Been thinking about this whole turbocharger deal.

[regularman]

That seems like the best way to me anyways to add on horsepower and not have to mess with the engine internals. I mean you can keep the stock cam and everything and still get the power. That is the way I am looking. I have a spare gasket for the manifolds and this can be used to figure out how to build the turbo setup and make it work. I am still looking at the turbo that came off the subaru. It had a 1.8 ea82 engine with standard about 85 hp and the turbo made it about 115, so it should not be too powerful for the 1275 and it has a waste gate built in and is readily available in junkyards on old subees. There has got to be a way to make this work. What I wonder is if it is possible to have the carb before the turbo. I would think that a turbo and an aluminum flywheel to decrease the turbo lag would be the ultimate for a 1275. I have two friends at work and one is an excellent tubing bender and the other is a killer tig welder of pipes and things. I need to get some figures in my head for when I go back to work and talk to these guys. I know that the weber dgv carb is an option for the 1.8 subs(carbureted) just like the midget, so airflow has got to be close on these engines. I have all the exhaust turbo flanges and all from the sub as well on the pipes that I have.

 

[beaulieu]

VW guys use a sidedraft DCOE Weber before the turbo, pretty normal for sand buggies, sinple "Y" manifold you can buy on ebay for a little over $100

Beaulieu

 

[regularman]

Question for those in the know. Does a turbo kill your gas mileage? maybe some sort of valve that bypasses the turbo would be in order?

 

[Morris]

The turbo will reduce your gas mileage. If you have it set up properly it should not kill it. What will really kill your mileage with a the turbo is the lead foot it will give you.

You could probably use the actuator valve (if your turbo is so equipped) to bypass the turbo, but I think that would make the car a total dog to drive and worsen your gas mileage. Especially if your carb is before the turbo

 

[regularman]

What I found driving the turbo subee without the turbo is that it was a dog, but it was a dog because they had reduced the compression with concave pistons. With flat tops it should be the same. I don't dust want to open a waste gate. I want to be able to turn a valve and bypass the turbo completely.

 

[racingenglishcars]

Let's face it guys. Turbos are perfect for diesel engines. You dont have that do you?
Gasoline engines don't have the high air bypass that a diesel has.
Turbos work but that's all. They have difficulty maintaining the correct f/a ratio. (this is especially true on fi engines)
But they do give more power! (about 50% more)
The only thing worse for maintaining the f/a ratio than turbos and superchargers is nitrous.
IMHO, the best way to more power is more cubes and more revs.

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Most people that build forced induction engine with the intent of squeezing power out of them spend a lot of time/money on making the rest of the engine more durable to cope with accidental lean conditions and predetonation. It is very hard to get a good A/F ratio across all rpm and load conditions. Then you have the whole issue of timing. However, I must say that the design of the SU does a pretty good job for a "suck through" setup.

 

[BWillis]

Kim,

Ever since I saw the picture of Glens turbo setup I've been interested as well. Maybe he'll chime in here as I would like to know what carb it is that he's using.

Anyone out there want to make some manifolds to sell?? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

 

[racingenglishcars]

That one is nice, isn't it!!

 

[BWillis]

Re: Been thinking about this whole turbocharger de

 

[mrstinson]

Re: Been thinking about this whole turbocharger de

A little off topic but what air filter model is in Ben's pic?

 

[Branson]

Re: Been thinking about this whole turbocharger de

looks like a k&N filter to me...

I'd be interested in the manifold set up too...I dont have the means/methods of fabricating my own and finding someone to do it for me could be rather $$$. I tried looking for an intake and exhaust manifold from an MG Metro Turbo 1275 or a Mini ERA turbo but no luck. Certainly a bolt on application would be best for me.

saw this on ebay but then realized that the auction was only for the adapter and nothing else

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayIS...98564848&rd=1,1

Morris or anyone else interested in creating a kit? Sounds like there are atleast a handful on here that would be interested and if the application could be easily transferred to the mini or other A-series based cars then there could be a decent amount of people who would be interested.

 

[BWillis]

Re: Been thinking about this whole turbocharger de

If someone had a good welding source we could offset the cost by having several made at once. Material and labor is always cheaper in quantity..


If we could get intake/exhaust manifolds made very similar to Glens then we could all choose our own carb-turbo setups.

