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Now that everything fits, I installed a new turbo T4 flange gasket since the last one has been on and off a few times.
I also had the DP and the Recirc pipe re-ceramic coated. I tried to reuse the DEI wrap from when the DP was wrapped before but since it was damaged due to the rubbing on the sway bar, I had to buy a new 2" x 25" roll to re-wrap the DP.
Installing the wastegate and recirc pipe with the flange clamps sorta had me worried at first. The reason why I say this is that the flanges on the wastegate vs the ones that Huron Speed welded on are different. When I say different, I mean the thickness of the flange where the clamp goes around. The Huron Speed flanges are a tad thicker which makes getting the flange clamps on more a challenge.
I questioned this with Jon and he said "just use a pair of slip joint pliers to squeeze them shut" With a mismatch of flanges I was worried that the cast flange clamps would snap. Jon assured me it would work so I went with it. I was able to get them on but not without modifying the clamps for the recirc pipe. I had to open up the holes slightly on the clamps so I could get the bolt it, the angle was off for the bolt to thread in properly.
Next up fans install...
Damn, does this look good or what!!!
Kinda hard to see in this pic but there is a gap between the DP and the BMR sway bar.
The recirculating wastegate never should have even been an option. It just adds unnecessary complexity for no benefit other than noise when at full boost. Not to mention you can end up with boost spikes if your exhaust has too much back pressure and the wastegate vents to the exhaust. There are no issues dumping the wastegate gases on a street car as it's, again, only venting when in boost.
The recirculating wastegate never should have even been an option. It just adds unnecessary complexity for no benefit other than noise when at full boost. Not to mention you can end up with boost spikes if your exhaust has too much back pressure and the wastegate vents to the exhaust. There are no issues dumping the wastegate gases on a street car as it's, again, only venting when in boost.
I'm far from a turbo expert and will never claim to be but I'd guess that production turbo cars don't vent the wastegate gases to atmosphere like aftermarket turbo systems do. With a properly designed turbo system, you shouldn't have boost spikes unless you push the system well beyond it's limits.
Like I said before, I'm sure most people would not care about venting into the engine bay, I personally didn't want that.
When in boost and the speed the car is traveling at, hard to imagine that one would get any exhaust fumes that would be noticeable in the cabin.
I would never have had the patience OP has to deal with all of the fixes with this kit. Sure hope that it functions as well when completed as it looks. Gonna be quite a showpiece when finished. Great work and craftsmanship for sure.
When in boost and the speed the car is traveling at, hard to imagine that one would get any exhaust fumes that would be noticeable in the cabin.
I would never have had the patience OP has to deal with all of the fixes with this kit. Sure hope that it functions as well when completed as it looks. Gonna be quite a showpiece when finished. Great work and craftsmanship for sure.
Thanks!!! I expected delays and issues along the way but I'm pushing through them as I can.
Now that the turbo hot side is finished, it's time to work on the fan install. As suggested by Huron Speed, I bought 2 Derale 16925 pusher fans to mount in front of the AC condenser. It's important to note, do not use the factory wiring to power the fans. These fans draw a considerable amount more current than the stock fans and you will melt your factory wiring if you do so. I did some testing and each Derale fan draws 22 amps while running and has a surge of over 30 amps on startup. I'm going to be using the Racetronix HD dual series/parallel fan harness, I'll be doing a separate post on that install.
The square rubber pieces in the above pic did not come with the fan hardware kit. I made those from a scrap rubber mat I had laying around. The hardware kit came with round hard rubber/plastic standoffs to go against the condenser. You have very little clearance for the fans and the round pieces provided would put the fan further away from the condenser and the fans blades may hit the upper metal radiator support / core support as it rotates.
Just push the retainer clips down till snug and snip off the extra.
When installing the fans, ac condenser and radiator, you might think, I can install it all as one assembly, NOPE!
Its physically impossible to do it that way with the turbo in it's place. It just won't fit. The way that I found that works best was to install the AC condenser with fans into place first. Before I installed the radiator, I taped a piece of cardboard to the back side of the radiator to protect the fins so they don't get damaged by hitting the turbo. I slide the radiator down in and mounted the ac condenser onto the radiator.
I see you are going to try a setup I concocted back in 09. Everyone pretty much disagreed that it would work. A forum member named 'Trust' tried it as well and it worked for him. My overheating was due to the Procharger D1 install in that it eliminates the stock filter intake system. As a result, the loss of the natural draw of the engine thru the air filter creating a partial vacuum is eliminated with a Procharger or turbo system.
