Focus ST Big BHP project in the making.....
26-02-2013, 09:38 PM
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Focus ST Big BHP project in the making.....
Right firstly hi to everyone I don't come on here very often, in fact I don't go on forums very often anymore to busy at work.
A few people have asked me to put my project thread up on here as they feel it is worthy.
This is the direct link and other peoples veiws on the build so far in full :
http://www.focusstoc.com/forums/topi...ngine-project/
It all started when I bought a focus ST over a year ago, with the help of my mother, she was termarlly ill with cancer and she gave me her car and told me to sell it. Instead of selling it I part chopped it for a focus ST. Now after the first day of driving it, I snapped a driveshaft racing an R1. DOh!!!
So it went back to my friends garage and waited 2 weeks for a reconned replacement.
We finally got it back and after another 2 weeks I cracked a liner
. Of course this was going on whilst I was looking after my mother at home with my fiance and daughter. Prorities were my mother so left it at the garage.
My mum deteriated and passed away, I had a couple of months where I didn't want to know or do anything, luckily I have an awsome fiance, daughter and best mates, they brought me round and got me back on track.
After all this had hapened I wanted to do something in memory of my mum (she always used to help me when I tinkered with my cars, got stuck in with me etc, brews the lot, wasn't scared to get her hands dirty)
so I decided to do something different and build this car in my mums memory.
Now some of you might think this is a stupid idea, but she was passionate about what I did as much as me. We also landscaped her garden whilst she was ill as this was a big job she had always wanted done, she passed away 1 day after we finished the garden, "she did see it aswell".
SO heres my story and how it all begain and upto present day.
This is also on STOC website as this is where it was started.
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Right I thought I would start a new topic to do with the engine transplant that we are going to have to do now on my Focus ST, we stripped the engine down to see if the headgasket had gone on the car originally, but after looking into it futher we have noticed that the gasket hadn't gone and was in fact the dreaded cracked liner
.
We first did a compression test on the cylinders, and found cylinder 3 was running 6bar, cylinder 4 was running 7 bar the rest were 10 bar. This is why we first thought the head gasket had gone.
The head is ok, but as you will see from pictures you can clearly see the damaged cylinder.
This is a close up of affected cylinder.
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As you wil see from the next picture it shows you what the cracked liner actually looks like.
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side view.
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As you can see it clearly has a hairline fracture, this is cylinder 3, cyinder 4 also has signs of a crack forming. The headgasket has got a slight nick in where the liner has cracked too.
So now I am in the process of sourcing an engine etc with Phill and Alan at pumabuild, but at the minute I am waiting on funds to clear in my bank (they take the mick, bloody probate)
So at the minute my car looks like this.
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I don't know how long its going to be like this, but hopefully not long, the orignally plan was to fit a few new goodies I had collected up, hoses, forge actuator, recirc valve and body mods with new wheels. But now it looks like the espense has gotten a little worse.
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Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I thought I would do a build thread, as its a little different to the usal things you see on here, I even debated doing a couple of how to guides through out the thread, one being RS oil cooler, timming kit change, etc. I will update this thread as work is carried out, hopefully it will make an interesting read.
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Ok thought I'd do a little update, we have been busy upto christmas and during, I have finally got the Dalton lined block back and ready to be built up.
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As you will be able to see it looks a lot different from the standard block, looks a hell of alot more reinforced, the water jackets have been filled but still have water holes in them, it has been cleaned and honed ready to have the forged internals put in.
These are the forged rods, we are unsure if we are using these might be changing to a different spec.
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These are the forged cosworth pistons.
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This is the sump all cleaned up and ready for rebuild, we are unsure at this point whether we are going to modify the baffle plate, or go with a dry sump setup, this is still in discussion.
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So i know its not much to see but its getting there slowly, obviously we had to wait on block, but the block was on exchange also, yes it is still an st block aswell. I am working closely with a company called BD performance on this build, and we hope to be building a nice reliable ST with a lot of trick bits, they are fairly new to the scene but have been rebuilding ST/RS engines for some time now, and want to expand on there knowlege and skills, I will be helping them along the way to keep costs down a little. Darren is the guy Im dealling with and I have been to meet him to discuss the project futher, we will be working closely together to come up with some good idea's etc. They seem to know their stuff and have been highly reconmended to me by people who have had work done by them on there own ST's and other cars. Hopefully it will become a good friendship as well as a business contact.
