Smashback

Well, this morning I stopped by Alamo Autosports to make an "appointment" to have my IC piping and DP done next Monday. There was some other guy than usual in there, possibly the owner. I thought the other guy was a *****, well he was ok this time. This guy today, whew. He totally convinced me to never set foot in there again.

They wanted $400 to do the IC piping ... if I supply the silicone and clamps. And minimum $250 for the DP. Even though they tell me they've done so many custom setups on Civics, they can't narrow it down better than $250-500. The guy was real snotty and rude .. a regular *****. It was all I could do to keep myself from punching him in the mouth. I told him my BOV flange was aluminum and he said only Ferrari can weld aluminum and metal together - they have a patent. i don't know about all that, but I've seen at least one guy that have the same BOV flange welded to a steel pipe from a Greddy kit.

Anyway, I test fitted the turbo today. I think I'm going to have to do some real work to make it fit. The intake is REAL close to the tranny, may have to grind there. And of course the DP is going to be cramped with the AC in the way there.

One thing that worries me is there's only about a 1" drop from the oil drain on the turbo to the top of the oil pan. Anybody see any problems with that?

Blown90hatcH

Yeah, I tried to order a Wastegate from those fools....they didnt call me back like 5 times...so I just got it somewhere else....

Arturbo

Man, you have the worst luck. If you are willing I can take you to san antonio to have them made for you car. Or, you can call ben@importparts to get a pricing on piping for drag or even rev-hard. But the quality of Rev-hard has gone down hill. Please let me know if I can help in any way.

art

Smashback

Tell me about luck brother .. I would probably just get the Revhard but since I'm using a different IC and BOV than what the kit comes with I'm screwed there. I'm either doing SFP or Jotech. If I can afford it, I'm doing the intake and upper charge pipe in aluminum and just coating the rest.

Also, Alamo thought using the V-AFC to lean out the 310's would be better than lowering static FP and then fine tuning with the V-AFC, but I think they are wrong. Since I have the standard Walbro 255lph, 310's and FMU (with all the discs on the way) ... say stock FP is 35 (although I bet it's more, but nto sure). I want to run at least 8 PSI. That will put me at 99 PSI of FP, which is 9 more than the Walbro is rated for if I'm not mistaken. If I could drop the FP down to say 20, I'd be in there! And by the time I'm ready to push more boost, it'll be time for much bigger injectors and stand alone anyhow.

Smashback

Oh yeah, and you want to know something else about luck? Don't know if you saw where I posted that Majestic sent my turbo back with an internal wastegate, but ..

I got them to send me a "clam" (there are three of these holding the comp housing on) to replace the wastegate bracket and also the T3 exhaust flange at no charge. Well, when they got here, the clam was too small ... ugh.

jbsadler

Wow...sorry about your luck....you should come to the meet on Dec 1st and see if we can help you out......

DamonBoost

Damn and I was considerng Alamo.. Guess this made up my mind.. thanks for the post on them.. Why are so many people at shops ********.. Do you have to be a cocky ******* to work at import shop??

ForcedAccord

haha nah. Was it the azn guy w/ all the piercings? He was alright w/ me but oh well. I've talked with SFP and the guy I talk to is always very cool, seems like he knows what he's talking about. Ask for Juan if you call (I thought it was an azn run joint but hehe "Juan") Anyways, they won't do intercooler piping or any sort unless you have your car "IN" their shop. They do the custom manifolds and downpipes, for my Accord they said I'd be looking at $450 for the mani, and $175 on the downpipe. I've heard good and bad things about Jotech, bad about what they are involved with outside of the shop, good from what they put together. They seem to be a little pricey, but they get it done right. Priv msg me if you have any questions, maybe I can help ya, I seem to have goodluck at most places.

Flamenco-T

if you need, I can bring my car to your place and maybe we can look at my piping to see, what angle, lenth and etc you'll need to make your own piping...

also, instead of using a u-bent piping, maybe you ought to consider a silicon bent coupler....another word get two starigh piping and a 90 deg silicone coupler, you'll have a 90deg bent...

I had the same problem when I was pieceing my own kit, piping was the big problem, I just sold all the parts and bought a kit...
Also, have you checked out performance auto supply? last timne I went there, they had a few 180, 90, 45 deg bent piping...

let me know if I can help you in any way...
stan

ForcedAccord

So Stan, what you're saying is... you want to compare your pipes? J/k

Flamenco-T

you're sick...

randomwalk101

I concur. Alamo autosports suck ***! I talked to them about the Hondata but they were jerks. I ended up ordering it elsewhere....I'll never do business with Alamo again unless they get their **** straightened out majorly!

Arturbo

Chris, there are alot of people here in the DFW that would be willing to help out. Stan(flameco-t), Chris(DIRep972), Jack(JBsadler),Joe(falcongsr), and me. We all hang out and help each other out. You have my phone #, maybe we can meet up sometime this week or so. Let me know. Screw alamo, thats why when I buy hondata Im tunnig it myself.

art

Flamenco-T

Amen....

that reminds me, JBsadler has a hatch w/ LS motor, his piping will be the closest one to yours.....art and I have a GS-R, but we can take a look and figure it out..

stan

Smashback

Sounds good boys, round'em up. I really want to get this done within the next week or so! That'd be sweet if we could get together soon. I got word that my boost controller is finally on the way, so I will be ready to roll!

What's your guys opinion on the fuel pressure issue? Should I get a B&M or something so I can run lower pressure or just use the AFC?

ForcedAccord

Hmm maybe w/ all you I wouldn't need to pay to get it installed.. interesting

01ITR#700

A little OT but regarding the Aluminum Greddy BOV flange, is it possible to weld it to the Steel Greddy piping? My Fabricator/Welder guy I use said it wasn't possible when I walked in there with the pieces in hand on my last Turbo install. Luckily he fab'd a replica for me for $20 and welded it right on.
Just curious.
M

Arturbo

To tell you the truth, I think its very hard to weld aluminum to steel. Here is the trick i was told, if you can put a magnet to it then you can weld it to steel. But steel to aluminum, can be done but hard.

art

Smashback

I would think you could just braze it on if worst comes to worst. I think for ease of install I will order a new flange in steel unless I go with an aluminum upper pipe.

01ITR#700

Cool thanks for the info. guys.
I just wanted to make sure he was correct, he's the absolute best welder I've ever seen, extremely clean welds and I thought the price to fab a whole new flange was a great deal. I just sold the Aluminum flange to somebody else that could use it.
M