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Jason wadsworth in Durham at Central NC Speed tuned my old b16 to 290/190 at 9psi on a 28rs. He is also close by and will give you a good tune as well.
Totally forgot about J.Dogg.
I was just there last year when Alan had his turbo H2B tuned there.
Yea I find it very telling that your tuner didn't comment on the huge pressure drop. It isn't normal. What sort of boost controller are you using? And where is your pressure reference source for the wastegate?
There IS a difference between a conservative tuner and a scared tuner. You have the latter apparently. On forced induction vehicles peak torque is made at an AFR of 12.5:1. Anything richer than that is just ***** footing around. I still don't understand why people tune things super rich all the way to even 10:1 and call it "normal".
I don't have a boost controller hooked up. My pressure source is off the intake housing of the turbo. My intercooler I will admit is eBay one 24"x5 1/2"x 2 1/2" and the piping is 2 1/2". Never done a leak test because he said if it was leaking we would see it and it would spike or whatever. I'll try the bike pump method and see if I can check it if it ever stops raining here. The head studs I want to do anyway just to give me a little peace of mind.
I have this feeling, tings are going to get worse before they get better for you in this case.
Which honestly, is not a source I'd personally use. (someone once said that I gave the inclination that the compressor cover is the best boost reference source, but that is not the case. It's not a bad reference source, but not the best source from my experience. Use the Intake manifold as the main source for the wastegate, or to clean things up, go by way of a vacuum manifold to the brake booster as the main source, and separately run a line to the side port of the gate to the vacuum manifold, like so..
I personally ran the brake booster line right to the IM, then went from the Intake manifold to one of the fittings of the vacuum manifold. I did that because these were the 1st vibrant vacuum manifolds that didn't have the 3/8ths NPT on the side like they do now.
It's funny you mention the vacuum block because I actually made one today for the brake booster source I just need to go buy the 3/8 and 1/4 taps I need
In addition, boost controllers can only start at the wastegate pressure and go higher from that point. That's with the presumption that the controller itself isn't leaking from improper installation, or from being a cheap apparatus that can't hold any air pressure to its ball/spring, or the valve (if its a "bleeder" type of controller) is opened to far.
Since you don't have a controller hooked up at all, this is one of the several areas that you have to address first
The piping size isn't the issue. Nor the size of the intercooler. It's more than likely the intercooler itself. The cooler itself is cheap, inefficient, and probably allows a HUGE pressure drop. (I've had several eBay cores drop as much as 15psi!!. It's amazing how much of a crap shoot these POS are!!)
Yeah, its this "whatever" that you need to familiarize yourself with. You need to know the difference between the symptoms of a boost leak, and the cause of a boost spike is. Your tuner is giving you BS for advice here, or you're not listening to the reasoning behind what he's saying.
Either way, you guys are not communicating, and its time to go elsewhere. You're not educating yourself, and he's not helping by giving you insufficient information.
You can't use the "bike pump" method unless you have the turbo compressor inlet completely sealed.. A small compressor at minimum is best to maintain the test. you could easily have such a big leak, you can't even get the pump to pressurize your system to see where the other leaks may be.
As for the headstuds. JUST STOP.. Get the car to pressurize first, then worry about the headstuds later or when you build. You start putting them in as replacements and its done incorrectly, you'll easily turn a situation that had NO problems, into one where you've just created a BIGGER problem than before you did anything.
Thank you for the link and tips I'm gonna do some research and find a better intercooler. I'm worried if I find and fix the leaks (if any at all) I'm gonna be hitting boost cut at 10psi or its gonna wreck the tune and I'm gonna have to retune before I have the money to do so. Am I right about possibly messing my tune up from this?
The little hole in the middle is just center drilled in case I need a extra connection at some point
BOV, Wastegate, Boost controller brain, part of the solenoid.. etc. Any and all items that need a reference source. No "T's" at all. I label all of my lines to avoid confusion in case I take them apart. It all started when I did the classic map/tps sensor switch up..
I have a question I can't figure out. Even if I'm loosing pressure from the intercooler I'm still holding 9psi at the manifold consistently so shouldn't it be making the power I want at 9psi? It holds 9psi from 4500 to 8200 and I see on my graph the power drops off around 7600 is that where I should shift or bring it all the way to 8200 when racing
It holds 9psi from 4500 to 8200 and I see on my graph the power drops off around 7600 is that where I should shift or bring it all the way to 8200 when racing
We've all given more than enough information and guidance on what your issue is. It's partially you being new to turbo Hondas and not being familiar with their basics (an other basics as well) on top of having a shitty tuner who either doesn't care or doesn't know about your problems.
The rev limit thing comes down to where power drops off and your driving style and where each gear change puts you in the powerband.
We've gone above and beyond to help you but it seems you are ignoring our advice. When this many EXPERIENCED people all say you have the same issues you should listen. But if you want to call us ******** and ignore us then go ahead. We aren't under any obligation to help you any further. It's your choice.
For the record I would make the drive to J Davis. He's a unicorn in the tuner world and can do magical things to literally any platform.
I see. Well. I suppose you already know what's wrong, what's going wrong and what you need to do. So, I'll go ahead and eliminate any and all of my comments, since you seem to have this covered.
Originally Posted by NotARaCist
Calling Shodan an *******, that's hilarious. Do I need to stick my nose in this thread?
It is.. What it is..You know the old saying: No good deed goes unpunished...
call J.Dogg over at Central NC Speedshop, they are building my turbo GSR right now, i made 290whp on a stock b18c1. Jason is the only tuner i let touch my cars and he is very good at what he does.
Name: Central NC speedshop
adress: 112 N Church St, Zebulon, NC 27597
Phone number: (919) 375-5036
call them for sure!
not exactly i have had an account for a little while im just not huge into posting. i just read about other peoples builds and when someone from my area is having issues then i try to help out.
10-02-2015, 11:20 AM
Re: Lowest whp turbo b16 in the country
Much obliged. 
Did you just use metal tapping screws to attach it?
