[zetecfreak]

I have the SPA DIY kit on my car now. My cousin made the DownPipe on the car, but come to find out there are some issues with it. I know both C-F-M and FocusPower are supposedly making down pipes. I NEED ONE!
So, I was hoping both could post pricing and info. One of my major concerns is A/C. Will the down pipe clear the A/C lines? Will it come with a wastegate dump tube? How big is the Diameter? Will anything else need to be altered for it to fit?

I have also thought of making a spacer for the manifold to clear the stock baffle on the crank case. Is this a good idea or would this create trouble?

 

[1turbofocus]

What turbo do you have ? Do you have any dynos of the spa turbo

Tom

 

[zetecfreak]

I have the SPA .48 trim that comes in the DIY kit. I dont have any dynos, but Im going to try to make it to your dyno day. Going to follow John down, the big problem at the momemnt is boost. For some reason the car is doin something weird. It makes up to 9psi, then falls and stabilizes at around 6.5. No idea why this is going on. If I come down to the dyno day you are more than welcome to all the dyno pulls you want. LOL.

 

[1turbofocus]

How long is the Vac line from the intake manifold to the waste gate ? what kind BC

Tom

 

[03OrangeSVT]

How long is the Vac line from the intake manifold to the waste gate ? what kind BC

Tom

Beats me, I havent seen the car in a couple of weeks... but he's coming over tonight and we'll be "playing" around with the tune..... and doing a little trouble shooting.

 

[zetecfreak]

Well, we did a lot of trouble shooting, cussing, and But Scratchering but still couldnt figure out the problem. The Vac line is 3 1/2 feet, the boost controller is a AEM truBoost. Its a SPA wastegate with the top hole plugged. The car pulls good until 4500 or 5000 then boost goes down to 6 or 5 and stays there. There are a few more couplers to check, but Im afraid either the Turbo is bad (no shaft play) or the motor is lettin go.
Also, I still have the Crankcase pluged up, it made over 16psi this way, so I dont imgaine its hurting it any. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

 

[1turbofocus]

The top hole should be open not plugged , the crankcase being plugged could blow out a front or rear seal either way it isnt good for the engine , engines need to breath

Dont like the AEM stuff at all , hook up from the intake to the WG direct and see what the boost does to see if it a BC issue or something else

Tom

 

[Fast Tuner]

Why that top hole should be open not plugged ????????

 

[zetecfreak]

Ive unhooked the BC completely for right now. The spring is set at 10psi, but it is adjustable, 10psi is the minimum though. Currently there are no vac lines on the wastegate. I had done this before and made 10 psi with the spring as soft as possible. With it turned in a bit, I made 16psi, but got scared and turned it back to 12. I changed my intake elbow and thats all.

 

[1turbofocus]

The waste gate shouldnt even work with out a Vac line going to it , you SHOULD have a Vac line going to the WG at all times

Tom

 

[1turbofocus]

Why that top hole should be open not plugged ????????

By top hole I am guessing he means Valve cover it should be open , warm air rises taking with it condensation and contaminates , condensation will almost allways be made in the valvecover with it open the engine breaths better and can get more contaminates out, If anything add another hole dont block the one thats there

Tom

 

[Fast Tuner]

By top hole I am guessing he means Valve cover it should be open , warm air rises taking with it condensation and contaminates , condensation will almost allways be made in the valvecover with it open the engine breaths better and can get more contaminates out, If anything add another hole dont block the one thats there

Tom

I think he is talking about the wastegate. He said "Its a SPA wastegate with the top hole plugged"

 

[1turbofocus]

Yep your right , thought this was the one with engine breathing issues , The top hole shouldnt be plug on the WG because as the bellows/valve moves up it builds psi in the upper part and could cause it to boost spike , chances are it wont hurt a thing but why take the chance

Tom

 

[03OrangeSVT]

We noticed that the top hole in the wastegate is a vacuum leak when it is unplugged so I plugged it.

Its so weird the car runs fine except that whas soon as it gets to 10psi or so it immediately drops off to 6psi. I need a little more time to look at it, right now I'm messing with it between working on other projects.

 

[ZtsFocus]

this may not be it at all but have you checked the blow off valve? i was losing boost. so i took my valve apart and the boot was ripped inside. It was a greddy type s (real one)

just an idea

 

[zetecfreak]

Found the problem. One of my couplers was holding the pipe in place, but wasnt actually doing anything. It would hold boost until around 10psi and then let go to only holdin 6 or 7 psi. Really weird, I figured it would just blow apart. Fixed it and all runs fine now. As for the top hole on the WG, Ive found my BC will cut boost instead of increasing it with the hole unplugged. With the hole pluged it kinda works. I duno, Im probably going to unplug it and the BC and just run off the gate since its adjustable.
Thanks for all the help and how bout the Down pipe Tom? Curious to see if it clears the AC or not.

 

[zetecfreak]

Also, I know nothing about WG. All I know is that when I hook a Vac line to it, I get either 20psi, or cant make over 8psi. With no vac and the screw I can pretty easily adjust to what I want. But like I said, Im no expert thats for sure.

 

[focusfreak03]

not sure why you are hooking up the wg to the IM, tom know more than i do, but shouldn't your wg be hooked up directly to the turbo so it is a boost only source? that is the way it is on my car and every aftermarket turbo kit for it. why would it be any different on a different vehicle. the turbo should have a nipple coming off of it for boost reference.

 

[focusguy87]

not sure why you are hooking up the wg to the IM, tom know more than i do, but shouldn't your wg be hooked up directly to the turbo so it is a boost only source? that is the way it is on my car and every aftermarket turbo kit for it. why would it be any different on a different vehicle. the turbo should have a nipple coming off of it for boost reference.

Tom thinks the IM has a more accurate reading when in boost.

 

[illinipo]

^and it does.

boost is lost between the turbo and IM due to bends, diameter changes to/from the couplers, wall "friction" on the flow, etc etc. each change in flow and each foot of pipe have a loss of energy involved.