S8ET6

Once again, 56k to the rescue - I ordered a new oil trap, and the associated gaskets. While waiting I picked up some black wrinkle paint from the local auto parts store, cleaned the intake and applied it. Before: During: While waiting of that to dry, I decided to tackle the next project on my list - rerouting my gauge wires. The old way, which was supposed to have been a temporary solution: The new, permanent solution that I decided upon while working on the heater core (Hmmm, I dont know why they put this on a T6 but it sure came in handy): Small starter hole: Shined a light through it to help me determine where my poke-thru was on the engine side of the firewall. Then opened the hole to 1/2 inch diameter and reverted back to my data cabling days to fish a pull string through: Inserted a grommet that I found on a Volvo in the JY into the hole I made, and used the pull string to pull the gauge wires from the engine bay into the car. Reapplied a second coat of wrinkle finish to the intake manifold, and after cleaning the oil from the alternator/power steering bracket, I decided to paint it and the cam cover with some paint that I had laying around the garage. Before: Back in April, I ordered two new oil return lines at the same time I purchased the heater core. The T6 motor requires two a tall one for the up turbo and a short one for the down turbo. I cut the flange off of the up turbo and inserted it into the drain hole to eyeball a drain solution. As you can see, it aligns perfectly with the turbos stock drain tube and I only needed a 2 ½ of braided hose to connect the two: Turned my attention to the other side - My original intent was to permanently plug the other drain hole in the block, but over time I decided that this extra hole in the block was an asset in the event that I ever needed to add additional crankcase breathing capabilities because of higher boost levels, a larger turbo - or both! So, I came up with something a little more flexible. First I cut the stock return line: Then I tapped it with a M14 tap: Here is the final solution. All I need is a ½ long spacer that I can weld/tack/braise a piece of metal to and then I can attach it (the spacer) to the motor and not worry about it (the plug) vacating the drain hole : Next up on the list - I had ordered a turbo blanket back in March /April: Awesome product! Its about one inches thick problem is, its for an external waste gate. I mounted it, and marked it where a hole would need to be cut in order to accommodate the internal waste gate on the K24: But, I couldnt bring myself to mutilate it in an effort to fit the K24. (Again, its an awesome product, and you can tell just from the look and feel of it in person that it would probably work great on a larger turbo). So, put it in my box of stuff marked for later and fired up the 56k. I found a blanket made for an internal waste gate and purchased it. It isnt as thick as the first one, and due to the angled housing, it doesnt cover the hotside completely - but it should help a lot. I test fitted it using some nylon zip ties. Here are some pics for those of you considering a blanket for your stock turbo: And here is a close up of the area around the waste gate: The paint on my intake manifold, power accessory bracket and cam cover has finally dried so Ill leave you with a teaser image of how the motor will look when finished. As for a status update: While reassembling everything, I found that the 90 degree fitting on the emission line that runs under the intake manifold and routes vapors from the oil trap to the intake had a hole in it too. Im waiting on a replacement for the metal emissions line. I expect to receive it this week, and if so, I will button everything up, recertify for emissions and start installing the fun bits. Oh, and Ive also got a couple of other things to install that I think you guys will find interesting but Ill leave that statement as a teaser too:

It was clear that kneeling on the ground outside of the car wasn’t going to get me very far in this endeavor, so I removed the seat in order to comfortably work under the dash while on my back inside the car: I disassembled the steering wheel linkage, and swapped heater cores. The next problem I had was getting enough leverage to re-insert the piping into the heater core far enough to allow me to re-insert the aluminum pins used to hold the pipe in place in the heater core. While dicking around with different solutions over a weekend, I pulled a muscle in my back. Old Peoples Shit… I know, I know. (Trust me, as you get older you become too busy dealing with O.P.S to worry about O.P.P – but, I digress.) Since I couldn’t lie on my back and work under the dash, I decided to work on smaller issues instead. The first one was modifying the water return fitting so that the oil return fitting could sit flush against the turbo surface. Before: After: Next up - removing and painting my intake manifold. Why? Because none of the threads that I read on polishing your manifold ever mentioned the fact that once you polished aluminum you would need to maintain it. Glad that I did decide to do this, because I found a hidden oil leak: Close up view: Extreme close up:

