Topic: Twincharged Solstice = Turbocharger + Supercharger

[MattM]

Keep an eye out on my youtube channel, been staying up late producing the next Twincharging 101 video, it's going to be interesting because I've put a lot of thought into identifying what a twincharger is after doing research and realizing it is loosely defined and there are a lot of opinions.  Any definition you find is contradicted by someone elses article.  I am going challenge the world to consider my proposal for defining a twincharged engine. 

Also consider, I did some keyword searches on the SAE website for technical papers on twincharging, but nothing notable and there is the challenge of keywords (like if you don't search for Aluminium, you'll miss the majority of info on Aluminum). 

Even at work I asked several people, more experienced engineers, at work and didn't get a clear or consistent answer about what is twincharging; even one of the senior respected combustion engine engineers would not give me an answer at all because he didn't know for sure.

http://www.MegaMechatronics.com

Good point...I always thought that it didn't matter in what order they worked just that if you put a turbo and supercharger on an engine at the same time it's a twincharger setup. 

there's a guy on Youtube that has a a 4gaze motor with the SC14 supercharger that has the supercharger actually feeding the turbo.  This setup is efficient because the sc14 supercharger has a clutch that allows it to shut off when a certain amount of boost is attained then he has an external bypass valve that allows the turbo to pull air from outside instead of through the supercharger. 

I know yours is the opposite where you have the turbo feeding the supercharger.  Regardless of what way it's done it's still twincharged.  VW actually came out with a twincharged vehicle a while ago if I remember.  I think it does it in an even differnt way.  If I ever get a garage and some free time I'm going to attempt to put the old clutched eaton m62 from my probe on my redline.  I would try to have a Y-pipe that has a one way valve that closes when a certain psi is hit then the supercharger is shut off.

I'm with you though....I don't think there is an official definition of what twincharged means.. 

[MattM]

Here is a great article on every production twincharged vehicle made.

There is a schematic of the TSI VW engine where the roots blower basically feeds the turbo as well.

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/nx822mo/

[Steelmesh]

Here is a great article on every production twincharged vehicle made.

There is a schematic of the TSI VW engine where the roots blower basically feeds the turbo as well.

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/nx822mo/

Yes I like it, it's got a lot of history with the race and production cars running twinchargers. 

However I am going to crush all of the existing articles and youtube videos that try to explain twinchargers. I have a special ability to explain complicated things to uncomplicated people (I have several thousand likes to back this up), it's probably the hours and hours of technical research and graphic design I put into a single presentation and this is why you all need to use my amazon affiliate links and buy stuff so I get commission (taking away from amazon profits) because YouTube does not pay well at all. 

With my Tuning 101 Series being free, I don't think I made friends with tuning businesses, but the impact to the community is huge and there is no other platform than Youtube to impact the community with free knowledge, we're stuck with Youtube right now folks.

[Steelmesh]

Commissioned the removal of a junkyard 2.4 le5 saturday to slap into the car for now.  Will certainly open it up to inspect and file the ring gaps, treating it as a budget mule engine so likely only going to invest in a head gasket.  Getting the car running will probably double it's current value for whatever it's worth because I won't have to say "uhh, it just needs an engine".

The higher compression will limit my maximum boost so it will be an interesting tune with the twincharger setup; I'll probably keep it around 350 whp so that is maybe 18-20 psi with a stock head/valvetrain.

[Sol Asylum]

Hey weren't you going to be going to get you PPG license?  Did that get postponed or were you able to get it done before this Virus crap happened?

[Sly Bob]

Yeah a running car is certainly easier to sell. Best of luck getting it to that point and be sure to let us know when you are able to get it to that point.

[Steelmesh]

Hey weren't you going to be going to get you PPG license?  Did that get postponed or were you able to get it done before this Virus crap happened?

Yes I'm supposed to be in Spain right now but the trip has been cancelled.  The airlines and school offered to reschedule even into 2021, but I requested to get a full refund of all the losses and forfeit the credits via travel insurance.  I just got the paramotor running and a couple small details to finish like the pull starter pulley to pull-start while it's on your back.   I'm thinking about learning to fly myself this summer after several more hours of practicing and small flights where your buddies tow you 30 ft into the air.

Self-training PPG is not unheard of and depends on the person I think.  I have taught myself so many things successfully without dying or losing fingers/eyes that I am probably in the category of being able to learn how to fly without dying. 

[Sol Asylum]

Look into Torrey Pines out in La Jolla CA they do PPG training, I tried to go do some hang glider flying when I was out there last year but the weather was too nice and the winds weren't strong enough.

There are a few people that I work with that have PPGs, some have tried to teach themselves and some have gone after lessons.  The one guy was trying to arrange lessons when the instructor had an accident and it nearly killed him.  So as a pilot my advice is be smart and don't take risks that you don't have to.  Aviation kills and the longer you are around it you will loose people that you know to it, just make sure you are not one of them.  Realizing you needed an instructor could come too late and that's not a position you want to be in, remember that para glider is wearing you as the crumple zone.

