ViscousSquirrel Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Ooooo pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 3, 2021 Author Share Posted February 3, 2021 I did something silly this week... I've been wanting to do this since I was a kid playing playstation 2 Need for Speed Underground. Boosted car, underglow, loud stereo lol. I finally have it all. I've had the kit in my amazon wishlist for a pretty long time and it just came up on sale recently so I said why nottttt. It can do any color. Already passed a couple cops with purple and they didn't care. Since only emergency colors are illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwmastertech Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 love it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 love it Thanks for checking the thread out and I’m glad you love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 9, 2021 Author Share Posted February 9, 2021 I made a video of the way this car currently sounds, since it will be changing soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 I installed the grimmspeed TMIC a few days ago and the engine loves it! So much more responsive now that there isn't a boost leak. I did have the turbo side coupling blow off on the freeway but I fixed it easy. I need to contact grimmspeed because I am certain the coupler inner diameters are too tight to match the intercooler itself. I have never dealt with couplers that were sooooo tight it was crazy, almost to the point of tearing. Maybe I just always dealt with cheap/used products? I don't know. Even using lubricant it was still difficult. Everything laid out. Before Have to remove the sound deadening and stock inner scoop. Instructions were pretty confusing and didn't match my hood. When I repaint the car I'm going to paint the underside of the hood as well since it isn't fully covered. Rear TMIC seat Front seat Have to remove this old tmic bracket Throttle body hose Turbo side with adapter. Everything together, this thing is HUUUUGE. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 Random pics from the other night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 Some more pics from last weekend, I'm obviously obsessed with this car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 Looking good man. With this intercooler, the air entering your engine should be cooler, making the engine less prone to knock. You may be able to squeeze more power by adjusting your timing table. I need to purchase this too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 Looking good man. With this intercooler, the air entering your engine should be cooler, making the engine less prone to knock. You may be able to squeeze more power by adjusting your timing table. I need to purchase this too. Thanks! I actually have a tune scheduled on the 19th, but I'm not sure I'll make it. Having a hell of a time installing this new turbo and I just cracked the power steering upper elbow. Also the tomei headers still are not here, 37 days after placing order.... I was also supposed to be off work this week but that changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 16, 2021 Author Share Posted February 16, 2021 f%&kin hell, shit time installing the turbo. Post coming soon. Also, tune got bumped out to the 26th, gives me more time to prep though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted February 16, 2021 Share Posted February 16, 2021 I can somewhat imagine the frustration, to the point you want to throw stuff around . Take your other subie and go for a spin in the mountains. It'll make you feel better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzr750r1 Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 Just subscribed.... Lots of mods added and reversed on this one. You working with Snail on the tune? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 18, 2021 Author Share Posted February 18, 2021 I can somewhat imagine the frustration, to the point you want to throw stuff around . Take your other subie and go for a spin in the mountains. It'll make you feel better! Sooooo I took that one playing in the mud and it has drivetrain vibration again!!! Oh noooo. I haven't got under there to check it out yet. Feels kind of like the carrier bearing hardware is lose but we shall see. Just subscribed.... Lots of mods added and reversed on this one. You working with Snail on the tune? Thanks for subbing, yes Travis @ snail will be tuning this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 18, 2021 Author Share Posted February 18, 2021 (edited) I'll try to keep this post short. I attempted to install my blouch performance 440xt 10cm on Sunday, first time swapping a turbo but I am very mechanical savvy. I knew swapping the turbo would be tough with the engine in but not THIS bad. Taking out the VF40 was pretty straight forward, swapped over coolant drain and oil feed to the 440xt and dropped it in after struggling with the coolant drain alignment. Once seated I began to put the nuts on to secure at the uppipe. Front nut went on, aft nut went on, outboard nut was not able to get onto the stud because the turbine housing was too thick. I thought I was crazy so I went to home depot and bought new m10x1.25 flange nuts and flangeless. First attempt was to grind down the flange off one of the nuts, still did not fit. The flangeless nut was bigger so obviously would not work. Called my dad for advice since I was out of ideas and needed a last resort before grinding the turbine housing. All the ideas he had, I already tried. I ended up grinding the housing to get enough clearance for the nut. THAT problem was solved, sure. At this point I was pretty irritated because fitting the turbo in was not easy. Then when connecting the downpipe, I saw that the upper inboard nut had the same clearance issue!!!! Luckily I could grind this without pulling the turbo, although still very irritating. After getting that nut on I secured everything, got the heatshield on, TMIC back on, cleaned up and went to bed. The next day I called Blouch, spoke with Mike about my problem and he said he has never heard about that before, I typed out an email and sent it along with photos on Monday. Have not heard back but I'll give it a week till I call back. I replaced the power steering elbow I cracked while malleting the turbo inlet back onto the 440xt. After changing that, topping up PS res, coolant, and priming the oil system I cranked it up. Started fine but there was a nasty puttering exhaust leak. After coming up to temp I gave it a few blips of the throttle and had super cool but obviously bad backfiring from the rear and up front. After being confused and looking around the turbo I noticed the front up pipe/turbo nut was not tightened down all the way. No problem right? WRONG, it was tight because of the SAME clearance issue. I tried tightening it down aka sending it, but of course it cannot get tight enough. I almost lit the car on fire in that very moment since I knew it meant the turbo had to come back out for grinding. I'm