I Can Genpu, You Can Too!

[Solarsurge]

OOPS! This was supposed to be uploaded. Just a picture showing where the intake bend is clearly overlapping where the ECU lives.

[anavrinIV]

jesus.

Big intakes like to get touchy with all the other parts. It's their way of life.

Lots of people break the solenoid nipple. I'm not one of them, it's easy to remove without snapping things. Should have twisted it to break it free then it comes right off.

Stanley and Husky are shit tools. Craftsman can be good but also make some crap. Personally I own a lot of Kobalt but a deep impact 6 point is where it's at to remove that retainer. Plus an impact gun.

Glad things got done. Hope you have a calibrated tune ready to go for the big intake

[Solarsurge]

Originally Posted by anavrinIV jesus. Big intakes like to get touchy with all the other parts. It's their way of life. Lots of people break the solenoid nipple. I'm not one of them, it's easy to remove without snapping things. Should have twisted it to break it free then it comes right off. Stanley and Husky are shit tools. Craftsman can be good but also make some crap. Personally I own a lot of Kobalt but a deep impact 6 point is where it's at to remove that retainer. Plus an impact gun. Glad things got done. Hope you have a calibrated tune ready to go for the big intake

The hose looked like it had been heat shrunk onto the nipple it was on so tight. I do have a calibrated tune ready for the new intake.

[anavrinIV]

Originally Posted by Solarsurge The hose looked like it had been heat shrunk onto the nipple it was on so tight. I do have a calibrated tune ready for the new intake.

The type of rubber they use will seal itself with heat cycling. It helps prevent failure by disconnecting. I know they're tight but (for future reference and anyone reading this) the best method is to twist the hose until it pops free of the nipple then pull it straight off. never pull side to side on a plastic piece that small.

Good for having the tune, that would have been a mess.

[aackthpt]

I did a combination of twisting the hose from the nipple, and sliding a tiny screwdriver under the end of the hose at the bottom of the nipple so I could gently pry it up. Luckily after I'd figured it all out the first time, it's easy now.

For HPFP my deep well impacts worked fine. I think they're Husky. No impact needed, just a breaker and then of course the torque wrench. I'm surprised you had that much trouble.

To make my 3.5" intake fit I have to have the ECU relocated of course, also had to lengthen the coolant line (duplicated teh HTP kit using parts from Murray's) and for a silicone one I also have to put the one wire harness in front of the intake rather than in the back. Also JBR's mounting clamp was scratching the shit out of my battery box per protocol so rather than that shit the intake just hangs from a couple zip ties through the hole directly above the intake hanger stud. Git 'er dun.

[Solarsurge]

Busy day today! Successfully installed Corksport Power Series 3" Intake & Grimmspeed 3-Port EBCS, tuned up to OTS Stage 1+ Intake MAF Calibration. Finally got boost back! Power is noticeably wider-band and this intake sounds like a freakin' tornado. I love it.

Note-worthy Stuff...

Modified Stock Battery Box:
Removed ECU covers and mounting bracket. Drilled holes directly into the side of the battery box to mount ECU directly. Used OEM locking nuts from the mounting posts with M6 25mm bolts. 20mm would have worked better, but they're in now, so they're staying in. This modification gave SO MUCH clearance for the intake that it's entirely possible a 3.5" intake would fit with no problems.

Corksport MAF Issue:
So, I am going to give Corksport the benefit of doubt on this one. The MAF housing was not machined properly and the MAF sensor holes did not line up properly. I addressed the issue with Corksport and Vincent handled the issue like a pro and offered to replace it with one that he personally tested for fitment.

All-in-all, a much more successful day than the last one. Next up, exhaust install!

[sharksinspace]

@CorkSport Vincent; is, indeed, the man: You make a convincing argument...

[mize13]

#pushtheplatform

[Solarsurge]

Smooth, problem-free Cobb 3" SS Turbo Back exhaust install today with the help of some NC MsF friends. Nothing especially note-worthy today, although we did figure out that the extra hanger with the cat back is great for getting rid of the crappy stock orange rubber one near the first resonator. It completely eliminated any contact with the mid-chassis brace. Excellent fitment, and a gorgeous product!

[anavrinIV]

Hey, I know those guys

[Little__Ducky]

I, for one, am interested in how your build goes! I have a '13 as well and am at 55K miles so I'm getting the itch to start modding. Best of luck!

[Solarsurge]

Not as eventful as previous days, but I made some more progress yesterday. Took apart my front bumper and had some Plasti-dip fun. Got my lip mounted, too. Still need to do the side skirts and rear.

[Solarsurge]

Saturday was supposed to be a easy day. Not so much...

Was a gorgeous day earlier, so I set out to make a little more progress on my body mods. Plus, I got my Garage Vary front mouth grill from Japan! Disassembled my bumper again and that's where the fun begins...

