My Piazza project thread

Bugle · Post by **Bugle** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 12:32 am

This is what it looked like when it was running

Rebuilt the rear half of the thing..

Then decided the front end needed rebuilding, so this is how it sits now

Things i've gotta do:

Reassemble the front suspension.

Modify steering rack so it has lateral support at both bushes.

Make a steam pipe exhaust manifold because it'll be better than the adaptor plate i'm running now and won't blow turbo gaskets so easy.

Fix some rust

Rodeobob · Post by **Rodeobob** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 3:05 am

Yukky rust. Is that the front or rear wheel???? Hows the hatch???

Let me know what you come up with for the steering rack.

How are your front balljoints??? you put a new on in a while back when the other one shit didnt you???

Cheers. Bob.

GeminiCoupe · Post by **GeminiCoupe** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 8:58 am

I was begining to wonder when youd get around to posting photos of your car...

The rust is pretty nasty, im glad mine only has it in the hatch thats for sure. How much longer till you get off your ass and get it going? You fix the Gemini yet?

Nick-

Bugle · Post by **Bugle** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 11:34 am

Rust is nothing compared to the Gemini, easy fix. Even easier if I can find someone with a non rusty battery tray section in a stuffed shell they could chop and send me.
That's rear wheel there, everywhere else on the sills is fine.
Out of my 3 hatches they've all got rust.. Bought one just after I got the car and that's got some surface rust now, then bought another one recently with a spoiler and that's got surface rust as well so i'll have to fix it up and get a new seal strip and try to seal it properly.

For the steering rack i'm thinking of making 2 circular things then cutting them in half and holding the 2 halves together with bolts. Then clamp them over the rack in the correct spot and glue them to the track with some kind of epoxy. Can't really weld there because it'd warp the thing.

The lower balljoints were replaced by previous owner so they're good. Upper ones i'm not sure they're still tight but the boots are cracked a bit.
Got some adjustable camber upper ones anyway so I can get the alignment right because it's lowered.

Gemini still has alot of work to go, more than the Piazza needs, gotta fix teh drivers side a-pillar now.. That shit took ages on the passenger side..

GeminiCoupe · Post by **GeminiCoupe** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 1:43 pm

Show us some more pics on the Gemini [pm ofcourse, Piazza-philes dont seem to like Geminis much lol]. I really like the work/standard your carrying out on that car

About the battery tray, from what i can see you should be able to just weld a flat section of sheet in there, possibly with the bend to follow over the edge?

Nick-

Bugle · Post by **Bugle** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 2:39 pm

I'll make another thread for the Gemini on ozgemini project section since hotgemini probably isn't going to come back for a while.

Nah that section is ribbed to give it more rigidity for holding up that heavy arse battery. I can bend up a bit to match just easier to get chopped sections

Have to reconstruct a tray too

Bugle · Post by **Bugle** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 10:23 pm

Made a manifold up on the computer, so I can figure out how many pipes i'll need to buy. Will be very tedious getting all the runners merging together smoothly.
Going to use 42mm buttweld "steam" pipe, 1/2 inch flanges.

Rodeobob · Post by **Rodeobob** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 1:18 am

You can post up the gem pics in here, its your thread to do with what you want. lol. Yeah im saying that coz im lazy. Post up a link for me once you do it.

Manifold looks good.

Bob

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 4:39 pm

I have a good battery tray in my spare if you want me to cut it out? I could even cut the front part of the sill out if it interests you? Nice pics of the rear. Just one question is there 2 different springs in there? Or is it just the picture cause one looks green and the other stock? Are you going to replace the radius rod bushes?

I have done the opposite to you I have done all the front and have the back to do. I got some new upper ball joints that are offset 2 degrees so when I went to get a wheel alignment I now have negitive 3 degrees camber on mine. So good going into corners.

Anyway got a date to be back on the road?

Matt

Bugle · Post by **Bugle** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 7:13 pm

If you could chop it out and chuck it in with the other stuff that'd be sweet

Just make sure your good Piazza doesn't need it first! Anthony was going to chop the section out of that front cut but his landlord made him get rid of the thing before he had a chance to chop it.
Sill bit doesn't look like it'd be too hard to make myself.

For some reason I didn't clean the springs when I had them out, both are green just one is covered in dirt.

Radius rod bushes look to be in good condition still so i'm not sure if i'll bother changing them. I've got some polyurethane rod left over from making those rear arm bushes so I might make some.

Did you change the caster setting at all?

Dunno when i'll get it on the road, it always takes longer than I expect it to.. But the rego expired last week so i've gotta do it within 3 months. That should be easy enough..

turbo andy · Post by **turbo andy** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 7:42 pm

The Manifold is a nice bit of CAD work, but you could make it a lot better. Have a look at some TRUST and other hi-end manifolds for design ideas.
You are better with near-equal length runners and less tight bends Hi-performance Imports and Speed magazines are usually good for reference. also think about pairing the cylinders in firing order and then joining the pairs at the flange, "split pulse" it's called.
Andrew.

Bugle · Post by **Bugle** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 8:04 pm

Yeah not really going for all out power, just want to have it look factory after i've stuck a heat shield over it so I need the compact design with the turbo mounted low.

I just designed it so that the turbo flange will be in the exact same spot as it is now with the adaptor plate. Since i've already set up the intake pipes to suit that.

Could do a low mount with equal length runners going up high but then it'd heat up that intake pipe even more than it does already.

Here's pics of the setup and what the manifold is replacing

turbo andy · Post by **turbo andy** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 9:01 pm

Yeah, I understand that is seems easy to leave everything in place, but the manifold is the hardest part of any serious turbo upgrade, it can make massive gains with good design, and it'll come on boost lower in the rev range, Make up a nice custom dump pipe while it, it'll be great.

It depends what you want, personally i think piazza's already have more power than any street car needs, unless it's for weekend thrashing only.

Bugle · Post by **Bugle** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 10:01 pm

There was a big discussion on performanceforums about the short but unequal runners, vs long equal ones.
Everyone seemed to agree that short runners will give earlier spool up, but less power in the top end.
It wasn't really lacking in spool up time with the adapter plate either even though it must flow like crap with such a huge difference in ports between the manifold and turbo. Could even get 10psi free revving in neutral.

I reckon the unequal one will suit my application fine, and the cops won't be able to spot it.. Not that i've ever even been pulled over before..

Rodeobob · Post by **Rodeobob** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 4:19 am

Bugle wrote: Could do a low mount with equal length runners going up high but then it'd heat up that intake pipe even more than it does already.

Not to mention melting your plug leads all the time as well.

Bugle wrote:and the cops won't be able to spot it.. Not that i've ever even been pulled over before...

Is that coz your an old fart.

lol

Do you rekon you could use your puta thingy to design me up an airbag two tonner conversion for a rodeo????
Its all im my head but i draw like shit.

Cheers. bob.