The BrokeEF SC400 build thread
11-25-18 | 07:26 PM
#31
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Joined: Jun 2016
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From: Illinois
What a weekend! Friday was all yard work and Saturday was supposed to be all car. While it mostly was, I had to help the wife with some Christmas decorations a few times. Before we get into Saturday, lets go back a bit in the week when I got some welding materials!
It has been a few years since I have welded (something that is sure to be obvious going forward) so I needed to stock up on pretty much everything. I ordered up a bunch of filler rod, some tungsten, and a fancy new gas lens cup.
That is a #16 GLS Fab gas lens. I have never used anything like it before, but wanted to give it a shot. I also picked up a tungsten grinder from eastwood to help get a nice grind on my electrodes.
So Saturday morning I went out in the garage and was messing around with stuff when I knocked the TIG torch off of my bench!!! Luckily the gas lens survived with no problem. The brand new tungsten didn't do so well, but that isn't a big deal since I have a few of them. I go to take it out, and it all comes out fine, sharpen up a new one and when I went to put it back together it was a no go. Long story short the collett wouldn't go into the back cap pretty much at all. I tried some others I had for different size tungsten and no dice. Turns out that every single welding supply place was closed until Monday!!!
After calling a dozen places to be sure they were not open, I thought of McMaster Carr, and sure enough they had them in stock. I ordered up a new back cap and some colletts and headed to Elmhurst to pick them up. I have ordered from them plenty of times, but never went there or even noticed where it was. It took me FOREVER to find where the will call window was. I even called and was still lost after that. Anyway, parts in hand I went back home and found that none of the colletts fit the new back cap at all. I was able to make something happen with the old cap and a new collett, but the day was off to a rough start.
When I got home, my new saw was waiting for me though!
After I figured out that I could make up at least 1 TIG torch (in case I had to run out again before they closed) I got to work assembling the new band saw.
First test cut
It took longer to assemble than I expected, but so far it works great. I should probably dial it in a bit more, but I wanted to get to work!
Started with the most basic thing ever, tacking the V-band flange onto the driver side manifold.
I then started trying to get some basic idea for how to get it pointing in a better direction.
After that was good enough to be able to go back in the car, I went over to the passenger side to stare at the AC for a bit again. I cut the flange off of whatever manifold that was and tried to see how I could get around the compressor.
Not much to look at I know. Next I needed to get the engine and trans back in the car so I could place the turbo. This is no easy task by myself, and made a little more difficult having to get the car so high up for the trans to go underneath on the trans jack. Nothing a chain and a cherry picker cant fix.
I also cut the ears off the trans to make my life a lot easier getting the lower bolts in. So I got the car up, got the trans under it, lowered the car back down and picked the motor. That was an interesting dance of bringing the cherry picker in from the side(ish), holding my hood up higher, and maneuvering the motor around everything in the bay. It was mostly successful, but I did break a clip for the fuel lines.
After that feat, I got the trans bolted to the motor, and tried to get the mounts fully set into place. As it sits right now, only 3 of the 4 motor mount bolts are in their homes. I tried for a while to muscle the motor around to line that last one up but so far its a no go.
I figured it was close enough to start looking at things. Right away I pretty much decided that the AC was not gonna be worth the hassle. I don't think I would be able to get a 4" downpipe through the bay with it in place for starters. I ended up pulling it all off, and went back to the truck manifold on that side. After that I threw the radiator back in to see whats what.
That did not look good.... I grabbed the turbo, and
No dice. That is resting on the water pump and the fan. Just for ****s I tried seeing how it worked on an angle behind the passenger headlight
I could probably make that work but its not my first choice. By this time it was pretty late on Saturday, and I had been up since pretty early, so I called it a night.
Now I am trying to decide how I want to go forward. For starters the front accessory drive I have is utilizing the truck spacing. That moves everything out about 1/2". That is not helping, but I also don't think that moving it back in alone will give me the room I need. Remember this car will be seeing street miles so I need to keep things like the fans cool as well. I can start chopping out the radiator supports which is something I am not against doing at all, but that means a new radiator and fans. Oh well, I will figure something out soon. It would have been nice if it fit like I planned, but that's life.
Sorry for the more wordy post today. Thanks for following along!
