My DIY Turbo build

poison · Post by **poison** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:01 pm

WideOpenThrottle wrote:Nice work! Are you going to put mesh across the front mount or leave it visible?

Mesh is more restrictive to airflow than people realise (air con design background). Although it's certainly not as much as the I/C itself I'd leave the mesh out as every bit of airflow helps, and just clean the I/C now and again. I think it looks good to see the I/C even though they are quite subtle tucked away in there.

poison · Post by **poison** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:02 pm

PS; Great job so far. And thanks for posting the progress too.

last_resort14 · Post by **last_resort14** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:40 pm

Alright, time for another update

I have tidied up my radiator/intercooler mount and have mounted it back in place for hopefully the final time!

I have now brought my silicon joiners for my intercooler piping and made up the piece from my turbo outlet to intercooler. I now need to buy some bends to make something up for the throttle body side

My other little project has been the dual feed for my fuel rail, I have used a piece of pipe with the flared end to suit the hose exactly the same as the existing ones on the fuel rail, It was sitting in my pile of parts I have removed from the car.
I drilled a hole in the end to give a nice tight fit with my new piece of pipe and then brazed it in place.

And also i have done some small bits and pieces, fitted new earthing straps to the motor and also mounted a boost gauge into the fan vent on the drivers side, it fit perfectly!

sorry about the crap photos I took this week.

last_resort14 · Post by **last_resort14** » Sat May 16, 2009 8:14 pm

Hey everybody, long time no post

I have been working away at the car over the last few weeks getting some more things sorted. main things I have achieved are:

made up my lower line for my radiator, I used rubber radiator hose at each end and then i have a piece of 32mm stainless tube linking where my new radiator is to the lower outlet on the motor,I have now flushed this and checked for leaks and it seems all good.
and also sorted out some of my inter-cooler piping

I have also made up the hoses to complete my dual feed fuel rail.

My other big project was building up my Megasquirt ECU, I have completely assembled this now and made up an adapter lead to connect it to the original ECU plugs.
I have connected this now and powered it up, the sensors all seem to give me good readings etc, so as soon as i have injectors i should be able to get this thing running!

And finally this week my Innovative LC-1 wideband controller, sensor and guage turned up so i am in the process of installing this.

So now the only thing holding me back is injectors, I have 2x FC RX7 550cc injectors and i am looking around trying to find 2 more, but it seems it may be easier to find 4.
If anyone has 2 around I would be interested in buying them to save myself from buying a whole new set.

Luke

Post by **jif** » Sat May 16, 2009 9:05 pm

2009/5/16 last_resort14 <horsepower@mx5forum.co.nz (horsepower@mx5forum.co.nz)>

So now the only thing holding me back is injectors, I have 2x FC RX7 550cc injectors and i am looking around trying to find 2 more, but it seems it may be easier to find 4.
If anyone has 2 around I would be interested in buying them to save myself from buying a whole new set.

try a rotary specialist, they're sure to have some lying around. Hopefully for a reasonable price...

just note that being high-impedance*and* single-hole injectors they're pretty naff at low flow. On the plus side, they're rated fairly conservatively flow-wise.

g''luck!

[Posted via external email]

Habanero666 · Post by **Habanero666** » Sat May 16, 2009 11:39 pm

Hey, RX7 heaven for some purple top 550cc injectors. Say no more, they're the shiz. They come from a 13b cosmo.

I like yo set up too, just make sure your oil return line has some heat shielding.

Habanero666 · Post by **Habanero666** » Sat May 16, 2009 11:42 pm

Oh yeah sorry, they are cheap ($75 each) and are the three hole pintle variety!

Habanero666 · Post by **Habanero666** » Sat May 16, 2009 11:55 pm

Hahaha, here I am again, sorry!

If running high boost, yo gonna want one of these divorced pipe dumpies, the TDO4 is a Grogan without one.

sprsta · Post by **sprsta** » Thu May 21, 2009 8:53 pm

was looking the other day on trade me and was two rx7 injectors cant remember what cc might be same????

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Fri May 22, 2009 11:03 pm

just be careful of second hand rotary injectors. they tend to crap out with regularity due to the injectors positon on the 13b makes them get hot and fail more than on a 4 cyl.

last_resort14 · Post by **last_resort14** » Sun May 24, 2009 8:10 pm

Thanks for that guys, I found that the two injectors I had weren't right anyway so I have just got a set of gtx injectors to get me running,
I had a go at starting up today but kept flooding it, I got it running roughly once and found I only had 2 sparks firing so I will have to have more of a look into my settings,
I tested the coil packs and they seem al right,
I will have a look into it tomorrow anyway
Luke

last_resort14 · Post by **last_resort14** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 6:41 pm

Hey everybody
Im still alive!!

It has been a very long time since I have last posted on here,Ii have been very busy at work and working on the car and just lots of other stuff,
So basically heres a big catch up to my build.

