Arktikpenguin's Big Turbo Bugeye Build

[500_19B]

That is a tough turn. However, it seems you have been able to draw a tight circle around what may have been impacted and your plan sounds very robust to me.

I have enjoyed reading the detail in your thread... it has been educational and you really apply a lot of thinking to your build. The power levels are really something.

I assume the pieces are steel (checked with magnet I suppose). Your deductions make sense to me. For sure anything ingested ahead of the turbo would have done a number on the compressor wheel (probably completely destroy it), and I can't imagine that there was some bits of steel sitting in the intake manifold while you did all that driving beforehand, without being sucked in. Still, it is really amazing that the BOV would create such suction. But then again, you are operating in a completely different zone than I have ever seen in person.

It sounds like you have checked everything that could have contributed the material, and with your detailed plan, you will be back on the road quickly.

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[ARKTiKPENGUiN]

Quick update without pictures today. I got my new piston in, bore gauge and micrometer. I ordered a set of HX rod bearings, .25 mm over ACL Main Bearings and got to measuring the clearances.

Clearances at crank:

Rod 1: 2.0468"
Rod 2: 2.0468"
Rod 3: 2.0468"
Rod 4: 2.0472"

Main 1: 2.3623"
Main 2: 2.3624"
Main 3: 2.3621"
Main 4: 2.3622"
Main 5: 2.3622"

So everything measured out great here, and I was optimistic. I threw rod bearings into the rods and measured those out to:

Rod 1 Clearance: .0023"
Rod 2 Clearance: .0023"
Rod 3 Clearance: .0024"
Rod 4 Clearance: .0021"

Rod clearance is right on the money, I was looking for between .002 and .003 as Manley suggests so it worked out well. Afterwards I throw in some .25 ACL Main Bearings and do some measuring.... This turned out poorly.

Main 1 Clearance: .0038"
Main 2 Clearance: .0042"
Main 3 Clearance: .0049"
Main 4 Clearance: .0044"
Main 5 Clearance: .0024"

These things were so far out that I was concerned I wouldn't even be able to fix this. I learned that there are .005" oversized bearings so I grabbed 2 sets, .004" and .006". To spare the long story, I was able to fix all the main bearing sizes with the final following clearances:

Main 1: .0011"
Main 2: .0018"
Main 3: .0017"
Main 4: .0014"
Main 5: .0016"

Some slightly outside factory spec, but should work out just fine for my high revving engine. Now this leads me to my oil pressure concerns from before. My mains were clearly so far out of wack that I HAD to be running much looser clearances than I had gotten with plastigage. I was likely seeing .004-.005" of clearance so that explains my pressure issues when warm.

When I pulled the old bearings they had some minimal wear but didn't actually look concerning. No heat had gotten into my rods, the crank still looks brand new, rods look brand new, hell even the piston skirts have almost zero wear. Granted, it had only gone 750 miles but had definitely seen a lot of hours of idling.

Anyways, I have assembled the shortblock fully and my heads turned out to be almost flawless after my head guy took care of them.

I am now sitting trying to get IAG FireLock Head Gaskets, I have overnighted them from Andrewtech but have not seen any emails back from them and IAG is back ordered on them. I fear I may be out of luck at this point, as I wanted to get my engine back together before my vacation this week but I guess that's the way things go.

Once I do have head gaskets though, it's ready to be assembled and to go back in the car. IC piping is half way done and I'm pretty stoked to get on the road again. I'll throw my S363 back on the car and rock that if the S369 has any turbine wheel damage or ball bearing issues.

If anyone reading this has 2.5L FireLock head gaskets, please let me know and I'll pay for next day air shipping asap.

[500_19B]

Sounds like great progress. Perhaps the silver lining here is that the issue lead you to checking the main bearings, and I suppose the large clearance was a "pre-existing" issue (i.e., not related to the incident), so it is good you were able to see that now and get the oversize bearing inserts in.

