I now have the fabrication complete on the custom intake. I am now focusing on the exhaust system. I am using 2-45 degree bends of 2.5″ stainless tubing. The exhaust will travel under the motor and meet up with the turbo flange towards the rear of the car. I am slowly getting there.
I am getting closer to having the intake plenum completed. I have one side completely boxed in and the deflection plate ready to weld in. All I have left to do is box in the other side, seal it up and paint it.
Intake construction continues. I now have the runners welded completely to the mount plate and the intake plenum itself. I sealed up the welding spots with JB weld to insure that there are no leaks. I have also constructed the throttle body mount plate.
I have bolted the mounting plate to the fiber spacer plate and smoothed out the transition. I also cut out the 4 intake runners and made sure that they are exactly the same size and shape. I tacked all 4 runners onto the mounting plate and then held the main intake tube up to the runners and marked the back side for where the holes should be. I will now cut out the holes, small at first, and then tack it all together.
Continuing with the intake build one piece at a time. I need to create the head mounting plate to start. I am then positioning the plenum and determining the size and shape of the intake runners. I am using 1.5″x2.5 rectangular tubing for the runners. I will cut out all of the runners and make them match, then I will realign and tack everything together.
After I cut out the hole in the turbo mount bracket I went ahead and remounted the turbo. Now I need to create the custom intake plenum. I am using some 14 gauge 4”x4” steel tubing. Everything must line up perfectly to make it work. I will slowly build the intake one piece at a time.
I have now traced the foam pattern onto some 3/6″ steel plate. I cut 1/16″ deep lines in the plate where the bend points are. I bent the plate and am now fitting it into place. I went ahead and mounted the waste gate adapter to the plate and will now cut out the center and trim it up a bit.
My turbo will be hard-mounted to the frame in the rear of the car. I am building a bracket to hold the turbo in place. The bracket will be made from steel but I am creating a template from a piece of foam board material. Once I get this exactly as I want it, I will then make it from steel.
Turbo set up continues, I finally got in the 4″ long flex connector for the exhaust. I will need to build a mounting plate to hold the turbo in position and then connect all of the exhaust pipes and intake pipes as well as build the intake.
Now with the brakes complete, I can focus on getting the engine running. first up is getting the turbo mounted and plumbed. I am planning on solid mounting the VW bug turbo so the exhaust pipe wil need to be flexible. I am planning on inserting 2 flex connectors to accomplish this.