more supercharger talk

[truckinwagen]

the one I got their race(no provision for a cat) downpipe for an 8v mk2 using the stock dual outlet manifold.

stick welding is the simplest of all forms of welding, but it produces a bigger arc that has a tendency to blow through thinner materials if care is not taken.(the fact that I am using an $80 welder with minimal adjustments doesent help too much)

I try to sleeve all of my exhaust parts before welding(rather than butt welding them) to make the combined thickness a little more to prevent blow through.

in the end I am always happy with the way things come out.

[truckinwagen]

well, locally the smallest quantity of stainless welding rod I can get is 8 pounds.
and at $12 a pound, thats a bunch of money when I could probably finish this project with less than a 1/4 pound.

and no one on line who sells one pound packages of SS rod is willing to ship to AK.

it might end up being cheaper to have someone weld it for me after all.

[truckinwagen]

well, a little rummaging turned up some welding rod from NAPA that is supposed to work on cast iron and stainless steel.

it is not the 308 rod I was looking for, but they have a 1LB box for $10

so I am going to pick some up tomorrow and see how well it works on a test piece.

-Owen

[Rabbit on Roids]

That's a ripoff, I went to the local exhaust fabber and bought a 2.25" ID 8" long braided flex coupler for 25 bucks, no shipping and that's usually the killer. Look around and see if a local shop has one .

Here's my piece welded in to the DP,

I'd be mad if I paid to have something welded and it looked like that....

Brendan

My feelings are so hurt (jk). yeah I welded it myself, I'm not an expert but I can make stuff stick together......all the the little welds are 'cause I had to tweek it little by little to make it miss the body. So I'd cut it halfway through and bend the crack shut and weld it ...........it works

PS. That stupid neckdown at the end was to hook it up to the stock exhaust, since then I've necked it up to 2.5

for doing it yourself its not bad at all. i just thought you paid a professional to do it was all. you actually did a fairly nice job... i bet it works great still, even if the welds are not super pretty.

[truckinwagen]

just picked up some 308 stainless welding rod from NAPA
the stuff they said they had over the phone for stainless turned out to be a cutting electrode, but when I went in I found the 308, which is what I wanted in the first place anyway.

it cost me $21 for a pound of 3/32" rod, I am pleased.

we will have to see how well they weld when I locate some stainless tubing.

[macka]

the fun of SS is it is easier to blow through then cold rolled

[gldgti]

just thought i'd put it out therer for people, that there's no problem with welding stainless with mild steel rods, wire etc. no galvanic reaction can occur and it will not corrode more easily than if the whole piece were from mild steel....

having said that, it is generally considered good practice to weld stainless with stainless, etc.

[truckinwagen]

well, I intended to have the bottom end built today, but fate stood in the way again.

I got the crank in, and the girdle figured out(all I need now are the longer bolts and to make the spacers)

but the IM shaft bearings, which I thought were good on first inspection, turned out to be bad.
and the IM shaft refuses to go back in, as if the bearings are too tight(even though the shaft spun freely before, and came out with no troubles)

so I am in the market for new IM shaft bearings, and somehow to get them into the block.
I am reading everywhere that the IM shaft bearings are ream to fit, which means I would need a machine shop to install them, are there any that are not ream to fit that I could install myself?

I also apparently did not clean the ring lands out properly, because the rings wont fit into the piston far enough to install them.
so I get to pull the rings out again and clean the ringlands again! YAY!

the supercharger bracket(from a G60 motor) interferes with the IP in its stock location, so I am going to make a spacer to set it out about 5" from where it bolts to the block(its either this or make a custom mount)
we will see how that works later on.

pics of what I did today to come later when I recharge my cameras battery.

-Owen

[truckinwagen]

here are the pics,
the pistons are in remarkable shape, very little wear to the skirts, slight pitting from bad injectors, and a few light valve marks.




and the girdle ready to be bolted on


I also just bought a set of IM bearings(the non-ream to fit kind) from TT Tuning for $32 shipped, we will see how the installation goes.

-Owen

[rabbitman]

Be careful putting those bearings in, I did it and buggered the first one and had to order a second set.

There's some pretty good writeups on how to change 'em.

[truckinwagen]

yeah, I will be taking my time for sure.

[truckinwagen]

just bought a VR6 alternator that I hope will mount where the AC pump used to be on the supercharger bracket.

I am making the stand to space the charger bracket to clear the IP, and I am hoping that the damn thing will fit in the car and not interfere with the core support with the charger sitting that far out from the block.

I have purchased a radiator from a honda civic EX, which is tall and narrow to put on the drivers side of the engine compartment(t fits nicely between the front motor mount bracket and the frame horn) to help the charger clear everything(and to make room inside the core support for my intercooler)

hopefully there will be pics soon.

-Owen

[tindias]

Any progress?  Interested to see how you solve to pully issues.

[truckinwagen]

not much progress lately, I have had to go out of town the past two weekends for a friends wedding.

I have a set of pulleys from a 1.8T motor and a Passat alternator coming in the mail, and I plan on making up some spacers for them to get the offsets right to line up.

hopefully this weekend I can get the pistons in, and mock up the supercharger bracket to figure out belt routing.

-Owen

[truckinwagen]

made some progress today, I have the bottom end built and the supercharger mocked up with the IP and pulleys.

as you can see the only pulley that does not line up is the water pump, but I am going to find a VR6 one which should work fine.

I am going to weld some 1/8'' plate in to reinforce the spacer for the supercharger bracket.
it is remarkably sturdy now though, I think it will work great.

well here are the pics!