My Budget 300bhp St185

MrDB

New member
Just got some 550 injectors for £23 so once here will be fitting bored fuel rail and injectors then programming emanage.

For reference a friend has just had a full forged rebuild front mount intercooler and running an st205 turbo and freshly mapped hks f-con

@ 1.1 - 1.2 bar he made 305bhp on same dyno as mine was run.

Hes now saving for the TT s148 as the st205 turbo is restricting him. Hes hoping for around 380 - 400 hp with the TT @ 1.4 -1.6 ;)
 

aubeone

New member
Certainly an inspiration to those looking to do a lot with so little, like myself. Especially considering I'm in the midst of hooking up a jdm Gen2 3sgte in my 165, so all of this is very relevant.

I can't wait to pull this up on my laptop at home to see what I've been reading about at work!

Great Job!
 

WarTowels

Active member
Just went through and read all the posts. Cool stuff.

Seems like you have knack for getting things pretty cheap!

How do you like the ProfecB? I think I need an electronic boost controller cause my car spikes like crazy.

-Towels
 

MrDB

New member
I have the profec a ( fuzzy logic one ) bit scary to setup as you have to do flat out runs in 4th to get it programmed. But it learns boost curve fantastic and i hold contant boost and it doesnt spike / overboost whatever the situation...

Thanks for your support knd words ;).

Ive written this to show people it just takes a bit of common sense to build cheaply / reliably. Do your research and just because people are lemmings when concerning tuning doesnt mean you have to be.


more updates as and when. Suspension next ;)
 

MrDB

New member
Right wired the boost solonoid map sensor on my profec a to the boost input on the emange. Only needed to connect 1 wire to emanage. Used volt meter to find signal wire from profec and hey prest i can now data log boost and map against boost if needed... :)

Works a treat and didnt cost me the £50 to buy the emanage original boost solonoid :)
 

MrDB

New member
Thought i would update.

I have now fitted GAB 4 way adjustable shocks all round and lowering springs approx 35mm drop, another good buy from a fellow GT$ owner..

Overall a much better handling car, the rear now feels attached to the car :)

I also picked up a set of subaru WRX seats for £15 in good condition with rails, im in the process of fitting them and will let you know the results inc pictures. So far the rails are not to hard to modify.

My mapping session was a no go due to a faulty boost controller that i have i think now fixed, hopefully i will get it on a dyno and tuned by september.
 

deecee

New member
are you using the old rails off the gt4 seats or modifying the WRX rails?
I'm going through this now and am having trouble getting the rails off as Toyota used a hydraulic press on shims and buttons to hold the rail metal together. Yay for angle grinders lol.
 

MrDB

New member
using WRX rails.

Drill out the existing mounts so your left with just the rail.

Flat plate then bolted through to extend to reach mounting holes.

Only welding is required for inner rear as you need to grind off and weld a larger plate as this is the main seat belt anchour.

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Seat Rails top rail now needs modyfiying parts taken off are the smaller pieces




top rail is the one you need to cut and weld. Large bit sticking down needs to come off so rail can be lower and flat plate weded on to reach mount.

If your 4ft tall it takes 2 mins to mod the rails just bend the back one 90deg and it all lines up and fits just to high..

Once finished it should be just low enough will be finished by end of week so should be able to report back. If it isnt low enough will need to cut metal bases of seat to lower further.

p.s in order for lowered rail to slide back you have to cut a small section out of the runner / slide so it will pass over mounting bolt. Only about 2" and its not a structural part of the rail. This is obvious when your fitting.

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Repaired bolster, I had rear seats so cut foam from those to repair. Removed covers and in washing machine. Swapped drivers base to passenger etc. Covers also swapped from driver to passenger. Used contact adehisive to refit covers. It took about 2hrs and a wash cycle to do.. Swapping bases puts a good bolster to the outside and a repaired one to inside. You cannot tell.

Im going to stain / spray seats jet black once they fit..
 

deecee

New member
Hmm.. I didn't think you would have used the WRX rails as the height of the seat is a lot diff to the celica seat. Even with modifying the brackets.

Thanks for the info though. I keep it in mind as I go about modifying my seats.

I'm currently removing the celica rails off the mounts and then will retrofit to the WRX seats. I may have to get some metal welded back on the rails so that I have some meat to attach the bolts through, but yeah.. that was my plan.

Otherwise I can get some Bride copies, but I would still have to modify to get the WRX seats on.

And cheers for info on upholstry. I have several options of doing the seats, either through mate who redid his whole car or another friend whose parents own a furniture upholstry business :)
 

MrDB

New member
Right WRX are now officially PITA. Seats still sit a bit to high for me.

I have 2 options now.

1) Cut the rails of my original seats but cant see that making them any lower.

2) cut base of WRX seats and weld runners to the seat.

Will probably go option 2 as i need seats and im fubared if i bugger them using option 1.

