Hey guys, I have $2000 and want to turbo my car. Can it be done? I only want low boost

j/k

Im going to turbo charge my petrol/LPG 4.2 litre SWB Maverick. I thought I would make a thread here for something to do on my lunchbreak at work. The engine only has around 8.3 : 1 compression so running low boost shouldnt be too much of a hassle. Im going to run straight gas. The car is a weekend bush basher and a tow car, it doesnt get any other use unless I need to get something that wont fit in my back pack or Mum's EA.

Im not ditching the BA powered EA so dont ask why I change my mind all of the time

The goal is to run 7 psi. If I can run 7psi and have no issues then I will be happy. Im not after big numbers. Anything over 100rwkw would keep me happy. It made 63.3rwkw at dynomotive a few months ago. Apparently these cars dont make much more than that so there is nothing wrong with it, its just underpowered. The plan is to make it tow better and get up hills a little easier.

So far I have collected or paid for nearly all of the parts I need and have spent less than $1500.

I currently have the following:

a 2nd hand S5 RX7 Turbo $160
a new gas research LPG convertor $175
a new 600 * 300* 76 intercooler. $160

In the mail on its way is:
a new gas research Throttle Body - S400 $355
a MSD boost timing master - this can remove from 0-3 degrees of timing for each psi of boost. Not as good as aftermarket management but ive seen it work good enough on a few other patrols. $280
a turbo manifold to suit a 4.2 deisel motor. The head flange is the same but I will need to make an adapter for the turbo side. $300.

I plan to get the gas stuff sorted once the throttle body arrives and have the manifold modded before I finish exams then as soon as exams are over on the 1st of Nov I will start on it and put everything on then take it for a tune. I want to have this finished by around the middle of November then I will start on the EA.


Pics:

The turbo on the right is the RX7 turbo. The one on the left is for the EA.



Fully sick cooler which will fit nicely behind my grill and will be painted black.



The mav on the rollers at dynomotive.



What it looked like before I went off road in it.

dan it can easily be done. (minus tuning). before i bought the Phoon motor, my whole turbo kit had cost me $2720 (i sourced parts seperately)

that included:
- wolf 3d V4 (new)
- tial 44mm wastegate (new)
- garrett T04b/e turbo (2nd hand)
- tuned lenght manifold (bought 2nd hand, but never used)
- 52Lb injectors (2nd hand)
- 3" stainless piping (new)
- 680x270x80 core FMIC with GTR end pods (2nd hand)
- bosch 040 fuel pump (bought 2nd hand, but never used)
- bov (bought 2nd hand, but never used)
- fuel reg (bought 2nd hand, but never used)
- turbosmart boost twisty thingo (bought 2nd hand, but never used)
- gauges (bought 2nd hand, but never used)
- dump pipe (2nd hand)

and other assorted stuff...

all for $2720. not bad aye

Another turbo project Dan, keep us posted!

Will do.

I got my manifold yesterday. Ill need to have an adapter/spacer made so the turbo will clear the block. I also need to mate a T3 manifold flange with the unusual RX7 turbo flange, both are split pulse and I dont know of any off the shelf adapters.

Ill have to call some engineering joints I guess to get one made.

The MSD boost retard module should be on its way now along with the throttle body so Ill have pretty much all of the parts Ill need by next weekend.

Then I have to wait til exams are over before i can put everything on.

Nick said Ill have the EA back by then as well but Ill keep the EA NA until the maverick is done.

I just thought I should update this thread because Ive finally done the turbo conversion over the last few weeks and its not often I finish stuff.

I sold all the stuff listed above ages ago and bought new stuff starting a month or so ago. That EA also went to a new owner in early 08 from memory.

Over the last 2 weekends Ive fitted:

A T04e turbo and Manifold from Snort Performance.
Hi temp Water and oil lines, including a braided feed line, speedflow weld on sump fitting and right angle fitting and various T pieces to mate up the water lines into my gas converter lines.
A crane HI-6 with boost retard module, high output coil and better leads. - $600.
Gas research converter and Throttle body - Free out of an EB wreck which I made cash on.
Intercooler piping + joiners - $150
Intercooler - $180
Blow off valve - $80
Boost controller - $30
Dump pipe to match the old 2.5 inch exhaust - $250
Cheapo pod filter to get me by until I make a proper sealed airbox incorporating the snorkel. $25

All up it came in at less than $2500. Considering the pacemakers I bought were $600 and gave me maybe 2 kw the turbo kit is pretty good value. I have added at least 40kw on 5psi going off the seat of the pants feeling. Once the dump pipe is finished tomorrow Ill wind the boost up to 10 and see how she goes. Im hoping to reach around 150rwkw which doesnt sound impressive but it is nearly triple what it made when it was NA.

Hopefully now the car will be able to make it up hills without slowing down.

Here are some pics:

Looks GOOD ,,, FINALLY "completed" a project!! Aha
Its not so much the power in this build? Its more the "mid range torque" being a heavy vehicle..
The turbo shouldn't be that small that it comes on power too quick..
A nice BIG dump pipe [ 3 to 3 1/2"] then tappered down to 2 1/2 inch [or so?]would help wastegate etc work real well..
Keep in mind heavy flywheel, gearbox etc will make dyno power numbers low..
Imo stop when it drives nice.. Don't add boost etc and stuff it all up..
Say ?? 8 Lb max ???

The dump pipe Im having made is nearly exactly like you said except its 3 1/4 down to 2.5 inch.

You are correct this is all about moving the car around better, not big power figures. I dont want to run too much boost, just enough to maintain 100km/hr up hills in 4th gear. If I need to drop back to 3rd at 100 km/hr Im doing nearly 5000rpm.

There is a hill near my house that will be the test, I always have to downchange before reaching the top.

Its embarrassing!

All done.




It runs 100% better than it did before on 5psi. It gets up hills no worries now and even pushes me back in the seat a little.

Looks like a fun rig Dan.

Should have kept the 51r.

lol that turbo cost more than the entire turbo conversion for this car.

I had to fit a bigger pick up into the cooler piping to stop it running out of gas in 4th gear.

The line I had before was just T pieced into the wastegate line and the converter wasnt getting a signal at 1-2 psi so cruising in 4th up a small incline would run the car out of gas and it would stall.

The new pick up is half inch and its solved the gas issue. Its running 9psi now.

Way to go champ.

haha awesome if i seen u sittin next to me at the light id prob laugh until u took off... well done

Its still pretty slow compared to regular cars, at a guess its slightly faster than Mum's standard EF which is pretty good considering it weighs 2.5 tonne and started with 63rwkw.

I cant seem to run anymore than 9psi though. Before i put the turbo on I was starting to get blowby so I think thats why its not boosting any more than 9. Ive tried wiring the wastegate shut and its the same thing.

It spools to 4-5 psi nearly instantly then slowly winds up to 9 before I run out of revs. The comp in the first cylinder is at the minimum recommended by the manual.

Im going to get a new airbox sorted, upgrade the hot side piping to 3 inch then replace/rebuild the motor.

If that fixes the boosting issue Ill get twin converters and wind a little more boost into it. Its not uncommon for standard patrol motors to handle 15psi without issues so that should be a bit more fun.