1988 Mitsubishi Shogun 2.6 HT BBR Turbo
Discussion
Hello again, the Shogun is on its way to 180,000 miles and has been busy earning its keep.
Unfortunately I can’t reverse for toffee so you’d have hated to see the botch I made of getting the Fletcher into the lake. It involved removing shoes, socks and rolling up jeans to get at the winch is all I need to say. The boat had gone to Bristol for a service and the BBR did a fine job of towing it there and back. However, as a result, I do seem to have inherited a new whine from somewhere up front and the engine did its characteristic sitting churning on the starter, flooding & finally a great belch of oil when re-starting; it does this only when worked really hard. Piston rings probably – anyway, it is another job on the ‘to-do’ list.
In preparation the Shogun had been in the workshop and had new vented discs and pads fitted and the wheels swapped back to front. Brakes are great, even with the load and the gearing that I’ve been complaining endlessly about final made complete sense. Around 60mph on the M4 and more like 45 to 50 mph on the A-roads the truck is in just the right place for the weight and shove coming from behind. My apologies to anyone I held up on the road to South Cerney but the Yamaha outboard weighs a not inconsiderable 200kg and hangs right out at the end of the trailer; I simply can’t hurry!
The tyres, which were purchased as the quietest, most winterish product I could find have not taken overly kindly to the summer heat nor the pace that the BBR can generate. As a result, they are quite worn after about only 12,000 miles; they have however been an excellent tyre. I’ll probably go back to a more A/T type of tyre in a bid for better mileage but the Bridgestone Blizzak’s will see the truck through the coming winter.
You may see yet more pictures of paint drying soon, as boat hauling duty is complete for the summer at least, the Shogun is going to have a brief respite while its chassis is painted and undersealed, some bushing replaced and a solution to the exhaust manifold is found. Then the Viggen is going into storage for the winter and the Shogun becomes everyday transport again.
Unfortunately I can’t reverse for toffee so you’d have hated to see the botch I made of getting the Fletcher into the lake. It involved removing shoes, socks and rolling up jeans to get at the winch is all I need to say. The boat had gone to Bristol for a service and the BBR did a fine job of towing it there and back. However, as a result, I do seem to have inherited a new whine from somewhere up front and the engine did its characteristic sitting churning on the starter, flooding & finally a great belch of oil when re-starting; it does this only when worked really hard. Piston rings probably – anyway, it is another job on the ‘to-do’ list.
In preparation the Shogun had been in the workshop and had new vented discs and pads fitted and the wheels swapped back to front. Brakes are great, even with the load and the gearing that I’ve been complaining endlessly about final made complete sense. Around 60mph on the M4 and more like 45 to 50 mph on the A-roads the truck is in just the right place for the weight and shove coming from behind. My apologies to anyone I held up on the road to South Cerney but the Yamaha outboard weighs a not inconsiderable 200kg and hangs right out at the end of the trailer; I simply can’t hurry!
The tyres, which were purchased as the quietest, most winterish product I could find have not taken overly kindly to the summer heat nor the pace that the BBR can generate. As a result, they are quite worn after about only 12,000 miles; they have however been an excellent tyre. I’ll probably go back to a more A/T type of tyre in a bid for better mileage but the Bridgestone Blizzak’s will see the truck through the coming winter.
You may see yet more pictures of paint drying soon, as boat hauling duty is complete for the summer at least, the Shogun is going to have a brief respite while its chassis is painted and undersealed, some bushing replaced and a solution to the exhaust manifold is found. Then the Viggen is going into storage for the winter and the Shogun becomes everyday transport again.
I am always on the lookout for information, parts or anything general or specific about the BBR. Over time this has amounted just to the accumulation of so much useless information but recently there have been two occasions when searching has unearthed some unexpected opportunities.
Firstly, the Series 1 Pajero was made under licence by Hyundai in South Korea right through the 1990’s. This carbon copy, called the Hyundai Galloper was available as a 2.5 litre turbo-diesel and 3.0 litre V6 petrol. Sadly they didn’t use the old Astron engine but, and I’ve very little corroboration of this, the old truck may have gained anti-lock brakes and even airbags in the ensuing update.
A tired looking left hand drive, diesel Galloper, which had been used and abused as a world expedition vehicle even turned up on eBay a couple of months ago. I was tempted but couldn’t see a viable use for it beyond swapping axles, gearboxes, interior trim, wiring looms and the like; I couldn’t see how that could be viable so I let it go.