Watch this space as this is just the begining.......
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Ok I have a little update to share, the rest of the engine has been taken out of the car now, ready for some bits to be reused but not much.
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They have taken the gearbox off, and noticed a leak on it, so it has been sent off to be checked internally and to see if the quaife is still ok, by the looks of things this car has had a hard life.
Although it was nice to see that it had got the solid flywheel and ceramatalic 5 paddle clutch on it the previous owner said it had, even though it is buggered now, oh well time for a new clutch kit to go back in it 
.
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Helix paddle clutch which will be being replaced with the same again.
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Full kit.
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Solid flywheel.
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For what this setup costs, imo its the best about and is not as much as the focus RS setup and better than it, i wouldn't do anything other now.
The next step after pricing some things up with Darren means I will have to cut back on a couple of things due to other comitments and priorities, like big turbo conversion, but hey that can be done at a later date. We will still be doing a hybrid turbo of some sorts but need to speak futher with Darren on my options.
Hopefully the gearbox will be ok, the head is going to be sorted out as this can be quite a lengthy process porting and polishing etc. Now its going to be a waiting game for parts to come in, as its always a bit lapse after christmas with everyone trying to get back into the swing of things lol. Sorry its not much but tbh Darren & Ben have done alot to get here, more to come shortly.........
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OK I thought I'd give a little update, firstly the gearbox is back from being checked over and been reconditioned, it had to have new bearings and a couple of other things, the diff is fine though.
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After alot of talking to people and Darren talking to helix direct, they have kindly said they will recondition the clutch kit for me, they informed us that the clutch shouldn't of gotten into this state, but it looks like it hasn't been used properly even on a track, they were very shocked when they found out it had only done about 20,000 miles. They couldn't do enough for use by going the extra mile to sort us out, big thank you Helix
.
Not a lot is really happening at the minute as we are still waiting on a few major components to build the engine up but here are a couple more bits that have arrived.
Full polybush kit for the ST, and rear adjustable 24mm whiteline antiroll bar.
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Uploaded with ImageShack.us
One of the best bits also arrived today, the BC BR coilovers woohoo!!! Thanks to fishface for making my mind up on these badboys.
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I love the look of these, the bushes and coilovers will all be fittered shortly, I am also waiting on my new monster brake kit but i'll update when they arrive.
Hopefull things are now comming together, other things have been put in to effect, the headwork, the stronger driveshafts, with hubs and joints are being sorted. Intercooler, radiator, oil cooler is in the pipeline too.
Watch this space.
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Right i thought it was about time that I updated this thread, as many people have been waiting to see how things have been going on, I have been really busy for the past year hence the thread hasn't been updated for 6 months plus lol.
Firstly I would like to start of by continuing where I finished off. The darton liner block gave us some headaches along the way, when it was sent back we were unhappy with the tolerances of the sleeves, they were out by a few thou, which for the spec we wanted to do were not acceptable, so the block went back to darton to have them redone, that was a couple of months wasted whilst we waited for that to be done.
Once the block came back we thought that was it ready to install internals etc. We were wrong after a few phonecalls etc to darton we found out that the bores had to be rebored, although darton do not specify this when one is done, ( this maybe where people have been going wrong with them in the past posibly) so Daz found the best place in the uk to undertake such work, it was sent off to the machine shop to have this done, then all the forged internals were installed, including all new bearings seals etc. We decided against the cosworth pistons in the end as cosworth now no longer to piston rings to match the pistons themselves
.
The block then came back about another month after ready for the next phase.
The next step was to have the headwork done, this was sent off to have the port and polishing done, the inlet and exhaust sides were ported out to there limits, new guides and oil seals were installed and new valves lapped in. We decided against having reprofiled cams as the machine shop although could of done the work said there was no real point of benifit in doing this as the head on St's was a really strong and good head to have as standard the only real restrictions was the flow, which had been taken care off. This can always been added at a later date if I wish to do so with a bigger turbo.