I have also developed a misfire around 3000rpm now and it wont keep a constant boost. So suspect a boost leak somewhere. Ive checked almost everything i can think of but nothing found yet.
 

deecee

New member
Just to let you know. I managed to get the rails off my old seats. There are a series of rivets and spot welds to get the rails off.

I have also quickly tested the WRX seat onto the factory rails by putting them in normal position and resting the WRX seat on top, and its a no go :(

The front of the seat raises up too high to be in a good driving position, unless you like being quite high. Normal celica seat position is slung quite low.

Its just a confirmation to your findings. Its a shame because the WRX seat is very comfortable.
 

aubeone

New member
Just out of curiosity, have either of you have both the celica and wrx seats stripped to the frames to see if you could more easily swap the foam cushions and some support and not have to go through all of this cutting and welding of the one thing that's holding you into the car...?
 

deecee

New member
i have already taken the drivers seat totally apart. I'll look at the foam and backing of the wrx seat and see if it can be modified.

Welding is no issue. How you think custom seat brackets are made? Welds are stronger than the metal that it binds together.

Otherwise, it would just be as easy to take back a normal gt4 seat to the frame and put other st18x seats/foam in place. I already have a half mocked tutorial for taking seats apart :)

I won't take up any more time in MrDB's thread.
 

MrDB

New member
Im looking into mounting the rails inside the base of the wrx seats now. Main proble is the wrx seat base is so thick.. I think i can gain about another 1" in height by doing this but all depends on rear back rest mounting bolts not being in the way.

Celica seats hang below the rails hence why they are lower. Wrx seats and most others all sit above the rails and are wider..

Will keep posted... I got them cheap so not worried abour ruining them...
 

MrDB

New member
been a while since update so here goes.

My emanage decided to throw a wobble so i disconnected it temporarily.

I have managed to get 90% of parts to convert to rev3 ecu and gt rid of the afm :) i will then retry emanage.

I also have all the parts apart from silicone hose to fit header tank, and swirl pot.

Also remote oil cooler.

I also have managed to get a CS front bumper for a bargain £10 it needed a crack repaired but its now ready to spray :)
 

MrDB

New member
Been fighting a random cold start issue, seems quite common on the 3sgte but no one has found definate cause.

Basically car sounds like a subaru at about 2500rpm has no pull what so ever and then will clear once a little bit of heat is in engine and be fine until the following morning ?

Ive checked for all possible boost leaks and found a few. but it still happens ?? Ive replaced everything now but AFM and ignitor... ( dizzy, leads,coil ) Comp check is fine so its not rings etc... :x I tried disconnecting boost controller last night and car seemed ok this morning though ( will need to check again tomorrow to be sure if it wasnt just a 1 off )

Anyway back to WRX seats they are a total no fit unless your welding them direct to the floor in fixed position :)

Ebay bargain again, oil pressure gauge brand new £1.99 :)

Ordered last bits to fit a header tank so will be doing that in next week or so pictures / guide to follow.

Almost finished a plug and play rev2 / rev3 ecu conversion pics to follow also..

Oh and pics of me prepping / fitting new bumper intercooler once it stops raining every weekend for what seems like months lol...
 

MrDB

New member
finally found the cause of the misfire on cold start. A stud had come out of the turbo and gasket was blowing just before o2 sensor so when cold ecu was compensating and dumping fuel when hot it would seal just enough..

Put a new stud in and tightened it up and for the last week no more misfires. :)

Oil gauge shows engine is still within specs also. Lower pressure is a sign of worn oil pump or bearings..

Project for easter is get header tank on and front bumper and larger intercooler.
 

MrDB

New member
Been looking for a while at adding a header tank swirl pot into the coolant system so here how im doing it.

Header tank is from a s2 escort ( uk ) rs turbo ebay £5

In order to do this you need to move the power steering tank towards front of car. I was fortunate to find a 165 power steering tank and bracket for free :) and its perfect..

No pipes were cut just extended.

I removed the a/c fuse box bracket and in the space thats there i located the new tank it fits perfect and bracket reaches the rubber mount near radiator thats used for aircon pipe support. I had to add a hose clip as my mount had started to tear so i glued it back together ( rubber ) and supported with hose clamp.

Photos were from a dirty lense on my phone sorry..

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Then i extend the power steering pipe down about 30cm from cam cover and pipe that comes out of radiator area can be bent around ( rubber ) to fit onto outlet of power steering tank.

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once you have room i made a cage for tank ( simple wrapped alloy around tank and bracket to wing )

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i than added a bracket as support to header tank tab at bottom.

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I now just need to T into outlet from radiator to bottom of header tank and take feed from rad cap to small inlet in header.

Theres enough room for 22mm pipe to come out under power steering tank to radiator pipe.

All looks factory ish lol..

This is all with aircon in etc...

Once in i can remove overflow bottle and free up some space.

In the outlet from head im goint to fit a swirl pot and that will then feed to header tank also.

Will post more pictures once all done...
 
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