NosajCivic

Well, after two long years of collecting parts and selling other things to buy
new parts, I finally have everything on my car. I did all the work over the
Christmas break and just finished this past weekend (I'm at school 200
miles away during the weekdays)...I would say it took me quite along time
to finish everything (100% alone). Nothing fit. The installation was very
frustrating...but I kept at it. Down in central Florida it is usually warm, but
during the only time I had to do the setup and install temperatures went
down into the 30's and 20's many of the nights...not to mention the damn
wind in the afternoon. The only space I had to keep my car was my
parents driveway, which is on a hill. I had two jackstands and two small
car jacks. I've had my ZC for almost 7 years now and this project has
been much anticipated...it was kind of something that kept me going when
things got boring elsewhere. All I used was knowledge from the web and
prior reading of the manuals, etc. Not once during the entire month of
the install did I consult a book or look up how to do something (I realized
this in hindsight). So I would say if you plan on doing the full homemade
setup make sure you know everything inside and out, much as I did as
I spent tons of hours online which made all the difference. Here's the
background on what I did / have:

1990 Civic Standard Hatch (ZC swap and Si tranny)
Brand new T-25 2nd gen DSM turbo with Randy/Gary's adapter plate
Dropshop 2.5" downpipe from Jon
Standard (not HF) manifold which was heavily ported
Starion rewelded intercooler that I got in excellent condition
Volvo piping, couple standard exhaust lengths
Blitz BOV and mandrel bent pipe (came with it)
Zdyne Gold, 450 injectors (balanced, cleaned, almost made new)
VTEC fuel rail, AEM fuel pressure regulator
Fuel Pressure Gauge (electric); Air Fuel Gauge, Oil Pressure Gauge
Boost Gauge (ISSPro)

I'm sure i'm forgetting things but those are the main parts...The T25
outlet hit the x-member...I made small slits in it and used a hammer
to contour the xmember around the turbo. This kept all the material
and a majority of the local support. I also got hold of a Jimfab front
tranny mount (www.jimfab.com) which helped tremendously in keeping
the engine still as the downpipe and turbo had very little clearance
from any kind of rocking motion. The other engine mounts had long
before had the 3M window weld treatment. Doing the install on my
driveway greatly complicated things. The oil pan wasn't that bad to
get off...every single bolt was loose on the pan (3 were also missing!).
The oil pressure sensor was a complete pain...especially laying under
the car trying to feel around things. 15/16" or 24mm DEEPWELL is
the only sure way to get the thing off...it was also extremely hard to
tighten the fitting and line on the rear...The battery had to be relocated
as there was just not enough room for me to get the piping the way
I wanted it. You can see the 4 gauge wire coming in from the rear in
the pics. My car came stock without any AC components and when I got
the car the front bumper support was not there...thus making the intercooler
install very easy! There's lots of other things in between that I will post on
my webpage ( http://members.aol.com/nosajuf/nosajuf.htm )
soon with complete directions on how I did everything.

Then about 4:35 on a Saturday night everything was bolted up...I turned
the key and started the car. It started right up, barely coughing. The
previous tune loaded in the zdyne made it run rough but I uploaded some
of the few tunes I had with me at the time and the car instantly changed
tone and idled beautifully. Nothing leaked anywhere! Oil pressure was
great! The turbo was smoking but my neighbor assured me it was the
factory oil burning off the turbo surface (it was new). I let it sit and
verified oil in the lines, etc. Everything was cool. Eventually got it out
on the road and it reved up so much better than it did stock with the
integra computer. Learned how to make the car go into boost...which
wasn't hard. I was very easy on it...after awhile got on it just a bit
and found it was running 8lbs on the stock setting. The car freaking
darted forward under boost. It was very quick and I was quite
impressed as I couldn't quite smiling and going nuts...of course I was
very careful and stopped constantly to check for leaks as I drove
back and forth on a back street (this is out in the country). The
Blitz bov sounds great too...big woosh of air! Car finally has boost
and is much quicker, but I need help with some things now...
BTW, the car has almost 300,000 miles on it. I've put 100K on the
ZC alone.

First here are some pics...









If you want to know anything about the pics, let me know. I have questions
now...please answer any ones you can!!!!

1. The only program I have uploaded so far is the stock PM6FI tune that
came with the zdyne...I have uploaded the TurboZC program Ricky Crow
has on the trading site. When the car goes into boost, 2nd gear seems ok
but under boost in third and fourth gear the car hesitates or it seems like
the boost isn't linear. There are no specific noises or clanks from the
engine, but the turbo wont put power into the engine linearilly. Why is it
doing this? All the pipes have heavy duty clamps and are incredibly
sealed. Will the ZC tune fix this?

2. When going into boost my fuel pressure gauge (nordskog digital)
increases with boost...8lbs at full throttle says like 45psi...at idle the
fuel pressure is about 32-34psi so it says. Sometimes now the gauge
drops down below 30 and then 20 and then 10 until you give it some
gas. I'm not sure why it drops...the pump is stock with the car (i.e.
300K miles). I have a brand new walbro 255 already mounted to the
stock tank holder sitting in the garage. Is the stock pump shot?

3. When the turbo does boost the bov releases the pressure, but I also
hear a faint rattlesnake like noise come from the turbo...usually a quick
pssss noise. I can't imagine the bov isn't releasing all the pressure as
it's loud...The blitz bov has an adjuster bolt on top of it, should I some-
how adjust this?

Those are the main problems I have...when I accelerate and go into boost
the car doesn't boost linearly, it jerks and buckles, but it seems like it's
getting fuel. Air Fuel Gauge is lighting up one light below totally rich.
What can I do to get it running right?

