172 Cup Turbo - Track Car

[Johnc172]

Thought it was about time I did a proper build thread. I don't often come on here but thought it'd be a good place to document my journey into big boost turbo 172 track car ownership with all the trials and tribulations in one place for people to see! I'm in no way expecting an easy ride with this, and am expecting issues, but that's what I like, the unknown, and if modding cars was easy, I'd get bored!!

Here's my base car, my 10 year old 172 cup. Bought by me brand new in 2003, went to the ring and got addicted to track days and below is the labour of years of work!

It has light engine mods, cams etc, suspension is very well sorted, all set up by mark fish and running 400lb front springs and 450lb rears, 3 degree neg camber and a set of slicks!

So that's my base car.....onto car number 2......

I picked this up last week as a donor car, some of you will know it already, and has had a small fortune spent on it, all documented, and even had 3k spent on it last month with a new turbo and 630cc injectors, only 400 miles covered since the new turbo too! I've read a few people's comments on his car already, but we'll see what happens!

Rough spec is;

GT2871 turbo

Fullly forged internals

630cc injectors

Gen90 ECU

etc etc

Running a 'claimed' 385bhp and 414lb ft torque, I don't care about RR graph willy waving, but all I can say is, it is very very quick! Wheel spin is actually quite minimal and the power delivery is progressive and not too much BANG in yo face!




So what's my plan?

Engine swap, put turbo engine in my cup and my cup engine into the red one.

The 172 has a 4 pot willwood set up which ill also be taking off and replacing with my set up

Not sure about the carbon bonnet yet, not sure if ill like the look of it on my cup

Sell some other bits of the red 172 and return it to standard

Purchase a LSD, quite good timing as the circlip popped out this weekend at marham! (Thanks to chip on this one!!)

Fuel swirl pot set up, suffers from fuel surge when nearing 1/4 of a tank

Tidy the bodywork up on the red 172

Sell the red 172 as a standard 172

AND IF ALL GOES TO PLAN have a forged high boost track cup for a fraction of the cost from scratch!

Here's a very quick vid of how it sounds....

http://youtu.be/GZq3-f8POpE

Thats all for now, plans to start the engine are for bank holiday weekend, so ill update with pics then!

 

[_WILL_]

I'm looking forward to this. What gearbox is the red car running with that power?

 

[scotty2hotty81]

Look forward to seeing this unfold, I have done exactly the same, ran my clio lpt, bought fully forged high boost clio for parts. Cheapest way by far.

​good luck.

 

[Johnc172]

Standard gearbox! We'll see how much it'll take, it'll be used on track mainly so won't have an easy life

 

[The Russian.]

Subscribed

 

[Johnc172]

Well.....what a day! Managed to get both engines out, looms swapped over, exhausts off, change inlet manifolds and change all the alternator set up! All done between the rain showers! Got a tonne of pics to load up as well later tonight.

Also found out a few things that I'd never have found unless the engine was out, turbo was leaking boost for one! One of the silicone elbows on the boost pipe had a hole in! More power!

Hopefully get pics up tonight, I'm knackered now though!

 

[Djw John]

Good stuff, the flamer was a local car to me for years, Djw Dave orginally lowered it in 2006 for the boy who owned it!

 

[.Stevo.C.]

Good stuff, the flamer was a local car to me for years, Djw Dave orginally lowered it in 2006 for the boy who owned it!

Yeah I thought I recognised it.

 

[Chi]

I enquired after the turbo and was close to going after it.. Decided against it but now wished I hadn't.. Sounds great Subscribed

 

[Johnc172]

Forgot to mention I managed to get the willwoods on the cup too, that was the easiest bit today! Straight swap no issues! Just sorting pics out now

 

[Johnc172]

So this is where the morning started, bright an early at 8.30, sun shining and two working cars

After no much work both the front ends were off and good progress was being made, lots of tea helped! But then the weather turned s**t, sunshine and showers all day that really did slow us down a lot!

Whilst myself and 2 mates were tackling the engines, my other 2 mates were sorting the brakes out, took them next to no time. 4 pots now on the cup and may cup setup on the flamer

So with the brakes done we cracked on with getting the engines out, no real issues to report, apart from it was a properly tight squeeze getting the turbo down pipe out cleanly without causing any damage! So with a lot of swearing and loads of to me to you moments we managed to get the turbo lump out

And out she pops.....

you can see all the turbo set up here too, nice shiney turbo that's 400miles old!

i won't bore you all with pics of the looms etc, but I will show y one pic of what I found, again, would never be something I'd look for originally, only spotted as the engine came out!

Spot what's missing?

After the looms were swapped along with the alternator set ups, again, they went pretty smoothly too, we were left with this...2 empty engine bays and a garden looking like a breakers yard lol! The wife isn't a angry as I thought either so that's a win!

so that's where I'm up to, crack in again in the morning.