What? You thought that I gave up and abandoned this project? Nope, I took the month of May off from this project to deal with other things in life. The first weekend in June I climbed under the dashboard to see if I could confirm that the heater core was leaking. I saw this clue: I decided that I was on the right track. So I pulled the carpet: And saw this moisture. That was enough for me. I fired up my 56k modem, and started browsing the web for instructions to remove/replace the heater core. Removing the piping from the core was easy peasy: but removing the core wasn’t. The first problem was that the core was hitting the steering wheel bracket.

I assume that this is/was considered "off topic"

just to prove the concept... larger tubo will come once I can get properly tuned for it

The alternator died on me over the winter and until recently it was too cold for me to get out and work on a car. Last weekend the weather finally warmed up enough for me to replace it. While the intake was removed, I also replaced the oil trap in preparation for my emissions' test. Unfortunately, I discovered that my heater core had ruptured and it needs to be replaced. New parts have been ordered and are trickling in - in the meantime, here's how we arrived at the final version of the RAM shown in the introductory picture: When members of the MWC decided to hold that super secret midnight meet at my house that I told you about earlier, it was to brainstorm the possibility of doing a single turbo conversion. I wanted a 2-1 manifold instead of a custom header because it was cheaper and easier/quicker to make. So, the first order of business was to have those flanges that I posted earlier made. Once they were done, I dropped both them and the head off at JJFAB and we ordered some 1.5" piping. A short while later, Joe had tacked together Version 1 of the RAM: It looked promising, but had some drawbacks (DP exiting towards the motor, oil drain tube at an awkward angle, etc). On a whim I threw on the "down" version of the stock manifolds and flipped the RAM upside down: Functionally, everything appeared to aligned much better, even the oil drain: but we had one small problem: The turbo sat too far away from the block. To rectify this, Joe started over from scratch tacking the RAM together. A while later, I received this image from Joe: Perfect solution for a k24 or, perhaps, something outside of the Mitsubishi family. Once the welding was completed, I scooped everything up from Joe and sent the manifolds out to have them coated. Ceramic coated exhaust manifolds and 2-1 tubular RAM manifold: The RAM is designed to literally be plug and play (or, should I say... hot swappable) There's no need to drop the motor to install anything on the back of the engine - just remove the stock turbos/exh. manifolds/DP and replace with the parts on the engine stand. Since I was no longer going to need the stock heat shields, we decided to use the heat shield mounting location as a bracing point for the RAM: K24 and a oil/water line kit from Amazon.com The modified wastegate actuator arm necessary once the k24 was re-clocked For multiple reasons, I decided to run a vband on the k24 flange. Ordered the flange and vband from CJ Yother and had him weld it prior to shipping: Turbo with the upper motor mount in place. The mount is resting on the motor in this picture, so at this angle it looks like its touching the actuator. At its installed height it clears the wastegate actuator. another view Props to JJFAB - especially Joe B (550) for his hard work and fab/welding skills.

Well, this is Dramaspeed ... Third party testimonials tend to add credibility to the story - and 80+ more whp from water injection is bordering on the edge of disbelief. (Especially when the car hasn't been tuned for it.) But I've edited the last paragraph to avoid being coy.