Unfortunately I spoke too fast in thread below (#14). It worked well until temps went north of 100 degrees which isn't unusual in KS during summer months. So I finally got frustrated with overheating and literally parked it until two summers ago when I decided to fabricate my latest solution to solve overheating in an fbody with AC and with a Procharger. It took about 7 or eight versions to finally get it right. It looks bad now, but this winter will clean it up with polished aluminum brackets instead of steel which will eliminate the overhead bracket as well.
I moved the AC condenser off of the radiator and installed it forward into the bumper cover. I have two Spal pusher fans on the face of an over sized generic ac condenser. This works better. Especially for me here in KS. So far, I have never overheated, even when radiant heat temps off of asphalt hover around 115 to 120 degrees. These are temps that are typical in stop and go traffic when there is little air movement thru the radiator. There is not much differential between air that is 120 and coolant temps that are 185 or more. So you need a straight shot of air thru the radiator with puller fans unrestricted by the ac condenser.
Condenser with fans is aft of the FMIC
Note. In other regions of the country where summer temps aren't as high this modification is probably not needed. Two fans on the face on the ac condenser in its stock location will suffice.
Good luck. I hope this works for you. Vintage air has a switch that can be wired to your ac fans that is triggered by the ac compressor as it cycles on and off. I control my fans with a switch inside the cabin near the ashtray.
Note: there are more efficient ac condensers now compared to the 1998-2002 model years. Because of their design they manage the flow of 134A and it's smaller molecules more effectively.
I was thinking I may need to add another fan as a puller on the engine side. I can fit maybe a 10" at best since the turbo is right there.
Where I live, it almost never gets above 90 degrees, maybe a few times during the summer, 80's are more common. It will be some time till I'll know if my setup works... Is it June yet? lol
Hopefully the puller, if you install one, can be located to the closest point when hot coolant exits the engine. Just a thought but might you want to stagger your fans like they are staggered on the backside.
As for the 4th gen ac system. It's NOT the ac system that is borderline, it's all the glass that generates so much heat where the ac just can't keep up - huge windshields, glass in t-tops, and huge rear glass. In fact the entire top of the cabin is mostly glass except for the sail panel.
FWIW - the Corvette ZR1 has overheating problems too.. They claim it's finally corrected with additional radiators and fans.
It would be more on the passenger side that I would have room to add a puller fan. What flow is at the thermostat? Not sure of direction of coolant flow.
Before I spend money on new AC lines, maybe I'll have to swing by my local AC shop to see what they suggest on an aftermarket size to fit in like you did.
Yes the 4th Gen F-Bodys have a lot of glass to act as a greenhouse!
Now that the fans are in, time to move on to the air filter. Why am I making a post about installing a simple air filter? For one, I must give props to Huron Speed for providing a great fitting filter that fits with no issues plus it looks great too.
The main reason for this post is to make people aware that you have to install the air filter first before you install the upper radiator hose. There is just no way to get it on after the fact. It would really tick you off if you filled it with coolant, ran the engine and realized you didn't put the filter on... If this helps just one person, awesome!
She's a beaut Clark!
Notice the cardboard I taped to the radiator to protect it. The turbo is very close but it does clear when the cardboard is removed.
As you can see, no way to get the air filter on with the upper radiator hose in place. BTW - Like the air lid with MAF? lol I was doing some testing of sorts hence the reason it was there.
I would not run a pusher in addition to the 2 Derales. You can get turbulence and actually make things worse since the fans aren't flowing the same amount.
I would not run a pusher in addition to the 2 Derales. You can get turbulence and actually make things worse since the fans aren't flowing the same amount.
Lol at the filter.
It would be a puller fan on the engine side if I added one to assist the pushers. Time will tell what I will really need. As long as I'm under 200-205 degrees all the time, I'll be happy.
It would be a puller fan on the engine side if I added one to assist the pushers. Time will tell what I will really need. As long as I'm under 200-205 degrees all the time, I'll be happy.
Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying, don't run pullers and pushers.
The plan is to run up to 20 lbs of boost, so to help keep it all together and the IAT's in check, it's time to install my Alky Control Meth Kit. Since the intercooler is not installed yet, I have the room to install the methanol tank. Like a lot of people, you try to do your research before you speed your money on an item. This meth kit from Alky Control is a very complete and thought out kit made for these types of cars. The kit includes a good set of detailed instructions with some pictures. Julio, owner of Alky Control, is a great guy to talk to, he takes the time to answer all your questions, no matter how simple they may be.
