I wouldn;t call it crazy, I might call it stubborn or stupid. The thing is, I KNOW this will work, and work well. I hate when there are SO many variables involved. If this was a running driving car I put the wood on, it would be running and driving now. But it is a from-scratch project. The only thing NOT new is the short block. And that even rec'd ARP rod bolts, so even it wasn't untouched.

I have a trans swap and all the stuff that goes with it; axles, mounts, flywheel bolt pattern, brackets, cooler lines, shift linkage, frame mods, etc, etc, etc...

I have engine mods; rockers, springs, new heads, heag gaskets, ARP head studs and rod bolts, oil pump mods, oil cooler, , ported blower, modified LIM, 8-rib pulleys, fuel rails, 65# injectors, bored throttle body (stock size), LS1 MAF, 180 deg drilled t-stat, etc, etc, etc...

I have making the wood intercooler, researching the best wood, making templates, milling, cutting, planing, fitting, changing, two different cores, etc, etc, etc...

PCM tuning using a '97 PCM for the Bonne SSEi w/-65E to run the -80E and still be compatible with the Bonne systems, 65# injectors, LS1 MAF, custom wiring harness for the -80E, relocated the PCM to pass side, etc, etc, etc...

AND the turbo kit on top of everything; fabricated rear header and custom turbo crossover pipe, turbo mounting, oil feed and return lines, oil return in oil pan, custom downpipe and full 4" exhaust with twin Magnaflow mufflers, wastegate run back into exh, liquid-air intercooler system for the turbo, 3" charge-air piping, etc, etc, etc...

Now, tell me ANYONE, even Foose, even Boyd Coddington, who could put all that sh*t together and not have bugs to work out! Esp when this has NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE!!!! I know twin charging has been done, but I'm not even gotten that far yet. I don't anticipate problems with that at all.

Now I'll go back out to work out one bug at a time....

That'* the first thing I am doing is putting a known-good IAC on it.

Serious vacuum leaks...

The lower plate is not sealing right where the LIM is the narrowest. B/c the wood isn;t rigid enough and the AL i/c core is not pressing against the wood like the copper core did. DOH!!!!!!!

And when I cut the tube guides deepr for the AL core, I didn;t go deep enough on the lower plate and it split on one side, all the way thru from out to in, below the tube. CRAP!!!!!

Now I have to make a new lower plate, but I will make sure the tubes are right AND I will leave meat around the opening so the core will press against the wood and keep it flat. I am even thinking about an insert that will spread the load around the opening and seal the wood from "curling" up like it did.

It'* only an issue on the bottom, the */c has alot more meat on the base and sealed very nice. The LIM has those two little narrow sections b/t the #4 and #6 injectors and the #3 and #5 injectors. The manifold flange is only about 1/2" wide right thru there and the wood was weak in that area due to the lack of anything pushing against it.

And the oring around the MAF was leaking, and the #4 and #6 injectors were leaking around the base where my custom brackets didn;t pusht he rail down far enough, and the AN fitting on the rear rail kept leaking gas, I guess it got a little warped wen I welded it, so I sanded off a touch from the end and it seals fine now.... I think I will just put hte */c on and worry about the plates later... unless I go buid a new one right now...............

Sukkks man.

I would do this though:
It will rule out a variable and you'll know around where your tune should be before you put the new IC plate in.

Either way, awesome progress.

Hey, I like that avatar! That'* funny as h-e-double tooth picks. (family forum talk)

Oh, and N/A is best???? That'* just cuz you've never had a turbo! SOUR GRAPES!!!! LOL!

Maybe you could fil in those gaps and spaces in the LIM with JB weld.

It'* best for me.

I did fab and tack up turbo manis for my buddies car....

Hopefully soon it will be GT40ing itself deep into the 12s.

More on that some other time..

You said you welded something for the AN fitting on the rear injector rail? If your talking abouth the crossover from front to back, you didn't just make a 37 degree flare and use fittings?

No, it'* a weld fitting from Earl'* Fittings. I cut the line and welded two of them on.

Already statred making a new bottom plate. It won't be as pretty as the first two. But it will be more functional.

Done...

Fixed the sealing problem when using the AL core in my plates made for the brass core. I left some meat around the core itself and sunk the tanks up into the plate so the core pushes against the plate and keeps it tight against the LIM. I left about 10-thou crush to push eveyrhting together.... now to go put it on!