The Garage Vary mouth is a pain in the ass to install. No joke. It has no frame, no pre drilled holes aside from the tow hook cover and two random holes at the top that don't line up with anything, it comes with a little baggie of random hardware that seems to be useless for this application with odd numbers of bolts/washers/nuts, and the instructions are in Japanese. But, it's gorgeous and it came with a Vary Valiant decal...

Let the games begin...

Battle 1: Who Needs Instructions???
First, the frame of the OEM front bumper grill supports the top part of the inner bumper and locks the bottom lip in place, so I couldn't just do without it. I busted out the Dremel and tried to preserve as much of the frame as possible. I cut out the old grill, turned the single piece frame into two pieces, and prepared the opening for the Vary grill. Broke my Dremel cutting wheel literally on the first cut, so I had to improvise for the rest. It was not fun.

Battle 2: F*** YOU, WEATHER!!
So, as I was painting the grill, the weather turned to crap in all of 10 minutes and it started to rain. I had to pick up everything and move to the causeway of my apartment. I'm sure my neighbors were thrilled.

Battle 3: Feats of Strength
It was literally exercise trying to get the frickin Vary grill to play nice with the OEM bumper. I wrestled with it for hours and it kept popping in and out all over. Finally, I resorted to JB welding it in place, point by point, just to get it to stay where I wanted it. This was a good idea and made the whole job much faster.

Battle 4: Damn You, Garage Vary!!
The crash bar sticks out too far for the grill, and mounting the bumper made the left side pop back out again. While it's not going to be a problem for long, as I am getting a new crash bar with my new FMIC, it is clearly a design flaw. For anyone else that is keeping the stock crash bar, DO NOT get this front grill.

Sunshine after the rain...

My new MAF came from Corksport and the sensor fits perfectly. No more zip ties! Also, I got my rear splitter installed. Painless and problem free. It's 5AM, though. And I still have not slept yet. So, pictures will come when I feel like it. Not now. zzzZZZ

[anavrinIV]

I believe we were promised pictures.

[MS3Shadow]

Yeah, where are the pictures?

sent from my Nexus 6P

[Solarsurge]

It's still a work in progress, but here are initial pics. Grill is in for now, but I still need to tidy it up and paint it properly. I just plasti-dipped the grill black real quickly so I wasn't rolling around with a white grill. If the weather is a little more cooperative this week I'll finish up the body work.

[MS3Shadow]

Looks weird with the stock crash bar.

sent from my Nexus 6P

[Solarsurge]

Originally Posted by MS3Shadow Looks weird with the stock crash bar. sent from my Nexus 6P

Yeah, the crash bar is getting pulled out as soon as I get my FMIC from Corksport. I'm waiting on them to get the black silicone couplers back in stock.

[anavrinIV]

That rear lip....

[Solarsurge]

Originally Posted by anavrinIV That rear lip....

Better photos. The original one made the lip look huge.

[Solarsurge]

Productive week this week! Got the front bumper fixed, sealed, and re-dipped, installed suspension, end links, camber arms, and rear sway bar. Didn't get around to the front sway bar because I was lacking a 21mm socket. I'll do that next week.

This week's notes...

Suspension:
Old knuckles were damn near rusted shut. I tried the quarter method AND a different coin made of a harder metal. Punched straight through both of them. Eventually, I just found a flat steel sheet (the ECU mounting plate I removed earlier) and that did the trick along with a scissor jack. It took 4 hours to get the knuckle open first damn strut out. The second one went much quicker. As for the rear shocks, the top hats had to be drilled to accommodate the KW v3 having a thicker piston than OEM. Other than that, easy peasy. Still need to adjust ride height, but the ride is SOOOOO much better now. I can't even express the joy in words.

Rear Sway Bar & End Links:
Self explanatory. Take out, put in. Well, not really. The rear end links are a bitch. There is barely enough of a slot to put in a wrench to stabilize the end link so you can tighten up the nuts. As for the rear sway bar, the instructions call for a 3/16th inch allen key to tighten the nuts on the locating collars. I'll be damned if I didn't go through every one of my allen wrenches and couldn't find one that fit properly, both metric and sae. Whatevs. Got it taken care of, anyway.

Camber Arms:
Damn you, passengers side heat shield! Enough said. I wiggled, jiggled, bent, pryed, and finally got lucky and the bolt just popped out. Getting it back in was easier.

Until next time...

[Solarsurge]

OK, so a few people questioned why I was doing the JBR front sway bar, saying it was unnecessary. I couldn't really explain it other than the front end just felt loose and there was a "wiggle" at times. They beat the dead horse so much I even started to question it myself, thinking they could be right. I almost didn't install it.

