Turbo Attempt #2
 

Attempt #2. I've finally got motivated to finish putting a homebrew kit together with slightly lower goals in mind now. Any and all help is greatly appreciated

Specs on the car: '99 with 105k miles, some handling mods, compression test checked out good.

Goals: anything between 170 and 200 horsepower. Reliability is very important, this is my only car, but i have a motorcycle to get me places while its down. low cost is good too.

Planned Hardware:
log manifold and down pipe
T3 60 trim turbo
Tial 38mm Wastegate, i believe it has .6 bar spring, so should be about 8 psi
Treadstone TR6 intercooler, 22'' long, 6'' tall, 3.5'' wide.
Stock injectors and Fuel pump for now
Innovate LC-1 Wideband O2
Greddy RS BOV
Plan to run a MS-I in Parallel which I purchased from another member on here. came with a CAS. This is where i'm gonna need the most help in the future.

Initial Questions:
I keep hearing Bi-polar things about the 99 Fuel pump. Some say its fine, some say its weak. which is it? if i have to i don't mind getting a Walbro, but if its not necessary i'd rather save the money.

How attainable is 200 Horsepower on the stock injectors. I've done the calculations in the DIY FAQ and my answer is yes with 60psi of fuel pressure. can anyone confirm that?

The intercooler i have is left over from a previous project and its massive (IMO), and might affect cooling. i'm tempted to spend the cash on a Flyin Miata or BEGI product which would be smaller, and easier to mount. good idea or bad?


Comments or suggestions? I do have access to a welder and machine shop (if i have the skills still remains to be seen), i can fabricate brackets and other misc parts, so i'm open to DIY solutions.

You need at least 460cc injectors, don't try to get your stock injectors to push the required fuel for your goal.

If your concerned about temps do a re-route, your engine and specially your #4 will thank you for it. for that. Other than that you seem fine (NO HOMO).

The Stock fuel pump is fine until about 250 whp. Unless...the gas that has been run thru it is filthy. It is relatively inexpensive to go ahead and change it, but I wouldn't. Not at 170-200 whp goals.

We have done it with the Zoom3 & 8 psi before. Ran 210 whp on stock injectors. MSM injectors work too.

Of coarse, I might be a little biased, but... I think it is worth it, unless you can build it on you own. Depending upon how you clock the turbo, you will need to re-route the lower radiator hose. Plus configure any additional bungs, etc. Also, we use rigid IC mounts, so there is no possible way it can move and damage A/C lines. The BEGI kit takes the guess work out of it. All of our intercoolers, even the #3, will work with A/C. They come with all the tubes, clamps, turbo hose, and the water bypass system (lower radiator hose re-route).

Until recently, I would say an Ebay intercooler was good enough. However, we had one come thru the shop a few weeks ago. When we cut it open, we discovered it was a useless piece of crap. Yes, it was a bar and plate core, but the internal channels did not have any dividers/air baffles and the intercooler has significantly less capacity to cool than the cores we use. It had a cooling efficiency of less than 50% whereas ours work closer to the 85% efficiency range. If it is a track car, every little bit counts. Look for a "Corky's Comments" on this topic soon!
Stephanie

Which intercooler was it?

thanks for the quick replies. 460cc seems overkill to me. i know its good to have headroom, but that seems a little big. how about some 295cc or 315. several sets are staring me in the face on ebay right now...

A coolant re-rout is in the works, but is gonna have to wait until after the turbo. the BEGI and FM intercoolers looks soo good because they already have mounts and come with IC pipes. wrestling for hours with an Ebay kit doesn't sound like fun to me.

Wrestling for hours? I guess my set up made it easier for me :dunno: It took me about 45 with a hack saw to cut all the piping.

460 are not over kill. I have no issues against duty cycles staying low.