Q45 TURBO PROJECT

[sijoko]

I've been working on a turbo project for my 94 Q45. I already posted a bunch of info in the Q45 section but Wes asked me if I could post it here for the hardcore VH gearheads. The car is running now but still needs to be tuned. I've done mostly part throttle driving but it is still fast. The boost is limited to 5 psi for now.

Here are the pics:

[sijoko]

[sijoko]

More pics:

[sijoko]

[elwesso]

Thanks for posting Siju! Appreciate it.

Do you have any videos? Id like to see how this runs compared to stock. Can your digital camera take video?

[gs14racer]

WOW This is bad @ss, makes me wish so much i had room for a turbo, good work.

[Mettler]

Heh nice work man, what a sleeper! Keep us updated on tuning & dyno progress

[sijoko]

Thanks for posting Siju! Appreciate it.

Do you have any videos? Id like to see how this runs compared to stock. Can your digital camera take video?

Wes, I'm away from Oregon for a few weeks so I can't take any videos, plus I have to get a digital camcorder. Maybe in a few weeks.

[sijoko]

WOW This is bad @ss, makes me wish so much i had room for a turbo, good work.

Thanks for the props. I had to do some modifications to make space for this turbo. The EVAP was relocated to the pass side near the windshield fluid reservoir which you can see in one of the pics. I also had to use a double pass radiator for clearance. There was also a bit of sheetmetal massaging involved but nothing major.

[sijoko]

Heh nice work man, what a sleeper! Keep us updated on tuning & dyno progress

Sleeper is the right term. Most people don't even know what kind of car it is, let alone that it is boosted. The turbo is a bit loud as it spools up so they know something is up. I've been driving around making sure that the coolant temps are within range and also to make sure that I wasn't burning oil. I had to restrict the oil feed to the turbo and upsize the drain line to a 5/8" hose from the previous 1/2" to get rid of the oil smoking issue. One thing that VH has in spades is oil pressure. LOL.

[Mettler]

Hey that's great to know the VH supplies way more than enough oil pressure.

Yeah I'm thoroughly impressed by how neatly you've made it all fit without drastically altering the factory setup of the vehicle... your setup actually looks like something you'd pay good money for at a shop. Props for such a clean job.

[perana]

hey mate do u have a vh45 ecu and if so how far back did u retard the timming?how does the ecu handle the knock sensing?did u use the oil pressure switch outlet?sorry about all the questions,theese are the things that I had problems with not many people have experiance on this suject.

[sijoko]

Props for such a clean job.

Thanks, that was my main concern during this project. I did not want it to be a butcher job. I took my time to do things as best as I could. I figured that if you want something done right, then you need to do it yourself.

Here are some pics of the aftermarket gauges (boost/vacuum, oil pressure and oil temp in the pillar pod, coolant and trans fluid temps in the center console, digital w/ memory function fuel pressure and intake charge temp under the arm rest)

[sijoko]

hey mate do u have a vh45 ecu and if so how far back did u retard the timming?how does the ecu handle the knock sensing?did u use the oil pressure switch outlet?sorry about all the questions,theese are the things that I had problems with not many people have experiance on this suject.

The car has not been tuned. I am running a reprogrammed ECU that was done by Robert Bowen. He based his tune on the programs that he has made for the Z32 turbo so I can't say how well it does on my car until I hook up the wideband O2 sensor up to the car. The knock sensing and all other stock safeties are still there. Also, I have a water injection system on the car as extra insurance against detonation. My base timing is set at 15 degrees and I'm going to be running NGK Iridium plugs that are one step colder.

I'm also running a BEGI FMU which is a rising rate fuel pressure regulator. I think that both of these are overkill for my application as the car is running super rich with the boost limited to 5 psi for now. Whenever, I go past half-throttle the car will bog down and black smoke comes out the tailpipe. The gas gauge dips down noticeably too. With the price of super unleaded these days, my test drives are getting expensive. I am probably going to remove either the modified ECU or the FMU. Haven't decided which one yet.

The turbo oil feed comes off a tee fitting on the oil cooler hose. I was going to use the oil pressure test port on the back side of the oil filter housing but I could not remove the hex plug even with an air impact gun. You could also use the low oil pressure sensor port. That is where I hooked up my sending units for my gauges. It is 1/8" NPT thread.

[perana]

Thanks for that and one more question,how do you think your setup will react to 1bar boost?thats what I killed my engine with and the lack of knoledge.

[sijoko]

Thanks for that and one more question,how do you think your setup will react to 1bar boost?thats what I killed my engine with and the lack of knoledge.

Let me think about that for a moment. We know detonation is what kills engines. The VH is plenty strong in its stock configuration and as long as detonation is kept at bay, the engine should survive 1 bar (14.7 psi for the metric challenged). My plan of action would be to use a large turbo to keep backpressure down, install an efficient intercooler system and run a good water injection system, probably one with a progressive controller. Of course, the tune should also be spot on but that is a given.

Tell us about the demise of your VH. What kind of tune did you have on it? What size turbo/supercharger? Did it go suddenly?

