08 M8 with lots of mods and a turbo

[Tonysnoo]

I found an M8 in Montana that had caught fire and all of the plastic and wiring was history. It had been a turbo, but some of the parts including the turbo and pipe had been sold when I bought it.

I started scrounging parts on Ebay and anywhere else I could so this sled is more like a heath kit or maybe a Johnny Cash special....LOL

Some of you know I had built a turbo cutler dragon the previous year, but it was too thirsty to ride so I thought I could use some of the parts from it and build a more cost effective ride.

Here is the bulkhead and tunnel after I had cleaned it up and was just starting to go back together.

 

[Tonysnoo]

I had been reading about all of the problems and improvements for M8s

One was the reinforcement of the area under the steering post. I don't think I would have had problems, but I decided to build a plate as a preventative measure.

Another area was the rear bumper area. Most guys like the 09 style. When I tried it I got too wet so I did an old school taper of the back end and used the newer bumper and light/flap

 

[Tonysnoo]

Another issue I was worried about was the mechanical reverse diamond drive. I had an opportunity to buy an 09 ECU so after studying the schmatics from a few years, I figured I could rewire an older wireloom for the newer ECU. I bought all the stuff to put in a diamond drive lite. I also bought another used wire loom from an F7 to steal the ECU plug from. With a little help from a die grinder I was able to get it to plug into my second ecu port.

The motor was mocked up in the chassis and I started wiring. Kinda scary...huh

 

[Tonysnoo]

I really didn't take too many pics between the wiring stage to plumbing all the turbo and building pipe etc.

Here is a list of mods or changes:
tunnel tail mod (bobbed cat?)
09 led tail light and bumper
crossfire heat exchanger for extra cooling
EZ-ryde 153 suspension
HCR track with stagger porting
diamond lite and shaft
light weight forward bent steering post
RSI taper bars with tooooo may gauges mounted
Mt Fit poly hood and mesh air screens
Pure logic controller
Gt2876 turbo(last year's project) with (OVS) tial housing
OVS quiet muffler
OVS system components (used and new)
external walbro pump
msd 2222 fuel regulator
OVS intercooler (to be installed later)
primer systems for fuel and turbo oil
premix pump(poo reverse style) to oil turbo and bottom of motor
Timbersled front suspension
OVS clutch components in secondary
All switches in dash
pro style tether switch
boss seat
2010 wye pipe(mod to fit 08)
2010 pipe
no money left over for bling or paint...sorry

 

[Tonysnoo]

She is finally done tonight with the exception of the intercooler.

I'm going to see how this mess works on Saturday. It's nice and responsive on the stand so that's promising. It actually indicates a couple of pounds of boost while running it up.

Wish me luck!

 

[gus bohne]

Thanks for the link and build history Tony..

You certainly put your best effort in man, nice job and best wishes sir

as a fellow addict its hard to let go,, how bout we go to a meeting tonight..

Gus

 

[Jonce]

Cool build! So was it cheaper building a sled like this than buying a used TM8?

Question about your old TD8 - how thirsty was it? Miles per tank and boost #'s? I have a similar setup this year with a TrailTank, just wondering if I will need it or not.

Again, nice build.

 

[catmanm7]

ttt

any more pictures of your gauge bracket, I will need to make the same thing pretty soon. Digatron 4 window, attitude controller, boost, fuel, a/f gauges and stock tack. i have diamond s hood so no way to mount anything down there. thanks and nice build

 

[gus bohne]

Cool build! So was it cheaper building a sled like this than buying a used TM8?

Question about your old TD8 - how thirsty was it? Miles per tank and boost #'s? I have a similar setup this year with a TrailTank, just wondering if I will need it or not.

Again, nice build.

It was a dragoncat 1000 cpc big bore engine carbed and turboed in Tony's old sled.
Not a m8, this is his first foray into efi and boost
she was a drunk on fuel but great learning tool.

Gus

 

[Jonce]

It was a dragoncat 1000 cpc big bore engine carbed and turboed in Tony's old sled.
Not a m8, this is his first foray into efi and boost
she was a drunk on fuel but great learning tool.

Gus

Holy smokes, yeah that is not the same setup as mine then - HA HA

Should be a fun season!

