Has anyone tried to up their boost with a DIY boost controller? I been thinking about trying to fab a ball-spring system to up the boost. I've got a T25 at the stock boost level and want to boost at about 10 psi. While I'm playing with boost level, I was going to monitor the MAF voltage as well. There are a few designs on the web that seem doable but I want to get some input from the SE-R crowd. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Romeo

I'm all for DIY, but just be careful about what you are doing. I hope that you have good eyes, and an even better boost gauge. Mechanical boost controllers are notorious for overboosting, spiking and destroying an engine. If you want a slightly more expensive, but still affordable method of boost control, Redline and Turbo XS sell great mechanical boost controllers that are proven. Just a thought!

*sigh, Lyn, you need to stop talking like you know everything. There are tons of mechanical boost controllers out there that are dead nuts stable. No spiking, no overboosting and fast spoolup. RCC, instead of making your own boost controller, try the Joe P MBC. I will be getting one of these soon. The turbo Buick guys and DSM guys love this boost controller. And the best part? It's $40. www.boostcontroller.com



Terrin
92 SE-R

That is what I was saying, unless you really know what you are doing, go with a mechanical boost controller that is proven. All you basically did was reiterate what I said. You shouldn't assume so much, I wasn't, and am not a smart ass.

Here is a link to the Redline Boost Controller that I was talking about Link (http://www.cnw.com/~redline/RBC.htm)

Another link to the oneTurbo XS (http://www.turboxs.com/standard_boost_controller.htm)

They are so insanely priced, I don't see how any mere mortal could afford one after a lifetime of toil.


Don't trust me though, I am full of shit. Don't believe the websites either, its all lies lies lies, a proverbial army of satan to take down God's own boost controller located at Boostcontroller.com. There your $47 dollars buys you the best there is on earth. Why the zip ties must obviously be made of an advanced, unbreakable carbon fiber composite. An the cheap looking, un-anodized Home Depot brass fitting is a mere plating over the pure platinum used to make this end all boost controller cast down from the heavens. Why for its price, it should be melted down for its precious metal components. Think about it, you could have bling bling jewerly and pimped out teeth than the Cash Money Millionaires.

Lyn Labahn- SMART ASS

Hey Lyn, calm down dude, no one called you a smart ass. your advice was sound, just remember that there are always other alternatives to Turbo XS and Redline, that are much cheaper and just as reliable, terrin was pointing them out. so neener neener neener :D

what exactly do you mean by DIY boost controller? aquarium T valve, or some kind of industrial bleeder valve? i would not recommend these, especially the aquarium one (it is not made for that kind of boost, and the adjustment screw may blow off, creating a huge vaccum leak in your wastegate signal, causing a closed wastgate, bad) making your own manual boost controller is not fun, and not very cost effective anymore. i would personally go with one of the controllers that terrin or lyn recommended, depending on how much you want to shell out (the Turbo XS and Redline ones just look prettier, and cost 2x as much) if you have enough money, i would go with a good electronic one such as HKS (yes, there are others, this is my personal favorite, so goto hell if you disagree, because it is an opinion).

as far as DIY boost goes, all boost controllers are DIY, as someone other than the boost controller has to select boost level (assuming you set it above the stock wastegate spring, which you would, othewise you just wasted some money), so any of these can grenade your motor, just some are easier to do it with.

when setting boost on a manual unit, i would not trust any markings on it, instead relying on a good mechanical boost guage (no kinks in the vaccum line either, plumbed after the Throttle body) to tell you if you have the right boost. be patient, and adjust in very small increments until you arrive at your desired boost setting. also give your motor time to cool down a little between boost tests.

Bitter, party of one?

make sure to zip tie the vaccum lines as well, we wouldnt want any vaccum leaks, right?

Redline $59, Joe P $47, hardly twice as expensive. But truth be told, I could care less which one he buys. I hope he buys whatever one he likes best, and finds the best value in.

What pisses me off, is that he implies that I post on this board with reckless abandon shelling out bad info like some ricer driving his moms Accord. Then basically just reposts what I wrote. I may not have the highest post count on this board, but I guarantee that 90% of my posts are insightful, thought out, detailed and informative if time permits me to do so. I try to make my info as accurate possible as well. Go ahead and do a forum search with my name, and check out a random post or two.

Thanks for all the input. This is where my thoughts started:

http://www.geocities.com/chmwatson/FAQs/mbc.html

Romeo

Hey Lyn, so what's your opinion on the streetability of the C3 cams? Since you know SOOOOO much. I would like one of your insightful, thought out, detailed and informative replies.