Since I am still waiting on other parts and had nothing to do today, I just said "f*** it" and installed it. Boy am I glad I did. This thing is awesome. The front end got so much tighter, the wiggle I had completely disappeared, there is like no roll at all around turns anymore. HUGE thumbs up to JBR for this one. I love it!

Install Notes:
Very time consuming install. The factory bar is a bitch to get out. The subframe didn't want to drop enough to relinquish its grasp on the sway bar and the tie rods just kept getting in the way of rotation. Finally, once I got it out, putting in the new bar was a million times easier. Also, lining up all the holes to bolt the subframe back in place was a chore. I panicked for a minute because I thought I cross-threaded a upper subframe bolt on the way back in, but it was just super tight. I found it FAR easier to line up the rear subframe bolts and loosely tighten them first, then raise the front by the jack point to get the upper bolts in. All-in-all, the effort was worth it.

Now, time for an alignment!

[Solarsurge]

Rough week on the build front. I don't want to rant twice, so I'll just be brief and say that I had to switch FMIC options due to a vendor issue. Edge Autosport stepped in and picked up the ball. Those guys over there are truly awesome and a CP-E kit is on the way. I did get my brakes installed/bedded and calipers painted this week, though, and TravisMS3 worked his grinder magic and helped prepare my ported IM for powder.

Brake Install Notes:
Both 10mm front flange nuts were seized. Almost couldn't get the damn things off, but I got 'er done. Getting the frickin' Stoptech pads into the calipers required the strength of Zeus. Also, bleeding the brakes solo with a vacuum pump was not fun, but we gotta do what we gotta do to get the job done, right? Flushed the system and put in Motul RBF 600 fluid. Bedding in the brakes was the only fun part, but I suspect a few folks might have thought I was crazy lol. Everything is good now. Nice, firm pedal. Good bite.

Paint Notes:
The calipers were sooooo gross. 65,000 miles of brake dust and grime took hours and hours to clean. Two different wire brushes, 4 cans of Brakleen, sandpaper in 2 different grits, and I still finally just said "that's good enough." G2 paint took forever to dry. It was still soft after 12 hours. Decals courtesy of eBay, rice division.

[alden]

What front lip do you have? Love your build so far! Keep up the updates!

[sheston]

Looks like you are trying to make it not a Genpu as quickly as you can :-)

[Solarsurge]

Originally Posted by alden What front lip do you have? Love your build so far! Keep up the updates!

Thanks, man! It's the BaysonR eBay front & rear lip.

[Solarsurge]

More progress this week. Got my CP-E FMIC in, and man this thing is great. Also, took the opportunity to install my Oil Catch Can and BPV while I was in there. I got caught in a freak thunderstorm, so I had to rush to put the bumper back on and didn't have time to take pics while the bumper was off.

This week's notes...

CP-E DeltaCore FMIC:
Crash bar tow hook stuck out too far to put under the Garage Vary grill. I had to chop it off with an angle grinder and repaint the crash bar. Fitment otherwise was perfect. As you can see from the photo, the 3.25" clearance is EXACTLY enough to fit this FMIC. Any thicker core and it wouldn't have fit. I'm glad I went with this unit. The silicone couplers that come with the piping kit are frustrating, to say the least. The 2.0" coupler for the 2.25" Turbo Outlet...and the 2.25" coupler for the 2.5" FMIC inlet were so tight I was dripping sweat just from trying to get them suckers on. ALL of the hose clamps were unneccessarily large, with the exception of the turbo outlet clamp.

Corksport MZR Bypass Valve:
Excellent product. Ridiculously fast response, doesn't release too much pressure from the FMIC. Sound is nice and fairly discreet. Exactly as advertised. Super happy with it.

Corksport Oil Catch Can:
Corksport's revised routing for the OCC now has PCV & Crankcase Breather going into a T and the Intake vacuum port blocked off. Routing the hoses was easy enough. Getting to the PCV with my fat hands, not so much. This routing does cause strange behavior at idle due to crank case pressure while not under boost, as mentioned in the Damond Motorsports OCC routing guides. My idle bounces between 500-750 RPM. It's nothing serious, just a bit strange compared to normal.

[mxlplx71]

looks really good

[Solarsurge]

More progress today with the help of Travisms3, the man. Travis helped me blast my valves clean and get my shiny new ported intake manifold installed. Long day, and I'm a few knuckles short of where I was this morning. I bled, I sweated, and accidentally shot a geyser of brake cleaner all over Travis and myself while trying to "gently" shoot air from the compressor into the valves. I don't know gentle, obviously. But we got the job done.

Notes...

