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Beautiful build, my first frame took me 120 hours to build, so the fact you had it tacked in 13 hours is just simple awesome! So glad you had the manifold TIG welded. I would hate for all that hard work to be covered by MIG welds. Intercooler looks great and great way to keep charge pipe length down by placing it in front of the engine.

Very nice build

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Moti

My R1 powered Locost build log

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Thank you guy's

Finished mounts & ports on the intercooler (recirc valve, idle bypass, inlet & outlet temp sensors, duct mounts) and wrapped up hot side/cold side plumbing. Was able to keep it all pretty short and low-ish volume. Compressor discharge is stainless to provide some heat rejection being close to the exhaust.

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Peace, Ron

Really cool, Ron. Do you have any expectation about how much horsepower it will add?

Cheers,

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Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

Thanks Lonnie, lots of factors to consider but shooting from the hip I'd say 40hp give or take.

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Peace, Ron

Was there any reason not to angle the pipe and hose at the IC inlet straight down to the compressor outlet?
It seems like it would have achieved a number of things, such as reducing piping length, eliminating one unnecessary bend, moving the piping away from the exh manifold and lower weight.

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Moti

My R1 powered Locost build log

Visit the Blackbird Fabworx Facebook Page!

Yep, the forward bolt on the compressor flange would be blocked by the throat of the elbow and there isn't room for a stud/nut arrangement. It's a tighter fit than it looks.

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Peace, Ron

Roger that!

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Moti

My R1 powered Locost build log

Visit the Blackbird Fabworx Facebook Page!

Your intercooler and exhaust header have me lusting after some TIG skills. I was wondering, how long does it take to pull the scuttle if you want behind the dash?

The scuttle is secured by four 1/4" bolts, two on each side (see pic below). I can have those out, scuttle off, and half a beer down the hatch in about 5 minutes But seriously, it's quick and easy. Accessibility was the motivation of why I chose to build the scuttle this way.

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Peace, Ron

I noticed your shifter is very forward. I am struggling with the decision of placement right now and Don't think I could reach a shifter that far forward while in a harness. I am only 5'7"

Mine is forward because of my long legs/big feet. It's a slight reach but not at all unreasonable for my height. I'm puzzled that you're not able to get it back to a comfortable location for your size. Measurements below for reference. Center of steering wheel back to seat cushion is about 28 1/2" and the shifter is about 3 1/2" farther forward. Back on page 6 MiataV8 drew up a sketch for remote linkage. Have a look and see if it's something that suits you.

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Peace, Ron

I realized yesterday that I can just push the diagonal portion of the trans tunnel back 3-4" which will make the space I need to slide the trans back to a good point. That just leaves the clutch slave clearance which engine tilt, or offset might sort, or a mild relief cut.

will take a look at the shift linkage, but hoping that i can get my desired positioning with just angled shifter

Moved the thermostat to the rear of head for more even cooling across the head and re-routed the coolant return back to the front. For the moment there are 3D printed jigs supporting the return pipe, still need to fab proper br@ckets.

Moved the turbo water return to the radiator inlet instead of the commonly used water pump inlet. Not dumping hot water back into the block is probably a subtlety in the grand scheme, but little things stack up. Still able retain an uphill flow of water when the engine is off.

Recirculation valve mock up started - will plumb down into the compressor inlet.

Relocated the twin port wastegate actuator to fit the new turbo orientation.

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Peace, Ron

Finished the br@ckets for the coolant re-route.

Cut reliefs into the header flange per MV8's suggestion. I put this off for as long as I could. I was very concerned it would spring out of shape, but in the end, each relief only shrunk about .005" and remained virtually flat. A light kiss on the surfacer and it was good as new.

Ported the wastegate to bring the boost creep under control. Hard to tell from the picture but I carved a trough roughly 3/16" deep leading into the port as well as opened up the bottom half of the port about 10%. Dropping off the header and turbine housing for ceramic coating later this week.

Also took the opportunity to do a weight comparison. As pictured, the stock header weighs 9.6lbs and the new header with turbo, etc weighs 23.4lbs. For a total difference of 13.8lbs. I feel confident in saying the entire conversion didn't add more than 30lbs total to the car. Fair trade for an additional 100 HP

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Peace, Ron