I cant speak for anyone but I know durable powdercoaters does ceramic coating and jet coating. They have the matte black and silver that is good to 2000 deg.

They told me $75 i think for my exhaust manifold any maybe something else..

 

Ian

IMO if you are going to pull all the stuff off the front from manifold to O2 housing do everything right the first time. This will mean porting/polishing everything and at least a IX turbo. Just toss the VIII one. There are so many affordable options out there now putting an VIII turbo on would be a waste. If I were going to do that myself I would get the BBK turbo but what you get is up to you. Just toss the old snail.

 

Plus Ian, if I get my Black Turbo in, I would have my IX turbo that would be sitting around. Maybe we could make a deal on it assuming you aren't planning on doing all that work in the next couple weeks. haha

 

Ian I can't see a whole lot more you can do beyond a turbo upgrade at this point .

I see the exhaust manifold as part of a system if your gonna bother to port & coat other aspects of the combination then it don't take much more effort to do the manifold as well as your hotside.

Only other thing I would suggest to maximize VE to the motor would be 65mm throttle body and intake manifold porting . That would leave you with a complete external upgrade to your motor .

Then toss in those excellent injectors along with a beefy E85 tune and your stock turbo will be beggin for mercy son !!!!

 

Guys:

They are out towards robinson they are called AMF (allegheny metal finishing). FYI he is charging $120 for Manifold, hotside and o2 housing... i will post up pictures next week when i get them back..

We have the old turbo out of the car, but I didnt end up using the o2 so i havent taken it apart yet.

 

Get the exhaust manifold and hotside ported - if you can afford it get everything coated. That is the only thing I regret not doing but at the time when i got stuff ported but I didn't have the $$.

Also if you can snag a IX turbo for a good price and offset the cost by selling the VIII turbo you will be pretty happy. It all depends on your power goals and budget - but a IX turbo is a great option for some extra power and wont break the bank....

You will have a very solid car - I like the setup, its simple and will work well and will make a great DD still.....let me know when you want that PnP resistor bypass for the ID1000's

 

PPI does good work and prices are extremely fair.....I am sending another manifold I am picking up to them to get ported and selling the buschur ported manifold that is on my car now.

The O2 housing wont be bad to take off, just coat the bolts with PB blaster and let it sit overnight. Also it will be easier to pull the hotside w/ O2 housing attached out in one piece. Then take the O2 housing off the hotside in a vice on the work bench, will be so much easier and eliminates bloody knuckles.

 

Bro, I'll be in touch when that time comes! I'm gonna start yanking parts in the next few weeks then look at my budget lol

Everyone, thanks for the input! Looks like I got some decisions to make in the next few months! I gotta do my homework on the differences between the IX and VIII turbo before I start ordering parts. I was honestly thinking going green next year instead of this year since I am going to need a clutch at some point in the process. Oh and I think it will be needing that clutch sooner than later : )

 

I'll keep you in the loop regarding my build. Hopefully if the turbo comes in the next week or two, I'll be looking at a Feb build. We can work on a good price since your local and make it a nice savings vs going with a Green. Plus it would help me recoup a little of my build costs.

 

There is another local Guy doin coatings. His name is Mike Hughes, company is engaged performance. He has a shop in Avalon. I can hook whoever up with him. Not sure if He has a site yet. Does porting too.

 

The main difference is the IX has a bigger compressor housing......if you have a 03-04 VIII turbo with the 9.8 housing you will see larger gains than a 05 w/ the 10.5 housing but there are gains and the IX turbo it is a much more capable turbo.



Another thing to look into Ian since your are getting into self tuning is the SD conversion......drives much smoother than the MAF, a bit of a learning curve but its not all that bad. I just switched mine back to SD and currently working on the part throttle tuning but it drives super smooth. Your best bet is to get the car running good on the MAF get it tuned nice and solid then build your SD setup from there, wont take near as much work. Just a thought......

 

The IX has a lighter compressor wheel too right? I can't remember the specs but I thought that the effects of the larger housing on spool were supposed to be offset by the lighter wheel? As for the harness, I will be back in town next week so I will get in touch with you soon.

Over the last few weeks I have started following the threads closely and I plan to get there eventually. I will see how the smoothly E85 conversion goes and plan from there... Its gonna be a busy spring/summer lol

Thanks again Trav

I was considering the IX turbo but wasn't sure, and the uncertainty of buying one on the forums turned me away. Im interested

Thanks everyone for your input

 

Hey guys, haven't stopped in here in quite awhile, so I thought I'd say, "hello."

The primary reason I haven't even thought about this forum is mainly because of vehicular depression. A nightmare of an overhaul is looming for my drivetrain as my stock 6spd tranny with 63,000 miles is on the verge of complete failure. It's sounded like a really pissed off squirrel has been trying to claw its way out of the bell housing for about 2 months. The more I drive it the louder I have to turn up the radio so I can pretend there is nothing wrong. But, then I shift, and when in gear the shifter just likes to wiggle around like it doesn't enjoy being in any particular gear. Some days I just pretend its got straight cut gears and the intense whine is supposed to be there...whatever gets me through the painful drive.

Right now, it really is a chore to drive it and thinking about it just causes me even more anxiety than I've already had this year (some of you may know the difficulties i've had with employment - or lack thereof). I'm basically thinking that it's gonna cost me AT LEAST 4 grand to completely fix it the way I want it to be fixed. I'm guessing about 2 grand for a shep-built 5spd and another 1400 or so for an Exedy twin-disk (current clutch is over 40,000 miles old)...plus Mike's labor.

So, that is my current predicament. Really wishing I bought a GSR right about now. If someone knows of a quick way to come up with 4 grand, I'm open to suggestions. My left kidney may end up on Ebay very soon... .

 

I hear they granted the first license for male prostitutes in Vegas. You could do a brief stint out there to get the money. haha

 

Not sure on the lighter compressor wheel - never heard that before? If you PM me your address I can drop the harness in the mail...

Yea get the car up and running on E85 first for sure.....the easiest way to get SD running on the stock ecu is to have a solid setup/tune on the MAF and go from there - the data you collect from the MAF is very important to get a nice base SD map going.