FINALLY. Another SOHC KA-T on the road :)

[sil80drifter]

Hey guys, just thought I'd let those who know about my two years of planning (and those who didn't, now know), that the infinite progress of parts assembly and financial constraints, and search for the best bang for my buck finally paid off.

I started turboing the car on Monday, finished everything except for the FMIC mounting/piping and turbo water lines yesterday, and will be done on Thursday. Of greatest help was my friend, without whom this wouldn't be at all possible, and who has performed all the welding/custom parts making. He is as creative as I've ever seen someone get, and I'm thankful to him for all the work and help he provided.

For now I am what they call "boosting the atmosphere," as in my turbo is on, but the intake plumbing has not been fabricated yet. I'm just going easy on it, right now is a good time to look for leaks, any faults and etc.

The scoop:

Turbo: S4 2nd gen RX-7 turbo, oil and water cooled, basically a large T3 turbine housing, and a medium T3 compressor housing, A/r in the back being (nobody knows for sure) between .88 and 1. It's not too big, it starts spool under 2k, and I'll let you know when it hits full boost when I have the intake stuff hooked up.

Exhaust: Custom welded log manifold with JGS head flange (leaves PLENTY of space for any turbo I think).Custom welded 2.5" SS downpipe, custom 2.5" mid-pipe.Custom 2.5" catback with a Warlock muffler (has a straight through or muffling option, straight through sounds incredibly loud and nasty, don't use it on the street though).

Intake: (not on yet), will put details up later.

Fuel: Walbro 255lph, RX-7 high impedance 460cc injectors, SAFCII, (300ZX fuel filter).

PICS:http://www.imagestation.com/al...50093

or

http://photos.yahoo.com/ivandabrain2000

go there and look for the album called "Turbo Progress"

I hope these pictures can be viewed well, if not I'll try to link another way. Sorry they are imagestation or Yahoo, I haven't figured out a way to put up pics on NICO, but if someone could tell me how to do it through NICO, I'll be glad to do so.

As a side note, this type of manifold (log) with this configuration(sideways opening) leaves a LOT of room for most any turbo, and any size DP (up to 3.5" DP). I did get rid of my AIV stuff on the driver's side strut tower, but I assume most people get rid of it when they go turbo. I am not sure why other manifolds are not using similar designs, as this is a very simple and effective way to put a turbo on a KA. It would work just as well with a log and an equal length manifold. I'll take more pics of the kinds of clearances I have between my brake cylinder and steering rack, and if you can't tell yet there is quite a bit of room around either. Hopefully this will help some DIY manifold people out there.

I'll update on Friday with more pics of FMIC and piping, and maybe a dyno sometime soon.

Also thanks to everyone who has been putting up with my odd questions about turbocharging the car, and I hope the support I got at NICO will continue to be as it has been before.

UPDATE!!!: Intake pics are up, read posts further down.

sil80
Modified by sil80drifter at 11:05 AM 9/1/2004

[:: orion ::]

Looks good.

That is a fairly large T3 turbine..will do well on the KA I'd bet.

And the manifold looks like it will flow well...the whole thin looks like it will smoothly send all the exhaust right out, no hard bends and such.

Let us know how it is to drive, one you get it on the road.

- Brian

[egan]

is there any differnece between the s4 and s5 turbo?

looks good! cant wait to hear how it drives

[sil80drifter]

S5 spools better due to "real" twin scroll design, unlike S4, which has two openings in the exhaust inlet, but they are not made for actual twin-scroll use, the S4 RX-7 manifold has a flap that opens after a certain RPM to flow to both openings. S5 turbos are much more rare, and I couldn't get ahold of one for the price of this S4 ($100 shipped, great condition).

sil80

[silkk]

wow, looks great!

[huguetpj]

Cool!!! Keep on boosting.

[egan]

awesome! thanks for the info!

