Headaches.
You’re building headaches.
R-Sport B21AT turbo build
I think that it is cool, but only because they will be your headaches.
SpacI think that it is cool, but only because they will be your headaches.
Yeah so as hinted in photos and Spac's comments, this is going to be a B21AT build, utilising the R-Sport carby turbo kit.
It's been quite a ride so far. The original TB03 turbo is trash (let's face it, it's a crap turbo). I'm going to be running a new GT2252S.
The R-Sport kit I bought from @Spac in 2015 I think, and I bought the B21A from @Angus242164 also in 2015, and the whole lot has sat in my garage ever since.
This is very much a desire build, I'm not chasing crazy power, it will make like 5psi because I'm pretty sure the Zenith CD175 won't flow enough fuel to go above that.
I'm deleting the mechanical fuel pump as the original boost-referenced pump is too hard to come by and I honestly can't be bothered modifying one. This will be a conversion from K-Jet so the car will already have a return system and I'd rather run an electric pump that can utilise that, so that I don't have to re-plumb the fuel system.
- Edited
Here's a couple more photos that I didn't want to share while I was still working out the details of the project.
I had the old powdercoating blasted off the micro-intercooler, I'm going to clean up the rough casting and have it powdercoated. As a final step I'll skim the lettering on a mill. In a tragic industrial accident, the charge air pipe that goes over the top of the valve cover was badly damaged. My machinist is fabricating a new one to match the original.
This nut was pitted and rusted from storage, I skimmed it on the lathe and filed it back into shape, then blued it (heat with a torch until cherry red, drop in oil). What is overkill? ?
Test fitting parts just to see how it looks. The cover plate was hot tanked and then clearcoated. These cast aluminium parts are very porous so if you don't clearcoat them they'll become an oily mess as soon as you put fingerprints on them.
New freeze plugs thanks @ramrod and @iceton1975. I used a 24mm impact socket and a mini sledge hammer (short handle, very heavy). Permatex Aviation form-a-gasket no. 3 on the sealing surfaces.
I'm waiting on a lot of parts at the moment. I'm also gathering parts to be zinc plated. I also need to re-make the oil cooler hardlines that go from the sandwich plate to the block. The box of parts I got from @Spac has the oil cooler hardlines from a 740T and while they will fit and do the job, this is an R-Sport build and I'd like to reproduce the original hardlines.
Also it blows my mind that I actually found a source for the B21AT/ET carb jets IN AUSTRALIA (https://classiccarbs.com.au/)
Awesome stuff.
Proof you dont need massive power gains, LS swaps or high tech for cool projects.
Okay, so this build will be just like a Volvo Turbo Cup engine, but different.
Awesome!
22 days later
Okay, aux shaft bearings finally turned up. For the record, the Skandix ones (which is what IPD sold me) are finished and do not need to be line bored.
Polished crank:
Main caps installed. I used some plastigauge to check clearances, the front journal was a bit large but juuust in spec, and everything else was good. I also measured axial clearance at about 3 thou which is a tad high but I've gone full send on turbo blocks with 4+ thou and not had any trouble so not concerned really.
I'll complete the bottom end over the weekend. The top end is still some time away so it may be a hot minute before more updates roll in. I have a 405 head on my B21E but it needs new valve stems and if my memory is accurate, it probably needs some corrosion ground out and TIG welded. Just when my machinist thought he was finally rid of me.
I also need to hand-make new oil cooler hardlines to reproduce the original R-Sport hardlines, which are different in design to the 740 Turbo hardlines. I have braze-on banjos and fittings on order just need to pick up some steel pipe.
Don't know how I missed this thread, good work ?
So I tore down a mechanical fuel pump to see how difficult it would be to boost reference it, and basically I can't be bothered. The car already is plumbed for a return system as it's currently K-Jet, so I'm going to instead use a modern pressure regulator. I think I've settled on a Fuelab 515 which has a pretty nice range of adjustment and will not look too alien in my engine bay. This means the fuel tank and pump are all going to remain as-is, which is nice, as if I ever get over this setup I can go back to K-Jet with minimal hassle.
That aside, today I finished off assembly of the bottom end, barring a couple of fasteners and the oil pan, as I don't have any more M8x16 bolts. I'm waiting on a bunch of fresh fasteners.
I can't start work on the top end just yet, so I am next going to be looking at reproducing the original R-Sport oil cooler hardlines. This is what I have presently:
And this is what I need to end up with:
Other turbo redblock Volvos use a slightly different setup with hoses and hardlines in different places. The bracket you see in the photo above is the one from a 740 Turbo, GCP had them for sale for $not much, and comparing it to the diagram you can see that aside from the actual pipe clamp, it's the same part (the part numbers are different though). I can live with that!
So, I have braze-on banjos and fittings on their way to me from the UK. I have a pipe bending tool but all the same this is probably going to take me a few goes. I may also take this whole setup off the new engine and fit it to my existing engine as I need to make sure these pipes stay clear of the steering column.
Surely you can buy stuff here?
Id be going Festo and using clamp that has plastic blocks instead of bare metal but ey, this is more like the rest of the car.
Sticking foam on those clamps would be fine right?
egads (she/her)Sticking foam on those clamps would be fine right?
Foam isnt strong enough and the clamos i would use are for hydraulics so overkil....But kool....
Ex850RSurely you can buy stuff here?
Id be going Festo and using clamp that has plastic blocks instead of bare metal but ey, this is more like the rest of the car.
I did hunt around locally but had a hard time finding braze fittings.
I'm not sure why you would want foam or anything, these are steel pipes were talking about, once clamped they don't move.
Just thinking of heating and cooling cycles slowly doing them in but probably way overthinking it
Fasteners and banjos turned up. I'm going to try and see if I can use some steel tubing I already have, it has some bends in it already but I think they might actually match up pretty neatly with what I need, so hopefully that will save me some time/the need to buy more steel tube.
Okay so this is what I'm aiming for. I mocked it up with some old 740T hardlines. When I get a chance I'll tack everything together and then see if I can find a shop that can fab up fresh pipe to match.
Is it worth buying a reasonable tube bender?
If you have other use for it or others maybe?
I have a tube bender, but it can't do these kinds of tight radii, the smallest it can do is maybe a 50mm radius, these are about 30mm radius. Benders that can do those kinds of bends in steel pipe aren't cheap and honestly I have no need for one, if this was any other build I would just use aluminium hardlines and be happy with larger bend radii, but this build is all kinds of crazy attempts at reproducing the factory finish.
