Robb235's Front Mount Turbo Build
- Thread starter Robb235
- Start date
Good God, I forgot how expensive PNP units are, I DIY'd mine (in my Miata) for less than $500.
Troutsrunner
New member
Good God, I forgot how expensive PNP units are, I DIY'd mine (in my Miata) for less than $500.
Yeah that one isn't cheap. There are much cheaper ones like aem with the harness for about 600. I just prefer ms
Robb235
Senior Member
Had a little bit of free time today, so I got some work done on my meth injection system.
I've had the pump mounted for a while now, and the tubing running from the washer fluid tank to the pump (no longer leaking btw). Then after the pump, I have it dead headed. None of the electrical had been ran up to this point.
So today I tapped the power wire to my radio, and ran a wire from there to my OTRATTW switch in the cabin. I only want the rocker switch to get power when the ignition is on, which is why I chose to tap the radio. From the switch I ran another wire through the firewall, to where the relay is, but didn't hook it up to the relay just yet. I also hooked up the power wire from the methanol pump to the relay. I didn't finish because I ran out of time. I slacked off on PT last week, so I decided that today I needed to go run before it got too dark outside.
I still need to connect the pump to ground, connect to the relay to ground, connect the relay to a power source (battery), and connect the signal wire from the switch to the relay. And of course, I still need to connect the pump to the misting nozzle, and install the nozzle into the intact tract. I'm going to play around with injecting while still N/A. I know there isn't much to be gained injecting water/methanol while not boosted, but at least I get to trial run the system, find any leaks, and if nothing else, clean out the top end of my motor. The switch will turn the pump on and off. Later, once the turbo is on, I'll add a Hobbs pressure switch in addition to the rocker switch, so that it injects once it's in boost.
No pictures today, sorry.
I've had the pump mounted for a while now, and the tubing running from the washer fluid tank to the pump (no longer leaking btw). Then after the pump, I have it dead headed. None of the electrical had been ran up to this point.
So today I tapped the power wire to my radio, and ran a wire from there to my OTRATTW switch in the cabin. I only want the rocker switch to get power when the ignition is on, which is why I chose to tap the radio. From the switch I ran another wire through the firewall, to where the relay is, but didn't hook it up to the relay just yet. I also hooked up the power wire from the methanol pump to the relay. I didn't finish because I ran out of time. I slacked off on PT last week, so I decided that today I needed to go run before it got too dark outside.
I still need to connect the pump to ground, connect to the relay to ground, connect the relay to a power source (battery), and connect the signal wire from the switch to the relay. And of course, I still need to connect the pump to the misting nozzle, and install the nozzle into the intact tract. I'm going to play around with injecting while still N/A. I know there isn't much to be gained injecting water/methanol while not boosted, but at least I get to trial run the system, find any leaks, and if nothing else, clean out the top end of my motor. The switch will turn the pump on and off. Later, once the turbo is on, I'll add a Hobbs pressure switch in addition to the rocker switch, so that it injects once it's in boost.
No pictures today, sorry.
Robb235
Senior Member
Ok, so here are the pictures of what I did last weekend.
Here's the switch mounted in its slot.
Here is where I mounted the relay. You can see the red wire coming through the firewall, it is coming from the switch and needs to be cut to length and connected to the relay. You can also see the fuse holder.
Not sure if you can see it, but I have the feed wire from the relay wrapped up in wire loom, and zip tied to the wiring harness that crosses in front of the engine.
And here is the pump hooked up to the power wire from the relay. The pump is not yet hooked up to ground.
Here's the switch mounted in its slot.
Here is where I mounted the relay. You can see the red wire coming through the firewall, it is coming from the switch and needs to be cut to length and connected to the relay. You can also see the fuse holder.
Not sure if you can see it, but I have the feed wire from the relay wrapped up in wire loom, and zip tied to the wiring harness that crosses in front of the engine.
And here is the pump hooked up to the power wire from the relay. The pump is not yet hooked up to ground.
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4RunnerChaos
New member
Its lookin good. 
Robb235
Senior Member
Got a little bit more done today. I got the flanges welded to the end of the pipes so that I can connect the end of the CX downpipe to the stock exhaust.
I took it to a local exhaust shop, and the guy charged me 42 freaking dollars just to weld on a couple flanges. The welds don't even look that good either... But at least it should work.
Here's a sketch that I made a couple months ago to plan out what I was doing, so that way what I was thinking in my head actually made sense on paper too. Slip joints are because I'm not going to know exactly how long this pipe needs to be until I install the CX manifolds and downpipe. They will get welded up once everything gets fitted.
The whole pipe.
Exhaust goes in here from the downpipe.
...and ties into the stock exhaust here.
Pictures of the welds.
I took it to a local exhaust shop, and the guy charged me 42 freaking dollars just to weld on a couple flanges. The welds don't even look that good either... But at least it should work.
Here's a sketch that I made a couple months ago to plan out what I was doing, so that way what I was thinking in my head actually made sense on paper too. Slip joints are because I'm not going to know exactly how long this pipe needs to be until I install the CX manifolds and downpipe. They will get welded up once everything gets fitted.
The whole pipe.
Exhaust goes in here from the downpipe.
...and ties into the stock exhaust here.
Pictures of the welds.