[Steelmesh]

Look into Torrey Pines out in La Jolla CA they do PPG training, I tried to go do some hang glider flying when I was out there last year but the weather was too nice and the winds weren't strong enough.

There are a few people that I work with that have PPGs, some have tried to teach themselves and some have gone after lessons.  The one guy was trying to arrange lessons when the instructor had an accident and it nearly killed him.  So as a pilot my advice is be smart and don't take risks that you don't have to.  Aviation kills and the longer you are around it you will loose people that you know to it, just make sure you are not one of them.  Realizing you needed an instructor could come too late and that's not a position you want to be in, remember that para glider is wearing you as the crumple zone.

I hear Torry Pines is a beautiful location for gliders.  I'm pretty calculated and I'm not planning on taking flight without first putting in several more hours of ground practicing and other muscle memory exercises before actually sending it. 

[Sol Asylum]

Have you ever gone skydiving?  The parachute controls are the same from what I hear.

[Steelmesh]

Here is the engine, out of a 2008 HHR 2.4 LE5 (they had 129,000 in a 2006 G8, they said it had 131,000 miles on it.  Those of you from the rust belt will appreciate this:  all of the exhaust manifold nuts came off without issues, all the same break away torque too no hold ups.  That is incredible for 131k miles, so I suspect this car spent some time down south before ending up in a scrap yard up here.



Note the exhaust manifold crack, I'll being pulling the head soon enough to file the ring gaps and check it out the internals:

[Steelmesh]

Have you ever gone skydiving?  The parachute controls are the same from what I hear.

I haven't but yes sky divers can transition well except they way overshoot landings at first, parachute is 2-3:1 glide ratio, where a paraglider is more like 8-9:1.  I have about 12 hours ground handling logged and I'm starting to get the hang of things, at first it was exhausting fighting the wing and resetting it constantly.  Maybe I can work out a deal with the local instructors to talk me up on the first flight this summer; after proving to them that I have the skills for it. 

[Sly Bob]

I'd like to try skydiving one day but pilot friends as me why I'd want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane!
Steelmesh, I can appreciate anytime any nuts or bolts come off a car that is of any advanced age. Up here you get rust on top of rust they put so much salt and crap on the roads.   

[Sol Asylum]

Bob if you ever looked at some of the planes they use for skydiving you would understand why they jump out of them.  The better question usually is why the hell anyone is going up in them?

[Steelmesh]

Bob if you ever looked at some of the planes they use for skydiving you would understand why they jump out of them.  The better question usually is why the hell anyone is going up in them?

Someone kinda of explained it in an interesting way, there is a feeling that you're going to die (free falling) then you're saved by the parachute; repack and repeat.  With paramotoring, my intention is to float around and see the world like I have never seen it in my entire life while being in total control.

[Sol Asylum]

Most of the aircraft that are used for Skydiving that I have seen I wouldn't sign off as airworthy.

As for sport flying, I am all for it, and as an added plus I can get across country in straight lines and much shorter time so flying is great.

[Steelmesh]

Weird Ecotec rod bolts, from rockauto and packaging looks legit, except these new bolts are reworks of some kind.  If I had more time and patience I would look into this but for now I'm short on time and impatient so we'll find out if they work soon. Consider this is the cheapest complete LE5 in the metro detroit area too.

Fully threaded bolt is factory:



I pulled it apart to check it out and re-gap the rings.  The pistons had carbon build up on the rings and pistons so I meticulously cleaned it all up.  The bores measured 0.0008-0.0010" over the maximum bore specification, bonus feature here is the ring gaps are 0.005" per inch of bore (0.018" total) so I didn't lift a file here, but at least I checked them all.  I also thought I bought new rod bearings but I never purchased them, however I had plastigage and the old rod bearings were sitting in the middle of the specification, so I'm reusing those. 






Second time drilling the bed plate for the turbo drain.  This time was much smoother and didn't have to port it after nearly breaking my wrist.  The differences here this time is that I moved the hole out and angled is slightly steeper than the cast plane.  After drilling the starter hole I also ground down the surface normal (perpendicular) to the hole so that the larger bits wouldn't walk.  Tooling used in order: step drill starter > 1/4" drill > 3/8" > 11/16" > 1/2" pipe tap.

[Sol Asylum]

I'm looking at your pictures and I have to ask, is this a crack?

[Steelmesh]

Don't think so, casting flash just lines up with some mark on the flange.  See the top of the picture on similar internal webbing, it has a sharp line too

[Sol Asylum]

It's the aircraft mechanic in me saying that looks odd and needs further inspection.

[Steelmesh]

It's the aircraft mechanic in me saying that looks odd and needs further inspection.

It's all good thanks for the heads up, you never know!

[Steelmesh]

  This is the price I pay for trying to re-live being 16 years old but with a racecar, it was an absolute blast though, hoon certified

SPEC Stage 3

[Uranium-238]

Wow! And I thought the clutch from my Camaro was bad...

[MattM]

How many miles did this clutch last?

[Steelmesh]

How many miles did this clutch last?

I'd guess almost 2,000 miles