Plan for tomorrow is get both engine in and try and fire them both up!

 

[whom]

Awesome work, obviously a low priority but any plans to pop the xenons into the cup?

 

[dmallett]

Awesome work! Going to be a good project

 

[sonny172cup]

Nice one fella, good work in getting that all done with todays crappy Kent weather.

Power figures look good, can only imagine how rapid that thing is in a stripped out Cup.

 

[Chi]

Nice work mate, must help having your own pit crew

 

[mr.pink87]

Any reason why the dephaser solenoid isn't wired in and fixed? Turbo conversion done by K-tec?
Good luck! That's going to be awesome!

 

[whom]

Any reason why the dephaser solenoid isn't wired in and fixed? Turbo conversion done by K-tec?
Good luck! That's going to be awesome!

I absolutely 100% don't know this, but it might be unplugged to stop valves fouling on pistons if dephaser were to do its thing.

I wouldn't normally hypothesise but wouldn't want to see your engine chew itself up...

 

[Johnc172]

We unplugged the loom, just found out it wasn't screwed in! No plan to change headlights, it's a cup after all!

TODAYS UPDATE....

Turbo engine is in and runs! Idle is high at just below 2k so that needs looking at. I did swap my inlet manifolds over as mine off the cup were matched and RS stamped, so not sure if the increased air flow is causing that?

in summary, over the last 2 days we have

• swapped 2 engines
• swapped 2 looms
• Swapped alternator set up
• swapped inlet manifold over
• swapped fuel pump and fuel lines and returns

We obviously weren't happy with just working with 2 cars, so a third 172 arrived for some work too! As I want to return the red one to standard, a mate of mine had the suspension and wheels!

its been a bloody long day! Here's just a few taster pics before I do a full write up over the next couple of days,

started the day like this

all three cars being worked on

Understated engine bay!

and the final pics, how we left them both!

ill update more when i I'm not so shattered lol! Few vids as well to stick up too.

 

[LiamR172]

I wanted that flamer! Not anymore though!

Great work

 

[Clio_Scott92]

this is gunna soo EPIC! the carbon bonnet is a defo keep in my eyes pal. great read so far so keep it coming!!!!

 

[Chi]

Get some rest, early start tomorrow though please

 

[Djw John]

Good effort there lads

 

[scotty2hotty81]

Very quick turn around! Regarding 2k idle, the inlets won't make any difference, I'd recheck that it's bolted down flush and that the seal underneath is ok.

 

[Bobby.]

Very speedy build. It's always nice to have a few mates handy.

 

[Johnc172]

Thanks lads, all motivation is defo welcome!

after having a read on here about the high idle I'm going to check and re-check the inlet manifolds, both lower and upper to make sure they are both bolted down tight as well as the o ring on the breather is seated right, plus ill be checking the brake vacuum pipes to make sure they're connected and not split etc, hopefully that'll solve it.

whats on the list next to do.....nothing! Having a rest!

After the rest I need to sort some last snagging bits on the blue turbo, high rev issue, bleed the brakes, bleed to power steering, top up with oils, coolants etc, run it up to temp and see how it runs!

For the one I need to find a new map sensor as that snapped off, get 3 new driveshaft bolts for the pax side shaft as they've seem to have gone walkies, fit the air con pump and put the aux belt back on, exhaust back on, find a flame red bonnet and see if she starts up!

 

[domsclio182]

Great work, should be fun on track. Any plans to fit a diff, will be a nightmare trying to put the power down without one. Mine spins up in second coming out of corners and I only have 250 bhp.

 

[Johnc172]

I'm planning on getting a diff sorted very soon. My main target now is getting the red one up and running and then selling it on to get some cash back to fund some new bits and bobs. Plan is to give it a detail as its a bit swirly, oil service and it'll be going to a new home!

​will you be sorting a diff soon then?

 

[domsclio182]

I would like to but they are so expensive, if my car was a full on track car then I could probably justify it, but the car only go's on track 3 or 4 times a year.

 

[Johnc172]

Argh I can't imbed on the iPad for some reason!


I've not had a chance to do a full write up yet, I'll get onto that tomorrow, in the meantime here's some vids of the first start up and first trip! Loads of happy faces lol

first start up, we forgot to plug in the throttle body so no revs! Plus no exhaust, so a bit loud

http://youtu.be/9L-zbBDMhBA

with revs and some chatter

http://youtu.be/np-gs7ZiGbI

then the first trip out and return

http://youtu.be/4JG5t8P5KWU

http://youtu.be/B9oA_PXjCj0

 

[Nickbrs182]

Good stuff mate, I heard you when I was having BBQ. Done well there chaps nice one..