Sean
It has been a few years since I have welded (something that is sure to be obvious going forward) so I needed to stock up on pretty much everything. I ordered up a bunch of filler rod, some tungsten, and a fancy new gas lens cup.
That is a #16 GLS Fab gas lens. I have never used anything like it before, but wanted to give it a shot. I also picked up a tungsten grinder from eastwood to help get a nice grind on my electrodes.
So Saturday morning I went out in the garage and was messing around with stuff when I knocked the TIG torch off of my bench!!! Luckily the gas lens survived with no problem. The brand new tungsten didn't do so well, but that isn't a big deal since I have a few of them. I go to take it out, and it all comes out fine, sharpen up a new one and when I went to put it back together it was a no go. Long story short the collett wouldn't go into the back cap pretty much at all. I tried some others I had for different size tungsten and no dice. Turns out that every single welding supply place was closed until Monday!!!
After calling a dozen places to be sure they were not open, I thought of McMaster Carr, and sure enough they had them in stock. I ordered up a new back cap and some colletts and headed to Elmhurst to pick them up. I have ordered from them plenty of times, but never went there or even noticed where it was. It took me FOREVER to find where the will call window was. I even called and was still lost after that. Anyway, parts in hand I went back home and found that none of the colletts fit the new back cap at all. I was able to make something happen with the old cap and a new collett, but the day was off to a rough start.
When I got home, my new saw was waiting for me though!
After I figured out that I could make up at least 1 TIG torch (in case I had to run out again before they closed) I got to work assembling the new band saw.
First test cut
It took longer to assemble than I expected, but so far it works great. I should probably dial it in a bit more, but I wanted to get to work!
Started with the most basic thing ever, tacking the V-band flange onto the driver side manifold.
I then started trying to get some basic idea for how to get it pointing in a better direction.
After that was good enough to be able to go back in the car, I went over to the passenger side to stare at the AC for a bit again. I cut the flange off of whatever manifold that was and tried to see how I could get around the compressor.
Not much to look at I know. Next I needed to get the engine and trans back in the car so I could place the turbo. This is no easy task by myself, and made a little more difficult having to get the car so high up for the trans to go underneath on the trans jack. Nothing a chain and a cherry picker cant fix.
I also cut the ears off the trans to make my life a lot easier getting the lower bolts in. So I got the car up, got the trans under it, lowered the car back down and picked the motor. That was an interesting dance of bringing the cherry picker in from the side(ish), holding my hood up higher, and maneuvering the motor around everything in the bay. It was mostly successful, but I did break a clip for the fuel lines.
After that feat, I got the trans bolted to the motor, and tried to get the mounts fully set into place. As it sits right now, only 3 of the 4 motor mount bolts are in their homes. I tried for a while to muscle the motor around to line that last one up but so far its a no go.
I figured it was close enough to start looking at things. Right away I pretty much decided that the AC was not gonna be worth the hassle. I don't think I would be able to get a 4" downpipe through the bay with it in place for starters. I ended up pulling it all off, and went back to the truck manifold on that side. After that I threw the radiator back in to see whats what.
That did not look good.... I grabbed the turbo, and
No dice. That is resting on the water pump and the fan. Just for ****s I tried seeing how it worked on an angle behind the passenger headlight
I could probably make that work but its not my first choice. By this time it was pretty late on Saturday, and I had been up since pretty early, so I called it a night.
Now I am trying to decide how I want to go forward. For starters the front accessory drive I have is utilizing the truck spacing. That moves everything out about 1/2". That is not helping, but I also don't think that moving it back in alone will give me the room I need. Remember this car will be seeing street miles so I need to keep things like the fans cool as well. I can start chopping out the radiator supports which is something I am not against doing at all, but that means a new radiator and fans. Oh well, I will figure something out soon. It would have been nice if it fit like I planned, but that's life.
Sorry for the more wordy post today. Thanks for following along!
Sean
11-27-18 | 08:30 AM
#32
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Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 189
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From: Illinois
Last night I was out in the garage for a bit trying to figure out a game plan for the SC. As you saw in the last post my plans for the turbo placement didn't really work out well. So I spent some time experimenting with different locations and clocking etc. For now I am thinking that this setup should work.
