TeamSwift

i need a place to start a journal on my project so i can keep everything in one thread for easier archiving. i have a sub-gallery set up for pics and i'll try to keep those in the same place, too.

i've had a couple of notable sponsors for my project, Jardamuth - Turbine Tech and suprf1y - 3 Tech Performance with a lot of other Teamswift members contributing parts. still, other members have been supporting my decisions on the direction and scope of modifications by sharing technical information. turbohull and sportage4x4 have helped to spin me up on the mega squirt controls as there have been so many improvements in code and hardware since i built the ms1.

since i have pretty much a free creative hand, i'm doing the electronic, mechanical, and appearance modifications all at once. i'm also doing mock-up assemblies as i go along and trying to get pics as i go along to help sort out all the details. another thing is that i'm trading parts, closing out my twincam collection and cutting way back on my n/a g10 pile, as i go along to help finance the new project. it adds to my slow pace, as i have to raise money for parts as things go along, sometimes having to save my lunch money from one paycheck to the next.

here are some pics of my head mock-up:



see the blank off plate for the omitted cold start injector?


adjustable cam gear (one of a pair of twincam parts) from strider.


to delete the distributor, the mega squirt (ms2ver3 running ms2extra code) uses a 36-1 trigger wheel on the crank to count rotational position. i used a ford trigger wheel machined to fit one of the aluminum underdrive pulley's that suprf1y had cnc'd a couple of years ago. i had a couple of false starts on the trigger wheel development until i one that satisfied me aesthetically (pretty enough. )

like i said, since this is my project i have a free hand to exercise my creative license.

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1991 Blue Geo Metro Convertible highly modified 1.0L Turbo3 5 spd. - 1991 Red Geo Metro Convertible customized with a Twincam 5 spd.

My Turbo3 Project
My Cardomain Page -Ol' Blue
My YouTube Channel
My Photo Gallery
SAAB Sonett II

And I promise not to junk it up with my posts but will be watching from a far...jv&s

i prepped and sprayed a nice cherry red ceramic coating on my new gt front brake calipers and throttle body along with a short run of fuel rail parts, crank and cam bolts, and the throttle mounted idle pot in a flat black. 2 hours at 200* f in an oven cures the ceramic as hard as a brick bat and makes it resistant to gas, oil, and abrasion.



all my new rubber caliper pin boots and the new rear dust seals arrived from rockauto for the gt 4 wheel disc brakes. i'll be doing the final assembly on the calipers before they go on the shelf. the calipers and yokes got finished in cherry red ceramic and baked. the e-brake mounts and caliper brackets for the rears will get the flat black ceramic coating. i'll use a set of the rear brake backing plates in chrome plating. i have e-brake cables acquired from deebee, new pucks, and new rotors on the shelf. all i need to scare up is a braided stainless hose kit. i have a nos brake assist vacuum canister and a nos master cylinder on the shelf along with polished stainless steel hard lines for the master cylinder to proportioning valve and valve to the front hoses. i still need to turn 2.5mm off the radius of the front gt rotors to get them to work with the vert knuckles and hubs. i'm pretty much set for a trick brake upgrade.

i also picked up a set of ltlsu's tubular toe bars a while back to finish out the rear suspension. i have to swap to the rear gt knuckles which means i'll hack off the stock flat, flexy toe rods.

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1991 Blue Geo Metro Convertible highly modified 1.0L Turbo3 5 spd. - 1991 Red Geo Metro Convertible customized with a Twincam 5 spd.

My Turbo3 Project
My Cardomain Page -Ol' Blue
My YouTube Channel
My Photo Gallery
SAAB Sonett II

Im excited to this project grow , as I have a similar build with the t3 engine that i have been saving parts for, for the last 4years but haven't began because I've been waiting to be able to purchase a turbo&intake setup.

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t3-did u use calipers from a swift gti?89-91.front calipers are bigger than turbo/convert calipers,just have to file holes in bracketry if you dont use gti knuckles,gti hubs have bigger bearings as well,bigger axel splines,convert to equal length c.v. shaft system?.........less tq steer,stronger axels.......

