🔧 BUILD Upside-down M90 GTP build thread

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When your wife gives you permission to build a racecar, you build a racecar.

This is what happened to me. However, all funding for this project comes out of my construction account. I really need a telehandler, so this is very budget friendly. Luckily, I've been stockpiling parts for years. This isn't an overnight build by any means. My goal is to make a 1/4 mile pass with it before the tracks close for the season. I'm taking a risk here and using photobucket for image hosting, so hopefully they don't screw me over again.

So let's start it off. I bought a 04 L26 motor with somewhere north of 100k on it and started to tear it down.

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Everything looks good so far. The pistons are really clean. There was some junk sitting in the oil pan, but not much.

RICH17

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How the hell did I miss that IC setup. Looks cool but I think you you're throwing useless fab and material at it for zero gains. With your fab skills you couldve done a large icebox in the right front fender and just a normal IC under the blower. Flipping the blower like that and encasing it with those plates must make it hotter that the M90 already is as well.
 
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BrianG

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Holy crap, I have been missing this thread for some time! Gonna have to go back and read all of it again. Wild build man!

How the hell did I miss that IC setup. Looks cool but I think you you're throwing useless fab and material at it for zero gains. With your fab skills you couldve done a large icebox in the right front fender and just a normal IC under the blower. Flipping the blower like that and encasing it with those plates must make it hotter that the M90 already is as well.
Yes, but he is able to move the air way away from the engine to cool it before it goes back to the motor.
 

Mr_Roboto

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I would be curious to see how it works out or doesn't on the elbow. That said, people have done some really crude stuff and made it work just fine for turbocharging. Is it optimal? Absolutely not? Will it make good power and not drop more than say a PSI or two? I'd be willing to think yes. It's not that there is any restriction to the elbow its self (if anything there's likely less vs anything that's not a mandrel bend which has a constant diameter) it's that there could be turbulence in the air flow.

I think it's a great project with some cool custom parts. Can't wait to see the results especially with there being significant weight reduction. It may give the trans a chance at not blowing up.
 

1quick

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I would think if the entire system is pressurized the air pressure won’t care about that bend, now if it was relying on the engine to pull air through that 90 it would probably have a bigger effect on flow, I just look at it like an air compressor we use straight 90’s all the time and it’s still 100psi at the hose because the complete system is pressurized
 

Yaj Yak

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I would be curious to see how it works out or doesn't on the elbow. That said, people have done some really crude stuff and made it work just fine for turbocharging. Is it optimal? Absolutely not? Will it make good power and not drop more than say a PSI or two? I'd be willing to think yes. It's not that there is any restriction to the elbow its self (if anything there's likely less vs anything that's not a mandrel bend which has a constant diameter) it's that there could be turbulence in the air flow.

I think it's a great project with some cool custom parts. Can't wait to see the results especially with there being significant weight reduction. It may give the trans a chance at not blowing up.
For turbos, sure, but those are at least compressing the air themselves inside of themselves... Unlike an m90 just huffffing and puffing
 

Handsome Jesus

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Guys, flow through a pipe causes pressure drop. Pressurized or not, flow is flow. It's basic hydraulics. Looking up the friction factors of what he has, it is appx 2x that of a sharp rounded 90° bend and 3.7x the friction of a sweeping 90° bend. If the pipe was already generously sized, this may only result in a slight increase in pressure drop in the grand scheme of things. If I can find some time later I can try to do the math.
pipe_fittings_friction_coefficients_1.jpg

Is it optimal? No. Don't think we are arguing about that though.
 

GTPpower

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How the hell did I miss that IC setup. Looks cool but I think you you're throwing useless fab and material at it for zero gains. With your fab skills you couldve done a large icebox in the right front fender and just a normal IC under the blower. Flipping the blower like that and encasing it with those plates must make it hotter that the M90 already is as well.

So it has been touched on already since you posted. The heat doesn't radiate from the blower. The heat is produced from the compressing of air. An m90 will move a good amount of air, it just does it so inefficiently. Even the best plate style intercoolers only seem to be able to cool that air down to 175-200 degrees. I've gotten this down to below 80 degrees without even trying to hard. On paper, that should make a huge difference once I get all the issues ironed out.
 
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GTPpower

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Guys, flow through a pipe causes pressure drop. Pressurized or not, flow is flow. It's basic hydraulics. Looking up the friction factors of what he has, it is appx 2x that of a sharp rounded 90° bend and 3.7x the friction of a sweeping 90° bend. If the pipe was already generously sized, this may only result in a slight increase in pressure drop in the grand scheme of things. If I can find some time later I can try to do the math.
View attachment 44027
Is it optimal? No. Don't think we are arguing about that though.

Just to help with your calculations if you get some time...
Pipe diameter is 3".
Running about 9 psi max after the 90.
About 48 lb/min max. Air temp is about 76 degrees max.
 
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1quick

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So it has been touched on already since you posted. The heat doesn't radiate from the blower. The heat is produced from the compressing of air. An m90 will move a good amount of air, it just does it so inefficiently. Even the best plate style intercoolers only seem to be able to cool that air down to 175-200 degrees. I've gotten this down to below 80 degrees without even trying to hard. On paper, that should make a huge difference once I get all the issues ironed out.
That lower intake air temp is good for 1hp per degree on coyotes, not sure about a 3800 though
 

Rent Free

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I know itd cost alot but i think the best possible sc setup would be a tvs 2650 from like a vmp. It would require making the blower fit since the bolt patter is different and a giant phenolic IC with a 2650 would be my personal approach. Although all said and done for just blower and intercooler setup would prolly be around 4k i bet and itd require fab to make it fit too.

But then again breaking records isnt going to be cheap either.
 
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bs009

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Just catching up on this build so I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, looks like you're doing the same intercooler setup a lot of aussies do just a little better I think.


I've been following a few of their pages on facebook and from what little information I've gathered they've seen drops in boost pressure from running their a2a intercooler deal. Seems to be a really common mod down under for intercooling though.
 
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