S4 Twin Turbo will be a reality!
07-01-2005, 10:50 PM
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S4 Twin Turbo will be a reality!
I have just made a purchase of a very clean 1988 928S4. Man I got lucky...get this, 5-spd with the LSD. It was owned by a gasoline distributor that just recently passed away from cancer...he was a collector and very selective as I have learned. He owned a host of other cars including two Vettes, a Cobra with a twin screw, blown Mustangs, and a few Jags. This car is cleeeeeaaan...complete with twist wheels, custom steering wheel and GTS style mirrors. Garaged and covered most of its life!
The car is in LA and I had asked a favor of Mark at Split Second to look it over for me. One trip to the shop for $11,000 in service work a few years back! This guy was very selective about his cars. I'm told the body, paint and interior are as good as they could be. This is the first car I have purchased without inspection myself.
Now the fun starts. This is a high mile car, but I don't care...I will be going through the entire engine...at a minimum new pistons, but most likely a good set of rods with it....oh yes, and a set of Garretts and a few other odds and ends to make it sing. I'll be dropping the CR to an acceptable level for turbocharging and this car will get a very unique fuel/ignition setup to provide proper management with safety to keep it off of detonation. It will retain full street driving characteristics and fuel economy off boost!
This should be a most unique machine when complete...I know if I play my cards right I can run some seeeeerious power through this one. It should be a lot of fun, assuming I can keep my sanity through the build. Of course, I will be designing all of this stuff with the intent of reproduction....in the event some of you are as crazy as I am. I expect this to take longer than the 4.5 liter build, which was completed in 6 weeks...what was I possibly thinking??? This is the car I should have built last year.
Now...about this pesky gold car sitting in my garage....
I need a code name for this project....
The car is in LA and I had asked a favor of Mark at Split Second to look it over for me. One trip to the shop for $11,000 in service work a few years back! This guy was very selective about his cars. I'm told the body, paint and interior are as good as they could be. This is the first car I have purchased without inspection myself.
Now the fun starts. This is a high mile car, but I don't care...I will be going through the entire engine...at a minimum new pistons, but most likely a good set of rods with it....oh yes, and a set of Garretts and a few other odds and ends to make it sing. I'll be dropping the CR to an acceptable level for turbocharging and this car will get a very unique fuel/ignition setup to provide proper management with safety to keep it off of detonation. It will retain full street driving characteristics and fuel economy off boost!
This should be a most unique machine when complete...I know if I play my cards right I can run some seeeeerious power through this one. It should be a lot of fun, assuming I can keep my sanity through the build. Of course, I will be designing all of this stuff with the intent of reproduction....in the event some of you are as crazy as I am. I expect this to take longer than the 4.5 liter build, which was completed in 6 weeks...what was I possibly thinking??? This is the car I should have built last year.
Now...about this pesky gold car sitting in my garage....
I need a code name for this project....
07-01-2005, 11:09 PM
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Congratulations!
Sounds like a good candidate.
I totally agree that this is the car you should have built.
This is the kind of car, that if you do it right, will make people want to
drop the money to be the king of the hill. Even if you don't want to
push the limit, I am sure there are those out there who would be very
happy to buy your manifolds, and go nuts...
I think this car will be a real monster, and you're just the guy to pull it off...
Good luck!
Sounds like a good candidate.
I totally agree that this is the car you should have built.
This is the kind of car, that if you do it right, will make people want to
drop the money to be the king of the hill. Even if you don't want to
push the limit, I am sure there are those out there who would be very
happy to buy your manifolds, and go nuts...
I think this car will be a real monster, and you're just the guy to pull it off...
Good luck!
07-02-2005, 08:41 AM
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John
So you got the silver 88 from autotrader.... It seemed like a great deal for someone...I just wish I was in the market for a 5 speed! Be sure to get a before dyno! I look forward to your results!
Brian
So you got the silver 88 from autotrader.... It seemed like a great deal for someone...I just wish I was in the market for a 5 speed! Be sure to get a before dyno! I look forward to your results!
Brian
07-02-2005, 10:31 AM
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John, the more unique you make her, the less likely it is that we all can do the same. Personally I think of that as a bad thing for all, but great thing for you. I'm excited to see your work 
07-02-2005, 07:06 PM
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Originally Posted by IcemanG17
John
So you got the silver 88 from autotrader.... It seemed like a great deal for someone...I just wish I was in the market for a 5 speed! Be sure to get a before dyno! I look forward to your results!
Brian
So you got the silver 88 from autotrader.... It seemed like a great deal for someone...I just wish I was in the market for a 5 speed! Be sure to get a before dyno! I look forward to your results!
Brian
Emanuel
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07-04-2005, 02:11 PM
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Oh yes...that is the car! Thoughts? I had to make a call to the dealer to confirm the LSD on this car...something I know I will really need to pull this off properly. I think the price was reasonable, even though the miles are a little high. Why should I pay $15,000 for a low mile car to just scrap the pistons in it anyway?
I was thinking more along the lines of these names...
Fat Bastard
The Beast (I once had a snowmobile with this name)
Heinrich...don't worry...this one will be done to the same level of completion as the last two. I'm having a special custom unit made for fuel and ignition so this can be done properly and not touch low end fuel economy and reliability. Don't look for a cheap bolt up....not gonna do it. There is a right way to do this and it starts inside the engine. I want to build the ultimate 5.0 liter car that will have longevity and reliability. I'm on the shelf...shall I build and keep, or sell? Depends on just how nice this car really is. Gut tells me it will be a keeper. "Get me the skin box please....oh that's a keeper." (I've been watching Goldmember on my new bigscreen).