Once the head came back we had sorted out the handling out more, by fitting the BC coilovers and having a full set alround of poly bushes fitted. I decided against fitting the front uprated antiroll bar as the car felt 100 times better for the bushes, coilovers and uprated engine mount.
The head was then put back onto the block, an RS head gasket was used, with also mods to block to lower the compression ratio inline with an RS one.
Once the engine was back together we felt that the sump was looking a bit shabby lol. So I said to get a brand new one from ford.
Now that the engine was pretty much all done the timing gear etc was put back on, brand new of course. They the gearbox was fitted to make it easier to fit back into the car as the whole front end was removed for easier acess anyhow.
At this point alot of talking was done about which turbo setup to use etc, the most obvious was the RS turbo, but I was against this as it was a typical upgrade by now, and there were a few ST's out there running RS conversions, so I said no. We discussed other options and finally decided to go with a Borg warner setup, although we initially wanted to go SX300 size turbo, after looking at the room and trying one, we found that a tubular manifold and turbo would need some modiforcation work done on the bulkhead, the tubular would be more money than the turbo, as we wanted one that was reliable and didn't keep breaking like most if not all the ones on the market at the minute. ( watch this space though as a bigger turbo setup and manifold is maybe in the pipeline)
An external wastegate and screamer pipe setup is also being installed.
So we opted for the SX200 Borg warner, with a cast manifold capable of using this turbo ( thanks to pumaspeed for manifold)
This was then tried up against the engine etc.
Once everything seemed like it was alighned right it was put in place properly, with brand new turbo studs and bolts that cost Ł100!!!!!! for set.
Custom return pipe etc had to be made, and had to wait a couple of weeks for this to be done and made.
External wastegate was fitted.
Now the engine was looking like an engine again, it had to be put back in the car temporaily to make sure things didnt catch etc, and also to mark up for the oversized intercooler piping.
Once this was done we relised the turbo hadn't got a vacuum hole it needed so off came the turbo. A hole was drilled very carefully and all residue got rid off.
Turbo was then refitted with engine out.
At this stage we were talking about fueling systems to use, I didn't like the RS500 price tag just for a fuel pump, so we came up with an alternative option, although this system works fine and now has been tested it still wasn't a cheap option, we had a 1ltr swirl pot installed with RS fuel pump in tank, with a bosch 044 fuel pump externally mounted with 2 x uprated fuel filters, and all braided hoses with proper unions etc. Also a sytec 7 bar fuel pressure reg was installed too.
we were going to run everything through the car but decided it would be too noisey and like the stealth look, as this car will still be used to carry pasengers shopping etc. So everything was installed under the car out of veiw, the phot's above are not fully finished pictures of how the piped looked, the swirl pop had sheeting cut to protect it better etc.
Once this was done the engine was refitted to the car for the final time hopefully.
Whilst all this was being done Anembo were producing there new plenum, which had been being developed with a couple of people, we were lucky enough to have one of the first ones which were made.
The design and look of this plenum is outstanding and although it has a hefty price tag is by far the best on the market, the workmanship thats been invloved in this, time expense has been well worth the wait.
As you will see a lot of the things that have been developed for "naughty" custom bits etc, have now been made available for all other owners of ST's etc, some of which was developed specifically for this car.
Now the engine was back in plenum on, injectors installed etc.
The top hat had to be made a bigger bore and to house an RS map sensor too as I didnt like the standard rs tophat, plus it had RS on it and this engine is not an RS and din't want people to think it was another RS conversion.
Once this was done we relized that the standard fuel rail wouldn't be adequate for the fuel lines so it was taken back off and an union fitted to the end, which made it safer and neater for fuel line.
A custom made intercooler and alloy radiator were made to help cooling issues down.
At this point samco hoses and little bits were being fitted ready for a base map to be installed by colins performance.
Got to have one of these, but I tell you what is bloody loud lol.
At this stage we knew we would need a good air filter system, but had to be for an RS , so I opted for the AS carbon fibre one, had custom orange samcos to go with it.