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89 1.0 turbo firefly
2"exhaust,no cats/resonator
3 tech 6*gear
3 tech turbo grind cam
3 tech cylinder head/w/port,polish,blend,oversized s/s valves
gti brake swap
89 white gti twincam....need I say more?
92 metro aka ''blue lump of coal''
92 white metro lsi vert
91 blue chevy sprint (gas sipper)

the rear brakes adapt with the gt knuckles, hubs, calipers, rotors, hoses and e-brake cables. everything bolts right up.

as for the front gt brakes, the caliper yokes have mounting holes that are on the same diameters as the vert knuckle. the difference is that with regard to the radius, the calipers sit just a little closer to the hub center. the rotor fitment is good on the vert hub and all that's required is to lathe turn 2.5mm on the outside of the rotor (5mm on the diameter) to allow clearance for the caliper.

since the engine position of the g10t is different than the twincam and also since there's no provision to bolt up the intermediate shaft bearing housing, i can't adapt the gt axles very easily. i'll use the lighter g10 axles and vert hubs. i'm not prone to abusing a car by yanking gears (i learned to drive european sports cars and rarely even chirp a tire) so i don't think i'm apt to twist an axle or damage a bearing. i drove my twincam vert as hard as i could for one season using metro sedan axles and the vert brakes and wheel bearings and never had a bit of trouble.

i roughed out my distributor block off plate today.


later, i finished it and mounted it on the mock-up.


i found a lost bag of chromed hardware including rear toe adjustment (eccentric) hardware, rear strut pinch bolts, and the bearing caps for the rear gt hubs.


while i was doing the flat black ceramic coating on the rear caliper mounts and e-brake brackets, i did a cherry red ceramic coating on the idle solenoid bracket and mounted it to the mock-up with stainless hardware and 6mm silicone hose.


i was going to do the final assembly on my gt brakes but i'm sort of tired. maybe i'll leave that until tomorrow.

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1991 Blue Geo Metro Convertible highly modified 1.0L Turbo3 5 spd. - 1991 Red Geo Metro Convertible customized with a Twincam 5 spd.

My Turbo3 Project
My Cardomain Page -Ol' Blue
My YouTube Channel
My Photo Gallery
SAAB Sonett II

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it's unseasonably and unbearably cold today. bored, i completed the assembly of my gt brake calipers and yokes, snapped a pic and put them on the shelf.


i did the cherry red ceramic coating so they'll look hot under the wheels. i still have to do the hats on the new rotors and i think i'll do outer the edges of the rotors as well to keep them from rusting.

while i was shuffling parts, i dusted off this piece. new, old stock brake assist vacuum canister, gt master cylinder, and brake fluid reservoir. it even has some chromed bits on it.


although the only time you'd see them, i have a set of chrome plated backing plates for the rear and did up the mounting brackets and e-brake cable brackets in the satin finish black ceramic. i can't wait for spring!

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1991 Blue Geo Metro Convertible highly modified 1.0L Turbo3 5 spd. - 1991 Red Geo Metro Convertible customized with a Twincam 5 spd.

My Turbo3 Project
My Cardomain Page -Ol' Blue
My YouTube Channel
My Photo Gallery
SAAB Sonett II

i spent several hours sand blasting parts to prep them for powder coating. i had soaked the oil pan in a solvent tank for 3 days and then gave it a scrub with alconox to get all the grease and oil off before media blasting it.

i decided to do a new fuel rail in satin black ceramic to accent the chromed banjo fittings. the red and silver one is pretty but the satin black will keep things from getting to busy in the color scheme. it's done and on the mock up. i'm still waiting on the 9 chrome bits (and scrounging up the money to pay for them.)

i bought a set of silicone radiator hoses in blue, the $29 ones on ebay. they came today and look good, 25mm and good for 5 bar pressures at 180* f. phil n ed hooked me up with a twincam coolant pipe set so i can route the coolant lines to leave room for the liquid to air intercooler in the space over the tranny. i also found a fabricated aluminum engine coolant radiator and low profile fan that allows the proper clearance for my charge air piping and another radiator and fan for the intercooler that's being built now.

i figure that i'm about halfway to having all the parts for the project collected. i still have most of the assembly work to go, though. i've gone to the fastener supply counter so many times now that i take the guy a coffee. everytime i get $5 in my pocket, i buy a handfull of stainless steel bolts. the big ones, like for the engine mounting arms, are $8 a pop! it'll take me all winter just to buy all the nuts and bolts.

i've started another task. i'm cutting tin to build my belt guard. i'll do it in galvanized steel to get all the dimensions and bends just right before i start working with stainless. i might have to get a sheet metal shop to do the bends on the standoffs when i build the real one, i don't have a sheet metal break with enough poop to make nice bends on stainless. to do it right, i have to have a machine that will radius the bends on the heavier gauge and stainless steel alloy with enough nickel and chrome in it to be reasonably called "stainless" can be pretty brittle. it cracks when you break it too sharply. i also don't have access to a roller to do the curve at the top of the guard.

my original design used slots, sort of skeletonizing the basic shape, which will probably have to be dropped due to expense. it's along the same lines as an open primary cover on a custom belt drive chopper.

until my next progress report.