Ordered new gaskets, PCV kit, coils, plugs, water pump, timing belt, etc… basically rebuilt the motor from the block up. While waiting on all the parts to arrive, I had a little fun with this modification (since it was the height of Faulty-mania at the time): Blue door handles (you had to be a VS member back then to understand the joke): Got everything in and put the car back together. I needed to renew my plates, but I couldn’t pass emissions testing because the ECU would never get to “readiness”. I was getting all sorts of funky codes: Eventually, I started going through my old data logs for clues. I noticed that the AFR was at a constant 14.6-7 regardless of the throttle position. That clue, plus the crazy codes for parts for parts that I had replaced lead me to believe that the ECU might have become corrupt. I sent the ECU off to Lucky. He found that it had in fact, shorted out. I had him clone it for me. Re installed the ecu and passed emissions. Woohoo! I drove the car for the next year … not really beating on it… just kinda waiting for the next thing to break. In Oct. 2012, feeling confident that the car wouldn’t break on me, I decided to join in the fun with members of the MWC at a dyno day in Wisconsin. I thought that it would be a great time to re-establish a baseline while also being able to see how I compared to the 4 and 5 cylinder MWC contingent. I did 5 pulls back to back (everyone else there that day did 3); the 1st run was without WI, just the mid-grade fuel that I picked up at a gas station along the way; every other run was with water injection. The 2nd pull, I had the operator turn on the WI. By the third pull the ECU had fully adjusted for the water/meth, and the car put down 294whp/312wtq. The increase in hp/torque was so dramatic that people in the crowd made an audible gasp. Women screamed and babies cried. The dyno operator thought it was an anomaly, and he then offered to do 2 more pulls. By the 5th pull the car was thoroughly heat soaked. Dyno sheet: Interestingly enough, there was a 08’ 335i there with an exhaust that put down 320whp/330wtrq . There was also a supercharged Regal GSX with cam/headwork/exhaust that put down305whp/322wtrq on his built 4T65E-hd transmission. I didn’t notice that the third pull was missing from my sheet until once I got home. Fortunately, the MWC witnessed it and will probably attest to these facts. Also, Gabe posted a thread about the day’s festivities. You can read the entire thread >here. But there was alot of drama from Prince Ken/ Kitt Vexed in the early part of the thread, so you can jump to >here for the 1 or 2 comments directly related to my pulls.

Then I sent the head to have it inspected/cleaned. The machinist called me back to report that John’s head tested fine, but that his head had hydraulic cams instead of solid cams like mine did. So in addition to having him replace the valve guides and perform a valve job, I also had him convert John’s head from his hydraulic setup to my solid cam setup. Rebuilt head: Dremeled exhaust ports: Cam cover: In these shots, you can see where I attempted to remove any risers around the spark plug and tried to smooth out the surface of the combustion chamber before I sent it to the machinist: While the replacement head was out, I took the time to polish up the old intake manifold a bit:

THIS was the only time I’ve ever seriously considered following the advice of VS and junking the car. After ignoring it for a week or two, I decided to remove the head and determine the extent of the damage - and if the block was cracked I’d part it out. I broke the motor down: The head gasket was compromised between cylinders 3/4 and 4/5. The block didn't appear cracked, but the cross hatch in cylinder 4 was pretty much non-existent. Since the head was off, I sent it to get a valve job and to have the valve guides replaced. With the motor partially disassembled, and while waiting on the head, I figured that this was as good a time as any to begin investigating my options to upgrade the turbo. I had developed some theories about being able to fit a single turbo in the space currently occupied by the twin downpipes, but being new to turbos, I felt that I needed my ideas vetted… One evening, Lee (Snabb T5M), Joe(550) and Justus(fischmama) came over for a late night mini meet/brain storming session… I picked their brains for a while, and then they were off to the Tilted Kit to visit Lee’s old muse: (Lee's muse is in the middle) J/k with you Lee! (I think that she's actually in this picture): Anyway... later that week, I got a pm from Justus about a useful item for sale over on Turbobricks: So I purchased it. But honestly, I thought that it would be much easier to utilize the stock manifolds. So, since the motor was apart anyway, I sent the stock manifolds over to a buddy of mine who does machine work out of his garage, just to see what he could come up with. A week later, I had these in hand too: Now that I had two different options for a custom manifold, I needed to start researching turbos. I figured that in order to select the appropriate turbo, I should try to determine the specs on my motor and what it would/could reasonably support. I found that I had 81mm bores – just like the 2.4 motor. I also learned that I had the same rods as the B525T2 motors. From all indications, it appeared as though I had a 6 cylinder version of the RN motor. So, I decided to run a K24/Green injector combo as a proof of concept.. I purchased some greens and a K24 to go along with my flange: About this time, the shop called and reported that my head had warped… but it was also cracked in cylinders 4 and 5. Luckily for me, (and unfortunately for him at the time) JVC’s S80 had died months earlier, so I purchased his motor from him and pulled the head. Here’s a picture of two heads side by side. You can see where my cracks were: Keep in mind, his car was a 1999 S80T6 – mine is a 2000, and there were a couple of significant changes made to the head within that short time frame. The first is the head casting. My exhaust port was open, Whereas JVC’s was partially shrouded So, before I sent the head to the machinist, I took my dremel and did a little modifying to each exhaust port:

Car came with the visco clutch

NOW I was getting somewhere! The car was really pulling strong and IAT temps were much lower. When I installed the a-mist I initially used the .7 jet because that was what was on the IPD installation instructions. But in July it occurred to me that I could quite possibly move up a jet size (or two). So I started experimenting with different jet sizes and in early August I posted the results of that decision: The car sat for a while as I researched my options. In Dec. I started a thread about my transmission rebuild. Here are my old posts (again from from SS): <quote> I finally got around to having the transmission pulled. It'll be dropped off on Tuedsay for a complete overhaul consisting of a high performance street/strip rebuild (clutches/bands,valve body, shift kit, etc...), upgrading the input shaft to a stronger unit, upgrading the chain to a 7/8 single chain, and (drum roll please ...) Changing the stock convertor's stall speed to approx 3K. The transmission rebuild is being done by this guy: http://www.tripleedgeperformance.com/ Expected turn around is about 2 weeks due to the custom convertor work. I've asked him to provide a post mortem analysis so others can benefit from my transmission's death. That is all. </endquote> <quote> I dropped the transmission off with Dave from TripleEdge Performanance. We chatted for about 30 minutes. He said the he does rebuilds for the 4T65E units about 150 times a year. Also said that GM's version of the diff can't b be easily swapped with the Volvo version - and that it really wouldn't matter because he has never seen a reliable limited slip differential for these transmissions </quote> <quote> T minus 5 days. The transmission is complete. We are waiting on the torque convertor. It's caught up in the holiday shipping surge. </quote> <quote> The rebuilt transmission is back in my garage. The official cause of death was the clutch/bands, but he said that 4th gear would 've died in another 1000 miles or so. There also was evidence of extreme heat inside the transfer case ( I wonder why ) In addition to the HD Input Shaft, converting to a 7/8th single chain, and getting a street/strip rebuild the case was cleaned and painted. (just like on his website) The torque convertor was sent to Precision Industries (http://www.converter.com) to have the stall speed changed. Apparently, each convertor they touch has to leave the shop dipped in fuchsia. Thank goodness it's hidden by the belhousing I was surprised to receive a gallon of this: He said something about transmission fluid having the viscosity of water, and that this transmission/drive train oil from Catapiller will help to break in the transmission and extend the life of the unit. Instructions said to pour this in the trans before starting the car along with 2 quarts of Dextron3, start the motor and top off the transmission with more Dextron 3. I'm not sure if he wants me to use this each time I flush the trans or just this once. I also picked up a new transmission cooler. Break in consists of 50 -100 miles of city driving which will give the kevlar material inside the convertor time to bed correctly, while also allowing the pcm time to adjust to the new transmission <quote> <quote> Thread epilogue: Well, the transmission is in the car, my 100 mile break in period is over and I thought that I’d add a final update and some closure to this thread. Let me preface this by saying that right now, the car is limiting boost to 10-12 lbs. Why? I don’t know yet. Could it be because the “Service Transmission” message is still on? (My code reader won’t reset TCM codes so I’ll need to visit the dealer to have it reset). Maybe it’s because I also have a CEL. I didn’t bother to pull the CEL code(s) because I figured I’ll deal with it later this week. Also note the tires were changed to my winter set which are 17” Potenza’s. Weather wise, the high temp was around 25 degrees today – which meant cold street surfaces (less traction). Finally, consider that fact that I’ve been driving the 05 Odyssey for 5 months – so my butt dyno needs to be re-calibrated. And with those disclosures, here are my initial impressions: Around town driving has definitely changed. The transmission feels “tighter” and shifts firmly. When leaving from a light, the stall feels similar to driving with the transmission in winter mode. The TCM still seems to be learning the transmission because the up-shifts aren’t as hard as they initially were, but the down shifts are pretty violent when in GT mode. Brake torquing the stall results in 2800 rpm launches which totally over-power the current tires. At highway speeds, this car really shines now. Passing gear is wicked - compared to stock. With the fmic, the car doesn’t seem to run out of breath up top during 40-120mph pulls like it did in the past. Over all, I am pleased. After I clear all codes and change the plugs I’ll see about posting a video or two. </quote> <quote> in the interest of full disclosure, I've got good news and so-so news to report: Yes, I did get the service transmission light issue resolved. The problem causing it was that during the reinstallation, the speed sensor wasn't plugged in. I plugged it in, and the light went away almost immediately. The trans work complimented the other mods really well, and other than the slight increase in rpms when moving from a stop due to the new convertor, the car drove normally. However, in August the transmission began to make a whine. I called Dave, and he told me to bring it in - any repair work needed was covered under his warranty. Upon inspection, he found that a plastic washer had broken and plugged the valve body. He said that everything looked great, except for the 3-4 clutch, which was showing signs of overheating. Since I'm running the car at the dragstrip so often, he felt that we should increase the line pressure to alleviate the 3-4 clutch slippage. The are several software tools available which can be used to reprogram the TCM in GMs with the 4T65E, but none will work with volvo's TCM. We both looked high and low for something to read/reprogram the Volvo's TCM parameters. (He even called and spoke with IPD to see what, if anything, their tune does to modify the TCM.) He eventually used mechanical means to raise the line pressure. </quote> I posted that last quote in Nov. 2010. In December 2010, I picked up the car from Fort Wayne and drove it home. I don’t remember the exact date – what I do remember was that the next day was the coldest of the year… and I was driving the car to work when the FUCKING END TANK ruptured and immediately leaked all of my coolant onto the highway. By the time I could get over to the shoulder of the highway the motor had overheated and blown the head gasket.