(Bad pic)
I still need to work out a few details before I commit to it. The down pipe will clear between the motor and the shock tower up high, but I don't think its a clear shot down in the back of the motor to get under the car. I need to look at that closer for sure. I also want to put the headlight back in to see what everything looks like with it installed. I am not 100% sold with this position, but it seems like it should work OK. Pretty much anything else would mean moving the radiator and the accessories. I am fine with doing both of those things, but we will see.
Sean
(Bad pic)
I still need to work out a few details before I commit to it. The down pipe will clear between the motor and the shock tower up high, but I don't think its a clear shot down in the back of the motor to get under the car. I need to look at that closer for sure. I also want to put the headlight back in to see what everything looks like with it installed. I am not 100% sold with this position, but it seems like it should work OK. Pretty much anything else would mean moving the radiator and the accessories. I am fine with doing both of those things, but we will see.
Sean
11-28-18 | 08:04 PM
#33
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From: Illinois
So I headed back out to the garage tonight just to check some things. First up, I was messing with the placement AGAIN. I tried moving the radiator forward, moving the water pump back (no spacers), and so on. I could probably make it work with some finagling, but then I checked the down pipe routing...
While (like everything) I could make that work, I didn't like it. Not with the truck manifolds anyway, and if I was changing those I have almost every option open. After that I got back to looking at the down pipe down the back of the motor. I still need to remove the absolutely massive ABS module, but looking good.
That pretty much cements the turbo placement behind the passenger headlight like I had yesterday. Now that I have a target, may as well start fabricating!!! First up, cut down some tubing.
Then it was just a matter of marking it up and giving it a couple good tack welds. Sounds easy, should be easy...was not easy. Part of it is that I have not welded in so long. Part of it was the helmet flashing me constantly. Part of it is probably also the new gas lens, and my inexperience with it. Long story short I was having a hell of time tacking it with the TIG so I got pissed and got out the MIG. Forgot to check that the regulator was actually letting gas out (it wasn't). Then when I got that figured out it ran out of wire. No joke, I did one tack went to the other side and there was nothing. I ended up doing the second tack with the TIG, but still struggled. Nobody cares about any of that, but I needed to vent
Anyway, because of all that BS I only got one tube tacked in.
Not much to look at, but its going toward the turbo
The sway bar is hanging there, so just ignore it. Looks like I need to order some straight tubing so I have less seams. I need to decide how I am going to clock the exhaust housing. That is going to dictate a few things for sure. Maybe I will look at that more later this week or this weekend.
That's all for now, thanks for following along!
Sean
While (like everything) I could make that work, I didn't like it. Not with the truck manifolds anyway, and if I was changing those I have almost every option open. After that I got back to looking at the down pipe down the back of the motor. I still need to remove the absolutely massive ABS module, but looking good.
That pretty much cements the turbo placement behind the passenger headlight like I had yesterday. Now that I have a target, may as well start fabricating!!! First up, cut down some tubing.
Then it was just a matter of marking it up and giving it a couple good tack welds. Sounds easy, should be easy...was not easy. Part of it is that I have not welded in so long. Part of it was the helmet flashing me constantly. Part of it is probably also the new gas lens, and my inexperience with it. Long story short I was having a hell of time tacking it with the TIG so I got pissed and got out the MIG. Forgot to check that the regulator was actually letting gas out (it wasn't). Then when I got that figured out it ran out of wire. No joke, I did one tack went to the other side and there was nothing. I ended up doing the second tack with the TIG, but still struggled. Nobody cares about any of that, but I needed to vent
Anyway, because of all that BS I only got one tube tacked in.
Not much to look at, but its going toward the turbo
The sway bar is hanging there, so just ignore it. Looks like I need to order some straight tubing so I have less seams. I need to decide how I am going to clock the exhaust housing. That is going to dictate a few things for sure. Maybe I will look at that more later this week or this weekend.That's all for now, thanks for following along!
Sean
11-30-18 | 09:16 AM
#34
Driver
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 145
Likes: 5
From: Washington
Heck yeah man it is coming along. Nobody said putting a turbo in an SC was easy.. Let alone doing an engine swap and then a turbo 😂
Going to be sweet though i am following to see how this thing turns out. So does this make it an SC530T?
Going to be sweet though i am following to see how this thing turns out. So does this make it an SC530T?
