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Project Q - Another modder's thread

26K views 176 replies 27 participants last post by  JabawokJayUK 
#1 · (Edited)
Well, I thought it about time I started up one of "those threads" that catalogue the progress & change of my poor little Alfa!

The base car is/was a 2008 159 Ti in 2wd, 2.4JTDm QTRONIC (automatic) guise and looked a little like this when purchased with 62K on the clock:

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Executive car Automotive design
Alloy wheel Rim Wheel Tire Spoke

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Executive car Personal luxury car
Land vehicle Vehicle Car White Black


This post will serve as the index of change and link initially to the many other threads where progress so far has been catalogued, where as this thread will pick up and deal with my Stage 3 modifications to come.

The modifications are broken down into categories as follows and have links to this forum and my blog & Youtube for more information:

Cosmetic Mods

Black Chrome 19" TI Rims Link Video Summary


Engine Modifications

AHM Custom F1 Map + DPF + EGR Removal, K&N Filter Link


Handling Mods

Ultrac Sessanta Tyres Link
Braided Brake Lines + Performance Friction Pads + Super Blue Fluid Link
Bilstein B12 Pro Kit Link
Powerflex Bushes Powerflex suspension upgrades


Lighting Mods

HID Headlights Link
Full External LED's Link link blog
Full Internal LED's Link blog
Cylon LED high level brake light Link link
Euro/DTM Style Fogs Link
Halo DRL Conversion Link link link


Audio Mods

Custom Enclosure with Infinity KAPPA Perfect 12VQ M3D Link blog
Modified Alpine MRV-T420 blog blog
Sound proofing blog
Pioneer AppRadio 2 Jabablog » 159 Custom Bass Project


What is coming next

Custom GTB2056 Hybrid Turbo - done
Turbo back Alfatune exhaust system Cancelled - Wizard System used instead - Done
Front mounted inter-cooler & airbox conversion - Done
Custom Rolling Road mapping Booked 02/02/2015

Well, feel free to subscribe and take stock of the upgrades as I am going to see just what is possible in the automatic, where so many said real power was never going to be an option.
 
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4
#2 ·
Who will you get to make the turbo? Also will you be fitting sexy rs intercooler?
 
#3 ·
The turbo is built :) Adam from TDI Turbo's built me it via Gus @ Alfatune. I keep meaning to post the info but hadn't got round to it, so will do it now!!

Yes its also getting the RS 500 60mm core inter-cooler treatment :)
 
#4 ·
Turbo Time!

The legend that is Gus @ Alfatune had been working with Adam at TDI Turbo's to make me a custom GTB2056 completely rebuilt from scratch.

The original turbo was in a fairly poor state with the shaft had broken and the compressor end (compressor wheel, seal plate and compressor cover) all fairly badly damaged as a result. The turbine end (turbine wheel obviously and VNT cover shroud) were also badly damaged and not to be used again.

Adam swapped over all the damaged bits for genuine Alfa 2056 replacements from a spare unit he had in stock and got them all cleaned up. All the consumable parts (nuts, bolts, o rings etc) were replaced along with the thrust kit and journal bearing that were all replaced with the best quality items that are available. The turbine side twin seals were replaced with racing stagger gap items so there should be zero chance of any oil seepage even with a large diameter or low back pressure exhaust systems

The compressor wheel was upgraded to the latest technology 5 axis machined from solid billet item. The advantage of this over standard is that although it is the same diameter and inducer size, it uses extended tips and has slightly taller blades meaning it can flow and deliver the air a little better. Being that is is manufactured from aircraft grade Aluminium the nose, rear hub and core cone can be made slightly smaller reducing the weight slightly to keep spoolup keen.

The CHRA was assembled and sent out for VSR high speed balancing, and also the VNT mechanism (stop screw position) was calibrated on a flow bench.
 

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#7 ·
Its quite difficult knowing that its in a box in the garage and could go on the car at any point, but I have to wait and structure the mods, so for now I am just stockpiling all the bits I need.

The Turbo & decat pipe are here and I have a turbo blanket & 3x 30 foot rolls of DEI exhaust wrap on order from China. Ned @ Autolusso is sorting me out all the bits I need to fit the turbo (washers, seals & pipes etc) so they should be here soon enough, and I have 6 litres of Millers Nanotech & a filter waiting for the turbo install as well.