[fastpace]

great. have fun with the car now. should be loads of excitement

[Checkered-Member]

if you want to upload the pictures on to nico go here:http://www.nissaninfiniticlub....user=

To use the RX7 injectors, did you need a new fuel rail? What modification did you do to make them work on the KA?

[Checkered-Member]

Also I would make a 1” gap in the middle of the flange that sits on the block, to allow room for the manifold to expand, to reduce the risk of warping it.

[sil80drifter]

Thank you, thank you Tomorrow I'll install the IC piping, then it'll really be complete.

The RX-7 (2nd gen) injectors require no fuel rail modifications on the SOHC, as they are also top feed. The only thing I had to do is to splice my current injector connectors and add the RX-7 injector connectors. I kept my old ones instead of cutting them off, just in case. Of course you'll need some kind of fuel management (I use an SAFCII) to control the higher flow injectors, so keep that in mind. The ones I got were from a second generation N/A RX-7 (years 1988.5 and up), rated at 460cc, and are high impedence.

There are also Turbo RX-7 injectors that flow 550cc, but I doubt my SAFC could handle them too well (Although it does border right on it's +/- 50% limit), and my end goals are 250whp at the most anyway, for now, so I got the 460cc ones.

As for the gap in the flange, there isn't THAT much expansion in it to begin with, but the thing with this one is that ALL the bolt holes are approximately 1.5 times larger in diameter than the actual bolts, which allows for flange expansion and contraction. Otherwise I'd cut the middle of it (would be kinda hard though, it's ~1/2" thick), and enlarge the outer holes, if this were a regular flange. But the guys at JGS know what they are doing, so I don't have to:)

FIRST ISSUE I RAN INTO:I think the oil feed line I got (-3AN) flows too much oil to the turbo, as it is leaking past the flange of the fitting, and the turbo smokes a lot of oil into the exhaust, which indicates the oil is going past the seals into the exhaust. If anyone knows where I can get a restrictor pill, or how I could make one, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. For now, I'll try a Home Depot solution with a valve fitted into the feed line, and see if that works.

sil80

[toki]

a -3 in line is perfect...many run a -4...it sounds to me like your return line is too small, what size is that?

[sil80drifter]

Return line is 3/8" barb fitting. -6AN in other words. I wonder how big of an effect that can have on my problem, because I doubt that even -6AN could prevent the oil from flowing freely out of the turbo, seing how the feed line is -3AN.... I'll try to increase the size of my return line/fittings, to see if that helps.

sil80

[huguetpj]

Return line is 3/8" barb fitting. -6AN in other words.

I used a 5/8" return line just to make sure it would not give me any problems.

[sil80drifter]

Redid my oil return to 5/8", did all the FMIC piping, and coolant lines. Will post final pics tomorrow.

Didn't realize that running on 87 isn't too good of an idea. Will fill up 91 tomorrow.Forgetting to hook up the wastegate is also not a good idea. Boost went up to 10, now back to 5.5-6psi.

Also, either the BOV is very JDM sounding, or my compressor surge is very JDM sounding.... Can't tell which yet... More updates tomorrow (Well today rather, but later on)

sil80

[bruinbear714]

Go pick up an oil restrictor from atpturbo.com

[nsanesrt]

keep us posted i want to see your intercooler piping

[toki]

did the bigger return line help? I'm running a -12 line, just because im hott like that. -10 is usually considered "big" but -12 is "so big you will never find a turbo big enough to need something bigger on a 4 cyl" and it costs the same, so why not.

[sil80drifter]

Ok! New pics are up, sorry for the delay, just moved into my college house. Check the yahoo site again. There is like 15 more pics now.

Replaced the return flange with a 5/8", and replaced feed line gasket, and ordered feed restrictor. Thanks a lot for the link. No more leaks from the outside of the turbo, but still lots of oil being dumped out of the exhaust... So hopefully the restrictor will help… or else my turbo is busted.

