Thanks!

All exh is just pressure. No need to balance it really. A twin turbo setup is more critical to create symmetry, not a single.

I hate cats, feline and emissions, but esp the emissions kind.!

No sniff-test in GA on OBDII cars, they just plug in. They do a visual, but I put one of my dealer plates on the Bonne so no emissions reqd. I have a big, empty 3" converter if I ever tag the car in my name.

EVERYONE HAVE A GOOD THANKSGIVING, GET OFF THE COMPUTER AND GO SPEND TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY!!!!! (wait, who am I to say that? LOL!)

O.k., something crapped out on me. After sititng for a day or two, I started it up SUnday and almost immediately, I get huge plumes of white puffy smoke out the exhaust!
CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!

The only thing I changed was I put new larger water lines to cool the turbo, I had 3/8 lines on it and I went to 1/2" lines. I also drained out the water I had in there and went ahead and put in a 50/50 mix. I thought maybe the turbo was cracked and pumping water into the exhaust, so I removed a plugged the lines to the turbo. I ran it for another minute and it was still smoking with no signs of letting up. SO I pulled all the plugs and they are ALL a little wet. I even got some steam coming out of the #1 hole when I pulled the #2 plug (I assume there was some cross-ventilation going on at that point...) The only place up top it could be coming from is the water holes under the t.b. They have been tapped and plugged with 3/8" pipe plugs AND sealed with the factory gasket. I did NOT use the or-ings in case the threads are not sealing tight. SO I guess that'* where I will look first....

The only other place is the intake gaskets, but they are the new aluminum upgrades AND they didn;t leak before... the car ran for at least 15 minutes total run time since i started it for the first time, so I don;t know why now it has coolant leaking in the engine... except pulling the */c twice and now the bigger coolant hoses to the turbo, that'* all I did. I am not using the intercoler yet, (either one) or the t.b. pipe from the turbo, so no water could get in that way. It'* ALOT of water, too. It wet the tailpipes considerably.

ARGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any thoughts?

maybe the coolant ports that you blocked, for the ic?

I used the factory gasket O-rings and dabbed a bit of silicone on them when I plugged my TB ports and no leaks.

I intended to use the o-rings, I must have misplaced them and then forgot about them.

The thing I don;t get is why even after the second time pulling the i/c it didn;t leak, now suddenly it leaks. I have to pull the */c anyway, so I will check if it'* leaking at the plugs first. I can;t imagine both h/g leaking or why they would leak with factory graphite gaskets and ARP head studs. There is no water in the oil, so I don;t think it;* the intake gaskets either. I hope for simplicity sake it'* the coolant plugs under the t/b.

I WILL get this thing right! I have to, soon it'll be all I have to drive!

I have a hard time believing that it could be the tb plugs that are leaking that much to produce a huge cloud of white smoke. When the engine is cold there isn't much pressure there but I suppose a little could weep a bit into the EGR hole. :?

Now that I see this will be your daily driver, I'm an even bigger fan of the project. You are my hero, sir.

Well, I pulled the */c and i/c once again and there is no sign of leakage anywhere. I filled the cooling system back up and pressure tested with the */c off. There is no sign of coolant leaking past the intake gaskets or the head gaskets. I used a boroscope to look into the cylinders and down the intake runners to make sure. It holds 15psi and has for 30 minutes!

The only other thing is my worst fear... I paid $900 for a turbo that has a cracked center housing. As soon as I eat, I'm going back out to put the plugs back in and let it run. I assume at this point the turbo filled the exh pretty good with coolant and it might take a while to smoke it all out.

I'll report back soon.

It'* oil smoke, not coolant... I can hear the oil sizzling in the downpipe. The turbo is pumping oil into the exh. Either the drainback is too small or some other issue with it or the feed line is too big (or both....) However, the Bonneville moved under it'* own power tonight! I pulled it outside, turned it around and the smoke was so bad I shut it off. It'* definately oil, very distinct smell of non-combusted oil just burning raw in the exh. I filed the whole shop up with smoke! With no exh fan, it will take hours or days to get it all out!