(slow Friday at work. more content) Phase 3 That November I took the car back to the same place for another dyno session. Needless to admit, the numbers still weren’t impressive: Later, I determined that I had some boost leaks during this session. Repaired them and the car ran really well- especially in colder weather. According to my IPD datalogger, I was regularly hitting boost in the 16-18lb range with spikes up to 21lbs. Looking back, I don’t know why I didn't bend a rod. Maybe it was because of the exhaust work, or because ME7 saved me, or I was just lucky. Anyway, while reviewing my datalogs from the summer I also noticed how high my IATs were getting (110-130 degree temps in the summer) The following spring, I decided to try and do something about the heatsoak. First I got one of these from Phuz: I hoped that it would fit the S80 since it fit the S60, but at the time nobody had ever tried installing a FMIC on the S80 so I wasn't sure if it would. So, just in case I couldn't use the FMIC, I also picked up one of these from an old VS member: And other misc. parts such as these: After confirming that I was going to be able to install both items, one of my objectives became to see which gave more bang for the buck on a S80T6 - aquamist or FMIC. I wrote a thread about it too. Wanna see it? Me too – but something is going on with the archive and I can’t pull it up. Here is what I copied from my thread on SS: <quote> So I installed the a-mist like so: And took the car to the strip. I wasn't worried about 1/4 mile times, just the mph... At the track, I did about 5 passes. The first 2 were to establish the baseline mph of 94 and 95 mph. Then I turned on the a-mist, and I saw consistent 99 mph trap speeds (back to back runs with little to no cool down time in between) As a point of reference, last year I trapped 99 mph with basically the same setup on race gas - so it seems that the a-mist is as beneficial as adding race gas to the tank. I didn't try running with race gas too because that track had a 5 gallon minimum and I wasn't buying 5 gallons After-wards, I took the car home and began to disassemble it. Not knowing if it would fit since I had no other point of reference, I took a chance and purchased a 2.5" piping kit from Cxracing: For those of you with S80s, you can see here, there is no way that 2.5" piping is going to fit if you plan to use the "traditional" route for most FMIC installs: So I ordered some 2" pipe and 2 2.25" -> 2" elbow reducer and considered a different route for the piping. Once the front end was completely apart, I struggled with myself over the placement of the intercooler. The lower grill is smaller on the S80 than it is on the R, and it really made more sense to install the front mount above the bumper brace instead of below it. As you can see in this picture, there is a relatively small debris field on the A/C condenser (which is the same size as the lower grill), and the Intercooler is almost twice as tall: decided to bite the bullet and install the FMIC below the bumper brace: I also took the time to relocate my a-mist to the inner fender wall behind the driver's head light and I ran the feed line from the WW tank through the bumper to the pump. Finally, I competed the trial fitting, and it looked like this: FYI fellow S80 owners: you're not going to do a FMIC install using 2.5" piping without ALOT of effort! I call this my hybrid installation, because I started out with 2.5" piping (the black pipe), then I used a 2" pipe on top because there wasn't enough room to route it down below, and finally I used 2.25" on the cold side to connect the intercooler to the stock pipe going to the throttle body. I kept that stock pipe in place because it has both the IAT and Boost sensors in it. If I were to do this install again, I'd use 2.25" piping, mount the intercooler above the bumper brace to take advantage of the larger grill opening, and use the same route as the stock hoses. If you're lazy, and are going to do this just like I did, then you'll need: 1 - Intercooler ( I used the one from Phuz) 2 - 2" 90 degree pipe 1 - U pipe (2.5" pictured) 1 - 2.25" 90 degree pipe that you'll need to cut 1- 2.25" -> 90 degree 2' silicon reducer 1 - 2.5" -> 2" straight reducer 1 - 2.5" -> 2.25 90 degree reducer and the appropriate number of clamps, lock tight, and zip ties I also had to relocate my CAI from behind the bumper, because the elbow from the intercooler was in the way. Here is a shot of the current location, as well as the placstic air guide after the install was completed: Finally, here is the money shot: Talk about sleeper status... you can't even see the FMIC unless you get up close: Total installation time took about 25 hours, but that includes the time necessary to relocate the a-mist and move my boost gauge sending unit </quote>