currently very disappointed with this turbo, I should not need to modify a $1500 turbo, if it was eBay, then sure. To make sure I am not entirely crazy, I called M45 automotive(subaru specialist shop who built my block/heads/trans) the next day and asked if they ever had this issue. They said NO! So I don't know if I just got bad luck or what but I am certainly not happy. I hope I can come to a resolution with Blouch because this is simply unacceptable. At this point there is no point in returning the turbo but I do hope to get something in return for all my wasted time. To end this post on a good note, my Tomei headers come in tomorrow, only 40 days after I ordered them... Edited February 18, 2021 by KevinEdgar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 18, 2021 Author Share Posted February 18, 2021 After thinking of lighting the car on fire I thought hmm, what if it did catch on fire while out and about... I NEED an extinguisher on board! Ordered a H3R 1lb BC extinguisher and "the bracketeer" mount. I didn't know the 1lb bottle would be so small, maybe I'll order the 2.5lb which is for some reason cheaper too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 18, 2021 Author Share Posted February 18, 2021 (edited) This is the email I sent Mike @ BPT. I hope I portrayed my problem in a respectful way. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello Mike, First I want to say I am very impressed with the quality of the turbo, this was my first time buying a new turbo so I was pretty pumped to install it. Quick background of me, building/racing cars for almost 10 years and been an aircraft mechanic for almost 10 years so you can trust my word on this. While installing the 440xt 10cm, the up pipe right side stud was unable to be secured by the flange nut without grinding the area clear to make room. I tried grinding the nut first but that did not work. After grinding the housing I was able to secure the nut onto the stud. Next, the upper inboard downpipe nut was not able to be secured because there was not enough room for the nut to line up with the stud without grinding the housing. I was not super thrilled to have to grind my brand new $1500 turbo, but instead of complaining I wanted to see if you guys have ever heard of this issue, which you said you have not. Maybe my housing just wasn’t machined enough? I can’t say I am 100% not at fault but I surely tried everything I could to avoid having to grind the housing. At the end of the day, it’s installed now. Looking forward to dyno day! I have attached photos, in the second image I did not take a photo after grinding but you can tell where it needs it. Maybe you could take a M10x1.25 flange nut to other 440xt 10cms in the warehouse and check those areas for proper alignment? Just a suggestion. Thank you kindly, Kevin Edgar -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I sent this email before realizing the forward up pipe stud was unable to be secured. I'll bring that up when I have another phonecall. Can someone tell me if I am blowing this out of proportion? I have had to modify one new part on this build so far and it was the new IAG windage/baffle but that was it. I forget if I emailed them about that or not. Edited February 18, 2021 by KevinEdgar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzr750r1 Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Sometimes it's best to take a deep breath and hold on modding a new part. There must be some hardened nuts that can fit. I remember Max was using nut and bolt combo on his up pipe connection but that isn't going to solve the DP issue. I'm going through similar issues on a new Yoshimura slip muffler for the ZRX. Called and they are going to send me a new sound baffle. Sent pics of the fitment issues I see and it's clear their jig was not set correct. New part is incoming based on my feedback after they review with the manufacturing team. Guess Yoshimura R&D means the customer is part of the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infosecdad Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 This is the email I sent Mike @ BPT. I hope I portrayed my problem in a respectful way. Can someone tell me if I am blowing this out of proportion? I have had to modify one new part on this build so far and it was the new IAG windage/baffle but that was it. I forget if I emailed them about that or not. Maybe ask them what nuts they use for the studs that fit? There has to be something different, trying to think of different scenarios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 Sometimes it's best to take a deep breath and hold on modding a new part. There must be some hardened nuts that can fit. I remember Max was using nut and bolt combo on his up pipe connection but that isn't going to solve the DP issue. I'm going through similar issues on a new Yoshimura slip muffler for the ZRX. Called and they are going to send me a new sound baffle. Sent pics of the fitment issues I see and it's clear their jig was not set correct. New part is incoming based on my feedback after they review with the manufacturing team. Guess Yoshimura R&D means the customer is part of the process. Haha I guess I'm not the only one who deals with this kind of stuff, that's comforting to hear. Maybe ask them what nuts they use for the studs that fit? There has to be something different, trying to think of different scenarios. I could ask them but if the stock hardware didn't work I would hope they would put a disclaimer or something. Not that I read an installation manual... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 Got around to installing the tomei ELH this evening, wrapping everything wasn't fun at all. I see why some people cheat and wrap 2 pipes in one run but I think wrapping each pipe is the correct way. These things are beautiful it sucks to have to cover them up and not see them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 New exhaust sound is amazing!!! I won't post a vid until tune day 26th, but trust me, the sound is nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kojak Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 I gotta stay off this thread before my “spring refresh” mushrooms even more. Sucks to have issues w brand new parts. I just discovered how very helpful the people at Whiteline are. Hope Blouch is similarly behind their workmanship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 I gotta stay off this thread before my “spring refresh” mushrooms even more. Sucks to have issues w brand new parts. I just discovered how very helpful the people at Whiteline are. Hope Blouch is similarly behind their workmanship. Haha I might be a bad influence. Wanna meet up next time I'm in oakland? The issues are annoying but luckily they don't stop me in my tracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinEdgar Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 Got the new injectors installed and the Cobb 3 port EBCS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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