PICS of my VE Turbo kit
01-12-2005, 11:30 AM
#1
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 36
PICS of my VE Turbo kit
I posted a while ago with the kit in the car, but some people had said that it was hard to see and visualize, so I decided to put it together off the car for a better look (dont have the car anymore).
Pics can be seen here: http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/633982/2
The exhaust manifolds are modified stocks ones. All the bends are very close to being kink free, with the exception of the last runners in the manifolds, they are a little rough. The big bends however are very good, especially where the 2 manifolds join, that is a mandrel bend. All the welds are quite good (although ugly, lol), I tested them for leaks and then heat wrapped them (didnt heat wrap the rear manifold because it was a pain installing/takinging it off for the fabricating of the front manifold). I tried keeping the intercooler plumbing as short as possible, to keep the throttle/turbo response at a maximum. They are all 2.5" mandrel bent mild steel. I beaded the ends of the pipes so that the connectors wouldn't come off during boost. I had problems with this at first. There is a heat shield on one of the connectors, because it is very near the manifold. Although the pipe is near the manifold, the pipe doesn't get that hot, but the connector touches it once in a while under boost (these connectors are very easily melted). I would have used silicon, and not had this issue, but at the time of fabrication, I could not find any at a reasonable cost. I never had an issue after the heat shield. With the heat wrap even, the manifolds dont get that hot at all. After a run, you can put your hand right on the exhaust manifolds for a considerable amount of time. The downpipe is a somewhat tight fit, but does not touch anything. What else would you expect from a 3" pipe in the front of the engine bay? I had a full 3" exhaust from the downpipe back, with just a 3" muffler (not a straight through). It wasn't very loud at all, but had a very nice low tone.
It is also for sale if anyone cares @ http://www.forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=369854
Questions and comments welcome. Just wanted to share cause the previous pics weren't the best.
Pics can be seen here: http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/633982/2
The exhaust manifolds are modified stocks ones. All the bends are very close to being kink free, with the exception of the last runners in the manifolds, they are a little rough. The big bends however are very good, especially where the 2 manifolds join, that is a mandrel bend. All the welds are quite good (although ugly, lol), I tested them for leaks and then heat wrapped them (didnt heat wrap the rear manifold because it was a pain installing/takinging it off for the fabricating of the front manifold). I tried keeping the intercooler plumbing as short as possible, to keep the throttle/turbo response at a maximum. They are all 2.5" mandrel bent mild steel. I beaded the ends of the pipes so that the connectors wouldn't come off during boost. I had problems with this at first. There is a heat shield on one of the connectors, because it is very near the manifold. Although the pipe is near the manifold, the pipe doesn't get that hot, but the connector touches it once in a while under boost (these connectors are very easily melted). I would have used silicon, and not had this issue, but at the time of fabrication, I could not find any at a reasonable cost. I never had an issue after the heat shield. With the heat wrap even, the manifolds dont get that hot at all. After a run, you can put your hand right on the exhaust manifolds for a considerable amount of time. The downpipe is a somewhat tight fit, but does not touch anything. What else would you expect from a 3" pipe in the front of the engine bay? I had a full 3" exhaust from the downpipe back, with just a 3" muffler (not a straight through). It wasn't very loud at all, but had a very nice low tone.
It is also for sale if anyone cares @ http://www.forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=369854
Questions and comments welcome. Just wanted to share cause the previous pics weren't the best.
01-12-2005, 08:26 PM
#10
I must agree with everyone else, that intercooler is an eye sore. Also, the piping is very scary, you would have to be VERY careful going in and out of driveways or over speedbumps, that will scrape easy! I have a feeling the bumper support is there, that is why it sticks out. Cutting away some of the support and mountging the IC a little further back, add a front lip and fix the piping and the kit would be dope as hell. Much props on making the kit though, looks very nice and a great price for all that is included.
01-13-2005, 08:21 AM
#13
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The intercooler was very low, but I only had trouble when I wasn't paying attention to the road. Anybody with half a brain could drive the car with no problem, I did, lol. I was not going to cut away at the bumper support and risk a safety issue. My life is worth more than my intercooler.
An eye sore? LOL, I loved every minute of it. Everyone was checking out my car, and were shocked that I had an old turbo maxima. It was nice getting lots of looks and respect from everybody. Besides, if you look at 4signs, or the MaxTuned, they have theirs in the same place. If there was another place to put the intercooler, I would have. A smaller intercooler is out of the question. The one in the kit is almost a perfect size (around 400whp).
As for wrapping the rear header, perhaps you didn't see at the bottom of my post why I didn't, not to mention that the rear manifold has very little surface area to lose heat, especially compared to the front one. There is nothing back there that was going to be affected by excess heat anyway.
An eye sore? LOL, I loved every minute of it. Everyone was checking out my car, and were shocked that I had an old turbo maxima. It was nice getting lots of looks and respect from everybody. Besides, if you look at 4signs, or the MaxTuned, they have theirs in the same place. If there was another place to put the intercooler, I would have. A smaller intercooler is out of the question. The one in the kit is almost a perfect size (around 400whp).
