Kev's Corrado - Project "Stealthy T"

So the R32 has shorter rods than the 2.8 then? Or is the block taller?

I like your thinking though, if you are gonna force an engine, especially when trying to achieve the power you do, the stronger the block the better.

Would you be going for the 3003cc setup then?

Rods are the same across all the V6 engines mate, so the R32 block must therefore be a different casting.

The 2.8 is the stronger engine in terms of forced induction. Thicker walls, thicker head bolts and thicker valve stems.

I'll be sticking with the 2.8 capacity initially, and I may even just do a quick re-hone and re-ring and run it with a spacer plate. The 24V has so much more flow than even a 3.0 12V with big valve head, so there's no need to go too mad at this stage

Another option is the R32 head bolts onto the 2.8 for even more flow!

sounds good.sneaky engine build on the go,nice.
A multi-valve head on your setup would be interesting be good to see what it does to your curve.I think the loss of 100 cc's will be inconsequential relative to the improved breathing from the 24v head.

I agree. The GT35 would definitely spool up sooner than it does on the 12v. Funnily enough, when I was out with Mic, dinkle and Tom over Christmas, Scruffy turned up and we were discussing 24v and turbo. Scruffy reckoned you could run a GT40 on it!

The R32 head 30v or still 24v?

x 2

The more exhaust energy you can throw at the turbine blades, the better!

Poor old 12V, LOL, I haven't even started on the downpipe for the ATP manifold and I'm already talking about 24V Ts!

If it wasn't for the poor exchange rate and the fact there's no 24V short intakes that fit Corrados, I'd have bypassed the 12V and slotted the 24 valver in .....

Any more progress Kev?

mrbeige wrote:Any more progress Kev?

yeah c'mon.I'm bored.

You have that nice new spacious garage so you must be doing something in it.

Ah yeah, I forgot about this thread. Cheers for the interest

I need to update this thread and also do a new Members thread on the CF (as my old one vanished into thin air!) so I'll do that next week as I'm off work, hurrah

It's basically all redone with an ATP manifold etc and running quite nicely....except for the blown clutch (same Helix issue as Pete Griff's) which I'm hoping the lads at Stealth can fix for me tomorrow. I hate dropping gearboxes on axle stands....REALLY hate it....especially getting the darn thing back on again, so I'll relax tomorrow and watch someone else do it!

I couldn't agree more it's one of those jobs that just isn't worth the grief, damaged hands and the years quota of swear words how did you get on with the heat wrap mate?

kevhaywire wrote:except for the blown clutch (same Helix issue as Pete Griff's)

Any ideas as to why it might be playing up?

My laptop blew up last week (talking to the DTA funnily enough, LOL!) so couldn't do a gallery update. On the hunt for a new one now and finding that the cheap ones are too cheap and nasty and the functionality I want means I've got to spend a grand plus......hmmmm, arse cakes to that.

Anyway, clutch / gear issue sorted.

It was a combo of things really. Worn shift tower (some ball bearings had dropped into the gearbox), bottom shift cable was almost seized solid and the existing clutche's shock absorber springs were loose and rattling around (common). Other than that, the Helix was mint and wearing very nicely indeed, so it wasn't really to blame for the issues.

Replaced the cables, stuck a spare shift tower on Stealth had laying around, stuck a new Helix in, stuck some Ceratec friction reducer and oil in and it's been sweet ever since.

Oh and I finally put that schimmel flywheel in (9lb) and wow! I was always sceptical about light flywheels but now I see the fuss. It feels like you've fitted a lower final drive and as I have a low final drive anyway (3.68), acceleration through the gears feels even perkier
No downsides at all. The DTA wanted some fuel taking out of the fuel table across the board to maintain the same target AFRs, which demonstrates quite nicely the reduced load on the engine Better economy, LOL!

Speaking of economy, I got 355 miles from 57 litres on a recent trip and I make that 28.5mpg. That was a mixture of 80-90mph cruising, stop-start M25 traffic and blowing tailgaters away. Personally I think just under 30mpg from a 400hp 1300kg car is exceptional, even by today's standards

The best bit is it can go leaner still because I cruise at 14.4 AFR at the moment (trying to keep EGTs down). I reckon an average of 33 is doable.

Do you think it feels more agile in the bends with the lighter flywheel. I reckon my remapped 180 does the same mileage so that is good.

Good stuff Kev, that mpg is amazing I was expecting more like mid 20's or something from such a setup. Only hope mine does near that well!

Also a quick thanks for the coilpack the other day, definitely owe you a pint or two for that one. And the missus was very impressed with your car, especially the colour and wheels...... and the house/garage. All I've had all week is her printing adverts off rightmove with country properties!

LOL, cheers mate and you're welcome. How's the car going now? Managed to try a new MAF on it yet?

interesting about the flywheel.
Have you lightened any other components,i.e knife edge crank?

