Taking the opportunity to share and contribute back to the forum.

Most of the work was done myself, at home. Will do my best to answer any queries.

Started as a 2001 MT 99TT - bone stock.

Will seperate each mod in it's own post.

 

A lot of the step by step processes have been covered in this forum so I won't duplicate. To be honest I did this weeks ago so I can't remember everything. if there's something I left out, feel free to ask. Will do this in bullet point format for things to take note of.

Be sure to plan the sequence in which mods are to be carried out. For example, dropping the engine means the intake must come out, IC hoses disconnected. I did the the diverters/F hose before the exhaust which involved lowering the engine. exhaust/manifold/ICs/intake/IC hoses... in that order.

changed plugs to Denso IK22's (factory 0.032gap), New Beru COilpacks, Bosch 2nd Gen MAF while in there.




AP exhaust/Manifold

• Be sure to lube the bolts prior to working on the car. I soaked them for a few hours while the car cooled off.
• Applied copper slip to most bolts where heat is an issue.
• Followed torque values for all bolts from work shop manual. Wasn't able to torque a couple around the manifold because they required hand wrenches or elbow joints to get to, so tightened them best I could.
• Reused turbo to manifold and manifold gaskets. Copper slip helps keep the turbo to manifold gasket rings in place. Take note on gaskets direction, imprint and residue marks will identify if you forget to mark it.
• Good idea to inspect bolts for rust and buy replacements ahead of time if needed. I had to replace a couple of the ones from cat to
• Be careful with the AF sensors, 4 of them, 2 each side, and specific to forward and rear. I taped them up out of the way and marked them for position.
• Can see from pics what was removed. To get the heatshield that covers the turbo/cat, undid the lower bolts, bent the lower portion away from the car to get to the upper bolts, just bend it back inplace for install. Lot easier and saves time IMO to take off rear bumper, lights, rear mudguards, rear wheels if possible.
• Attached a pic of the stock exhaust steel belts, loosen the two bolts and slide the belt towards the outside of the car, the bit where it actually latches onto the car is on the frontside of the muffler. It's doable with only one person but not recommended.
• Wipe the system clean before starting the car, oil and fingerprints will stain the finish as heat sets in.

 

Looks great! Is the rear wing unfinished? Who did you end up getting the front bumper from?

Edwin

 

Nice garage lift!

 

only 5 pics per post so I'll continue here.

• The plugs and coils are behind the heatshield, behind the turbos in photo.
• Side to side comparison of AP manifold and OEM piece.
• Take note of the belt latch system.
• Don't completely tighten any one of the bolts until everything is aligned the way you want it.
• The muffler's got to be hung before the cats go on.
• Helps to pre-counter-wind the AF sensors so once threaded in, the wires aren't twisted. Take caution in doing this. I did not completely unplug them. OEM clips can be re-used to neatly tuck away the wires.
• No issues with CEL lights.

Review:

• AP parts fit nicely, holes and pipes lined up.
• Give the system some time to break in. It sounded softer after about a couple tanks of gas.
• Shopped around and chose this system on tip design, 100 cell cats, and the price.
• Tips come in polished or matte black. Can see mine in first post.
• Noise level - can talk and listen to music just fine. At certain RPM bands/loads, the system sounds almost stock and slight hum, no drone. But if you want to scare small pedestrian children, it's possible.
• Powerwise - installed the dual intake (K&N filter), diverters, IC hoses, F hose, manifold, exhaust at the same time, no flash. The car went from 0.6bar to 0.8bar of boost. Boost came on earlier. Power increase and responsiveness was significant, put a smile on my face.

Softronics:

• First time "flasher". All my previous cars are on standalone. I can't believe how easy this was.
• The flash comes with a cable, basically you download the car's OEM settings, fill out a spec sheet and email this to Softronics. They'll send a file back to upload into the car. It's that simple.
• Uploaded the softronics flash and boost peaked at 1.2bar, holding at 1.0 bar.
• Online support was great. I was suprised to get a reply on a sunday.
• Just be sure to follow the vendor's instructions accurately and you'll be fine. Power by seat of pants was upped significantly from above. SOrry no dyno sheets.
• Have a brockway R1000 installed and AFR's were at 11-12 at WOT. 97Octane.

Brockway R1000:

• A must have.
• Allows monitoring of AFR, IAT, Reads Trouble Fault codes and allows clearing of them. I thought these were the most value added.
• Comes with a RPM LED shift lamp which is neat. You'll have to custom install the light in location of choice.
• Installation was easy, it snaps into place. If installed in navigation CD unit location, find it a bit low and dangerous to monitor. Plus there's a gap as it doesn't sit flush with the AC control unit. Will try to move it uptop when the new head unit goes in.
• Shift light is just one wire, one side to the brockway unit, the other direct to the LED bulb. I'll be making a small bracket to install above the steering column.
• For the OBD2 wire, there's a perfect place to tuck it into the underside of the dash which leads right to the OBD2 port. On a RHD car anyways...
• Most photos of this unit come with black buttons. Mine were chromed out... which I didnt like. But display came in orange which fit nicely with the rest of the dash lighting.