Secondly, in the USA the Shogun was sold as the Mitsubishi Montaro and Dodge even sold it rebadged as the Raider during 1987-89. I think I linked, much earlier in this thread, a 4x4 forum in the ‘States where a later fuel injected Starion motor was dropped into the Montaro but I was astounded to find a company operating in California, called Top End Performance (TEP), who are offering a current turbo upgrade to the 2.6. Here they are, have a look.
http://www.racetep.com/montero.html
Starting from the same point, it is astonishingly that the two conversions, BBR and TEP, separated by nearly 30 years have come to almost the same conclusions. The TEP Montaro 2.6 Turbo is based on the same principle of swapping in a Weber carburettor, turbocharger and 2.5” exhaust system. The principle difference is that they don’t use an air-to-air intercooler but a water based charge cooler over the pressurised Weber. This reduced the pipework over the BBR and makes for a simpler system.
Not unsurprisingly they quote not dissimilar power outputs from between the two conversions. Stage One, without the charger-cooler they rate at 160hp/170lbs-ft; Stage Two, fitted with water injection, re-jetted carburettor, ignition upgrade, camshaft upgrade & 8psi boost pressure at 190hp/180lbs-ft. For the Stage Three kit of 220hp/200lbs-ft they suggest you need the engine internals to be upgraded together with an intercooler and the boost pressure at 10/12psi
I had to get in touch, primarily because I’m desperate to solve the recurring exhaust manifold and downpipe issues on the Shogun and just to see whether this was all real! It is, but regrettably the manifold is no longer available and even if they were they would be unsuitable for a RHD installation anyway. There are a lots of other options available though, from a new Weber 38 DGES right through to an internal engine upgrade.
I believe the original BBR conversion left the engine internals almost completely untouched. The period advertising and road tests suggest that the Astron engine was very strong and little modification was needed; the most appears to be some unspecified work on the head for the full BBR ‘Mogul’ package, which was rated at the time at 240bhp.
With a more modern approach and acknowledging that the ‘bottom-end’ of the engine requires no upgrades at the power output suitable for the truck the TEP upgrades apparently address some of the weaknesses around the ‘top-end’ of the engine. These are centred on removing the unnecessary jet valves built into the head and the removal of the balancer shafts together with the option of a JE forged pistons, re-grinding the core of the camshaft and other internals being upgraded.
I've a germ of an idea that it might be worth bringing the engine up to modern Stage Three specification; however, this would be between $995 - $1,895 for the Stage Three (depending on specification), $199 for the camshaft (this would have to be sent to the USA) and $379 for the ignition upgrade. Plus shipping and VAT once landed in the UK.
I’ve no idea where I’m going with this really. There’s a part of me that thinks what the BBR really needs is the engine being rebuilt, polished, balanced with lots of new shiny steel but this is complete financial madness, not to mention how squeezing in another project would go down with the workshop. However, this is probably a unique resource and I have to consider for how long it might all be available. It would be galling if by delaying I miss the opportunity for proven and bespoke parts to pass me by.
I will let you know what I decide.
Firstly, the Series 1 Pajero was made under licence by Hyundai in South Korea right through the 1990’s. This carbon copy, called the Hyundai Galloper was available as a 2.5 litre turbo-diesel and 3.0 litre V6 petrol. Sadly they didn’t use the old Astron engine but, and I’ve very little corroboration of this, the old truck may have gained anti-lock brakes and even airbags in the ensuing update.
A tired looking left hand drive, diesel Galloper, which had been used and abused as a world expedition vehicle even turned up on eBay a couple of months ago. I was tempted but couldn’t see a viable use for it beyond swapping axles, gearboxes, interior trim, wiring looms and the like; I couldn’t see how that could be viable so I let it go.
Secondly, in the USA the Shogun was sold as the Mitsubishi Montaro and Dodge even sold it rebadged as the Raider during 1987-89. I think I linked, much earlier in this thread, a 4x4 forum in the ‘States where a later fuel injected Starion motor was dropped into the Montaro but I was astounded to find a company operating in California, called Top End Performance (TEP), who are offering a current turbo upgrade to the 2.6. Here they are, have a look.
http://www.racetep.com/montero.html
Starting from the same point, it is astonishingly that the two conversions, BBR and TEP, separated by nearly 30 years have come to almost the same conclusions. The TEP Montaro 2.6 Turbo is based on the same principle of swapping in a Weber carburettor, turbocharger and 2.5” exhaust system. The principle difference is that they don’t use an air-to-air intercooler but a water based charge cooler over the pressurised Weber. This reduced the pipework over the BBR and makes for a simpler system.
