Success and setbacks

First the success... The wife and child spent a few days back home and despite having to proctor the ACT test I found time to build the exhaust bridge from the manifold to the turbo and then from the turbo out. I haven't connected the muffler or anything just worked the pipe down underneath so that I can later. I will use my old muffler but as I am going from 1 1/2 to a new 2 1/4 system more bottom side work has to be done. I refuse to hack into the old system until this is proven, part of my "this is likely to fail" back up plan. I grabbed some fittings from Napa bolted on the pipe and got myself ready to hear the sweet sweet whine of success... but there was that failure I spoke of.



From the manifold to the turbo. Kept the size small (1 3/4) to maintain velocity.





Mounting plate isn't perfect, the turbo inlet is an oval and the pipe is round. I did the best I could, ok that isn't true. I did the best I could quickly.


Set in place with the compressor side removed. The tightest part is between the steering shaft and the oil drain but it works. I can cut and weld that small pipe later if need be. It makes me nervous because the shaft's u joints should be replaced with some custom ones. Better be small custom joints.


The spiral cable is the speedometer, the wires and gas line are easy to relocate. The other tight spot is down on the master cylinder. I have break lines passing within 3/4 of the down pipe about 18" downstream from the turbo. I know this set up will not generate the kind of temps a high pressure setup would but I still think that is too close.

The setback:
All of the fittings on this and most turbochargers are banjo fittings, metric banjo fittings. When I was taking it off the car I knew how important those fittings were. I have distinct memories of carefully lining them up so the copper washers would not get lost. I need three, I remember grabbing six. The three I needed plus some spares just in case. I am sure you can see where this is going. I have no idea where my three went. No problem, I have the extras, and I could see them sitting on the top tray of the tool box. Crisis averted so I get to work. Cut to the end of the day, it is time to start hooking up the lines. The moment I have been waiting for...

Turns out the three 'spares' I grabbed are all the same size (14 1.5 I know now) the fittings on the turbo are three separate sizes. Screwed. When I went to the local Napa they laughed and said the best they could do was a new turbo. I can not even tell you how heart broken I was. I had been looking forward to that start for so long. At the time I didn't even know what sizes to look for and spent a fruitless hours searching online before admitting defeat. Dad sent some metric taps back with the wife so I was able to determine hole and thread and if he can no locate them (unlikely) he will pick up some bolts, lathe them out and tap them for good old American fittings. With luck I should have one or the other by this weekend. Barring that now that I know the sizes I could try searching for them again or simply drill out the housing and tap them American pipe and be done with it.

Updates and info

Been spending some time building various mounting rings for the exhaust system in preparation for an attempted install this weekend. Have decided to try to run the system in a push mode rather than pull. The new carb has the foam floats, I think, so what would be the harm in trying? If it is failure and blows gas everywhere then I will go back to plan A but if it doesn't, not having to relocate the carb and install carbon seals in the turbo is a plus. Bedsides I am excited to hear it. Going to see if it will run with out injecting additional fuel at first. Will have to keep an eye on the temps and an ear out for detonation. The boost I plan to run is so moderate I hope to get away with it (at least for testing) where the tuner guys would not. Have learned that the turbo I have is part of Saab's low pressure system with a max boost of about 5.5 psi. That works for me, remember moderate reliable power increase is the name of this game. I was shooting for about 4 psi but I think I can adjust it down some. No need to scatter the poor 134 F head in the woods some place. I have mapped out the exhaust routing but it will need some heat shields. Building a mounting bracket is going to be tricky as the side of the block is depressingly clean of strong bolt points. I did drill out and weld a fitting to the fuel pump block-out plate so that is done. I plan on using 1/4 air pressure line for the water cooling. I know it will take the pressure, it should take the heat and antifreeze shouldn't bother it. I can run without the cooling if I am careful so I could get it home in case of failure. So close I can hear it spooling now. Very excited!

Stalled

Little is currently happening on the wee jeep as other issues press for time. I have a well to finish hooking up, winter to get ready for and a little guy who no longer naps in the evening, making sneeking out for short chunk of work time difficult. I have to convince the wife to watch/take the kid and let me play, so far that has been hard to come by. Not that progress isn't being made. I took some measurements to confirm where I want to place the carb. With the removable base adapter it should fit nice. I would like to mount it above the turbine to save some of that heat and prevent icing. As my turbo lacks a bolting flange for the intake this means making a stand alone mount. I would have pictures for all the posts by now but the cord to the camera is missing, I think it has to do with the boy.

Parts!

The last of the mail order parts arrived yesterday. The largest buy for this whole build was a new JC W carburetor. It wasn't needed because of the turbo but because of my old worn out carb. Even after a rebuild the old carb just had too many worn internal passages to work properly. Bad flooding and air/fuel with no effect on adjustment. Imagine my surprise when instead of the solodex I ordered the box contains a very new modern carb with a 2 inch manifold adapter/riser. Much better for my purposes than a new solodex. Both the old carter and the solodex run about 2-3psi of fuel pump pressure I hope the new one can handle much higher. This means no regulator for me. Also because I am making my own mounting plate I can pull the riser off and get the carb that much closer to the turo inlet. This will help with the atomization, lower the chance of gas pooling and help keep the carb warm because I think cold temp icing is going to be a problem. If the suck-system plan fails I can bolt the carb back on with the adapter and tap it for the dial-a-jet to compensate for increased fuel needs with boost. Because of the added complexity of the carb mounting I bet I end up just bolting it on to see how it works.









The other goodie is a box of 10 random bends from a muffler factory. They are mistakes or over runs, all of the same diameter. Now I can build the various exhaust components with the twists and turns I want rather than trying to work with bends cut from salvaged pipe. I am writing this at lunch but hope to have pictures of everything soon.




Total investment so far is about $150 but $100 of that was in parts I planned to buy regardless. Still need to buy some hose and a fitting or two but for the most part the rest is free.