 

[Glen_B]

Re: Been thinking about this whole turbocharger de

Here's some dope on my setup shown in the picture. The motor was built with the turbo in mind. Manifold was welded out of gas pipe. 16cc dish Venolia forged pistons. Mechanical advance dizzy modified to limit advance, static timing set at 5BTDT. K&N conical air filter, Oxy sensor/mixture gauge, boost guage. Needle was chosen to give slightly rich at all throttle settings. Cam was custom designed by David Anton per Vizard for turbo usage. Entire valve train "Vizardized"(rimflow, 1.5 rollers, porting, etc.)

28MPG freeway cruising with 5th gear. On a really good twisty drive, I can get it down to 20MPG. As for lag and power, slight lag and LOTS of power. Hardened axles a MUST!
Flat out drag from dead stop against a 1380/Holley/hotcam bugeye was not that close, pulling away in every gear after smoking burnout.

Glen

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Re: Been thinking about this whole turbocharger de

Here is an active thread that may prove interesting:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/board/viewtopic.php?id=24801

 

[Glen_B]

Re: Been thinking about this whole turbocharger de

Sorry! Forgot that the carb is a HIF44. Last year I bought some 1/4" steel plate and some steel pipe and welded up a copy of the manifold that kept it separate from the intake. I intend to saw apart the intake and exhaust and swap over to the new exhaust side one of these days. The new one is prettier and better welded. The faceplate of the original is thin from being re-flattened a few years ago.
As others point out, its not just a bolt on mod. To get the best results requires some thought to the physics.

I intend to advance the timing and slightly and begin adding Toulene to the fuel so I can really put my foot in it this summer. About 0.5gal per tank should do it eh? Octane of modern fuel is a serious issue.

Glen

 

[Morris]

Re: Been thinking about this whole turbocharger de

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]What I found driving the turbo subee without the turbo is that it was a dog, but it was a dog because they had reduced the compression with concave pistons. With flat tops it should be the same. I don't dust want to open a waste gate. I want to be able to turn a valve and bypass the turbo completely.[/QUOTE]

If you want to get the most out of your turbo and run street gas in your car, you are probably going to have to run a reduced compression set up. Most who turbo shoot for something in the area of 7.5:1 I believe.

However, you may be able to run your turbo at low boost... something like 5psi, and you shoud be okay. But at that point, the horse power return for your investment is going to be much lower.

Still, a low-boost turbo set up is still going to be, in my largely uninformed opinion, cheaper and better than the super charger setup sold by Moss.

BTW, my dream would be to build and sell a turbo kit for these cars. My car will most definitely be turboed in the future. Right now I don't have the resources, money or knowledge to make it happen. Hopefully there will still be a market for it once I get around to it.

 

[Branson]

Re: Been thinking about this whole turbocharger de

didnt mean to imply that this is as simple as a bolt on installation......what I meant was that having a pair of manifolds fabricated that would bolt on would be much easier than for some of us to actually line up testfit and fabricate our own.

 

[BWillis]

Re: Been thinking about this whole turbocharger de

didnt mean to imply that this is as simple as a bolt on installation......what I meant was that having a pair of manifolds fabricated that would bolt on would be much easier than for some of us to actually line up testfit and fabricate our own.

My point exactly. If we could get the manifolds than we could focus on the other details that don't require a welder.

 

[Speedy_Pete]

Re: Been thinking about this whole turbocharger de

The turbo is run off exhaust gases, so most only kick in over 3000rpm. Therefore, keep it under 3k and it will drive just like normal. A supercharger is belt driven, so it's always on and therefore will use more fuel.
That said, please remember that increasing the engines power will put more stress on it, so make sure it is sound to start with.
If it was my car I'd delay putting a turbo on, but instead get a new air filter (K&N are guaranteed for 1,000,000 miles), and a free flow Stainles Steel exhaust. This will allow more air into the engine (more air=more power) and get the exhaust gases out quicker. The engine has to use some of its power to get exhaust gases out, so if it is made easier, the power can be used elsewhere.
Not only will this route give a raspier edge to the sound produced by the engine, but you won't have to endure the wonders of turbo lag... and as they are both bolt on parts you won't be spending all those hours setting it up like you would a turbo.
If I still wanted more power I'd then consider a stage 1 or 2 head, as this is also a bolt on part, although from here on it starts getting pricey!