Before I ordered, I tried finding good pictures of this kit to see whats all involved and couldn't find any. So here you go for your viewing pleasure! I was surprised by the amount of parts in the kit, more than I thought. I went with the dual nozzle option since I plan on going up to 20 lbs of love, I mean boost... lol
Once I get the cold side installed, I'll figure out where I can install the pump. I'll post more about that later on.
Don't know if the Alky kit is now supplied with a pressure in line check valve. But if it isn't I would install one. The 10 psi check valve stops methanol from siphoning into the charge side. I hydro-locked my engine because I did not have one - $26.50 VS $12,500 for a new engine.
The pump - since you have removed the bumper horns I would cut a 10 gauge piece of aluminum and bolt it to the frame end - driver side. In that location the pump is lower than the methanol tank and lower than your nozzles. No need to drill holes in the frame if not needed. Easy to fabricate and lightweight.
Something like my FMIC brackets will work. You might have room on the on the passenger side for a bracket for a washer tank - but the washer tank will have to have a long neck that is accessible for filling. Something like a GTO washer tank might work.
It would be more on the passenger side that I would have room to add a puller fan. What flow is at the thermostat? Not sure of direction of coolant flow.
Before I spend money on new AC lines, maybe I'll have to swing by my local AC shop to see what they suggest on an aftermarket size to fit in like you did.
Yes the 4th Gen F-Bodys have a lot of glass to act as a greenhouse!
If you find that you do have cooling issues with current setup and since you don't plan to install an FMIC, you have plenty of space in the front bumper cover to install an after market condensor and/or your stock condenser. Doing so would move the restriction of the ac condenser off of the face of the radiator allowing you to mount the DeRales as pushers on the radiator.
The one concern with the torque/twist on your high capacity motors on the DeRales on startup , is that over time, the fans don't twist the nylon retainers into the tubes on the condenser. Just something to think about. Same for the radiator. You wouldn't believe the torque twist my Spal Extreme 16 has on startup.
With the radiator no longer a restriction from the ac condenser, all air flow from the air dam gets a straight shot of ambient air right to the pusher fans thru the radiator sans the super heated from the ac condenser if it is operating.
If you move the condenser into bumper cover, you need air movement, unless you cutout or run ducts from you SS bumper insert. The condenser can be easily mounted on your brackets already in place with plenty of space for a fan.
Cold Hose in FLA can make custom ac lines with AN fittings (not expensive at all). I bought their crimper so I got my supplies from them and crimped my own lines cut for length to fit.
Hopefully you won't have to make any additional mods and overheating won't be an issue.
Wish my piece of junk looked as good as yours.
Last edited by dlandsvZ28; 11-17-2018 at 02:48 PM.
I'll have to check to see if I have a check valve in my meth kit or not, not sure... Thanks for providing some insight on the fans and AC. Yeah, those fans kick on hard when going from a stop to fun run.
Since it rarely ever gets above 90 where I live, I might be ok on the temps. If I end up having issues, at least I have a lead to go with.
Now that the Alky meth tank and fans are installed, it's time to install the FMIC and cold side pipes.
When installing the intercooler, loosely install the brackets provide onto the front where the big metal bumper support, crash bar was. Once those are in place, set the intercooler in between the brackets and install the bolts in the top and bottom but only finger tight at this point. Tighten the nut and bolts for the bracket to frame. then center the intercooler and tighten the bolts for the intercooler and your all set.
I saw a set of instructions that say to mount the brackets to the intercooler first then mount it to the car, um no, unless you like to do this the hard way.
The intercooler is actually quite heavy for being aluminum. I didn't weight it before install but its probably close to 20 lbs or so. Hopefully all that mass will mean low IAT's.
Before you can install the pipe that goes from the throttle body down through the hole by the fuse boxes, you need to modify the fuse box holder to allow clearance. I was a little reluctant to start cutting it but since I'm way over budget , I didn't want to spend money on another one so I modified mine to make it work. With a little bit of patience, it actually turned out pretty good. I went back and forth removing and installing it back in to get the right fit, you really don't want to cut it in place with all the wires there, one slip and now your fixing something else.
For the bottom part of it, I used a paint can to trace the curve onto the bottom of the fuse box holder and took my time cutting it out. I didn't get a pic of it before I installed the pipe but with it in there, it's looks almost factory, turned out great.
I used the supplied elbows and clamps to finish the install, pretty straight forward.
The BOV is as simple as it gets. Install it using the supplied flange clamp, tighten it down, install the barb on top and your done.
The hole for the IAT that Huron Speed drilled was not big enough. I had to go a tad bigger and I eventually got it in after some verbal persuasion.
11-14-2018, 07:08 AM
Hot side all wrapped up and ready to go 
