Post by boostfed on Nov 28, 2006 22:05:01 GMT -5
With the rising rate of you guys putting together some turbo cars and starting to make some power, mostly on a budget, I decided its time to put together a small thread for y'all to check out to maybe get a few tips that could save some dollars. I'm gonna cover a few basic things you can throw on your car for maybe a little more power or relability for little or no money. I'll try to include a few places you may wanna check out for, again, some money saving.
First off- Intercoolers. Y'all are all into the whole front mount thing. You wanna look cool and get some charge temps down. Theres a few vehicles with pretty stout stock intercoolers that can probably be picked up at a junkyard for about the same price as a shitty ass ebay intercooler thats not efficient. The best thing that I've seen is Mitsubishi Fuso and Isuzu NPR. They are the box trucks that are Cab over design, meaning the drivers compartment is over the engine. They're generally about 2-3 feet long using tube and fin design. The trucks generally come with T3's and probably run some decent boost levels. I assume they're probably efficient enough for a Gas motor's turbo pressure levels. There are also a few others which include Starion and Conquest's intercoolers. With the RWD crowd, dont forget you can sometimes move the radiator back and squeeze different types of intercoolers in front of the radiators with a little bracketry. Volvo's and Saabs often come with a radiator size intercooler mounted much like I'm talkin about. Sometimes diesel trucks do too. If you cant clear the factory mechanical fan on the front of the motor, you can always get an electric fan and throw that on instead. Just make sure you've still got enough flow though the radiator to keep your cool. You may want to consider an aluminum radiator if you go that route, which may be more than a front mount, but could be cool for the sleeper effect.
Second on the list is Piping- Don't cheap out on this. It really does make a difference in performance. You should Try to use as little soft hoses as possibly, obviously. Make minimal bends in the system also. Try not to differenciate in Pipe sizes through the system. This changes pressure at different points in the set up and affects the flow. Again, you can go a little budget here. There are a variety of cars and trucks with aluminum piping. Finding them may be a challenge but they do exist. The ebay universal pipe kits are there, just ditch the clamps before you start boosting. Muffler shops also are a decent alternative. Just don't try to drive the car turbo'd with out piping. You will overspool the turbo and more than likely damage it.
Third on the list is couplings and clamps. There are a few options here. The worse probably being the couplers and clamps that come with the universal kits. The clamps for the kits are probably the biggest draw back. T-clamps, which yes, are more expensive, are definently worth the money instead of having to pull over every 2 miles to pick up your clamps and couplers that you just blew off. T clamps hold against the couplers much better, can be tightened to a higher torque load and are actually meant to handle the higher pressure situations. The rubber couplers arent really bad, but I wouldn't use them on my vehicle. Silicon couplers, to my knowledge are the best thing on the market for the applications that any of you guys on the site may set up. However, if you want to go a little cheaper, dont wanna wait a few days for your silicon to ship and so on, try tractor trailer( or heavy diesel in general) radiator hose. Its availible in a few different sizes and can be cut to desired lengths. Prices depend on where you go. Try to go to Independent shops, dealers and truck stops are usually a little more pricey. Another lil, not so well known tip is to use a little RTV sealant on the couplers to seal them. It usually increases the unit's ability to seal by a good deal. Also, welding a few small beads on the piping where the coupler clamps can help in reducing couplers slipping and leading blowing couplers off.
Blow off Valves will be the last thing on the list for now. If you're looking for a tried, true, and cheap blow off valve, try the OEM 1st gen(90-94) DSM(talon, laser, eclipse) blow off. They're constucted of steel and usually hold boost well. If the blow off valve tends to vent prematurely, try slightly crushing it in a vice. This will increase spring pressure and hold more boost before creeping open. Now, I know a few certain people are completely against SSACrap and w/e else you wanna call em. But, if you know how a BOV works, theres really not that much to it. The SSAC's have everything needed to work correctly. As said before- my cousin has the same SSAC blow off valve as Tony's MX3 making 600+hp on a supercharged hayabusa. The bike runs near 30 lbs of boost and uses none of the washers provided to stiffen the spring.