Not unsurprisingly they quote not dissimilar power outputs from between the two conversions. Stage One, without the charger-cooler they rate at 160hp/170lbs-ft; Stage Two, fitted with water injection, re-jetted carburettor, ignition upgrade, camshaft upgrade & 8psi boost pressure at 190hp/180lbs-ft. For the Stage Three kit of 220hp/200lbs-ft they suggest you need the engine internals to be upgraded together with an intercooler and the boost pressure at 10/12psi
I had to get in touch, primarily because I’m desperate to solve the recurring exhaust manifold and downpipe issues on the Shogun and just to see whether this was all real! It is, but regrettably the manifold is no longer available and even if they were they would be unsuitable for a RHD installation anyway. There are a lots of other options available though, from a new Weber 38 DGES right through to an internal engine upgrade.
I believe the original BBR conversion left the engine internals almost completely untouched. The period advertising and road tests suggest that the Astron engine was very strong and little modification was needed; the most appears to be some unspecified work on the head for the full BBR ‘Mogul’ package, which was rated at the time at 240bhp.
With a more modern approach and acknowledging that the ‘bottom-end’ of the engine requires no upgrades at the power output suitable for the truck the TEP upgrades apparently address some of the weaknesses around the ‘top-end’ of the engine. These are centred on removing the unnecessary jet valves built into the head and the removal of the balancer shafts together with the option of a JE forged pistons, re-grinding the core of the camshaft and other internals being upgraded.
I've a germ of an idea that it might be worth bringing the engine up to modern Stage Three specification; however, this would be between $995 - $1,895 for the Stage Three (depending on specification), $199 for the camshaft (this would have to be sent to the USA) and $379 for the ignition upgrade. Plus shipping and VAT once landed in the UK.
I’ve no idea where I’m going with this really. There’s a part of me that thinks what the BBR really needs is the engine being rebuilt, polished, balanced with lots of new shiny steel but this is complete financial madness, not to mention how squeezing in another project would go down with the workshop. However, this is probably a unique resource and I have to consider for how long it might all be available. It would be galling if by delaying I miss the opportunity for proven and bespoke parts to pass me by.
I will let you know what I decide.
Edited by TurboBlue on Wednesday 26th August 01:34
Thank you for the kind comments.
I'm still prevaricating about engine parts but two developments will probably make my mind up for me anyway; the first is that I've taken a punt on a replacement, stainless steel, USA made, exhaust manifold for the Dodge Conquest - better known here as the Mitsubishi Starion - bought off eBay for a couple of hundred pounds sterling.
This is a bit of a shot in the dark but I'm tired of the noise and resonance made by the old manifold and a solution needs to be found. If it doesn't fit or requires too many adjustments then we'll have a bespoke part made up from the pattern of the old manifold but I'm hopeful this will speed things along. The existing downpipe will have to be replaced as well so that we have good joins all along the exhaust.
In other news, my Viggen has decided that its name is Rapunzel!
I think this is the downpipe* untangling itself all the way down the exhaust. So that will be a pipe for each. The car had been feeling a little slow, this perhaps might be the reason. Regrettably, I think this will be another occasion when the front sub frame will have to be dropped and the downpipe* replacement is going to be quite expensive.
Edited for update; wading is from the exhaust not downpipe.
I'm still prevaricating about engine parts but two developments will probably make my mind up for me anyway; the first is that I've taken a punt on a replacement, stainless steel, USA made, exhaust manifold for the Dodge Conquest - better known here as the Mitsubishi Starion - bought off eBay for a couple of hundred pounds sterling.
This is a bit of a shot in the dark but I'm tired of the noise and resonance made by the old manifold and a solution needs to be found. If it doesn't fit or requires too many adjustments then we'll have a bespoke part made up from the pattern of the old manifold but I'm hopeful this will speed things along. The existing downpipe will have to be replaced as well so that we have good joins all along the exhaust.
In other news, my Viggen has decided that its name is Rapunzel!
I think this is the downpipe* untangling itself all the way down the exhaust. So that will be a pipe for each. The car had been feeling a little slow, this perhaps might be the reason. Regrettably, I think this will be another occasion when the front sub frame will have to be dropped and the downpipe* replacement is going to be quite expensive.
Edited for update; wading is from the exhaust not downpipe.
Edited by TurboBlue on Wednesday 16th September 12:07
So, tackling the exhaust manifold – again, begins. Long standing readers will remember the BBR manifold from the first few pages of the thread; to re-cap, it had cracked, been repaired (welded) and was cracked again when I bought the BBR. The manifold was cleaned up, welded and refitted but the whole modified manifold/turbo/intake ‘shebang’ has never been entirely happy.