Terrin
92 SE-R

Bitter, party of one?

okay, man, enhance your calm. Terrin did not reiterate what you just posted, you never said anything about manual boost controllers being "dead nuts stable" you just gave 2 brands, saying they were the only ones that were proven, and that was it. by saying that, you condemned any other reputable controller out there, as "unproven" when, in fact, they were. that is all terrin was saying, from my POV.

also, you posted that mechanical boost controllers were notorious for over boosting, spiking, etc. well, bud, they arent. they are just as reliable as a good electronic one, without the convenience of having computer control on the dash. ever seen a boost controller? you ever seen that funny black box that all the wires plug into, and the wastegate vaccum line plug into? well, that is a mechanical boost controller there, which is plugged into a computer, which tells the mechanical side of the boost controller what to do. you cannot convert a wastegate (a mechanical item) into a digital item, it just doesnt happen. both types of controllers are susceptible to the same things, because (you guessed it) they control boost, a mechanical function. all boost controllers dick with the boost signal going to the wastegate and fool it into closing later, and staying open until the desired boost is reached, creating a less lethargic boost onset. an electronic boost controller just makes the job easier to up the boost, just turn a switch or dial while driving (if you are so inclined) to set it, push that "high" boost setting button when wanted and bahd-a-bing, more boost, fogettaboutit.

the only types of "mechanical" boost controllers that are notorious for overboosting, spiking, etc, are the aquarium bleeder valves, and other kinds of valves, which just release the excess boost pressure form the vaccum line into the air, with no springs, or ball bearings to make sure you have consistent boost.

i didnt want to post something like this earlier, because i thought you would accept your slight error, and accept it, without embarassment. but i cannot let you tell people things that just arent true. neither can terrin, he is just more abrupt about it.

Another thing, my post entirely contradicted some of your statements about MBC's. Why don't you scroll up and actually read the posts. They are accused of allowing overboosting and spiking and blowing up engines. :eek:


Terrin
92 SE-R

OK, read my original post again. When I say that mechanical boost controllers are dangerous, I am referring to the fact, that a cobbled together, half assed boost controller, be it store bought, DIY, whatever, is not a good thing to have controlling the boost for your engine. Countless people(Many DSMers come to mind here) have destroyed their engines using bleeder valves, brass and other brass T concoctions they made to control their boost. But I guess I am the only person on earth that has ever heard of some dork blowing his engine with shitty boost control.

In other words, I wouldn't reccomend making your own boost controller unless you really know what you are doing, and have a solid design that other people have used with success.

When someone says "I been thinking about trying to fab a ball-spring system to up the boost." It casts a little doubt in my mind that they might know exactly how to make one, and what the inherent risks are. So I suggested, that unless, he was sure of himself, that he go buy a cheap, but proven boost controller made by someone else. I can't list every fucking boost controller made on earth, so I just through Redline and Turbo XS out there to think about because they were the first that came to mind. Had I known that the Joe P boost controller was the cheapest, and most reliable out there, would have suggested it with the other ones. Bus just because I don't list a specific brand of controller, doesn't mean I think that it sucks! Why would you think that?

I never said that all mechanical boost controllers were "shitty and never worked", there was no blanket statement such as this. Yes, indeed there are many that work great, and in some cases better than electronic boost controllers, and you will see that I suggested he go buy mechanical controller! However, some can be dangerous if not put together well, and thus "notorious for spiking, overboosting, and blowing you engine". Cause guess what, thats what will happen if you half ass it!

As for the C3 cams, Terrin, are you trying to say that I am the only person on Earth that thinks C3s are unstreetable? What hole do you live in? I am not the first, and probably not the last person to think this. I specifically remember Rob Cadle saying that they weren't, and some guy made a race car with them here in the forum and said that he thought the car had to idle to high for a street car. Hell, I would imagine if you called JWT yourself, they would be reluctant to have you run them on the street. Why are you singling me out like I am the only person that thinks they are unstreetable?