[ARKTiKPENGUiN]

Originally Posted by 500_19B

Sounds like great progress. Perhaps the silver lining here is that the issue lead you to checking the main bearings, and I suppose the large clearance was a "pre-existing" issue (i.e., not related to the incident), so it is good you were able to see that now and get the oversize bearing inserts in.

Honestly, I did want to pull the engine apart anyways and redo bearings because of the oil pressure concern prior to this, so it pushed me to do that. It just sucks that it cost me a lot more money to fail this way hahaha.


As for an update, Friday I received my head gaskets and this previous weekend I got the engine together! If you've ever seen the Athena FireLock or Cooper Ring head gaskets, IAG has actually branded these themselves now and they seem to be even HIGHER quality. Huge kudos to them for the quality increase, as they seem to be well worth the waiting. As it sits, it is a fully timed longblock just waiting to throw a rear main seal (Company 23 Rear Seal tool is on the way) and the flywheel/clutch on then I can throw it back in.

I did have a valve cover bolt snap off in a head again, but we welded a nut to it and got it out pretty easily. I only tighten these to around 8 ft lbs so it always concerns me when these things snap.

Also, I pulled the turbine housing off the turbo and found a tiny piece of metal that had gone through my engine was stuck to one of the turbine wheel blades. Not damaged or anything, literally just stuck to it and it pulled off easily. All the fins are straight and have no cracking or marks, so the turbo survived to make 40psi another day muahahaha.

My next update/post will likely (hopefully) be me making a 35-40psi pull and seeing how that goes, as well as potentially throwing the car on a hub dyno. TBD!

[ARKTiKPENGUiN]

Hello friends! It has been over a year since I last posted here, I've mainly been busy with home ownership after purchasing a home in August of last year, as well as just enjoying the car.

My engine did have another "failure" after the last post I made, due to my RCM High Grip Tensioner having the washer installed on the wrong part of the sleeve bushing (was installed on the front near the bolt head, not on the rear touching the bracket so it can pivot). My engine jumped timing about 5 teeth, which only bent 2 valves on cyl2 but also caused damage to the crank sprocket, crank key (not key way itself), passenger exhaust cam pin for the cam gear, and my billet exhaust cam gear as well.

If I had paid attention, I'd have known this washer was assembled incorrectly but I trusted it from the factory. I found that my friends engine had the same part and it was ALSO pre-assembled incorrectly and he installed it the same way I did. Thankfully, I found this out before his engine was even installed so we managed to save him the same heartache I faced.

All that aside, my car has been running all of 2024 without any issues. I installed a Corsa Veloce intake manifold, RCM TGV Deletes, an IAG 76mm Big Bore Throttle Body, and an Adlerspeed Triple Disk Clutch. I did install the intake manifold before my last update, but did switch to an E-Throttle and APS setup. APS from a 2013 WRX with an iWire bracket kit was used. I am running HD clamps on all of my piping except the cold side pipe that connects to the throttle body. My BOV has been moved to the hot side piping where it will not suck any debris in lol.

My latest drives have seen the car making upwards of 47psi at full tilt, so the thing is a monster. In 4th gear the turbo makes 20psi around 5000rpm and 40psi around 5800rpm, for reference.

I've moved to the countryside near Batavia NY, and it's getting colder here lately so I've had the car sitting in the garage since the last Buffalo Cars and Coffee of the year, and will likely wash the car and put it away until Spring.

I did not get to do any fun track days, all of my vacations were spent pretty secluded with my girlfriend in Georgetown Kentucky and Huntsville Ontario and a majority of my weekends between then were spent working with my buddy to get his 99 2.5RS swapped and working. It's also utilizing a Link G4X WRX9X ECU, so my familiarity with it helped a lot. Even more of his car is custom compared to mine so we fabbed a lot of the pieces, AOS fitment, same fuel line setup as my car, I performed all wiring for the E-Throttle, Fuel Pressure, Oil Pressure, Flex Fuel kit, Accelerator Pedal, Wideband, MAP Sensor, etc. I also purchased him a PowerTune Digital Dash as a wedding present and wired that up and configured that with some custom CAN data for the Link ECU.

