LAST EDITED ON 05-Dec-00 AT 02:24 PM (PST)

Wow , you have LOTS of questions..

>Well its going over 2 years
>now that I've had the
>Stage II HRC kit on
>my car. Put the kit
>on when I hit 10k
>miles, I have 30k now.

Well, that's pretty encouraging.


>After first putting on the
>kit the car fu***n flew,
>bar none. However from the
>very start I've never been
>able to get over 100psi
>of fuel pressure. The instructions
>said it should be up
>around 115psi at 8psi.

That's a strange one, possibly related to your fuel pump, but I don't know. Here's what I suggest. Get an upgraded IN-TANK fuel pump. I took the cue from Corbin and did this. It was one of my only lingering disappointments of the HRC kit before I wasn't sure which one to buy. You can buy the very strongest one on the aftermarket(Walbro 255lph-HP) which pushes 255 liters per hour (HIGH pressure under boost) from Tom Stangl at the dsm.org vfaq's page. Go to http://www.vfaq.com for the fuel pump install and you should find the links. It's for $130. The one for the GS-T works the same for ours and it is an intank replacement. Just make sure it's the second generation model.

My
>kit's instructions let out a
>lot of info, like being
>forced to remove my cruise
>control unit to fit the
>FPR. I seen a pic
>with somebody having the FPR
>by the battery, is that
>how the newer kits are
>having em placed?


No, it's still at the cruise control location. Corbin just put his there. It's kind of confusing changing the location of the cruise control. A comment we've already made to HRC.


The first
>dilemma was HRC's exhaust manifold,
>it used 4 individual runners
>that merged before the turbo
>outlet, but after a couple
>thousand miles the welds cracked,
>making the car sound like
>a piece of crap along
>with loss of power. The
>new manifold is ten times
>beefier, but I've noticed a
>loss of power cause of
>its one chamber design (exhaust
>hits the inlet plate till
>it escapes thru it) Anybody
>else have problems getting all
>the exhaust manifold bolts thru?
>The clearance is so tight
>that I have to leave
>out one bolt, there is
>just no room. I've been
>plagued with exhaust manifold bolts
>coming loose, even after tighting
>em when its hot. (And
>its not cause of missing
>the one bolt, the old
>manifold did the same thing)
>Somebody said there are locking
>head bolts, anybody know anything
>about em? Anybody using
>a exhaust manifold gasket? HRC
>told me I didnt need
>one...

You betcha. I've had to tighten my exhaust manifold bolts on a number of occasions as they have become loose. This probelem isn't just indicative of our exhaust manifolds and happens all the time to all sorts of cars. You just notice it more on our setups b/c of the absence of a heat shield. I have also looked at the self-locking nuts. I saw them in a JC Whitney Catalog. I'm going ot try them!

I'm at about 5000 miles on my system without a problem with the manifold. No cracking or anything. However, if you're running 10 pounds of boost without 100 pounds of fuel pressure, I have a pretty good idea why #1 cylinder has pooped out on ya and you've seen some cracking... I check my fuel pressure REGULARLY!


Anybody locate a in-car
>fuel pressure gauge that can
>go over 100psi???

People have asked about it and haven't found any. I only have seen the out of car one provided to you by HRC.

Well I've
>been running 10psi for about
>all of the 20k, depending
>on the outside temperature. Pretty
>reliable except for a fuel
>line rubbing on a sharp
>edge near the FPR, made
>myself a gasoline pool in
>a McDonalds parking lot. Props
>to Wyatt, Ive been trying
>to find a high pressure
>fuel pump for a while.
>Is it a in tank
>replacement?

See above comment.

Well at the of
>this summer the car quit,
>sounded like it was cammed
>out, blowing oil thru the
>valve cover breather, into my
>recovery unit/filter all over the
>engine like it was its
>job. 70 psi in Cylinder
>1(pressure rose after pouring some
>oil inside it), 170 in
>the rest. Ill find out
>tommorrow if its a melted
>piston or broken ring. Not
>sure if I can scrounge
>up the loot for the
>lower compression pistons and rods.
>Should I try a thick
>copper head gasket to raise
>the compression ratio a little?

It's a decent idea to LOWER the compression as Joe Ackley already has, but even a better idea is to shore up the fuel problems you've obviously been having. I can't tell you how often people under-estimate this part of a turbo system. It may be the cheapest part to buy, but that certainly doesn't correspond with how important it is. It's 90% of the whole damn kit. Without adequate fuel, that means high temps and broken pistons, blown rings, cracked manifold, warped heads, and everything else in-between!


>Are there high performance head
>gaskets I can get instead
>of copper (rather have the
>gasket go then my pistons/valves).

I think they're are. Joe said his performance shop nearby had one. Maybe if we can get Joe to tell us the number of this wonderful place, we can disseminate the info Some neon guys may know as well.


>Sorry for the long post
> Oh yeah, one
>more thing, anybody else have
>problems with there power steering
>belt flying off when ya
>really rip into it??

Not me, thank goodness!

Basically
>all in all, you get
>a turbo kit, your eventually
>gonna have problems....

Possibly, but if you're having fuel problems and can't hit 100 psi on the fuel guage while running 10 pounds of boost at the same time....well let's just say playing Russian Roullete isn't too far off from the games you've already played.

>
>*Gotta PAY to PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
>Allentown, PA

If you want to play, you better know the RULES!



Jason
98' Eagle Talon ESi-T
Mitsu Super 16g Turbo(HRC)


http://springfielddsm.homestead.com/JasonsPics.html

_____________________________________
Jason ESi-T

04' BMW 325Ci
91' Nissan 240SX
98' Eagle Talon ESi (sold)