Ford Focus ST Forum banner

aaronc7's Mild GTX2867R Build

4K views 20 replies 7 participants last post by  Kindica09 
#1 ·
Hey guys, figured I would start to document my own build (still in progress at the moment).

2014 Black Focus ST3

This car is my daily driver. I bought it used with around 48k on the clock. I traded my 2013 Toyota Tacoma in on it. Back in 2007/2008 I bought a Mazdaspeed 3 and I always loved the car and it's really what got me into cars/modding, etc. After I sold the speed, I got a cheapy DD (later replaced with the Tacoma) and started building up a turbo miata. It was a blast and I learned a lot thru that whole process. I blew up the 5 speed trans and ended up going down the rabbit hole of rebuilding the motor and a bunch of other stuff while the engine/trans was out anyways. Long story short, the new motor didn't last much more than 1k (and it took forever... over a year....not a typo), and I threw in the towel at that point, after having the car for a few years at that point.

I ended up getting a 2003 Corvette Z06 as my 'fun car', but I was getting the itch for a hatchback again and really just a more enjoyable DD. Tacoma was nice and all, but trucks were never really my thing and I didn't find that having a truck/usefulness wasn't all that I thought it might be. Which is what led me to the ST.

Not surprisingly, wasn't long until I started modding the ST. AP3 was a no brainer- some extra power, ability to monitor data. Got that first but quickly realized how bad the stock IC was and started shopping for those.

My overall gameplan was to keep the mods relatively mild/somewhat budget oriented. I didn't want to spend money on every last possible bolt on, only to still be held back by the tiny K03 (also no E85 here) and make only slightly more power than a 'stage 2' car. I also wanted to keep the car relatively quiet and comfy-- no loud or smelly exhaust, stock motor mounts or possibly the most mild RMM. No drag racing or anything here, just a fun DD and something enjoyable in the turns.

Early on the idea of a mild "BT" build interested me, due to the small K03 turbo and the motors seeming to handle the added power pretty well. After the AP3, a barely used Depo FMIC popped up for cheap, so I couldn't pass it up. And I couldn't be happier with it-- fitment was great and it keeps the charge temps in line. I started looking at the various turbo kits-- the EFR kits definitely interested me the most, I liked how they had a lot of similarities to the stock turbo setup and had great spool. With mild goals, might as well keep as much response and low end as possible. But of course the EFR kits were/are kinda pricey and require you to buy into whatever companies parts to make it all work. I liked the 'stock part compatibility' of the ATP kits and I knew they were tried and true, being by far the more popular option. I purposely held off buying too many parts to keep my options open for either route and kept my eyes peeled for a good dead-- new or used.

Around when I first got it



Depo FMIC install



+20 hp fog lights

 
See less See more
3
#2 ·
OK, fast forward a few months. Been turbo shopping/browsing a bit. EFR still my first choice, but both Mountune and Full Race kits have bits I'm not really a big fan of and how each prices out their stuff, wasn't really a good a good "DIY" route, as bad as I wanted to do that. Ended up coming across a pretty good deal on a used GTX2867R kit, so I bit the bullet and went for it. I really wanted a 2863 for my goals, but they are just so much more rare, I figured I would have to buy new or wait around forever-- at the end of the day probably not a huge difference.

Should have probably called this the cheapass build, because I'm already trying to find deals or good parts for less money. The turbo kit was complete, but I did buy new gaskets, fire ring, o rings, nuts, a couple boost taps to make sure things went smoothly. For the downpipe, I took a chance on the 'no brand' one on CJ Pony's site. Everything I came across said good stuff about it and I would agree-- nicely made and all brackets, flanges met up very nicely, with one big caveat that was probably just a fluke (more on that later).

I was torn on getting charge pipes-- I really just wanted them so I could get a good location to mount the BOV... and I have a problem paying $250 or whatever it is for a cold side pipe kit with a little flange. Once again, cheapass route, I bought the depo pipes and so far very happy with them. Everything lined up fine on mock up. One thing worth mentioning, they come with larger than normal couplers, as in they are most likely too long (90 degree bent ones). What I mean is if you just attach the one coming off the turbo compressor for example, it's too long and hits the trans. I trimmed it, no biggie. The big plus is that I think it offered more flexibility-- it's well known that the hot side pipes on ATP GTX installs is too short. The extra long couplers in the depo kit made the fitment perfect on the hotside, no need to get an extra section of pipe/clamps etc. Cold side coupler ideally would be trimmed as well and it's a tight fit, but no banging up against the AC compressor or anything. I may use a washer or two on either pipe just to get fitment perfect....but no big issues at all. Especially when you consider the price, I'm very happy.

I also got the depo intake, because I wasn't sure how in the world I was going to attach the stock one to the GTX turbo with the pieces I had and I like like turbo noises :)

OK onto the install this last weekend:

Day 1: Got the car taken apart, stock turbo removed and ATP GTX2867R kit installed.

