Installation tips for VT2-500?

[iPhoneEngineer]

Hey guys,

I'm dropping my car off at Alekshop (Northern California ESS dealer) later today to begin the install of my VT2-500. I want to have a list of things I should check in with him about.

Beedub has already given me a wealth of great information, though he or others may have more to say than these points I've collected:

- Use fresh oil cooler o-rings or they are likely to leak
- Check hood clearance of the power steering reservoir cap and S/C intake tubing
- Put some kind of buffer, like a rubber strip, between the intercooler and oil cooler or they can knock together on rough roads
- For those without a boost gauge installed, request a boost log
- Check engine mount bolt torque
- As your mechanic to take photos of the install

Anything else?

[Beedub]

iphone you WILL have to shave off the powersteering cap tabs, look closely @ my pics and you'll see what i mean, when you accelerate your tank will rub the lower ridge sections on the under side of the bonnet

the rubber buffer you saw DEFINATLY will cause the intercooler and oil cooler to slightly knock together, trust me i know :-) hence my mod.....

The s/c intake MUST be perfectly aligned otherwise it will rub on the hood and damage the intake, the intake is very soft and will scratch and damage easily.....

engine mounts MUST be visualed at least, i check them by eye weekly, you can visibly see if the bolt is backing out....

get supercharger oil change refil kit.....

check diff oil level, its about to get a whole heap of shit sent its way.

swap engine oil for fresh stuff. Drive within reason for the first 200 miles but DEFINATLY give the car a few runs to the redline, the car needs to adapt to fueling in the high rev range as well as the low range, just do this only a few times, thats all thats needed.

for the love of god PLEASE tell the shop vortech overfill these s/cs from factory, one startup renders this $2500 part to the scrap yard.......

Definatly do a boost check, pully should be 7psi..... if you get a higher boost pulley makesure you note this with ess, after speaking to ess your looking for AFRs in the 11-12range @ high rpm and WOT.

please tell your shop to be REAL careful installing your pulley otherwise they will damage the s/c internal seal casuing it to puke its guts up.

the s/c oil drain below can get pretty close to the chassis rail, i used som braided line protector to stop the hose rubbing on the chassis rail and to protect the hose and the paint of my car also, again see my pics for full details.

dont be alarmed if your s/c sounds like a tin can with marbles in their @ low rpm hot idle....... i do valve clearances every year now, as im unsure what effect boost is having, so far i havnt needed 1 shim ;-)


oil cooler is an area that needs REAL attention to detail, the cuts made to the cars plastic work will be sharp and need lagging properly to protect the lines and look nice, again refur to my post.

i routed ALL wiring within the stock sheathing for a cleeaannnn look.

[Beedub]

orings on the oil cooler are smply a must!!! without these you WILL get a leak.....

please dont be alarmed if some of the boost pipework needs to be worked to fi your car perfectly, every car is different and my shop cut, welded, added to, shortned, make new brackets for perfect oem fitment, nothing fits the same, your might go straigt on, mine didnt and needed work, i instructed my shop the car must not leave the premises until it looked perfect without modding the car at all..... i ahve my wish and a perfect car....

one last thing....... tell the shop to heat shrink the manifold temp sensor, it looks very oem and a proper insulator.

if you pully is 85mm you have 8psi ;-)

boost log boost log boost log boost log boost log..............

please take some video clips of the dyno ;-)

iphone, please take note your going to be running a very different vanos setting, this takes time to get used to, you will feel the vanos phase in very low in the rev band, basically to smooth the transition to boost, your tq curve will look like the stock curve just much higher. You should see no dips or dives in that curve......

the exhaust note changes ALOT....

most of all upgrade your tyres!!! lol i hope ive been slightly helpful your going to LOVE this thing, whens the install?? all parts here now??

[whilechukwuzout]

A friend of mine told me if you ever go forced induction on our cars upgrading the transmission mounts is a good idea. I dont know much else about the setup though, asides from the fact that your about to turn your car into a true hellbeast and Im jealous. Enjoy and be sure to post pics!