Ironically I cant fit the turbo & the decat together without a map or I will boil the turbo. The spool up on this new 2056 will be very very quick and if I add the decat at the same time that will be bad news as I already have a DPF bypass so back pressure would be minimal.

I could fit the decat on my current turbo then temporarily remove it when the new turbo goes on but I am concerned that the current turbo has become quite loud over the last 3-4 months and has an audible howl from the cabin under full load so altering the back pressure could be a bad idea!

The plan, once all the current bits arrive, is to start buying all the bits for the inter-cooler mod and do that first on the current turbo with the intake mods, then fit the new turbo, drive it up to Alfatune and get Gus to put the decat and a full alfatune exhaust on just before he spends a day on the rollers setting it all up. That minimises my labour costs then and keeps Gus's time and energy spent on the custom mapping session.

I reckon it will all be done and mapped by Feb, but its Christmas coming up fast and I need to buy lots of prezzies for the family so funds are diverted elsewhere at the minute!

The intercooler mod is by far the biggest/hardest to do of all of these so I am still looking into getting the RS intercooler modified somewhere locally as its not something I want to personally do.
 
#6 ·
Nice...I'd like to see the airbox mod. These are good platforms for modding, as proven by the best examples on here.
 
#8 ·
The "plan" for the airbox at the minute is to bypass the resonator and remove it, then modify the intake snorkel on the current airbox to be higher up and larger on the front face so I can fit a larger diameter silicon hose into it while still keeping a decent ability to keep water out of it!

I already have a K&N filter inside that just needs a clean so will stick with that I think.
 
#10 ·
haha, yeah I know, I have deliberately left W/M off the shopping list for the minute mate as I want to get the basic boost / drivability setup working before I add "super pursuit mode" :)
 
#11 ·
Well after much thought I have decided to bin this project.....

What that means is that the turbo, decat pipe, fitting kit and all ancillary parts related are up for grabs.

If your in the market for a hybrib GTB2056, PM me, it was never used!
 
#12 ·
Why are you selling it? Did your auto box sad his last words?? I want to remap mine but that 440 nm limitation, scares me big time! And 159 sw is heavier then yours so it stresses even more! Unless someone knows ho can upgrade it! Another thing, on auto mode, how does down\up shift behave after remap? Do you have any dyno sheet to see your torque line?
 
#13 ·
No particular reason...

The gearbox is just fine, no problems, remapped to 440Nm of torque with no issues (speak to Gus @ Alfatune or Aidy @ AHM).

It is not possible to upgrade the TF-80SC at all without a lot of money being spent. I have spoken to many transmission people and they all say the same. They are sealed units, limited options exist. There are a couple of companies in the USA that supply slightly uprated parts for the gearbox. RevoMax make uprated torque converters, but I don't know which one might fit, if any, and Sonnax make better / uprated Solenoids and valve body kits:

Performance Car Torque Converters
Sonnax

For the most part the issue the TF80-SC has with torque is down to the Pressure Matrix. I found one company in the USA that could machine an uprated pressure matrix into an existing valve body, but that would mean I had to take the gearbox out, strip it, send the valve body to the USA wait a long time, get it back and have it rebuilt, with no guarantees or local expertise if anything is vastly different from the mod.

The cost to get my car to 300Bhp would be greater than buying another 159!!, that is the main reason I am selling the turbo, but that said, I am having the swirl flaps deleted and a new manifold fitted tomorrow so I might have the turbo fitted at the next oil change so the whole intake side is as good as it can get without doing an additional remap and FMIC. I'll still be at 250 but the spool up will be epic and the flow rates will be much better :)
 
#14 ·
I am stunned that you haven't eliminated swirl flaps. Why new manifold?! 440 nm at the wheel or in the maps? I am doing all the work by myself and already eliminated egr and swirl flaps. Tomorrow will be dpf. If you are struggling for space in the engine bay, i can fiscally eliminate egr and flaps motor without dtc. I am new at remapping and its my first car but very experienced on mechanics.
By the way, nice work on your car. Looks great!
 
#15 ·
The EGR is hardware blanked (plate) and deleted from the ECU & DPF is 100% hollow from front to back and deleted in the ECU. The swirl flaps had not been done and are being done tomorrow as they are leaking lots of boost :(. It will be a new supplied intake manifold with the swirl flaps welded closed and then the swirl flap function deleted from the ECU (they keep my old manifold as part of the deal to recondition and reuse). I am getting the belts & water pump done at the same time as she has done 109K miles now and it was last done at 70K.

