and the fun begins - boost loss

[robert weinberg]

i now see why holding off on painting the car was a wise decision - I'm gonna need the money to just keep it running ;-)

I've been running ian's IA3+ for about 2 months now in conjunction with an 034 billet bypass. hauls ass - until yesterday.

went to breakfast - let her warm up - got on the freeway and waited for that lovely kick the pants to kick in the past at 3800 rpms or so. no pay off :-(

still faster than stock - car was smooth as silk all the way to redline - but something is up.

poked around the upper and lower boost hoses - didn't see any splits (not that that means anything). the clamps weren't as tight as they could be - tightened them - but didn't wrench the crap out of them.

there is some oil residue on the Michelin man hose. i went through the records - think the hoses are original.

so, I'm tentatively buying some good used samco hoses. good idea with the chip anyway.

also, being my trip computer is dead, hence the boost gauge doesn't work - I've decided the best plan is to buy an autometer 3303 30psi boost gauge (about $52 shipped). reason being it's my understanding that even if removed the instrument cluster and resodlered the likely broken contacts - the stock digital boost gauge sucks and only goes to 2 anyway. is this a good choice for a small inconspicuous boost gauge?

it's just pretty stupid to be running around with 20 lbs of boost (supposedly), and no boost gauge, eh?

it won't look to bad: http://www.sjmautotechnik.com/trouble_shooting/10vgauge.html

the car did come with a vdo gauge - but it's fricken huge and only goes to 15 lbs.

see ya,
Robby