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4RunnerChaos
New member
Its looking like its gonna come together pretty soon
Don't know if I mentioned it or not, but I'm also planning on going with this cxracing kit. I can't wait to see how yours turns out.
Don't know if I mentioned it or not, but I'm also planning on going with this cxracing kit. I can't wait to see how yours turns out.
Robb235
Senior Member
Its looking like its gonna come together pretty soon
Don't know if I mentioned it or not, but I'm also planning on going with this cxracing kit. I can't wait to see how yours turns out.
Thanks, can't wait to get everything installed. I'm closing on my house next week, so pretty soon I'll have a garage to work in.
Not sure when I'll be able to install this stuff. A good part of May will be used moving stuff from my apartment to the new house. And June I've got my annual two week long drill with the Army National Guard (which will end up eating 3 weekends), so it could be July by the time I get this done.
jeremyc74
Banned
Its looking like its gonna come together pretty soon
Don't know if I mentioned it or not, but I'm also planning on going with this cxracing kit. I can't wait to see how yours turns out.
Report back on your experience with the CX Racing stuff. I just put one of their intercooler kits on my car, and it was shit. The intercooler core itself was fine, but the "kit" was just junk. The pipes had huge burrs in them from being cut, the clamps they sent were junk, there were extra parts that didn't go anywhere and parts that were missing that were supposed to be with it. The piping wasn't welded up properly, the charge pipe wouldn't work with my application (even though it was advertised as being specifically for the 135i), and none of the brackets fit without heavy modification. On top of that were absolutely no instructions. I didn't bother calling them but other people who have report that they're really nice, but no one in their tech support has any clue about the applications they're selling parts for.
For anyone who doesn't know, CX Racing is all Chinese stuff. I'm not trying to crap on your plans, but be forewarned. Their idea of a kit isn't the same as most people's. At the end of the day I got it in and it's working well, but be prepared for a lot of modification and fabrication work.
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Robb235
Senior Member
Been thinking about E85. Unfortunately the nearest station to me is about 30-45 minutes away. An hour round trip just to fill up does not sound appealing.
But the benefits of E85 sure are appealing. Been thinking about tossing in my 315cc injectors I have, filling up with E85, and calling it good. E85 needs like 30% fuel flow than gas, and the 315cc injectors flow right around 30% more than stock. I think the ECU would be happy and wouldn't know anything had changed. Might need a better fuel pump though.
Robb235
Senior Member
Report back on your experience with the CX Racing stuff. I just put one of their intercooler kits on my car, and it was shit. The intercooler core itself was fine, but the "kit" was just junk. The pipes had huge burrs in them from being cut, the clamps they sent were junk, there were extra parts that didn't go anywhere and parts that were missing that were supposed to be with it. The piping wasn't welded up properly, the charge pipe wouldn't work with my application (even though it was advertised as being specifically for the 135i), and none of the brackets fit without heavy modification. On top of that were absolutely no instructions. I didn't bother calling them but other people who have report that they're really nice, but no one in their tech support has any clue about the applications they're selling parts for.
For anyone who doesn't know, CX Racing is all Chinese stuff. I'm not trying to crap on your plans, but be forewarned. Their idea of a kit isn't the same as most people's. At the end of the day I got it in and it's working well, but be prepared for a lot of modification and fabrication work.
Yeah, that's why I bought the manifolds and downpipe only, and am fabricating the rest. I followed a few other build threads using these manifolds, and so far they seem to be working out. Hopefully my experience is the same.
And you're right about their tech support. All of them are morons unless you're talking to Ace.
4RunnerChaos
New member
My AT is in June as well. Where are you heading for it? I'm going to fort leonard wood for mine. What's your MOS?
JayRolla
New member
You would think so right? I did the same thing in a talon. I also ended up burning a valve in about a 6 month time. If running e85 you need about 18-22% during cruise and up too 30% at WOT. Without tuning and wbo2 you will blow the motor.
Robb235
Senior Member
I'm actually not MOS qualified since I'm in OCS (Officer Candidate School), so my "MOS" is 09S. I'll be at Fort McClellan, Alabama for two weeks.
4RunnerChaos
New member
You stinky officer! Just kidding, that's cool man as of right now I'm planning on going green to gold. Need my E-5 and be promotable first...
Well good luck on your adventures through OCS and good luck after you're done with all of your training.
Robb235
Senior Member
Wow, really? With E85 burning cooler, and being less knock resistant, I wouldn't have expected that.
So help me understand, even with 30% larger injectors, at cruise where you need 18-22% more fuel than gas, I'd still be lean? I guess I'm not quite following.
JayRolla
New member
Knock has nothing to do with running lean. It can cause knock but on e85 it can run dangerously lean and not detonate. So tuning of knock is super dangerous. You would run rich at cruise and maybe lean at wot. You can't guess e85 needs 30% more fuel. That's rough estimate for when starting tuning. Not to tune out out. So when you go e85 you add 30% fuel and start from there. It's just good enough to get car started and that is it.
JayRolla
New member
Sweet, can't wait for more details to be posted. That is the thing with the 3.4, very reliable and dependable workhorse, but just a tad bit too slow! Any reason to skip the intercooler? They are pretty cheap.
Never a reason to skip intercooler unless you have too or running a setup for max spool but would need fuel that dont care about intake temps.
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