Build thread as of 6.23.14 (turbo eventual twincharge build. CNC, tig welded, etc )

Discussion in 'Car Builds, Projects, Idea's Experiments' started by soccerbummer1104, Jun 23, 2014.

  1. soccerbummer1104

    soccerbummer1104 New Member

    Jun 20, 2014
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    Inman, SC (greenville / spartanburg)
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    I know a lot of people here hate it, but thankfully my build thread over there is (mostly) drama free.
    http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/drivetrain-cooper-s/256425-my-build-teaser-photos-and-updates-14.html
    And bonus, 99% of pictures were hosted with imgur, so you dont need to log in to see any of them.

    That being said, from this point forward I will post updates to both places!

    but if you want to see all of the other work I have already done (and how I made many of these parts you see here) Just pop on over.
    It won't kill you, I promise.

    now,

    That being said (and maybe some motivation to go check out that thread)
    Here are my Turbo exhaust parts! (made by me) back from coating at swaintech!

    [​IMG]

    These are the turbo headers.
    Took me 4 days to make these suckers as it contains upwards of 90 pie cuts, and over 39 feet of welding of 80-95% penetration with a convex bead.

    All tig welded, back purged, 321 stainless with a 347 filler. :Thumbsup:

    The merge collector was CNC'd on a 5 axis from a solid billet of 309L

    [​IMG]


    Turbine housing and first bit of down pipe

    [​IMG]

    and the rest of the down pipe, waste gate tube, and cat!
    [​IMG] :Thumbsup:

    Hope you guys enjoy custom work!
    More coming in the next few days :)
     
  2. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    Very nice work.......love to see craftsmanship like that.
     
  3. jiminni

    jiminni Well-Known Member

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    Wow! Nice work! No hate here :cool:
     
  4. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    Lovely work...
     
  5. TheModFather

    TheModFather Well-Known Member

    May 15, 2012
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    Subscribed here now!

    Looks like one less reason to go on NAM now, and I can still keep up on your build... Speaking of, I still havent gone on there to update my Rat-MINI thread... Yeah probably not.
     
  6. soccerbummer1104

    soccerbummer1104 New Member

    Jun 20, 2014
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    Inman, SC (greenville / spartanburg)
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    Had many other evening duties (work, social calls, family stuff) so I only got a few of the parts bolted back on for mock-up purposes of a few parts I am still working on, but they do look nice mounted back in place!
    [​IMG]

    Little in-progress welding shot of the soon-to-be coolant overflow tank.
    [​IMG]

    And finally a little sneak peak at something that is coming soon... very soon...
    Should have already been here and it is currently late soon. :fingerscrossed:

    [​IMG]

    All I have to say (for now) is it replaces some retaining washers and will act as part of a seal surface...

    If you dig through the other thread, you will find a picture of it in a drawing somewhere and should be able to put 2+2 together.
     
  7. soccerbummer1104

    soccerbummer1104 New Member

    Jun 20, 2014
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    R&D engineer (plastics, films, other)
    Inman, SC (greenville / spartanburg)
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    this evenings tasks: fix the exhaust.

    So I made a booboo: when I was welding up the last part of the downpipe (connecting it to the main exhaust), apparently I forgot to hold it in place where it would clear the swaybar as it moves.

    ruh roh!

    but thankfully this was easily fixed without having to cut through any swaintech coating! phew!

    Ended up just taking 1" out of the main run of pipe between the resonator and the front exhaust hangar.


    [​IMG]

    inch removed and tac'd in place.
    [​IMG]

    Test fit revealed that my measurements were accurate and everything lines up! (sorry, no pics. Hard to fit anything other than me and wrenches under the car)
    Finish welded (i guess I forgot to take a pic) and she is now back in the car and everything is happy!

    how this worked:

    Doing this allowed the downpipe to swing upwards, pulling it away from the swaybar, and re-connect to the exhaust. (hooray for having 3 joints that can move! (v-bands) but in swinging "up" it moved the rear end of the down-pipe up and back. Now I did not have to rotate it far, only a few degrees. This moved it up about an inch, and back about an inch.

    Good thing is my flex section was a bit back, so it only had to move by a few degrees as well to pull the end back down so that it could mate up with the exhaust.

    Time will tell if this causes issues, but I am running with it for now :lol:
    (something tells me it may.. I have issues with flex sections, although they are infinitely better than donuts imho.) :lol:


    And onwards!!


    so, I also need a coolant overflow tank... seeing as the stock one is

    A: ugly, and
    B: I have no where to put it.


    So I am opting for a smaller one, in a not very logical location, but I will just heat shield the crap out of it.

    Right over the downpipe!

    Figured it cant be too bad when the OE one was over the header :lol:

    [​IMG]

    Not finished yet, but that is all I had done for this evening. Had an after-hours meeting, then home, got a small snack, and the exhaust just took a while to take measurements, cut, tac, test fit, take it back off, clean, purge, weld, put it back on and bolt everything up to make sure nothing hits.