BTW are you PD? We may have met.

[ZStig]

I'm jealous. My install starts Tuesday night, hopefully

[Beedub]

the tranny and engine mounts stock are more than man enough to take the vt2 But only once they are young and fresh....... at least we have options with these, the Re engine mounts and tranny mounts are where ill be looking once i get closer to 15k miles......


everything will need to be upgraded in time.....

tom... the wait must be painful....

[JFB06M]

I now have 600 miles post my install at IND in Chicago. Zero issues, but I do not track it.

[iPhoneEngineer]

Originally Posted by Beedub

most of all upgrade your tyres!!! lol i hope ive been slightly helpful your going to LOVE this thing, whens the install?? all parts here now??

Unfortunately my Pilot Super Sports have just 1-2k miles on them so I won't replace them soon...and while I've heard of people running 275s in the rear, I didn't want to change the diameter as much as those options require (I don't want to make them smaller, which cause the engine to rev higher at cruise). I'm sure the 265 rears I have will take some serious punishment, but I'll wait until they're done and then think about getting some wider rims. I'm not sure how much wider you can go without some sort of widebody kit though...

[iPhoneEngineer]

Originally Posted by whilechukwuzout

A friend of mine told me if you ever go forced induction on our cars upgrading the transmission mounts is a good idea. I dont know much else about the setup though, asides from the fact that your about to turn your car into a true hellbeast and Im jealous. Enjoy and be sure to post pics!

BTW are you PD? We may have met.

I've heard mumblings of our transmission mounts being suboptimal. I will keep this on my short-list. Anyone know of good aftermarket engine mounts?

I don't recognize "PD", but I was the ~10th application software engineer on the iPhone team--before the first one came out. Also the youngest when I joined, and amusingly still the youngest when I left 4 years later (this past January). I'm still writing iPhone apps, but at a startup company now.

I will definitely be taking photos and video. I also have some video comparisons of the stock USDM exhaust vs the Active Autowerke Gen IV headers I endeavored to install myself last weekend, though I haven't had a chance to post them.

[iPhoneEngineer]

Originally Posted by Beedub

the tranny and engine mounts stock are more than man enough to take the vt2 But only once they are young and fresh....... at least we have options with these, the Re engine mounts and tranny mounts are where ill be looking once i get closer to 15k miles......

Beedub, what mounts do you have in mind? My car is passing 36,500 miles, sadly, so I will probably be confronting this soon. Fortunately the passenger-side engine mount bolts were replaced less than 10k ago.

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by iPhoneEngineer

Beedub, what mounts do you have in mind? My car is passing 36,500 miles, sadly, so I will probably be confronting this soon. Fortunately the passenger-side engine mount bolts were replaced less than 10k ago.

Re engineering engine and tranny mounts, just slightly harder than stock but imo stock when fresh does a great job of keeping all this in check, i definatly wouldnt feel let down if i had to use stock parts again...

[beta]

Originally Posted by iPhoneEngineer

while I've heard of people running 275s in the rear, I didn't want to change the diameter as much as those options require (I don't want to make them smaller, which cause the engine to rev higher at cruise). I'm sure the 265 rears I have will take some serious punishment, but I'll wait until they're done and then think about getting some wider rims. I'm not sure how much wider you can go without some sort of widebody kit though...

I might be misunderstanding, but 265 are smaller than 275:

255/40-18 = 661mm (stock rear)

275/35-18 = 650mm

265/35-18 = 643mm

edit: unless you went taller

265/40R18 = 669mm

[iPhoneEngineer]

Originally Posted by beta

edit: unless you went taller

265/40R18 = 669mm

Correct; I should have given the full specification, though since I mentioned my tire size in a couple other of the active threads discussing VT2-500 matters I got lazy. I have 265/40s because I like the look of slightly taller sidewall on the rears, combined with the cruise speed RPM issue. I've never thought changing final drive (via the diff or rear diameter) is a very attractive way to boost performance!