Well I thought I did everything right, but I'm kicking myself in the *** for expecting nuts and studs to hold the turbo on. Right now I'm seriously considering the begi SS manifold with a v-band flange, tial SS housing with v-bands on both sides, TiAL 38mm mini-gate with v-bands, and a new begi ss dp with v-bands...lots of v-bands. Hopefully I will stop overboosting too.

I think this set-up will kill the bolt problems. Right now I'm a little concerned that the 38mm gate could be too small if I currently can make no less than 15psi on wastegate at 5k rpm.

Any other thoughts? I'm still going to try safetywire, but I expect abject failure.

Who wants to buy my current ceramic coated manifold, turbine housing, and ss divorced dp?

 

Man it took you so much time/effort to get the car to where it is. Do you really want take 2 steps back and start fiddling with it again? Just my .02

 

After 3-5 laps I can't make more than 10psi because the seal fails. I built this car to beat *** at the track, in 30-minute sessions. I want to drive this car to the track 5-hours away, put R1R's on, not pull into the pits to work on my car mid session, win my class in TT, make money, get bitches.

This set-up is fine on the street, but not for extreme track abuse. I'm over spending the money, but I'm 95% there.

 

If you have the coin (and I'm curious how much the new setup will cost), drive it like it is and swap over during the one month of winter we have.

You won't loose much in resale value since it's already used. And you won't miss as much track time as you would otherwise.

Also, can't you just swap the turbine housing to one with v-bands via Garret or one of their distributors?

Then you'd only have to sell the manifold and DP (easy enough I would think). Or, can you just weld new flanges on the manifold and DP?

Chris

 

How much coin were you thinking for the current setup?

 

Hustler, expect to drop no less than $3k on new hot parts.

Ask me how I know

 

i don't see how everyone is running standard flange/nuts/bolts and they are ok. including me. i did have 1 bolt that would back out, but that has been good for the last few events now. just seems like a lotta work for a simple problem.
i think my issue was i was overtightening the bolt when hot, then when it cooled down and would contract, it would snap the bolt. i have one of the old skool begi manifolds though. probably from '99-'00. and that bolt was exposed to the heat in the collector. (when the bolt would come out, hot exhaust gas would shoot out!)
gl either way.

 

I'm also thinking my flanges are warped...I don't know if its an illusion with the human eye, but it looks like they aren't flat when bolted together anymore.

Its a simple problem that no one can solve.


edit: flange is warped and studs are broken. I'm over this ****. I'm calling boost logic on monday and BEGi, whoever can do it in the most reasonable amount of time gets my money. I'm calling AMS to get their opinion on V-bands.

Matt's car has the Boost Logic manifold and DP and I never had to jack with nuts and studs all weekend, but I'm really leaning toward the absolute solution of v-bands. I don't want to spend anymore money.

Whoever wants my DP and ceramic coated manifold can buy it...it will be fine on a street car where I never had any issues.

 

Check them with a precision flat-edge and a feeler gauge.

 

Weld the turbo to the manifold? Who cares about downpipe leaks, at least on the track.

 

I have 20 + plus sessions with my S4 and I have only had to tighten the single bolt that holds the 2 halves of the down pipe together. My only issue is I have installed a 3 inch exhaust and now have no way to control my boost. If an external waste gate is the answer for that then problem then I guess I need to look that way also.

Good luck with the v-band stuff and keep us in the loop as to what works and who wants to help.

 

what about the dowpipe side? I still have the overboost issue.

 

Contact TurboTim also... he can probably offer options.

 

feels good man:

 

Vband is ftw, but pricey.

How much overboost are we talking here? A psi or two shouldn't hurt anything.

 

yeah, its going to be pricy, but I'll never have to work on it again. My motor can probably take 25psi from my turbo, but I'd like to be able to make less than 15psi. At 15psi on the track its scary. Its probably at 300whp now, and that's too much for the track.

 

absurd flow >begi s4 mani IMO

Whenever i get enough money ill be doing the switch.

 

but it mounts horizontally, not vertically like all the real racecars. This is a problem for me.