After seeing all the hoses etc, the header tank look lost and messy, so I asked if they could swop it for me. So this is pretty much how the engine bay looks now. We have tried to make it look as OEM as possible, we think it looks smart and professional what do you think?
This is a before shot of how it used to look just to compare a standard one and mine as it was
.
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At this stage we had to wait for the custom exhaust to be measured up and made on the car, we were having a true 3" turbo back exhaust without CAT, and rear silences. Also whilst we were at thought we should fit the rear RS defusser I bought AGES ago.
Screamer pipe made but decided against it at minute as it was loud enough and sounded awsome. ( it can always be put in at a later date)
Whilst the ECu went to colins to have an RS base map installed the RS map sensor had to be wired in, and a couple of other RS senors put in, uprated solinoid for turbo, we were going to have the turbo smart boost guage but we found out at a later date it was faulty and wouldnt do what we wanted it too so were going for a wideband lambda instead.
I also decided to go for RS LED style rear lights but smoked, and at same time thanks to extreme Carbon (storm motorsport) for sorting me out a great deal on a full carbon fibre RS spoiler, which imo looks great and fits perfectly.
It may not be to everyones taste but we like it.
ECU back from Colins and it was put on ready for the engine to be started up for the first time. after a few issues we got it up and running, now it was ready for testing and bedding in. I have a couple of videos which I will upload seperately to this thread to show you.
Again I was feeling it needed something else, I had already bought a set of powder coated black ST wheels but wanted another set to set it off more, so I purchased some OZ ultra lightweight wheels.
Ben then came up with the idea that we needed more air to the front and decided to go on one lol, and produce what I would call a really good adition to an already good lucky car.
Now the car was off the ramps and front bumper nearly done this is what it looks like now with wheels and bumper done.
Again maybe not to everyones taste but its not just for looks its there to keep things cooler.
It was time to put some miles on it, so BD decided to take it too a local show to get some on it, everyone was really impressed with the car, so much so it won car of the show lol (unfinished) which meant its got a free photoshoot once done and a medal lol. Aparently not everyone was happy with the dession and a few remarks were made lol.
500 miles later the car is still going strong sounds imence and looks really good imo, we have had to have uprated motorsport driveshafts made, but even these were not up to the POWER of the "naughty" sadly we destroyed these shafts the other day, and now we are looking into something even better.
Which means the car won't be finished now before christmas or even ready to test on the track at silverstone in december, but as we said to BD we understand this and this is why we wanted to test the car to make sure everything was strong enough etc.
Once the shafts are made it will be mapped up properly, whilst this is going off we are looking into other ways for traction issues etc, maybe rs gearbox, RS shafts but uprated and revo knuckles.
Sorry for the delay in this update, and sorry for the long reply, I have probably missed some things but can update accordingly, as you can see there was a lot to update, and this has took me 2 hours to do. It will be having a big brake setup but were still undecided as to which one to go for.
Just a couple of nice photo's we have.
I will finish off with saying a really big thankyou for BD performance undertaking this massive project and putting up with us, thanks to Ben who has built this amazing car, and to Daz who has become a good friend worked hard to make it possible, these guys are top notch and without them this wouldn't of been possible. I will highly reconmend them to anyone wh wishs something like this to be undertaken.
Hope you have enjoyed the update, plenty more to come.
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Iv'e had my reasons for doing what iv'e done like iv'e said in the past its something Iv'e done in memory of my late mother, as she helped me with other projects I did myself lol. BD have put up some of the money themselves for this project so as to get there name out there, and I apreciate this grately, alot of man hours researching and actually building the car have been undertaken, I wish them every sucess in the future for what they want to become.
There is still work to be done, as of yesterday we finally relized that we are going to have to have the screamer pipe venting to atmosphere to allow the heat to get away from the turbo faster. It is then going to be mapped properly and setup accordingly. I will update this as more work is done
. I hope you enjoyed reading this and I hvn't bored you .
A few people have asked me to put my project thread up on here as they feel it is worthy.
This is the direct link and other peoples veiws on the build so far in full :
http://www.focusstoc.com/forums/topi...ngine-project/
It all started when I bought a focus ST over a year ago, with the help of my mother, she was termarlly ill with cancer and she gave me her car and told me to sell it. Instead of selling it I part chopped it for a focus ST. Now after the first day of driving it, I snapped a driveshaft racing an R1. DOh!!!