Here's a pic of his car with mine at Cars and Coffee!




Over the winter I plan on getting the car ready for track days at Watkins Glen with my friends. I'll be grabbing a 9 Lives Racing wing kit, which fun fact, my brother has worked on Johnny's LS swapped miata for a little bit now! I also plan on swapping pads, tires, adding a Setrab oil cooler, and turning the car down to run the track around 20psi to start.

I also made a terrible decision and have a 2013 WRX hatch which I'll be using for winter and other daily driver needs. Built short block, Cobb 20G, FMIC, E85. It'll hold me over until Spring for sure

[wReXeRw]

Which 9 Lives wing are wing are you getting?

[ARKTiKPENGUiN]

Originally Posted by wReXeRw

Which 9 Lives wing are wing are you getting?

I plan on going swan wing, 71", best mounts and a 1/2" gurney flap.

I ended up taking the car to Watkins Glen for their last track event this past Saturday, it's my first track day so I had an instructor and really just wanted to feel the car out.

First things first, my brakes were immediately not up to the task. I figured they wouldn't do well, hence why I wanted to feel the car out. I have either PowerStop Z17 or Z23 brake pads, certainly okay pads for the street but they did not like heat at all. After a few laps I didn't really feel comfortable pushing the car, for fear of brake fade and overshooting a turn. I plan to switch to gyrodisc 2 piece rotors and run some Hawk DTC30 pads front and rear, switch my basic DOT4 fluid to Motul 660 and test more from there.

The Glen has a lot of nice right hand turns, which leads me to my fuel cut issue. Any sort of aggressive driving through the right hand turns lead to fuel cut (verified by fuel psi dropping to 0 in my ECU!). Kermit always preaches this, my GD chassis needs a surge tank. I'll get that installed over winter.

My car was also understeering under power, which I'm sure there are plenty of reasons for. I'll fix my driving habits and also fix my roll center and alignment before I look too deeply into this. I can change sway bar angle up front slightly, dampen rear coils, raise rear coils, etc to make slight adjustments in future. I was making about 20psi of boost peak, fyi.

After my initial run I noticed my ps lines leaking at the rack from my mooresport adapter block/fittings, so I ended the day for my car there. I didn't want to fix the leak hastily and have it spring again while running the track. My car did stay very cool, 185*F was where coolant tended to sit while hot lapping. My oil temps got to about 215*F.

Overall, I had a great time and rode with my buddy for about 25-30 laps and had a blast.

Winter plans have changed slightly:

- Changing to a 2008+ sti 6 speed and rear diff (swap 04 sti 6 speed into hatch)
- Changing to 5x114.3 Hubs, new axles, swapping front coilover bottom mounts
- Adding rear camber plates to my FA500 coils.
- Change turbo from S369SXE to an S258SXR w/ 1.06 rear exhaust housing.
- Add a Radium Multi Pump Surge Tank (2L w/ 2 pumps)
- Order a lift pump, swap into Radium Fuel Hanger, take Hellcat 525 pumps and swap into Surge Tank
- Girodisc 2 Piece Rotors Front and Rear
- Hawk DTC30 Pads Front and Rear
- Motul 660 Brake Fluid
- Some sort of 18x9.5 Wheels in 5x114.3
- 255/35/18 Kumho Ecsta V730 or 255/40/18 Bridgestone Potenza RE-71RS
- Install whiteline roll center ball joints
- Fix PS leak
- Maybe a bolt-in half cage?

Here's some pics:

[AzulBerrySTI]

Car looks great. Do you AutoX or track it?

[ARKTiKPENGUiN]

Originally Posted by AzulBerrySTI

Car looks great. Do you AutoX or track it?

Thanks, man.

