Project FTO VR4

[dazjb]

Thought it was about time I started a thread on where I have got to with my FTO VR4 project.

It started off a couple of days before xmas picking up a VR4 engine from a Mr Nick Mann ...

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First thing was to give the block a clean down and degrease then change the cambelt, waterpump and pulleys ...

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The battery on the FTO has to go to make way for all the additional piping so off to its new home in the boot ...

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Take this puppy out of the engine bay ...
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And get left with a big old space to fill ...

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Whilst the engine is out it makes sense to give the 20 year old bay a respray ...
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A few things needed for the conversion ...

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Polished the fuel rail and thermostat housing assembly and fitted new red vac, boost and coolant hoses ...

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The brake distribution block has to be relocated as it is right behind the rear turbo ...

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One of the cosmetic touches. I hate polishing metal with a passion but its something that needs to be done if you want a shiny bay. First stage of polishing the plenum, removal of the casting marks ...

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The VR4 block gets to meet its new home for the first time ...

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Clearance for the rear turbo looks good as the bulkhead has been knocked back a touch ...

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Cant say the same for the power steering pipes and rear turbo elbow though. The rear turbo elbow is going to have to be modified as its ridiculously close to the power steering rack. The original FTO power steering lines have no chance of being installed back here so custom braided hoses will need to be made up ...

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The wastegate actuator has to be remounted and the rod bent. The clutch slave cylinder is in the way on the FTO gearbox so the actuator needs shifting over ...

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As shown in the above pic a bit more metal polishing has been performed ...

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Next up was a pretty big job ...

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The wiring on a FTO VR4 conversion is not much fun. I kept the GPX loom in there and just added the wires for the Boost and FPR Solenoids, removed a few uneeded wires for things like air-con, traction control, ABS, VR4 MAF wiring (im swapping to MAP using the Emanage Ultimate). I swapped a couple of wires round in the ECU connectors and also extended the cables for the IFS sensor. Its finished and looks a bit tidier now ...

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Then it was engine out again in preperation for the custom braided power steering hoses i'm having made. In the meantime the gear selector cables have been heat-wrapped for protection from the rear turbo ...

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The VR4 engine sits 10mm higher than the FTO engine in our bays so its either modifications needed to the bonnet or lower the engine a touch. I made a 6mm aluminium shim for the offside engine mount, for the nearside mount and the crossmember holding the gearbox mounts i'll be using spacer washers ...

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The fuel filter on the FTO is also too close to the rear turbo for comfort so needs to be relocated. I'll be using stainless braided hose throughout for this little lot ...

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Due to how tight the VR4 block is in the FTO engine bay it really needs the engine mounts stiffening to reduce movement. My mate runs an engineering shop and can knock me up some nylon mounts but i'm going to try this method first as it makes them firm but not 'nylon mount' firm .. using Polyurethane Sealant (Tiger Seal was my choice) to 'thoroughly' fill in the voids on the front and rear gearbox mounts. If I need them to be even stiffer I will get nylon jobbies made up instead but I think this should do the trick ...

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That is basically where I am up to. I have recently fitted a Fidanza lightened flywheel and am currently on with installing the intercooler + piping. I will also soon need to have my downpipes modified for the VR4 engine. After that the only thing I have left to buy is the twin air filters + pipework and a boost controller .. I'm going to choose an Apexi AVCR after reading good things about them on here.

I'll keep this thread updated and once I have the engine running and any gremlins ironed out i'll put details of the wiring up here to help folks doing this conversion in the future.

[lacibishi]

Nice job.

[lacibishi]

I am a bit ahead and solved issues with power steering with converting to LHD and no ps, but eps.

[dazjb]

He he, yep having a left hand drive car with electric power steering will make things easier for the VR4 conversion

What bhp and torque figures did you get after the conversion?



P.S Can people see the images on this thread? All I can see is the words "Attachment 71812", "Attachment 71813", etc.

[SEAN-NZ]

I can't see them on tapatalk

[Davezj]

I can't see them but I am on tapatalk as well

[dazjb]

Re-uploaded them and they seem to be showing now

[lacibishi]

Don't know about power figures yet, as it is being wired and getting a standalone.

[MarkSanne]

Very nice work there! Impressive.