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1991 Blue Geo Metro Convertible highly modified 1.0L Turbo3 5 spd. - 1991 Red Geo Metro Convertible customized with a Twincam 5 spd.

My Turbo3 Project
My Cardomain Page -Ol' Blue
My YouTube Channel
My Photo Gallery
SAAB Sonett II

here's a pic of the satin black ceramic coated fuel rail.

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1991 Blue Geo Metro Convertible highly modified 1.0L Turbo3 5 spd. - 1991 Red Geo Metro Convertible customized with a Twincam 5 spd.

My Turbo3 Project
My Cardomain Page -Ol' Blue
My YouTube Channel
My Photo Gallery
SAAB Sonett II

this is the first time i've tried to modify a g10 to run the gt radiator coolant lines. phil sent me the steel gt coolant and intermediate pipes and i caught a cheap deal on silicone radiator hoses in blue - $29US plus $19US shipping from china.

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1991 Blue Geo Metro Convertible highly modified 1.0L Turbo3 5 spd. - 1991 Red Geo Metro Convertible customized with a Twincam 5 spd.

My Turbo3 Project
My Cardomain Page -Ol' Blue
My YouTube Channel
My Photo Gallery
SAAB Sonett II

can't wait to see if it works with the GT pipes.

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Suzuki Gold Master Tech
'07 Suzuki SX4 JLX AWD 2.0 | Turbine Tech turbo kit @ 7psi
'08 Suzuki SX4 Sport 2.0 , average baby carrier

i'll make it work.

i prepped the intake manifold i got from steamfitter for powder coating. i really like the look of glass bead blasted aluminum. it looks like it's sugar coated, soft with a thousand sparkly highlights.


i'll drop some parts off at the powder coating shop next week. some of them will get the same blue as the valve cover but i'm leaning towards getting the intake manifold done in a low gloss, soft silver.

if anybody has any input on what they think would look good on the intake manifold, here's your chance to say something.

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1991 Blue Geo Metro Convertible highly modified 1.0L Turbo3 5 spd. - 1991 Red Geo Metro Convertible customized with a Twincam 5 spd.

My Turbo3 Project
My Cardomain Page -Ol' Blue
My YouTube Channel
My Photo Gallery
SAAB Sonett II

natural aluminum! leave it like that!!

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Suzuki Gold Master Tech
'07 Suzuki SX4 JLX AWD 2.0 | Turbine Tech turbo kit @ 7psi
'08 Suzuki SX4 Sport 2.0 , average baby carrier

unfortunately, the weather around here will turn that pretty, raw finish dusty gray from corrosion within a year. it's also really hard to keep a finish like that from catching grease and grime. polishing holds up for almost a year before it starts to turn gray. clear anodizing changes the finish but holds up better. paint dulls within 2 years, and powder coating stays nice for about 5 years before it starts to crack and lift in places.

i'm leaning towards powder coating in argent silver or matte bright silver. red is too busy and black is okay for a bracket, but i don't like it much on a larger part.

today, i drilled out the intake manifold's port holes and re-tapped them to accept 1/8" npt pipe plugs and a vacuum/ boost guage barbed hose fitting. i changed the tps linkage plate to one from a 98 n/a throttle body to match the sensor i fitted to the turbo3 throttle body. swapping to the later model will give me the option to find units without as much wear on them and doing the fitment now with the throttle body on the bench is easier than trying to stand on my head to do it in the car.

i also dug up a bunch of the oem spring clamps for hoses so i can hit them with the media blaster to clean them up. i think i'll finish them with a chemical bluing finish (like a gun finish.) that will be way cheaper than buying new ones and more durable than painting them.

the chrome plater gave me a call to tell me that my bill for plating 8 little parts will be $230 and the ups shipping charges to send them back. just for fun, here's a name the part pic. let's see who gets them right.

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1991 Blue Geo Metro Convertible highly modified 1.0L Turbo3 5 spd. - 1991 Red Geo Metro Convertible customized with a Twincam 5 spd.

