uhhhh my mathematical mind doesnt quite work like yours so i am not going to argue. but thats half a second extra lag time wich i guess is not a lot. im just wondering why im not hitting full boost at the 2000 rpm or so everyone says they do with the ihi turbo. esp since i do have air flow mods to it. my stock gauge isnt pegged until about 3200 rpm, and then the sucker scoots. i know the stock gauge is not all that accurate but it should at least give an indication of when full boost picks up. i do have another gauge to put on it so dont worry about that. as soon as i find a working temperature sending unit for the aftermarket temp gauge i have both are going in together.

 

Have you pressure tested the intake system and exhaust system for leaks?

 

no pressure test as of yet. the exhaust system is just the elbow and the dp is open and 3". i checked all the fasteners to the exhaust system when the motor went in but thats about it. i dont have any sign of a vacuum leak anywhere. the vac tree is all snug and all the lines are good quality. nothing dry rotted or anything. the IC system could be the culprit. i popped a pipe off the other day, but have since put it back on and checked all my t bolts. any other way to pressure test the system?

 

Here's a picture of my leak tester. Insert this into the turbo inlet and connect regulated (15-20psi) air pressure from an air compressor. You can also insert this into the exhaust pipe to check for header/wastegate/exhaust leaks.

 

Yes...not the turbo spooling but like you said ^^^ may not produce enough volume to keep the pipes "charged"
That math looks good on paper

 

well im going to replace the valve cover gasket and upper intake gasket, and egr gasket in the next few days. perhaps its leaking out of those seams with worn gaskets. i will keep updated.

 

Seafoam is your turbo leak detector friend

 

yes i will one thing at a time. i dont think its leaking from anywhere major. i threw this motor together and tossed it in as quick as possible, so when i couldnt find my egr gasket i said fuck it, and ended up having to make an upper inake gasket because i couldnt find my good one at the time either. so one thing at a time. if it doesnt fix it, ill go back to the drawing board and try again with the seafoam or leak tester.

 

LOL....I know john will make fun of me for this, but before I met him, I was goofing with a couple things on my SVO to work around the same things you're dealing with. Because I had no way to tune the car with a chip or anything, I had an adjustable fuel pressure regulator and also goofed with the spring in the VAM to get it to open faster or slower. I mean, it was MAYBE a few clicks one way or another, but whatever the case, the car ran pretty good.

I also had a big NPR intercooler on there for a time, and 'felt' the same symptoms you're talking about, so I took it off.

I have a 93 Coupe with a 2.3t swap now, and it's a bit of a guinea pig for john and I. It's got a Mass Air setup on it and I've put on a bigger intercooler with a whole lotta piping. It also had the same turbo/head/cam as my SVO, but with injectors and a tune (by svojohn, btw), this thing runs high 12's - the SVO only ever ran low 14's (though that was with crappy 2.1-2.3 60's).

I guess my point is that the VAM stuff is a bitch to work with, and the sooner you ditch that, the better off you'll be.

John is the man with the 2.3t EECs. Here's our friend Robert's car that he tuned.

86 SVO Mustang Test-n-Tune - Car Videos on StreetFire

 

so what youre saying is that i need a better tune to spool that turbo faster? it make sense i guess since from the factory the tune is probably better suited for the top mount. its all uncharted water for me at this point so im going one thing at a time. i appreciate the advise though and ill take any help i can get!