T-tops and turbo time.

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New wastgate side by side with the internal gate.
No more boost creep here.

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This piping is damn near 1/4” thick, it’s definitely going to be a challenge to cut the hole for the wastegate into it.
 
Had a go at cutting up a couple of the weld els in half on the old band saw, it may be older than i am but she still cuts like a champ. Only took 20 minutes apiece lol.

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Had a go at getting a couple of the weld els joined up with the glue gun and 309 flux core.
It’s far from perfect, but i think it will hold, especially with that thickness.
 
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Finally done the relocation pipe and got the wastegate set on. Just need to finalize a few little things then the motor can go back in (hopefully)
Waiting on studs for the turbo flange on top, gaskets too. Gotta set the oil drain up as well so it doesn’t blow out the seals.
 
Cool man, I'm enjoying watch this shape up. It's like watching Overhaulin' in slo-mo


I wish it was moving along that fast. I’m lucky if i get a couple hours a week to work it but hopefully i’ll be able to get out there more often when the work life goes back to normal. Too much other crap keeps piling up in my shop as well... like this piece of junk.
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Is this a vintage aircooled hipo mod?
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Idk how I get myself into this crap
 
There are worse bad decisions than a VW dune buggy. That carb mod is very odd. I wonder if that is for the butterfly return or something.
 
There are worse bad decisions than a VW dune buggy. That carb mod is very odd. I wonder if that is for the butterfly return or something.

Carb used to have a coolant activate choke mechanism (it’s probably an old pinto carb) Obviously this doesn’t work on a bug so someone half ass converted it to an electric choke mechanism, fucked it up so it would never disengage, then solved it by wedging the choke mechanism open with a block of wood.
 
Continuing on with the wiring
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The crimp splices will be covered in dual wall heatshrink. This way the internal adhesive will make sure the joint is watertight and potted.
It seems like the open barrel crimps have a little more leeway in acceptable wire cross sections than the closed barrel crimps. It’s also good practice to keep all the wires out the same side, not butted up to one another. This helps ensure the wires are fully contacted with each other, it’s easier to shrink wrap after, and it’s good for strain relief to loop it back around.
 
More delays lol
Waited 2 weeks for the studs for the flanges on the relocation pipe, and instead of sending me 2 sets of 4 studs they sent me 2 studs ‍♂️

Luckily the gaskets were undamaged and the short throw shifter i ordered fit nicely.
It sold as being for the r32/r33 gtr’s but it’s the same transmission.
The bronze bushing at the end really takes a lot of the slop out of the mechanism.
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Been awhile but...
I picked up a little tig welder and some Furick cups
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It won’t win any beauty contests but I sold the first relocation pipe to a buddy and made a second one. Unfortunately the only part i did with the TIG was the wastegate flange, but it came out about as well as i expected for someone with 3 hours of practice .
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Next step will be a front facing intake plenum, something dead simple along these lines.
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We drove all over Mexico in a dune buggy like yours. No horn, no wipers, marginal brakes and no seat belts. Did just fine although I did have some sketchy moments in the major towns. My wife was laughing about it yesterday and said we should do it again. I'm not sure my reaction time is good enough for Mexico City!
 
We drove all over Mexico in a dune buggy like yours. No horn, no wipers, marginal brakes and no seat belts. Did just fine although I did have some sketchy moments in the major towns. My wife was laughing about it yesterday and said we should do it again. I'm not sure my reaction time is good enough for Mexico City!


That sounds like a damn good time.
Not sure i would want to attempt it with this buggy, best i can do is an hour or 2. It’s fun but not really comfortable for tall-ish individuals unfortunately.
 
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Been making up a couple more relocation pipes with my new TIG, much cleaner welds and way easier to control heat input. A little undersized for the wall thickness of this pipe but she gets it done.

Next step will be making a front facing intake plenum, the factory one takes up lots of real estate and isn’t the prettiest. Plan is to make the lower mounting flange from 1/2" aluminum and use some 3" aluminum pipe for the sides/top.
 
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Used the manifold gasket to trace out the holes
Callipers to find the centers
Center punch
Several steps of sizes to drill the pilot holes because the final size had a tendency to walk a mm or 2

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Got it drilled out, wire brushed up with stainless wire wheel and into the oven to preheat.
I only had 3/32 tungstens, and they didn’t seem to last long at the amperage needed to weld the flange without it.
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It ain’t a stack of dimes, but for my first actual aluminum weld i’ll take it.
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Welded the back on
And clearance check for the fuel lines, hood etc.
 
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Finally got the engine popped back in for clearance checks. Hood closes so that’s a big plus, turbo could have been a bit lower and the downpipe will require trimming lots of heat shielding. Might have to go with some heatwrap on the downpipe if i want to keep a 3” pipe and not melt the wiring in that corner.
 
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So like the dumbass that i am, I changed directions again and so instead of the old holset turbo i’ll be running this VS racing 6262.
More compact, better flow, quicker spool and lower boost threshold. Should be a far better option.
Downside is that now the relocation pipe needs to be modified as this turbo sits further out and won’t clear the strut tower.

In the meantime making up more PTFE lines to finish the fuel system
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Decided to restart the harness work
Wasn’t thrilled with my layout or the lack of for thought that went into it.
Went back over the HPA practical wiring course and setup a better plan.
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Made a template of the harness layout with some rope. Complete with branches and lengths indicated with tape. Sketched out the harness and added lengths of each branch and the termination at each end. Then made a list of each wire termination/length/colour. Ordered up some new quality TXL wire which i’m still waiting on.
Also bought a different fuse/relay box.
Very well sealed, extremely compact and can support about 30a/terminal. Made by GEP
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