As for wrapping the rear header, perhaps you didn't see at the bottom of my post why I didn't, not to mention that the rear manifold has very little surface area to lose heat, especially compared to the front one. There is nothing back there that was going to be affected by excess heat anyway.
01-13-2005, 08:35 AM
#15
Originally Posted by VE30DE-To4e
The intercooler was very low, but I only had trouble when I wasn't paying attention to the road. Anybody with half a brain could drive the car with no problem, I did, lol. I was not going to cut away at the bumper support and risk a safety issue. My life is worth more than my intercooler.
An eye sore? LOL, I loved every minute of it. Everyone was checking out my car, and were shocked that I had an old turbo maxima. It was nice getting lots of looks and respect from everybody. Besides, if you look at 4signs, or the MaxTuned, they have theirs in the same place. If there was another place to put the intercooler, I would have. A smaller intercooler is out of the question. The one in the kit is almost a perfect size (around 400whp).
As for wrapping the rear header, perhaps you didn't see at the bottom of my post why I didn't, not to mention that the rear manifold has very little surface area to lose heat, especially compared to the front one. There is nothing back there that was going to be affected by excess heat anyway.
An eye sore? LOL, I loved every minute of it. Everyone was checking out my car, and were shocked that I had an old turbo maxima. It was nice getting lots of looks and respect from everybody. Besides, if you look at 4signs, or the MaxTuned, they have theirs in the same place. If there was another place to put the intercooler, I would have. A smaller intercooler is out of the question. The one in the kit is almost a perfect size (around 400whp).
As for wrapping the rear header, perhaps you didn't see at the bottom of my post why I didn't, not to mention that the rear manifold has very little surface area to lose heat, especially compared to the front one. There is nothing back there that was going to be affected by excess heat anyway.
what's the actual size of that IC? endtank to endtank?
01-13-2005, 02:12 PM
#16
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Originally Posted by DanNY
are you sure they weren't shocked on the way the IC was mounted?
what's the actual size of that IC? endtank to endtank?
what's the actual size of that IC? endtank to endtank?
Shocked the way the intercooler was mounted? Well, they were far to shocked to see a Maxima that was turbo-charged, or in case of a few cars (cobra-nonsupercharged, e46 M3), just suprised at how fast it was. There were only a handful who stated something about the intercooler. But like I said, as long as you are concentrating on driving like you should be, you are fine driving it. The only thing I would have been really worried about as far as hurting the intercooler was if there was a dead animal in the road, or a huge piece of road debris.
From end to end, the intercooler is 32.5" long.
01-13-2005, 03:09 PM
#17
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Location: Rhode Island
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It would of been better if u came in one end and out the other with a narrow IC. I was thinking of buying it with the motor but i didn't like the routing of the pipes. but oh well I cant talk until I finish my friends vg turbo. but hey u did what few have done. Congrats and thanx for the motor 
gonna be running prob in another month pistons coming tomorrow got all new genuine chains, guide and idler gear $$$ then off to machine shop.
gonna be running prob in another month pistons coming tomorrow got all new genuine chains, guide and idler gear $$$ then off to machine shop.
01-13-2005, 08:43 PM
#18
Good work on the manifolds, looks like an efficient setup! 
Quick question, how long is your oil feed line? You tapped that into the stock oil pressure sender location correct? Thanks!
Quick question, how long is your oil feed line? You tapped that into the stock oil pressure sender location correct? Thanks!
why not just put the IC on the hood? 
01-14-2005, 07:54 AM
#21
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 36
Originally Posted by 3rdmaxse0
It would of been better if u came in one end and out the other with a narrow IC. I was thinking of buying it with the motor but i didn't like the routing of the pipes. but oh well I cant talk until I finish my friends vg turbo. but hey u did what few have done. Congrats and thanx for the motor gonna be running prob in another month pistons coming tomorrow got all new genuine chains, guide and idler gear $$$ then off to machine shop.
gonna be running prob in another month pistons coming tomorrow got all new genuine chains, guide and idler gear $$$ then off to machine shop.Are you talking about your friend who came with you to pick up the motor?
Cant wait to see your car when its done one of these days.
01-14-2005, 09:06 AM
#22
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Join Date: Aug 2001
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Regardless of the relatively unattractive IC placement, I think it looks pretty impressive. Good work!
Too bad such a thing just isn't a mindless bolt-on.
After seeing those pics I can imagine a resourceful individual could make such a kit as a kind of "cottage industry" at home.
Too bad such a thing just isn't a mindless bolt-on.
After seeing those pics I can imagine a resourceful individual could make such a kit as a kind of "cottage industry" at home.
01-14-2005, 12:05 PM
#23
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Originally Posted by Bman
Regardless of the relatively unattractive IC placement, I think it looks pretty impressive. Good work!
Too bad such a thing just isn't a mindless bolt-on. After seeing those pics I can imagine a resourceful individual could make such a kit as a kind of "cottage industry" at home.
Too bad such a thing just isn't a mindless bolt-on.
After seeing those pics I can imagine a resourceful individual could make such a kit as a kind of "cottage industry" at home.Thats me, just a poor engineering student with a welder, some metal, and some automotive experience.
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