Admit it. You’ve lusted over the Heico S80 and its drop dead gorgeous looks. You’ve watched every YOUTUBE video of the Polestar T6 that you’ve come across – not quite able to reconcile the visceral images of raw power with your existing perception of the T6 drivetrain. Then, after you’ve closed your browser and shutdown your computer, you sat still for a moment… stared at your reflection in the blackened monitor… and thought to yourself – “Too bad S80T6’s are a piece of SHIT!” There seems to be no gray areas with this model. You either love ‘em or hate ‘em – but whichever side of the fence that you find yourself on – this thread is for you. I’ve been championing the S80T6 as a viable platform with plenty of untapped performance potential for years. I’ve heard over and over throughout those same years that I don’t know what I’m talking about. I think that it’s time for me to put up, or shut up. It’s time, once and for all, to find out who’s right. You or me. It’s time for this thread. Welcome to Project SOGOTT The purpose of this thread is twofold: Publically document my efforts (both the pain and triumphs) to expand the performance envelope of my S80T6 and provide clear paths of staged modifications to those who are interested in reading about and/or modifying their S80T6 Leave a legacy for future generations. The Car: a 2000 Volvo S80T6 (so nondescript at the time of purchase that I didn’t even bother to take pictures of it. So, if you’re genuinely curious about how the car looked back then Google “black 2000 S80T6” and pick ANY picture that you want to represent this car – cause they all look the same) The Specs: These are some important specifications that I had to search for when I was considering my initial modifications. I’m placing them here (as well as a link to the owner’s manual that I found online) for your convenience too. The modifications: Modifications (and thread documentation) will be done in the following phases: Phase 1: Custom 3" DP, 3" exhaust into magnaflow muffler: baseline dyno and ¼ mile slips Phase 2: Skid plate, ECU stage 1 (torque limiter removed), anti-sway bars, Eibach springs, Bilstein HD shocks, iPd Upper Engine Mount, iPd Front and Rear brake pads, iPd CAI, Ronal R41 18" rims with Falken RT-615: updated dyno and ¼ mile slips Phase 3: FMIC, WI, built transmission w/stall: 294whp/312wtq with dyno results Phase 4: in search of 80-100whp (Proof of Concept) Phase 5: “The Build” Time to get serious Phase 6: The end. Parting this sucka out As I type this introduction, the car is currently sitting at Phase 3. There are archived threads for the modifications that I did in phase 1 and phase 2, but they were more along the lines your typical Show Room filler - as opposed to being “epic project thread” worthy. Honestly, I even had my doubts about the thread worthiness of phase 3 (until I went to a group dyno session with members of the MWC – more on that later). Don’t get me wrong – the information WAS good, but the relevance of each thread was lost on the majority. Separately, they just lacked the necessary - sizzle… … and dammit, I want SIZZLE! As such, I’ve got some catching up to do from a content perspective. I don’t have a lot of sizzling photo content from the first two phases, but I do have solid, helpful information for the S80T6 owner who’s interested in the best bang for their performance buck. Going forward, no more steak without the sizzle… I’m in it to win it. And I promise to photowhore with the best of them. So, I plan to merge information from my prior threads into this one, and add internal hype-links. Then, as this thread grows, you can jump straight to the information relevant to the phase that you are interested reading about, as opposed to fishing for it throughout the entire thread. I will be the first to admit that I am still somewhat of a noob to turbos and fabricating