Thanks, i'm glad the thing is running now...

Jason

asterix_2ksi

Isn't it best to maintain a down angled slop with the oil return line? I believe it helps prevent the oil from caking up in the line since it'll never really have a chance to sit.

NosajCivic

It is angled down just ever so sligthly...the blue silicone tube bends
just a little. It's the only way I could get it to fit. Seems to work
so far (for about 15 miles).

Jason

Tofurky

damn that's a tight fit. looks nice though.

i wouldn't worry too much about the oil return line though, as long as it is indeed angled downwards you should be ok.

Sonny

Good work, man!

Sonny

NosajCivic

Thanks

Anybody have any ideas on why the boost is doing what it's doing?

TurbothisLS

nice work man.
brings me back to the installation of the turbo on my car back in the day (only a few months ago)
stress,sweat, blood, tears, everything went into that install
and ur description of driving it for the first time...smile to my face too
congrats

NosajCivic

Haha, thanks...

Yeah, many nights I just gave up and went inside...funny how the bolt
I couldn't get out that night was easy the next morning...I hear people
say how they did a turbo install over night or in one day...i'm not sure
how! I guess maybe if I had a hydraulic lift, a welder, something
other than a little dremel, a nice workbench (my dad's seemed to
work great though) and just plain more room it would have been
easier (but that's cheating!)...man I love the sound of the valve and
the power that was never there before...yeah this is my first time
around with a turbo - i'm freakin' hooked!

Jason

0project dc2

iTrader: (1)

is that a Drop shop oil drain flange you got on there ?? did you get that from jon >>??? when did you order and how long did it take to get to your place ?? im ordered one from him and it aint here yet ...

lazerus

your BOV might be set to tight. that "rattle snake noise" is known as compressor surge, you may want to back the adjustment screw out untill you can't hear that noise anymore.

racerxadam

1. I wouldn't go crazy boosting on it until you have a way to monitor air/fuel ratios, the turbo tune that you have may be a good starting point but after all that work you don't want to blow it up.

2. Your fuel pressure should increase with boost and also decrease with vaccum. In this way the fpr always keeps the same pressure difference between the fuel rail and the inside of the intake manifold. If you have a walboro I would go ahead and install it for piece of mind.

3. The sound you are hearing can probably be adjusted out by playing with the screw on top of the bov.

glagola1

You really just need to go to a dyno and get that bad bear tuned. Don't try to street tune it. That'll never work. Trust me, I ran a ZC at 10psi for 2years and never went to the dyno

I'm running an LS with boost now but I went to the dyno this time. I can't tell you what peace of mind that brought, not to mention drivability. The 300 you might spend tuning it is worth more than the turbo itself. Good luck and it looks good.

SiRkid

accordexchange

what kind of filter is that on the turbo or whatever it is..?

running10s

I enjoy your setup

I need to redo my oil return line like no other

turbohf

you have a better pic of the lower charge pipe? and any of your car with the bumper on? the ones on our site are small, and i like the idea of a blue turbo Std hatch

turbohf

oh and what color is the paint on the valve cover?

quis23

on the set up, it looks damn good.i went through the same bs with my zc turbo install. enjoy the boost!

NosajCivic

Answering questions...

First off the filter I had ordered from Discount Auto Parts (now Advance),
Cheaper than anyplace online! I went to the K and N website and looked
up the dimensions of the filter I needed. This one (RU1880) fit perfect
in the small gap I had to put a filter! The inlet to the filter is 2" which is
almost the size of the OD of the filter! Half the size of an aluminum coke
can with the top cut out. Anyhow it was 29.99 bucks special ordered from
Discount Auto.




The valve cover I painted with Plastikote 285 Cast Grey (500F paint). It
is excellent stuff. Doesn't need to be baked on really (per the instructions).
It goes on nice, and dries almost instantly...over hot temp paint i've
noticed gets all over your hands and doesn't dry right unless you bake
the part. This stuff is great. Here's another one of the valve cover.



The charge piping was a complete pain in the ****. I ended up using the
three basic pipes as shown. I had a ton of different pipes (they are all
for sale on ebay now - Nosajuf) and ended up using hardly any of them.
The pipe off the T-body is a blitz bov pipe which angled and fit perfectly!
Plus, it had the bov connected already...The next piece is a rubber Fernco
connecter (2.5 --> 2.0) from Home Depot. I will probably replace this
with silicone once I get some money back. Then a 2" exhaust pipe from
Discount Auto parts ran to the intercooler with a stock Volvo 90 deg
silicone bend wedge up on it. The 2" exhaust pipe didn't need to be cut
as miracuously it fit perfect the way it was. I just painted it the same
color as the valve cover. On the other side is a Volvo bend again and
a volve pipe. I used all heavy duty clamps.






Here are some more random pics. This shows the stock HF cover
that I polished up. That's a STD manifold. Dropshop downpipe...
M10 x 1.25 cap head screws I had specially orderded...not many
places carry these - trust me! Lots of cutting of the frame...and
very little clearance!





I hope to have a complete write up soon covering everything.

Jason

ekb18c

NosajCivic

Car still isn't running right though...won't go past 3 - 4 lbs boost...turbo
is hesitating like crazy. I'm lost.

Jason

Whooopasss

post your spark plug picture after you run it.. and try running it with another air cleaner.. your air cleaner might be the bottle neck.. who knows??

Diego Boost

Looks great man, congrats!

Diego Boost

Does the car continue boost at 3-4psi or does it completely drop out? Make sure all your vaccum lines are secure and verify that your wastegate is working properly. Your problem may also be the fuel system. What type of injectors are you running?


[Modified by 99GSRT, 6:22 PM 1/26/2003]