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BarryNorman
BarryNorman Reader
1/27/23 3:23 p.m.

In reply to BadBug :

For the intercooler. Maybe not a fan but ducting. And sealing to the front opening. Bonus no moving parts reliability.

BadBug
BadBug GRM+ Memberand New Reader
1/27/23 8:38 p.m.

In reply to BarryNorman :

I agree... mostly. I'm not a fan of fans (ha ha) but even the best ducting in the world won't do much at low car speeds. On the street or track this will be fine, but for autocrossing, where the typical max speeds on our local courses rarely exceed 50mph, I may need the option to kick on an auxiliary fan. But I do hear you. And frankly, the fan issue is so far down on the list that I'm content to simply leave space for a future fan and leave it at that for now.

BadBug
BadBug GRM+ Memberand New Reader
2/2/23 7:07 a.m.

Got the bottom mounting bracket for the intercooler finished up. Pretty happy with the way it turned. Rock solid, easy to un-mount/mount, and unobtrusive. Next up is connecting it to the intake manifold... which means building an intake manifold first. Check one thing off the list, add two more to take it's place...

I bought the intake manifold flange from Autosports Engineering. High-quality piece, but it took the company months to fill my order and deliver the part.

BadBug
BadBug GRM+ Memberand New Reader
2/2/23 6:16 p.m.

We made a little progress on the intake plenum. Pretty challenging design, with a very limited volumetric envelope to work within.  That said, I'm really pleased with how it's working out.

Teh E36 M3
Teh E36 M3 UltraDork
2/2/23 6:37 p.m.

Wow dude. Wow. 

Shavarsh
Shavarsh HalfDork
2/2/23 7:31 p.m.
Teh E36 M3 said:

Wow dude. Wow. 

Agreed...

TurboFource
TurboFource Reader
2/2/23 9:16 p.m.

Nice work!

BadBug
BadBug GRM+ Memberand New Reader
2/8/23 5:21 p.m.

We got the rest of the intake manifold pieces cut out and tacked in place. A little more last-minute fit-up checks and tweaks before firing up the TIG and getting it all closed up. 

BadBug
BadBug GRM+ Memberand New Reader
2/22/23 12:36 p.m.

We finally got the intake manifold welded up tight. Now onto all the tubing/piping to connect up turbo-to-intercooler-to-intake, as well as coolant line routing. Spending the rest of today looking thru catalogs for tubing, fittings, and 45- and 90-degree elbows...

Shavarsh
Shavarsh HalfDork
2/22/23 2:28 p.m.

That intake is beatiful!

BadBug
BadBug GRM+ Memberand New Reader
2/24/23 3:12 p.m.

Some more minor progress on the intake manifold. Added a boss with two ports for the manifold pressure sensor and another sensor that is TBD. Felt like a crime to cut into the freshly built intake plenum and weld the wart on, but whatchyagonnado? 

BadBug
BadBug GRM+ Memberand New Reader
3/2/23 8:29 p.m.

Two steps forward, one step back. Got 90% of the cold side of the turbo cut/bent/tacked in place. Also got a big start on the coolant piping. But had to chop off the old shock/spring mounts to make room. Gonna go with much shorter units in the front, and probably move the old units to the rear. Sigh. Still, pretty happy with how it's all coming together. This car is a constant exercise in close-quarters packaging and compromise.

MyMiatas
MyMiatas Reader
3/2/23 9:43 p.m.

That is a interesting set up for the Intercooler and Radiator. And I did notice the air guide for it to introduce cooler air through it.  I was all ready to suggest that you want the Intercooler in front of the Radiator but caught it in the pictures that it is offset. Good design!  :0)

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
3/2/23 11:03 p.m.

I feel you on the packaging. On my MG project, I had to go to a smaller diameter steering column to clear the head bolts :)

Teh E36 M3
Teh E36 M3 UltraDork
3/2/23 11:38 p.m.

I feel all of this big time. I hope mine still fits under the hood when it's "done". Thought I'd figured all clearances but it's going to be very very close. 

Nukem
Nukem Reader
3/3/23 1:55 p.m.

This build really makes me want to squeeze a turbo into my 302 MG build, even though I'm pretty sure there is no room to do so.

BadBug
BadBug GRM+ Memberand New Reader
4/21/23 9:13 a.m.

Progress on rebuilding the frame that was removed for engine fitment. Had to get creative with triangulation members. Still not finished, but getting close. Also replaced the passenger side foot well floor pan, which had more the consistency of a screen door than an actual sheet of metal.

DocRob
DocRob Reader
4/21/23 11:16 a.m.

This is awesome!

Really looking forward to this. 

Nukem
Nukem Reader
4/21/23 12:11 p.m.

Hot heat exchanger action ^

This build is inspirational, as always.

DocRob
DocRob Reader
4/21/23 1:14 p.m.
Nukem said:

This build really makes me want to squeeze a turbo into my 302 MG build, even though I'm pretty sure there is no room to do so.

There is always room for more power. Front bumper mount? Through the hood? I'm not big into drifting, but admire that those guys aren't afraid to hang a turbo just about anywhere. I'd look for a Drift MGB for inspiration. Someone has built one...

BadBug
BadBug GRM+ Memberand New Reader
5/6/23 12:33 p.m.

Frame welding and sheet metal work underway. Basically cut out a bunch of tube frame and sheet metal so that we could put new tube frame and sheet metal back in. One step backwards to attain two steps forward continues...

BadBug
BadBug GRM+ Memberand New Reader
7/6/23 5:58 p.m.

We've been making progress on the (somewhat unconventional) exhaust system. Plan is to have the pipe come out the side of the body, right behind the passenger side front tire, scalloped in between the bonnet and the fixed bodywork. It's either going to be really cool or... uh, something else. First up, however, is finishing the muffler mounting and getting turbo and wastegate exhaust outlines plumbed in. 

MyMiatas
MyMiatas HalfDork
7/6/23 9:38 p.m.

What reason do you have to keep all that heat in the engine bay with the muffler right there?

BadBug
BadBug GRM+ Memberand New Reader
7/7/23 8:52 a.m.

In reply to MyMiatas :

To be honest, it's a bit of an experiment.

On the plus side, doing it this way GREATLY simplifies the exhaust routing, which, frankly, is impossible to route to the back of the car without either dropping down below the floor plan (which I hated) or doing some kind of side pipe(s) down the side of the car (which I hated more). Or something else I've not thought of, which I probably would hate further.

Also, I've got some simple heat shielding ideas to keep the majority muffler exhaust away from the rest of the engine. Also, the hottest part of the exhaust--by far--the turbo itself, which is smack-dab in the middle of the engine bay already and not much I can do about that nuclear device glowing red hot.

On the negative side, well, like I said, it's an experiment. It may get overly hot under the bonnet, even with heat shielding, so I'll re-think/re-work it at that point. It also just looks weird, and I'm half loving it, and half, uh, not loving it. Time will tell. For now, the plan is to just keep moving forward, making (sometimes hard) decisions, and focusing on getting the car back on the road.

BadBug
BadBug GRM+ Memberand New Reader
7/11/23 5:52 p.m.

We made a bit more progress on the exhaust and almost have it buttoned up. Still need to install a bellows on the wastegate outlet, box in the sheet metal around the exhaust tip on the body, and cut out the corresponding clamshell half-oval on the bonnet site to clear the tip. Then we're going to probably tackle sheet metal firewall work and try to get the engine bay panels done, including some heat shielding. Then only about, oh, 1E+6 more things to do....

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