Beretta.net

Amateur wrote:Oh the Irony! I'm like a huge Corvette fan and even went so far to make an article about it awhile back:
http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/the-c4 ... 1117827304

Very good article!

I remember reading that article!

Either way, the Magnesium wheels are probably the least common C5 wheels in the US. All 4 are front wheels. I picked them up second hand either off eBay or CorvetteForum. It's my favorite wheel that I've had on it. Some day they'll go on the Z26.

Okay, makes sense that they'd all be fronts. The rears would be too wide for the 'retta chassis without some hacking and slashing. Magnesium is a cool material for performance applications. In F1, Honda made an all-magnesium racecar called the RA203 that was super light...and super flammable. The car crashed and exploded in flames, which went out of control with all that magnesium. The safety crew couldn't extinguish the fire because it was so intense. Needless to say, the driver faced a horrific death and that was the last time anybody tried making an all magnesium race car.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yI8XFFP3Yg

Very good article!

Thanks!

That looks exactly like my header, which is built really nice, but the O2 sensor location points it directly at the frame rail and the "Horned" hanger will need to be removed, for better fitment.

I ended up cutting mine up to run from the 2.25" larger diameter portion, down to a 2.0" glasspack, then to a brand new replacement stock exhaust, THEN into a 2.0" Jones SS muffler. I added the glasspack, for fear of it being too loud. I wanted this car to be a sleeper, so I didn't want too much exhaust noise.

I know exactly where you're coming from! Besides the headers, everything will stay the same exhaust-wise. I don't want the Beretta making a ruckus wherever it goes and am perfectly happy with the sound of my warm air intake setup Did you install your header yet?

It's installed, but I've yet to get a new bung welded in place, but it all fits.

You might have to get creative with the oil filler neck, but a 98+ filler neck will swap right in place.

Well, operation install new header was well underway until I got shafted by the man. Fitment looked good until I get to the bottom where the oil pan is conveniently in its way. Thanks Ebay headers, now I have to figure out how to make this fit right. If it's made for a Cavi 2.2, I figured it would have been a match made in heaven with the Beretta 2.2...guess not





On that note, I'm debating whether to get me those fancy z26 rims to put on my car. I strangely like the way they look.

Only if you want 5lbs extra weight per wheel.

The header to downpipe flange on my header was loose, so that it wouldn't hit the oil pan...

...Mind you, even with that, it was insanely close and I could see it potentially doing damage. SO I grinded the hell out of the flange and warmed and bent the header ever so slightly away.

I'm thinking about wrapping that part of the oil pan in some protective wrapping, but I hope it doesn't come to that.

Also, I just went through all the trouble of fitting my header, hadn't even started the damn thing yet and just now, picked up a cast-iron turbo manifold for $35 off eBay...

Okay, that seems like a very workable way of getting it to fit. I guess if I trim the right side of the flange down and give the header a slight bend outward, then it should nestle in there nicely . The other way I was thinking was modifying the oil pan to give me the clearance needed via cutting and some welding. hahaha, do you have plans for a turbo L4 in the future?

Amateur wrote:Okay, that seems like a very workable way of getting it to fit. I guess if I trim the right side of the flange down and give the header a slight bend outward, then it should nestle in there nicely . The other way I was thinking was modifying the oil pan to give me the clearance needed via cutting and some welding. hahaha,

It seems to have worked for the time being, but I was gentle with the heat and pressure on the header, as I wasn't sure if the metal would crack. It didn't seem that cheap or brittle when I was gasket matching the header flange and smoothing out the inner welds.

Amateur wrote:do you have plans for a turbo L4 in the future?

I always did in the back of my mind, but now it's one step closer to reality. I've already got a turbo for it (2 of the same kind) that might be on the big side for it, but that means lower drive pressures and longer engine life. It's gonna be a long time before I get enough money for the rest of the kit though, including an intercooler and external wastegate (I don't trust the internal gates on these turbos)

What offset are those wheels? Are you running spacers on the back? Looks great.



maybe it's just because mine has ground effects (goes up in front of rear wheel incase you don't remember GTU/INDY GFX) but my back wheels (stock and OZ) don't seem to have that nice offset look.

I always did in the back of my mind, but now it's one step closer to reality. I've already got a turbo for it (2 of the same kind) that might be on the big side for it, but that means lower drive pressures and longer engine life. It's gonna be a long time before I get enough money for the rest of the kit though, including an intercooler and external wastegate (I don't trust the internal gates on these turbos)

That's awesome to hear. Sooner or later you will have all the pieces assembled. I imagine if your keep it 5 psi or under, it should all be gravy with stock internals. I mean I already consider our engines to be low compression at 9.0:1

What offset are those wheels? Are you running spacers on the back? Looks great.

Those wheels I used to have on the car are 16x7 with a 40mm offset. I bought them to clear those 4 piston calipers that I also...used to have lol. aahhh yes, your GTU ground effects naturally stick out of the bodywork so that would explain why your wheels look recessed in.
Nowadays, I'm converting my car to run with Z26 wheels. I have one installed but the other 3 need to have their tires swapped out since they're no good to me worn; especially in the snow.


I'm assessing the feasibility of installing bigger brakes on my car. The stock ones are ok. The Wilwood brake kit is too much and the caliper wouldn't clear the Z26 rims anyways.
So naturally, I'm looking into a Chrysler LeBaron 11.25" front upgrade utilizing a 1980s Caddy Seville single piston caliper. The have roughly the same bore diameter as our stock ones. It should end up looking something like this in the end:


People do it all the time on a Fiero and quite frankly, I think I can pull it off on a Beretta with the right adapter bracket.


Also, I managed to secure a Z26 kit that came free with the rims I bought. The guy was just trying to clear out his garage so I was more than willing to take it. The front lip has tares but I don't know if it's something I want to put on my car. I like the stock lines of the car.

Amateur wrote: That's awesome to hear. Sooner or later you will have all the pieces assembled. I imagine if your keep it 5 psi or under, it should all be gravy with stock internals. I mean I already consider our engines to be low compression at 9.0:1

I might just skip a few steps and run the internal wastegate, as I've read that it's good up to 8-10PSI boost before signs of boost creep start to appear (in one instance of pushing the turbo) but others have reported no issues in low boost situations. An external BOV or WG is necessary when running 20PSI or higher, well outside of what this engine is capable of building with a turbo this size.

I've got faith that these engines could handle 8PSI no problem, but I'm still gonna run headstuds. I've got a new Fel-Pro headgasket already, so it should hold that pressure. If it starts to push water, which it shouldn't at low RPM, than a custom Cometic HG is just a phone call away

Anyway, I love what you're doing with the car, even if that changes month to month but hey! At least you're getting somewhere with yours

Anyway, I love what you're doing with the car, even if that changes month to month but hey! At least you're getting somewhere with yours

hahaha, never have truer words been spoken. I decided to make the jump to the more aggressive Z26 kit. It is freezing cold over here, yet I managed to install the front. It's far from perfect, but it'll do for now. I want it installed now and later (Sping/Summerish) I can track down a better front bumper and paint all the goodies to match.
Sometime whenever, I'll finish putting on the rest of the kit.

Step 1: Remove face


Step 2: Put new face