things, and I’m still learning. So I invite your advice and commentary (whether positive or negative) as I move forward. It’ll make the thread more of an interesting read. With all of that being said, welcome to my thread. I am currently in the final stages of sourcing parts for Phase 4. The objectives for Phase 4 of this project are simple: 375-400whp and 108mph or faster in the 1/4 mile, while retaining all of the creature comforts offered in the S80T6 (i.e. air conditioning, cruise control, etc..) Fail EPICALLY and eat crow - or succeed and gloat. Either way, it should be interesting (and fun). edit: the middle of this post has nice little tables that were lost in transition. Can someone can kindly tell me how to post tables? thnx Phase 1 So, in the fall of 2007, after being neutered stuck driving a minivan since 2003, I had been itching for a new project car and was planning to get a 335i. Around the same time, my daughter had convinced me to buy her a car for college. She had found this specific S80 and she wanted it – BAD. Being the loving dad that I am, I selfishly decided to purchase the car for myself. I then took it directly to my local stealership and had the pcv/flametrap, timing belt and coils/plugs all replaced. I started lurking around here and on SS doing research on potential modifications. In November, I decided to dyno it in order to establish a baseline. This was the result - bone stock, stage zero, premium gas): Undeterred, I spent the winter researching and dreaming. At some point, to satiate my need for additional horsepower, I decided to paint assorted pieces of plastic within the engine compartment red – WTF was I thinking?? Once it was warm enough the following spring, I took the car to get some baseline ¼ mile runs in. These were the results (bone stock, stage zero, more than likely I used race gas): Pig slow, but on par with the hp numbers that I had from the dyno session. My initial mod was to have the resonator removed because the car was just too quiet. Afterwards, the car was still so quiet that I had to literally crawl under the car and verify that the resonator had been removed. It was – so I ordered a magnaflow muffler online, and had a local shop install it along with a “custom” 3” DP and “custom” cat-back exhaust. Then, I went back to the dragstrip. I lost most of those slips, but the times were basically similar to those posted above. However, I did save this slip – because it was one of the first races where I beat a car that, on paper, I wasn’t supposed to: Phase 2 On May 20th, I ordered springs/sways/shocks from IPD and I had a local shop install them (Didn’t take any photos – sorry). I gotta be honest (and I think that it’s safe to do so now that the statute of limitation in my household has expired) … I loved the louder exhaust and new-found handling so much, that 2 weeks later I spent another $1295 and purchased the softloader. My logic was that I needed more performance to compliment the new exhaust note and handling. I loaded the tune and was immediately rewarded with better performance. So naturally, thinking that the car would now have better traction off the line and perform better with the larger exhaust, I drove the car straight to the drag strip, put some race gas in, and ran the ¼ mile to see just how deep into the 13s I was. Yes, I was disappointed… but I was also hopeful – because each of those runs was accompanied by loads of wheelspin. So, in an attempt to get better traction (and as a way to mask my disappointment) I took advantage of IPD’s clearance sale and purchased a set of Ronals R41s and Azenis RT-615s. OMG!! The car drove like it was on rails. From a handling perspective, this was now BMW-esque. And it looked sooo much better. My bank account however, took a serious hit and looked a lot worse… so I shut down the spending and began planning for Phase 2.