So it went back to my friends garage and waited 2 weeks for a reconned replacement.
We finally got it back and after another 2 weeks I cracked a liner
. Of course this was going on whilst I was looking after my mother at home with my fiance and daughter. Prorities were my mother so left it at the garage.My mum deteriated and passed away, I had a couple of months where I didn't want to know or do anything, luckily I have an awsome fiance, daughter and best mates, they brought me round and got me back on track.
After all this had hapened I wanted to do something in memory of my mum (she always used to help me when I tinkered with my cars, got stuck in with me etc, brews the lot, wasn't scared to get her hands dirty)
so I decided to do something different and build this car in my mums memory.
Now some of you might think this is a stupid idea, but she was passionate about what I did as much as me. We also landscaped her garden whilst she was ill as this was a big job she had always wanted done, she passed away 1 day after we finished the garden, "she did see it aswell".
SO heres my story and how it all begain and upto present day.
This is also on STOC website as this is where it was started.
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Right I thought I would start a new topic to do with the engine transplant that we are going to have to do now on my Focus ST, we stripped the engine down to see if the headgasket had gone on the car originally, but after looking into it futher we have noticed that the gasket hadn't gone and was in fact the dreaded cracked liner
.We first did a compression test on the cylinders, and found cylinder 3 was running 6bar, cylinder 4 was running 7 bar the rest were 10 bar. This is why we first thought the head gasket had gone.
The head is ok, but as you will see from pictures you can clearly see the damaged cylinder.
This is a close up of affected cylinder.
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As you wil see from the next picture it shows you what the cracked liner actually looks like.
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side view.
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As you can see it clearly has a hairline fracture, this is cylinder 3, cyinder 4 also has signs of a crack forming. The headgasket has got a slight nick in where the liner has cracked too.
So now I am in the process of sourcing an engine etc with Phill and Alan at pumabuild, but at the minute I am waiting on funds to clear in my bank
(they take the mick, bloody probate)So at the minute my car looks like this.
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I don't know how long its going to be like this, but hopefully not long, the orignally plan was to fit a few new goodies I had collected up, hoses, forge actuator, recirc valve and body mods with new wheels. But now it looks like the espense has gotten a little worse.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I thought I would do a build thread, as its a little different to the usal things you see on here, I even debated doing a couple of how to guides through out the thread, one being RS oil cooler, timming kit change, etc. I will update this thread as work is carried out, hopefully it will make an interesting read.
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Ok thought I'd do a little update, we have been busy upto christmas and during, I have finally got the Dalton lined block back and ready to be built up.
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As you will be able to see it looks a lot different from the standard block, looks a hell of alot more reinforced, the water jackets have been filled but still have water holes in them, it has been cleaned and honed ready to have the forged internals put in.
These are the forged rods, we are unsure if we are using these might be changing to a different spec.
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These are the forged cosworth pistons.
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This is the sump all cleaned up and ready for rebuild, we are unsure at this point whether we are going to modify the baffle plate, or go with a dry sump setup, this is still in discussion.
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So i know its not much to see but its getting there slowly, obviously we had to wait on block, but the block was on exchange also, yes it is still an st block aswell. I am working closely with a company called BD performance on this build, and we hope to be building a nice reliable ST with a lot of trick bits, they are fairly new to the scene but have been rebuilding ST/RS engines for some time now, and want to expand on there knowlege and skills, I will be helping them along the way to keep costs down a little. Darren is the guy Im dealling with and I have been to meet him to discuss the project futher, we will be working closely together to come up with some good idea's etc. They seem to know their stuff and have been highly reconmended to me by people who have had work done by them on there own ST's and other cars. Hopefully it will become a good friendship as well as a business contact.
Watch this space as this is just the begining.......
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Ok I have a little update to share, the rest of the engine has been taken out of the car now, ready for some bits to be reused but not much.
