BL Fabrications 88/96 turbo install on 2019 Bullitt

[mejohn50]

I spent all day making crude cuts to my charge pipe and some spare 3.5” aluminum pipe with a little 7” circular saw. I had to remove the fence/guide in order to make the cuts, which meant that I had to hold the pipe and carefully rotate it 360* to score them straight and then come back with multiple slow passes to cut through. Not fun at all, not to mention dangerous. A couple of times the blade bit too deep, too fast and tried to grab the pipe .

Moving on, I wasted a new 90* section of 3.5” aluminum pipe trying to get the angles right. In the end, it came down to using two 90* silicone couplers to get the exact angle of 72*, which is the angle on the Holley Lo Ram intake snout.

The silicone couplers have a tight 90* bend, whereas the aluminum 90* pipe has a looser bend.

The silicone couplers are just a mock up btw, but I would like to replicate this to get things perfect.

One of these days I’m gonna have to learn to weld. A good mill and lathe would also be nice to have.

Take this for what it’s worth, but I’d 3D scan the engine bay, design exactly what I need in CAD, and just have the whole pipe from that lower silicone coupler to the TB 3D printed out of metal. You can even design in the flange for that coupler at the TB and have it printed right on the pipe.

Sponsored

 

[engineermike]

Metal 3d printing has gotten shockingly cheap over the last few years.

 

[NGOT8R]

Take this for what it’s worth, but I’d 3D scan the engine bay, design exactly what I need in CAD, and just have the whole pipe from that lower silicone coupler to the TB 3D printed out of metal. You can even design in the flange for that coupler at the TB and have it printed right on the pipe.

I didn’t even know this was a thing. I’ll have to look into this. Thanks .

 

[mejohn50]

Just to show how easily this could be done...I whipped this up in about 25 minutes just guessing dimensions and stuff based on your pics.

This could be exported and 3D printed. This single part is big, probably too big for many of the metal 3D printing services. It could either be split into two and welded back together after printing, or you could just make that top part from the MAF housing to the TB and weld it to your existing charge piping.

I also didn't add the MAF or the coupler flange, but that would be another 30 minutes of design work with all the dimensions in front of me.

Either way, this would get you exactly what you need with much less limitations on bend angles or whatever.

 

[NGOT8R]

Just to show how easily this could be done...I whipped this up in about 25 minutes just guessing dimensions and stuff based on your pics.

This could be exported and 3D printed. This single part is big, probably too big for many of the metal 3D printing services. It could either be split into two and welded back together after printing, or you could just make that top part from the MAF housing to the TB and weld it to your existing charge piping.

I also didn't add the MAF or the coupler flange, but that would be another 30 minutes of design work with all the dimensions in front of me.

Either way, this would get you exactly what you need with much less limitations on bend angles or whatever.

I like the idea of having the part from the MAF housing to the tb made and welded in place. Would it be easier to take what I have to a place thst does this locally and they can scan it? What should I expect to pay for a job like this?

 

[mejohn50]

I like the idea of having the part from the MAF housing to the tb made and welded in place. Would it be easier to take what I have to a place thst does this locally and they can scan it? What should I expect to pay for a job like this?

I'm not going to lie, when I suggested that as an option, I suggested it from the position that I have a pretty decent 3D scanner sitting on my desk and I can do the CAD work myself.

I have no idea what this would cost to have done. I know what I would charge someone to do it if someone wanted me to do it, but that may not be a good gauge of the market for this kind of work.

In general, even high-end 3D scanners that'd be used for something like this are relatively portable, so this could be done in your garage by a mobile 3D scanning service.

 

[19BULLITTwhipple]

Just to show how easily this could be done...I whipped this up in about 25 minutes just guessing dimensions and stuff based on your pics.

This could be exported and 3D printed. This single part is big, probably too big for many of the metal 3D printing services. It could either be split into two and welded back together after printing, or you could just make that top part from the MAF housing to the TB and weld it to your existing charge piping.

I also didn't add the MAF or the coupler flange, but that would be another 30 minutes of design work with all the dimensions in front of me.

Either way, this would get you exactly what you need with much less limitations on bend angles or whatever.

WOW!!!! @NGOT8R are you seeing this!

 

[wingnutt]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/165483841236

 

[NGOT8R]

WOW!!!! @NGOT8R are you seeing this!

Yes and here I was thinking 3D printing only applied to plastics.

 

[mejohn50]

Yes and here I was thinking 3D printing only applied to plastics.

I mean, this could probably be printed, and work just fine, from something like PPS-CF or PPA-CF, which can be done on higher-end enthusiast machines. If those materials didn’t work just have it done out of PEEK or Ultem, which most of the online 3D printing services can do.

I’d still do metal, but the engineering plastics have come a long way, and what an enthusiast can do at home now is wild.

 

[NGOT8R]

Small and super easy task completed today. I mounted the eBoost2 in the passenger vent using the Atomic Track Solutions angled mount.

I drilled a hole in the vent duct to serve as a passthrough for the power/signal cable and boost reference line, ran the cable and line through and plugged them up. Easy peasy!

 

[NGOT8R]

Cut em, if you gotta! Today I went ahead and got after it, cutting the front bumper for the exhaust exit. a 4 1/8“ hole saw, coping saw, Dremel and a hand file produced very good results. The goal here, was to make the bumper easier to lift off/on, as opposed to threading the needle through the hole.

There should be plenty of clearance around the pipe to avoid melting anything down the road. Not gonna lie, this was a one shot deal, so I had to be spot on with it, although that still didn’t stop me from being nervous about making the cuts.

I do expect to have to modify the wheel well liner to allow air to flow through it, so that it stays happy in there.

 

[mejohn50]

Cut em, if you gotta! Today I went ahead and got after it, cutting the front bumper for the exhaust exit. a 4 1/8“ hole saw, coping saw, Dremel and a hand file produced very good results. The goal here, was to make the bumper easier to lift off/on, as opposed to threading the needle through the hole.

There should be plenty of clearance around the pipe to avoid melting anything down the road. Not gonna lie, this was a one shot deal, so I had to be spot on with it, although that still didn’t stop me from being nervous about making the cuts.

I do expect to have to modify the wheel well liner to allow air to flow through it, so that it stays happy in there.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but that bumper cut is ripe for a 3D printed trim ring to finish it off. It’d cover up any rough edges and provide a finished, and interesting, appearance.

Personally, I’d prototype it out of easy to work with plastic, like PLA, and then have it 3D printed out of something exotic, like titanium or Inconel, from a 3rd party service for my finished product.

 

[NGOT8R]

That would look cool. I think Snot Rocket has a trim ring around his cutout which is similar to what you’re describing.

I may circle back to something like that, but for now, I’m just trying to crawl back up out of the weeds on this install.

 

[NGOT8R]

Finished making all the vacuum and boost lines today. I also drilled the pipe off the turbo outlet for the boost reference weld on fitting, since my turbo doesn’t have a port on it.

Added silicone/fiberglass heat sleeve to the lines and zipped everything up like it should go. I didn’t fasten the ear clamps in a few spots because I’ll need to remove a few lines for fabrication, so I’ll go back and hit those later on the final. I also ran short by two ear clamps and will need to grab some more.

It was nice to work on something that didn’t piss me off. I feel like I’ve been lost in space like the old school TV series and trying to find my way back down to earth .

Sponsored