    Anywho,

    onward to this!

    so I started with flat sheet as usual. Traced the pattern of the bend on the new rear heat shield / engine bay trim I made, and then cut out the plate. Measured the back side length, cut another piece and then clamped it in my vice and bent it by hand.

    Welded the two together and this is how it started out today (did those things last evening)

    (ignore the two pegs, those were not there when I started)
    [​IMG]


    anywho, from there I used my calipers to measure out and scratch the aluminum for where I wanted the bolts to go to hold this thing on.

    I marked the holes, used an automatic center punch to mark them, and then drilled small-ish pilot holes.

    From here I took the piece, clamped it in the car where I wanted it, and then transfer punched the center of those holes I was drilling into the engine bay trim (so that the holes will be concentric and I don't have to have a lot of slop + washers)

    I drilled out the punched spots in the engine trim to 6.5mm (for bolt clearance)


    Then I used a step bit to drill out the pilot holes in the WIP resevoir to 0.5".

    I cut two small lengths of 1/2" aluminum rod, lined them up over the holes, tac'd them from the back side (see image of piece in vice above) , and then I filled in the hole I drilled from the other side, welding the "pegs" to the sheet.
    I welded over on purpose, and then filed the outside back flat.

    Re-marked the centers of where the holes were (using the dimensions I used to mark them originally)
    And drilled 5mm holes ~1" deep (I know, I like to switch units. :lol:)
    [​IMG]

    Then I removed the blue, filled the holes with aluminum cutting fluid and tapped the holes for M6-1.0

    [​IMG]


    test fit 1:
    [​IMG]


    test fit 2:
    [​IMG]

    Everything lined up nicely!


    Rest of the evening was just cutting out the metal for the front two sides
    and bending it in my vice

    [​IMG]



    chamfering the front corner, and then welding it up

    [​IMG]


    as she currently sits

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    it is about half the volume of the original unit unfortunately, but I am tinkering with the idea of extending the bottom down.. not sure yet, which is partly why i did not finish it this evening.

    Need time to reflect and decide.
    :lol:

    Hope you enjoyed!
     
  8. soccerbummer1104

    soccerbummer1104 New Member

    Jun 20, 2014
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    Inman, SC (greenville / spartanburg)
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    no walk through this evening, just some final shots.
    Did a little bit of welding, but then my upper back muscles started cramping so I called it quits while I was ahead.


    Anywho,
    I needed a manifold for water distribution to the intercooler and turbo. Turbo has -10 AN lines (yes! -10! ) and the intercooler takes 2x-8 inlets, while the pump outlet is 3/4 barb. fun.
    I have not put the barb on yet, need to go turn that, but, While looking for a place to mount this manifold, I had the great idea (in my mind at least) of just welding it straight to the inlet tube to the intake manifold! Should be cool water anywho, and it is post intercooler, so worst it could do is take a fraction of a degree off of my inlet temps (lol!)

    And if I am honest, I got a bit lucky with the fitting clearance when it was all said and done. haha!

    fyi: my aluminum welds look a lot better recently because I switched to a 2% lanth and started just putting a small flat on the tip instead of using pure tungsten and letting it ball.


    cut it close:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]


    welds and more welds
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  9. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    Mad skills man.......:Thumbsup:
     
  10. soccerbummer1104

    soccerbummer1104 New Member

    Jun 20, 2014
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    Inman, SC (greenville / spartanburg)
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    thanks Scottin Bend!


    Here is a little more action for everyone ;)


    nothing to see here! nothing at all.
    Please, keep moving along!


    (placement of bellmouth close, but not exactly where it will be final)
    (yes I am making an air filter box that will be welded to that piece of artwork)
    (yes my hood scoop is now the main air intake)
    (no you cannot have it)

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  11. soccerbummer1104

    soccerbummer1104 New Member

    Jun 20, 2014
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    R&D engineer (plastics, films, other)
    Inman, SC (greenville / spartanburg)
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    bunch of random boring stuff this weekend, and a few neat things thrown in the mix.

    Most of it was plumbing work for the coolant system and torquing everything I took off the car back down (from valve cover to subframe, etc)

    I also finally got around to putting an 8-pin connector on the vipec expansion harness

    [​IMG]

    Wiring is one of my least favorite things (easy, boring) but at least it makes things nice and simple to use

    [​IMG]

    Also got in my EGT gauge

    So I marked, drilled, and tapped a hole directly into the turbine housing for that
    (no money or room for individual cylinder EGT)

    [​IMG]


    went ahead and put a 10.5psi spring set into the wastegate (for starters while I get it running, will get bumped up to an 18psi setup soon enough.

    [​IMG]


    also got the fittings welded on for the a2w setup, and all the o-rings seat well inside of the water path, no leaks!

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  12. Systemlord

    Systemlord New Member

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    I can't wait to see this thing run, huge turbo when compared with the R56 S turbo!
     