enhance your calm lyn, nobody is attacking you here, just letting people know to take your *opinion* of boost controllers with a grain of salt. i was only clarifying what the difference between what you *meant* to say and what you *said*

okay, if you are talking about homemade ones, why didnt you say "homemade" instead of "mechanical" as there is a huge difference. i agree fully that making your own boost controller is something to be avoided, but your 1st post specifically said Mechanical boost controllers are notorious for overboosting, spiking and destroying an engine. not "homemade." i was just clarifying so that someone doesnt start spouting off and avoiding mechanical boost controllers (MBCs as i am getting sick of typing that) because you said it will grenade their engine. this was a totally condemning statement for MBCs everywhere, except the 2 you mentioned. another person, who does not have ESP, would have taken your statement this way, and i was just clarifying this statement for everyone's enjoyment and benefit, no other reason.

remember, once again, that all boost controllers are mechanical, it is just that electronic ones turn the screw for you from the interior of the car, simple as that.

also remember, i do not hate you, and i, nor terrin is trying to insult your intelligence, we are just trying to correct what was basically a typo in your original repsonse (i am hoping it was a typo, otherwise, it is truly an ignorant response) BUT REMEMBER THIS, I DO NOT MEAN TO INSULT YOU, AND I AM SORRY IF I DID. we are all brothers (and sisters) in the SE-R community.

can't we all just get along?

oh, and terrin did street the C3 cams for 3 months. they are perfectly liveable, just a little annoying on everyday use. the addition of the idle stability program made them downright civilized. terrin knows this from personal experience, not from secondhand. i think this is the point he is tryinfg to make here.

the C1 cams he currently has with the idle stability are totally liveable. less lope to them than i have seen with the S4s, and S3s. hell, his C3s loped about as much as S4s, and people call those perfectly streetable, and live with it everyday. and i believe he went with the C1 cams because they work better with turbo, too much overlap on the C3s. terrin never ONCE complained about driveability, he actually thought it was kind of cool, IIRC.

i personally would not be able to live with the C3 cams without the JWT C3 program with idle stability though, that is a little too barbaric for me.

Hotshot,

I agree completely with what you said. I agree that I should have been more clear in my response. I didn't make the exact disctinction between a homebrew, and manufactured mechanical means of controlling boost. I consider both to be "mechanical" as they involve no electronics. I guess it is just a difference in opinion on what people consider a MBC to be.

Like Hotshot stated, I was not trying to personally attack you in any way. I was just pointing out that MBC's ARE reliable and good. Which WAS contrary to what you had ORIGINALLY stated. I now understand your initial intention and what message you were trying to convey. Point is, you talk about shody craftsmanship and homemade MBC's are bad. That can be said about anything, even an EBC.

About the C3 cams. The thing that kind of irks me is all these people out there will talk about these cams like they have absolutely ANY experience with it. Very FEW people have even seen a C3 cam equipped car, let alone owned them. So I implore you, how can you make a factual type statement about them with absolutely NO experience with them? You can have your opinion about them but opinions are just that. They are like assholes, everyone has one. My opinion is that they ARE streetable, and I have FACTUAL evidence that they are. You specifically remember Rob Cadle saying they were unstreetable. I PERSONALLY(face to face) talked to Rob AND Mike Kojima about these cams. And, if you go back to the original post about the C3 cams, Dave even admitted that his car cannot compared to a regular street car is a FULL ON RACE CAR. I am singling you out because you talk about the C3 cams like you have FACTUAL evidence to back your claims. Instead of talking about them like that, why not put a "In my opinion" in front of your statements?


Terrin
92 SE-R



>As for the C3 cams, Terrin, are you trying to say that I am the only person on Earth that thinks C3s are unstreetable? What hole do you live in? I am not the first, and probably not the last person to think this. I specifically remember Rob Cadle saying that they weren't, and some guy made a race car with them here in the forum and said that he thought the car had to idle to high for a street car. Hell, I would imagine if you called JWT yourself, they would be reluctant to have you run them on the street. Why are you singling me out like I am the only person that thinks they are unstreetable?

MBC's are cool if they're done right. But unless you're a serious fabricator, I suggest that you buy a premade one like the ones Terrin and Lyn have mentioned.

Originally posted by 92SE-R
why not put a "In my opinion" in front of your statements?


Terrin
92 SE-R



Terrin... I break you off..

you guys should race when you go up to sac town terrin. just unbolt your shit, up it to 10 lbs, and make Luis lunch.

Yeah right. That's Luis's home territory AND he's ran a 13.3 there before. FOCK. I'm hoping for 13.5's. I should have my 3" exhaust and FM finished by then. Maybe I can break off some domestics, but not Luis's freak show car.



Terrin
92 SE-R
PS: even if i beat him, he's a moderator now and he'll probably ban me.