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drainedsc (06-18-24)
11-30-18 | 10:10 AM
#35
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From: Illinois
I am going to stay away from the naming deal
To some people its not an SC400 any more, to some people its an LSC400, or a SC530T, and so on... I just say its an SC with a turbo LS. Nice and simple.Sean
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drainedsc (06-18-24)
11-30-18 | 11:05 AM
#37
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From: Illinois
That is a great question. Honestly it is all money dependent. I have plenty of time, and pretty much all the material I need for fabrication. The hang up will be the bigger ticket items like the trans, converter, etc. In a perfect world I would have it driving around June so I can get plenty of testing and miles on it before Drag Week. Realistically I foresee finishing it up the night before I leave for Drag Week
Thanks!
Sean
Thanks!
Sean
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drainedsc (06-18-24)
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drainedsc (06-18-24)
12-02-18 | 06:39 PM
#39
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From: Illinois
Time for a Sunday evening update!
We will start back on Friday where I got a little bit done after work. I started by welding the v-bands to the manifolds 100%
This is the passenger manifold, which was a bit rougher than the driver side.
The welding went OK. I started with the GLS lens, and ended up swapping back to the old style nozzle part way though the driver side. I will get back to the lens when I start welding the tubing. Anyway, here is a pic of the passenger side welded up. Not my finest work, but oh well.
Hard to tell, but both are all done in this pic
That was pretty much all I got done Friday night.
Saturday I didn't really get much done. I straightened up the garage a bit, then decided to get the turbo sitting down a bit more. So after running to Home Depot to get right size hole saw, I popped a hole in the car
I think the only other thing I got done was cutting off the sway bar. The bolts on the end links striped out, so out came the angle grinder
Sunday I got back out to the garage for a few hours and had at it. I started by welding a tube to the passenger v-band.
After staring at everything for a while I decided to just dive on in and cut up one of the 90's.
The saw did awesome! I thought of using two 90's so I could keep the tubing lower across the engine bay, but I don't really need that space for anything. Also cutting one 90 meant I still have one left for later if I need it.
After I got it cut, I tacked up one side to the driver tubing, along with a straight section I had cut off something else earlier.
Here is a shot showing the other 45 sitting on top to give you an idea of how it will be routed.
The general idea is that the T4 flange will be adapted to 3" tubing. I am going to do a 45 degree 3" tubing cut down as much as possible and the two sides will merge into that.
Since I don't have the flange yet, and need to order up the 3" tubing as well as some other things, that was about all I could really get done on the crossover. So I decided to start messing with the down pipe. I started by cutting a 4" 90 in half since I needed a 45. Unfortunately the saw couldn't handle doing the 4" the same way I did the 2.5" No big deal, just changed to to vertical and did it by hand. Not as clean that way, but it worked. Then I chopped off the straight section from one of the pieces.
Then I marked and cut that piece down, and then tacked everything together.
That's all for this week. I need to pull out that monstrous ABS deal. I also need to get more material on its way so I can have everything for next weekend. Its been kind of slow going, but at least progress is being made.
That's all I got for this week, thanks as always for following along!
Sean
We will start back on Friday where I got a little bit done after work. I started by welding the v-bands to the manifolds 100%
This is the passenger manifold, which was a bit rougher than the driver side.
The welding went OK. I started with the GLS lens, and ended up swapping back to the old style nozzle part way though the driver side. I will get back to the lens when I start welding the tubing. Anyway, here is a pic of the passenger side welded up. Not my finest work, but oh well.
Hard to tell, but both are all done in this pic
That was pretty much all I got done Friday night.
Saturday I didn't really get much done. I straightened up the garage a bit, then decided to get the turbo sitting down a bit more. So after running to Home Depot to get right size hole saw, I popped a hole in the car
I think the only other thing I got done was cutting off the sway bar. The bolts on the end links striped out, so out came the angle grinder
Sunday I got back out to the garage for a few hours and had at it. I started by welding a tube to the passenger v-band.
After staring at everything for a while I decided to just dive on in and cut up one of the 90's.
The saw did awesome! I thought of using two 90's so I could keep the tubing lower across the engine bay, but I don't really need that space for anything. Also cutting one 90 meant I still have one left for later if I need it.
After I got it cut, I tacked up one side to the driver tubing, along with a straight section I had cut off something else earlier.
Here is a shot showing the other 45 sitting on top to give you an idea of how it will be routed.