[perana]

the motor was a94+ the turbos were nismo 580rs x2, stock nismo 300zx i/c.the ecu is a link.the first time the motor started it turned over like a engine with to much ignition timming.but we towed it to start. once going it was ok but not sure if it was detonation.the motor ran about 1 week not sure how many kilometres.when we stripped it the piston were melted so i dont know for sure if it was detonation.i will check if i still have them and try to post a picture.most of my parts are being sold on a new zealand auction,but my new stup is a master power t70 and a chipped vh45 ecu. what do u suggest.

[perana]

Oh it was at 1bar the turbos , i/c and boost controler were all from the vg30dett

[Florida240sx]

how much are you selling the turbos for?

[sijoko]

the motor was a94+ the turbos were nismo 580rs x2, stock nismo 300zx i/c.the ecu is a link.the first time the motor started it turned over like a engine with to much ignition timming.but we towed it to start. once going it was ok but not sure if it was detonation.the motor ran about 1 week not sure how many kilometres.when we stripped it the piston were melted so i dont know for sure if it was detonation.i will check if i still have them and try to post a picture.most of my parts are being sold on a new zealand auction,but my new stup is a master power t70 and a chipped vh45 ecu. what do u suggest.

Melted pistons indicates detonation to be the cause of death. http://www.theultralightplace.com/pistons.htm

Sounds like you might have had too much ignition advance. Do you remember what the base timing was set at? Also, the Nismo 580s were probably too small on the turbine side for the VH which leads to excessive pressure before the turbos. This would result in exhaust gases back feeding into the cylinders during overlap which leads to detonation.

What size turbine housing do you have on the T70? If it is too small, you're going to have the same problems with heat and detonation.

[Mettler]

Hey Perana, you got your twin turbo manifolds up for sale?

[perana]

the nismo turbo was put back onto the vg30dett and the car was rebuild on sold.

[perana]

Hey Perana, you got your twin turbo manifolds up for sale?

sorry mate those mani's igave to a mate the guy i loan the motor from.if u asked ealier i would give them to u.i can make more but dont have much time now and it costs a bit.

Melted pistons indicates detonation to be the cause of death. http://www.theultralightplace.com/pistons.htm

Sounds like you might have had too much ignition advance. Do you remember what the base timing was set at? Also, the Nismo 580s were probably too small on the turbine side for the VH which leads to excessive pressure before the turbos. This would result in exhaust gases back feeding into the cylinders during overlap which leads to detonation.

What size turbine housing do you have on the T70? If it is too small, you're going to have the same problems with heat and detonation.

as for the timmig i dont know.i was told by a turbo shop the nismo's will work. the t70 has .9 hot side i think but not sure.if its not up to the task i can exchange it for one thats more suited. what do u suggest?ps a t76 looks a bit big for the space i have and your car looks fantastic first time i see the inside of a Q45.

[perana]

i had single turbo mani's for sale on trade me but some guy on the north shore bought them.

[sijoko]

Without looking at the specs for the NISMO turbos, I cannot say if they are a good match for the VH45 but I would hazard a guess that, at the minimum, the hot sides would be too small for a VH45 running 1 bar since the original application was for a much smaller engine.

The T70 with .96 hot side should be okay but you might run into back pressure issues as you turn up the boost. The VH45 running at 1 bar is going to push out approx. 600 hp. That is a lot of exhaust flow. The only way to know for sure is to build the system and test the back pressure.

My personal choice will always be toward a large turbo due to the better breathing available. The T76 on my car is a T6 flanged turbo which is similar to the Garrett GT47 turbos, in other words, it is much bigger than the turbos that you see in most cars. I am seeing boost at 3000 rpm in first gear and at 2500 rpm in the other gears.
Modified by sijoko at 3:28 AM 8/1/2007

[perana]

i dont want to boost the thing at 1 bar,thats what my setup from my zx was.did not have time to sort things out.about a week after the motor was removed i realised it was at 1 bar.i dont want 600hp or even 500 i want a reliable turbo vh45.the stock vh is way more responsive than a vg any way.the member with the black zx vh45dett i forget his name,what turbos are on his car if u know.

[elwesso]

He's running 2 T25/T28's, I think he said he got them from a VG30ET. Hes been running them for about 4 years with no problem, boosting to about 8-10lbs.

[elwesso]

BTW maybe we could work a deal out, ECU for some twin turbo manifolds??

[tight240]

Nicely done!!!!!! What kinda of welder did you use to get this kind of job done? I use weld when i was in highschool and i didnt know if it really matter if you got a cheap welder or you want to get a good nice quality welder.

[sijoko]

Nicely done!!!!!! What kinda of welder did you use to get this kind of job done? I use weld when i was in highschool and i didnt know if it really matter if you got a cheap welder or you want to get a good nice quality welder.

Thanks....I used a flux-core welder for everything. It's cheaper and gives good penetration. Maybe, one day I'll upgrade to a gas shielded MIG welder. The hot side piping is stainless steel and the flux-core did a pretty good job on it.