96 5vz xcab 4x4 TACO TURBO BUILD

Good advice.

Get OEM header gaskets. Get better v band clamps, at least a couple so if the cx ones break you'll have them ready (or vice versa). You can use high temp copper rtv on everything.

Like Chris said, this is a 5 day project.....minimum.

 

yeah different V-band flanges are in my budget so no worries! and I've allocated 2 weeks to work on this whole deal.

 

Gio, how's yours been lately. And dude, that catch can is a necessity! Mines already collected quite a bit. Prolly why it was oozing out the valve covers before. Lol

 

It's been ok. My Chinese wastegate finally took a shizzle so I'll be ordering a tial with a 7.5psi spring kit (more boost whoop whoop) and an AEM methanol kit.
I had to disconnect the turbo piping cuz I was boostin to the moon.
You ain't lying about the catch can... I have a 3' circle of oil spots everywhere I park. Gona get those VC gaskets and the turbo side exhaust mani gasket replaced on Thursday hopefully.
How's your truck riding?

 

So I replaced my 4 PSI Chinese wastegate for a Precision wastegate with a 7-8 psi spring. I also put in a an AEM methanol injection kit. SUCKER FLIES!!!!!
Yes that is a .79 GPH nozzle spraying through the turbo, intercooler and MAF, and *NO* I don't care what you have to say about it, so spare the constructive criticism. My MAF is completely fine with no codes, and a .79 GPH (smallest available) nozzle through a hot turbo will atomize finer than anything else and vaporize completely as it goes through the hot turbo. No one will ever convince me that vaporized methanol through an extremely fine nozzle is any worse than the acetone and the other solvents in MAF cleaner spray. If I don't see any codes or signs of misfiring, then it's going to stay there. I got a 1000cc/min nozzel right after the MAF. The system is spraying both nozzles at about 50%-70% of their full capacity, as the maximum flow is set to 13 PSI (boost), and the controller is progressive based on boost pressure. 11.2 AFR all the way up to 7-8 PSI.

 

Dude thats freakin epic!! Maybe if that AEM seems to far away for me Ill get that meth kit. Soooo cool man.

 

The progressive MAP controller makes tuning SUPER easy. It's a model 30-3300 if that helps. Worth every penny. My intake manifold was cold as ice after a nice pull earlier.

 

Yeah I had planned that after figuring up how expense the AEM was...I may leave my 4.5psi springs in and just turn it up when/if i get meth so that way if i run out i can turn it back down.

did you take the header off to put on the WG?

 

That's the best way to do it. I pretty much committed to always having two gallons of washer fluid in my bed when I put in the 7 psi spring. Oh well. Worst comes to worst I can always disconnect the charge pipes and just pop the cone filter on the MAF, go N/A temporarily. That's what I had to do for three weeks after my Chinese wastegate took a dump on me.

 

Yeah Methanol looks pretty good after you've spent $2000+ on parts and 60+ hours in work on something. Its really a great solution. Cooler temps, more boost, more power, no need for an AEM or bigger injectors... Lol I went through the back breaking, painstaking, ball busting procedure of putting my WG WITH the header on lmao

 

Yup I just went through that myself. Another "buy once cry once" failure on my part. No more Chinese shizzle on my truck .
Only thing left is maybe a split second enricher for part-throttle closed-loop boost. I tried to tune the methanol to do that, but in closed loop it still cuts fuel for a 14.7/1 ratio.
EDIT: oh sorry I didn't see that you asked if I replaced the WG with the headers on.
Yes I did. Allen head bolts with a swivel socket made it not so terrible.

 

I had to use normal bolts since the supplied allen bolts were too short. Marking that off the list of things NOT to do lol. I guess you never had to relocate your primary o2 sensor to be hotter? I'm gonna have to move mine since its not getting hot enough and idles between 14.5-16.0

 

Mine fluctuates a lot at idle and normal driving too (14.3-15.3), but I don't think it's worth relocating the front O2. Your engine won't have any negative effects at all idling at 16/1. You may have to pour a gallon or two of denatured alcohol in the tank to pass emissions (if applicable), but it's not a big deal.

 

Yeah I'm not sure about emissions yet...but if it is an issue I'll follow your trick of denatured alcohol. Keep us posted though, im curious about that split second enricher.

 

So after getting back from an out of town trip, I can tell you all that 7-8 psi and meth is more than good enough for these trucks. When you can walk away from almost all v8 trucks who are trying to pass you or trying to keep you from passing them, and you are keeping stock muscle cars company in the fast lane regardless of how fast they're going (accelerating), you know your taco has reached that next level of awesome.
The difference between 4-5 PSI and 7-8 PSI with methanol is unspeakable. Never in a million years did I think that it could be that awesome.
Part throttle closed loop boost scares me to my core more than before now though, even though I have meth cooling the intake charge to below ambient temps and the ECU's timing is significantly more retarded than open loop WOT. I see no need to change injectors, but I need to pick up a split second enricher or something similar soon.

 

You're saying part throttle is lean?

 

The truck is always going to want to stay at 14.7:1 in closed loop regardless of boost pressure unless you intercept the o2 reading and trick the ECU.
It's not a big deal as long as your boost is always had in WOT

 

Hmm at moderate accel I am on boost so maybe I should look into the Split second enricher

 

Do you have a wideband gauge?

 

Yeah it's between 14.5 and 15.2 since I moved the o2. I know guys say the stock fpr handles boost "just fine" but A 1:1 ratio just isn't enough fuel...So I may invest in a vortech unit (like 2:1 or 6:1)