FC Customs- Awesome Fab work and Huge thanks! Options

[KOU In3]

A huge thanks to FC Customs for their awesome fabrication work, hospitality, and all around good guy factor!

Here's the short version: I had two maufacturer e-mails last week. One asking me to do a favor and install and test out a new turbo coming out (and asking for it to be done like yesterday if possible). And a second one (actually read it first) letting me know that the sample had already been overnighted for AM delivery.

Now for the problem: A spur of the moment test vehicle for a new product means, well, one of my cars. The turbo is a T3 frame. Not exactly a bolt-on proposition for a DSM. Although the DSM is suitable for testing the turbo, making that test happen is another matter entirely.

Being on a timeline I thought to ask FC Customs to help me out. All I can say is "Wow, best decision I made on the project!!!" I had most of the basic parts on hand already in terms of manifold, wastegate, piping, etc. What I didn't have though was an appropriate O2 housing, downpipe, or the welding and fabrication equipment to get them made.

Here's where FC Customs came through in a big way. Chad worked me into an already full schedule and not only handled to forseeable problems but came through on all the little snafus that would have posed set-backs in the timeline. Things like fittings that turned out to flat-out be not compatible and I didn't have the time to order and wait on. Drilling, tapping, and fitting a Garrett turbine housing for a Mitsu oil feed line. Modifying a my 'race' manifold so that I wouldn't have to delete the power steering on a street car to test the turbo out. The list goes on.

FC Customs really didn't have the time to fit me in in all honesty. But Chad made the time. This guy huing out till 4am fabricating an O2 housing flange. Worked Easter Sunday until his welding gas ran out. Basicly I can't say enough good things about the work, the work ethic, and Chad and FC Customs going so far out of their way to help me out here that its humbling to admit everything they did for me.

All I can say is Wow! and Thanks!

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the flange here was milled from a blank sheet of plate steel on the spot by Chad!


The flange above started out as this!


Custom O2 housing. Welded up on the spot to make the exhaust all bolt up


Custom 3" downpipe to make it happen


Dump tube needed a little tweaking to fit


Here it is most of the way completed.

[KOU In3]

The flange was milled from a sheet of blank steel, matched to the turbo and welded to a custom tubular O2 housing. The O2 housing bolts to a full 3" turbo-back mandrel bent stainless exhaust. All fabricated in house from scratch at FC Customs. Spent gasses not traveling through the exhaust are routed out the externally dumped wastegate. Dump tube fabricated and properly routed by FC Customs as well.

I've lost track of the number of little tweaks Chad pitched in and helped with to make everything go in properly. Except for the other big one. Helping get it run right when it was all back together. He took time he didn't have and delayed his own personal plans until we had the 2G running right and he was comfortable letting me hit the road in it.

Great guys there and superb work!

Although I do have to say that I'm jealous. After a few days there, my own humble "shop" looks so much the humbler. The place is spotless and sports more tools than your typical Monster Garage episode.

[TSiwrx]

that is great!! that shop sounds very good. do they make their own custom parts, im *sorta looking for a turbo manifold for a sohc ka24 for possibly a cat turbo or a mitsu 12a (been in my room for like 6 months and never got rid of it). i think that would be a great project and am kinda looking for a shop that could help out. im not too sure on what else i would need for a custom turbo kit, but a bright yellow turbo sittin in my engine bay would be cool.

[Rollout]

I'm sure chad could handle it, theres a suzuki aerio sitting in there right now awaiting a custom turbo installation, and it had nos on it before

[KOU In3]

I can source you the manifold but you would need them to change flanges for you. Then you're looking at a neccessary O2 housing, downpipe, lines, and some IC piping. The cheapest way would be to use a DSM intercooler (can be had cheaply used) and have the neccesary extra fabbed up.

How big is this Cat turbo?

[natedogg]

All the late-model Cat turbos that I've seen are twin scroll. This would require special manifold runner separation similar to what the Evo has.

[TSiwrx]

well the one i was looking at is about the size of a 14b id say. i would get the one that weighed 134lbs, but i prolly couldnt afford it . i want to find out more about these turbos and if they are good for performance as opposed to a tractor or whatever they go on. there was a guy that actually just quit/got fired that had a z28 with a custom CAT twin turbo setup and supposedly he had like 800 hp. i never saw him or anything, but i heard it from more than one person so who knows if thats true or not.

[xian 1g]

got to take a ride in it late last night... Just gotta say that it sounds like a fighter jet when you get on it, and when your not in the car it sounds like a deamon coming to rape your soul all the way to hell..... Maybe that's why the cop that hung behind us a while never pulled us over. Thanks for the ride.

[KOU In3]

It might sound mean but it's definately a cause of its bark being worse than its bite. That little T3 isn't that big of a power producer. It's about Honda sized IMO.