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They have taken the gearbox off, and noticed a leak on it, so it has been sent off to be checked internally and to see if the quaife is still ok, by the looks of things this car has had a hard life
.Although it was nice to see that it had got the solid flywheel and ceramatalic 5 paddle clutch on it the previous owner said it had, even though it is buggered now
, oh well time for a new clutch kit to go back in it .
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Helix paddle clutch which will be being replaced with the same again.
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Full kit.
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Solid flywheel.
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For what this setup costs, imo its the best about and is not as much as the focus RS setup and better than it, i wouldn't do anything other now.
The next step after pricing some things up with Darren means I will have to cut back on a couple of things due to other comitments and priorities, like big turbo conversion, but hey that can be done at a later date. We will still be doing a hybrid turbo of some sorts but need to speak futher with Darren on my options.
Hopefully the gearbox will be ok, the head is going to be sorted out as this can be quite a lengthy process porting and polishing etc. Now its going to be a waiting game for parts to come in, as its always a bit lapse after christmas with everyone trying to get back into the swing of things lol. Sorry its not much but tbh Darren & Ben have done alot to get here, more to come shortly.........
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OK I thought I'd give a little update, firstly the gearbox is back from being checked over and been reconditioned, it had to have new bearings and a couple of other things, the diff is fine though.
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After alot of talking to people and Darren talking to helix direct, they have kindly said they will recondition the clutch kit for me, they informed us that the clutch shouldn't of gotten into this state, but it looks like it hasn't been used properly even on a track, they were very shocked when they found out it had only done about 20,000 miles. They couldn't do enough for use by going the extra mile to sort us out, big thank you Helix
.Not a lot is really happening at the minute as we are still waiting on a few major components to build the engine up but here are a couple more bits that have arrived.
Full polybush kit for the ST, and rear adjustable 24mm whiteline antiroll bar.
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Uploaded with ImageShack.us
One of the best bits also arrived today, the BC BR coilovers woohoo!!! Thanks to fishface for making my mind up on these badboys
.
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I love the look of these, the bushes and coilovers will all be fittered shortly, I am also waiting on my new monster brake kit but i'll update when they arrive
.Hopefull things are now comming together, other things have been put in to effect, the headwork, the stronger driveshafts, with hubs and joints are being sorted. Intercooler, radiator, oil cooler is in the pipeline too.
Watch this space.
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Right i thought it was about time that I updated this thread, as many people have been waiting to see how things have been going on, I have been really busy for the past year hence the thread hasn't been updated for 6 months plus lol.
Firstly I would like to start of by continuing where I finished off. The darton liner block gave us some headaches along the way, when it was sent back we were unhappy with the tolerances of the sleeves, they were out by a few thou, which for the spec we wanted to do were not acceptable, so the block went back to darton to have them redone, that was a couple of months wasted whilst we waited for that to be done.
Once the block came back we thought that was it ready to install internals etc. We were wrong after a few phonecalls etc to darton we found out that the bores had to be rebored, although darton do not specify this when one is done, ( this maybe where people have been going wrong with them in the past posibly) so Daz found the best place in the uk to undertake such work, it was sent off to the machine shop to have this done, then all the forged internals were installed, including all new bearings seals etc. We decided against the cosworth pistons in the end as cosworth now no longer to piston rings to match the pistons themselves
.The block then came back about another month after ready for the next phase
.
The next step was to have the headwork done, this was sent off to have the port and polishing done, the inlet and exhaust sides were ported out to there limits, new guides and oil seals were installed and new valves lapped in. We decided against having reprofiled cams as the machine shop although could of done the work said there was no real point of benifit in doing this as the head on St's was a really strong and good head to have as standard the only real restrictions was the flow, which had been taken care off. This can always been added at a later date if I wish to do so with a bigger turbo.
Once the head came back we had sorted out the handling out more, by fitting the BC coilovers and having a full set alround of poly bushes fitted. I decided against fitting the front uprated antiroll bar as the car felt 100 times better for the bushes, coilovers and uprated engine mount.
The head was then put back onto the block, an RS head gasket was used, with also mods to block to lower the compression ratio inline with an RS one.
Once the engine was back together we felt that the sump was looking a bit shabby lol. So I said to get a brand new one from ford
.
