January 18, 2013

Oil Catch Can Preview

Along with the wastegate dump tube, this is another project that sat on the workbench taped together and waiting for welding, for a good portion of the year.


The first thing you'll probably ask, and this is the first thing my welder questioned - why not just buy one? The answer is that I simply could not find an oil catch can that I liked, and I hunted high and low. However, my persistent searching did expose me to a lot of features I wanted to incorporate, so it wasn't a complete waste of time at least. For all of the variations out there, it was proving annoyingly difficult to find all of said features in one package. Admittedly, on many an occasion, it was little nit-picky details responsible for making me pass on a catch can. We're talking instances where I wanted male AN fittings instead of female (to eliminate the need for an additional fitting between can and hose) or the provided mounting solution (stupid tabbed hose clamps). So, ultimately, I decided it would just be easier to fabricate my own, ensuring it would be tailored to my needs. Plus there is always that little added satisfaction of building it myself.

January 09, 2013

Wastegate, Take 3 (Now With Dump Tube)

After a several month hiatus, I am back with some visible progress. After awhile of picking at projects, I found myself road blocked by welding which I (admittedly) put off for several weeks.


Backing up a bit, in October I had sent out/received my TiAL F38 from a "rebuild". I had had the original wastegate housing powder coated a second time in March, only to experience adhesion issues (chipping) during reassembly. Frustrated, I settled on replacing the housing with one of TiAL's black anodized pieces. This required sending the whole unit in to ensure I wasn't trying to assemble a knock-off. Much to my surprise, the wastegate returned with my damaged housing. Now I have the convenience of a spare should I attempt to powder coat again. One more disassembly was required to clock the housing so the side port was in the right position - hopefully I don't have to take this thing back apart for awhile. Onto the dump tube.