Mx3optidrive's turbo BP build (bodywork and NEW PAINT done!)

[mx3optidrive]

Well, for the last little while, I didn't get to work on the install as much as I wanted. That all changed last weekend and this weekend. A couple of my friends came over to help me to get it all done, well as far as we could go becasue it has to go to a shop to get the exhaust and i/c piping routed and welded. Here is where we stand as off tonight.

Thanks to Matt, Jamie and Laurie for the help too, it wouldn't be this far if I didn't have "Motivators"!!











This is a shot to show the clearance between the rad and turbo





I will get more pics as soon as the piping is done.

Jeff

[mx3optidrive]

Holy Crap......it's been almost a year since an update.....lol. I guess it is time then eh?!?

Well, here is what we did last weekend.

Enjoy.

[mx3optidrive]

Well, got the front bumper back on after hacking it to death to get the i/c piping to fit. Also painted the piping with ceramic heat paint. The hood is not latched in these pics so there is a gap between the hood and bumper but it does match together nicely.









I will have some pics of under the hood after I get the wiring back in.

[mx3optidrive]

Vids are now up on youtube. Just search for mx3optidrive and let me know what you think.

[pox]

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[mx3optidrive]

Well, I was running a small 50 trim T3/T4 and we got it to 16psi once before the turbo crapped out. LOL!!! The turbo I had only had 3000 Kms on it so it was new, just like everything else in my build. I didn't really trust it since I bought it 10 years ago, when I started all this crazyness. Around the same time, my friend bought a turbo kit for his civic and it had the same turbo as I had sitting in my garage, but he got his from SSautochrome......yes, ebay. I instantly got really nervous about my purchase.

When I got around to putting the turbo on the car, I thought to myself "the hell with it, I have this here, I may as well use it and if it blows, I will deal with it then.". Looks like I was right to be nervous about it. When I took it apart to investigate what had happened, the nut holding the cold side impeller wheel on, was almost off to start with. When we took the center section apart, the shaft was snapped in 2 and both impellers were screwed. We then inspected the center section housing and it was also cracked in 2, not all the way, but a crack was started.

I guess this is why no one likes those turbos....

Anyway, I did get some tuning done and have some numbers. He didn't send me the graphs yet and as soon as he does, I will post them. I was getting around 14 for my A/F at idle and around 11 on my A/F under boost. From my initial tune that I did at home, it was around 180hp and 190ft/lbs trq. After some tuning and upping the boost to around 16psi on my last run, it netted around 230 hp and 228 ft/lbs but it was still climbing when the turbo crapped out. So I don't really know what the end results would have been.

I now have a Garrett T3/60-1, stage 3 exhaust turbine upgrade, a GT35 compressor wheel with 72ar hot side and 92 ar cold side.

[mx3optidrive]

I also started to disassemble the car to start the body work and color change. I am not looking forward to pulling the engine and tranny again, but it will be worth it in the end. Now I can get my 5th gear swap done and a couple other things in the bay done before the re-assemble, like a wire tuck and battery relocation....maybe.

Look what was hiding under the sideskirts and fenders....

Driver's side



Passenger side too....



And a couple random shots...





Time to start cutting and welding. I guess I had to expect some rust on the car...I don't think it is too bad.[img]

[mx3optidrive]

Few more pics of disassembly......











In this pic you can see the rusted seat belt brackets, they will be sand blasted and painted....





Not much left to tear apart now. I will be starting the actual work this weekend and will have progress pics Sunday night.

[mx3optidrive]

Just a few quick shots of our progress











Well all dings and dents on the body part of the car are done and all the good surfaces on the car are sanded and ready for primer, except the final sanding of the quarters. The rust will be dealt with this Saturday.That is it so far. We will be working on it Tuesday evening and I will update again.

[mx3optidrive]

Well, it has been a while since I last updated. I actually had to go to 2 different bodymen to get this completed. The first guy actually flaked on me just as we were going to prime the car, but it turns out that it was a good thing that he did. When the 2nd bodyman looked at the work, he pointed out all the mistakes the first guy made and we had to redo a lot of the work a second time.

I am just glad that it is now completed and I can concentrate on getting it running again and back on the road to enjoy it before summer is over.

On with the pics:

Just a warning, the paint has a lot of mica in it so in some of the pics, it looks like it is tigerstriped but that is just light reflecting from the house next door hitting the mica.











this is the one that looks tiger striped...lol!!

[WhiteFinish]

Looks very nice !
Good call on the removeal of everything before paint.