Your biggest problem with the map is the torque curve as you have to limit it and bring it in later than normal for a diesel to protect the box but my mapping was done by AHM using the F1 map developed by AHM & Alfatune, so I do not have any specific details on its structure.
 
#18 ·
I think that the 440 Nm limit of the auto box is at flywheel because its always constant no matter what bigger rims you put in. The bigger they are, more torque is dissipated.
But i just wanted his torque reference to do mine.
Dyno sheet would be nice because it can be recreated on torque limiter.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Unfortunately it is not easy to dyno an automatic and the two UK tuners that built the F1 map used in my car don't have them. If I do fit the new turbo and get it remapped by Alfatune, Gus will do it on a friends hub dyno that can do auto's. He also has a plan on how to beat the torque limiter but you would have to speak to him about how he is going to do it.
 
#20 ·
:) ok thanks.
Beat torque limiter?? Box upgrade?! Hmmm...

You have kkk turbo and upgrade to Garrett 210hp engine?
Do you have any MES logs with boost pressure, desired boost pressure, boost control/solenoid ?
I´m having weird boost spikes 400 mbar above requested...
 
#21 ·
Well its been a long time coming but I finally decided to fit the turbo!

I had a coupl eof offers for it in the end, but at 107K I had my inlet manifold swapped for a blanked unit as I was loosing so much boost out of it and the result was the turbo howl started to get a lot loader and the engine started to use a bit of oil which was highly unusual. Over the last couple of months I have been monitoring it and decided to bite the bullet and just fit the shiny new turbo sat in the garage :)

...I am very glad I did.

Immediate noticeable improvement to power delivery, spool up and available torque that has significantly improved the automatic gearbox. Less kick downs, smoother power delivery and all round better behaved whcih I put down to more torque available lower in the rev range due to the faster spool.

Autolusso completed the job for me, Jay, Craig & Ned all pitched in to sort it and as ever a great service from them.
 
#22 ·
You can get good reads from autos on standard dynos. I mapped a Vectra auto 1.9CDTI with one of my hybrids and I was very irritated by the ECU to kick down at the slighest touch of the pedal and almost totally avoid the torque peaks. I adjusted the mapping to prevent this and managed to get a good reading of 190WHP (220BHP/384lbft flywheel est) .
 
#26 ·
Since fitting the hybrid (map unchanged) the lower / faster spool has significantly helped with kick downs. Its far less eager to drop a gear now and much happier to just pull in whatever gear you are in which is a bonus. After the FMIC is installed its going in for a full hub dyno mapping session and one of the goals is to make sure the gearbox is using those torque peaks properly!
 
#23 ·
Cheers Nutron, Its getting the FMIC done next and the intake sorted out then its onto the mapping. I am aiming for the 290's with smooth power delivery so she will become a real motorway mauler.
 
#27 ·
Hey Jay, nice to see that you took the turbo upgrade path :)

I subscribed to the forum to get access to your post, in the hope that you had find an upgrade for the AWTF-80SC...looks like you came at the same conclusion as me : that freakin gear box is very limited in ''tunability''

I own a Mazda CX-7 with the Mazdaspeed 2.3T engine, and am also cursed by the AWTF-80SC

I emailed Trifecta tuning and Polestar tuning to see if they could tune the trans on my CX-7 (they tune the AWTF-80SC on the Chevrolet and Volvo platform), but they never answered :(

Transgo makes some nice valve body DIY recalibration kit (more line pressure, faster and firmer shift...), but they only offer a basic rebuild kit for the AWTF-80SC:cry:

I found a local trans shop that sells used AWTF-80SC valve body for 125$ (Canadian dollars)...I will get one and reverse engineer the thing in the hope of finding a reliable way to improve the shifting and line pressure (much like the Transgo recalibration kit)

Next on the list is to upgrade the torque converter so I can semi-manualy lock it under heavy load to be more efficient like a manual (this involve a simple electronic controller to lock the converter at the right time...)

The trans upgrade is not my #1 priority right now, but you can see my progress here in my build thread : Big turbo build CX-7 :p - Mazdaspeed Forums

I will keep an eye on your post in case you find something interesting for the trans :D

Cheers, Torquemaniac
 
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