  13. soccerbummer1104

    soccerbummer1104 New Member

    Jun 20, 2014
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    Inman, SC (greenville / spartanburg)
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    new award to most PITA thing I have done recently goes to!

    This intercooler!

    Turns out I should have just machined a few pieces myself. While the surface finish was better, the bolt holes that I have to bolt the water blocks too are up to .010" out of position. Which may not sound like much, but it makes things not line up, so I have been taking a dremmel with a tunsten carbide router mill bit and slowly opening holes and ovaling and fiddling everywhere to try and get this thing to work and not mess up the o-rings (I currently can get it all bolted together, but it pushes the o-rings to the side and does not seal 100%)


    not a huge problem, just annoying and laborious.


    [​IMG]

    Oh, and I have about 200 extreemly tiny metal slivers (metal splinters) in my hands.. everywere...
    (stainless from the laser cut retaining washer replacements)

    and they are friggin tiny...

    yes, the arrow is pointing at it.
    And for scale, that tweezer is pretty small: think what your wife / GF uses to pull eyebrow hairs out.. in fact, these slivers are probably 1/4 the diameter of a hair! if not less... fml...

    [​IMG]
     
  14. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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  15. soccerbummer1104

    soccerbummer1104 New Member

    Jun 20, 2014
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    was wearing them!

    Dusted off my shirt and a bunch that had accumulated fell down the inisde of the glove.. fml.

    (leather work gloves)

    This time around I wore latex ones and rubber-banded the ends close to the skin and overlapped layers! haha!
     
  16. soccerbummer1104

    soccerbummer1104 New Member

    Jun 20, 2014
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    Inman, SC (greenville / spartanburg)
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    well this post should pretty much write itself with the images,

    plus, who here reads my text anyways? :lol: jk.

    did this with a hole saw, drill bit, and hand files.
    (then welded it on)
    [​IMG]

    (bpv attachment)

    BPV mounted (new o-ring seat shown :grin:)

    [​IMG]

    O-ring receptacle on the intake tube tac'd in place (fitment check)
    This piece was fun to make,
    ended up screwing two 2x2's down to a piece of plywood to hold the sides of the ~1.75" tubing that makes this receptacle , then another on the nose to keep it from moving forward, and then tapered a fourth piece so that I could stick it inside the back of the tube, screw it down, and it clamped it to the base.

    Then took a 3" hole saw and cut, took off exactly what i needed and left the proper radius to mount to the tube.

    Then took a single layer of 120 grit sand paper, wrapped it around a spare piece of 3" tube, and used that to finish profile the piece to size :Thumbsup:

    [​IMG]


    test fit 2
    [​IMG]


    welded it together and cut out the inisde with another hole saw
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    mounted inlet tube.
    [​IMG]

    final section of tubing welded onto intercooler
    [​IMG]

    rtv applied and everything mocked up in place!
    [​IMG]

    bpv in its little cubby hole

    [​IMG]



    now I should note, I am still having a few small problems with sealing the ends.
    o-rings are not seating correctly on the laminova cores :mad: possibly due to an alignment issue.

    Worse comes to worse I have to re-make those end plates (annoying) and move the seats from theoretical position to a measured position .

    Not sure if the tubes warped slightly during welding or what happened, frankly it doesn't matter as I am leaking a solid vacuum out in ~ 1.5 minutes (so it seals pretty well, but is not perfect. Not sure yet if it would leak water, but if it did it will be at such a small rate that it would not matter much :lol: perfectionist inside me still wants it fixed though. )
     
  17. M1N1

    M1N1 Well-Known Member

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    Nice skills. I can TIG weld most things, but my aluminium welding looks like a pigeon crapped all over what I am welding:mad2:
     
  18. soccerbummer1104

    soccerbummer1104 New Member

    Jun 20, 2014
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    ^ inverter machines help to fix that problem.

    AC, 2% lanth tungsten with a blunt point, clean metal (prep is key) , and 100% argon make welding aluminum easier than stainless imho.
    Just need to worry about thermal capacity and pre-heat is all.

    Super easy to fill in large gaps as well if you have decent pedal modulation.
    Some of those tight corners I didnt even worry about putting a little piece of metal in and instead left it as a .5"x.5" triangle and just filled in the hole with filler. haha!
     
  19. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    ... one of those skillz that I gotta pick up sometime... If I could do that, would save me a trip to the welder this week...
     
  20. soccerbummer1104

    soccerbummer1104 New Member

    Jun 20, 2014
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    @blimey
    how far is it from holly springs to tryon ish area?

    I am only ~ 15 minutes from tryon/columbus NC and only 30 min from saluda (maybe)

    happy to help anyway I can, PM me if interested.


    anywho, UPDATE!

    SHE STARTS!! woohoo!

    cooling system not done, and I need to swap out the 15psi spring in the wastegate for ~6psi so that the boost controller can handle things from 6-18psi.

    [ame=http://youtu.be/WXNEX3xuHDo]mini r53 turbo first start teaser - YouTube[/ame]
     

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