Although the manifold has not cracked again it has refused to adequately seal against the block and the sheer weight of supporting the turbo housing, exhaust downpipe and air box has resulted in broken studs and it has been slowly cooking the gaskets and (expensive) components around it.
This is the old downpipe, it has been cut off and we will be replacing the whole exhaust system from the turbo to the chromed tip and mounting it more securely.
The turbocharger is undamaged, the workshop is going to replace the heavy steel air filter housing with some trunking and a cone filter mounted in front of the radiator. This will be a suck-it-and-see approach, there may be too much noise and it may be too exposed – although it is going to be mounted behind an aluminium plate to keep it out of rain & spray – so, we will have to wait and see.
Here is the old and new manifolds; I’d taken a chance on the new USA made manifold and there was good and bad news form Scott. Although it mounts up perfectly the angle of the flange to meet the turbo is out; so a plan has been struck to cut out a V-shaped portion of each of the pipes and bend the manifold to meet up with the turbo. The defunct fifth pipe on the new manifold will be cut off and blanked.
I’m hopeful that some work on fitting the manifold will continue later this week; I’ve booked myself in to jack the BBR up on axle stands early next week and get the chassis cleaned & painted for the winter. I’ll update the thread as this comes along.
PS. In other news, the Viggen has been treated to an Abbott Racing cat-back exhaust system. It makes a good noise, especially when just ticking over and in combination with the downpipe & exhaust work that is about to be undertaken on the Shogun means that any further engine development for the BBR from Top-End Performance is on hold for the time being.
Although the manifold has not cracked again it has refused to adequately seal against the block and the sheer weight of supporting the turbo housing, exhaust downpipe and air box has resulted in broken studs and it has been slowly cooking the gaskets and (expensive) components around it.
This is the old downpipe, it has been cut off and we will be replacing the whole exhaust system from the turbo to the chromed tip and mounting it more securely.
The turbocharger is undamaged, the workshop is going to replace the heavy steel air filter housing with some trunking and a cone filter mounted in front of the radiator. This will be a suck-it-and-see approach, there may be too much noise and it may be too exposed – although it is going to be mounted behind an aluminium plate to keep it out of rain & spray – so, we will have to wait and see.
Here is the old and new manifolds; I’d taken a chance on the new USA made manifold and there was good and bad news form Scott. Although it mounts up perfectly the angle of the flange to meet the turbo is out; so a plan has been struck to cut out a V-shaped portion of each of the pipes and bend the manifold to meet up with the turbo. The defunct fifth pipe on the new manifold will be cut off and blanked.
I’m hopeful that some work on fitting the manifold will continue later this week; I’ve booked myself in to jack the BBR up on axle stands early next week and get the chassis cleaned & painted for the winter. I’ll update the thread as this comes along.
PS. In other news, the Viggen has been treated to an Abbott Racing cat-back exhaust system. It makes a good noise, especially when just ticking over and in combination with the downpipe & exhaust work that is about to be undertaken on the Shogun means that any further engine development for the BBR from Top-End Performance is on hold for the time being.
The winter preparation is done, here's a before and after. Litre and a bit of Hydrate 80 anti-corrosion paint & two and a bit 750 ml cans of Dynax S50 wax (you'll note I got a bit carried away) will keep the salt at bay for another year. Total cost was somewhere around £60-70 for the product.
So, the project is moving on. The new exhaust manifold has been adjusted so that the turbo flange is at the correct angle to meet up with the Garrett housing, keeping it all upright; the inlets have been ported too. The manifold was originally listed as stainless steel but I’ve been informed that it is in fact mild steel that has been plated; in spite of that, I’m still pleased how the manifold has turned out and it has saved a great deal of time as the flanges for both the head and turbo have fitted perfectly when it has been bolted together.
If you compare to the photo above, you’ll see that the angle of the flange has been changed and the redundant pipe has been removed.
Here’s the cleaned up block, the broken stud has been drilled out and heli-coiled and the new components dry fitted to make sure they go together; the large circular steel air box that has usually sat on top will not be re-used, Scott believes there should be room to fit an ITG air box & filter in the space under the intercooler pipe and that together with heat shields protecting the plug leads and brake master cylinder will need to be fabricated and fitted.
In a bid to keep the heat out of the engine bay I’ve sourced a bonnet vent (from a Shogun Sport) that we’ll fit over the top of the manifold and turbo installation. I think it will look pretty good and should confuse any Shogun aficionados as the vent is always on the other side (normally, they are fitted to diesel only as they feed ambient air to the intercooler).
