Turboing your car?

[Yadizzle1]

Just out of interest, how would you go about turboing a non turbo car?

I understand you need a standalone or piggyback ecu, obviously your turbo bits but for the oil feed, could you just go ahead and install a seperate oil tank just for the turbo instead of leeching off the engine oil? Would this work or is there a reason to just use the oil feed that exists?

Again I'm not going to attempt this (just yet ) but was wondering what the process would be

[hidetheelephants]

Yadizzle1 said:

Just out of interest, how would you go about turboing a non turbo car?

I understand you need a standalone or piggyback ecu, obviously your turbo bits but for the oil feed, could you just go ahead and install a seperate oil tank just for the turbo instead of leeching off the engine oil? Would this work or is there a reason to just use the oil feed that exists?

Again I'm not going to attempt this (just yet ) but was wondering what the process would be

It would be easier to seek out a turbo with built-in lubrication than faff with an independent lube system, but unless the engine is a piece of rubbish tapping the existing oil circuit will get you sufficient lubrication. Are there turbo versions of the engine in question? Bigger problems are usually elsewhere, preventing pistons disintegrating etc.

[eliot]

You need to tap an oil feed from the engine. Look for a pressure sensor tapping and splice into it via a tee.
The oil from the turbo needs to return to the sump in a reasonably direct path using a largeish diameter pipe (8mm +) as the oil can be wipped into a foam.
If you keep the boost low (6-8psi) with sensible fuel and ignition mapping - you can get away with standard internals. (i started at 4 psi and crept up to 10 psi)
But it does depend on your engine.

Follow my profile for pics of my conversion, showing how to read compressor maps and fabricate everything.

[stevieturbo]

You could do a remote oil system, but really there is no sensible reason to do gown that route unless it was say a rear, or very remote mounted turbo install.

[rev-erend]

A fiat panda by any chance.

Best check out the cost to change the insurance first.

[hidetheelephants]

rev-erend said:

A fiat panda by any chance.

Best check out the cost to change the insurance first.

If that's the case homebrewing is daft; just source a Uno turbo engine and shoehorn it in.

[Pit Pony]

Let us talk about cooling the turbo bearings. Diesel Cars have an exhaust temp that is some 200 c below that of a petrol car, and so the the oil flowing through the bearings is usually enough to cool the centre housing, especially if the car has an oil cooler.

But with Petrol Engines the centre housing usually has a water cooling route, through it. This gives implications for the installation as you now have water and oil both coming in under pressure, and oil going out with no pressure, (big drain pipe to sump) and water going off somewhere else under pressure.

I am sure someone will say, "yeah but this petrol particular car gets away without the water cooling of the centre housing" but generally it is as I say.

[SuperchargedVR6]

I've turboed two n'asp engines, a Golf 16V and a VR6. Very easy to do. On a basic level, you just need a decompression plate and the oil feed usually tees off a sensor on the oil filter housing, or use a redundant port.

What car is it? There may even be a kit available. A standalone isn't essential if the management is relatively recent and programmable, either via new chip or via the flash port.

[Yadizzle1]

rev-erend said:

A fiat panda by any chance.

Best check out the cost to change the insurance first.

No plans to do this to any car at the moment. Always been interested as to what the process would be if you were to attempt it. I'm certainly not getting insured on a modified car at 18!

[Yadizzle1]

Also thank you very much to everyone who has replied, I'm getting a clearer picture of what's involved and how to go about it

[vinnie01]

Don't you need to lower the compression ratio when turbocharging a car?

[stevieturbo]

vinnie01 said:

Don't you need to lower the compression ratio when turbocharging a car?

Depends on many things. But not always, no.

[Boosted LS1]

vinnie01 said:

Don't you need to lower the compression ratio when turbocharging a car?

Not always. Just cram a bit more in there but not to much and it should be fine :-)

[rev-erend]

Do a search on low pressure turbo's. Even the car manufacturers are doing this.

[Boosted LS1]

I could do a search for low pressure turbo's, would that work?

[rev-erend]

Boosted LS1 said:

I could do a search for low pressure turbo's, would that work?

No.



BoostedLS1 should really read Over-BoostedLS1.