but it gives you the gist of what it looks like.

 

1.

 

2. (For those of you who were wondering what my avatar was)

 

3.

 

4.

 

5. (the final pic from this batch...and not a very good one.)

 

looks very nice!
what sort of numbers are you expecting?

more questions to follow....

 

So THAT'S what your avatar was!!!
Congrats dood, congrats.

 

Once we get her running properly we're expecting approx 250hp at the crank without breaking a sweat.

EDIT: Derf. Thanks and thanks. (I'm barely awake right now.)

 

ahh you finally have your car back. you better get her runnin nice soon. im just glad i dont have to drive you back out to pa enjoy it brotha, you deserve it. i wouldn't be able to have patience like you have shown over the last 2 months.

 

can't wait to see it in person!

btw: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Awesome present to yourself!

 

 

Thats the best part!

 

Congratulations Andrew, why didnt you tell me you were actually going ahead and getting the turbo??? I was about 86 percent sure that you were up to something just because your avatar changed from Avril to some weird engine...but anyway, you GO boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!