Valve Cleaning:
The valves were absolutely gummed up and disgusting at 67,000 miles. It is strongly advised to have a nozzle long enough to get all the way down into the valve. We didn't, and we had to resort to brake cleaner and "picking" at it. Aside from the brake cleaner geyser mess, valves are pretty darn clean now. I owe Travis big time for this one!

Intake Manifold:
IM expertly ported by mize13, swapped for my stock manifold by CockWarner, grinded by Travisms3, sanded by me, powder coated by Triangle Coatings (they do excellent work). This one is special.

TIGs:
Self-explanatory. Bolts go in the holes, gasket goes between the two thingies.

JBR Meth Spacer:
Allen thumb screws are the devil. Especially ones that go in ridiculously tight spaces.

CP-E Blockd EGR Delete:
I have no idea what the f*** I kept hitting, but I sliced two fingers and shaved off a knuckle trying to unbolt the old EGR valve. Also, coolant kind of went everywhere. I was not expecting that much coolant to come out. I fail at line clamping, too, I guess.

Tune:
FINALLY proud to be FreekTuned! Tuning in progress...

[MS3Shadow]

Any reason why the yellow color for your intake manifold and also why did you go with CPE rather expensive EGR Delete?

sent from my Nexus 6P

[Solarsurge]

Originally Posted by MS3Shadow Any reason why the yellow color for your intake manifold and also why did you go with CPE rather expensive EGR Delete? sent from my Nexus 6P

Calipers are yellow, too. Kind of sticking to a black and yellow. I plan to get my valve cover coated also. Purely cosmetic. As for the EGR, most of the other kits are $55-70 for full delete. I spent the extra $20-30 for the thicker aluminum, plus it just looks better imo.

[sharksinspace]

JBR is $45 shipped for the full block off/delete kit, if I'm not mistaken; just to throw that out there.

[MS3Shadow]

Originally Posted by sharksinspace JBR is $45 shipped for the full block off/delete kit, if I'm not mistaken; just to throw that out there.

I think he knows that, he just paid more for the CPE exclusivity and appearance.

sent from my Nexus 6P

[Solarsurge]

Originally Posted by MS3Shadow I think he knows that, he just paid more for the CPE exclusivity and appearance. sent from my Nexus 6P

I dunno how exclusive it is, but it does look good and it does the job. 😀

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

[Solarsurge]

Just an update this week...

After I put in the last round of parts I developed a whistle that I was trying to diagnose. After attempting a boost leak test, it was discovered that there was a crack in the weld where the recirc tube joins the turbo inlet. So, I've taped it for now and am awaiting a replacement before any further testing/tuning is done.

[Zozr]

Cool car man, nice work

[Solarsurge]

Been on hiatus for a bit as I got my kids for the summer, but I figured I'd check in. I got my replacement TIP in last week. On revision 2 tune, it hit 295 whp 320 wtq. Still got a tiny boost leak to fix and a few minor adjustments on the suspension, but I am very happy with everything so far. Can't wait!

[Solarsurge]

I’m baaaaack!

So, after more than a year of fun with my baby, my stock K04 finally blew at 90k miles on New Years Eve weekend in the frozen ass tundra of Philadelphia. I decided it was time to upgrade to a BNR S4 v2. This also will lead me to resume work on the old girl.

Turbo swap was fairly straight forward. No real issues to report other than stock hoses not working with the new turbo:
1. BPV recirc hose is now a tad too short, which is OK because it’s getting to the point it needs to be replaced anyway. JBR.
2. Coolant feed hose from EGR delete plate too short. Advance auto parts hose ftw.
3. New turbo needs 6mm vacuum hose, had to replace nipples on Grimmspeed EBCS for 6mm hose. Found both at local performance shop.
4. Had to buy 3.5” to 3” silicone coupler for inlet on Amazon. Apparently these things are damn near impossible to find locally.
5. Bottom turbo mounting bracket bolt was seized and bracket had to be maneuvered out with the stock turbo and bolt removed after with special socket and breaker bar. Got ‘er done.

*Special Note*
Original blown turbo caused coolant to mix with oil. Water in the coolant then vaporized and collected rapidly in my catch can. Since it was like 10 degrees outside, the catch can totally froze, along with the feed lines. After swapping the turbo, it was smoking like hell and just guzzling oil at a rate of about a quart a day. 3 different mechanics thought I either blew a head gasket, ringlands, or had a lemon for a new turbo. Turns out the block of ice in the catch can and hoses was blocking airflow, causing the crank case to pressurize up the oil return line from the new turbo, preventing it from draining, and all the oil was just getting blown out the exhaust. So, be warned. Check your catch can after a turbo blows and make sure it’s thawed if you’re working in the winter lol

Pictures to come soon...

[Solarsurge]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kTaLgsTo]

Did you do this work outside?
I remember doing a Cam swap outside in winter once, glad that shit is behind me...