I too have always been sceptical about flywheel lightening.

It's one of those mods where you think "cool, that works" and then 2 weeks later you're used to it again!

No other lightened parts, just the flywheel. I like the weight of the crank pulley etc... it dampens out some of the engine vibration.

Few updates.

My second Spa manifold is royally f'cked, so that's going in the bin. Cracked right round.

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For those who want to know why the ATP manifold doesn't fit, here's why, the brake pot gets in the way....

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The compressor butts up against the servo hose and loom too, although a smaller turbo won't do that. I'm using a TO4S housing which is pretty big.

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Not to worry though cos both issues are easy to rectify. Simply take the brake pot off completely and relocate it next to the expansion tank and run hoses over to the master cylinder. Can't see that in this pic, but you can see there's plenty of room once the brake pot's been moved....

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Also fitted a new rad with uprated fans.

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And a MK4 Golf header tank, which is LOADS better than the corrado one!!

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And I've also rigged up a neat little display to read important engine info. It can display everything the ECU can pump down the serial cable.....manifold pressure, water and air temp, oil pressure and temp, fuel pressure, volts, throttle position, injector duty and pulse width, transient fuelling, cold fuelling percent, air temp compensation percent, you name it, everything!

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Over the coming weeks I will be showing you how to make a down pipe for the ATP manifold. There's bags more room for it than the SPA manifold, that's for sure!!

Did a bit more prep work today.

I P clipped the loom and serrvo hose to the bulkhead....

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...which has provided plenty of room for the turbo :-)

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I also deleted the aux water pump. I observed what it actually does when the engine was off by pulling a couple of hoses, and not a lot is the answer. I know of a few other people who've binned it with no adverse effects.

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I've decided to try the standard airbox with this install. Looks a lot better than a generic cone!

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Moving onto Manifold prep work....

I'm using ATP's 38mm to 44mm adapter. The hole in the manifold is pretty small, even for a 38mm, so I gasket matched it.

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That's better!

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I made some lock washers and trial fitted the TIAL 44mm.

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Not much room for a bolt head with that adapter, so you need to shave down some M8 x 25mm bolts.....

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Next I drilled and tapped a thread for a 1/8 NPT EGT probe....

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And the probe slots in (from underneath) like so....

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The probe sits about 2" before the turbo and in the middle where all the exhaust ports converge...

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That's it for now. I'll start on the exhaust next, but I'm waiting on stock for a few 3" angles etc....

Still waiting on a couple of 3" stainless angles (seems they're in short supply) so I cracked on with the brake resevoir relocation.

Using some fittings I had laying around, I chopped off the lugs from the stock resevoir and grafted them on for a factory tight seal.
Make sure you use proper hose that's brake fluid resistant. I lagged the hoses in a special abrasion resistant covering in case the turbo contacts them.

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There's about 2 cm clearance around the turbo for the hoses, which if you have uprated mounts should be plenty....

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This was a bit of a ball ache getting the lengths right for clearance and to avoid rubbing related damage. Plus you have to keep the hoses above the Master cylinder level to prevent air locks.....

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As hard as I tried, I couldn't find a 4 outlet resevoir, so I had to T off the 2 outlets into 4....

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And here it is, complete and of course, lagged with heat sleeving for good measure. I'll be using a motorbike resevoir in the wiper area for the clutch....

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Now that's sorted, time to crack on with the exhaust....when the bits finally arrive!!

OK, sent the first couple of bits of exhaust off to my mate for tigging up. They are a V band ring with tight 3" 90 for the turbo and a 1.75" flex bellow and fitting for the Tial wastegate....

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Whilst waiting on those, I thought I'd bolt the turbo on. I used Stage8 locking bolts which seem very nice, only time will tell if they hold the turbo bolts still!

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I also started making up the oil and water lines.
I couldn't get the hardlines I wanted for the water due to supply issues, plus you need an expensive tool to debur and flare the ends to 37 degrees, so I used PTFE lined braided instead, which can handle 230ish deg C, so should be OK. PLEASE do not use rubber hoses, they just harden, perish and then split very quickly! I speak from experience!

The turbo will have a jacket on it when I'm done for further protection.

I did go hardline on the oil though as it's a critical feed. All the fittings come from speedflow and they flared a metre of -4 hardline for me and fitted the sleeve nuts.... oh and I made a heat shield to protect the brake lines etc.

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The braided fittings are a peice of cake, no special fittings needed. These are -6 size and here's how you assemble the lines...

Unscrew the nut off the end to reveal the sleeve collet thing....

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Slide the black nut over the hose and then pick the braiding with a small screwdriver so that it pulls away from the inner liner and trim off the spikey bits, then slide on the collet....

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Push the other end of the fitting into the collet and then tighten the two halves together with the appropriate size spanners or a vice....