I'm going to add a little more to this later on, but for now, that should get you rollin with a few things. I'll post up some tricks for some cheap honda boost set ups. Also- a list of a few cars to take some high flow injectors from to spruce up that fuel system. GO BOOST SOME SHIT!!!
First off- Intercoolers. Y'all are all into the whole front mount thing. You wanna look cool and get some charge temps down. Theres a few vehicles with pretty stout stock intercoolers that can probably be picked up at a junkyard for about the same price as a shitty ass ebay intercooler thats not efficient. The best thing that I've seen is Mitsubishi Fuso and Isuzu NPR. They are the box trucks that are Cab over design, meaning the drivers compartment is over the engine. They're generally about 2-3 feet long using tube and fin design. The trucks generally come with T3's and probably run some decent boost levels. I assume they're probably efficient enough for a Gas motor's turbo pressure levels. There are also a few others which include Starion and Conquest's intercoolers. With the RWD crowd, dont forget you can sometimes move the radiator back and squeeze different types of intercoolers in front of the radiators with a little bracketry. Volvo's and Saabs often come with a radiator size intercooler mounted much like I'm talkin about. Sometimes diesel trucks do too. If you cant clear the factory mechanical fan on the front of the motor, you can always get an electric fan and throw that on instead. Just make sure you've still got enough flow though the radiator to keep your cool. You may want to consider an aluminum radiator if you go that route, which may be more than a front mount, but could be cool for the sleeper effect.
Second on the list is Piping- Don't cheap out on this. It really does make a difference in performance. You should Try to use as little soft hoses as possibly, obviously. Make minimal bends in the system also. Try not to differenciate in Pipe sizes through the system. This changes pressure at different points in the set up and affects the flow. Again, you can go a little budget here. There are a variety of cars and trucks with aluminum piping. Finding them may be a challenge but they do exist. The ebay universal pipe kits are there, just ditch the clamps before you start boosting. Muffler shops also are a decent alternative. Just don't try to drive the car turbo'd with out piping. You will overspool the turbo and more than likely damage it.
Third on the list is couplings and clamps. There are a few options here. The worse probably being the couplers and clamps that come with the universal kits. The clamps for the kits are probably the biggest draw back. T-clamps, which yes, are more expensive, are definently worth the money instead of having to pull over every 2 miles to pick up your clamps and couplers that you just blew off. T clamps hold against the couplers much better, can be tightened to a higher torque load and are actually meant to handle the higher pressure situations. The rubber couplers arent really bad, but I wouldn't use them on my vehicle. Silicon couplers, to my knowledge are the best thing on the market for the applications that any of you guys on the site may set up. However, if you want to go a little cheaper, dont wanna wait a few days for your silicon to ship and so on, try tractor trailer( or heavy diesel in general) radiator hose. Its availible in a few different sizes and can be cut to desired lengths. Prices depend on where you go. Try to go to Independent shops, dealers and truck stops are usually a little more pricey. Another lil, not so well known tip is to use a little RTV sealant on the couplers to seal them. It usually increases the unit's ability to seal by a good deal. Also, welding a few small beads on the piping where the coupler clamps can help in reducing couplers slipping and leading blowing couplers off.
Blow off Valves will be the last thing on the list for now. If you're looking for a tried, true, and cheap blow off valve, try the OEM 1st gen(90-94) DSM(talon, laser, eclipse) blow off. They're constucted of steel and usually hold boost well. If the blow off valve tends to vent prematurely, try slightly crushing it in a vice. This will increase spring pressure and hold more boost before creeping open. Now, I know a few certain people are completely against SSACrap and w/e else you wanna call em. But, if you know how a BOV works, theres really not that much to it. The SSAC's have everything needed to work correctly. As said before- my cousin has the same SSAC blow off valve as Tony's MX3 making 600+hp on a supercharged hayabusa. The bike runs near 30 lbs of boost and uses none of the washers provided to stiffen the spring.
I'm going to add a little more to this later on, but for now, that should get you rollin with a few things. I'll post up some tricks for some cheap honda boost set ups. Also- a list of a few cars to take some high flow injectors from to spruce up that fuel system. GO BOOST SOME SHIT!!!
88 FC3S- 1sleepin7- 12.89@107- Stock turbo, stock intercooler, stock internals! 
)