My Turbo3 Project
My Cardomain Page -Ol' Blue
My YouTube Channel
My Photo Gallery
SAAB Sonett II

painting parts flat black usually lowers operating temps 5~10 degrees,versus chrome plating,but lots of flat black looks boring unless its a 32 rat rod flathead v8 offy supercharger 3 foot open pipes skinnywhitewall tires and some greasy guy with a tatood chick on his side very nice.....i like.....i hope u like......

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89 1.0 turbo firefly
2"exhaust,no cats/resonator
3 tech 6*gear
3 tech turbo grind cam
3 tech cylinder head/w/port,polish,blend,oversized s/s valves
gti brake swap
89 white gti twincam....need I say more?
92 metro aka ''blue lump of coal''
92 white metro lsi vert
91 blue chevy sprint (gas sipper)

Starting from the battery, going clockwise:

- PVC valve retainer
- two sparkplug wire standoffs
- timing belt tensioner
- throttle cable bracket
- fuel rail spacer (?)
- fuel rail fuel input
- throttle cable to throttle plate thingy

It's a cam lever.

Come on! You guys don't know yer english yet?

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i thought that might stump the turbo3 guys. the "fuel rail spacer (?)" is just that. i cut the cold start injector steel line off at the larger banjo fitting and silver soldered the open tube over. now it's just a spacer so i can keep the original banjo bolt on that end.

let me give turbohull a special shout out for sending me fuel rail parts. i couldn't put together a single complete spare assembly. now i have one on my car, one for my project, and 2 spares. thanks to steamfitter for hooking me up with a mostly complete intake manifold with a throttle body to build on.


jard calls it a cam lever, and that's right. i call it a bell crank which is an aeronautics term.

i can't stump you guys.

added pic of spare refurbished fuel rail.

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1991 Blue Geo Metro Convertible highly modified 1.0L Turbo3 5 spd. - 1991 Red Geo Metro Convertible customized with a Twincam 5 spd.

My Turbo3 Project
My Cardomain Page -Ol' Blue
My YouTube Channel
My Photo Gallery
SAAB Sonett II

My intake assembly that I have for sale wasn't good enough for ya?

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Good stuff for sale!

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=42901&start=0

wow

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1991 Swift GT Build G10 +25 psi + other goodies
1996 Metro Build QR25de swap, still undecided where to take it
the lolcar family

It's all good but those thanks won't cut it. We, teamswifters, want the nastiest T3 built evar.

You can't disapoint us now!

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one nasty turbo3, in the works jard.

i spent about 4 hours today working those little parts on a wire wheel, with sandpaper, then scotchbrite pads, and finally, on a 6 inch cotton wheel with rosin. the surfaces that show are now as shiny as if they were chrome. after the plating, they'll be super shiny and rust resistant.


doing the prep work myself will save a bunch of money in labor. not only that, but the wire wheel snagged one of the plug wire loom standoffs and flipped it into a corner of the garage. when i moved the pile of stuff to look for it, i found 3 steering wheels - 2 mk2 gt and one mk3 gt. soon, they'll go up for sale to finance the next tasks.

while i was stirring around in the garage i found these chrome plated gt brake back plates for the 4 wheel disc brake upgrade. they ought to make the red calipers look cool.

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1991 Blue Geo Metro Convertible highly modified 1.0L Turbo3 5 spd. - 1991 Red Geo Metro Convertible customized with a Twincam 5 spd.

My Turbo3 Project
My Cardomain Page -Ol' Blue
My YouTube Channel
My Photo Gallery
SAAB Sonett II

I call dibs if you ever sell it. I miss my T3 something awful now. Stupid rust.

i had a serious set back on my project today. the block i dropped off at the machine shop has a defect in the #2 bore and won't work without machining the cylinder bore. i don't have access to an oversize mk2 turbo3 piston anyway and precious little time to find, strip, and check another block.

my best option is to have the #2 cylinder re-sleeved which will add considerably to my cost.

at the end of the day, i told the shop to forge ahead and i'll try to choke up the extra $175. on a brighter note, the crank was perfect and the journals polished up just fine. the shop also found new thrust bearings for $7 and gave me the option of using the old ones or replacing them on the cheap.

my new injector wiring connectors came today along with the 2nd order of high temp silicone hoses for throttle body coolant and vacuum lines.

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1991 Blue Geo Metro Convertible highly modified 1.0L Turbo3 5 spd. - 1991 Red Geo Metro Convertible customized with a Twincam 5 spd.

My Turbo3 Project
My Cardomain Page -Ol' Blue
My YouTube Channel
My Photo Gallery
SAAB Sonett II