• Don't miss out on all the fun! Register on our forums to post and have added features! Membership levels include a FREE membership tier.

My Turbo Apex Dragon project is finally done!

vertical800

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Nov 29, 2007
185
60
28
Columbus, ND
Well guys I finally got my little winter project done. I figured I better get it put on here as there has been alot of guys wondering about what chassis's the Apex motor will work in. It took me alittle longer to finish than I had planned but it's mostly done other than some tuning here and there. I started off with a new 08 rolling Dragon chassis and a 06 Apex GT. We kind of started on it last season but kind of side tracked over summer but got started working on it in November and finished it up about a week ago. It runs good and everything works fine on it so far. It definitly has been a hard process of getting the Apex engine mounted up right and everything else to work with it in the chassis. The chassis uses all the yamaha drive system which made it alot easier to mount the motor b'cos with the stock rmk chain case it didn't allow for the engine to sit down in the chassis and lay back like it should. The yamaha case is alot shorter and the brake sits on the side of the shaft allowing for alot more layback room. The motor is mounted about as far back and down as it could go in the chassis. It's amazing how well the motor fits in the RMK chassis almost like it was meant to be in there.
Here's a list of all that was done to the chassis and what parts are in it. The bulkhead was cut and we welded a cross tube in so the jack shaft could drop down in the chassis b'cos we centered the chain case up with the existing drive shaft hole so the drive shaft would be in the same place as the stock rmk. With the yammy case being shorter that made the jackshaft drop down about 1/4" or so that's the reason for the U tube in the bulkhead. Next we had to deal with the shafts as they are longer the the one's that came out of the polaris. The drive shaft we made shims for the bearing and the jackshaft we had shortened up about 1". I'm using avid 7 tooth drivers on the drive shaft and running a Camoplast 174x15x2.5 track it originally was a 16 wide but we cut it down with a table saw. I put straight Ice Age rails on the suspension for now but might change it out for my Timbersled rear skid I have. We'll see how it works out.
The turbo sytem is kind of a mix and match of parts from different turbo systems. The intercooler and turbo are Alpine and the header is a modified Boondocker side mount. The fueling is controlled by a MSD pump and BEGI fuel regulator and pure logic control box. I'm also running a prologger to control boost and read the AF/R's. The turbo is a Garrett 2860.

The steering system was also a major project it's self as we had to figure out the best way to go about it. We thought about trying to go over the motor but that doesn't work out so well, so we figured out how to make it steer around and under the engine. It worked out really good and steers great now.


Well I hope everyone appreciates my project and the hard work and long hours spent to get it done. Here's some pics from the start of the build to the finished end. Hope you guys like them. Sorry for being so long winded but there's alot to explain.

002.jpg 004.jpg 016.jpg
 
Last edited:

vertical800

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Nov 29, 2007
185
60
28
Columbus, ND
I figured out the pic posting thing. Here they are.

005.jpg


017.jpg


029.jpg


030.jpg


032.jpg


038.jpg


039.jpg


042.jpg


043.jpg


044.jpg


048.jpg


055.jpg


056.jpg


057.jpg


058.jpg


059.jpg


060.jpg


062.jpg


063.jpg


064.jpg


065.jpg


066.jpg


070.jpg


072.jpg


074.jpg


075.jpg


077.jpg


078.jpg


079.jpg


080.jpg


081.jpg


082.jpg


083.jpg


084.jpg


090.jpg


091.jpg


092.jpg


093.jpg


094.jpg


095.jpg


096.jpg


097.jpg


098.jpg


099.jpg


100.jpg


101.jpg


103.jpg


104.jpg


105.jpg


106.jpg


107.jpg


108.jpg


109.jpg


110.jpg


111.jpg


112.jpg


113.jpg


117.jpg


118.jpg


119.jpg


120.jpg


121.jpg


122.jpg


123.jpg


124.jpg


125.jpg


127.jpg


129.jpg


130.jpg


132.jpg


133.jpg


134.jpg


135.jpg


136.jpg


137.jpg
 
Last edited:
B

boxster7614

Well-known member
Sep 20, 2008
274
79
28
I can't even imagine the amount of hours that went into this project. Nice work!
 

vertical800

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Nov 29, 2007
185
60
28
Columbus, ND
Thanks for the comments guys! We figured up the hours roughly and there's close too 2,000 hrs in the build we worked on it for 92 days straight after work and every weekend. We weighed it with all the fluids and 5 gals. of fuel and it's sitting at about 565 so alot lighter than an apex ever dreamed of being. The rmk chassis is lighter to begin with so that's a plus. Summit the turbo's a Garrett 2860 it's running between 15-19 psi of boost. First trip for it in Cooke City will be this weekend or next one after. Feel free to ask questions or if anyone wants help or pointers on a similar build just ask.
 

mattymac

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Apr 12, 2004
8,819
1,001
113
Sutter Ca.
why is there just a filter on the pressurized side of the intercooler? BD header the turbo sits by the chaincase, and you have a filter hooked up off some flex hose just to the IC??? Earlier pix of the build im assuming???

Tons of work none the less, should be a blast to ride!!!
 

vertical800

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Nov 29, 2007
185
60
28
Columbus, ND
Yeah those were some earlier pics of the build. turbo's all plumbed up now. The charge tube goes off the intercooler and underneath it to the turbo and the flex tube goes under to the front of the turbo. Couldn't find a better place to put it than were it's at right now. It's all packed in pretty tight and centralized in the middle of the chassis. We kind of had to modify the BD header to fit the turbo b'cos the way it was made before kind of was making the turbo sit into the motor case alittle so we changed it's angle some.
 

vertical800

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Nov 29, 2007
185
60
28
Columbus, ND
Hey thanks! We were going for the sleeper look but just sounds alittle different haha. Played around with it some here at home and it does really well for the extra weight up front but with the boost it kind of makes up for it. It side hills great and carves too. Were going to get some video footage of it in Cooke when we go.
 

Wheel House Motorsports

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Nov 27, 2007
29,933
5,968
113
34
SW MT
props on the build.. I definately understand the kind of time and money it takes to make these things happen.. but man, they are fun, and the looks people give you are the best!!! nothing like whacking the key and having that nice 4 stroke rumble.. turns heads like you wouldnt beleive!

got any pics of it with the turbo plumbing in place? is that a BD sidemount header you used?
 
Premium Features