Wow! Thanks for the compliments/comments/and interest. I never know what to expect from the masses when I post T6 content, so originally, the intent of that picture was to act as a teaser of sorts. My plan was to generate some interest and then steer you over to a different thread documenting the project - but plans change so, starting with my next post, the build thread starts here and now. Good question. I'll answer it soon.

Yes - used it to mock everything up on. Just your typical white block turbo swap: K24, Greens, 3" DP and WI Oh, and a ceramic coated tri-y manifold My goal is to drive it to Carlisle... might not finish everything in time. We'll see.

Ok, since you asked for my thoughts, here they are: - Did you vet them? - Define "active Company" - Apparently, they are only interested in helping people out with questions as opposed to making sales - Why isn't it easy being green? - And finally, too bad Hervé Villechaize isn't still alive - I bet he would immediately be able to spot the plane

Ok Pros...I need some advise. I've got a GT i-drive 3.0 similar to this one, but with various components upgraded. I stopped riding it several years ago, because of a severe discomfort that I experienced in my right wrist when riding long distances (similar to carpel tunnel, i guess, but without the telltale knot). Now that I'm fat, out of shape and almost 50, I really want to start pounding the miles out again. Got any suggestions on avoiding the wrist pain?

Im loving the 5 spokes on the home page... got pricing available yet?

Hmmm... I always thought that being a Dick was allowed in the R forum

Yeah.. that was why I left in the first place. I didn't intend to stay this long when I came back - but for some reason my wife likes it here (and she's from the south!)

I lived in Sumter, SC for six months,Columbia SC for a year and Stone Mountain, Ga for 7 years. Worked at SunTrust Mortgage as a Regional project manager which meant that I spent a lot of time in Macon, Warner-Robins, Augusta, Rome, Gainesville and LaGrange Oh, and Columbus too

Hmm. And I just thought it was because we lived in CHIRAQ. I guess Chuck was right. I've been here to long. Time for me to move back down south.

Times have changed. This is what your old ass had to say back in July when your man-crush was in full bloom. As far as us having a beer, this is what my old ass said back then: First round is on me.