The general idea is that the T4 flange will be adapted to 3" tubing. I am going to do a 45 degree 3" tubing cut down as much as possible and the two sides will merge into that.
Since I don't have the flange yet, and need to order up the 3" tubing as well as some other things, that was about all I could really get done on the crossover. So I decided to start messing with the down pipe. I started by cutting a 4" 90 in half since I needed a 45. Unfortunately the saw couldn't handle doing the 4" the same way I did the 2.5" No big deal, just changed to to vertical and did it by hand. Not as clean that way, but it worked. Then I chopped off the straight section from one of the pieces.
Then I marked and cut that piece down, and then tacked everything together.
That's all for this week. I need to pull out that monstrous ABS deal. I also need to get more material on its way so I can have everything for next weekend. Its been kind of slow going, but at least progress is being made.
That's all I got for this week, thanks as always for following along!
Sean
12-14-18 | 08:18 AM
#41
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From: Illinois
Small update time! Last weekend I was pretty busy, and I was still waiting on parts. I was also hung up on needing to get the turbo mounted before I could really do anything else. I ended up ordering a Maven oil drain mount after talking with them a bit. It is a little expensive, but it is SUPER nice, came packaged very well, and the customer support has been fantastic! Super high quality part for sure, and also probably the best way to support the turbo.
I have some molly tubing coming for that today, and tomorrow morning I am going to grab my buddies bender. Hopefully I can make something work, and look decent with that.
Yesterday I finally got my new 3" to T4 flange! I didn't grab any pics of it before I promptly cut and tacked on the 3" 45 bend.
That's all for now. Not much, but those two pieces were holding me up. I have to get some hardware for both of them so everything can get bolted together. Then I can keep running the tubing up to the turbo. I also ordered up an intercooler, so hopefully that show up soonish and I can start on cold side piping. I am still undecided on doing any kind of flex in the crossover. I probably should but not sure what kind. Anyway, I should have some more done Sunday so stay tuned.
Sean
I have some molly tubing coming for that today, and tomorrow morning I am going to grab my buddies bender. Hopefully I can make something work, and look decent with that.
Yesterday I finally got my new 3" to T4 flange! I didn't grab any pics of it before I promptly cut and tacked on the 3" 45 bend.
That's all for now. Not much, but those two pieces were holding me up. I have to get some hardware for both of them so everything can get bolted together. Then I can keep running the tubing up to the turbo. I also ordered up an intercooler, so hopefully that show up soonish and I can start on cold side piping. I am still undecided on doing any kind of flex in the crossover. I probably should but not sure what kind. Anyway, I should have some more done Sunday so stay tuned.
Sean
12-19-18 | 12:35 PM
#44
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From: Illinois
Thanks! I am not really making the progress I would like to make, but at least I am going the right direction.
At this point, I may leave it solid and see what happens. I know I am not going to have this set up coated, so I wont be upset about having to weld on it if need be. I also am already planning the replacement turbo setup. If I see problems with this deal then I will be sure to spend the money on the good solutions when I build 2.0 but for now I'll risk it. I do have an idea for the turbo mount that may also help in general. I guess we will see how it all ends up
12-19-18 | 12:36 PM
#45
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From: Illinois
Got a small, boring update for you guys. My intercooloer showed up yesterday! I went with a Treadstone 1245 air to air. Nothing too fancy, but should get the job done.
Should end up somewhere in this ballpark
I think I have come up with good solutions to all of the little issues I have been running into lately. Unfortunately with Christmas coming I am super busy, and don't really know when I will be able to get back out to the garage. I may have a little time today after work, so maybe I can get some some tacked up and show some progress.
Anyway, I am happy to have another piece of the puzzle in my hands. I need to brush up on my aluminum welding before I start trying to weld up the clam shell clamps. I always liked welding aluminum, so hopefully it comes back pretty easy. Thats all for now!
Sean
Should end up somewhere in this ballpark
I think I have come up with good solutions to all of the little issues I have been running into lately. Unfortunately with Christmas coming I am super busy, and don't really know when I will be able to get back out to the garage. I may have a little time today after work, so maybe I can get some some tacked up and show some progress.
Anyway, I am happy to have another piece of the puzzle in my hands. I need to brush up on my aluminum welding before I start trying to weld up the clam shell clamps. I always liked welding aluminum, so hopefully it comes back pretty easy. Thats all for now!
Sean