I really only plan on tracking the car moving forward, but we will see!

[ARKTiKPENGUiN]

Also a quick update,

I have acquired a Radium Multi Pump Surge Tank, so I'll get some parker pushlok hose and fittings to get that all set up!

Saturday I am driving to pick up a 2018 STi full drivetrain swap. I'll use the trans and diff in my Bugeye, then swap my 04 sti trans into the 2013 hatch after changing the stubs in the 6 speed out to suit the 2013 wrx axles. I already have an auto driveshaft to use the 04 sti trans w/ r160 rear diff, so not gonna bother grabbing a new sti driveshaft to work with the r180. Just gonna sell that off or hold on to it, undecided.

[Gixhost]

Never opened this thread before. I love the car. It looks amazing.

[ARKTiKPENGUiN]

Originally Posted by Gixhost

Never opened this thread before. I love the car. It looks amazing.

Thanks a lot man!

Drove 6 hours to NJ and 6 hours back home on Saturday, grabbed a full 2018 sti 6 speed swap with 72k miles on it for a steal! Google Maps managed to take me through some awful backroads during brutal lake effect snow so it was certainly not fun on the way there, but was pretty uneventful on the way home!

The swap came with:

2018 STi 6 Speed - Going into Bugeye
2018 3.54 Rear Diff - Going into Bugeye
2018 STi Starter - Swap into Hatch when I swap 6 speeds
2018 STi Knuckles - Swap fronts into Bugeye for 5x114.3, sell rears?
2018 STi Shifter + Knob - Swap into Hatch when I swap 6 speeds
2018 STi Axles - Sell
2018 STi Trans Crossmember - Swap into Hatch as this is super clean
2018 STi Slave + Master Cylinders - Swap Slave into Hatch, keep master as a spare or sell

Yes you read that correctly, GR STi and VA STi front knuckles are the same, and GR STi works with GDs so I'll use those. Haven't looked into the ABS Sensor situation, but I'll only need the front right for Wheel Speed through the VSSPro and I have an aftermarket ECU so I don't see any issues there. I do not run ABS.

For rear knuckles, you can just press out the old 5x100 hubs and bearings and make the switch to 5x114.3 and use the same axles.

For front axles, I'll grab 05-07 STi front axles. Maybe some beefier and vented ones.

For front brakes, I believe late 05+ all have the provision on the steering knuckle that is thicker to prevent less pad knockback/stiffen the caliper and mounts. I cannot use the ATS brake caliper kit I currently use due to this, and I planned on getting 6 piston brakes anyways. I believe I've settled on NEO Motorsports' F501 Caliper Brake Kit for GDs with 356mm rotors. I emailed them for a caliper template and to verify if they do 5x114.3 rotors as their spreadsheet only makes mention of 5x100, even on newer STis. If I can't make these work, I'll be going with Alcon/RCM's 365mm Brake Kit.

For rear brakes, I'll stick with stock brembos for now and move to better pads. NEO Motorsport makes their P1 racing pad compound for this caliper so I'll match fronts. If I find it necessary I can move to NEO's 4 piston rear caliper kit!

For wheels, I found that OEM STi brembos seem to have the biggest issue with caliper clearance compared to aftermarket 4 and 6 piston brakes, so I'm going to grab some Rota Titan R's in 18x9.5 +35 5x114.3. They already work for my STi brembos, and the calipers I've looked at seem to have better spoke clearance then OEM brembos. I'll run some 275/35/18 Kumho Ecsta V730s and see how that works for me.

Still waiting on Import Image Racing to get me a quote for Rear Camber Plates and new Coilover Bottom Mounts for my front coilovers. I'll order those and front axles + rear 5x114.3 hubs and bearings.

Also going to grab an Anti-Lift Kit for the front control arms, and maybe a bigger rear sway bar to promote less understeer.

When I do the 2018 6 speed swap, Rear TSSFab Subframe and T Bar will go in as well!