The radiator has been removed too as the bracket holding the power steering pump had seared off; this has been repaired and will be refitted along with everything else; then the exhaust, which is being done off-site, can be fabricated and fitted. Once back there are a few smaller jobs: rear hubs, shackle bushes and a new MoT and then we should be good to go.
If you compare to the photo above, you’ll see that the angle of the flange has been changed and the redundant pipe has been removed.
Here’s the cleaned up block, the broken stud has been drilled out and heli-coiled and the new components dry fitted to make sure they go together; the large circular steel air box that has usually sat on top will not be re-used, Scott believes there should be room to fit an ITG air box & filter in the space under the intercooler pipe and that together with heat shields protecting the plug leads and brake master cylinder will need to be fabricated and fitted.
In a bid to keep the heat out of the engine bay I’ve sourced a bonnet vent (from a Shogun Sport) that we’ll fit over the top of the manifold and turbo installation. I think it will look pretty good and should confuse any Shogun aficionados as the vent is always on the other side (normally, they are fitted to diesel only as they feed ambient air to the intercooler).
The radiator has been removed too as the bracket holding the power steering pump had seared off; this has been repaired and will be refitted along with everything else; then the exhaust, which is being done off-site, can be fabricated and fitted. Once back there are a few smaller jobs: rear hubs, shackle bushes and a new MoT and then we should be good to go.
Work on the manifold is almost complete; the new ITG air filter box has been put in place and we now have a snake of trunking – looks like it should always have been there and I’m very pleased with the results so far. Running with just the old downpipe fitted, the new plastic air box and reduction in weight it seems to have lost that zingy resonance from the old metal air-box; you can hear the turbine spool up and slow down too, which is kind of cool – as my daughter would say.
The bonnet vent has been fitted; hopefully this will keep the temperature down under the bonnet.
The bonnet vent has been fitted; hopefully this will keep the temperature down under the bonnet.
The BBR is back on the road, fresh MOT in hand and 180,000 miles on the clock. Apparently, the MOT tester said that this is one of the few returning cars that get better each year!
The new manifold, air-box & bonnet scoop have been joined by a new stainless steel exhaust fabricated from the downpipe to the rolled tip.
One of the rear lights mounted in the bumper had cracked, I’ve not been able to track down a replacement lens but the old V6 Shogun, long since gone to the scrap-heap, continues to give. I’d removed the old bumper a couple of years ago and it was in safe keeping at the workshop. We remembered why we kept it when we saw that it was dent free and with an intact brake light, so that has been put on. It has cleaned up the rear enormously. There are even new mud-flaps!
We decided to fit the arch kit, again I’ve had this in the garage for years, to try and keep the muck off the truck but it has in turn lead to further expense – the wheels were looking a bit tucked under so some 30mm spacers have been fitted which bring the wheels out nicely. This is on the 215/80 tyres, so we’ll get right to the edge of the arches, if and when I get around to some seven inch alloys and some 30 x 9.50 BFG’s (for the young amongst you that’s 241/79 in metrics).
So, here’s the engine bay:
Ha! No, that’s from 2012; here it is in 2016:
Brief first impressions are that almost all the harshness has gone; the engine seems to rev more cleanly and more powerfully but I’m going to use the BBR for a few days and then we’ll get back to the workshop with any issues.
Really pleased that we have all persevered with the BBR.
The new manifold, air-box & bonnet scoop have been joined by a new stainless steel exhaust fabricated from the downpipe to the rolled tip.
One of the rear lights mounted in the bumper had cracked, I’ve not been able to track down a replacement lens but the old V6 Shogun, long since gone to the scrap-heap, continues to give. I’d removed the old bumper a couple of years ago and it was in safe keeping at the workshop. We remembered why we kept it when we saw that it was dent free and with an intact brake light, so that has been put on. It has cleaned up the rear enormously. There are even new mud-flaps!
We decided to fit the arch kit, again I’ve had this in the garage for years, to try and keep the muck off the truck but it has in turn lead to further expense – the wheels were looking a bit tucked under so some 30mm spacers have been fitted which bring the wheels out nicely. This is on the 215/80 tyres, so we’ll get right to the edge of the arches, if and when I get around to some seven inch alloys and some 30 x 9.50 BFG’s (for the young amongst you that’s 241/79 in metrics).
So, here’s the engine bay:
Ha! No, that’s from 2012; here it is in 2016:
Brief first impressions are that almost all the harshness has gone; the engine seems to rev more cleanly and more powerfully but I’m going to use the BBR for a few days and then we’ll get back to the workshop with any issues.
Really pleased that we have all persevered with the BBR.
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