I was coming to the end of everything when i last posted and since then i have just tidied up a lot of my ecu install and everything associated with that, i then built the rear half of my exhaust system

This was my first ever attempt at an exhaust system and im pretty happy with how it turned out, just dont look to closely at the welding

Since then I have completed the last section of my intercooler piping and connected everything I needed to run up, I still have a few things to tidy up but here is a pic of how it is now

Everything is pretty close to how it should be, I just want to move my radiator overflow and locate my air filter down somewhere under my passenger side headlight,

I am loving driving the car!!!! I have it currently set on 10 psi and have done a little bit of tuning to make it run a bit smoother, its still running really rich but man, its a lot of fun

I also brought a front lip spoiler, front strut brace, front subframe brace and rear subframe brace,I had a wheel alignment done today and its booked in for a Cert this Friday so it wont be long before I can drive this thing every day!!!

Stevo · Post by **Stevo** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:09 pm

very nicely set up engine bay. Cheers Stevo

mazdad · Post by **mazdad** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:48 pm

Whilst I'm probably never going to attempt anything that even approaches this I have to say I've read the entire post avidly.
Excellent descriptions, photo's and a really super looking result. Thanks for a great thread and all the best with the the result of so much effort.
Eric

Habanero666 · Post by **Habanero666** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:21 pm

I recommend sorting the windscreen washers and exhaust tail pipe before your cert/wof. The tail pipe would be a potential hazard, and I see the screen washer pump and bottle have been removed. Nice simple set up there Luke, looks nice and tidy, good stuff!

poison · Post by **poison** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:28 pm

Nice clean layout, I like it. When did Kathmandu start making radiator
overflow tanks? Nice idea.

[Posted via external email]

last_resort14 · Post by **last_resort14** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:50 pm

Cheers for that guys,

yea the tailpipe is massively long at the moment but i will be shortening it before the cert,
as for the washers i was going to leave them out as the car isn't going to be my daily driver and theres no requirement for them on cars older than 1992.

haha good spotting Gary, i had that drink bottle at home in the cupboard and it conveniently matched everything else so in it went.haha

Habanero666 · Post by **Habanero666** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 1:30 am

last_resort14 wrote:Cheers for that guys,

as for the washers i was going to leave them out as the car isn't going to be my daily driver and theres no requirement for them on cars older than 1992.

I just checked the VIRM, and you are right, I can remove my annoying washer bottle now! Cheers for that.

last_resort14 · Post by **last_resort14** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 6:25 pm

Bit of an update

Went for cert on Friday, cert guy was happy so just have to wait for the plate to arrive,
Had my WOF check today, failed on not having the cert obviously, and changed my headlights to semi-sealed beam as they didn't pass with the crappy sealed beams.
Only other thing was fix my horn and I'm away,

Cant wait for the plate to arrive!

Luke

Habanero666 · Post by **Habanero666** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 11:37 pm

Yeah, if the certifier is doing his job properly the vehicle has to be checked for a wof by law anyway! So unusual to get a cert with out the wof according to the regulation that is.I failed my wof too, for a lack of certification.

Didn't you have to get a driveshaft hoop installed for the engine power increase?????

I had to get new tires and was suggested to get some wider ones at that!
....Then there was the brake upgrade and drive shaft hoop! Admittedly the guy who certed my car had to change his underpants after "the rear of the car swung round to replace where the front was" I just about died laughing watching this unfold as he left the driveway on a road test!!

Should have turned down the boost a bit first

Long story short it cost me about an extra grand for the cert bit, but don't let that get out!

viscarious · Post by **viscarious** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:45 pm

Have you had any problems with the law and your exhaust tail pipe??

A mate of mine tried doing the same thing but couldn't get a wof because of it.

Regards

last_resort14 · Post by **last_resort14** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 5:47 pm

Yea I wasn't too sure about having the WOF separate,
When I got my cert for a previous car the guy said that it wouldn't include the WOF check, and he failed my cert on things like reverse lights anyway
this time the guy said he wont do the WOF check at the same time aswell so I thought it might be the norm

The drive shaft loop I had already done, I had a friend that had to make one recently so I just went ahead and made one, I thought I had a photo of it but I cant find it,
I made it from 50mmx6mm mild steel flat bar bent into a D shape and it bolts to my power plant frame,

I surprisingly enough haven't had a worry about the exhaust, the Certifier said that he wouldn't fail it and it was up to my WOF issuer.
The WOF issuer made a comment on the sheet about it being potentially hazardous but said he read all the info he could find and didn't see a reason that it wouldn't pass.

Luke

viscarious · Post by **viscarious** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:50 pm

Who do you get your wof through?

I've heard similar stories about people wanting to fail someone on an exhaust, but finding no proof for their argument.

Very nice build up by the way. Particularly like the wire tucking, as I cannot fathom how one does that.

Regards
Dave

last_resort14 · Post by **last_resort14** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 9:02 pm

I just went through a local mechanic here in hamilton,
like I said, the guy told me he couldnt fault it according to the info he had availiable so he didnt deny the warrant

as for wire-tucking, I actually didn't really do any, lol, I havent cut or extended any wires at all, I just unplugged the factory looms at the front of the car near the headlights and then re-routed them right up under the overlap where the guards mount to the body, it does make that little bit extra difference when looking at the engine bay though

Habanero666 · Post by **Habanero666** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:17 pm

Yeah man I like the tidy tuck away of the wiring too

I love the simplicity of your turbo plumbing and clocking of the TDOh15g tubby to get the pipes out flat. Top work!