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Top Tip - When cutting the braided hose, wrap it with some masking tape and use a junior hacksaw and the end will be neat and easier to assemble ;-).

And here's how the hardline works.

You slide your sleeve nuts on first, then flare the ends to 37 degrees.

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These fittings are expensive and may seem over kill, but trust me, money invested here will save you a lot of grief in the long run :-)

My mate's tigging is up to his usual high standards, it really pays knowing someone who can weld :-)

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In an attempt to modernise the engine and make it better to drive, I've had my Schimmel intake modified to take a Bosch direct to manifold MAP sensor. It's also an air intake sensor too, so makes things neat and compact.

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I've blocked off the servo outlet on runner 6 as I prefer to take a servo vac feed from the whole plenum. The silver sensor is for my boost gauge...

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Denso 1220 500cc injectors, the best bar none. These instantly transform the VR6's idle. Totally smooth and rock steady :-) They're from the 2009 Mazda RX8, which I've had adapted to fit a VR6.

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And here you can see the injector loom I made for the DTA S80, again sleeved in abrasion resistant sleeving :-) ....

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Stay tuned, more to follow :-)

Made a bit more progress....

Downpipe's coming together. This is the shape you're aiming for with the ATP. From the top, I used a tight 90, 30 degree section, then a 90 degree and finally a 3" Ilok flex. All from Jetex.

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Since it's impossible to fit the flex on the vertical (wastegate gets in the way), next best thing is mounting it at 45 degrees above the front ARB.

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The pipe to bulkhead gap is bigger than it looks, there's about an inch, which is plenty with uprated engine mounts...

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Hi temp oil drain hose from ATP. I'm draining back to the block for easier driveshaft clearance.

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Here's a tip for fitting JIC push hose fittings. I'd get some plastic vice jaws from Speedflow. They hold the fitting tight and protect the delicate anodised finish. Warm the hose in boiling water for a minute and put some fairy liquid on the barbs. The hose will then slide on easily and save you a lot cursing!!

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Factory air box is a goer. I'm happy with the way the fuel reg and fuel hose fit around it. Just need to find a rubber bellow to fit between the airbox and intake pipe and the job's a good un :-)

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Even with the big SX regulator, you can still get the airbox lid off for filter changes as if it were a standard engine :-)
I kinked the hose 90 degrees under the intake pipe to give a bit of flex when the engine moves back and forth, again, just like the stock hoses ;-) I used stainless hose around there because it's quite close to the manifold. I don't trust rubber and heat when dealing with 5+ bar fuel pressure!.

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Getting there, slowly, but surely!

Few minor updates:-

Got the last bit of welding back from my mate last week ago and looking good so far.

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The wastegate dump pipe is done and he's got that in for welding too, but these are the construction pics.

I just used a little piece of straight, a 1.75" flex and a 90 degree. If using the Tial 44mm WG, you'll need 1.75" bore pipe and if you're using the 38mm, you need 1.5" pipe.

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Once you're happy with your angles and how the dump pipe butts up against the main downpipe, you need to make a hole in the main pipe. I couldn't find a nibbler tool strong enough to cut through stainless for reasonable money, so I had to do it the tedious way.
You don't want to know how many drill bits I got through doing this. Motto - don't buy cheap drill bits!!
Nice welding isn't it? :-)

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Then you obviously just file it all out smooth.

I finished the fuel lines. I also pulled out the standard plastic lines and run -6 JIC lines front to back. I also did what VW do and use blue hose for return and black for fuel in, just in case someone else works on this car.

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Airbox is finished. The ATP rubber inlet isn't much use, so I had to make something up with bits of silicon I had laying around and I'm happy with how it all sits.

It's too rigid though, so I'll need to find a rubber coupling to ensure the airbox stays still when the engine rocks back. I've looked at an Audi R8's rubber coupling and it might just be do the job, so I'll order one.

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Should get the next bit of welding back next week sometime hopefully and the downpipe is practically done, just needs a couple of lambda sockets etc.

Just the one update. Downpipe is almost complete.

My welder's current welding on the lambda boss and the other side of the flexi and it's done! :-)

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Another minor update.

The Audi R8 rubber intake bellow fits like a glove :-) Really happy with how that fits. Not bad for £14!
Most of it is over the metal intake pipe, so shouldn't collapse under boost.

I've also derestriced the airbox by removing the front and upper snorkels. I wanted to use the upper snorkel but it reduces down to 2.5" inside the box, so a bit restrictive for turbo use.

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I imported this bracket for the Bosch 044 pump from 034Motorsport which looks nice. I painted the base of it and the pump with smoothrite to stop them corroding over winter.

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Just a couple more bits of exhaust to weld up and a new boost pipe and it's nearly there :-)

I need it back on the road, I miss the acceleration. Every car I drive feels dog slow compared to a VRT!