Kracka's GheyrodX - bigger, fatter, gheyer! by Kracka

10 minute(s) of a 130 minute read

Ported IM/TB install tonight and retune tomorrow!

3/19/11:

Insanely impressive for a stock head! Already very smooth and wide open, barely even a need for any porting, if anything I'd say it only "needs" a tiny bit of smoothing/cleanup.

We got the Mil.Spec IM/TB set along with MAP phenolic gasket installed tonight. Took us about 5 hours start to finish which included a pizza/Throwback Dew break and time to R&R the stock undertray. The manifold itself wasn't really a problem nor were the support brackets...it was all the damn wiring harness clips and the TB coolant line clamps which were at a very precarious angle. The coolant lines to the TB could easily be bypassed with a 180* bent hose to loop to/from the thermostat housing. We decided to skip this for now since we didn't have a hose like that, didn't want to kink a factory line, and were excited to just get the car back together! I had no idea just how much material Aby @ Mil.Spec actually removed from the IM runners until I had it side-by-side with the stocker! I reset the ECU and overall the car seems to be idling just fine; a tad high right after startup but the ECU quickly corrects and brings it down (this may just be because I reset the ECU, I'll find out tomorrow once I actually drive it a bit).

My tune is scheduled for noon tomorrow so later on in the afternoon I'll be reporting back with some final numbers

After the car got a chance to learn the new TB it idles just as smooth and perfectly as stock! So far I'm very impressed with these Mil.Spec products.

Sadly though, no results for today  A Mazdaspeed3 came in from Louisianna for a 10am appointment and it was all sorts of booty. As of 3pm they're still working on it and trying to get it to run right. Gatorade bottle caps used to plug stuff, none of the clamps were tightened down, something wrong with the wastegate, etc. Since Andrew and Emily will be here soon I decided to just head home and reschedule for Tuesday afternoon.

3/23/11:

I'm out of fuel pump! This isn't supposed to happen on a pump gas stock turbo X, I must really be flowing some air  My tuner says the car definitely has more in it so once the new pump is installed the tune will be further tweaked.

Prior tune = 342whp/360wtq

Baseline = 345whp/359wtq

+ PPI extreme ported exhaust manifold

+ Mil.Spec ported IM

+ Mil.Spec ported TB

+ MAP phenolic IM gasket

New tune = 360whp/378wtq

That's +18whp/+18wtq from my previous tune plus gains, including quicker spool, throughout the entire powerband! Damn impressive for stock turbo/pump gas on a Mustang Dyno especially considering the car has more in it yet. For comparison sake, my IX (w/cams, etc.) put down 360whp/369wtq on this dyno. 

I am beyond excited to get a new fuel pump in the car and get back for more tuning!

3/24/11:

****ty cell phone pic of my chart, but it will have to do until Cobb gets their online database updated.

full size image here: http://www.dsmstyle.com/photopost/da...tune_chart.JPG

I know it's tough to read, but you can get the general idea of the gains, slightly quicker spool, and relatively close boost curve. The curves will be further smoothed once the new fuel pump is in, but there was no point finalizing the tune last night when it's all just going to need adjusting.

3/31/11:

Fuel pump did the trick! IDC's around 89% with nice steady AFR's

Numbers pretty much remained unchanged with the fuel pump...the setup was pretty maxed at that point I guess! I am fine with the fuel pump being just a little extra safety margin though since it was right on the edge and inconsistent as the fuel temps increased before.

3/18/11:

I'm finally done being lazy so I'll post my dyno results from before and after:

+PPI extreme ported exhaust manifold 

+Mil.Spec ported intake manifold 

+Mil.Spec ported throttle body

Slightly less boost for the "after" too

8/19/11:

New Depo 3" LICP, it should go well with my MAP FMIC w/3" outlet and ported throttle body. Stock fitment and retains two of the three factory mounts.

I originally tried getting a 2.75" LICP from two different shops and that turned into a huge failure, I'm glad another shop was actually able to come through for me.

8/19/11:

New Depo 3" LICP, it should go well with my MAP FMIC w/3" outlet and ported throttle body. Stock fitment and retains two of the three factory mounts.

I originally tried getting a 2.75" LICP from two different shops and that turned into a huge failure, I'm glad another shop was actually able to come through for me.

8/21/11:

-FP HTA Green with ported turbine housing and 19psi WGA

-Cobb turbo inlet hose for 3" anti-surge covers

-Cobb XLE BPV

9/17/11:

Just getting ready for the next round of mods...

A lot of locals have been having spark plug failures with one taking out a piston in the process. It seems like they're all happening in the 30-35k miles window, I just hit 25k miles today so I figure now's a safe time to replace them, especially with the new turbo going on soon. To the non-X guys who notice the price of the plugs, we don't have a whole lot of choices yet (three to be exact). Factory (~$60/set), NGK Laser Iridium (same plugs, different box, a few bucks cheaper), or HKS Racing (~$100/set). 

I also changed my transfer case fluid and rear differential fluids (yes, two separate fluids for the rear differential) again today. The old fluids only had 11k miles on them and were done about 6 months ago, but I figured no harm in frequent changes, especially considering how nasty it looked already

FP should have my Green done in a few days so then I'll be bringing that in for ceramic coating, installing my DW800 injectors, and putting on the 3" Depo LICP.

9/23/11:

Ported goodness:

Now it's off to get coated tomorrow!

10/3/11:

Added ceramic coating to the above ported turbine housing:

Oh yeah, and today I also got that Depo 3" LICP installed. I am actually very impressed with it, perfect fitment even with the stock airbox bracket (my AFE intake heatshield mounts to it)! This is one of only two LICP's with confirmed fitment with the stock airbox bracket in place, and the only one larger than 2.5". PPI's 2.75" may have also fit, but it's not confirmed and they said they've never tested the fitment with anything but their own brand intake.

10/7/11:

Change in plans, the Green has been sold...

10/14/11:

Selling my DW800's and getting ID1000 fuel injectors instead.

What is this that just arrived?!?!

The porting on this thing is awesome, I especially like the compressor outlet.

10/14/11:

Energy polyurethane bushings for my 23mm stock front anti-sway bar.

10/19/11:

I just got back from a late lunch and picking up the car...

Interesting drive indeed! Down low you, besides for the change in noise, you'd swear you're driving a stock turbo car. It is just as responsive and spools almost identically, but once you get on it and it climbs into the upper RPM's it's like, "WHOA! WTF? Why isn't the power falling off?!?!" and it just keeps pulling!

I only have about 10-15 miles on it so far, but initial impression is that this is possibly the ultimate daily-driver street car turbo. Even at highway cruising speed in 5th gear when you lightly roll into the gas the turbo responds and pulls just like the stock turbo for zipping around another car.

11/8/11:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XJEwcgCJHo&hd=1

Hit 30k miles in early January, not bad for only 19 months of ownership