This weekend, I realized I have a problem. While moving boxes from my interim home (AKA Mom's place) to my new house I noticed something strange. I had 15 boxes of retired or surplus car parts, and only three boxes for my new kitchen. I guess this is a good indicator of my priorities? Oh well, who cares anyway. One of the guys from Two Men and a Truck told me I had a cool "crib". The guys at work say I should just buy an old Jiffy Lube and set up a bed in one of the bays. Funny thing is I could probably be happy with that!
I was thinking more along the lines of these names...
Fat Bastard
The Beast (I once had a snowmobile with this name)
Heinrich...don't worry...this one will be done to the same level of completion as the last two. I'm having a special custom unit made for fuel and ignition so this can be done properly and not touch low end fuel economy and reliability. Don't look for a cheap bolt up....not gonna do it. There is a right way to do this and it starts inside the engine. I want to build the ultimate 5.0 liter car that will have longevity and reliability. I'm on the shelf...shall I build and keep, or sell? Depends on just how nice this car really is. Gut tells me it will be a keeper. "Get me the skin box please....oh that's a keeper." (I've been watching Goldmember on my new bigscreen).
This weekend, I realized I have a problem. While moving boxes from my interim home (AKA Mom's place) to my new house I noticed something strange. I had 15 boxes of retired or surplus car parts, and only three boxes for my new kitchen. I guess this is a good indicator of my priorities? Oh well, who cares anyway. One of the guys from Two Men and a Truck told me I had a cool "crib". The guys at work say I should just buy an old Jiffy Lube and set up a bed in one of the bays. Funny thing is I could probably be happy with that!
07-04-2005, 11:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Herr-Kuhn
The guys at work say I should just buy an old Jiffy Lube and set up a bed in one of the bays. Funny thing is I could probably be happy with that!
07-05-2005, 01:38 PM
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You got a great car. Bob was a long time customer and a true car enthusiast very sorry to hear of his passing. Greg Brown at Precision Motorwerks took care of this car. Of all his various cars Bob really enjoyed DRIVING his 928 it was his first choice the other cars were TOYS.
07-05-2005, 02:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Jim bailey - 928 International
You got a great car. Bob was a long time customer and a true car enthusiast very sorry to hear of his passing. Greg Brown at Precision Motorwerks took care of this car. Of all his various cars Bob really enjoyed DRIVING his 928 it was his first choice the other cars were TOYS.
Looks like you got a good one!
07-05-2005, 05:32 PM
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Nice car!
IMHO, for now i wouldnt even touch the engine. I would do a leak down for sure but I would get the whole turbo set up fabricated first, then once you get it dialed in with a stock motor at a conservative boost of 7-8psi, then Id pull the engine apart and build it up.
I understand that you want to build it to be strong a survive the rigors of boost , but at 5-9 psi what do you really neeed to change? More boost than that, yes, it would be a good thing to go inside the motor,but not for the initial development of it all. It would be wasted time, money and effort that you could be using to get the basic system, set up.
These cars are now developing a pretty good reliability record on stock higher milage components and boost levels of 4-10 psi.
Build the system, bolt it on and see what you have first.
My .02
IMHO, for now i wouldnt even touch the engine. I would do a leak down for sure but I would get the whole turbo set up fabricated first, then once you get it dialed in with a stock motor at a conservative boost of 7-8psi, then Id pull the engine apart and build it up.
There is a right way to do this and it starts inside the engine. I want to build the ultimate 5.0 liter car that will have longevity and reliability.
These cars are now developing a pretty good reliability record on stock higher milage components and boost levels of 4-10 psi.
Build the system, bolt it on and see what you have first.
My .02
07-05-2005, 05:47 PM
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Yeah, but he's done this process on two 928s now...
I know the s4 has differences, but John is pretty good at tearing these motors down now.
The internals should be pretty much the same.
So he might as well go ahead and do the Nikasil thing, and get the CR lowered,
then it will give him room to turn up the boost. Why tear everything apart more
than once? That way if he has any problems, it will be with the intake,
fuel injection, etc... All external stuff.
I do agree that if I was going to try it myself, for the first time,
I would probably try boosting the stock motor first.
So that if I screwed up, and blew up the motor,
that I could build it stronger the next time.
But I think John knows what he is doing, and is pretty conservative
when it comes to keeping it safe for the engine...
I know the s4 has differences, but John is pretty good at tearing these motors down now.
The internals should be pretty much the same.
So he might as well go ahead and do the Nikasil thing, and get the CR lowered,
then it will give him room to turn up the boost. Why tear everything apart more
than once? That way if he has any problems, it will be with the intake,
fuel injection, etc... All external stuff.
I do agree that if I was going to try it myself, for the first time,
I would probably try boosting the stock motor first.
So that if I screwed up, and blew up the motor,
that I could build it stronger the next time.
But I think John knows what he is doing, and is pretty conservative
when it comes to keeping it safe for the engine...
07-05-2005, 05:53 PM
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BC, Tony understands I believe that the value to us "others" is not in John's doing things the way he wants, though of course he will do and should do so 
... the value is in adding possibilities for mere mortals like is. For instance, today we have bolt-on superchargers. Had we had none, and were we still in the "VOODOO WILL EAT YOUR BRAIN IF YOU DON'T CHANGE CR" mentality, we would all be having our tails handed to us by Hondas.
... the value is in adding possibilities for mere mortals like is. For instance, today we have bolt-on superchargers. Had we had none, and were we still in the "VOODOO WILL EAT YOUR BRAIN IF YOU DON'T CHANGE CR" mentality, we would all be having our tails handed to us by Hondas.
07-05-2005, 05:59 PM
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It would be nice if John could find out if his S4 is 9.3-9.4:1 or 10:1. If it's at the lower end, I think building the turbo setup with the stock engine first is the better route and not dangerous.