 

[Craig.]

Looks like a great project mate, good work getting so much done in so little time, I seen the red one for sale wasn't it big power? There's loads on boosted clios on the forum now they just keep multiplying lol.

 

[Djw John]

Great stuff, you can't beat that feeling when it first starts and drives!

 

[Johnc172]

So here’s the write up for day 2 of the swap

I didn’t get many pictures of the day’s activity, simply because it was a much nicer day and we all just cracked on with it.

The day started with my garden looking like a breakers yard, 2 engines, 2 bumpers, a load of buckets full of oils and fluid, driveshafts, all sorts! So when I got up and saw the tasks ahead I did lose a bit of momentum, until the mates turned up all raring to go haha!

We had managed to swap the looms and alternator set ups over on the Saturday, and also swapped the inlet manifolds over too as my cup one was RS stamped and matched. So the turbo’d lump was ready to go into the blue cup!

It didn’t take too long at all, bit of a pain making sure the downpipe didn’t catch on the heat sheild or anything else, but it when it perfectly! It was then a matter of building it back up, everyone was working on the blue car as we all wanted it to fire up, so the red one got left until the end of the day.

The boost pipes went on ok, but tricky to align them properly as the power steering pipes kept catching. We also had to drill holes in the slam panel to fit the intercooler, but nothing too difficult. Drive shafts back in and bolted up, filled the gearbox back up with oil, plugged the ECU in, topped up the coolant and power steering fluid and it was ready to go! I also checked the belts while the engine was out to make sure they were in good nick and they were both fine.

Whilst we were doing the engine a mate got the exhaust bolted on. This is my only problem with the car, the exhaust is terrible!! It’s a 3” turbo back straight through pipe!! Looks like guttering under the car, plus no silencers or anything, it is sooooo loud! I’m not even sure it warrants a 3” inch pipe?! But that’s a fairly easy fix once the rest is sorted, I’ll get some silencers put in and a new back box as it’s a magnex style oval job – not a fan!

After all the above it was time to see if it started, unbelievably it started first time! I think we were all a bit amazed to be honest. Although we had forgotten to plug the throttle body in, so a little panic, then realising what we had done! Easy fix!

The only other problem was the high idle, I’ll be checking the inlet manifold and relevant vacuum pipes this weekend to see what’s been missed off, maybe even check the lambda’s?

Once the excitement had died down, we turned around and still saw one engine, not in the car, driveshafts, not in the car, air con pump not attached and minus the aux belt! The day definitely wasn’t over!

So a cup of tea and some burgers later, we cracked on. Engine went in, then the exhaust manifold bolted on. I then realised a school boy error in that the gear linkage was underneath the manifold! Doh, so I whipped that off and re fitted that.

Draftshafts went back one and then we called it a day!

Small snag list for the Blue Turbo

• Sort Exhaust
• Air Leak
• Bleed Brakes
• Gauges (boost and oil temp/pressure)
• Oil Cooler – will need some thinking of where the pipes will go as its quite tight now
• Swirl Pot – car gets fuel surge if below ½ tank
• Bleed power steering – to stop it sounding like a mini

To do list for the red car

• Aux Belt
• Driveshaft bolts
• Hub Pinch bolts
• Brake lines
• Bleed brakes
• Find a flame red bonnet

Here’s some pics of the work on Sunday – as said not many

 

[Chi]

I looked at the TURBO on ebay, can I ask what it went for in the end?

 

[Johnc172]

I looked at the TURBO on ebay, can I ask what it went for in the end?

I didn't pay the asking price! I'm putting together a costing to how much this engine swap has cost. I'll be sharing at the end. it'll be good for other people to see how much it costs, then they can decide whether it's a route they want to take or not, or worth the hassle!

 

[Chip-mk1]

Cool project, are you going to be out on track in it at FCS?

Would be nice to have another turbo to play with

 

[Johnc172]

Not sure if I can make FCS, but I'll definitely be at brands a couple of times this year

Plan for this weekend is to try and find out where I've got an air leak so at least it idles properly! Also need to find out about the dephaser solenoid, not sure whether to leave it unplugged like it was or not? Bleed the brakes and take it for a little test!

​ill add some pics and vids too

 

[Chip-mk1]

Make sure you dont go altering anything that changes the VE of the engine like the dephasor without having a mapper on hand to make sure its safe.

 

[matt_132]

This is awesome. I'm only in Maidstone, hope to see it about some time.

 

[Johnc172]

Tried fixing my high idle/air leak earlier today, couldn't find anything!

i tried the o ring on the top inlet, all vacuum hoses are in, and all bolts are in tightly. Next on the list is new gaskets, clean the the then I'm out of ideas?!

Any guesses? Idle starts at about 1.5k then raises slowly to about 2k...?