 

[Tonysnoo]

Holy smokes, yeah that is not the same setup as mine then - HA HA

Should be a fun season!

Yeah she was thirsty about 2-3 mpg on a good day ....packed 5 gal and still had to come back on fumes...........but almost always with a smile

I do have a buddy with an 08 poo dragon 800. He gets good mileage and even with low (8psi) boost runs very very well! You'll like it!

 

[Tonysnoo]

Cool build! So was it cheaper building a sled like this than buying a used TM8?

Again, nice build.

I'm not sure it was cheaper. I think the cool thing is that this allowed me to do a number of what I felt were upgrade mods since I was buying replacement parts anyway. I've never been too worried about makin em purty, but I do want them to be effective.

 

[Tonysnoo]

any more pictures of your gauge bracket, I will need to make the same thing pretty soon. Digatron 4 window, attitude controller, boost, fuel, a/f gauges and stock tack. i have diamond s hood so no way to mount anything down there. thanks and nice build

I'll try to get some for you. It's really a pretty simple deal. .080 aluminum about 5" wide and about 10" long folded in the middle. I just mounted it under the clamps and bolt my avenger and cut a hole for the oem gauge. It's kinda crude but it's pretty effective. I'd like to figure out something else for the stock gauge cause it's so big and ugly(even for me). I ride without a hood when ever I can so I don't dare mount the guage in the hood.

 

[sledneck434]

awesome build man! thats a sweet sled!

 

[catmanm7]

thanks

since you already went throught the whole wiring system, is there a way to just get rid of the gauge. My digatron will monitor rpms, speed, egts, coolant temp and whatever else that I forgot. The only reason to keep the stock gauge is for the idiot lights. Couldnt the idiot lights just be wired to a simple light that will come on, for low oil or whatever else needs to be monitored. Do you understand what I am saying? i have an M7 and if I knew more about the wiring I would love to get rid of the tach, mine doesnt even work half the time. Thanks for the tech info on the mount, I just want to try to mount my gauges below the top of my bars so that when I roll it, the damage it minimal.

 

[Tonysnoo]

since you already went throught the whole wiring system, is there a way to just get rid of the gauge. My digatron will monitor rpms, speed, egts, coolant temp and whatever else that I forgot. The only reason to keep the stock gauge is for the idiot lights. Couldnt the idiot lights just be wired to a simple light that will come on, for low oil or whatever else needs to be monitored. Do you understand what I am saying? i have an M7 and if I knew more about the wiring I would love to get rid of the tach, mine doesnt even work half the time. Thanks for the tech info on the mount, I just want to try to mount my gauges below the top of my bars so that when I roll it, the damage it minimal.

On the M7 the check engine lite is in a low voltage circuit so I suspect that a 3-5 volt led indicator might replace it. I haven't tried it yet. I know a 12volt indicator light doesn't work(tried it). After I was confident that my old sled(M7) was doing OK, I lost the gauge(idiot lights) and relied on the avenger, but I wasn't running EFI on that one.

The main reason to have the gauge on this build is the error codes. If I could put a blinky light on it I would, cause I think the big gauge is but$ ugly..... even for one of my low rent builds.

 

[catmanm7]

Mine is EFI, like you said all you really need is the error code light. It would be cool if someone could come up with something. I would rather stare at a couple little lights rather then a giant gauge.... kinda like flavor flav

 

[Tonysnoo]

After riding this weekend, I'm not sure I like the guage posistions.

I have to redesign for better view when I'm relaxed or riding back. I can see them fine while standing, but still have to look straight down.....not too easy either. Maybe I can mount them on the front bumper.....LOL

 

[catmanm7]

i will definately be stealing whatever your idea is, so post pictures when you are done. The big tach looks goofy no matter how you put it.

 

[Tonysnoo]

A little update:

Been out a couple of times and starting to get the fuel dialed. It's running pretty strong. It works great for chuggin around in and out of the trees. The big turbo seems to spool up in a nice linear fashion. Real predictable.

My biggest surprise is the ez ryde. I've run one for years on my 162. This 153 kicked my butt. I've got a lot of work to do to get it where I want. it is crazy stiff. I'll be dialing down the preload first and then see if I need to revolve.

No work on the gauge mounting to report on yet.