I bought brand new cobalt bits and an Irwin tap, and didn't have too much issue at all. One drill bit started to get a tiny bit dull by hole 7, so I swapped to a fresh one, but I probably only have 30 minutes across all 8 holes, so I'll take it. I expected much worse. It tapped really nicely, as well.
I am fighting a little with interference with my steering. I only have about 1/8" of clearance with the upper u-joint in the steering linkage, where it comes close to the wastegate clamp. Well, I did. Right now I have 1/32" of an inch, with no clamp in place. This is because I raised the engine/transmission slightly, and moved them over to the passenger side slightly. I validated clearance before I adjusted height of the engine, so it's not the lateral movement.
So I need to play with my height shims slightly to get it as high as possible while keeping steering clearance. I knew this would be the case though, so at least it's not unexpected. With the amount of crap shoved in this engine bay, it's not a game of inches, it's a game of millimeters. Once I get the driver side sorted, which is much busier, I'll get the passenger manifolds in. On that side I have to dodge the control arm. The upper arm has to be left loose for the exhaust manifold to go in. Once that's in, I can put the arm on easily, but it's annoying to have to do it this way. Oh well.
The EGT probes all fit fine though, so that's a start.
. I'm hoping to finish the manifold yoga this weekend and get the turbos installed. Then I will get the turbo oil pressure regulator moved (it was too close to steering) and those lines built, then probably exhaust mods, then charge pipes.
Oh, my AC compressor hits the suspension too. Well, the AC lines exit directly into it. So I'm changing to a Sanden SD7 as it's more compact and has tons of options to adjust hose output location in a compact way. This will also give more clearance for my charge pipes which run right by it, so it's a win-win. Other than my wallet. That didn't win at all.