Had a huge stalling at idle problem, til I figured out that we blocked off the Idle Air Valve feed hose, and it cannot just be plugged off or let be open, it has to be plugged in before the TB, but after the MAF. Right now I plugged it in right before the BOV, and the car still stalls sometimes if I rev up a LOT quickly and then just let go in neutral. Maybe the valve can't pull enough air through the FMIC and all the piping quick enough and ends up stalling the engine... Maybe I need to adjust my BOV (could be opening too much if the spring is too loose).

Running on 91 octane gas now, because 87 pinged. First off the install, we forgot to plug in the WG hose... did 10psi, and I thought the car was going to take off like a plane. Running the stock 5.5 psi right now. feels fast enough, full boost by 3200, pulls hard until 5500, haven't taken it past that much because of the oil smoking problem.

Also, I unplugged the valve cover breather hose, and just routed it downwards for now. It smokes a LOT of oil. And I'm not sure if that's normal, and that it normally would just be routed to the intake and I wouldn't notice. The Crankcase breather hose is also routed down, no filters on either one yet, I am thinking about a catch can... No dirt can go up either for now, so no worries, they are long hoses pointed in the direction of the back of the car, so nothing can go up them, they end right behind the starter. Really considering a catch can...

With my gutted thermostat, my water temps (remember turbo is water cooled) never go above 140 on the highway and above 180 on the road with the fan turned OFF (unless it's stop and go). With it on, the temps stay solidly around 140. Not sure if this is a good thing, but for now I am sick of the PepBoys' thermostats breaking down on me and overheating my car. Near the winter I'll get one from the dealer, or a Nismo one, which although opens around 140, still is better than the completely gutted one.

Will chip my ECU sometime this Sept, then dyno the car. I'll let you guys know what happens.

The FMIC piping: Well here is my secret, and I hope you guys can benefit from this: I bought 4 CAIs for an Integra on ebay for $130 shipped, they are all 2.5" mandrel bent, and each CAI has apiece with 2 90 degree bends and a little S shaped piece. Then we cut them and fitted them and welded them, so I have two solid pipes, one hot one cold. I also used the couplings they came with, but had to get an extra two from Home Depot for fitting them onto the turbo inlet/outlet.

So in total that's 8 90 degree bends and 4 S shaped thingys. To buy regular aluminum piping would have been more expensive, and it would not have been polished (not a big thing, just kinda cool that these are). I've been trying to find a cheaper way to do IC plumbing, and I just didn't want to get SS or mild steel (heavy stuff, and the latter rusts). So I got the CAI witht he most bends that was 2.5" in diameter. For me this worked very well. I actually have one whole CAI left over, but if your setup requires alot of bends, you can get 5 of them for 30 extra bucks (they are usully about 30 a piece, and if you get more than one, they ship them together so it saves on shipping).Something like this:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...38634

If you can find another CAI for some other car that has more/better bends for your application, more power to you. Sometimes they come anodized in blue or red (I wish mine came red to match the car but oh well...).Lemme know what you think.

sil8o

Modified by sil80drifter at 11:04 AM 9/1/2004
Modified by sil80drifter at 11:09 AM 9/1/2004

[S13ChucKAT]

How is that log style manifold doing for ya?.. I might end up copying you..

[sil80drifter]

Yeah, I saw your designs, they look really good.

So far the manifold is holding up great. I kind of wish it was all stainless, including the head flange, to maybe reduce weight and be thinner (and you know how 240s are with rust), but it weighs almost exactly as much as the stock cast manifold, and the new DP is lighter than the old DP, so the only added weight is the turbo itself (offset by the fact that I took off the AC located on the same side of the engine, and all of its components, this is probably very close to stock weight and weight distribution).

sil80

[greazymule]

what kind of lincoln welder do you have? i recently got a pro-mig 135 and plan to take on a project like this. sweet job bro

[sil80drifter]

I don't weld yet, but my friend who did, has a Lincoln 175. All the credit for welding goes to him.

sil80