Day 2: Was supposed to be an easy day with downpipe reinstall and button the car back up. Turned out to be the downpipe install from hell. The CJPP downpipe vband flange diameter turned out to be a hair larger than stock and apparently ATP's turbine outlet flange is slightly smaller than stock. The combo = downpipe no fit. I literally spent about all day on this, on and off. I was about to throw in the towel, but I was able to heat up the turbo side with a heat gun on high for about 2 minutes and the downpipe just barely fit and I quickly snugged the clamp tight. I actually had to do it twice- first time I didn't think it was going to work, so I didn't have the clamp ready. By the time I spent a couple minutes getting everything I needed, it was too late, it had cooled and it would not fit again. What a nightmare. I emailed CJ to let them know about this issue and to confirm/deny if this is a problem with this combo or parts, or if mine was just a weird fluke. Sucked for me either way.

Still need to get a blow off valve flange welded onto the cold pipe, but then she is ready to go. Fired the car up for fun and to give myself some sort of feeling of accomplishment after the downpipe fiasco.

Turbo ready to go



Making a mess in the living room



CJPP downpipe (no brand name, I"m calling it CJPP at least)



K03 vs GTX2867R



Hot side pipe



Cold side pipe with bov placement



Never again... please. These were my "**** don't fit" pics that I took, before I found a solution





Fired it up in the garage, no leaks, all looks good so far. Sounds like I got a whistle tip (it's dat woot wooooo know what i'm sayin?)

 
#10 ·
Here's some better pics. I don't have any measurements or anything, best thing to do is just semi-install the part and see where yours fits and mark a cut out area on the pipe with a sharpie or similar. All bov and flange styles are gonna vary a little bit, but this general area just by the AC compressor should fit most. If not then I would look at the 90* bend on the hot side pipe, just before the intercooler inlet. If you do the cold side, i would recommend connecting the coupler loosely to the TB and attach the bracket mounting point to the AC compressor for test fit purposes. Don't bother trying to get the 90* coupler onto the intercooler, its super tight and I spent a good 20 mins trying to uninstall the damn cold side pipe after test fitting.





 
#7 ·
I got one of the flash tunes from Stratified...not a full blown custom tune. I guess they offer them due to how many they've tuned and they feel pretty confident about it. It does include "2 datalog revisions", so I think kind of like a custom tune lite. First revision I got was 22psi tune and I think they increase boost/power from here as able.
 
#9 ·
Yes I get that-- stratified sells flash tunes designed for ATP GTX kits. It's an extra $150 one time charge and includes 2 datalog revisions. They actually recommend this for a basic/common ATP GTX build like ours vs a full blown custom tune, unless of course there are some specific things you're looking for or just wanted a 100% tailored tune.
 
#15 ·
So I hit up CJ Pony about the fitment issue with my downpipe/ATP turbo combo. They seem to care less and I got a reply from "Thomas" about how I should look into getting a more narrow vband clamp. I think he thought I was talking about the OD and/or thickness of the two flanges, so I emailed back to clarify what I was talking about and showed a couple pics. I got more or less the same mindless reply.

So I guess with that, for anyone reading, I would avoid the CJPP downpipe if you plan on going to an ATP turbo, unless someone can confirm or verify that mine is an isolated case. I think the 'old' version of this downpipe was made by someone else, so it's likely the actual flange is a different part number/source.
 
#12 ·
So the included tbolt clamps with the depo charge pipes I swear are too small. Like they barely fit over the silicone as is, with the nut barely hanging on. Now put that coupler on a tube and you basically cant even get it on. Forgot about trying to get over the rolled ends. So I put the stock hot side on and the above pictured cold side with some misc clamps I had lying around. Going to order 'the next size up' in all the clamps and it should be perfect. Not sure how you mess something like this up.....

Similarly I wasn't super impressed with the intake, maybe the non stock turbo throws stuff off enough, but I just cut the damn mounting bracket off, it was really just getting in the way and wasn't going to attach to anything logical. But it's a cheap functional metal tube I guess, meh.

Anyways, it's past midnight and I finally got the car done-ish, so I took it for a quick spin without putting the undertray, hood cowl/wipers etc back on. Felt pretty good on the initial 20psi tune and it didn't blow up, so that's good. 35.5 lb/min of air max it says. Way different feeling than stock turbo. Spool up feels a little slower than I think it should be and the datalogs confirm it, WGDC starts dropping before 3k rpm. Hopefully that's just tuned extra conservative for the base map.

Datalog 3rd gear pull for anyone interested: datazap.me | aaronc7 | GTX2867R Tune Revision 1
 
#14 ·
They are Hoen Endurance bulbs. Little on the expensive side for what they are. But I have not had good luck buying cheaper amazon/ebay type bulbs or LEDs. Very hit or miss. Hoen I've never had an issue with them always working and lasting a long time.
 
#17 ·
Interesting. I guess I got my FMIC used and didn't come with any, worked fine with stock clamps.

I placed an order for clamps last night around 2 AM from silicone intakes .com. I've bought a bunch of stuff there for misc projects and it's always been good stuff and fit as you'd expect. Should be here for a weekend install no problem.
 
#20 ·
Here's the vdyno of the quick run I got last night. This is with stock hotside piping and I just remembered I forgot to really snug up my BOV flange bolt, it was just hand tight, so it may have been leaking some as well. Again, this is initial base tune. 3rd gear run, hopefully boost will come up a little quicker as revisions are made. Also I purchased their "BT flash tune", NOT a full $300 custom tune. We'll see if that was the right choice or not.

vs "stage 2" equivalent Strat flash tune on stock dyno, similar conditions and same stretch of road.

datazap.me | aaronc7 | GTX2867R Tune Revision 1

 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top