[stuball]

hi I'm doing same got the engine in loom in also but ran into an issue with the fuse box and wiring it up how did you manage? Thanks for any help

[dazjb]

I kept the FTO loom and just added and removed stuff where necessary .. didn't need to touch anything on the fusebox

[dazjb]

IUpdate time .. I've got quite a bit done

The power steering hoses have been made up by Pirtek so they swing around the turbo elbow. These have now also been heat wrapped ...

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The air con fan has been butchered and brackets welded on so it can be shifted over on the rad (yeah I know my welding is sh!te .. but its done the trick). I'll be tidying it all up and spraying the fan shroud anyway ...

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Braided fuel lines have been fitted ...

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I have had 3mm milled off the plenum so its sits a touch lower as it was fouling the bonnet. With the engine lowered 6mm as well thats a 9mm drop ...

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To make the ECU easier to mount I have used a VR4 ecu casing and welded the FTO bracket onto it. I should point out my engineer mate has done all this fancy milling and welding for me, i dont have these skills ...

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The front turbo elbow has been cut, ground and welded to change the angle so its easier to connect to the ally boost piping ...

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Rear turbo elbow has also had the same treatment to change the angle as it fouls the steering rack on the FTO ...

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I spent a long time cutting and grinding down the bits of ally boost piping ...

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After which my engineer pal did a cracking job on welding it all up ...

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The intercooler size fitted is what a lot of you guys have 600x300x76. The piping is 64mm from the turbos to the intercooler and 70mm from the intercooler to the throttle body.

As can be seen above I have also got an engine cover courtesy of paulbonner84 on here and have butchered it to make it sit lower as this too fouls the FTO bonnet.

Finally I have the AVCR installed into the drivers visor ...

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And thats where I'm at, a lot closer to the end of the tunnel now. Next on the list is wiring up the Emanage Ultimate ... another fun job!

[Nick Mann]

This is looking very impressive! It takes a lot of time to do that much custom stuff and make it look good.

[MarkSanne]

Wow! That is looking sweeeeet! What an effort and how it shows. Excellent!

[dazjb]

Thanks guys, it's been a lot of work but the results are worth it when you start seeing things put back together

[bungle]

Beautiful. Got any pics of the finished article yet fella? Will look forward to the road review and dyno results.

[dazjb]

Sorry for the delay in replying. Unfortunately its not finished yet, been a bit short on funds recently so theres been a few bits i've had to put on hold for a while ... but its nearly there.

Heres how the turbo elbow sits now with some space between it and the steering rack ...

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The Emanage Ultimate has now been wired in ...

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I have had the last two power steering hoses made up courtesy of Pirtek ...

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The Apexi AVCR boost controller has been wired/plumbed in with the controller mounted into the drivers sun visor ...

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I've also been busy fixing up a damaged VR4 engine cover and butchering it to fit under the FTO bonnet. The end result ...

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I have also been cracking on with more cosmetic touches to the engine .. still been putting off polishing the plenum and front rocker cover. Been doing lots of plumbing in of the vac/boost lines that are needed. Theres a hell of a lot especially when you need extra plumbing for MAP sensor, boost solenoid, boost gauge, pressure sensor, FPR

Basically all I need to do now is buy and fit a MAP sensor for the Emanage Ultimate, two air filters, coolant temp sensor, two rocker gaskets, then fill up with coolant and power steering fluid and we are good to go. I'm just scraping the pennies together for this and then I can fire the old girl up and see what bits I've ballsed up

[MarkSanne]

looking excellent! very nicely done, can't wait to see some video of the first fire-up and final product inside and out!

[dazjb]

Time for an update.

I'm getting very close now. Rocker gaskets and coolant temp sensor fitted, the MAP sensor has been wired in, I have finished off the metal polishing and got all the lines tapped into the plenum.


Plenty of vac/boost connections on plenum ...

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... and fitted, theres a lot going off back here now ...

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A pic to show how tight things are at the front as well. The two ally pipes are just waiting for filters to be bolted to them ...

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Bracket made and MAP sensor mounted ...

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And a couple of pics to show all the finished cosmetic work ...

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Basically all I have to do now is fit all the clamps for the coolant and boost hoses, fill the coolant and connect the temporary downpipes i've butchered and were good to go. I need two air filters but this doesnt stop me starting the car up, I'll just clamp a sock over each of the pipes to stop anything getting in there. By the end of this week i'll be turning the key!

[Nick Mann]