 

I'm also curious about your wing situation. It appears to be a stock 996TT decklid with the rear wing itself removed? Thanks for taking the time to document your mods so thoroughly!

 

AP dual carbon intake:

• There's an instruction on how to install this part on vivid's website.
• To help clarify the mod part: The dual intake requires portions of the stock intake box to be modified. Basically take a cutter or sanding bit to it, slowly. It appears I've lost some photos. Sorry. For this part, just pair up the two sides and you'll see what needs to be shaved off. Basically the rear side of the stock airbox isn't flush, and needs to be.
• Line the holes carefully before drilling. Reverse the screws (going in from the carbon side) as suggested by the vivid instructions, does look nicer.
• Again go slowly and take caution when using power tools. Wear goggles.
• the plastic gets everywhere, make sure to clean the part thoroughly before reinstallation.
• Piece fits in snug, so mask off or wedge a towel between the left face of the carbon airbox and the car's body when fitting to avoid scuffing up the finish.
• Helps to lube the hose fitting on the way back in.

AP IC hoses:

• COmes with green colored coupling gaskets.
• I suggest connecting the IC side first because there's less space to work there.
• underside IC hoses are easy.
• I hate C clips.

 

Mad Ness, it looks like a different rear wing than stock. In the other thread you mention that your wing hydraulics are broken and you have the stock wing in the up position. Maybe I misunderstood, but if you are not using the stock wing, I want to buy the screw-in metal fittings from it.

 

• There's a post on this site that explains how to lower the engine. Please read this several times before doing it.
• Couple other posts that list the tools needed and step by step instructions. The right pair of pliers is very important. I used a 2 pairs of needle nose pliers, one with 90 degree bend, and the other with 45 degree bend.
• Highly suggest lowering the engine, it'll save you time and lowers chance of leaks because there's more space to work. have attached photos that show the space created by lowering the engine. and one from underside that shows the engine mount bolt location, one of 2.
• photos show space created by lowering the engine.
• placed a jack underneath to support it.
• replaced all the OEM hose clamps with screw type.
• liberally used silicon lube.
• put the diverters on the F hose first
• snapped vacuum hoses on last
• trimmed the vacuum hose to minimize slack and unwanted pinched bends at the T adapter.
• Take care in removing the hoses - make sure the coolant is cooled off, be gentle as there's plastic snaps etc. My coolant hose leaks for some reason, will need to replace the OEM snap hose clamp with a screw type. Some of the air hoses may be brittle.
• Make sure everything's snug and tight, you dont want to do this twice.

 

I dedicate this post to my bird, who kept me company for most of the day and night.

Will concentrate this post on how the shroud was modified.

• The IC's come with those radiator fasteners. These are used to keep the 3 pieces together (in conjunction with the IC bracket).
• Will let the photos speak for themselves - basically the shrouds need to be shaved so that they may fit flush to the IC face. Take note which side I chose to shave off. Retain one side (where the unused clip brackets are located). I believe there's more than one way to do this.
• I poked the fasteners through the fins because it gave the fasteners more shroud surface to anchor to.
• Plan it out first, go slow, take caution when using power tools.

 

more photos

 

and more photos

make sure the bracket and shroud fit snug n' tight. Otherwise the bumper may not align to the fender (bit between brake light and wheel well). I wasn't able to get the two of four screws back in on the underside (one that goes under the bumper to the brackets, the ones on the corner nearer to the tires fit fine (one pictured). But was same for both sides, not noticeable, but if you're ****, the bumper buldges out slightly. Could have been my sloppy work, not sure. Car's a$$ looks bigger now, which can't be a bad thing. bumper's secure.

 

final intercooler photos

some pics of the stock IC, for comparison.

This is my bird, "Coo COo"

Review:
Happy with the quality of the IC's. Again decision was based on a cost/return basis. The install was a bit of a PITA but works.

I hate the C clips. Next step is to cut the OEM couplers off, weld larger pipes in place, and convert most of the system over to 3".

Can't comment on power/response as this part was installed at the same time as others. More of an investment for peace of mind anyways.

 

Dude this is a legit post! Thanks for the pictures. Cant wait to see more

 

Got the plugs from Bumper Plugs.

Key hole plug, just push it in the key slot. Make sure your key's got batteries. I think this was my easiest mod so far.

Rear wiper delete:

• Someone else made a post step by step on this forum. I'll just add photos and a couple pointers.
• I used a clip puller tool (green handle in pic) with masking tape to (gently) get the rear interior piece off which avoided scratches to the glass and leather. Wasn't easy to get off and was worried using my fingers, i'd break something.
• The wiper motor is held in with sliding mechanisms attached to the car's body. completely unfasten the nut, to allow the unit to slide out. There's bolts front and back side. Then guide out the wiper shaft taking care not to scuff the hole. The gromet pops out, just pull it off from the exterior of the car.
• Clean the glass before putting the interior piece back in.
• Color of the plug is a bit off, that's my fault for ordering the wrong silver.
• Washed the car and noticed condensation in my rear window. Pretty sure water gets in, so take note of this. Have yet to think of a clever solution, may be a thin application of clear silicon.