Now that the engine was pretty much all done the timing gear etc was put back on, brand new of course. They the gearbox was fitted to make it easier to fit back into the car as the whole front end was removed for easier acess anyhow.
At this point alot of talking was done about which turbo setup to use etc, the most obvious was the RS turbo, but I was against this as it was a typical upgrade by now, and there were a few ST's out there running RS conversions, so I said no. We discussed other options and finally decided to go with a Borg warner setup, although we initially wanted to go SX300 size turbo, after looking at the room and trying one, we found that a tubular manifold and turbo would need some modiforcation work done on the bulkhead, the tubular would be more money than the turbo
, as we wanted one that was reliable and didn't keep breaking like most if not all the ones on the market at the minute. ( watch this space though as a bigger turbo setup and manifold is maybe in the pipeline)An external wastegate and screamer pipe setup is also being installed.
So we opted for the SX200 Borg warner, with a cast manifold capable of using this turbo ( thanks to pumaspeed for manifold
)
This was then tried up against the engine etc.
Once everything seemed like it was alighned right it was put in place properly, with brand new turbo studs and bolts that cost Ł100!!!!!! for set.
Custom return pipe etc had to be made, and had to wait a couple of weeks for this to be done and made.
External wastegate was fitted.
Now the engine was looking like an engine again, it had to be put back in the car temporaily to make sure things didnt catch etc, and also to mark up for the oversized intercooler piping.
Once this was done we relised the turbo hadn't got a vacuum hole it needed so off came the turbo
. A hole was drilled very carefully and all residue got rid off.
Turbo was then refitted with engine out.
At this stage we were talking about fueling systems to use, I didn't like the RS500 price tag just for a fuel pump, so we came up with an alternative option, although this system works fine and now has been tested it still wasn't a cheap option, we had a 1ltr swirl pot installed with RS fuel pump in tank, with a bosch 044 fuel pump externally mounted with 2 x uprated fuel filters, and all braided hoses with proper unions etc. Also a sytec 7 bar fuel pressure reg was installed too.
we were going to run everything through the car but decided it would be too noisey and like the stealth look, as this car will still be used to carry pasengers shopping etc. So everything was installed under the car out of veiw, the phot's above are not fully finished pictures of how the piped looked, the swirl pop had sheeting cut to protect it better etc.
Once this was done the engine was refitted to the car for the final time hopefully
.Whilst all this was being done Anembo were producing there new plenum, which had been being developed with a couple of people, we were lucky enough to have one of the first ones which were made.
The design and look of this plenum is outstanding and although it has a hefty price tag is by far the best on the market, the workmanship thats been invloved in this, time expense has been well worth the wait.
As you will see a lot of the things that have been developed for "naughty" custom bits etc, have now been made available for all other owners of ST's etc, some of which was developed specifically for this car.
Now the engine was back in plenum on, injectors installed etc.
The top hat had to be made a bigger bore and to house an RS map sensor too as I didnt like the standard rs tophat, plus it had RS on it and this engine is not an RS and din't want people to think it was another RS conversion.
Once this was done we relized that the standard fuel rail wouldn't be adequate for the fuel lines so it was taken back off and an union fitted to the end, which made it safer and neater for fuel line.
A custom made intercooler and alloy radiator were made to help cooling issues down.
At this point samco hoses and little bits were being fitted ready for a base map to be installed by colins performance.
Got to have one of these
, but I tell you what is bloody loud lol.
At this stage we knew we would need a good air filter system, but had to be for an RS , so I opted for the AS carbon fibre one, had custom orange samcos to go with it.
After seeing all the hoses etc, the header tank look lost and messy, so I asked if they could swop it for me
. So this is pretty much how the engine bay looks now. We have tried to make it look as OEM as possible, we think it looks smart and professional what do you think?
This is a before shot of how it used to look just to compare a standard one and mine as it was
.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
At this stage we had to wait for the custom exhaust to be measured up and made on the car, we were having a true 3" turbo back exhaust without CAT, and rear silences. Also whilst we were at thought we should fit the rear RS defusser I bought AGES ago.
