1. Does it matter where on the test pipe you place the bung for the o2 sensor? I was thinking about 3-4 inches up from the stock o2 bung.

2. Where can I get those little #12 copper self-locking bolts they use to connect the turbine outlet castings to the back of the turbo? I lost two, they're probably sitting in some tiny crevise in my engine bay that I can't see or get to. I've tried Lowe's so far and they only have the brass ones. Would brass or steel ones be okay if they're self-locking?

 

I got this picture off of phunk's website. This is his car. Since he knows his chit I would assume this is the right place for it.

 

questions answered above

Chris,

My car should be done tonight or tomorrow. Turbos are on, with all oil and water lines ran. the oil pan is on and the fuel system is complete. I will be running the hot and cold pipes and intercooler tonight. Just don't know if I will have the motivation to reinstall the bumper and plastics and get it on the road for a few days.

 

Good luck, I can't get either of the intercooler inlet pipes to line up with the pipes coming off of the turbos. Also the intercooler holes don't all line up with the car, either. I'm losing confidence fast; I'm afraid that when it comes time to put the exhaust back on, the y-pipe won't line up either. Also the bracket that supports the RHS air filter was machined backwards. I tried to heat it up and bend the top of it the right way and it snapped on me. Thanks, APS.

 

this install seems to be fighting you all the way to completion. I didn't have much problem with the turbos or manifolds. They weren't easy, but went in, and my install buddy had only moderate issues getting all the nuts tightened up that my fat hands couldn't get at.

I am hoping the piping goes well, though I wish I had already started on it, too many late nights

 

I just got the intercooler and piping all finally done. I had to drill out the holes in the brackets to lower them enough to let the ducts go into the intercooler. The crash bar fits pretty good, just barely touching the left side corner of the intercooler, but not bad enough to cause any damage to the cooler. The ends of the ducts still don't line up as perfectly as I would like them too, but I see no way short of bending them to get them to be perfect. I got the worm clamps down pretty tight so I'd be surprised if they ever leak or pop off.

Now on to remounting the a/c compressor!

 

k i'm calling it a night; working on the car anyways. Tomorrow first thing I'm putting in the injectors and plugs, reinstalling the plenum, connecting the BOV and the throttle body inlet duct, installing the boost control system, and hopefully knocking out the fuel system and ecu and CAS wire tomorrow, and starting her up for the first time! It'll be a LONG day.....

 

Don't forget to reset the throttle postion BEFORE STARING THE CAR check instuctions.Just tring to give a little friendly advice and hope to save some head aches.Sounds like your doing a great job

 

I have the LHS piping done and the intercooler mounted. Everything lined up very well, no troubles. I obviously had to bend some lines on the AC compressor as stated in the instructions, but everything fit just like a glove (not OJ's either). I have the inlet piping done on the RHS, and cleared room for the outlet piping to the intercooler. In all honesty, this kit is fitting very nicely with 1mm - 2mm of room to spare everywhere the instructions say it may need grinding or fitment will be very close. The front impact beam is back in place with the power stearing cooler mounted as well.

I think I am in the home stretch. Today is just the RHS piping to the intercooler, RHS intake (the rubber hose and filter), the unichip ECU, plenum install with piping from intercooler to throttlebody, and my gauges.

I have been keeping track on the time spent on this and I figure I am at about 25 hrs right now. The 30-35 hrs estimate is pretty accurate, and I feel I am moderately skilled. I am doing the install on jackstands in my garage with simple tools. I did burn out my craftsman rotary tool when grinding the universal joint to allow for clearance, but protection plan = new one for me.

Funny thing was I broke the kit supplied 12mm wrench used to tighten those self locking copper nuts. I broke it on the final turn of the last nut so everything was done. It was kind of like the indy car that made it the 500 miles of the race and blew the motor as they crossed the finish line

 

Good for you, either I mounted the turbos wrong or my car is just plain messed up or APS bent my pipes wrong. Even if the turbos were not sitting the right way on the exhaust manifold by a mm one way or the other, it wouldn't cause half and inch or more alignment problems futher down the line. Either way, I made it work. Plus my car's older than yours and they probably R&D'd the kit on an 04.

 

As long as it works, that's all that matters.

 

If the intercooler touches the bar, put a piece of silicon hose in between. Even if it gently touches, the metal bumper brace will eventually eat through the aluminum intercooler.

In regards to the 02 bung. I would try to place it as far down the test pipe as possible, away from the hot exhuast gases. Wideband 02's dont like too much heat...so farther away from the turbo..the better.

 

Ccartwright-
Talk to me about the right side intercooler pipe not lining up. My tech went back and made sure everything was only held by a couple of threads to allow the most flexibility and the 3-inch piece of supplied hose is barely long enough to make the connection.
He's afraid it will "walk" itself loose. Did you finally get it to fit? Any advice?

Bruce

 

I lowered the intercooler just slightly by enlarging the holes in the mounting brackets that attach it to the frame. Neither pipes lined up; they were way off. They still don't line up like I think they should, but I got them really tight and I don't think they will ever get loose or leak, and if they do I'll just get a longer piece of silicone tubing to allow it to stretch more. I even stripped out one of the clamps, so I had to buy a new one from Autozone.

 

Ccartwright-
Thanks, I'll double-check the brackets and see if that will help. Then I can work on my Koyo radiator install...... Almost there.

Thanks,
Bruce

 

too far away is not good either. 18" is probably just about right. I have run them just past the turbo before in some cars, over the years i have tried them in several places... so far ive got almost 20,000 miles on mine where it is, still reads dead on with my dynojet wideband which has been replaced like 30 times since i installed my in-car hks wideband. the dyno ones seem to die quickly if i use them as a tailpipe sniffer due to lack of heat and of course the dyno widebands see a lot of leaded fuel.