Day 18
A whole lotta test fitting – with a hammer
I remembered that there were fitment issues with the twin turbo oil and water pipes. I vaguely remember someone saying that one of the turbo compressor housing was also rubbing but I cant remember if it was the stock ones or the BNR’s or with the 99 spec so I decided to test fit the turbos prior to painting anything else – so glad I did.
While I was putting together the turbo assembly I noticed the play between the front and rear turbo exhaust sides. To prevent misalignment I lightly snugged the two turbo sides together and then bolted it to the main manifold to engine piece. Once everything looked good I did a final torque on the two turbo exhaust sides.
I was also missing the bolts to fit the Xcessive LIM so I had some bolts on hand and threaded them in. Not all 4 bottom row bolts were tapped the same depth so I measured the most shallow hole and fit bolts to that and I made sure the space in between the flange head and engine would still bite the LIM. I was also missing the top 3 bolts and measured each hole to get the right length. I also put the front assembly on that holds the water pump. The last thing was to put on the turbo manifold and to do so I had to take the main manifold off and yes of course – the 8mm bolt was jammed and I had to break it off. Another bolt to drill out and tap. I will replace that with a 12.9 strength socket head cap screw.
Now with all the major players in place, (LIM, front water pump assembly and the lower turbo to engine manifold) I was able to test fit the upper turbo exhaust section with the shield and yes – it hit. I used a ball pen hammer and bent in the shield where it hit the runners on the LIM. Once that was good I bolted the upper turbo exhausts in place and installed the CHRA’s.
After putting in the CHRA’s I added the lower oil drain pipes. I let the CHRA’s self adjust as I was tightening down the oil drain pipes. (self adjust I mean I left the nuts and backing plates just loose enough to let the CHRA rotate).
Next was the water line. It was hitting the xcessive LIM so I stuck a philip screwdriver inside the tube and pulled it out until it cleared. Next was the oil feed pipe. The oil feed was pointing straight at the outside bolt on the LIM. I took the oil feed line off and grabbed a 17mm socket with an extension and placed it over the male side and pulled it towards the pri turbo side. I placed the oil feed back onto the turbos and pulled the remainder until I had a straight shot past the LIM.
The last adjustment was the oil feed line that runs across the top of the engine that is welded to another line. It look like it was tweaked before because there were already some bends, dents and plier marks on it. I managed to bend it so it fits more correctly with more space. The line has basically two 90 degree bends in it where it snakes past the engine front iron and front of the LIM. To get the length and clearance I needed I stretched it making it more of a two 75 degree bends. Then I used a philips screw driver in the tube of the male side and bent it towards the oil drain pipe on the turbos.
I also found a section I needed to paint orange when I removed the tape for the fron water pup assembly, That has been fixed too.