Screamer pipe made but decided against it at minute as it was loud enough and sounded awsome
. ( it can always be put in at a later date)
Whilst the ECu went to colins to have an RS base map installed the RS map sensor had to be wired in, and a couple of other RS senors put in, uprated solinoid for turbo, we were going to have the turbo smart boost guage but we found out at a later date it was faulty and wouldnt do what we wanted it too so were going for a wideband lambda instead.
I also decided to go for RS LED style rear lights but smoked, and at same time thanks to extreme Carbon (storm motorsport) for sorting me out a great deal on a full carbon fibre RS spoiler, which imo looks great and fits perfectly.
It may not be to everyones taste but we like it
.ECU back from Colins and it was put on ready for the engine to be started up for the first time. after a few issues we got it up and running, now it was ready for testing and bedding in. I have a couple of videos which I will upload seperately to this thread to show you.
Again I was feeling it needed something else, I had already bought a set of powder coated black ST wheels but wanted another set to set it off more, so I purchased some OZ ultra lightweight wheels.
Ben then came up with the idea that we needed more air to the front and decided to go on one lol, and produce what I would call a really good adition to an already good lucky car
.
Now the car was off the ramps and front bumper nearly done this is what it looks like now with wheels and bumper done.
Again maybe not to everyones taste but its not just for looks its there to keep things cooler.
It was time to put some miles on it, so BD decided to take it too a local show to get some on it, everyone was really impressed with the car, so much so it won car of the show lol (unfinished) which meant its got a free photoshoot once done and a medal lol. Aparently not everyone was happy with the dession and a few remarks were made lol.
500 miles later the car is still going strong sounds imence and looks really good imo, we have had to have uprated motorsport driveshafts made, but even these were not up to the POWER of the "naughty" sadly we destroyed these shafts the other day, and now we are looking into something even better.
Which means the car won't be finished now before christmas or even ready to test on the track at silverstone in december, but as we said to BD we understand this and this is why we wanted to test the car to make sure everything was strong enough etc.
Once the shafts are made it will be mapped up properly, whilst this is going off we are looking into other ways for traction issues etc, maybe rs gearbox, RS shafts but uprated and revo knuckles
.Sorry for the delay in this update, and sorry for the long reply, I have probably missed some things but can update accordingly, as you can see there was a lot to update, and this has took me 2 hours to do
. It will be having a big brake setup but were still undecided as to which one to go for.Just a couple of nice photo's we have.
I will finish off with saying a really big thankyou for BD performance undertaking this massive project and putting up with us, thanks to Ben who has built this amazing car, and to Daz who has become a good friend worked hard to make it possible, these guys are top notch and without them this wouldn't of been possible. I will highly reconmend them to anyone wh wishs something like this to be undertaken
.Hope you have enjoyed the update, plenty more to come
.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iv'e had my reasons for doing what iv'e done like iv'e said in the past its something Iv'e done in memory of my late mother, as she helped me with other projects I did myself lol. BD have put up some of the money themselves for this project so as to get there name out there, and I apreciate this grately, alot of man hours researching and actually building the car have been undertaken, I wish them every sucess in the future for what they want to become
.There is still work to be done, as of yesterday we finally relized that we are going to have to have the screamer pipe venting to atmosphere to allow the heat to get away from the turbo faster. It is then going to be mapped properly and setup accordingly. I will update this as more work is done
. I hope you enjoyed reading this and I hvn't bored you .
Last edited by ST305rob; 01-03-2013 at 09:12 PM. Reason: Vague title.
27-02-2013, 03:28 PM
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vauxhall Nut
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Yeah nice one guys, its a lot of work, blood sweat and tears, and still going on, its first map was at 543bhp but injectors maxed out so we had to go bigger think there 850cc ones now, maybe 750 cant remember lol. Then it was remapped at 598bhp but keeps looosening turbo mainifold bolts, and recking the gaskets. It also blew the gaskets on the external wastegate, so had to replace them all for the 2 nd time. Now its getting the screamer pipe sorted and then back to mapping. We are are just looking into putting the cams in we originally wanted to fit, but have got to decide before we take it back to mapper, as he won't be very pleased if we do it after all the time etc spent mappng it.
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