1985cucv

i need to see this! maybe do it to mine

JFlory

No turbo bark or overspinning that I could tell. In the short run that I gave it last night anyhow. But I did put it threw its' paces. Several hard runs, then let off completly. All seemed well.

The modifications that were made included:

Making a 3/4 inch wide adapter for the exhaust elbow on the back of the turbo, 4 inch V-band to a 4.25 V-band.

Cutting the exhaust manifold flange to accept the turbo. This was not very pretty, and I would suggest looking for a different route, but it works.

Alot of cutting and welding to make the oil drain tube fit properly. There isn't alot of room with the gianourmas exhaust housing. Took about 6 tries and 2 hours just to get this one thing to fit properly.

Built about a 4"X3" plate to cover the water ports for the electronics utilizing two existing tapped bolt holes and bolts, but also drilling and tapping one more 3/8" bolt hole to make sure it sealed good.

That plate also served as the base for the one that holds the actuator. Just welded another plate on top, but put it at a bit of an angle so the actuator rotated properly with the lever. Basiclly it looks lik a out of wack piece of 4" X 2.5" SS angle, 3" wide. For adjustability, there is an "I" bolt that goes threw this piece with a spring on it that goes to the opposite side of the lever. This allows for spring tension adjustment, and it was needed to get things dialed in.

Utilizing the lower two tapped bolt holes, I put another piece of actual 2"X 2" angle, 3" wide below the lever. This gave me the proper angle for the main spring that counters the actuator.

OK, clear as mud. As I said before, it all looked good when I started, but after cutting and welding a dozen times, it looks like crap now, but works.

I'm trying to get ahold of my brother so I can use his camera. Maybe tonight, and I will take a shot of the bracket that holds the actuator, too.

aborgardt

I am excited to see pictures. I am waiting to get a manifold and then im going to start to fab up mine. This aut to be great.

JFlory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHzHp4nQQaE

If I did this right, the link should be here. Never posted a video, so bare with me.

If it does post, the video is pretty bad. My brother was in a hurry and his I-phone was almost dead.

Anyways, you can somewhat see the bracket that was made and the exhaust manifold butcher job. Also revved it up while the exhaust brake was activated. Sounds horrible when you do that, but it will kick out on it's own. Then revved it without it engaged to 1500rpms, making 7psi of boost there.
When I take off, it really isn't alot of throttle, but looks like it with the TST on TT03,3-3. I hit 12psi at about half way up the drive, on the TT03 program thats where full fuel kicks in, as you can tell by the light puff of smoke. From there boost went up to 29psi before I slammed on the brakes at the end of the drive.

Will try and get my camcorder stuff downloaded to the computer so that I can take some in cab shots while driving and maybe have some real sound. The video posted does absolutly no justice to the exhaust tone.

06MegaCTD

yeah you need to use a better camera with better sound, really didn't sound any different from any other truck by just the hissing sound from the cruddy video. You can't tell a difference in any of the sounds. I think if you get your camcorder working like you said people will actually be able to hear the cool whistle instead of hissing lol

aborgardt

yeah, it is hard to see the bracket and stuff.... but it looked like the truck really moved.

JFlory

Yep, sorry guys. That video is horrible. I am looking all over the office for the software to load videos to the computer. Had everything on the old computer for 6 years and never used it. Never loaded the software over to the new one and now the disk seems to have gone missing.

ttcfan4476

i have that problem alot too

Dave04600

So what did you end up using for an acuator? do you have to use a 6.7 exhaust manifold or could it be done on a 2nd gen manifold? I am interested in trying to fab this up for future twins.

cbrahs

you won't be able to use a 6.7 manifold. they are much larger than ours ( i have a set of 6.7 gaskets in the shop and put them up against our manifolds and was like DANG).

ScienceOfSpeed

has anyone contacted ATS, i know they were working MST turbo, maybe they would have some info

JFlory

I don't know about finding a manifold that would bolt things up perfectly. Best bet would be a 2nd gen with a 2" spacer/adapter. Any spacer on the stock 3rd gen manifold would put the exhaust housing too low and hit the frame. The turbo bolt holes are just about 3/8" big all around. All I did was drill out the stud holes on a stock manifold, then used my jigsaw with a metal blade and cut diagonally to the corners of the flange. The bolts are catching by a 1/4", so it should hold, but the added back pressure will most likly make it leak. The only reason I did it this way is so I could keep my down pipe in tac if things had to go back. When things get buttoned up, it will be the first thing I change for the better. I'm most likly going to machine a piece of metal to be welded to the outside of the flange, making it solid all around. More or less, just making a rectangle that fits snuggly around the flange.

One question I need anwered is, what size are the coolant ports? I'm assuming they must be -AN fittings of some sort. Not a pipe thread, tried that already. Sure wish I would have taken care of this before installing, but I'm going to remove it this weekend to redo everything for the better. Now that I know what the turbo can do, and really like it, everything is getting a makeover for permanent use.

After a drive tonight to the hardware store to look for coolant fittings, I just love the way it sounds and responds. Boost is just so instant, and the power is so quick. Never thought it would perform this well. Best part is that it's not even fine tuned. There is alot left on the table as far as tweaking the actuator and getting the exhaust brake hooked up.

And just so everyone knows, all the brackets and adapters are being logged so the measurements can be shared. I'm not trying to hide anything or make a market for this stuff, but I do work at a machine shop and can help someone out on things if they decide to tackle this project. And when I remove the turbo and manifold this weekend, pictures will be taken of all the flanges and adapters to be put in my personal profile here when finished, but before installing.

Thanks to all for your support. Didn't realize so many would be interested.

8mpg

You are the man...Im going to try the swap later after you get all your bracket measurements up. Thanks for the hard work

aborgardt

Might just have to take you up on that....

1985cucv

yeah i hear ya this is sweet. what are the pros and cons to this set up? max boost, egts, power spool time etc... and what did it cost?